Changes in Brain Volume Resulting from Cognitive Intervention by Means of the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Program in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI): A Pilot Study

There is increasing interest in identifying biological and imaging markers for the early detection of neurocognitive decline. In addition, non-pharmacological strategies, including physical exercise and cognitive interventions, may be beneficial for those developing cognitive impairment. The Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) Program is a cognitive intervention based on structural cognitive modifiability and the mediated learning experience (MLE) and aims to promote problem-solving strategies and metacognitive abilities. The FIE program uses a variety of instruments to enhance the cognitive capacity of the individual as a result of mediation. A specific version of the FIE program was developed for the cognitive enhancement of older adults, focusing on strengthening orientation skills, categorization skills, deductive reasoning, and memory. We performed a prospective interventional pilot observational study on older subjects with MCI who participated in 30 mediated FIE sessions (two sessions weekly for 15 weeks). Of the 23 subjects who completed the study, there was a significant improvement in memory on the NeuroTrax cognitive assessment battery. Complete sets of anatomical MRI data for voxel-based morphometry, taken at the beginning and the end of the study, were obtained from 16 participants (mean age 83.5 years). Voxel-based morphometry showed an interesting and unexpected increase in grey matter (GM) in the anterolateral occipital border and the middle cingulate cortex. These initial findings of our pilot study support the design of randomized trials to evaluate the effect of cognitive training using the FIE program on brain volumes and cognitive function.

Changes in Brain Volume Resulting from Cognitive Intervention by Means of the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Program in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI): A Pilot Study

There is increasing interest in identifying biological and imaging markers for the early detection of neurocognitive decline. In addition, non-pharmacological strategies including physical exercise and cognitive interventions may be beneficial for those developing cognitive impairment. The Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) Program is a cognitive intervention based on Structural Cognitive Modifiability and the Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) and aims to promote problem-solving strategies and metacognitive abilities. The FIE program uses a variety of instruments to enhance the cognitive capacity of the individual as a result of mediation. A specific version of the FIE program was developed for the cognitive enhancement of older adults, focusing on strengthening orientation skills, categorization skills, deductive reasoning and memory. We performed a prospective interventional pilot observational study on older subjects with MCI who participated in 30 mediated FIE sessions (two sessions weekly for 15 weeks). Of the 21 subjects who completed the study, there was a significant improvement in memory on the Neurotrax battery comparing pre- and post-intervention scores (pre: M=95.3, SD=12.2, post: M=101.2, SD=7.9, p<.05). Complete sets of anatomical MRI data for voxel-based morphometry, taken at the beginning and the end of the study, were obtained from 16 participants (mean age 83.5 years). Voxel-based morphometry showed an unexpected increase in grey matter (GM) in the anterolateral occipital border and the middle cingulate cortex. These initial findings of our pilot study support the design of randomized trials to evaluate the effect of cognitive training using the FIE Program on brain volumes and cognitive function.

Can an Educational Activity Program Based on Feuerstein’s Program and Gardner’s Theory Increase Excellence and Creativity in Math in Omani Students?

Excellence and creativity in mathematics are necessary requirements for the twenty-first century, and some countries have gone to build and develop new curricula for excellence and creativity. We prepared an activity program in mathematics based on Feuerstein's instrumental enrichment program and Gardner's multiple intelligences theory to increase excellence and creativity in mathematics for Omani students.We hypothesized that the success of previous programs based on the same foundations would generalize to Omani students. Inan experiment,the experimental group received a special training and the control group did not. We then checked whether the pretest-posttest gain was larger for the experimental group than for the control group. The study sample was comprised of an experimental group of n= 35 8th-grade girl students of class nr. 8/1 in Aesha bent Abu Bakr school in Salalah, Oman, and a control group of n= 36 of 8th-grade girl students of class nr. 8/3 in the same school.The differences in pretest-posttest gains were analyzed using t-tests, significance levels, correlations, and effect sizes.There were large and significant experimental effects in favor of the experimental group, showing these educational outcomes can be generalized to Oman.We note various limitations of the study and give various recommendations.

Why Teachers Need Metacognition Training?

The goal of this paper is to explore the cognitive and metacognitive skills of teachers engaged in cogni-tive training. One of the best-known stand-alone cognitive programs is "Instrumental Enrichment" (IE) developed by Feuerstein, Rand, Hoffman, and Miller. Similar to other cognitive programs, the main em-phasis on IE research has always been on the change that occurs in students' performance. Little is known of teachers' acquisition of IE problem-solving skills and even less of their metacognitive performance associated with this acquisition. In the present study, 28 teachers were pre-and post-tested before and after 90 hours of IE training. The tests included items similar but not identical to those used during the IE training. The analysis of pre-test problem solving demonstrated that a relatively large number of teachers experienced difficulty in solving at least some of the IE tasks. The even greater difficulty was observed in the teachers’ articulation of their problem-solving strategies in a written form. The comparison of pre-and post-test results indicates statistically significant improvement not only in the teachers’ cognitive problem solving but also in their metacognitive skills. These changes, however, did not reach the level of a complete cognitive or metacognitive mastery. The possible reasons for differences in the two sub-groups of teachers are discussed

The use of Instrumental Enrichment as a method to teach the analysis of the population pyramid to Grade 7 Geography students

Action research was conducted to improve the teaching of the analysis of the population pyramid to Grade 7 female Geography students. Instrumental Enrichment was selected as a tool to teach the analysis of the population pyramid. Firstly, the concept of a population pyramid was introduced and taught using an existing teaching method and a baseline assessment was conducted. Instrumental Enrichment was then introduced, and students used the tool to analyse four population pyramids. A concluding assessment measured the improvement in students’ ability to analyse the population pyramid. The use of Instrumental Enrichment did enhance the students’ understanding of the population pyramid. However, they were not able to use it consistently and independently. This agrees with Willingham (2009) that students remember what they think about and the findings of Bellaera (2017) and Adams (1991) that students are not able to develop critical thinking purely by interacting with the subject matter. A refinement of Instrumental Enrichment was proposed considering these principles.

The use of Instrumental Enrichment as a method to teach the analysis of the population pyramid to Grade 7 Geography students.

Action research was conducted to improve the teaching of the analysis of the population pyramid to Grade 7 female Geography students. Instrumental Enrichment was selected as a tool to teach the analysis of the population pyramid. Firstly, the concept of a population pyramid was introduced and taught using an existing teaching method and a baseline assessment was conducted. Instrumental Enrichment was then introduced, and students used the tool to analyse four population pyramids. A concluding assessment measured the improvement in students’ ability to analyse the population pyramid. The use of Instrumental Enrichment did enhance the students’ understanding of the population pyramid. However, they were not able to use it consistently and independently. This agrees with Willingham (2009) that students remember what they think about and the findings of Bellaera (2017) and Adams (1991) that students are not able to develop critical thinking purely by interacting with the subject matter. A refinement of Instrumental Enrichment was proposed considering these principles.

Implementation of Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Program in a Primary School in New Zealand

The Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) program was implemented in a primary school in New Zealand for 10 years old students with average educational ability. Targeted goals were to examine if the FIE program helped students to be less impulsive, plan well, and better in solving problems. The program started with 17 students for the first two school terms and from this group 8 students continued with two more school terms (one year). Results of this field study suggest that the 8 students who continued the FIE program made good gains in the targeted goals. This is only an exploratory project with a small sample of students and not a formal research study.