The false Neuroeducation: Uncovering myths in the Initial training of educators
Abstract
Pedagogical practices supported by neuroscience are still in their early stages in the educational context, and the growing interest in neuroeducation does not always translate into proper implementation of research findings. Misconceptions about the brain, known as neuromyths, continue to prevail. This article presents the results of research aimed at analyzing the ability of university students in Education degrees to identify neuromyths in the field of neuroscience, learning, and cognitive processes. It also aims to identify the influence of gender, age, degree, and academic year on their perceptions and conceptions. Using a quantitative methodology, a sample of 172 education students from degrees in Pedagogy, Primary Education, Social Education, and Early Childhood Education at the University of Salamanca was examined. After data collection through the ALFANED scale and descriptive and inferential analysis, the results confirm the prevalence of neuromyths in the education field. Additionally, age, academic year, and degree are identified as predictors in the identification of these false beliefs.
Downloads
References
Armstrong-Gallegos, S., Van Herwegen, J., & Ipinza, V.F. (2023). Neuromyths about neurodevelopmental disorders in Chilean teachers. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 33, 100218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2023.100218
Arias Salegio, I.S., & Batista Mainegra, A. (2021). La educación dirige su mirada hacia la neurociencia: retos actuales. Universidad y Sociedad, 13(2), 42-49. https://rus.ucf.edu.cu/index.php/rus/article/view/1940/1931
Aronsson, L. (2020). Reconsidering the Concept of Difference: A Proposal to Connect Education and Neuroscience in New Ways. Policy Futures in Education, 18(2), 275-293. https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103198504
Bei, E., Argiropoulos, D, Van Herwegen, J., Incógnito, O., Menichetti, L., Tarchi, C., & Pecini, Ch. (2024). Neuromyths: Misconceptions about neurodevelopment by Italian teachers. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 34, 100219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2023.100219
Brockington, G. (2021). Neurociência e Ensino de Física: limites e possibilidades em um campo inexplorado. Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física, 43, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9126-RBEF-2020-0430
Bullón Gallego, I. (2017). La neurociencia en el ámbito educativo. Revista Internacional de apoyo a la inclusión, logopedia, sociedad y multiculturalidad, 3(1), 118-135. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/5746/574660901005/html/
Burt, I., Pankey, B. (2023). Critically analyzing the field of neuroscience and its therapeutic application with Black populations. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 51(3), 174-182. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12274
Cavada, C. (2012). Cómo enseñar neurociencia a profanos. Participación Educativa, 1(1), 89-92.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Crisol Moya, E., Gallardo Montes, C.P., & Peregrina Nievas, P. (2024). Validación de contenido y de constructo de la escala Alfaned. En A. Rodríguez Fuentes (Coord.), ¿Ciencia o ficción en la neuroeducación? (pp. 95-106), Pirámide.
de Souza Koide, A.B., & Tortella, J.C.B. (2023). Segura sua mão na minha: uma conexão entre neurociência e Educação. Ensaio, 31(119), e0233805. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-40362023003103805
Deibl, I., & Zumbach, J. (2023). Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Neuroscience and Education-Do Freshmen and Advanced Students Differ in Their Ability to Identify Myths? Psychology Learning & Teaching, 22(1), 74-93. https://doi.org/10.1177/14757257221146649
Deligiannidi, K., & Howard-Jones, P.A. (2015). The neuroscience literacy of teachers in Greece. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 174, 3909-3915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.1133
Falquez, J.F., & Ocampo, J.C. (2018). Del conocimiento científico al malentendido. Prevalencia de neuromitos en estudiantes ecuatorianos. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 78(1), 87-106. https://doi.org/10.35362/rie7813241
Ferrero, M., Garaizar, P., & Vadillo, M. A. (2016). Neuromyths in education: Prevalence among Spanish teachers and an exploration of cross-cultural variation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 496. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00496
Gini, S., Knowland, V., Thomas, M.S.C., & Van Herwegen, J. (2021). Neuromyths about neurodevelopmental disorders: Misconceptions by educators and the general public. Mind, Brain, and Education, 15, 289-298. http://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12303
González Flores, P., Flores Ferro, E., Maureira Cid, F., Hadweh Briceño, M., Loyola Arroyo, S., & Silva Acuña, M. (2024). Neuromitos en el profesorado en formación de educación física: un estudio comparativo entre carreras de pedagogías. Retos, 52, 275-281. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v52.101808
Grospietsch, F., & Mayer, J. (2020). Misconceptions about neuroscience–prevalence and persistence of neuromyths in education. Neuroforum, 26(2), 63-71. https://doi.org/10.1515/nf-2020-0006
Hennes, A-K., Schabmann, A., & Schmidt, B.M. (2024). The Prevalence and Usage of “Neuromyths” among German in-Service- and Pre-Service Teachers–Compared to Neuroscience Specialists and the General Public. Mind, Brain, and Education, published online. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12401
Hughes B, Sullivan KA, & Gilmore L (2020) Why do teachers believe educational neuromyths? Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 21, 100145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2020.100145
Hughes, B., Sullivan, K.A., & Gilmore, L. (2022). Neuromyths about learning: Future directions from a critical review of a decade of research in school education. Prospects, 52, 189-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-021-09567-5
Janati Idrissi A, Alami M, Lamkaddem A, & Souirti Z (2020) Brain knowledge and predictors of neuromyths among teachers in Morocco. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 20, 100135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2020.100135
Jeyavel, S., Pandey, V., Rajkumar, E., & Lakshmana, G. (2022). Neuromyths in Education: Prevalence Among South Indian School Teachers. Frontiers in Education, 7, 781735. https://doi.org/10.3389/10.3389/feduc.2022.781735
Khramova, M.V., Bukina, T.V., Smirnov, N.M., Kurkin, S.A., & Hramov, A.E. (2023). Prevalence of neuromyths among students and pre-service teachers. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 950. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02412-4
Karakus, O., Howard-Jones, P., & Jay, T. (2015). Primary and secondary school teachers’ knowledge and misconceptions about the brain in Turkey. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 174, 1933-1940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.858
Lethaby, C., & Harries, P. (2016). Learning styles and teacher training: Are we perpetuating neuromyths? ELT Journal, 70(1), 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccv051
Macdonald, K., Germine, L., Anderson, A., Christodoulou, J., & McGrath, L. M. (2017). Dispelling the myth: Training in education or neuroscience decreases but does not eliminate beliefs in neuromyths. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(1314), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01314
Martínez-Vicente, M., Martínez-Valderrey, V., & Valiente-Barroso, C. (2021). Capacidad predictiva de variables asociadas al funcionamiento ejecutivo en el perfil estudiantil: aportaciones a la neurociencia educativa. Revista Complutense de Educación, 34(2), 301-312. https://dx.doi.org/10.5209/rced.77338
Mondéjar, J., Rodríguez, A., & Fierro, B. (2023). El paradigma de apoyos al aprendizaje desde la neurodidáctica: una necesidad en la formación universitaria. Entretextos, 17(33), 90-108. doi:10.5281/zenodo.8218195
Novak-Geiger, V. (2023). Prevalence of neuromyths among psychology students: small differences to pre-service teachers. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1139911. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1139911
OCDE (2002). Understanding the brain: Towards a new learning science. OCDE
Painemil, M., Manquenahuel, S., Biso, P., & Muñoz, C. (2021). Beliefs Versus Knowledge in Trainee Teachers. A Compared Study of Neuromyths at an International Level. Revista Electrónica Educare, 25(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.15359/ree.25-1.13
Pallarés-Domínguez, D. (2016). Neuroeducación en diálogo: Neuromitos en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y en la educación moral. Pensamiento, 72(273), 941-958. https://doi.org/10.14422/pen.v72.i273.y2016.010
Pallarés-Domínguez, D. (2021). La reflexión crítica sobre los neuromitos en la educación. Teoría de la Educación. Revista Interuniversitaria, 33(2), 87-106. https://doi.org/10.14201/teri.25288
Privitera, A.J. (2021). A scoping review of research on neuroscience training for teachers. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 24, 100157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2021.100157
Rodríguez, A. (coord.) (2024). ¿Ciencia o ficción en la neuroeducación? Estudio sobre neuromitos. Pirámide.
Rodríguez, A., Mondéjar, J. J., Fierro, B. M. y Gallardo, C. P. (2024). Instrumentos para la medición de neuromitos docentes para su empleo en Cuba y España. Universidad & Sociedad, 16(1), 235-245. https://rus.ucf.edu.cu/index.php/rus/article/view/4323
Shaw, S.R. (2021). Implementing evidence-based practices inschool psychology: Excavation by De-implementing the disproved. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 36, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/08295735211000513
Sundaramoorthy J, Pandey V, & Lakshmana G.R.E. (2022) Neuromyths in Education: Prevalence Among South Indian School Teachers. Frontiers in Education, 7, 781735. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.781735
Tardif, E., Doudin, P. A., & Meylan, N. (2015). Neuromyths among teachers and student teachers. Mind, Brain, and Education, 9, 50-59. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12070
Trigo Sánchez, M.E., & Martínez Cervantes, R.J. (2016). Generalized eta squared for multiple comparisons on between-groups designs. Psicothema, 28(3), 340-345. http://dx.doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2015.124
Tunga, Y., & Çağıltay, K. (2023). Myths or Facts: Prevalence, and Predictors of Neuromyths among Turkish Teachers. Egitim ve Bilim, 48(216), 229-246. http://dx.doi.org/10.15390/EB.2023.12089
Vallverdú, J. (2022). ¿A qué filosofías ha afectado la Neurociencia? Revista de Humanidades de Valparaiso, 20, 47-55. https://doi.org/10.22370/rhv2022iss20pp47-55
Vig, J., Révész, L., Kaj, M., Kälbli, K., Svraka, K., Révész-Kiszela, K. & Csányi, T. (2023). The prevalence of ed-ucational neuromyths among hungarian pre-service teachers. Journal of Intelligence, 11(2), 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11020031
Los artículos que se publican en esta revista están sujetos a los siguientes términos:
1. El Departamento de Métodos de Investigación y Diagnóstico en Educación de la Universidad de Murcia (España), junto con el Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universitdad de Murcia (Editum) son los editores de la revista REIFOP y conserva los derechos patrimoniales (copyright) de los artículos publicados, permitiendo la reutilización de las mismos bajo la licencia de uso indicada en el punto 2.
2. Las obras se publican en la edición electrónica de la revista bajo una licencia Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 3.0 España (texto legal). Se pueden copiar, usar, difundir, transmitir y exponer públicamente, siempre que: i) se cite la autoría y la fuente original de su publicación (revista, editores y URL de la obra); ii) no se usen para fines comerciales; iii) se mencione la existencia y especificaciones de esta licencia de uso.
3. Condiciones de auto-archivo. Se permite y se anima a los autores a difundir electrónicamente las versiones pre-print (versión antes de ser evaluada) y/o post-print (versión evaluada y aceptada para su publicación) de sus obras antes de su publicación, ya que favorece su circulación y difusión más temprana y con ello un posible aumento en su citación y alcance entre la comunidad académica. Color RoMEO: verde.
