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How to Argue With a Traditionalist – 10 Commandments
*Take this piece exactly for what it is – and smile. Before you even attempt to engage in dialogue, anticipate the first “solid evidence-based” argument: Project Follow Through. (Sure, you will...
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Play, Cognition, and Learning
It is difficult, if not impossible, to shed any bias when the word “play” in relation to children comes up. We played as children and that conjures some of our best childhood memories. We cannot fathom...
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Gender, Math, and Achievement Gap
Jo Boaler’s article was interesting (Britain’s Maths Policy Simply Doesn’t Add Up) and prompted me to blog. She shows concern about girls’ math achievement in Britain: “But when I sat with the PISA...
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No, I Don’t Personalize Learning
Personalized learning. Differentiated learning. Individualization of learning. Three jargon elements that twist any teacher’s grey matter in spectacular motions. Which is what? Add to that the pressure...
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Where Direct Instruction Fails: Willingham, Memorization, and Conceptual...
I have been on Twitter long enough to notice an idea that is increasingly taking hold, especially in the U.K. education: memorization as the main tool for learning. Danniel T. Willingham, a cognitive...
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Where Direct Instruction Fails: Willingham, Memorization, and Conceptual...
In my previous post I wrote about the overemphasis on memorization and drills and brought some arguments for balancing all three aspects of knowledge in mathematics: factual, procedural, and...
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Myths in Education, or How Bad Teaching Is Encouraged
“Opinions don’t affect facts. But facts should affect opinions, and do, if you are rational.” (Ricky Gervais) I thought I would not have to blog about these fads again but it seems they have the...
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Transfer of Learning: Is There a Solution? (1)
Following some conversations with George Haines on Twitter, I attempted to embark on a very complicated topic: transfer of learning. The literature is full of unanswered questions and the research is...
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Transfer of Learning: Is There a Solution? (2)
In part 1 of this blog post I provided some reasons as to why transfer is difficult, particularly in mathematics. The use of concrete materials as well as of highly contextualized tasks may increase...
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Metacognition: What’s the Fuss About?
“We don’t learn from experience, but from reflecting on experience.” (John Dewey, although disputed) I know the buzzwords in education have invaded us in the past few years and, hopefully, we can...
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