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Neuromyths and Education
Over the years, neuroscience has made spectacular leaps forward in finding out how the brain functions and affects behavior. With a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience, I have been a first-hand witness to this remarkable growth and age of discovery. After a number of years in educational administration, I went back to scholarship,…
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Effect of Grades on Learning I
The question of whether we should use marks, ranging from 0 – 100, or grades, usually A+ to F is a topic that often vexes teachers and can lead to heated discussions. There is scientific evidence that speaks to the topic. The question is complicated by marking rubrics and isn’t a stand-alone…
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Effect of Grades on Learning II
Scott Wilson asked a question in a comment on another article I wrote about the effect of grades on learning. Here is a blog entry from one of my students from a few years ago on the exact topic. I have copied it in full because linking to a post doesn’t allow for sharing…
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What is The Science of Learning
Learning is at the heart of education, or should be. Over the years, as someone who has studied 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…
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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…
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You Won’t Improve your Writing Ability in University
The expectations that you have as a new student entering college or university is that you will learn things. There is an expectation that things will be different than they were in high school. Much to the relief of most of you, college or university is no more difficult than high school,…
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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…
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Socelor – Science of Writing
What makes the Socelor method so effective What is the science behind our claims to be able to improve your writing ability? We don’t do things like other entities. As our students have said – prepare for different. What we do is founded on solid science which is why we can be…
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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…
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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…
