The Brain and Learning

Articles | Books & Publications | Webinars | Online Learning | Videos | Experts & Events

The brain and learning approach incorporates the latest scientific research about the brain and how students learn and mature socially, emotionally, and cognitively. It uses curriculum, instructional methods, and programs to increase students’ ability to make connections and retain new information.

Articles 

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Educational Leadership

• Learning and the Brain (May 2020)
• Secrets of the Teenage Brain: A Conversation with Frances E. Jensen (October 2015)
• Research Says / Convert Stress to Challenge (February 2014) 
• Research Says / The Reading Skills Digital Brains Need (November 2013)
• Our Brains Extended (March 2013)
• Research Says / Creativity Requires a Mix of Skills (February 2013)
• Ferrari Engines, Bicycle Brakes (October 2012)
• Ending School Avoidance (October 2012)
• Art & Science of Teaching / A Moving Proposal (April 2012)
• The Middle/High Years / Demystifying the Adolescent Brain (April 2011)

Books & Publications

See free sample chapters, study guides, and author interviews.

• Developing Growth Mindsets: Principles and Practices for Maximizing Students' Potential (2020)
• Learning That Sticks: A Brain-Based Model for K–12 Instructional Design and Delivery (2020)
• Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from Neuroscience and the Classroom, Revised and Expanded Edition (2020)
• Social-Emotional Learning and the Brain: Strategies to Help Your Students Thrive (2020)
• Summarization in Any Subject, 2nd Edition (2018)
• Differentiation and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-Friendly Classroom, 2nd Edition (2018)
• Attack of the Teenage Brain! Understanding and Supporting the Weird and Wonderful Adolescent Learner (2018)
• How to Teach So Students Remember, 2nd Edition (2018)
• Teaching Students to Drive Their Brains: Metacognitive Strategies, Activities, and Lesson Ideas (2016)
• The Power of the Adolescent Brain: Strategies for Teaching Middle and High School Students (2016)

See more books on the brain and learning

Webinars 

• Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience with Jay McTighe and Judy Willis, M.D. (April 25, 2019)
• Get Your Classroom Thinking! Deeper Learning Strategies for Any Classroom, Grades 6–12 with Dedra Stafford (January 15, 2019)
• Engage the Brain: How to Design for Learning That Taps into the Power of Emotion with Allison Posey (November 29, 2018)
• From Being Stuck to Making Things Stick: Teaching So Students Remember with Marilee Sprenger (March 13, 2018)
• Teaching Students to Drive Their Brains with Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers (June 28, 2016)
• Implications and Applications of the Latest Brain Research for Learners and Teachers with Francis Bailey and Ken Pransky (July 16, 2015)
• Brain-Based Learning Strategies Series, with Judy Willis (Series recorded May 2010–November 2013)

Online Learning 

PD Online^® Courses

• The Brain: Developing Lifelong Learning Habits, 2nd Edition
• The Brain: Memory and Learning Strategies, 2nd Edition

Videos 

You can watch sample clips of some of the videos.

• Engaging Students with Poverty In Mind DVD Series: Elementary And Secondary (2014)
• Teaching With Poverty In Mind DVD Series: Elementary And Secondary (2010)

Experts & Events

ASCD Faculty members are available for on-site capacity-building professional development on the brain and learning. ASCD can design a precise professional development plan, organized around our field-tested solutions, with a focus on the education foundations that make sense for you.

Learn more about ASCD Professional Learning Services

ASCD Conferences, One-, Two-, and Three-Day Institutes, and other special events frequently feature sessions about the brain and learning.

Learn more about ASCD Conferences and Events

Related Topics and Terms

• 21st century learning
• Active and project based learning
• Multiple intelligences
• Social-emotional learning
• Student engagement and motivation