Abreena Tompkins, instruction specialist at Surry Community College, has developed a brain-based online course design model based on a meta-analysis of more than 300 articles. In this study, she distilled the following elements of brain-based course design:
- Low-risk, nonthreatening learning environment
- Challenging, real-life, authentic assessments
- Rhythms, patterns, and cycles
- Appropriate chunking or grouping
- Learning as orchestration rather than lecture or facilitation
- Appropriate level of novelty
- Appropriately timed breaks and learning periods
- Purposeful assessments
- Learning that addresses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners
- Active processing with mental models
- The use of universal examples, analogies, and parallel processing
Via Patty Ball, Louise Robinson-Lay, Jim Lerman