Now that identity politics are raging quite fiercely in many places (yes, I love understatements), there is also plenty of discussion about self-censorship on campus. Often the attention is focused primarily on conservative voices who supposedly do not dare express their opinions on a campus that is predominantly progressive. But who actually remains silent the… Read More Who remains silent on campus? Mostly the moderate students!
Normally, I only stop blogging in July and during Christmas. This time, I’m also taking a week off. The past few months have been extremely busy, even by my standards, and I want to slow down a little. Although there is still quite a bit of work waiting for me this week. But I realised… Read More Taking a short break
Retrieval practice, spaced practice, and interleaving have become some of the better-known insights from cognitive psychology. They have found their way into education. A lot of research exists on all three. But… a considerable part of that research was conducted in lab settings or in higher education. So what happens in a classroom with real curriculum… Read More Do retrieval practice, spaced practice and interleaving work in real classrooms?
When we think of reviews (and certainly meta-analyses), we quickly tend to think of quantitative research. But we can also learn a great deal from qualitative research. For example, in discussions about inclusive education, we often talk about systems in practice (see also the earlier research by Fuchs and colleagues). Should students with disabilities receive… Read More Being in mainstream education is not the same as experiencing inclusion
The advice to ask questions while students watch an instructional video is hardly surprising. But when is the best time to ask those questions? Before the video, so that students may have a better idea of what to pay attention to? Or afterwards, so that they have to retrieve the information from memory? A new… Read More When is the best time to ask questions with an instructional video?
Paul Kirschner and I wrote a new chapter for the recently published book Investigating Educational Psychology, edited by Tesia Marshik, Mary Beth Leibham, Michael I. Axelrod, and Stephen Hupp. As authors, we argue that accurate information alone often isn’t enough to address learners’ misconceptions. Misconceptions are not merely due to a lack of knowledge. They can be… Read More New chapter published: Correcting Misconceptions
Sometimes I’ve told my children, when they complained they were bored, “Good!” It helps your creativity! Yes, it is great fun being the child of this educational scientist. The idea is that when you have nothing to do for a while, your mind starts to wander, which can lead to new ideas. Some research seems… Read More Does boredom make you more creative? Not in the classroom!
I was in Canada this weekend at an education conference, and I noticed how many people referred to the podcast Sold a Story. I’ve already seen it pop up a few times on social media here, too, especially the episode in which Emily Hanford discusses Project Follow Through. Some people will probably be familiar with… Read More Factchecking the factcheck: about Sold a Story and Project Follow Through
High expectations matter. By now, there is quite a bit of research suggesting that what teachers expect from their students can play a role in what happens in the classroom. Research also examines so-called wise feedback: critical feedback in which teachers make clear they have high standards while also indicating they believe the student can… Read More What happens when teachers are asked to communicate high expectations?
Over the years I have been blogging, I have rarely let what I think you would like to read guide me. The past few weeks have also taught me that I really can’t predict this. For instance, I would never have expected the number of readers for my post about Gert Biesta. The choice always… Read More What happens when you restrict tutoring, but the competition remains?