Are Learning Styles Real? Why or Why Not? | TAPP Radio 14

Can adult brains make new neurons? Kevin revisits this question and examines new evidence. See you at HAPS 2018 Annual Conference in Columbus OH? Learning styles. Harm or help? Or a bit of both?

Can adult brains make new neurons? Again. (4 min)
See you at HAPS 2018? (5.5 min)
Learning styles. Harm or help? Or a bit of both? (12 min)

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0:57 Kevin revisits the notion of whether neurogenesis (growing new neurons) can occur in the adult brain, particularly in the hippocampus. A past episode mentioned a study that said "no" to adult neurogenesis in the brain, bucking current thought. However, a newer paper now supports adult brain neurogenesis. This is fun, isn't it?

• New Evidence Suggests Aging Brains Continue to Make New Neurons (article by Francis Collins on the new paper)
• Human Hippocampal Neurogenesis Persists throughout Aging (new research paper in Cell)
• Human hippocampal neurogenesis drops sharply in children to undetectable levels in adults (recent paper in Nature suggesting otherwise)
• Episode 5 (Previous episode of this podcast, Segment 1: Can the Adult Human Brain Produce New Neurons?)

5:07 Kevin once again invites you to the 2018 Annual Conference of the Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS) in Columbus Ohio--and to look him and say "hi" while you are there!

• HAPS 2018 Conference Website
• Succeed in A&P (podcast featuring interview with Peter English, Executive Director of HAPS)

 

10:40 Recent buzz about the Husmann/O'Loughlin paper on learning styles prompts a conversation about what learning styles are and are not. And what, if anything, we should do with them.

• Another Nail in the Coffin for Learning Styles? Disparities among Undergraduate Anatomy Students' Study Strategies, Class Performance, and Reported VARK Learning Styles (the recent Husmann/O'Loughlin paper)
• The VARK Questionnaire (the now-classic learning style system)
• Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection (the paper that started the VARK approach) 
• Seven learning styles (another system of learning styles)
• Are Learning Styles Real? (Kevin's blog post from November 2015)

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