Maintain Your Brain but Educate Your Mind

Label1. The Brain.

Do we utilize our brain to its fullest potential?  I think we use it as much as we know how to use it.  Instructional Designers and Educators have many strategies to strengthen the brain.  There are different learning styles, activities that require higher order thinking as well as technology.  Another way “is to present information that is compatible to how the brain operates” (Coch, Dawson, and Fischer, 2007).  I found this statement to be very interesting.  The authors discuss methods of storing and retrieving information using the mind and brain.  I never really thought of the mind and the brain as different components but I hope you will find this reading as enjoyable as I did.  The authors really had me thinking about the difference between the psyche and intelligence when it comes down to learning information.  I always thought instruction geared towards understanding the brain and the functions of the brain, see figure1.  What do you think about this quote, “Rather than argue that instruction should be compatible with the basic operations of the brain, I argue instead that instruction should be compatible with the basic operations of the mind” (p. 31).  Hum, never thought of it like this.  The brain and mind is the same thing right?

I read a blog that discussed the “Difference between Brain and Mind” (“The difference between,” 2010) and I found it very interesting.  There was an analogy used that compared the brain and mind to hardware and software.  So in essence, we store the mind in the brain.  Even though we use our mind for essential skills as thinking, feeling, etc., our brain is the component to make sure the mind operate correctly.  In order for you to use M.S. Office software, you have to have a computer to load the information.  Therefore, the brain is the hardware and the mind is the software. 

Please go on the websites and read about the powerful brain, and comment below.  I would like to hear your responses regarding operations of the mind and brain.  Do you think Instructional Designers, Educators, and Organizational Leaders should concentrate more on educating to the mind or brain?  Please give your comments below.

References

Coch, D. , Dawson, G. , & Fischer, K. (2007).Human behavior, learning, and the developing brain : typical development. (pp. 31-46). New York: The Guilford Press.Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/waldenu/docDetail.action?docID=10188998 LeftHandersDay.com. (Producer). (1999-2009).The way your brain is organized. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.lefthandersday.com/tour2.html The difference between brain and mind [Web log message]. (2010). Retrieved from http://controlmind.info/human-brain/the-difference-between-brain-and-mind