• Memory

    Memory Transfer

    Short-term memory is exactly what the name implies, memory for the short term. It is the memory you are using to feed your thinking. The number of items you can hold in short-term memory is between about four and eight (5±2 or 7±2 depending on the research). You keep items active in…

  • Concrete Cognitive Enablers,  Writing

    Noise in Marking

    Writing – The Most Important Factor in GPA Writing is the most important factor when it comes to general grades and GPA. Why? Professors are not as good at marking as you would like to believe. I’ve written a couple of articles about this in the past, and Kahneman & Co. have…

  • Conformity,  Science of Learning - General

    Lecturing

    As methods of teaching go, lectures are the most widely used (89%) method of teaching in higher education today. The reaction of most teachers who read this is one of extreme defensiveness. The evidence is overwhelming about the effectiveness of lecturing and the visceral reaction of most people who lecture causes me…

  • Science of Learning - General

    Downfall of Science

    One of the real challenges I face in trying to convince people that there are better ways to approach education is an attitude towards evidence that I don’t understand. I was talking to one educator about the evidence from psychology about how to motivate students to engage in their academic studies. Her…

  • Concrete Cognitive Enablers

    Reading and Learning

    The importance of reading in education can’t be overstated, and yet we know that reading is in decline for all levels of education across most subjects. Reading, like most activities, is influenced largely by peers. The social acceptability of any activity is defined by others within a peer group. Among adolescents, females…

  • Science of Learning - General

    Learning

    Learning is at the heart of education, or should be. Over the years, as someone who has engaged in The Science of Learning and how that can be applied to formal learning settings, I have spoken at conferences, given numerous workshops and seminars, and worked to support teachers who were in need of help.…

  • Conformity

    Alternatives to Conformity

    Is there an alternative to conformity in a system of mass education? This is a big question. Certainly not under the current mindset. Before something can be done about conformity, it needs to be recognized as a problem. First, we have to believe that there is a solution and that we can…

  • Conformity

    The Immense Cost of Conformity

    This article is the most difficult Science of Learning article that I will write. Considering the cost of conformity at an individual and societal level. The cost of conformity at a societal level is high, but the cost borne by an individual is even higher. I informally surveyed some clinical psychologists to…