NEUROMYTHS IN EDUCATION: A SURVEY IN ITALIAN TEACHERS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

Abstract

According to some authors, the diffusion of many neuromyths in the personal epistemologies of teachers attests the presence of conceptual confusion which often surrounds the application of neuroscience to education.

METHODS: Here we present an empirical replication and comparative study, conducted in Italy, in comparison with studies from other countries (United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Turkey, Greece and China) on neuromyths in personal epistemologies in school teachers with degrees in various disciplines. The selected sample consists of 140 teachers in initial training (83 females and 57 males with an average age of 31.5 years) for access to a teaching post in secondary school. Participants filled out a questionnaire consisting of seven neuromyths indicator questions present in didactic (e.g., We mostly only use 10% of our brain). Teachers were asked to indicate their levels of agreement with such statements reflecting several popular myths in neuroscience: “I agree”, “I don’t know” or “I disagree”.