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Equipping Minds: Applying a Biblically Based Curriculum for Improving Working Memory
Brown, Carol Thompson
Brown, Carol Thompson
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Abstract
EQUIPPING MINDS:
APPLYING A BIBLICALLY BASED CURRICULUM FOR
IMPROVING WORKING MEMORY
Carol Thompson Brown Ed.D.
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2016
Supervisor: Dr. Danny R. Bowen
Recent findings in neuroscience confirm the neuroplasticity of the brain.
There has been strong interest in applying these discoveries to learners with learning
disorders focusing on increasing working memory capacity. The aim of the present
study was to explore the effectiveness of cognitive intervention with the Equipping
Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum (EMCDC), based on Feuerstein’s theory of
structural cognitive modifiability. Feuerstein’s theory states that a learner’s cognitive
functioning can be modified through mediated learning. EMCDC is aimed at enhancing
processing, working memory, comprehension, and reasoning abilities. Participants were
learners with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) Learners were randomly assigned into
one of two groups. The active control group received small group intervention in
academic subjects an hour a day five times a week for 7 weeks. The training group
received small group intervention in the Equipping Minds Cognitive Development
Curriculum an hour a day five times a week for 7 weeks. Both groups were tested on
measures of working memory, verbal and nonverbal ability, and academic attainment
before training and re-tested on the same measures after training. Analysis of the pre-to
post-test scores demonstrated significant (p<0.05) advantage of the training over the
active control group on the KBIT-2 in verbal, nonverbal, and IQ composite, as well as far
transfer effects in science. This study’s design could be replicated in multiple educational
settings with other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Key words: Neuroplasticity, cognitive development, Feuerstein, Equipping Minds,
mediated learning, working memory, Specific Learning Disorders
Description
Date
2016-12-23