Research

The latest findings from experts in the field related to the future of learning.

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Report: Federal Rules Impede Competency-Based Learning

April 29, 2013 | 10:31 AM | By
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Competency-based learning, which allows students to progress at their own pace after they’ve shown mastery of a subject, rather than by their age, is quickly gaining momentum. Already, a few states like New Hampshire, Maine, and Oregon are moving towards implementing competency-based learning models throughout the entire state. What’s more, 40 states have at least district experimenting with the model. But despite this growth, its proponents say federal policies for accountability and assessment are holding the movement back.

KnowledgeWorks, an organization that supports three education-focused initiatives — New Tech Network, EDWorks and Strive — recently released a report highlighting the pain points between federal policy and a competency-based system. The report, Competency Education Series: Policy Brief One [PDF], points out that, although the federal government has supported some aspects of competency-based learning, implementing the new model can be difficult because of federal restrictions.

“The greatest conflict stems from disconnect with the work on the ground and federal accountability and assessment systems,” the report states. “Implementers faced with this disconnect have no choice but to juggle two systems: one required by federal law and one developed by the educators, students, parents, and community leaders committed to successful implementation of competency education.”

CLASHES OVER TIME

Time is the biggest point of contention between the two systems. The federal government measures school accountability as well as student achievement through time-based modules. Seat time and annual test results are the primary ways that the government keeps schools accountable, Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Culture, Learning Methods, Research, assessment, competency-based education, KnowledgeWorks, SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium

Giving Good Praise to Girls: What Messages Stick

April 24, 2013 | 8:00 AM | By
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How to praise kids: It’s a hot topic for many parents and educators. A lot of the conversation around it has stemmed from studies by Carol Dweck, professor of psychology at Stanford who has been researching this specific topic for many years.

“My research shows that praise for intelligence or ability backfires,” said Dweck, who co-authored a seminal research paper on the effects of praise on motivation and performance. “What we’ve shown is that when you praise someone, say, ‘You’re smart at this,’ the next time they struggle, they think they’re not. It’s really about praising the process they engage in, not how smart they are or how good they are at it, but taking on difficulty, trying many different strategies, sticking to it and achieving over time.”

But what some might not know is that this paradox is strongest for girls.

Dweck’s research, which focuses on what makes people seek challenging tasks, persist through difficulty and do well over time, has shown that many girls believe their abilities are fixed, that individuals are born with gifts and can’t change. Her research finds that when girls think this way, they often give up, rather than persisting through difficulties. They don’t think they possess the ability to improve, and nowhere is the phenomenon stronger than in math. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Culture, Learning Methods, Research, Carol Dweck, Failure, grit

How to (Once and For All) Correct Mistaken Beliefs

April 22, 2013 | 11:22 AM | By
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“Often mistaken, never in doubt.”

That wry phrase describes us all more than we’d like to admit. The psychological study of misconceptions shows that all of us possess many beliefs that are flawed or flat-out wrong—and also that we cling to these fallacies with remarkable tenacity. Although much of this research concerns misguided notions of how the physical world works, the techniques it has produced can be used to correct any sort of deficient understanding.

The most important thing to realize is that just telling isn’t enough. Most methods of instruction and training assume that if you provide students with the right information, it will replace any mistaken information they may already possess. But this just isn’t so. Especially when our previous beliefs (even though faulty) have proved useful to us, and when they appear to be confirmed by everyday experience, we are reluctant to let them go. Donna Alvermann, a language and literacy researcher at the University of Georgia, notes that in study after study, “students ignored correct textual information when it conflicted with their previously held concepts. On measures of free recall and recognition, the students consistently let their incorrect prior knowledge override incoming correct information.” It’s what our mothers called “in one ear and out the other.” Here, three ways to make that new information push out the old.

Highlight the mistaken notion. The simplest way to correct mistaken notions is to point them out as the accurate information is being presented. In a 2010 article in the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, researcher Christine Tippett offers an example from a science book for children: “Some people believe that a camel stores water in its hump. They think that the hump gets smaller as the camel uses up water.  But this idea is not true. The hump stores fat and grows smaller only if the camel has not eaten for a long time. A camel can also live for days Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Learning Methods, Research

Is It Possible to Measure Creativity?

April 20, 2013 | 9:00 AM | By

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Jeremy Rusnock/Courtesy Imagination Stage

By Elizabeth Blair, NPR

Let’s start with a question from a standardized test: “How would the world be different if we all had a third eye in the back of our heads?”

It’s not a typical standardized question, but as part of the Next Generation Creativity Survey, it’s used to help measure creativity a bit like an IQ test measures intelligence. And it’s not the only creativity test out there.

So why bother measuring creativity? James Catterall, a psychologist and director of the Centers for Research on Creativity in Los Angeles, says the simple answer is that if society, business and education demands it, then we need to know when it’s happening; otherwise, we’re just guessing when it’s there.

He says, “Measuring is an important aspect of knowing where our investments pay off.”

Troublemaker Or Misunderstood Creative Genius?

In the late 1950s, a man named E. Paul Torrance was similarly interested in children’s creativity. Torrance was a Georgia farm boy-turned-psychologist, and one of his first jobs was working with boys at a military academy. It was there that he began to see creativity as something that was Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Culture, Learning Methods, Research, creativity

In an Era of Global Competition, What Exactly Are We Testing For?

April 19, 2013 | 9:28 AM | By
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In this era of global competition, test scores are used as the primary benchmark to call out which countries will produce “successful” students. Knowing that American students are competing against a global pool of the best and brightest has led education leaders to focus more on how they score on international tests compared to students from other countries.

But high test scores don’t provide a complete picture of students’ success, according to Yong Zhao, world-renown author, scholar, and professor of education at University of Oregon.

“Countries that score highly, have students with lower confidence,” Zhao said in his keynote address to educators gathered online for the 2013 Leadership Summit.

That seems counter-intuitive, and Zhao isn’t claiming a causal connection — he questions whether focusing on test scores might inadvertently lower confidence. Zhao has analyzed data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and discovered a negative correlation between high math scores and confidence.

“Countries that score highly, have students with lower confidence.”

Similarly, in his analysis of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a test that analyzes how countries score in reading, math and science, Zhao found a negative correlation between attitude and attainment. In other words, the countries with lower scores had students who reported higher interest in the subjects. Zhao analyzed media stories from high scoring countries like Korea and Japan, where students don’t show enough confidence or enthusiasm for subjects in which they excel.

He found the same results when he looked at students’ belief in their entrepreneurial capacity, their ability to start businesses or be self-starters. “Everybody is trying to perfect this system and make Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Culture, Learning Methods, Research, assessment, collaborative learning, Common Core State Standards, global learning, personalized learning, Yong Zhao

Money Smarts: How to Promote Financial Literacy With Students

April 16, 2013 | 8:00 AM | By
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Those of us who just filed our taxes, or paid our bills, or calculated our monthly expenditures know the importance of having a solid base of financial literacy. For students, it’s just as important to have this base knowledge to prepare them for the real world, so in observation of Financial Literacy Month, here are a few resources to get those fiscal gears turning.

  • BETTER MONEY HABITS

The new BetterMoneyHabits.com is the result of a partnership between Bank of America and the Khan Academy. While the link between behemoth bank and startup nonprofit might seem a strange marriage of company cultures, the combination of the former’s reach and credibility with the latter’s experience developing online video resources makes logical sense.

So far, the site features a 13-video selection on topics more likely suitable for high school and college students (and even adults), including creating and managing your own personal budget, understanding interest, understanding mortgages, digging yourself out of debt, and preparing financially for unpredictable tough times.

  • PRACTICAL MONEY SKILLS FOR LIFE’S ONLINE GAME SERIES

Visa’s financial literacy program features what has been a growing number of free online game titles accessible to a wide range of student ages. The simplest include a drag-and-drop game where players select which coins to deposit into a piggy bank to build up the most money, and puzzles that challenge players to assemble pieces on a screen into paper currency.

Among the more complex titles, “Financial Football” and “Financial Soccer” are geared toward Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Learning Methods, Research, Teaching With Tech, Financial Literacy Month