Teaching Practices can Support the Natural Learning Brain Process: A Study on Students’ Perceptions in Higher Education

Abstract

In the last decades, the relationship between brain-based research and education/training processes has been widely discussed. It has found the interest of both those researchers who are in favor and those who are against. This paper, after a brief description of the connection between some brain-based research results and the learning process, and consequently with the principles of the student-centered approach, presents the results of a study conducted at the University of Padua, with the participation of 74 students who attended two different bachelor’s degree courses. An ad hoc questionnaire, developed on a Likert 1-5 scale, investigated four main dimensions: comprehension strategies, reasoning strategies, memory strategies, learning and emotional relationship. The results showed which teaching strategies the students perceive as supportive for their ways of learning and, through the use of metaphors, they show what level of awareness they have of their learning process. The comparison between the survey results and the brain research showed that the implementation of teaching practices based on the student-centered approach fits with the students’ natural ways of learning and that brain-based research can inform teaching. Finally, there are significant implications for the contexts and practices of teaching, as well as open questions for future research.