We’ve been hearing plenty about brain-based learning, but much of what we hear can be confusing. Not only are there arguments about how well brain-based learning works, there are arguments about whether such a thing such as brain-based learning exists at all.

Like so much other recent brain-related news, discussions about brain-based learning have been sparked by the boom in brain science over the past 15 years. With so much new information about the brain filtering into the mainstream, educators have been understandably eager to put to use in the classroom whatever they can.

The rush to use this information in the classroom, however, can be a problem and do more harm to education than good, says Dr. John Bruer, author of The Myth of the First Three Years and president of the James S. McDonnell Foundation, which supports research and education related to the brain. Brain science, says Bruer, can tell us very little about how the brain learns and it is far too early to take what we know at this point and plug it into our curriculum.

“Most of the brain research is very far from what goes on in the classroom,” says Dr. Kurt Fischer, the Charles Bigelow Professor of Education and director of the mind, brain, and education concentration at the Harvard School of Education.