Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from Neuroscience and the Classroom, Revised and Expanded Edition, Feb/2020

Thanks to unprecedented advances in brain science, we know more about the brain today than ever before. But what does that science tell us about how we learn? How can we capture the power of neuroscience research so that it benefits our students?

Judy Willis and Malana Willis answer these questions with clarity and insight, translating recent research on the brain and learning into understandable concepts and practical strategies to use across the curriculum, spanning all grade levels from preK through postsecondary.

Thanks to unprecedented advances in brain science, we know more about the brain today than ever before. But what does that science tell us about how we learn? How can we capture the power of neuroscience research so that it benefits our students? 

Judy Willis and Malana Willis answer these questions with clarity and insight, translating recent research on the brain and learning into understandable concepts and practical strategies to use across the curriculum, spanning all grade levels from preK through postsecondary. 

In this revised and expanded edition of the best-selling Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning, readers will learn how to

1. Arouse students' curiosity and interest in pursuing wide-ranging topics, including those they might typically find boring.
2. Counteract the negative effects of stress, boredom, and frustration on memory.
3. Defuse undesirable behaviors that are the result of the brain's natural "fight/flight/freeze" response.
4. Incorporate the motivating characteristics of video gaming—including clear goals, achievable challenges, predictions, and continual feedback—into classroom learning.
5. Break through stereotypes that deter students from reaching their full potential.
6. Use the power of neuroscience research to develop students' executive function skills, such as focus, prioritization, organization, collaboration, critical analysis, and innovation.

Willis and Willis describe how the brain converts a vast amount of sensory input into long-term memory and durable understanding, and how educators can use this knowledge to guide students to more successful experiences in school and beyond.

About the Authors:

Dr. Judy Willis, MD, MEd, is a board-certified neurologist who combined her 15 years as a practicing neurologist with 10 subsequent years as a classroom teacher to become a leading authority in the neuroscience of learning. With her unique background in both neuroscience and education, she has written 9 books and more than 200 articles about applying neuroscience research to classroom teaching strategies.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa as one of the first seven woman to graduate from Williams College, Willis attended UCLA School of Medicine, where she was awarded her medical degree. She remained at UCLA and completed a medical residency and neurology residency, including chief residency. She practiced neurology for 15 years before returning to university to obtain her teaching credential and master's degree in education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She then taught in elementary and middle school for 10 years.

Willis participates as an adjunct professor at Williams College. She also travels nationally and internationally to give presentations and workshops and consult about learning and the brain.

Malana Willis, MEd, has taught elementary school across the grade levels in Oakland and Santa Barbara, California. She taught at the American School of Bilbao in Spain and worked at the Koegel Autism Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her master's degree in education and multiple subject teaching credential from the University of California, Berkeley, and her BA in psychology from Williams College. Willis presents annually at the Learning and the Brain summer institute in Santa Barbara, California, and has been writing and presenting with her mother Dr. Judy Willis on the neuroscience of learning since 2010.