Public School Teachers\u27 Gender, Years of Teaching Experience, Knowledge, and Perceptions as Predictors of Their Implementation of Brain-Based Learning Practices in K-12 Classrooms

Problem With the introduction of a national curriculum, content standards, and federally mandated assessment; involuntarily teachers have adopted test-based teaching approaches in the classroom. Concurrently, researchers are celebrating brain-based learning because of breakthroughs in neuroscience and cognitive psychology and are promoting it as a watershed teaching opportunity. This has created a gap between research and practice, meaning that teachers’ ability to implement brain-based learning has been affected negatively. Method In a correlational design, a non-experimental quantitative study was conducted to examine a sample (N = 422) of teachers from K-12 schools within the United States public school system. The study adopted the analytical tool, Multiple Linear Regression, to analyze the null hypothesis that public-school teachers\u27 gender, years of teaching experience, knowledge about brain-based learning, and perceptions of brain-based learning are not significant predictors of their implementation of brain-based learning practices in K-12 classrooms. Results The results showed that the prediction model was statistically significant, F (4, 417) = 258.569, p �� .001, and accounted for 71% of the variance of implementation of brain-based learning practices (R2 = .713, Adjusted R2 = .710). Implementation of brainbased learning practices was found to be significantly predicted by perception (β = .541, t = 10.623, sig. = .000) and by knowledge (β = .337, t = 6.586, sig. = .000), with perception predicting K-12 teachers’ implementation of brain-based learning practices in classroom 1.6 times more than knowledge. However, the results show that years of teaching experience and gender were not significant predictors of K-12 teachers’ implementation of brain-based learning practices in the classroom. Conclusion From this evidence, it was concluded that, in general, K-12 teachers will be more willing to implement brain-based learning practices in the classroom provided their perceptions and knowledge about it are improved. Another conclusion is that improving teachers’ perceptions and knowledge about brain-based learning, as opposed to emphasizing federally mandated test scores, are current motivating factors for improvements in teaching. Thus, in order to revamp teaching within K-12 public schools, reformers should seek to improve teachers’ perceptions and knowledge as necessary components of the implementation of brain-based learning processes with primary emphasis on teachers’ perception of brain-based learning practices