EDED20502 - Learning and Memory: Understandings from Educational Neuroscience

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

Learning and memory is fundamental to the work of educators and human service workers and indeed in most professional practice contexts including working with young people. The neuroscience of memory has shifted the traditional educational paradigm into a new neural paradigm – understanding the brain as a network of neural activation patterns. This Unit focusses on contemporary understandings of how the brain works and develops by responding to external and internal stimuli, and how the brain functions to create, consolidate, store and retrieve memories. You will develop understanding of the neural basis of fear, support, overprotection, repetition, social interaction and neural proliferations as well as the consolidation and priority of neural networks to enhance both memory and expertise. Overall, you will extend your knowledge on practical ways to support the development of a well-integrated, socially responsible, thriving person. This has profound implications for your practices as you understand how information flows in the brain and use that to maximise impact on learning and memory formation and consolidation.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026


Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 0%
2. Project (applied) 0%

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2020 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 37.5% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Students and staff.
Feedback:
 Continue high quality courseware and assessments.

Recommendation:
 Continue to have engaging and high quality courseware that is contemporary in the field.

Action Taken:
 This unit has been included in the Masters of Educational Neuroscience BeDifferent course. We have ensured that contemporary readings and activities have been included to provide student engagement
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Identify the fundamentals of the physiology of the brain and to explain how these relate to memory and learning
  2. Analyse critically, reflect on and synthesise the types of memory and the processes involved in memory formation, consolidation and retrieval
  3. Research and apply concepts and key ideas from the neuroscience of memory and learning in professional practice contexts
  4. Interpret and transmit expert knowledge, skills and ideas to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

N/A

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
2 - Project (applied) • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Knowledge • • • •
2 - Communication • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • •
4 - Research • • •
7 - Leadership •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •
2 - Project (applied) • • • • • •