Know What You Know to Learn Better

Teachers waste a great deal of time going over material that a student already knows. We pound information into our student’s head hoping that something will stick.

This study looks at some ways that students can learn better. The focus of this study was “metacomprehension”. The researchers were looking for techniques that would help learners understand their own learning.

One technique they found was that summarizing text helps them understand what they have learned from the text. Another example is to recall ideas from the text and then compare those results with the right answer.

For students to employ these techniques they have to be more active in their learning. The majority of students I know treat education like a one way street. They sit expending as little effort as possible and often blame others when they do not learn.

Application
Student could review their learning everyday in a journal. They could be given a list of skills and told to define them with examples. You could also use the techniques that the study itself suggests.

Positive Behavior Over Time

There have been studies that look at behavior programs, and shown their benefits. We know that students benefit from the use of programs that help teach students social and behavioral skills.

This study looked at School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) in a number of schools over five years, and compared it to schools that did not use SWPBIS. They schools who did not use SWPBIS did use other programs, but they were not as all encompassing as SWPBIS. The researchers found that the schools using SWPBIS showed significant improvements in behavior and learning.

Two points were made about the programs; they were school wide and lasted for five years. Programs like this are most effective when everyone supports them and when they are repeated every year. The two are connected. When a school uses a program over a number of years the teachers get behind it. Unfortunately most schools do not stick with any program either from lack of money or leadership.

Application
The school needs to focus as one on a program like this. It is not enough for one teacher to teach the students about behavior and social situations. The training needs to be school wide and last longer than a year. Difficult to do if you are the not the principal.

Testing for Memories

I have looked at how testing can improve learning before. This study looks at why testing improves learning. It seeks to understand what it is we do when we take a test.

Researchers used learning a foreign language for their study. They found that to learn the word in another language the participants would use word associations. The act of taking a test forced them to create better word associations.

We want to do well on tests. Therefore we improve our strategy for taking the test. The test exerts a pressure on us. That is I think why testing improves memory. There is a difference to the student when a teachers says do this work and take this test. A test carries much more weight than the study sheet on the same material.

Part of the problem is that students do not see the connection. If they knew that doing well on the study sheet would improve their grade on the test they might work harder on the study sheet.

The problem is keeping the balance. If we give too many tests student begin to devalue them and we would lose the pressure that makes them learn from the tests. If we give too few they lose the opportunity to learn and grow.

Application
A teacher needs to keep tests relevant and stress their importance. Teachers could give quizzes in place of tests. While quizzes would not carry as much weight they would encourage the student to form better connections with the information they are learning without lessening the impact of testing.

Students Teach Students

Students learn a great deal of things from their friends. They teach them new words and behaviors, most of which parents and teachers frown on. Imagine if they could teach them content from their English or math class.

This study on peer learning looked at what would happen if students focused on learning content together. The researchers looked at universities that used supplemental instruction. First year students would meet with an older student with a high average once a week and go over material from their classes.

The students with high attendance at the meetings on average passed 30 percent more credits than those who did not attend. Also the older students improved because they had to refine their study skills when helping the younger student.

Students were able to meet and learn without the fear of being evaluated. The meetings had supervisors who were available for questions but not to act as a teacher. This allowed students to think in a relaxed environment.

Application
Applying this requires a larger commitment than just one classroom. Ideally an entire school would support this type of program. Older students who were preforming well in class would be given the opportunity to volunteer to help other students.

What to Test

Tests. Teachers give them and students hate taking them. Teachers give tests to assess if students learned the material, and also to aid in learning. Most teachers do not focus on using a test as an aid in learning.

A recent study from the Netherlands has found that teachers often give tests for the wrong reasons or the reasons behind the test are not clear. In a class on assessment the professor taught us that we should list on the test the purpose of the test, and I have tried to do that ever since. A student should know what is expected of them.

The teacher should know what they want to get out of the test. Often all a teacher gets out of a test is a grade. This is often because of a variety of factor all draining the teacher’s stamina and time.

The study found that by not examining the tests for data on the student’s teachers were not able to best support the student’s learning. Tests should be used as part of the learning process. They can serve multiple purposes, but they should not serve all those purposes in one test. The study stated that tests should be specific in their goals.

Application
This could be applied by teachers taking the time to look at the tests they give. Instead of teachers creating material in a bubble they should be collaborating. Each teacher should not have to create every test. They should work on the tests they give collectively. This would help teachers create more effective tests because they would be able to put more time into individual questions. Also the study suggests using portfolios to assess students. The portfolio would be a way to direct the student’s learning and keep up with their progress.

Coach to Teach

Teaching and coaching have a great deal in common. They both seek to give knowledge about an area. They both want the students to become the best they can in that area of knowledge.

They differ in how they reach those goals. Teaching focuses on the mental. It seeks to delve into the depths of the mind and implant knowledge or understanding. Coaching focuses on the physically training the muscles to react as quickly as possible.

Simply put one teaches the mind and the other the body. However that is not true. Coaches teach their players how to study an opponent and seek out their weaknesses. They give them rulebooks and playbooks that they must study and learn. Those all involve complex mental processes. There is a connection.

This study takes a look at the power of coaching. Researchers found that participants who were faced with a coach that focused on their individual goals were more open to learning and better at it. Those faced with a coach that focused on what they were doing wrong “shut down”. Something I often see students do when they feel there is nothing they can do to improve their situation.

Powerful stuff. If we focus on the positive and what a student needs to do instead of what they have failed to do we might get a more positive reaction. If we ask them what they want to get from the class then we might understand them better or at least let them know that we care about them.

Application
We can apply this in the classroom at the beginning of the year, by interviewing students to find out what they want to get from the class. To see what blocks we need to break down. Teachers should encourage their students not tear them down. We should coach with compassion. By doing this we gain insight into our students. They will be more open to the things we try to teach them.

Taking Action in the Classroom

We have known for years that when students take an active role in their learning they learn better. This study reinforces that fact.

Researchers had one group of participants, the active group, memorize a set of images by shading the images allowing the movement of a mouse to reveal them. The other set of participants, the passive group, watched a video of the active groups screen. The active group were able to recall more of the images than the passive.

To encourage active learning you need students to deal with the information. They need to do more than just copy definitions or listen to a lecture. They need to manipulate the information to learn it.

Application
One of the ways you can make students deal with information is to ask them to write their own questions about the material. Another method is to use the jigsaw method which makes students experts in specific parts of the material.

Dealing with ADHD

Every teacher has found themselves dealing with a student who has ADHD. Many teachers, parents, and even students feel helpless when dealing with it.

There are many therapies available. Parents have tried diet, medication, and even behavioral therapies to help their child overcome ADHD. However medication works with some and not others. Adjusting diet has only anecdotal evidence to support it. Behavioral therapies can be difficult to institute if done incorrectly.

There is another resource to add to the list, computer games. Specifically games like the one described in this study. The researchers used software from the company Cogmed to improve the student’s working memory.

Working memory is the memory we use when trying to work out a problem. When trying to answer a question we use working memory to hold onto the information important to the question. Individuals with ADHD have difficulty in this area.

The program would ask students to do things like click on numbers given in the opposite order. The program was designed with 25 exercises that scale with the ability of the student. As the student improves so does the difficulty of the program.

Parents reported to researchers that their child showed a decrease in ADHD symptoms. The decrease was present immediately after and up to four months later. While the decrease was not huge it was there and indicates that the use of such a program would work when used in tandem with other therapies.

Application
We can apply this program in our classrooms, by giving our students activities that exercise their working memory. You could have students partner and have one call out a list of words that the other must remember and then write in reverse order. There are a variety of ways you could adapt this to your subject. Then again you could always purchase the program from Cogmed, but not all schools have that kind of money.

About Education Application

For years I taught based on whatever seemed like a good idea. If something was interesting or new I would try it. Really, I would try anything if I thought it would help my student's learn. This led to many different strategies that might or might not have worked. There is no way for me to ever know.

I was searching for that magic bullet that would pierce apathy and ignorance to instill knowledge and understanding in my students. I would bounce from strategy to strategy looking for the one that would give my students success. I wanted something that would reach all my students.

Then I remembered a professor telling us that teaching is an art and a science. We often focus on the art of teaching. We forget that what we do is also a science. It is the science of the mind. It is psychology.

Why search blindly for the strategy that will help students learn. Why not look at the mind itself and how it works. Then we would have the tools we need to understand it. Then we could teach it.

That is the purpose of this blog. I am trying to find research that applies to learning and looking at how it can be applied in the classroom. In short, using science to educate.

Social and Emotional Teaching

If you are a you have probably been told that we need to teach students how to deal with social situations and emotional turmoil. When I heard those things I would try not to roll my eyes. It was my job to teach my students English. Social and emotional learning, also called character education, was someone else’s responsibility. I did not mind character education as long as it did not interfere with teaching English. I never considered that there was a connection between social and emotional learning and academic learning.

There is a study that has shown a connection between the three. Researchers looked at a number of schools that used some form of character education. They found that the students who had social and emotional training scored higher on their academic assessments than the ones who did not.

They also found those students who had the training proved to be less disruptive and distracting in the classroom. So the students are better able to deal with all the social and emotional problems that come with growing up, and they learn better as a result. I have to say that this makes sense. Students that less distracted are more engaged with their learning.

Application
I have seen several character development programs, and they work to varying degrees. I think part of the issue with this is that educators do not always take programs like this seriously, I know I didn’t. The students pick up on this an act accordingly. Part of the solution is to tell teachers of the proven benefits of using this kind of training. The program Film Clips for Character Education is effective. I have seen it used effectively and with great results. Check out the videos on the site.

Automated One on One

Class size has always been an issue in education. The larger the class the less time the teacher has for each student. Students fall through the cracks all the time because the teacher is limited in the time they can spend with them. You can ask students if they need more help, but few if any ever respond to that question.

A study was done where a group of seventh graders were given access to Assistments, a web based tutor, and a group were not given access. Then their year-end test scores were compared to their scores when they were sixth graders. The group that was given access to Assistments did significantly better.

Intrigued I looked into Assistments. One of the first things that caught my attention was that it is free. A teacher creates a set of questions for their students to answer. Each set of questions can be given either hints or scaffolding. The hints give clues to the answer and the scaffolding gives an easier version of the question. Both operate very much like leading questions.

The Assistments site has a great deal of potential. It is free and has a large amount of support in the form of sponsors and volunteers. It already has a large database of questions, mostly in math. My only complaint is the learning curve. Using the site to create problems was difficult and even when I plunged in and figured it out I felt like I was not using the site to its fullest potential. The wiki that I was directed to often did not have answers to my questions, and while there were numerous videos for me to watch they were blocked because they are hosted on Youtube, a website that most schools block. Even the alternate viewing sites didn't work for me.

Despite the learning curve Assistments offers something to good to pass up, one on one with students. Assistments gives teachers the opportunity to guide each and every student individually. If a student needs a hint they can get one. If they need the problem restated they can get it. It offers automated one on one. Which is better than none.

Application

I created a set of questions for a novel we are starting in class. I hope to use Assistments as a review. We will read the chapter, answer the questions, and then go to Assistments to review those questions and answers before the test. I think it will work. The potential here is just being tapped.

You Must Learn Control

Teachers must exert control over their classes. Without control over the classroom you have chaos. A first grade teacher uses stickers while a high school teacher might use the threat of lunch detention. Sometimes these methods work and sometimes they do not. This is a problem that researchers have discovered some new information about.

We often point out to students those who are behaving. We make comments like, "Look at Sally. She already has her materials out." Researchers looked at how observing behaviors in others effects the observer. In this case the behavior they looked at was self control.

Researchers had one group of participants imagine themselves as someone exerting self control, and another group read about someone exerting self control.

The group that put themselves in the shoes of someone exerting self control felt drained. It made them less likely to exert self control over their own actions. The group that read a story about self control found themselves better able to exert self control.

Application
A teacher wanting students to show more self control should give their students a story about someone using self control. Instead of pointing out how well controlled another student is they could strengthen that student’s self control.

Paying the Educator

“I don’t do it for the money”, I have said this and have heard it said by others in education. We don’t become teachers for the money. The money allows us to have food, shelter, and clothing, all things necessary for us to survive. The money allows us to teach.

Now consider what would happen if our ability to teach were directly related to the money we received. That is what they are considering in South Carolina right now. A test would be given at the beginning and end of the year to evaluate if a teacher was effective. If teaching to the test were a problem before imagine how bad it would be if the student’s score on the test determined the teacher’s pay.

Consider what lawmakers are implying. That we create a product and that product can be tested for quality. Many businesses work in a similar way. If an employee does not produce a quality product then you do not pay them until they do. This acts as an incentive.

However teachers are not in complete control of the products they produce. Parents, culture, and teachers all play a role in how a student does. When compared to parents and culture, teachers are not a powerful influence.

The real problem lies in administrators who are unwilling to deal with poorly performing teachers. Teachers and administrators know which teachers are not effective. However the culture of teachers is not one that encourages us to speak poorly of our colleagues. Even if they deserve it.

I have seen teachers go through remediation, but it is rare. The process is long and it is difficult to fire a teacher. I have never seen a teacher fired for being a poor teacher.

We have come to the point in education where we have to dis-spell the myth that teaching is something for those who could do nothing else. We should not struggle for professionalism. We should be the standard.

What we need is for administrators to hold their faculty to a higher standard and be willing to deal with teachers who do not meet those criteria. We need to be knowledgeable in the science of our field, and know how to apply that knowledge.

Testing to help learning

Remember the first time you saw a concept map. I saw it and thought, this makes sense. This is a tool I can use to enlighten my students. There was a complex elegance to the webs of lines and circles. Then I showed my students the lines and circles and all the connections. They used it and some found meaning, but most avoided them and would moan their use. That did not stop me or my administration from insisting that we keep doing it.

Then I read an article from ScienceDaily that said that students learn better by “practicing remembering”. The phrase “practicing remembering” caught me. I could not get past it. Remembering is a natural process. Everyone knows how to do it. Like breathing we remember.

The study pit remembering practice against concept maps. The elegance of concepts maps versus the basic skill of remembering. Students were given material and then a test. After the test they reviewed the material and took another test. A week later the group that had practiced remembering showed a 50 percent improvement over the group that used concept maps. They were even able to make better concept maps than those who had studied using concept maps. Which makes perfect sense. They were tapping into a basic process. We remember things every day.

This study reinforces what I as an educator have begun to realize. Overly complex methods for teaching do not always improve learning. They may seem shiny and interesting, but when applied in the classroom they are time consuming to prepare and do not give good returns on that investment of time.

This study validates the use of testing as a teaching tool and as a means of assessment. With this knowledge a teacher could easily create an effective lesson. It would require less time than creating a complex concept map and give greater returns. There would be no need to spend money on books or speakers who would tell us how to use these maps. Any teacher worth the paper their degree is on can make a test.

Giving a test may not have the elegance of a map. It may not stir excitement within you when you pass it out, but it is effective. Tapping into something that students can already do is part of what makes this so exciting for me. Creating artificial connections in your mind to help you remember things is like trying to remember where you put your keys by remembering where you put your wallet. Remembering the location of the keys is much more effective. Why not practice remembering the information you need?

Teachers could apply this in the classroom by having students take a test immediately after being taught something. Then be allowed to review the material after seeing where their knowledge gaps are, and take the test again. Alternately they could be asked to free write about a concept just learned. The concept map with all its elegance could still be used, but the key here is to remember.