--- title: "Learning By Doing: The Neurology of Math" description: Mathematics is more than a set of rules. It's a system for understanding the world around us. image: https://2024.mindresearch.org/hubfs/Blog_Assets/Images/neurology.png --- [![](https://2024.mindresearch.org/hs-fs/hubfs/MIND-logo-2018.jpg?width=1701&height=623&name=MIND-logo-2018.jpg)](http://www.mindresearch.org/) [![mind logo](https://2024.mindresearch.org/hubfs/graphics/logos/MIND-logos-color2.svg)](https://www.mindeducation.org/) [![mind white logo](https://2024.mindresearch.org/hubfs/graphics/logos/MIND-logos-white2.svg)](https://www.mindeducation.org/) - [Our Approach](https://2024.mindresearch.org/our-approach) - [Why MIND?](https://2024.mindresearch.org/why-math-education) - [Our Research](https://2024.mindresearch.org/our-research) - [Our Patents](https://2024.mindresearch.org/patents) - [Our Impact](https://2024.mindresearch.org/impact) - [Our Partners](https://2024.mindresearch.org/partners) - [Partner Stories](https://2024.mindresearch.org/partner-stories) - Our Programs - [ST Math](http://www.stmath.com/) - [InsightMath](http://www.insightmath.com/) - [MathMINDs](https://www.mindresearch.org/mathminds) - [Life at MIND](https://2024.mindresearch.org/careers) - Resources - [Blog](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog) - [Math Discourse](https://2024.mindresearch.org/puzzletalks) - [Podcast](https://2024.mindresearch.org/edtech-podcast) - [News](https://2024.mindresearch.org/news) - [Activities](https://2024.mindresearch.org/stem-resources) - [Donate](https://store.mindresearch.org/pages/donate) **Student privacy****:** learn more about our commitment to keeping students safe [Read More](https://www.mindresearch.org/privacy-policy) ![MIND-on-Math_Blog-Header-5](https://2024.mindresearch.org/hs-fs/hubfs/graphics/headers/_blog-headers/MIND-on-Math_Blog-Header-5.png?width=2000&height=667&name=MIND-on-Math_Blog-Header-5.png "MIND-on-Math_Blog-Header-5") Category Community Teaching & Learning Technology & Games Research & Outcomes Neuroscience Celebrations & Successes [![Subscribe](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/237516/a35fb57d-2960-4554-a0f3-e7bb5946fc70.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/237516/a35fb57d-2960-4554-a0f3-e7bb5946fc70) [Research & Outcomes](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/topic/research-outcomes) # Learning By Doing: The Neurology of Math By [Guest Blogger](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/author/guest-blogger) - - - - - [mailto:?subject=Learning%20By%20Doing:%20The%20Neurology%20of%20Math&body=Learning%20By%20Doing:%20The%20Neurology%20of%20Math%20https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/bid/373826/Learning-By-Doing-The-Neurology-of-Math](mailto:?subject=Learning%20By%20Doing:%20The%20Neurology%20of%20Math&body=Learning%20By%20Doing:%20The%20Neurology%20of%20Math%20https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/bid/373826/Learning-By-Doing-The-Neurology-of-Math) - *By Tom Vander Ark, Getting Smart*   “Schemas are context-sensitive connections that help us understand,” said Matthew Peterson, Chief Scientist and co-founder of [MIND Research Institute](http://www.mindresearch.org/) at a recent [Neuroscience Symposium](http://gettingsmart.com/cms/news/neuroscience-symposium/).  “Experiences that build and apply these connections are called learning.” “You have to do stuff, you can’t learn passively,” said Dr. Peterson who led an audience of superintendents through a series of hands on learning by doing challenges including building a life-sized brain replica from a bag of goodies. Mathematics is more than a set of rules; it is more than a language; it is a system for understanding the world around us.  “Schemas have to be built, you’re not born with them,” said Peterson.  Schemas, or mental models, take lots of practice and feedback to develop.  Children (and adults) learn by creating and testing hypotheses. Feedback from these trials is added to how we understand parts of the world. Peterson created a sequence of experiences where symposium participants encountered word puzzles and didn’t have a schema for interpreting them or, in other cases, attempted to apply a wrong schema.  Participants learned a new language for interpreting and communicating human movement.  Like learning Braille, the language of choreography was a schema few had considered. The empathy moment—where panic and confusion cut a path to long-term memory—three hours into the session was when Peterson noted “those feelings of confusion are common for learners new to a subject.”  When students learn math they experience the same panic and confusion from struggling to develop a new schema or applying a wrong schema. It’s not that confusion is bad.  In fact, [confusion is a good sign](http://blog.mindresearch.org/blog/bid/376764/How-Teachers-Can-Use-Digital-Technologies-to-Motivate-Students-and-Encourage-Learning-By-Failing) that a learner has developed and applied a schema—they just didn’t get the expected result.  It’s this process of testing and revising understanding that promotes critical thinking, the ability to generalize, and sound mental models. Peterson designed ST Math as a sequence of challenging games that require students to develop and test hypotheses.  The games are linked in a way that promotes the ability to learn by doing and generalize from a developing schema. Last year MIND Research Institute, an Orange County nonprofit, introduced ST Math for iPad.  They redeveloped over 800 games for the touch screens.  The change took time but it wasn’t a stretch because the intuitive challenges are a natural on the touch screen.  “It’s like touch finally caught up with us,” said Andrew Coulson, president of the Education Division at MIND. ST Math uses a simple premise—move JiJi the penguin across the screen. The challenges get increasingly difficult as students build their understanding of how math works. With a couple of 45-minute sessions a week, it produces great results.  In over 1700 schools serving a half a million students, ST Math consistently boosts the percentage of students achieving math proficiency. ST Math is a supplemental approach to K-8 math, but the MIND Research team is hard at work at a revolutionary core algebra product. “We can get all students to generalize.” said Peterson.  He thinks there is a good chance to engineer pathways that dramatically increase the percentage of students proficient in math—and do it in this decade. He also believes the concept of “schema is important to [Common Core State Standards](http://www.mindresearch.org/stmath/standards/),” noting their insistence on fewer concepts and deeper learning.   Peterson is taking his deep appreciation for how children learn to the challenge of preparing more students to be college and career ready. For more on Peterson and ST Math, see this [Psychology Today profile](http://gettingsmart.com/cms/blog/2012/10/teaching-without-words-a-conversation-with-researcher-matthew-petersen/). If you want to do some schema skimming, here are a few references: - Anderson, Richard C. 1984. “Role of the Reader’s Schema in Comprehension, Learning, and Memory.” In Learning to Read in American Schools: Basal Readers and Content Texts, ed. Richard C. Anderson, Jean Osborn, and Robert J. Tierney. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. - Brewer, William F. 1987. ”Schemas Versus Mental Models in Human Memory.” In Modeling Cognition, ed. Peter Morris. Chichester, Eng.: Wiley. - Brewer, William F. 2000. ”Bartlett’s Concept of the Schema and Its Impact on Theories of Knowledge Representation in Contemporary Cognitive Psychology.” In Bartlett, Culture and Cognition, ed. Akiko Saito. Hove, Eng.: Psychology Press.   *Tom Vander Ark is CEO of Getting Smart and author of Getting Smart: How Digital Learning Is Changing the World. Follow him on Twitter at @TVanderArk.* *This post was originally published on [GettingSmart.com](http://gettingsmart.com/2013/03/learning-by-doing-the-neurology-of-math/)* *[![Learn More About Scheme Building](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/237516/79368129-7d25-433a-a8ef-8f7a48bd9c2f.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/237516/79368129-7d25-433a-a8ef-8f7a48bd9c2f)* ![Guest Blogger](https://2024.mindresearch.org/hubfs/Graphics/jiji_wave.png) ### About the Author MIND Research Institute welcomes guest blogs that highlight best practices in math education, blended learning and innovative learning strategies that inspire students at all ages. ### Comment #### [How a Penguin Changed My Career](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/bid/372846/how-a-penguin-changed-my-career) [Digging Deep: Conference Shares Brain Science Research](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/bid/374202/Digging-Deep-Conference-Shares-Brain-Science-Research) ### Search Result By: ![feature image](https://2024.mindresearch.org/hubfs/Blog/Images/Inside-our-Minds-logo-teal-800x800.png) [Featured Podcast](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/topic/featured-podcast) ### [Rethinking Attendance in Edtech](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/rethinking-attendance-in-edtech) [Listen Now](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/rethinking-attendance-in-edtech) ##### LATEST PODCAST EPISODES ###### BY MIND RESEARCH INSTITUTE - [Rethinking Attendance in Edtech](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/rethinking-attendance-in-edtech) - [People, Process, and Penguins: Designing Math Experiences](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/people-process-penguins) - [Bridging STEM Gaps with STEMconnector CEO Jo Webber](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/bridging-stem-gaps-with-stemconnector-ceo-jo-webber) - [The EdTech Genome Project: Talking Implementation with Elizabeth Birie](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/edtech-genome-project) - [From Meeting the Moment to Foundational Change](https://2024.mindresearch.org/blog/from-meeting-the-moment-to-foundational-change) ##### [See all podcasts](https://www.mindresearch.org/edtech-podcast) ## Interested in Contributing? 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