Translating education neuroscience for teachers

ABSTRACT

Translating Neuroscience to education involves providing accurate and simplified information about neuroscience to teachers. The aim of this research was to understand if providing translated abstracts from neuroscientific articles helped teachers understand content more thoroughly. Surveys, experimental manipulation, and focus group discussions were conducted with thirty teachers from two primary schools in Singapore. Teachers shared their familiarity with neuroscience, self-rated their understanding of neuroscientific abstracts, and provided feedback on the abstracts’ translations. Results indicate that translated abstracts did not improve attitudes significantly; however, focus group discussions revealed that teachers were more interested in the applications of neuroscience research in classroom pedagogy. These findings highlight the importance of improving communication between neuroscientists and educators.

Abbreviations

TENC: Translational Education Neuroscience Clearinghouse; AEDs: Allied Educators

KEYWORDS:

• Educational neuroscience
• research translation
• science communication
• teachers
• teaching implications

Acknowledgments

This study was conducted in support of the Translational Education Neuroscience Clearinghouse (TENC) project at the, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Ministry of Education Academies Fund) (Project No: AFD 07/16 ZW). The views expressed in this paper are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the views of NIE. Informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Ministry of Education Academies Fund) [AFD 07/16 ZW].