Year 9 Geelong College students were again fortunate to be involved in the Cognizance Project run by Independent Schools Victoria in collaboration with neuroscientist and former teacher Dr Jared Cooney-Horvath. Additionally, eight Geelong College teachers were involved in the project. They received additional information and training and followed up with students after each session. The teachers were very positive about the experience noting that the lessons were easily applicable to students of all ages and would have a transformative impact on their own teaching choices.

In Terms 1 and 2, students enjoyed a series of "Hacking the Brain" sessions designed to inform and empower students to take agency over their learning by understanding metacognition. Students learned about the importance of stories, the basics of neuroplasticity, how the brain deals with errors and the role of memory in four lessons Get your mind right, Master the hardware, Gaming the system, and finally, Owning your learning. Due to high levels of student absences due to illness and Dr Horvath's departure to the US, we used a combination of in-person visits, recorded sessions and Teams Calls. The resources remain available to students to rewatch if interested. Parents had two opportunities to hear about the program from Dr Horvath via Teams meetings.

I asked some questions of Year 9 student Kaitlin Dinnock who explained her key learnings from the project.

In your own words, what was the program about? Why do you think we want Year 9 students to do this program? I think this program was about learning how to use our brains to our full potential and to take that and apply it to our advantage for learning/studying at school. I think the school wants Yr 9's for this project because we have never done exams before, and studying for 5 to 6 subjects all at once can be quite overwhelming and stressful, so I think Cognizance helps us in figuring out how to do that so we can be ready and feel prepared for our exams.

What did you enjoy about the program? What I enjoyed about this program was learning about what types of tricks our brains can do and then actually having a hands-on activity where we put that theory/ research to the test to see if we can do it.

What information surprised you? The information that surprised me was how adaptive and versatile our brains can be to a situation, for example, learning about neuroplasticity and how the brain can use it when someone loses half of their brain.

What were the key ideas that stood out for you? Some key ideas that stood out for me is that our brains can't do two things at once so multitasking won't help when doing work or studying, that in order to learn better we need to embrace our mistakes and not just forget about them and move on, and that we need to have an open mind while learning and taking in information.

How will this information impact your future learning/ revision? This information will impact my future learning as I now know I have complete control over how I use my brain and how I use it to take in and recall information given to me. I also learnt about how I should study and which ways I can get the most out of it. Jared said, "if you think you can do something or think you can't do something, you're right".

What do you think he meant by that? I think he meant that if we put our mind to something, then we are going to do exactly that; if you are constantly thinking that you're going to fail an upcoming test or something, then you're going to fail it. You must have the right mindset if you want to accomplish or do something because if not, you will only manage to achieve what you doubt yourself in.

From a teaching perspective, it has been interesting to note the positive impact of this program and Dr Horvath's work with our students and the professional development of teachers at all year levels across the four years of our involvement. He has had a significant positive cultural impact on our teaching and learning. From a practical perspective, I no longer have to argue with students about the myth of multitasking, and they understand the impact of their choices to maximize their capacity to learn and retain information. Students better understand note-taking, the importance of clear goals, the effect of external influences such as study spaces and music while studying, focus in class and effective active revision strategies. They understand that memory is not random but has rules they can use, and their beliefs can both positively and negatively influence their learning. Importantly students learn that mistakes they make are not something to be embarrassed about but rather a way to improve their thinking and learning.

Thanks to Dr Horvath, ISV, supporting staff and students for what was again a rewarding and valuable learning experience.

Melissa Barnes, Senior School Leader of Learning