Brain-based learning is an instructional approach grounded in neuroscience research about how the brain learns naturally. Key principles include the social nature of learning, the importance of emotions, and the need for a challenging yet safe learning environment. Effective teaching practices derived from these principles emphasize immersive experiences and active processing of information.

2. DEFINITION
 Brain-based learning is a comprehensive approach to instruction
based on how current research in neuroscience suggests our brain
learns naturally.
 This theory is based on what we currently know about the actual
structure and function of the human brain at varying stages of
development.
 Brain-based education is the "engagement of strategies based on
principles derived from an understanding of the brain."

3. Geoffrey Caine and Renate Nummela Caine
Caine and Caine (1997)
Consider curriculum and instruction from a brain-based approach.
They begin with "brain-mind learning principles" derived from brain
research findings and apply these principles in the classroom.

4. 12 Principles of Brain Based Learning
Learning involves the
physiology of the body
The brain/mind is social
The search for meaning is innate
The search for meaning occurs
through patterning
Emotions are critical to pattering
The brain/mind processes parts
and wholes simultaneously
Learning involves both focused
attention and peripheral perception
Learning is both conscious and unconscious
There are at least two approaches to
memory. A spatial memory system and a
system for rote learning
Learning is developmental
Complex learning is enhanced by challenge
and inhibited by threat
Each brain is uniquely organized

5. Implications for best teaching practices and optimal learning
- There are interactive teaching elements that emerge from these principles
Orchestrated immersion
Learning environments are created that immerse students
in a learning experience.

6. Implications for best teaching practices and optimal learning
- There are interactive teaching elements that emerge from these principles
Relaxed alertness
An effort is made to eliminate fear while maintaining a
highly challenging environment.

7. Implications for best teaching practices and optimal learning
- There are interactive teaching elements that emerge from these principles
Active processing
The learner consolidates and internalizes information by
actively processing it.