Thanks for the memory!
Neuroscience is only now proving what Helen Doron knew over 20 years ago
Synopsis by Marie Orian
In the past, most research done in education was based on conventional wisdom about what works and what doesn't, not clinical scientific knowledge. Yet with more scientific research being done on how the brain learns, we can start answering some important questions about learning practices with more certainty.
One fundamental puzzle in learning and neuroscience was how exactly does the function of short-term memory (memories lasting less than a minute) become long-term memory. In other words: What makes memories stick?
A neuroscience team from the Scientific American reportedly came up with an answer. They concluded that the important factor was a time ratio. If the cells were stimulated in a particular pattern "the relevant gene turns on". But the stimuli cannot be repeated one after the other. Instead, there must be intervals of inactivity - around ten minutes - between each stimulus burst.
If the pattern of ten-minute gaps was used, the permanent neural pathways formed. This fits perfectly with the Helen Doron lesson model, whereby the children experience breaks between specific types of learning stimulus and go back to it several minutes later for another short burst of stimulus. Constant stimuli - as, for example, in a regular school classroom lesson - did not work.
To test the theory, the Scientific American team set up learning sequences based on these discoveries in Neuroscience through a series of planned and delivered lessons using the pattern of ten-minute gaps. The lesson material delivery was through controlled trials with experimental and control groups, which reduced external variables.
This was repeated three times separated by ten-minute gaps in which the students did various memorization activities. The results of the first trials suggested the method worked. Then they ran a host of other controlled trials: younger students, different teachers, different subject areas, different content areas and, finally, the whole of year 10 GCSE science exams.
Amazingly, the results were consistent: highly significant improvements compared with conventional classroom learning methods. The simple message appeared to be that if we want children to remember things, we may have to fundamentally change our approach to learning. The new approach will be completely in step with Helen Doron lesson structure, which has shown great results with from the start.
The message from the Scientific American findings strongly suggests that the Helen Doron methodology has been a leap ahead of Neuroscience for over 20 years. Helen Doron Early English supplies a proven system of language learning based on this ratio of short-burst lesson stimulus. As suggested in the study, Helen Doron learning provides better cognitive function, whole-brained activity and improved memory retention over all age ranges.
