The Weekly Dispatch #2
Your weekly round up of the latest science of learning research, news and media
Scaffolding blow-out
This month the Academica UOAS How Teaching and Learning Happens e-learning course finally launches and we are excited to work with the many schools who have already signed up from the UK, US, and Australia. Here’s a brief clip:
Also this week we hosted a free webinar on Scaffolding as an extension to the course and I later wrote up my notes and research into a longer post here.
There are two more in this series:
▶️ 13/3 at 4pm GMT Checking for Understanding
▶️ 20/3 at 4pm GMT Questioning
Register here
What to read/watch/listen to this week
I absolutely loved this video from Peps McCrea on the ways in which teaching has changed over 50 years featuring the great Dylan Wiliam and Peps’ mum!
Check out this example of Retrieval Practice with Kerrie Tinson’s English students at Windsor High School as they start their Macbeth lesson with a Smart Start—thoughtful questions that bring key moments from earlier scenes back into working memory, as featured on the TLAC blog.
This is such an interesting discussion on why students struggle with Maths with Holly Korbey and the brilliant Amanda VanDerHeyden
Check out this post on LinkedIn based on my post on Tolerance Zones
If you haven’t already subscribed to Zach Groshell’s podcast then get on it. This week he spoke to Faith Borkowsky and Judy Boksner on “What’s Hot” in Literacy.
Listen to the always interesting Dr. Kimberly Nix Berens and Dr. Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony explore how the science of learning applies across subjects, improves instruction, and overcomes skepticism in education. This podcast covers evidence-based vs. data-driven instruction, school resistance to change, and strategies for building school-wide capacity.
The Weekly Dozen: Science of Learning research round-up
Students with ADHD benefit just as much from practice testing as their peers. Both groups remembered significantly more when they tested themselves vs. just restudying. link
The boy paradox: Boys consistently report more positive perceptions of their learning environment than girls, but they do worse academically. link
Do worked examples boost the spacing effect on lasting learning? Apparently not! This study examined the impact of the spacing effect and worked examples combined and the results were... surprising I have to say.. link
General AI tools can help student learning, but the benefits are modest rather than dramatic. They're tools to enhance teaching, not replace good teaching practices. link
Another study which finds that differences within groups can be just as large as those between them. This one finds significant differences within high-achieving students in mathematics. link
Practice-based teacher education pedagogies (analyzing expert teaching and practicing with peers) significantly improve pre-service teachers' ability to elicit and respond to student thinking compared to traditional methods (reading and reflecting). These pedagogies also transfer better to more challenging teaching tasks, suggesting their potential for more effective teacher preparation at scale. link
