| CODE | EDU5927 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Neurocognitive Foundations of Development and Learning | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Faculty of Education | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will explore the neurocognitive foundations of development and learning and will be divided into two parts. Part one will deal with neurocognitive development and the second part will focus on the effects of cognitive neuroscience on learning and interventions with emphasis on neurofeedback in education and mental health services. Study-unit Aims The importance of Neuro-science on development and learning can no longer be neglected in the study of persons with learning difficulties and/or with mental health problems. This study unit will therefore seek to first explore the neuro-cognitive basis for learning and impairment while the second part will seek to focus on the the effects of neurofeedback on learning and teaching and mental health problems. This unit therefore seeks to assist the students in achieving an understanding of basic neuro-cognitive processes underpinning learning and mental health problems These are perception, motor development, memory and attention and emotions and language. During the second part, the unist seeks to help the student in achieving an understanding of the effects of neuro-science on learning and teaching and the implications that these have on teaching methodologies and a critical analysis on the literature available on the effects of neurofeedback on students' learning processes in schools (especially on those with learning difficulties), on performance enhancement (sports and the performing arts) and mental health services (anxiety and persons with schizophrenia). Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - demonstrate an understanding of the neurodevelopment of cognitive processes with a focus on perception, memory, attention, motor control, executive functions, attention and consciousness; - be introduced to an overview of the current state of understanding of complex brain functioning from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience; - comprehend through theoretical sessions the mechanisms by which neural processing generate voluntary actions; memory, thinking, problem solving, language and emotion and learn how these capabilities malfunction in persons with malnutrition, brain injury, mental health problems, dementia and socio-cultural deprivation; - appreciate how diverse research findings in combination can generate interesting hypotheses about how the brain functions; - develop a framework for taking into consideration the influence of contexts on children with learning difficulties; - be introduced to the growing scientific knowledge on neurofeedback in schools, performance enhancement in learning, in the arts, sports and mental health. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - reflect and appreciate the influence of neurocognitive science on education and development to be able to implement educational programmes which are based on brain research; - reflect on and appreciate the socio-cultural effects on neuro-cognitive development and design intervention programmes which take into consideration the ecological risk factors in human development in different fields schools, early intervention, community intervention for different service users. - reflect on the use of neurofeedback and how this can be introduced in the Maltese context. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Recommended Main Texts: Gazzinga, I. (2002) Cognitive neuroscience: the biology of the mind (2nd Ed.) New York: Norton & Company Sultana, R.G. (Ed.) (1997). Inside/Outside schools. Malta: PEG Publications Ysseldyke, J., & Elliott, J. (1999) Effective instructional practices: Implications for assessing educational environments. In C.R. Reynolds & T.B. Gutkin (eds.) The handbook of school psychology (pp.497-518). New York: John Wiley Recommended Supplementary Reading: Part One: Fryburg, E.L. (1997) Reading and Learning Disability: A Neuropsychological Approach to Evaluation and Instruction (Hardcover), Charles C. Thomas, Publisher Berthoz, S., Blair, R.J.R., Le Clech, G. & Martinot, J.L. (2002). Emotions: From neuropsychology to functional imaging. The International Journal of Psychology, 37,4, 193-203 Binder, J.R., Frost, J.A., Hammeke, T.A., Cox, R.W., Rao, S.M. & Prieto, T. (1997). Human brain language areas identified by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Neuroscience, 17, 1, 353 -362. Chatterjee, A. (2005). A madness to the methods in cognitive neuroscience. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 6, 847-849 Daprati, E., Nico, D., Franck, N. & Sirigu, A. (2003). Being the agent: memory for action events. consciousness and cognition, 12, 670-683 Decety, J. & Chaminade, T. (2003). Neural correlates of feeling sympathy. Neuropsychologia, 41, 127-138 Fadiga, L., Craghiero, L. & Olivier, E. (2005). Human motor cortex excitability during the perception of other’s actions. Current opinion in neurobiology, 15, 213-218 Goodale, M.A. & Milner, A.D. (1992). Separate visual pathways for perception and action. Trends in neuroscience, 15, 20-25 Rizzolati, G. & Luppino, G. (2001) The cortical motor system. Neuron, 31, 889 – 901.Saxe, R. & Kanwisher, N. (2004). Understanding other’s minds:linking developmental psychology and functional neuroimaging annual review of psychology, 55, 87-124 Tessari, A., Rumiati, R.I. & Haggard, P. (2002). Imitation without awareness. Neuroreport, 13, 18, 2531-2535 Part Two: Berk, L.E. (2003) Child development (6th edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon Garbarino, J. (1990) The human ecology of early risk. In S.J. Meisels & J.P. Shonkoff (eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (pp. 78-96). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Greenbaum, C.W., & Auerbach, J.G. (1998) The environment of the child with mental retardation: Risk, vulnerability and resilience J.A. Burack, R.M. Hargreaves, a. et al. (1996). Schooling for Change:Reinventing education for early adolescents. London: Falmer Press Hodapp, & E. Zigler (eds.) Handbook of mental retardation and development (pp.583-605). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Gregory, D. (1997) Shame. In D.N. Sattler & V. Shabatay (eds) Psychology in context (pp.144-147). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Rogoff, B., & Chavajay, P. (1995) What’s become of research on the cultural basis of cognitive development? American Psychologist, 50, 859-877 Thomas, G. (1992) Ecological interventions. In S. Wolfendale et al. (eds.) The profession and practice of educational psychology (pp.49-70). London: Cassell |
||||||||
| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite qualifications: First degree | ||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||||
| LECTURER/S | Sunaina Balani |
||||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
|||||||||