Principles of neuroscience applied to university education Principios de neurociencia aplicados en la educación universitaria
Academic Article in Scopus
The main objective of this work was to determine whether there is an increase in certain cognitive processes such as attention, motivation, and academic performance, for undergraduate university students, when the class sessions are conducted in an environment that is rich in teaching practices based on neuroscience principles. The research had a mixed methodology design. The experiment was developed with two groups of the same course and with the same professor. In the experimental group, the novel practices were implemented and in the control group, a traditional academic environment was structured. As data collection tools, non-participant observation, two standardized tests and a weekly survey to measure levels of motivation were used. The results showed that the three dependent variables analyzed (attention, motivation, and academic performance), had a positive impact in the experimental group. The academic performance of the students increased as well. These findings suggest the inclusion of neuroscience matters in the educational research agenda.
