-How can current fi ndings in neuroscience help educators identify particular cognitive strengths in students? In this commentary on Immordino-Yang ' s research regarding Nico and Brooke, I make 3 primary assertions: (a) the cognitive science community needs to develop an accessible language and mode of communicating applicable research to educators, (b) educators need proper professional development in order to understand and relate current research fi ndings to practice in the classroom, and (c) the specifi c research on Nico and Brooke clearly suggests that educators need to rethink the classroom as a place not of problem solving but rather problem design in order to further understand and use the cognitive strengths of each individual student.For educators, there is still an open question as to how to effectively apply the research being conducted in the rapidly unfolding fi elds of cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychology to educational practice. How can educators best use such research in order to improve standard notions of classroom design? The assessment of the research on Nico and Brooke ( Immordino-Yang, 2007 ) provides a good fi rst example of generalizable neuropsychological principles from case studies that can be translated into practical application by educators. Specifi cally, through the way in which Nico and Brooke develop essential skills, educators can begin to see a shift from a classroom as a place of problem solving to one of active problem design. In using the research on Nico and Brooke in this manner, neuroscientifi c research receives practical grounded application in the classroom. Emerging from Immordino-Yang ' s research, this commentary addresses three critical areas: the neuroscientifi c community ' s approach to communicating results to educators, the necessity for professional development for educators, and how this particular research strongly suggests that classrooms should be thought of as places of problem design rather than the more traditional notion of problem solving.
COMMUNICATING AND USING RESEARCH RESULTSThe fi rst essential question raised by the research results regarding Nico and Brooke is, how can researchers best present their work to facilitate connections to education? Immordino-Yang ' s article makes several steps toward this goal. First, she directly and clearly relates the results of the research to principles of learning and describes Nico and Brooke as learners. Second, she applies the " developmental lens of an educator " ( Immordino-Yang, 2007 ), drawing applicable conclusions for education as the research unfolds and providing a much needed model for articulating principles that then can be extracted for application in the classroom. Third and related, the essay creates a dialogue, developing trust between researcher and educator. The assumption throughout the writing is that the information provided by the study is accessible and applicable to all educators who 1 Head of School, Milken Community High School