gerard atkin @Gerry274

Dr Michael Johnston @theplatform_nz on single-sex schools, structured literacy, and academic freedom: youtube.com/watch?v=B8Lcmo…

nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-me…

To mark the publication of the 2nd edition of How Learning Happens we are giving away a 5 copies of the book. Simply retweet this to be included in the draw.

The article "Putting Students on the Path to Learning: The Case for Fully Guided Instruction" by Richard E. Clark, Paul A. Kirschner, and John Sweller argues for fully guided explicit instruction over minimally guided approaches like pure discovery learning. The authors present extensive research evidence supporting guided instructional techniques as more effective for novice learners. This includes Mayer's review finding unguided discovery techniques less effective than guided approaches for novices across studies from the 1950s to 1980s. Each cycle a new term like discovery learning was replaced by problem-based learning, but the techniques fared poorly. Controlled experiments by Klahr & Nigam also found direct instruction better than discovery learning for science topics. Tuovinen & Sweller demonstrated worked examples led to better learning outcomes than discovery. Additional evidence includes the worked example effect showing novices learn better from studying worked examples than solving equivalent problems themselves. This has been replicated across many domains. However, the expertise reversal effect shows that as experience grows, problem solving becomes better than worked examples. The authors argue minimally guided techniques can lead to novice frustration, incorrect discoveries requiring reteaching, and are generally less efficient, requiring more time to learn the same material. Research also shows less skilled learners benefit more from explicit guidance. The extensive research presented by Clark, Kirschner, and Sweller clearly supports their position that direct instructional guidance is more effective and efficient for teaching new information and skills to novice learners across contexts. The authors build a compelling case through decades of empirical evidence favoring guided approaches for novices. aft.org/sites/default/…

Project Follow Through was the most extensive educational experiment ever conducted. Despite Direct Instruction clearly outperforming other methods, it "was not endorsed or supported because the theory and methods espoused by Engelmann were inconsistent with the dominant thinking of American educators." psych.athabascau.ca/open/engelmann…

Interesting comments re what a curriculum should and shouldn't contain. The Scottish curriculum seems very similar to NZ's - lacking specific content and including pedagogy.

Bruce Robertson @BruceNextLevel

3 years ago

@daisychristo For anyone interested, here’s a snapshot of what ‘The Teaching Delusion 2’ says about the Scottish curriculum👇 “This is not a curriculum. The vagueness and ambiguity of the statements are prohibitive to anyone understanding what, specifically, students should be learning.”

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Kiwis take note! Sweden is ditching the devices in schools.

Carl Hendrick @C_Hendrick

3 years ago

“There’s clear scientific evidence that digital tools impair rather than enhance student learning,” theguardian.com/world/2023/sep…

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Alice Wilson: No child should be left out in the cold on literacy nzherald.co.nz/nz/alice-wilso…

***🚨GIVEAWAY🚨*** To celebrate the upcoming release of my new book 📖 I’m giving away a copy. Just retweet and like this post to enter! 😊 #PowerfulQuestioning

When I was writing our reports on the state of literacy in New Zealand last year, one factor I was certain was affecting young people’s literacy levels was their knowledge-base (or lack thereof) but I didn't have the evidence to support this. Now I do. ow.ly/XMW250NK1IE

📣 Here are ten quotes and important strategies from @DTWillingham book "Why Don't Students Like School?" that can help teachers improve student engagement and learning 🧵 1."Memory is the residue of thought." This means that students are more likely to remember information if they have actively thought about it, rather than simply hearing it. 2."People are naturally curious, but they are not naturally good thinkers." Teachers should tap into students' curiosity and provide them with opportunities to practice critical thinking skills. 3."Factual knowledge precedes skill." Students need a solid foundation of knowledge in a subject area before they can effectively apply critical thinking skills. 4."We understand new things in the context of things we already know." Teachers should make connections between new information and prior knowledge explicit for students. 5."Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent." Teachers should ensure that students are practicing skills correctly, rather than simply repeating mistakes. 6."Feedback should be more like a recipe than a verdict. A recipe describes how to make something better; it is an ideal to be aimed for, but the results depend on many factors, including individual differences among students and the complexity of the task. A verdict is a judgment about the worth of a product; it is final and leaves no room for improvement." Feedback should be specific and provide students with actionable steps for improvement. 7."The brain seeks patterns." Teachers should structure information in a way that highlights patterns and relationships. 8."People are more motivated when they feel competent and they feel competent when they experience success at challenging tasks." Teachers should provide students with opportunities to experience success and build their sense of competence. 9."People are better at remembering concrete, meaningful details than abstract details because concrete representations allow the memory to bind to other memories, making it easier to recall later." This quote refers to the idea that people remember things better when they can connect new information to something they already know or have experienced, rather than trying to remember abstract or disconnected concepts. By creating a concrete representation or association, the brain is better able to store and retrieve the information later." Teachers should use concrete examples and analogies to help students understand abstract concepts. 10."People are inherently social. We need other people, and we need to communicate with them. All of our brains are wired for social interaction." Teachers should create opportunities for collaboration and social interaction in the classroom. Overall, Willingham's book emphasises the importance of building a strong foundation of knowledge, providing opportunities for critical thinking and practice, offering specific and actionable feedback, making connections between new information and prior knowledge, and creating a supportive and collaborative classroom environment.

Finally, a paper on the the long term effects of knowledge-rich curriculums on reading scores. The effect lasts AND is MASSIVE on the achievement gap associated with income (though small sample size for this part)

Carl Hendrick @C_Hendrick

3 years ago

“There’s clear scientific evidence that digital tools impair rather than enhance student learning,” theguardian.com/world/2023/sep…

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Many men and boys today are struggling. At work, school, at home, in themselves. "We do need a positive script for masculinity, but it has to be compatible with gender equality," @RichardvReeves says. wbur.fm/3DXEJju

2/2 Now we need equivalent efforts to get more men into HEAL (health, education, administration & literacy) jobs and careers ofboysandmen.substack.com/p/men-can-heal

The @nzinitiative report on open plan classrooms is here bit.ly/3yI1ZAg

Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71

4 years ago

In ‘things we could have told you ten years ago’ news: No evidence behind innovative learning environments- new report on terrible idea open classrooms educationhq.com/news/no-eviden…

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NCEA Numeracy - a looming disaster mathmo.co.nz/2022/09/12/nce…

PISA-data only allows to speak about correlations, but this is something worth considering as there have been huge strides in access to digital technology, the access of poor families "...to cultural capital like paper books at home has diminished.”

MindShift @MindShiftKQED

4 years ago

Even among students of similar socioeconomic backgrounds, those who read books in a paper format scored a whopping 49 points higher on the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA. @jillbarshay @hechingerreport kqed.org/mindshift/5960…

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“….two studies demonstrate that learning letters through printing creates the network of activation that is known to underlie reading in adults – even before children can read.” Read this article in the @LD_Australia Bulletin to find out more. archive.ldaustralia.org/client/documen…

The number of young New Zealanders who vape every day has tripled in two years. This group includes young non-smokers who may not have started using any nicotine products if vapes hadn't been introduced, write @otago's @dr_lindsaybells and Janet Hoek. bit.ly/3nBukC8

“We have to be willing to fail, to be wrong, to start over again with lessons learned.” Watch Angela Lee Duckworth's full TED Talk here: t.ted.com/4RFJSg5