Educational Psychology
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Informal Statistical Inference
What we are trying to do in our Stat Lit class is to develop good intuitions about data, rather than create mini-statisticians. Our belief is that everyone, in almost any job or civic task, has to make inferences from data without having access to complex data crunching tools or methods, and, as such, it is Continue reading
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Generational Learning Styles Are Bunk, Part 28
Via Downes, this 2008 summary of the research on whether today’s students really do learn differently. The answer is probably best summed up in these two excerpts: “In contrast to the dubious bromides provided by the “experts” quoted above, a review of educational research reveals that there are virtually no research-based findings or evidence drawn from robust Continue reading
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When Gamification Goes Wrong
When Gamification Goes Wrong I like Gamification in theory, b/c it deals with feedback, incentives, and customization — all really important things in education. But this recent Google idea reminds us that 90% (or more!) of all gamification ideas are absolute crap. Continue reading
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What Nick Carr (maybe) Misses About Memory and Integration
What Nick Carr (maybe) Misses About Memory and Integration Nick Carr on the recent Science article on the effect of Google on memory: If a fact stored externally were the same as a memory of that fact stored in our mind, then the loss of internal memory wouldn’t much matter. But external storage and biological Continue reading
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Spaced retrieval: Absolute spacing enhances learning regardless of relative spacing.
Spaced retrieval: Absolute spacing enhances learning regardless of relative spacing. Sorry, no online version. But the abstract says it all — spaced retrieval matters, but these systems to perfectly control the spacing (through gradually increasing it) may be hooey: Repeated retrieval enhances long-term retention, and spaced repetition also enhances retention. A question with practical and theoretical significance Continue reading
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Don’t Show, Don’t Tell? Direct Instruction Can Thwart Independent Exploration
Don’t Show, Don’t Tell? Direct Instruction Can Thwart Independent Exploration New study, to be published in Cognition. Far from being a salvo in the never-ending direct instruction vs. discovery learning war, this a cautionary tale about the subtleties of presentation, especially with small children: So what’s a teacher or parent to do? Schulz is quick Continue reading
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Cockroach Performance Anxiety
Cockroach Performance Anxiety Via Ariely, this great experiment on the social facilitation effect from the 60’s: cockroaches do better on simple tasks in the presence of other cockroaches, but worse in the presence of other cockroaches when the task is difficult: However, research by Zajonc, Heingartner, and Herman (1969) argued that such conscious, cognitive processes Continue reading
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Large Stakes and Big Mistakes
Large Stakes and Big Mistakes I’m on vacation, and catching up with some reading. Dan Ariely’s book on the Upside of Irrationality is so far decent, though a little too chatty at times (I like a little less of the human interest backstory, YMMV). In any case, one thing I plan to do over the Continue reading
Hapgood 