Effectiveness of Brain-Based Learning on Problem-Solving Skills and Visual-Spatial Active Memory of Preschool Boys with Specific Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of brain-based learning on problem-solving skills and visual-spatial working memory in preschool boys with specific learning disabilities in Isfahan City.

The research method was quasi-experimental with two groups of experimental and control, pre-test, post-test and follow-up. The statistical population consisted of all 6-year-old pre-school boy students in Isfahan in the academic year of 2018-2019. Accordingly, 30 children were selected through a two-stage cluster random sampling from the statistical population. Then  they were assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent 32 sessions of 45-minute brain-based training developed by Jensen (2000), Cain et al. (2005), and Springer (2010), while the control group did not receive any intervention. For evalution, the Tower of London Test, the Corsi Visual-Spatial Working Memory Test, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, and the Child Diagnosis Checklist for specific learning disabilities were used. The repeated measures analysis of variance was used for data analysis.

The results showed that brain training in problem-solving skills and visual-spatial working memory explained 27 and 31% of variance, respectively (P<0.05).

Learning based on focusing on brain activity, because of the emphasis on brain hemispheric activity,  is a positive and effective approach to improving the performance of learners with specific learning disabilities, so it can be used as dominant approach in pre-school education.