A Synthesis of Research on Brain-Based Learning

Abstract

This research aims to the characteristics of the research on Brain-Based Learning (BBL) among students and to analyze the effect sizes based on educational level and subject area. The researchers that were synthesized were graduate theses from Universities in Thailand that focused on Brain-Based Learning, which were retrieved from the Thailis research database, a digital collection of full-text documents. The search yielded a total of 50 researches. The research instrument used a checklist-style synthesis form that covered the following aspects: 1) institution 2) academic year 3) subject 4) level of the population or sample group 5) field of study 6) sampling method 7) number of dependent variables 8) dependent variables 9) research design 10) experimental design 11) data collection tools 12) basic statistics used in the research 13) hypothesis testing statistics.

The result of the research characteristics about Brain-Based Learning (BBL) found that, Mahasarakham University had the highest proportion of Brain-Based Learning (36%). The field that produced the most research was Curriculum and Instruction (72%). The most research studies subject was English (30%). The most common sampling method was cluster random sampling (46%), and the research design was the One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design (58%). The research instrument is a test (42.39%). And regarding the effect sizes by educational level and subject area, the findings were as effect sizes across two key variables: educational level and subject area of the sample. For the subject area, the studies related to Arts, Music, and Performing Arts had the highest average effect size (4.51%). For educational level, the studies on secondary school students had the highest average effect size (3.76%).