Scientists at the UTD Center for Brain Health have already created a program called SMART (Strategic Memory and Reasoning Training) for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Teens who participate in the SMART program learn how to block details and organize information into main ideas, rather than to just memorize facts.
"The frontal lobes, the area of the brain associated with critical thinking and reasoning, develop rapidly through adolescence," said Dr. Sandra Chapman, director of the UTD Center. "High-level reasoning and critical thinking are skills that have to be learned and practiced. If teens do not acquire the ability to learn strategically, they might never do so."
Chapman noted that the United States ranks 24th out of 29 developed countries in critical thinking.
"We're missing the critical brain years and building a brain that does not reason," she said.
Labels: research, students, reasoning
Posted By: Aspen Education Group