Brain compatible learning in the radiation sciences

Abstract

Brain Compatible Learning (BCL), as its name suggests, is a type of learning which is aligned with how the human brain naturally learns and develops. BCL offers many different options and routes to learning as alternatives to conventional 'chalk and talk' methodologies. A BCL curriculum is planned to define the structure and content of a programme of learning, but it also provides opportunities for students to participate in activities, which encourage and enhance the development of an active and deep approach to learning. Using BCL approaches in the classroom thus creates both a stimulating and a caring environment for student learning. This project researches a BCL intervention in a Radiation Science course. The use of BCL techniques has tended to have been done predominantly in the social sciences; this research fills an important 'gap' in the research literature by examining how BCL might be implemented in a technical and scientific context. The research was conducted using an adapted Participatory Active Research methodology in which classroom interventions were planned (within a constructive framework), rather than implemented and then reflected on by all participants. The PAR method was supplemented with a series of detailed questionnaires and interviews. The broad findings of this study relate to students' experiences of BCL in Radiation Science in terms of 'process' and 'product" issues. In terms of process, or the methodology of BCL, students' responses were largely positive.