A new method of teaching called modeling has grabbed the attention of teachers at Cary Academy. Consequently, the school hosted the first Southeastern conference on learning and the brain April 19-20, the only one specifically focused on modeling and the mental reasoning behind it.

The Brain Conference was intended to introduce teachers and educators from far and wide to the relatively new teaching method of modeling and to the brain-science behind it.

“It’s really not being used very extensively in schools yet,” said Dr. Robert Greenleaf, the conference’s keynote speaker, who runs three other brain and learning conferences around the world.

Modeling originated in physics classes. Many of us may remember the days of cramming formulas into our heads before a math or physics test. Modeling has physics teachers like Dr. Matt Greenwolfe at Cary Academy, as well as teachers in other subjects, working without textbooks or lectures.

In a traditional physics class, teachers lecture with the aid of textbooks. With modeling, the teacher demonstrates a situation, such as momentum, for example, and has the students gather in groups and investigate. Eventually, with the use of discussion, graphs, diagrams and the teacher’s guidance, the students would develop their own model on momentum.

“We don’t tell the students what they’re going to find,” said Ned Hamilton, a computer science teacher at Cary Academy who has recently begun to employ modeling in his class. “If you discover a way to learn yourself, you’re going to retain it much longer than a formula,” he said.

Modeling students don’t memorize formulas but experience the knowledge first-hand. According to Greenleaf, our brains naturally learn through mental visualization. Therefore, visual and hands-on learning should be more effective. Some teachers at Cary Academy have seen a rise in Advanced Placement scores with students who have been taught through modeling.

Educators and teachers from high schools within 150 miles were invited to the conference, along with private schools in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Prior to the conference, there were 650 people set to attend.

Greenleaf, who studies the question “how do we help the student population learn faster, better and longer?” spoke at the conference on the brain science behind modeling.

“My role is going to be to set the stage from a neuro-science perspective,” Greenleaf said last week.

Greenleaf, who has a doctorate in education and is an expert in teaching methodology, was first informed about modeling by Hamilton. Since then, Greenleaf has been researching modeling and its effectiveness.

“Everyone I’ve spoken with about this [modeling] would not go back to conventional methods,” Greenleaf said.

What makes Cary Academy an expert in the realm of modeling and a perfect location for the Brain Conference is that it appears to be the first school in the nation that has successfully applied modeling in non-science classes like English and History.

“We haven’t found anybody else doing it,” Hamilton said.