Information about education provided online, with recent results of scientific research and useful information for teachers, parents, students and the general public. Contributing to an informed debate.
Educational videos: do they work?
Educational videos proliferate on the Internet, but they might not be good pedagogical tools. A very recent study indicates that, in mathematics, educational videos only provide superficial learning. However, combining videos with effective learning strategies, such as retrieval practice, might increase the instructional value of the videos.
Ludmila Nunes
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Academic success is also the result of a good night's sleep
The quality of sleep remains generally underestimated, particularly with regard to academic performance. Two recently published studies have proven that good-quality sleep can contribute to academic success.
Joana Rato
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Does Developing a Growth Mindset Help Students Learn?
Growth mindset has become a wildly popular theory in the last 15 years, due not only to a book that has sold more than 2 million copies and a TED Talk that’s been viewed more than 14 million times but also to countless professional development sessions, Pinterest boards, and blog posts. It’s no wonder that in a 2016 survey of American teachers, just 4 percent said they were “completely unfamiliar” with mindset theory. Is there any substance behind the hype?
Daniel T. Willingham
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What if test anxiety does not predict a bad result?
Did you know that one in three students suffers from test anxiety, also known as school performance anxiety? Anxiety is often considered the cause of poor academic results for the more anxious students, but the precise relationship between the anxiety felt during an exam and student performance is still unclear. A recently published study explores the relationship between the anxiety felt in exams and during the preparation phase, and students’ results. One of its main conclusions is that the bigger the anxiety in the studying stage, the lower the tests scores and the knowledge acquired by students.
Iniciativa Educação
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When Revising, Read Out Loud
Very frequently, I give writers (my students) the advice that they should read their work out loud while revising. I give this advice because it helps me to catch errors in writing, but I did not have evidence to back up my advice… until now.
Cindy Nebel
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Differentiate differently?
Differentiation is a pedagogical approach that considers student heterogeneity in the classroom. Most of the literature on differentiated teaching proposes a constructivist or socio-constructivist perspective. This pedagogical vision is not based on evidence. There is a different, more research-based approach to differentiation, namely the Response to Intervention (RtI) model.
Clermont Gauthier
Steve Bissonnette
How home literacy experiences impact children’s reading abilities
When parents read with their kids, they improve their vocabulary and foster the development of brain areas that are vital for further literacy.
Raquel Lemos
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Retrieval Practice and Processing Load
If you read our blog even occasionally, you know retrieval practice has many benefits. Retrieval improves learning and memory, reduces test anxiety, and can protect against learning losses associated with stress. Today’s blog post is about another benefit of retrieval practice, reducing processing load.
Megan Sumeracki
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Expanding Retrieval Practice for Preschoolers
Compared to older children, preschool children are easily distracted, are poor at predicting how much they will remember, and tend to forget things quickly. Preschool children also do not tend to attempt to adopt effective learning strategies on their own. Given all of this, it is important to understand whether relatively simple strategies, like spacing and retrieval practice, can be implemented in preschool classrooms to help preschool children retain more of what they are learning in school.
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The hypercorrection effect and the benefits of practice testing in learning
Recent research suggests that students benefit more from being corrected when they are confident they were right in the first place.
Dylan Wiliam
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Mapping the Global Learning Crisis
Despite record enrollments in school worldwide, learning is limited
Harry A. Patrinos
Noam Angrist
Pinelopi Gold
Simeon Djankov
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More Useful Measurement of Mathematics Learning in K-12
Measuring student progress in mathematics is harder than one might think. In order to make teaching act upon particular students’ difficulties, it is not sufficient to establish comparisons with a class evolution as it is not sufficient to establish simple and fixed metrics to accompany a curriculum evolution. Frequent formative assessment is key to constantly monitor, fine-tune, establish progressive and adaptive mastery measures and so help students’ understanding of math concepts and procedures. New research on measurement learning in mathematics gives hope that simple 2-minute class with well-chosen questions and practices may accelerate mastery of concepts and procedures.
Amanda M. VanDerHeyden
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