At the 28th Annual Distance Learning and Teaching Conference, the keynoter James Zull reported that there are "emotional chemicals" in the brain that impact our learning.
Two points:
First, when we learn
something there is a positive chemical reaction that both makes us feel good
for having learned something, but also the chemical (dopamine) enhances our
ability to learn even more.
Second, we as teachers can
and do affect the chemical reactions in our students' brains. When we put
pressure or stress our students, that increases their adrenalin and it shuts
down their learning. When we create a positive "safe' learning environment
we stimulate serotonin that allows the rationale/cognitive area of the brain to
function and take on the learning tasks we as teachers want them to learn.
