Let me start with a confession. I’ve never been a big fan of group work. I never liked it much as a student, and I don’t particularly enjoy organising it as a teacher either. But I do know that it can be a powerful way to learn. I know the research. Evidence-informed doesn’t mean ignoring… Read More How can teachers make group work more effective? A new meta-analysis
Over the past few days, I have read several pieces about how schools influence pupils’ well-being (often negatively, according to the articles). But how big is that influence actually? It seems a simple question, but the answer is much less so. Previous research has already shown that schools often inherit much of their pupils’ well-being… Read More Does school influence pupils’ well-being, or is it the other way round?
John Hattie has undoubtedly had a huge influence on education with Visible Learning, and I confess, on my work as well. His books and website, which bring together the results of thousands of meta-analyses, have helped make educational research accessible to teachers and policymakers. At the same time, critics have questioned his approach for years;… Read More A New, Devastating Review of Hattie’s Visible Learning (But Don’t Throw Everything Away)
When selecting research for this blog, I sometimes fall into the trap of looking primarily at larger studies. However, exploratory studies with a relatively small sample can certainly have value as well (see also here). At least, if you take the limitations into account. This is also true today with a study on group work.… Read More Do boys and girls talk differently during group work?
Reading has long been an important theme, especially given the negative trends in PIRLS and PISA. In my talks about this topic, I often mention the Simple View of Reading. This model posits that reading comprehension is essentially the result of the multiplication of two components: the ability to decode on the one hand, and… Read More What determines how well you understand what you read? An analysis of nearly 50,000 correlations
Found this on Facebook last week. Definitely fake, but very funny! Check here for more Funny on Sunday.
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