5 Research-Based Tips for Providing Students with Meaningful Feedback In recent years, research has confirmed what most teachers already knew: providing students with meaningful feedback can greatly enhance learning and improve student achievement. Professor James Pennebaker from the University of Texas at Austin has been researching the benefits of frequent testing and the feedback it leads to. He explains that in the history of the study of learning, the role of feedback has always been central. When people are trying to learn new skills, they must get some information that tells them whether or not they are doing the right thing. Learning in the classroom is no exception. The downside, of course, is that not all feedback is equally effective, and it can even be counterproductive, especially if it's presented in a solely negative or corrective way. So what exactly are the most effective ways to use feedback in educational settings? 1. For example, feedback like "Great job!" 2. 3. 4. 5.
Myth-Busting Differentiated Instruction: 3 Myths and 3 Truths In third grade, my daughter struggled with problems like 36 x 12, and she knew her multiplication facts. Fortunately, her math tutor recognized what was needed, and introduced the Lattice Method. For some educators, the Lattice Method is controversial. Just read some of the FB comments. As educators, we know that learning is not one size fits all, and what's best for some students may not be for others. Myth #1: DI is a collection of strategies. There are many books, workshops, and organizations offering "differentiated strategies" that, when used, will instantly have teachers differentiating for their students. Truth #1: DI is a lens for implementing any strategy in all pedagogies. Consider that effective teachers have a wealth of tools that they use to meet student needs. The RAFTs strategy helps students develop writing for a target audience and improving their authors' craft. Myth #2: DI is incompatible with standardized state testing. Myth #3: There is no research that supports DI.
Using Webb's Depth of Knowledge to Increase Rigor The word "rigor" is hard to avoid today, and it provokes strong reactions from educators. Policymakers tout its importance. Publishers promote it as a feature of their materials. But some teachers share the view of Joanne Yatvin, past president of the National Council for Teachers of English. Calculating Cognitive Depth For classroom teachers, the more important question is one of practice: how do we create rich environments where all students learn at a high level? Level 1: Recall and Reproduction Tasks at this level require recall of facts or rote application of simple procedures. Level 2: Skills and Concepts At this level, a student must make some decisions about his or her approach. Level 3: Strategic Thinking At this level of complexity, students must use planning and evidence, and thinking is more abstract. Level 4: Extended Thinking Level 4 tasks require the most complex cognitive effort. Recently, educators have begun applying Webb’s DoK to help them design better instruction.
Text Messaging in Class May Affect College Students' Learning | Global Digital Citizen Foundation ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2012) www.sciencedaily.com College students who frequently text message during class have difficulty staying attentive to classroom lectures and consequently risk having poor learning outcomes, finds a new study accepted for publication in the National Communication Association's journal Communication Education. "We know from our past research that college students who are regular text users habitually engage in text messaging during class lectures," said the study's principal author, Fang-Yi Flora Wei, Ph.D., assistant professor of broadcast communications at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. "Now we see that in-class texting partially interferes with a student's ability to pay attention, which prior studies show is necessary for effective cognitive learning." In the new study, University of Pittsburgh-Bradford students who were enrolled in selected undergraduate general education classes completed an anonymous questionnaire at the end of the semester.
4 Big Things Transformational Teachers Do The key to transformational teaching is not reacting, but rather a grinding obsession with analysis and preparation. Lee Shulman, as reported by Marge Scherer, suggests that expert teachers -- despite enormous challenges --demonstrate: Cognitive understanding of how students learn; emotional preparation to relate to many students whose varied needs are not always evident; content knowledge from which to draw different ways to present a concept; and, finally, the ability to make teaching decisions quickly and act on them. So how do they do that? Let's break it down. 1. Instructors tend to use one of two instructional orientations: Transmission: Where "the teacher's role is to prepare and transmit information to learners" and "the learners' role is to receive, store, and act upon this information." What Does Transformational Teaching Look Like? Have students ask questions and solve real-world problems. I learn best when the teacher is hands on and doesn't just talk at me. 2. 3. 4.
Taking Notes By Hand May Be Better Than Digitally, Researchers Say Laptops are common in lecture halls worldwide. Students hear a lecture at the Johann Wolfang Goethe-University on Oct. 13, 2014, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images Laptops are common in lecture halls worldwide. As laptops become smaller and more ubiquitous, and with the advent of tablets, the idea of taking notes by hand just seems old-fashioned to many students today. For one thing, research shows that laptops and tablets have a tendency to be distracting — it's so easy to click over to Facebook in that dull lecture. In the study published in Psychological Science, Pam A. "When people type their notes, they have this tendency to try to take verbatim notes and write down as much of the lecture as they can," Mueller tells NPR's Rachel Martin. Mueller and Oppenheimer cited that note-taking can be categorized two ways: generative and nongenerative. But the students taking notes by hand still performed better.
Designing Professional Learning The Designing Professional Learning report provides a snapshot of the key elements involved in creating effective and engaging professional learning in a globally dispersed market. Whether you are developing professional learning from scratch, enhancing an existing program or evaluating professional learning for yourself or others, the Designing Professional Learning report provides detailed guidance on how to configure and/or evaluate your own context-specific model/s. Following analysis of a broad range of professional learning activities, a Learning Design Anatomy was developed to provide a framework for understanding the elements of effective professional learning. Each learning design element is framed by a detailed series of questions that challenge users to refine and clarify aims, intended learning outcomes and the most effective ways in which to engage—taking into consideration the unique context for learning. Designing Professional Learning report 778KB PDF International Partners
Autism: How Taylor Swift helps Fletcher, 8, learn Updated Like most kids, Fletcher Cox loves pop music. Key points: The number of kids registered for home schooling has doubled in some statesMost special needs schools only admit children with an IQ below 70Some families of children on the spectrum say home schooling is their only choice But for this eight-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande are his whole world. So much so that his mum Sarah-Jane Cox has built his home-school curriculum around his music idols. "If I were to say, 'we've got four oranges and six oranges. "But if I said to him, 'Madonna's on the stage. The decision to remove Fletcher from mainstream school two years ago was not an easy one for Ms Cox. "I did it out of desperation. "It was just really sad. "If you'd have seen the fear and absolute anxiety in my child — the actual terror of sending him to school — I couldn't do it again." Now she can educate Fletcher in a way she believes works for his mind. "I understand him.
Resources and Downloads for Teaching Critical Thinking Tips for downloading: PDF files can be viewed on a wide variety of platforms -- both as a browser plug-in or a stand-alone application -- with Adobe's free Acrobat Reader program. Click here to download the latest version of Adobe Reader. Click on any title link below to view or download that file. Resources On This Page: Lesson Plans & Rubrics KIPP King Curriculum Planning Guide <img height="12" width="11" class="media-image media-element file-content-image" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content_image_breakpoints_theme_edutopia_desktop_1x/public/content/08/pdficon.gif? Back to Top Tools for Critical Thinking Scope and Sequence, Speech and Composition <img alt="" title="" class="media-image" width="11" height="12" src="/sites/default/files/styles/content_image_breakpoints_theme_edutopia_desktop_1x/public/content/08/pdficon.gif? Culture at KIPP