WHAT CAN NEUROSCIENCE TEACH US ABOUT PROBLEM BASED LEARNING?

Some people think of intelligence as a reflection of individual problem-solving skills. However, a powerful aspect of intelligence is the ability to solve problems collaboratively and humans have special brain and cognitive mechanisms for social interaction [1]. This makes social interaction a powerful catalyst for learning and in this learning environment discovery learning comes more readily from the intellectual power of the group rather than from studying alone. The recent discovery of mirror neurons which help us to emotionally imitate others by responding sympathetically and empathetically engages parts of the brain that deal with social interaction and empathy [2]. Mirror neurons help us to respond sympathetically towards others and allow us to anticipative others intentions. In this way social learning is facilitated when people share attention. Recent brain research shows that different circuits are called upon in the brain for different activities such as math, music and reading. In addition, learning and practicing particular skills can cause corresponding areas in the brain to grow or change by adding a tiny fraction of the brain's neural circuitry and eliminating old ones. This finding is of particular interest to cognitive neuroscience which addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by brain circuits. Problem based learning [3] is a good example of a learning environment that capitalizes on social interaction rather than have the students work alone at desks. The study of perception, learning, memory and recall are converging to unite education with neuroscience - the scientific study of the nervous system - around the emerging field of neuroeducation. This paper contributes to this dialogue by summarising what we already know about shared attention and the learning process in the brain and suggests how it might inform the teaching/learning process in problem based learning (PBL).