Applying Early Brain Research

Having two special needs sons was the driving force toward a quest for learning everything I could about how the brain works. As a former elementary school teacher I returned to Arizona State University (ASU), in pursuit of a Ph.D. in Learning and Instructional Technology. While at ASU, I was part of a research team that went into K-12 and college classrooms to conduct research on how the brain processes information.

My research interest in how people learn has taken me in two different directions; first, an 'academic pathway' focused on how to enhance learning from an instructional design perspective, and secondly, an 'early learning pathway' focused on how to impact a young child's ability to learn for life.

Academic Pathway - Grand Canyon University

In 1996, I joined the education faculty at Grand Canyon University where I taught both undergraduate and graduate students for three years. My interest in brain research continued. As new neuroscientific information began emerging, I, along with one of my former ASU research partners Dr. Jill Stamm, continued analyzing and synthesizing all of the latest neuroscientific information on children, birth to three years. This was important to us as we both have handicapped and non-handicapped children. What we discovered about learning and the brain came in part from personal experience with our own children. We were fascinated and surprised to find that learning occurred very fast with our non-handicapped children while learning with our handicapped children progressed so slowly that you could almost watch it in action.

It was then that we both realized, in hindsight, that we had entered the "Field of Learning" because of our children - we wanted to know more about how the brain works in an effort to help them. Ironically, we also realized that neither one of us were interested in pursuing the education of special needs children. Instead, we wanted to help impact and facilitate the learning process of typical children. We learned that there are many children born normal, but based on their experiences between birth and three years they enter kindergarten with learning challenges. Having raised special needs children we decided we wanted to help typical children avoid becoming learning disabled - because many times it is avoidable.

Together, we continued our study of early brain development. As we shared this new scientific information with our graduate students (simultaneously at two different universities, ASU and Grand Canyon University) they said, "Don't be one of those professors that just teach and never do anything about it. Go and do something about it."

Early Learning Pathway - New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development

In addition to continuing to teach our graduate students, we started a non-profit organization called New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development. We wrote grants (receiving almost half a million dollars in the first three years), synthesized the neuroscientific information on early brain development, and began presenting it in an understandable way to community leaders and parents. Our first project was called, "Mother As Baby's First Teacher." We trained volunteers from the community in the latest neuroscientific information about babies. We then paired these volunteer mentor/coaches with teen pregnant moms. Their task was to share the brain information with these young mothers with a goal of impacting their ability to help their children learn more effectively.

Our funders asked us to expand the project to influence more people. Hence, we began our next project called, "The First Teacher Project." During this project we trained teachers in the early brain information who in turn trained the parents in their attendance area. The goal was, and still is, to influence parents so they provide appropriate, stimulating experiences for their children resulting in more children coming to school ready to learn. In addition, we began a public awareness campaign by presenting this information to multiple groups, such as ASU's Journey of the Mind forums, Greater Phoenix Leadership, Mesa United Way, as well as testifying at the legislature.

Academic Pathway - Rio Salado College

Next on my academic pathway, in 1999 Rio Salado College offered me the opportunity to design an online Post Baccalaureate Teacher Preparation Program - the first online teacher prep program in the country. Rio Salado College's Online Post Baccalaureate Teacher Preparation Program was created to address the critical state and national teacher shortage. The focus of the program is to provide accessible, flexible, quality learning to prepare students who already have a baccalaureate degree to become "incredible" teachers. The program increases student access to high-quality teacher preparation courses for Elementary, Secondary, and Special Education through flexible, convenient, anytime, anywhere e-learning. It is approved by the Arizona State Department of Education.

In its inaugural year (2001-2002), the program earned a national award and set a new standard for 21st Century teacher training. It has received media coverage through an Associated Press article published in USA Today, the Washington Post, and other major dailies, as well as being favorably written about in the "Chronicle of Higher Education," the "Community College Times," and "Educational Pathways."

The program's practitioner-oriented curriculum is based on Arizona state standards. It incorporates all teacher certification requirements and offers the essential skills students need to become highly effective teachers. It capitalizes on e-learning by offering courses via the Internet. The instructional design of the online courses provides a visually rich medium and supports special enhancements to help insure quality instruction. The courses feature streaming video, mind maps, and provide broad Internet resources. The online courses are supplemented with monthly meetings featuring "Master Teachers," extensive site-based school practicums, as well as a full time nine week student teaching experience. K-12 program faculty provide practitioner based feedback using real world examples to better prepare student teachers to deal with the realities of today's classroom environments.

The program is very flexible for students. Online courses begin every two weeks and are 14 weeks long and can be accelerated with instructor permission.

Due to the innovative program design, unique education partnerships have been established. One is with Walden University and applies up to 12 credits (40%) from this program toward Walden's new Master's Degree with a focus on Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction. Another is a 3+1 Baccalaureate Degree Partnership with Charter Oak State College (COSC) and Bridgepoint Education. The COSC degree awarded is a B.S. in General Studies with an Individualized Studies Concentration in Education/Leadership. Rio Salado is responsible for offering 94 of the 124 credit hour degree.

This program has also received local and national attention due to its affiliations and partnerships with Teach for America, Troops to Teachers, and the U.S. Army JROTC, as well as its partnerships with more than 100 school districts, numerous corporate partners, and higher education institutions.

As the program completes its third year, it has become very clear that there is a large segment of the population that would not be able to realize their lifelong dream of becoming a teacher without access to this e-learning program. The positive student and community response to the program, reinforced by the phenomenal growth in enrollment proves that high quality programs delivered through e-learning have an important place in higher education and play a critical role in meeting the needs of the communities of interest it serves.

The online presentation of course work utilizes sound instructional design based on years of research on how the brain works and how people learn. The program courses include graphic organizers and mind maps, not found in other online courses. All of which serve to improve student retention of information.

Following are some testimonials about our program:

"The quality of the program itself is simply outstanding. I'm finding that even more so because I'm out there teaching with a full time job. I can see other teachers coming from other universities and I can just tell I have a confidence level they don't have because of the background Rio gave me."
- program graduate, January 2003

"The thing I like most about Rio Salado's practicums is that they get the teacher in the classroom very early in their training. They get them interacting with kids, they get them interacting with other teachers so they have a true understanding of what is going to happen when they become a teacher."
- Dr. Bob Donofrio, Superintendent, Murphy School District, December 2002

"The Northeastern New Mexico Rural Schools Consortium selected to use the Rio Salado Teacher Preparation Program because of its high quality."
- Dr. Peggy Poling, Director of Research and Special Projects High Plains Regional Education Cooperative, January 2003

I am combining both my academic pathway and my research interest in early learning by training future teachers in the latest brain information and doing this via current instructional design principles in an e-learning format. My goals continue to include the tracking of new research on how the brain works, incorporating these findings into my work, and committing to training future teachers who are able to meet the needs of our children.