Enhancing Learning Abilities of Students with ADHD
via Art-enriched Teaching
Learning and Processing Stimuli in the Brain
Learning is a procedure of perceiving sensory information and processing it in the brain. The way to validate if learning has actually occurred is by observing the behavior or reaction of the student to controlled stimuli that show that the information has been absorbed and properly utilized. Generally, in schools today, the learning process is validated through teacher expectation that a student�s reaction or behavior will be in the same modality as that, which was used to present the information. This is based on an assumption that all students are capable of perceiving the information in the same manner. The most common information modality used in schools is linear text, presented over extended periods of time. This, in fact presents a junction, where a careful observer will see a huge and tragically under-estimated variability among students in their ability to perceive such sensory information at the pace and time duration commonly used in school classes.
In her research, Carla Hannaford [1990] evaluated the correlation between learning success and hemispherical dominance of the brain in relation to the dominance of the auditory, visual and grapho-motoric skills of students. It is well accepted that the left hemisphere is responsible for details, language and linear (logical) elements. It is therefore called the Logical Hemisphere. In contrast, the right hemisphere specializes in extracting structures and evaluating the relationship between objects within the structure. It is therefore called the Structure Hemisphere.
The fact that the left hemisphere controls and receives signals from the right side of the body, while the right hemisphere controls and receives signals from the left side of the body, creates cross links in the neural brain paths, a factor that determines the rate of sensory perception, information processing and knowledge extraction, as well as the quality and latency of reaction to stimuli.
In her research, Hannaford found that 15% of the population is born with dominant right eye, ear and hand together with a dominant left hemisphere. Interestingly, a group of gifted students studied showed 78% to have a dominant (left) Logical hemisphere, while a group of ADD students showed 78% to have a dominant right (Structural) hemisphere.
Hannaford explains that students with a dominant Logical hemisphere have an advantage in schools due to the fact that their dominant right-hand sensory abilities enable them to utilize the shortest neural path to the left hemisphere in order to commence information processing and knowledge extraction, with minimal effort and maximum efficiency.
Students with a dominant right hemisphere, on the other hand, must exert considerably more effort to process linear textual information since the neural path to the left hemisphere is longer and narrower. Some students manage to develop an ability to temporarily adopt a dominant logical hemisphere but that is at the cost of a sizable effort, which is all the more difficult under high-stress conditions.
Students with a dominant right hemisphere show a preference for absorbing information by using a structural perception, which focuses on the relationships between the objects. Both memory and language articulation are influenced by this perception of the overall picture and thus, their language, in most cases, contains intuitive concepts, emotional associations and sensory metaphors. Students who have their dominant eye or ear on the same side as their dominant hemisphere need to exert even more effort during the learning process. Those who have only their dominant ear on the side of the dominant hemisphere, may prefer to close their eyes or looks sideways while listening, in order to focus on the main source of information.
It has also been discovered that most teachers prefer their students to look at them while teaching the class, and have come to equate eye contact with being attentive. This preconception seldom holds true for ADD students who often cope with information gathering by non-traditional means. Teacher expectation, therefore, in this particular instance (one of many) only serves to widen the gap between her/him and her students with ADD by amplifying the basic difficulty, and so building frustration, and eventually, opposition and disconnection. A teachers� recognition of the variability of learning modalities that stems from these physiological differences is all that is required, but is unfortunately, quite rarely the case. Despite the fact that the results of this research have existed for quite some time now, and have been consolidated into a series of easy to follow exercises called �Brain Gym� (please refer to Appendix ii for examples), there is no established guaranteed procedure which will tune teaching methods to students� learning abilities. This could be due to a number of factors, including overlarge classes; the fixation of the education system on textual delivery of information, and student assessment primarily based on the use of language-based tests.
Students with attention deficit are confronted by teachers� ignorance of their difficulty. Impulsive behavior is perceived by teachers as objectionable, disturbing and unsuitable in class. Punishment to show them the �error of their ways� is totally ineffective in eliciting behavior modification. In most cases, ADHD students will find themselves physically removed from class while quiet ADD students will be allowed to remain in class, daydreaming. In both cases, these students will inevitably fall behind, finding it even more difficult to comprehend future lessons.
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