Tags
ADHD adolescence art education attention bilingual education boundary conditions classroom advice collaboration creativity desirable difficulty development diet elementary school embodied cognition emotion evolution exercise experts and novices gender high school homework intelligence long-term memory metacognition methodology middle school mind-wandering mindfulness Mindset motivation neuromyths neuroscience neurotransmitters parents pre-K psychology reading retrieval practice self-control skepticism sleep STEM stress technology working memoryRecent Comments
- landb on Research on Note-Taking: A Teachable Skill
- Beatriz Rodriguez on Research on Note-Taking: A Teachable Skill
- Nini White on Helping Today’s Students Have More Open Minds
- Ellen on Montessori: The New Science behind a Century-Old Methodology (part I)
- Kathleen Valentine on Just Not a Useful Debate: Learning Styles Theory [Updated]
ABOUT THE BLOG
POPULAR TOPICS
Blog Roll
Tag Archives: classroom advice
Using and Misusing Averages: The Benefits of Music?
The “10 Minute Rule” tells us that people can’t pay attention to something for longer than ten minutes. As teachers, therefore, we shouldn’t do any one thing for longer than ten minutes. We need to mix it up a bit.
Does Hands-On Learning Benefit Science Students?
In a recent study, hands-on learning and other inquiry strategies did not help 4th graders master science concepts. The reason? Working memory limitations. Continue reading
Research on Note-Taking: A Teachable Skill
Over at the Cult of Pedagogy, Jennifer Gonzalez has a FANTASTIC post summarizing lots of research on note-taking. Some headlines: Note-taking is a skill we should teach. Visuals improve notes. Pauses for revision and reflection help a lot. I should
What’s the Best Timing for Collaborative Learning?
Learning can be a lonely business. Does collaborative learning help students? If yes, what guidelines should teachers follow? Collaborative Learning: Benefits and Detriments Overall, we’ve got lots of research suggesting that collaboration helps students learn. And, happily, it doesn’t cost
Improve Your Syllabus & Lesson Plan With “Prior Knowledge”
By explicitly including prior knowledge in our lesson plans, we can help students learn new material more effective. And, this effect might explain the syllabus-level benefits of spreading practice out over time: the “spacing effect.” Continue reading
Don’t Just Do This Thing; Think This Way
Do hard-to-read fonts improve learning? The answer is: that’s the wrong question. Instead, we should ask: how can we set the right level of difficulty as students learn material? And: are hard-to-read fonts a useful tool in getting to that level. Only the classroom teacher can answer those questions. Continue reading
Just Not a Useful Debate: Learning Styles Theory [Updated]
At one of the first Learning and the Brain conferences I attended, a speaker briefly mentioned that learning styles theory doesn’t have much good evidence to support it. That comment turned into a heated debate. Several attendees asked vexed, unhappy
Putting Research to Work in the Classroom: Success?
Some study habits have been shown to work in psychology labs. Do they work in college classrooms? A recent study shows that “retrieval practice” clearly helps students learn. The findings on “the spacing effect” are harder to interpret… Continue reading
Posted in L&B Blog
Tagged classroom advice, desirable difficulty, retrieval practice
Leave a comment
The Best Way to Take Notes: More Feisty Debate
When teachers contemplate asking students to take longhand notes, we should think about the level of desirable difficulty this strategy creates. We should also beware the working memory challenges inherent in note-taking, especially on complex material. Continue reading
The Great Homework Debate: Working Memory Disadvantage?
New research into working memory might give teachers fresh perspective in the great homework debate. Well-designed homework might make new words and concepts easier to learn, because the right kind of practice can reduce differences between high- and low-working-memory students. Continue reading