Change Magazine - September-October 2010 by Cedar Riener and Daniel Willingham There is no credible evidence that learning styles exist. While we will elaborate on this assertion, it is important to counteract the real harm that may be done by equivocating on the matter. In what follows, we will begin by defining “learning styles”; then we will address the claims made by those who believe that they exist, in the process acknowledging what we consider the valid claims of learning-styles theorists. But in separating the wheat from the pseudoscientific chaff in learning-styles theory, we will make clear that the wheat is contained in other educational approaches as well. What is a Learning Style? The claim at the center of learning-styles theory is this: Different students have different modes of learning, and their learning could be improved by matching one's teaching with that preferred learning mode. Which Claims of Learning-Styles Theorists are Correct? What Do Learning-Styles Theorists Get Wrong? Resources 1. 2. 3.
Rejecting Instructional Level Theory A third bit of evidence in the complex text issue has to do with the strength of evidence on the other side of the ledger. In my two previous posts, I have indicated why the common core is embracing the idea of teaching reading with much more complex texts. But what about the evidence that counters this approach? Many years ago, when I was a primary grade teacher, I was struggling to teach reading. I knew I was supposed to have groups for different levels of kids, but in those days information about how to make those grouping decisions was not imparted to mere undergraduates. So, I enrolled in a master’s degree program and started studying to be a reading specialist. I maintained my interest in this issue when I went off for my doctorate. He had (has) a great clinical sense and he was skeptical of my faith in the value of those instructional level results. For Jack, the combination of two such rough guestimates was very iffy stuff. Except that there is not. How can that be? P.S.
1st Annual MTSS Conference Evaluation Thank you for your interest in MTSS. Please take a few moments and provide your feedback regarding the 1st Annual MTSS Conference that was held March 13, 2012. As a result of the conference, do you feel you now have a better understanding of connections between the Massachusetts Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and the following? As a result of the conference do you feel you now have a better understanding of the core components of MTSS, including why both academic and non-academic components are essential? As a result of the conference do you feel you now have a better understanding of how to teach more effectively through considering the variability of learners (UDL)?
Anne Murphy Paul: Why Floundering Makes Learning Better Call it the “learning paradox”: the more you struggle and even fail while you’re trying to master new information, the better you’re likely to recall and apply that information later. The learning paradox is at the heart of “productive failure,” a phenomenon identified by Manu Kapur, a researcher at the Learning Sciences Lab at the National Institute of Education of Singapore. Kapur points out that while the model adopted by many teachers and employers when introducing others to new knowledge — providing lots of structure and guidance early on, until the students or workers show that they can do it on their own — makes intuitive sense, it may not be the best way to promote learning. Rather, it’s better to let the neophytes wrestle with the material on their own for a while, refraining from giving them any assistance at the start. (MORE: Paul: The Secret to Grace Under Pressure) With one group of students, the teacher provided strong “scaffolding” — instructional support — and feedback.
Rethinking Whole Class Discussion Whole class discussions are, after lecture, the second most frequently used teaching strategy, one mandated by the Common Core State Standards because of its many rewards: increased perspective-taking, understanding, empathy, and higher-order thinking, among others. These benefits, however, do not manifest without a skillful and knowledgeable facilitator. Unfortunately, a preponderance of evidence demonstrates that many teachers mistakenly conflate discussion with recitation. "Typical teacher-student discourse resembles a quiz show, with teachers asking a question, the student replying, and the teacher evaluating the student's response. This is called initiation-response-evaluation, 'I-R-E,' or recitation."1 In contrast to recitation, quality discussion, according to the University of Washington's Center for Instructional Development and Research, involves purposeful questions prepared in advance, assessment, and starting points for further conversations. Follow-Up Questions Notes
What is Working Memory and Why Does it Matter? Remember the day when someone rattled off a phone number while you just hoped against hope you'd recall the string of digits as you were dialing? That was working memory toiling away. With the advent of cell phones, you may no longer use it this way very often. But working memory still plays a central role in learning and our daily lives. If working memory is weak, it can trip up just about anyone. But it really works against a child with learning disabilities (LD). What Is Working Memory? Working memory is your brain's Post-it note, says Tracy Packiam Alloway, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. You can think of working memory as the active part of your memory system. Brief by design, working memory involves a short-term use of memory and attention, adds Matthew Cruger, PhD, neuropsychologist with the Learning and Diagnostics Center at the Child Mind Institute in New York City. Types of Working Memory
The Heart-Brain Connection: The Neuroscience of Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning Richard: Thank you all very, very much. It really is just a delight to be here and an honor to be considered a part of this amazing collaborative which I have been a champion and fan of from afar and it's just great to be here and, in a very short amount of time, share with you what has been some absolutely amazing work that has been going on in neuroscience and its relevance to social and emotional education. And if there's one take home message that I'd like you to walk away with from my presentation today it's that social-emotional learning changes the brain. We know that environmental factors influence and shape the brain. So, for those of you who are not used to looking at brains all the time I want to just show you a little bit about where these things occur in the brain, what these circuits are, and time does not permit me to spend a lot of time on this but I'll just tell you a little bit about this. So let me summarize and conclude. Question: How old is the child?
Waiting for the Real Superman: A Christian School Closes the Achievement Gap | This Is Our City Nearly 15 years ago, Russ Gregg began doubting that he understood what it meant to love his neighbor. Living in the Phillips neighborhood of urban Minneapolis, he commuted every day to the upscale suburb of Edina, where he was an administrator at the private Christian academy where his children attended school. The question—"Does it mean that everything I want for my children, I should want for my neighbor's children as well?"—began to haunt him. After resigning from his position in Edina, Gregg began the process of cofounding Hope Academy, a private K-12 Christian school in one of the most economically challenged, ethnically diverse regions of the Twin Cities. And it's hard to argue with the claim that something remarkable is happening here: Hope's 2010 "Hope by the Numbers" report indicates that its students, most of whom live in the surrounding neighborhoods, are performing at twice the level of the city's public school students.