OXFORD, Miss. – A leading figure in educational neuroscience will share her findings on brain research and instruction Thursday (April 10) at the University of Mississippi.
Tulane University researcher Janet “Dr. Z” Zadina is the keynote speaker for “Accessing the Reward Pathways of the Brain: Promoting Learning & Retention.” She plans to discuss “Learning and the Brain: The Pathways Model” and “Teaching and Learning in the Aftermath of Natural Disaster or Trauma.”
The free event begins at 8:30 a.m. in the South Stadium Club of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Sponsors include the university’s schools of Applied Sciences and Education, Department of Athletics, Office of Outreach, FasTrack Program, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, the Dr. Maxine Harper Center for Educational Research and Evaluation, and EDHE 101: Academic Skills for College.
Due to limited seating, registration is required. Zadina will have books available for purchase and will conduct a brief autograph session.
“Eight departments came together to bring this event to the University of Mississippi,” said Derek Cowherd, senior associate athletic director for academic support and event coordinator. “I am most proud of that partnership, which we hope will help professors, advisers and staff tap into student motivations and how the brain functions under stress, duress and even praise.
“Dr. Zadina is one of the most interesting presenters that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing speak on the subject of at-risk student academic support. I look forward to hearing her new research on how academic administrators should reformat their teaching styles and classrooms in order to realize great academic achievement through accessing the reward pathways of the brain.”
Zadina combines humor, music and audience participation, and she engages and empowers educators with a basic understanding of the brain’s learning processes. Attendees will look inside the brain, discover principles for instruction based on brain research and acquire strategies for addressing learning differences in the classroom.
After 20 years teaching at both high school and college levels, Zadina became a cognitive neuroscientist. She bridges the fields of education and neuroscience through her work as a researcher, teacher, author and international speaker.
Zadina received her doctorate in the College of Education at the University of New Orleans, conducting her award-winning dissertation research on the neuroanatomy of dyslexia through collaboration with Tulane University School of Medicine. She continued her postdoctoral education with a fellowship in cognitive neuroscience in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at the TU School of Medicine, where she researched neuroanatomical risk factors for developmental language disorders through MRI brain scans.
A Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations Fellow, Zadina is also the winner of the Society for Neuroscience Science Educator Award given to “an outstanding neuroscientist who has made a significant impact in informing the public about neuroscience.” She has given a TEDx talk and is the author of several books, including “Six Weeks to a Brain-Compatible Classroom: A Workbook for Educators.”