Converging Methods in Educational Research on Learning and Memory

MARÍA DE LOS ANGELES BACIGALUPE

Relationship between Theory and Method in Educational Research

RODN ?WOM?

Lugar: Czestochowa; Año: 2003; p. 155 - 166

Cognitive neuroscience represents an attempt to create a modern science of the mind by merging cognitive psychology with neuroscience. It studies human learning, which is one of the problems that education has to deal with at present. In this article I intend to show the usefulness of developing interdisciplinary researching fields in which converging methods are applied to educational research. One of my goals is to provide a sense to the methodologies that come together to form an interdisciplinary field such as neuroscience for education. Also, I intend to show the educational significance that this new interdisciplinary field has. This paper is part of the educational research project developed by María de los Angeles Bacigalupe (UNLP) on the field of biological foundations of education. The source method is bibliographical research. Keeping in mind that neuroscience is not only theoretical but also empirical, I develop experimental research on human memory (data not shown). Learning is an extremely complex concept that requires an interdisciplinary approach. Education needs this whole understanding to achieve its curricular goals, such as learning to solve problems.  Now, cognitive neuroscience can show how people develop abilities. For instance, they can develop research on either recording human brain density across human span or working on animal experimentation and brain plasticity. Cognitive neuroscience integrates a number of disciplines, each one using different methods of study. It integrates these diverse methodologies in a particular way that makes it produce a very important knowledge for education. Converging methods in educational research on learning and memory can be a fruitful enterprise for educational system to achieve its main goals. This approach can lead education to deal with hard objectives like adult education, rehabilitation on several diseases, and education on children with learning disabilities.