tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/teaching-methods-11529/articlesTeaching methods – The Conversation2023-06-20T13:12:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2070632023-06-20T13:12:31Z2023-06-20T13:12:31ZEngland’s plan to introduce east Asia-style maths textbooks widely rejected by primary schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531598/original/file-20230613-26-m9x1lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C23%2C5184%2C3422&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-school-children-can-be-seen-298453535">DGLimages/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-outlines-his-vision-for-maths-to-18#:%7E:text=Prime%20Minister%20Rishi%20Sunak%20outlines,skills%20they%20need%20to%20succeed.&text=We%20must%20change%20our%20anti,today%20%5BMonday%2017%20April%5D">outlined a plan</a> to improve maths skills in England, which will see young people study the subject at school until they are 18. This sounds straightforward but it’s worth considering how tricky new educational policy is to get right. </p>
<p>Take, for example, a previous attempt by the UK government to improve children’s maths skills. In 2016, a multi-million pound initiative was launched offering more than 8,000 primary schools in England funding to buy maths textbooks featuring teaching methods based on those used in some east Asian countries.</p>
<p>We don’t yet know if the schools who used the textbooks saw any effect on their pupils’ attainment. The results of SATs – tests taken at the end of primary school – haven’t been published since 2019 due to the COVID pandemic.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/publications/the-prevalence-and-use-of-textbooks-and-curriculum-resources-in-p">my research with colleagues</a> shows this initiative, which ran until the 2021-22 academic year, was not widely popular with teachers and school leaders – and that the majority of English primary schools did not take up the funding. Of those that did, more than a third have subsequently stopped using the textbooks completely.</p>
<p>Data suggests that on average, children in England do pretty well at maths compared with other countries. The <a href="https://timss2019.org/reports/achievement/#math-4">latest international study</a> shows the performance of England’s nine- to ten-year-olds has increased steadily, now ranking eighth out of 58 jurisdictions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530566/original/file-20230607-19-idyoc2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing England's international standing in mathematics attainment for nine- to ten-year-olds, with England in eighth position and well above the centerpoint for all jurisdictions." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530566/original/file-20230607-19-idyoc2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530566/original/file-20230607-19-idyoc2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530566/original/file-20230607-19-idyoc2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530566/original/file-20230607-19-idyoc2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530566/original/file-20230607-19-idyoc2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530566/original/file-20230607-19-idyoc2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530566/original/file-20230607-19-idyoc2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">England’s international standing in mathematics attainment for nine- to ten-year-olds (data extracted from TIMSS 2019 report).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author created from publicly available data.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But challenge lies behind the averages. England has one of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/maths-challenge-england-has-one-of-the-biggest-gaps-between-high-and-low-performing-pupils-in-the-developed-world-88678">largest gaps in the world</a> between the highest and lowest performers, and a <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/crme/documents/maths-pipeline-report.pdf">persistent gap in maths attainment</a> between pupils from disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged backgrounds.</p>
<p>Wanting to change these patterns for our youngest learners, the government looked to the teaching practices of the highest performers internationally – predominantly east Asian regions – to see what England could “borrow”. </p>
<p>Several <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/773320/MTE_main_report.pdf">exchange projects</a> later saw the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-mastery-model-of-teaching-maths-25636">mastery</a>” teaching approach <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/4/202">pushed in English primary schools</a>. The mastery method breaks learning down into small blocks and requires that a pupil is competent in a topic before they can move on to another. </p>
<p>Schools minister Nick Gibb <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/south-asian-method-of-teaching-maths-to-be-rolled-out-in-schools">announced extended funding</a> in 2016 supporting this push, with a central strand being provision for around 8,000 eligible schools to purchase maths textbooks through matched-funding grants of £2,000.</p>
<p>Schools could choose from two government-approved <a href="https://www.ncetm.org.uk/teaching-for-mastery/mastery-explained/textbooks/">textbook schemes</a>: <a href="https://mathsnoproblem.com/">Maths – No Problem!</a> and <a href="https://www.pearson.com/international-schools/british-curriculum/primary-curriculum/power-maths.html">Power Maths</a>. Each scheme included physical textbooks, workbooks for pupils to write in (which must be renewed each year), and subscription-accessed online material including lessons and teacher guides.</p>
<p>To assess the popularity and effectiveness of this approach, we distributed a <a href="https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/publications/the-prevalence-and-use-of-textbooks-and-curriculum-resources-in-p">nationwide survey</a> to all 17,038 state primary schools in England in 2021-22. We received 664 responses, a representative sample. We wanted to find out more about the resources teachers were using to teach maths and how far this included the government-approved mastery textbooks. </p>
<p>We were taken aback to discover that more than 100 different maths resources are in use in primary schools across England. These vary from complete schemes to topic-focused resources, from online to physical and from free to pay-per-view. </p>
<p>We also found that teachers spend considerable time sourcing and adapting material, with more than a third of primary teachers spending their own money purchasing resources. This clearly clashes with the government aspiration that schools should move to teaching predominantly through textbooks.</p>
<h2>A mismatched approach</h2>
<p>Our survey found that two-thirds of the schools eligible for textbook funding under the scheme launched in 2016 did not take it up. While some were unaware they were eligible, others made a resolved choice not to participate. </p>
<p>Participants from these schools told us of an ideological dislike of textbook-based teaching. A quarter of schools felt they couldn’t meet the matched-funding element, or the ongoing costs. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/publications/school-spending-and-costs-coming-crunch">costs to schools are growing more quickly</a> than previously experienced.</p>
<p>Of greater concern – especially looked at from a value-for-money perspective – was that 37% of primary schools that took up the funding have since completely stopped using the textbooks. A further 24% are only using the purchased textbook schemes in a partial way – for example, still using the physical textbooks but not purchasing pupil workbooks or renewing their online subscriptions to support materials.</p>
<p>In all, only just over 10% of primary schools that were eligible for the textbook scheme took it up and are still using it in full.</p>
<p><strong>Summary of our survey results:</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531704/original/file-20230613-2513-ghz533.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Infographic illustrating percentages outlined in previous paragraph." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531704/original/file-20230613-2513-ghz533.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531704/original/file-20230613-2513-ghz533.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531704/original/file-20230613-2513-ghz533.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531704/original/file-20230613-2513-ghz533.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531704/original/file-20230613-2513-ghz533.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531704/original/file-20230613-2513-ghz533.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531704/original/file-20230613-2513-ghz533.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author created from survey data</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The government’s shift to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/05/world/asia/china-textbooks-britain.html">learning from the east Asian education system</a> was a complete about-turn. It meant importing practices that sat at odds with primary school approaches in England, where teachers look after all needs of their class, rather than being subject specialists.</p>
<p>Textbooks, particularly in primary maths, have <a href="https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/Images/181744-why-textbooks-count-tim-oates.pdf">not been popular</a> in primary schools for some time. As well as being costly, they can be seen as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059307000685#aep-section-id18">a threat to professional identity</a> by taking away teacher control.</p>
<p>Our research underlines that we need a solid understanding of how maths teaching is done in England before adding in any new initiatives or policy – not only what’s happening in classrooms, but the complex reasons behind why it is happening. We hope governments learn from the inefficient administration reported here before implementing further new or borrowed policies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207063/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Marks received funding for this project from The Nuffield Foundation. She is affiliated with the University of Brighton and was supported in this research by Dr Nancy Barclay and Dr Alison Barnes.</span></em></p>Our research found a multi-million pound scheme to boost maths learning was under-used and had minimal impact on practice.Rachel Marks, Principal Lecturer in Mathematics Education (Primary), University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961172022-12-14T08:00:04Z2022-12-14T08:00:04ZWe asked 900 Australian teachers if evidence informs how they teach – and found most use it, but there are key gaps<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500348/original/file-20221212-94216-kk2sub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5279%2C3506&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are many ways to teach school students. But research shows only some will significantly improve learning. </p>
<p>While most teachers want to use evidence-based practices, they face many challenges that can limit their ability to use them in their classrooms. These include time pressures, access to resources, and unsupportive school cultures.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.edresearch.edu.au/resources/supporting-teachers-use-research-evidence-well-practice">new study</a> we asked teachers how much they use education research evidence when teaching students. </p>
<p>We found that most teachers surveyed said they were using evidence-based practices most of the time, but they are not using all the strategies that make those practices effective. This can have serious impacts on student learning.</p>
<h2>What types of evidence are we talking about?</h2>
<p>Our study looked at four teaching approaches that have been shown by academic research to help students learn:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><a href="https://www.edresearch.edu.au/practice-hub/formative-assessment"><strong>Formative assessment</strong></a> – gathering information about student learning and adapting teaching to meet learning needs.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.edresearch.edu.au/practice-hub/explicit-instruction"><strong>Explicit instruction</strong></a> – setting clear learning goals, then fully explaining and effectively demonstrating how students can achieve them.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.edresearch.edu.au/practice-hub/mastery-learning"><strong>Mastery learning</strong></a> – breaking up learning, so students must master a certain task before moving on to the next one.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.edresearch.edu.au/practice-hub/classroom-management"><strong>Classroom management</strong></a> – establishing clear routines and rules, and modelling appropriate behaviour.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Our survey</h2>
<p>In 2021, we surveyed more than 900 teachers from across each state and territory for an Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) study. This included teachers from government, Catholic and independent schools and from primary and high schools.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teacher speaks while primary students listen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500349/original/file-20221212-90872-9vw3eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500349/original/file-20221212-90872-9vw3eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500349/original/file-20221212-90872-9vw3eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500349/original/file-20221212-90872-9vw3eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500349/original/file-20221212-90872-9vw3eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500349/original/file-20221212-90872-9vw3eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500349/original/file-20221212-90872-9vw3eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than 900 teachers from around Australia were surveyed about their use of evidence in the classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We asked how much teachers use various types of evidence to inform how they teach students. We also analysed Australian data from international education surveys, including the OECD’s <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Programme for International Student Assessment</a> (PISA) and <a href="https://www.oecd.org/education/talis/">Teaching and Learning International Survey</a> (TALIS) as well as the <a href="https://www.acer.org/au/pirls">Progress in International Reading Literacy Study</a> (PIRLS). </p>
<h2>Our findings</h2>
<p>The vast majority of teachers we surveyed said they used methods backed by research in their classrooms. Specifically, when it comes to <strong>formative assessment</strong> methods: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>73% of teachers said they assess students’ understanding of the content they are teaching and make adjustments accordingly</p></li>
<li><p>67% of teachers said they design lessons based on data they have gathered
regarding students’ prior knowledge and experience. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>An even greater proportion of those we surveyed said they were using <strong>explicit instruction</strong> methods: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>91% of teachers said they interact with students as they work, providing immediate elaboration and explanations as needed</p></li>
<li><p>78% of teachers said they clearly outline what students will learn and how they know they have learned it.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>When it came to teaching using <strong>mastery learning</strong>: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>85% of Australian teachers set goals at the beginning of a lesson, according to the 2018 TALIS survey</p></li>
<li><p>95% of teachers explained what they expected students to learn, also according to the TALIS survey.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>High proportions of those we surveyed also reported using <strong>classroom management</strong> methods: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>90% of teachers we surveyed said they modelled appropriate behaviours, such as not raising their voice and following the rules.</p></li>
<li><p>76% of teachers and leaders explicitly said they teach rules and routines for how to participate effectively in class.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These results show most Australian teachers are using evidence-backed methods to teach in their classrooms. This is reassuring news overall, but also shows significant proportions of those surveyed are not drawing on approaches we know help students learn. </p>
<h2>What do students say?</h2>
<p>We also found teachers report using evidence-based practices more than students report experiencing them. For example, according to PISA, only 31% of year 10 students in Australia report teachers frequently provide individual help when a student has difficulties understanding a topic or task.</p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0742051X18321401?via%3Dihub">2019 study</a> of five Australian schools also found feedback from teachers is often not clear to students.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, almost three-quarters (71%) of respondents to the PIRLS Year 4 student survey agree “a lot” that their teacher tells them how to do better when they make a mistake.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/personalised-learning-is-billed-as-the-future-of-schooling-what-is-it-and-could-it-work-194630">Personalised learning is billed as the 'future' of schooling: what is it and could it work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Do teachers help each other?</h2>
<p>Our survey also suggests teachers do not get enough support and training to access research-based approaches. For example, only 64% of teachers we surveyed said they had regular access to coaching to help them use evidence. We also found: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>66% said their school system (government, Catholic or independent) provided easily accessible information, resources, training or other support to help them use evidence</p></li>
<li><p>45% “agreed” or “strongly agreed” they will encourage colleagues to stop doing something if evidence from academic research shows it doesn’t work.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What needs to happen now?</h2>
<p>A key way to improve this situation is to provide more time and support (such as professional learning and access to resources) to help and train teachers and school leaders use evidence.</p>
<p>We also need to encourage school cultures where teachers discuss evidence, so they can learn from each other. </p>
<p>This tells us that we need to build supportive school environments where teachers feel confident and capable to support each other to not just use evidence but also stop doing things that aren’t working. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-australia-wants-to-improve-school-outcomes-we-need-to-define-what-equity-really-means-192095">If Australia wants to improve school outcomes, we need to define what 'equity' really means</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>More resources</h2>
<p>The point of using research evidence to inform teaching is to improve outcomes for students. This should be the priority across schools and in resources from education departments and in research, curriculum guidance and education policies.</p>
<p>AERO has <a href="https://www.edresearch.edu.au/using-evidence">free resources for teachers and school leaders</a> about using evidence. Other state governments, such as <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/educational-data/cese/publications/research-reports/what-works-best-2020-update">New South Wales</a>, <a href="https://www.academy.vic.gov.au/professional-learning/engaging-science-learning">Victoria</a>, <a href="https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2020/12/New-schools-recruited-to-key-literacy-teaching-initiative.aspx">Western Australia</a> and the <a href="https://education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1061386/education-NT-strategy-2021-2025.pdf">Northern Territory</a> also have resources. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.monash.edu/education/research/projects/qproject">Monash Q Project</a> is a research project investigating how research evidence is used in schools, and how to support educators to better use that evidence in their practice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196117/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ioana Ramia is Principal Researcher, Research and Evaluation for the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zid Niel Mancenido is Senior Manager, Research and Evaluation for the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO).</span></em></p>A new study looked at four teaching approaches that have been shown by academic research to help students learn.Ioana Ramia, Lecturer, UNSW SydneyZid Niel Mancenido, Lecturer, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1946302022-11-21T19:05:12Z2022-11-21T19:05:12ZPersonalised learning is billed as the ‘future’ of schooling: what is it and could it work?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495785/original/file-20221117-21-vhuyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C26%2C2897%2C1924&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matese Fields/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is not uncommon for kids to complain about school, but studies show significant numbers of Australian students are actually disengaged with their education.</p>
<p>A 2017 Grattan Institute report <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Engaging-students-creating-classrooms-that-improve-learning.pdf">found</a> as many as 40% are unproductive in a given year because they are disengaged.</p>
<p>This is a huge concern. Not being engaged can lead to issues with learning, behaviour, <a href="https://theconversation.com/school-attendance-problems-are-complex-and-our-solutions-need-to-be-as-well-189849">attendance</a> and <a href="https://education.unimelb.edu.au/mgse-industry-reports/report-1-those-who-disappear">dropping out</a>. </p>
<p>We know the disruptions of COVID and school closures have only <a href="https://evidenceforlearning.org.au/research-and-evaluation/research-investigations/students-at-risk-of-disengagement-as-a-result-of-covid-19">increased the risks</a> of student disengagement.</p>
<p>One answer could be “personalised learning”. Proponents of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-018-0033-">this approach</a> say it allows students to engage more with what and how they learn at school. Although <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2018/04/19/mark-zuckerbergs-plan-to-personalize-learning-rests-on-shaky-ground/?sh=2fc002353bfe">critics</a> are not convinced. </p>
<p>My research with Australian teachers trialling personalised learning suggests it “makes sense”. But we need to think carefully about how it is rolled out. </p>
<h2>What is personalised learning?</h2>
<p>Personalised learning is an <a href="https://www.understood.org/en/articles/personalized-learning-what-you-need-to-know">educational approach</a> that aims to customise learning for each student’s strengths, needs and interests</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teacher works with a group of senior students, who are sitting around a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495813/original/file-20221117-27-ep47l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495813/original/file-20221117-27-ep47l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495813/original/file-20221117-27-ep47l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495813/original/file-20221117-27-ep47l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495813/original/file-20221117-27-ep47l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495813/original/file-20221117-27-ep47l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495813/original/file-20221117-27-ep47l8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Personalised learning could see students work on their own or in groups.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>In the <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED567893.pdf">United States</a>, most states use personalised learning in some form. Tech moguls Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have also <a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/gates-zuckerberg-teaming-up-on-personalized-learning/2017/06">donated millions</a> to research on the approach. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.complexneeds.org.uk/modules/Module-3.2-Engaging-in-learning---key-approaches/D/downloads/m10p020d/personalised_learning_policy_overview_100409_web.pdf">United Kingdom</a>, <a href="https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/insights/goodbye-rote-learning-finlands-new-curriculum-puts-children-first">Finland</a> and <a href="https://gifted.tki.org.nz/responsive-practice/personalised-learning/">New Zealand</a> are also exploring personalised learning for their school systems. </p>
<h2>Personalised learning in Australia</h2>
<p>Australia is also looking at personalised learning. The 2012 <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/school-funding/resources/review-funding-schooling-final-report-december-2011">Gonski report</a> talked of the importance of “personalised learning strategies” to improve school outcomes.</p>
<p>ACT government policy <a href="https://www.education.act.gov.au/the-future-of-education/home/resources?a=1231080">now explicitly states</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the ACT education system of the future will be personalised to each child.</p>
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<p>Other jurisdictions are also looking at how personalised learning can be implemented. Last year, NSW said it would <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/schools-will-trial-untimed-syllabuses-before-ambitious-statewide-reform-20210216-p572v7.html">trial</a> “untimed syllabusses”, so students move through school at their own pace. </p>
<p>Personalised learning is not without its critics. Some <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2018/04/19/mark-zuckerbergs-plan-to-personalize-learning-rests-on-shaky-ground/?sh=2fc002353bfe">educators say</a> it isolates kids and risks an over-reliance on technology as a teaching tool. But this very much depends on how personalised instruction is implemented. </p>
<h2>What does this look like in practice?</h2>
<p>Under personalised learning, the existing curriculum is tailored to each student’s interests and needs. Students also have a say in how and what they learn.</p>
<p>For example, a history teacher allows students to pick their own project to work out how the past influences the present. </p>
<p>The teacher helps them frame the research questions and makes sure they are accessing relevant and robust data. But it is the students who are directing the project, be it about civil rights and Black Lives Matter, women’s liberation and #MeToo or the history of how computer games have been developed and marketed.</p>
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<img alt="Primary students working on different activities at a group table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496323/original/file-20221120-21-8nczup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496323/original/file-20221120-21-8nczup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496323/original/file-20221120-21-8nczup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496323/original/file-20221120-21-8nczup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496323/original/file-20221120-21-8nczup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496323/original/file-20221120-21-8nczup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496323/original/file-20221120-21-8nczup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">caption.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CDC/Unsplash</span></span>
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<p>During a research trip to the US this year, I visited five schools in Vermont where I saw three key ways of personalising learning and culturally responsive teaching. </p>
<p><strong>1. Personalised learning portfolios</strong> </p>
<p>These are <a href="https://www.hepg.org/blog/delivering-on-the-promise-of-personalized-learning">used to gather</a> information about students’ strengths, needs, passions, interests, and identities. This enables teachers to know their students well to design projects that fit with the students’ interest and abilities.</p>
<p><strong>2. Flexibility</strong> </p>
<p>Teachers are flexible about both how students learn and the time and pace they do it in. They do projects instead of essays where they research topics they are interested in or they connect with communities to extend their knowledge about real-life matters. </p>
<p>The focus is on skills such as critical thinking, collaborative learning, communication, cultural understanding, and social action. For example, in one high school I visited, children worked with local farmers to help them resolve food waste issues, with teachers providing necessary guidance.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-curriculum-should-be-based-on-students-readiness-not-their-age-155549">Why the curriculum should be based on students' readiness, not their age</a>
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<p><strong>3. Different ways of assessment</strong> </p>
<p>Assessment is not grade based (where students in the same year level are compared) but proficiency based. This looks at whether students are learning and whether they are meeting a certain standard. It also allows students to be involved. In a “student-led conference,” students update each other on what they have learned. </p>
<p>US students who had done personalised learning told colleagues and I this self-paced approach was relaxed and less stressful. It allowed them to be themselves and they felt like their opinions and choices were respected.</p>
<h2>But there are challenges</h2>
<p>Personalised learning will take time to roll out in schools and communities, given it is so different from the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-018-0033-x">mass education</a> approach teachers, parents and students are used to. </p>
<p>Colleagues and I are studying three ACT schools where teachers are trialling personalised learning. Our initial findings shed light on the challenges of implementing personalised learning. As one high school teacher told us:</p>
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<p>Personalised learning makes sense […] particularly at the moment I have a class where one half is really hard working, and the other half for whatever reason, they just are not interested in work at all.</p>
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<p>But another teacher said it was difficult to get their students interested in a different approach to learning.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think, probably personalising is easier with primary students. I’m trying to implement my personal reading project in my high school, but it’s looking harder. </p>
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<p>While noting the benefits, teachers are also wary of what this might mean for their (<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-feel-guilty-about-not-being-good-enough-why-all-australian-schools-need-teaching-material-banks-192399">already significant</a>) workloads. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>So each and every student, we have to cater to their learning and that is why I feel that personalised learning helps them, you know, grasp the concepts. But isn’t this a lot of work for teachers?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The future of school?</h2>
<p>Personalised learning is not a magic wand, but it has to potential to prepare learners who are self-regulating and self-motivated for life beyond school.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gonskis-vision-of-personalised-learning-will-stifle-creativity-and-lead-to-a-generation-of-automatons-124000">Gonski’s vision of 'personalised learning' will stifle creativity and lead to a generation of automatons</a>
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<p>However, it is a paradigm shift for many schools, teachers, parents, and communities.</p>
<p>Moving forward, a key obstacle to overcome will be assuring already overworked teachers it will not lead to more work and educating parents about the potential benefits for their children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194630/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maya Gunawardena receives funding from the ACT Education Directorate.</span></em></p>Personalised learning aim to tailor learning to every student. It is already being used in the United States and is being trialled in Australia.Maya Gunawardena, Assistant professor, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1265192019-12-11T18:59:25Z2019-12-11T18:59:25ZI had an idea in the 1980s and to my surprise, it changed education around the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304209/original/file-20191128-178094-17n1y7k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cogitive load theory explains why explicit guidance from teachers is more effective in teaching students new content and skills than letting them discover these for themselves.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the first of two essays exploring key theories – cognitive load theory and <a href="https://theconversation.com/knowledge-is-a-process-of-discovery-how-constructivism-changed-education-126585">constructivism</a> – underlying teaching methods used today.</em></p>
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<p>Explicit guidance and feedback from teachers is more effective in teaching students new content and skills than letting them discover these for themselves. </p>
<p>This is a premise of cognitive load theory, which is based on our knowledge of evolutionary psychology and human cognition, including short- and long-term memory.</p>
<p>I started <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781441981257">working on cognitive load theory</a> in the early 1980s. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-019-09465-5">Since then</a>, “ownership” of the theory shifted to my research group at UNSW and then to a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Advances-in-Cognitive-Load-Theory-Rethinking-Teaching-1st-Edition/Tindall-Ford-Agostinho-Sweller/p/book/9780367246907">large group of international researchers</a>. </p>
<p>The theory holds that most children will acquire “natural” skills – such as learning to listen to and speak a native language – without schools or instruction. We have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00461520802392208">specifically evolved</a> to acquire such knowledge automatically. It is called “biologically primary knowledge”.</p>
<p>But there is another category of knowledge – “biologically secondary knowledge”, which we have not evolved to acquire. It consists of virtually every topic taught in schools from reading and writing to science and maths. </p>
<p>Cognitive load theory is concerned with the acquisition of secondary knowledge. </p>
<p>The theory now underpins the method of explicit instruction – where a teacher will explicitly provide students with information or demonstrate a way of doing things – a common means of teaching in schools. Cognitive load theory explains why this method works.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-explicit-instruction-and-how-does-it-help-children-learn-115144">Explainer: what is explicit instruction and how does it help children learn?</a>
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<h2>How we get secondary knowledge</h2>
<p>People can acquire <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-019-09465-5">secondary knowledge in two ways</a>. The easiest and quickest is by listening to other people or reading.</p>
<p>But if other people aren’t available, secondary knowledge can be discovered during problem solving – such as engaging in research. Such discovery, or inquiry, works but is slow and inefficient. It should only be used when we cannot obtain needed information from others. </p>
<p>Whatever way it’s acquired, new secondary information must first be processed by our working (or short-term) memory. We use working memory when we are paying attention to something. But this memory resource is severely limited in capacity and duration.</p>
<p>When faced with new, secondary information, working memory can process no more than about <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781441981257">two to three items of information</a> at any given time and for only about 20 seconds. </p>
<p>Once the new information has been processed by working memory, it can be transferred to a long-term memory that has no known capacity or duration limits.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305319/original/file-20191205-16538-1vq3blr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305319/original/file-20191205-16538-1vq3blr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305319/original/file-20191205-16538-1vq3blr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305319/original/file-20191205-16538-1vq3blr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305319/original/file-20191205-16538-1vq3blr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305319/original/file-20191205-16538-1vq3blr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305319/original/file-20191205-16538-1vq3blr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305319/original/file-20191205-16538-1vq3blr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We can only process two or three bits of new biologically secondary information in our short-term memory at any one time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Think of what you are doing now. You are faced with an immensely complex set of squiggles on a screen. The reason they don’t appear complex to you is because of the enormous amount of information you hold in long-term memory. </p>
<p>Information which has been processed in working memory and stored in long-term memory can be transferred back to working memory to generate action and thought appropriate to a given context. That is what we do when we read.</p>
<p>Working memory <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781441981257">has no capacity or duration limits</a> when dealing with familiar information from long-term memory.</p>
<p>Cognitive load theory uses this cognitive system to generate teaching methods.</p>
<h2>The ‘worked example’ effect</h2>
<p>Probably the best-known teaching method is based on the “worked example effect”. This occurs when students who are shown how to solve a particular problem or write a specific essay learn better by studying an example first, instead of generating a solution themselves. </p>
<p>A colleague and I <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s1532690xci0201_3">showed this</a> in 1985. One group of students were shown a series of problems and their worked example solutions. Another group wasn’t given example solutions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-every-child-needs-explicit-phonics-instruction-to-learn-to-read-125065">Why every child needs explicit phonics instruction to learn to read</a>
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<p>The first group performed significantly better on a subsequent test of similar problems to the example. Subsequent work demonstrated the same effect on transfer problems that differed from the example, than the group who had to come up with the the solutions themselves.</p>
<p>Dozens of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-02015-003">randomised controlled studies</a> have demonstrated this effect since.</p>
<p>Studying a worked example reduces the working memory load compared with generating a solution yourself. When solving a problem, you will inevitably consider a large number of possible moves, many of which do not assist in reaching the solution. </p>
<p>But when the solution is provided by a worked example, you are shown exactly which moves are relevant and you don’t have to consider a large number of alternative moves that lead to dead ends. </p>
<p>The problem solutions can be stored in long-term memory. </p>
<p>Once lots of problems and solutions are stored in long-term memory, we are in a better position to work out a solution to a new problem that can be related to previously learned solutions.</p>
<p>Basically, to think deeply, we need lots of knowledge stored in long-term memory.</p>
<h2>Other examples</h2>
<p>To reduce unnecessary cognitive load, teaching <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-019-09465-5">must be properly structured</a>. Learning is impeded, for instance, if students need to unnecessarily split their attention between several sources of information such as a diagram and text. But learning is facilitated by physically integrating the diagram and text.</p>
<p>Think of a geometry diagram with statements underneath it saying things like “Angle ABC = Angle DBE (vertically opposite angles are equal)”. </p>
<p>Experiments <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1990-26863-001">have demonstrated</a> that the very simple act of placing the statement on the diagram itself (putting “Angle ABC” next to where angle ABC actually is) reduces the cognitive load.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305128/original/file-20191204-70184-1kktrsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305128/original/file-20191204-70184-1kktrsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305128/original/file-20191204-70184-1kktrsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305128/original/file-20191204-70184-1kktrsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305128/original/file-20191204-70184-1kktrsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305128/original/file-20191204-70184-1kktrsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305128/original/file-20191204-70184-1kktrsq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>But if the text is redundant to the diagram, it should be eliminated altogether. For example, if you are teaching how the blood flows through the heart, lungs and body you might provide a diagram with arrows indicating the direction of flow. </p>
<p>A statement such as “blood flows from the left ventricle to the aorta” is redundant because it should be clear from the diagram. Studies have shown giving students the diagram alone <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1133&context=edupapers">reduces the cognitive load</a> compared to students who are given a diagram with redundant text.</p>
<p>These effects can only be shown if the information studied is complicated. If a student is learning the symbols of the chemical periodic table (Fe stands for “iron”), it does not matter how the information is presented because the cognitive load is low.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304879/original/file-20191203-66994-1tzs2w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304879/original/file-20191203-66994-1tzs2w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304879/original/file-20191203-66994-1tzs2w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304879/original/file-20191203-66994-1tzs2w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304879/original/file-20191203-66994-1tzs2w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304879/original/file-20191203-66994-1tzs2w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304879/original/file-20191203-66994-1tzs2w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">heart.</span>
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<h2>What are the alternatives?</h2>
<p>Alternatives to cognitive load theory, such as teaching critical thinking, often place a heavy emphasis on learning new problem solving or thinking strategies. Unfortunately, there are few randomised, controlled trials demonstrating their effectiveness.</p>
<p>Cognitive load theory assumes that, for example, critical thinking is biologically primary and so unteachable. We all are able to think critically if we have sufficient knowledge stored in long-term memory in the area of interest. </p>
<p>A car mechanic can think critically about repairing a car. I, and I dare say most of you reading cannot. Teaching us critical thinking strategies instead of car mechanics is likely to be useless. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/knowledge-is-a-process-of-discovery-how-constructivism-changed-education-126585">Knowledge is a process of discovery: how constructivism changed education</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126519/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Sweller has received funding from ARC.</span></em></p>There are two types of knowledge – we’ve evolved to acquire the first naturally; we need schools for the second. Cognitive load theory explains how to teach knowledge we don’t automatically get.John Sweller, Emeritus Professor, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1051462018-11-19T18:51:37Z2018-11-19T18:51:37ZHow to use Snapchat in the laboratory for better student engagement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246285/original/file-20181119-76140-1m3evlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C1500%2C970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Snapchat has utility in laboratory settings.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fun Man FUNG</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Snapchat image and video instant messaging application has rocketed in popularity among teenagers. Since 2012, the number of active users climbed from 10 million to more than 100 million in early 2015. More than 400 million snaps were received by users daily in December. In contrast, it would take <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215301023">both Facebook and Instagram combined to achieve the equivalent numbers</a> in a single month.</p>
<p>Snapchat has been trialled in a <a href="https://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=2893353">few schools</a>. However, it has yet to be implemented on a larger scale in education, and even more specifically, no lecturer has integrated Snapchat into <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-innovative-videography-can-supercharge-education-97676">chemistry laboratory teaching</a>. Since most students are constantly using their mobile phones, we explored the <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/bk-2017-1270.ch003">use of Snapchat as an educational platform</a> to strengthen both the chemistry practical and theoretical concepts learned during the laboratory curriculum at any time. </p>
<p>This can be done when students access the app during and after the laboratory session or when they are using their phones on their way home. We specifically targeted the time outside of their chemistry lessons or when <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00915">chemistry concepts happen to not be on their minds</a>. The main challenge of implementing Snapchat as an auxiliary teaching tool arises from its unorthodox user interface and ever-changing functions. Despite these challenges, we applied Snapchat in our second-year practical class.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244934/original/file-20181111-116832-177856t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244934/original/file-20181111-116832-177856t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244934/original/file-20181111-116832-177856t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244934/original/file-20181111-116832-177856t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244934/original/file-20181111-116832-177856t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244934/original/file-20181111-116832-177856t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244934/original/file-20181111-116832-177856t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244934/original/file-20181111-116832-177856t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How to use Snapchat in laboratory education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fun Man FUNG</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Snapchat’s approach</h2>
<p>In our pilot project, Snapchat assisted both teaching and learning by providing students with access to short videos uploaded by the lecturer in real-time, while incorporating the pedagogical concept of <a href="http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.htm">connectivism</a>. A possible content of these videos can be a demonstration of the correct execution of a certain procedural step that is usually done wrong by the previous batch of students. Besides, the lecturer can also instantly film a mistake that a student has committed without revealing the student’s identity. The lecturer can then illustrate to the whole class through the video so that other students can learn and not commit the same mistake. </p>
<p>This approach makes information dissemination much quicker, especially when the lecturer and teaching assistants (TA) are not able to attend to every single student at the same time. This quick feedback also appeals to the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4419605/">students’ need for instant gratification</a> – they learn something immediately after viewing the videos on the app. By making use of <a href="https://www.learntechlib.org/p/176179/">these networks</a>, students will be able to adopt the stance and different opinions of others. It is not possible to experience everything by oneself, so the student can learn from others via collaborative learning. Connectivism is now made possible with the advancement of technology that brings about social media apps like Facebook and Snapchat, to allow live sharing of content.</p>
<p>In this project’s context, even if students don’t make mistakes themselves, they can still learn from their peers’ examples through watching the snaps. These uploaded images and videos serve as pictorial examples for students to visualise, observe and learn from. We endeavoured to foster <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00071005.2014.970798">heuristic learning</a> whereby students self-determine what they learn. With the heuristic approach in mind, the <a href="http://ascilite.org/conferences/dunedin2014/files/fullpapers/138-Narayan.pdf">instructor commences the learning process</a> by guiding students and supplying them with different resources. In the context of this project, many <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/smarter-living/snapchat-guide.html">snaps</a> are uploaded by the instructor onto Snapchat <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-snapchat-story-3486000">stories</a>. Students have the choice to decide if they want to access the app and watch all the stories uploaded before they expire in 24 hours.</p>
<h2>Methodology</h2>
<p>This project was carried out on a cohort of 104 chemistry undergraduates enrolled in a second year laboratory module at the <a href="http://nus.edu.sg/">National University of Singapore</a>. A preliminary survey indicated that 61 students were current or former Snapchat users. During laboratory sessions, the lecturer recorded snaps as he made his way around the lab to check on the students’ progress. On occasions when the lecturer demonstrated the use of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvuXnofHwJU&index=3&list=PLhGppvvkkaMQ3WIGSATQp4F81nJYA-Yip">lab instruments</a>, a TA recorded the snaps. A Snapchat public account was created for this to facilitate the sharing of the real-time contents with the students.</p>
<p>To upload content onto Snapchat story, the flowchart illustrated in Figure 1 can be followed. First, the instructor opens the app to capture an image or video. Once the content is captured, the instructor would add a caption to explain the main message in the snap or to pose a question for the students to think about. The screenshot shown in Step 2 will be observed at the bottom of the captured snap. If an image was captured, the user chooses how long the image will be shown to the viewers. For this project, the timer was always set at the maximum time limit of 10 seconds to allow sufficient time for the students to read the caption and look at the image clearly. Next, the instructor clicks on the blue “Send to” button followed by checking the “My story” option to publish the image or video onto Snapchat story. Alternatively, the “Story” icon shown in Step 2 can be directly selected as well. The final step shown in the flowchart shows the icon of the successfully uploaded story (Figure 1).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244933/original/file-20181111-37973-1j1j8fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244933/original/file-20181111-37973-1j1j8fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244933/original/file-20181111-37973-1j1j8fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244933/original/file-20181111-37973-1j1j8fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244933/original/file-20181111-37973-1j1j8fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244933/original/file-20181111-37973-1j1j8fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244933/original/file-20181111-37973-1j1j8fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244933/original/file-20181111-37973-1j1j8fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1. Flowchart of the steps taken to upload a Snapchat story.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fun Man FUNG</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mobile phone usage is not prohibited in the laboratory due to consideration of possible emergency situations of family and friends that the students might need to attend to and photo-capturing of experimental observations for the students to compare and think of possible reasons for these experimental observations. Therefore, students could view the stories during the laboratory session, as well as after their sessions. Since viewers of the stories are not able to save the stories before they disappear and can no longer be viewed in 24 hours, students are motivated to view the stories before they leave. We believe that this 24-hour restriction encourage students to view the stories again right after each laboratory session, as a form of revision and reflection on the lab events.</p>
<p>During laboratory sessions, most of the snaps recorded students’ mistakes to encourage peer learning. For example, for 1H <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKt6bDw3od0">nuclear magnetic resonance</a> (NMR) analysis, several students used a spatula to transfer their solid sample from the centrifuge tube into the NMR tube. As the width of the spatula was wider than the aperture of the NMR tube, some spillage occurred (figure 2a). A correct demonstration of inverting the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sov0x9YdVfg">NMR tube</a> and then directly inserting it into the centrifuge tube to retrieve some product into the NMR tube was then recorded and uploaded (figure 2b).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244929/original/file-20181111-39548-1apbti4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244929/original/file-20181111-39548-1apbti4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244929/original/file-20181111-39548-1apbti4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244929/original/file-20181111-39548-1apbti4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244929/original/file-20181111-39548-1apbti4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244929/original/file-20181111-39548-1apbti4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244929/original/file-20181111-39548-1apbti4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244929/original/file-20181111-39548-1apbti4.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 2. (a) Uploaded snaps correct students mistakes. (b) Error made by a student.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fun Man FUNG</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other examples include correct demonstrations of laboratory techniques (figure 3a). In addition to learning from mistakes, students also made good improvisations to the experimental procedure, and these were recorded and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_XlKy97_Ow&index=38&t=0s&list=PLhGppvvkkaMQ3WIGSATQp4F81nJYA-Yip">uploaded onto Snapchat</a> as well. In addition, snaps with questions were uploaded to encourage the students to reflect on the procedure. (Figure 3b).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244931/original/file-20181111-39548-z4r5ge.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244931/original/file-20181111-39548-z4r5ge.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244931/original/file-20181111-39548-z4r5ge.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244931/original/file-20181111-39548-z4r5ge.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244931/original/file-20181111-39548-z4r5ge.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244931/original/file-20181111-39548-z4r5ge.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244931/original/file-20181111-39548-z4r5ge.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244931/original/file-20181111-39548-z4r5ge.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 3. Screenshots of uploaded snaps with captions for laboratory teaching.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fun Man FUNG</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Different types of questions were also posted as <a href="https://youtu.be/jJ7nwZl6N9I">Snapchat stories</a>, possibly to aid students in the completion of their written reports (figure 4a). The answers to these questions raised in the snaps were revealed at the end of each week’s laboratory sessions to promote the good practice of empowering the students to think of responses before the solutions are revealed to them (figure 4b).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244930/original/file-20181111-116841-9c9jyi.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244930/original/file-20181111-116841-9c9jyi.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244930/original/file-20181111-116841-9c9jyi.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244930/original/file-20181111-116841-9c9jyi.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244930/original/file-20181111-116841-9c9jyi.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244930/original/file-20181111-116841-9c9jyi.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244930/original/file-20181111-116841-9c9jyi.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244930/original/file-20181111-116841-9c9jyi.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 4. (a) A question posed and uploaded as a Snapchat story. (b) The answer was revealed later.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fun Man FUNG</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Results</h2>
<p>From the uploaded Snapchat stories data on viewership, it was found that more than 80% of the students watched the snaps. The highest record of viewership of a single video/image was 55 (figure 5). On average, stories garnered about 36 views among 61 users. The highest viewership recorded was 54 and the lowest, 25. The higher viewership was observed in later weeks, which suggests that more students found the snaps useful and checked their accounts more frequently to view uploaded content. Some students also took screenshots of the stories to save them in their phones. This was due to the ephemeral nature of snaps, since they would disappear after 24 hours.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244932/original/file-20181111-39548-zihd3h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244932/original/file-20181111-39548-zihd3h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244932/original/file-20181111-39548-zihd3h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244932/original/file-20181111-39548-zihd3h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244932/original/file-20181111-39548-zihd3h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244932/original/file-20181111-39548-zihd3h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244932/original/file-20181111-39548-zihd3h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244932/original/file-20181111-39548-zihd3h.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 5. Students viewership of uploaded Snapchat images and videos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fun Man FUNG</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the end of the Snapchat trial, a survey was given out to the cohort. 41 users’ responses were collected. In figure 6, the incorporation of Snapchat into the laboratory module was well-received by the students. 85% of the respondents agreed that the snaps uploaded aided in their revision, while 78% agreed that the application enabled them to learn better during the laboratory sessions. In addition, 83% were comfortable with using it for educational purposes. The last survey statement also garnered very positive response as 83% of the respondents hoped that such an app will be used for future lab teaching. The result implies that students indeed gained from the stories uploaded and would like this mobile app to be present again for their future learning.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244927/original/file-20181111-116838-7908i0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244927/original/file-20181111-116838-7908i0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244927/original/file-20181111-116838-7908i0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244927/original/file-20181111-116838-7908i0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244927/original/file-20181111-116838-7908i0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244927/original/file-20181111-116838-7908i0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244927/original/file-20181111-116838-7908i0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244927/original/file-20181111-116838-7908i0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 6. Survey Data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fun Man FUNG</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feedback was also garnered from the students, to find out how they felt about the content uploaded onto Snapchat story. In the feedback gathered, there were many positive comments on the videos and images uploaded on Snapchat. For example: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Snapchat videos were informative. They were clear and highly accessible and the videos also show us the mistakes made by our peers, enabling us to learn from them. Furthermore, it also shows the good things that our peers have done, enabling us to learn good lab techniques.”</p>
<p>“The videos/images uploaded allowed me to do a review about that particular experiment, as well as enabling me to do a self-reflection and provided us with questions/delve deeper into things which we would not have thought about.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Considerations about the app</h2>
<p>Snapchat allows users to snap photos and videos of up to 10 seconds. At first, this 10-second duration may seem too short to fully deliver content across the screen. However, it could be a way of dealing with the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/mar/11/technology-Internet-pupil-attention-teaching">shorter attention spans</a> that many youth possess. Moreover, these short videos compress large chunks of information into granular level for more focused learning.</p>
<p>Overall, the use of Snapchat as an instant video-sharing platform proved to be a useful pedagogical tool. The application can enhance the student learning experience by allowing the viewing of real-time images and videos uploaded by the instructors. This method overcomes the challenge of <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00457">higher student-to-teacher ratios</a>, promotes active learning and makes the educational process more enjoyable and engaging. Moreover, students are engaged in learning even after school hours as they can watch the snaps on the go.</p>
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<p><em>This article was written based on the author’s work with Alina Ang Sihui in her Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme in Science (UROPS) project at the Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fun Man FUNG receives funding from National University of Singapore Faculty of Science and Department of Chemistry to perform this pedagogy project. </span></em></p>The use of the popular mobile application for multimedia sharing in a large laboratory class was shown to enhance the students’ learning experiences.Fun Man Fung, Assistant Director (Education) at the Institute for Application of Learning Science and Educational Technology, National University of SingaporeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1013842018-10-04T20:03:59Z2018-10-04T20:03:59ZTeachers and trainers are vital to the quality of the VET sector, and to the success of its learners<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238821/original/file-20181002-195263-1em57ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teacher quality is key in getting a good education.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of a series on the Future of VET exploring issues within the sector and how to improve the decline in enrolments and shortages of qualified people in vocational jobs. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Future+of+VET">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Vocational Education and Training (VET) is an important part of the education sector and trains people of all ages for occupations vital across all sectors of the economy. It also makes a major contribution to social inclusion. </p>
<p>Australia endlessly debates the ATAR level needed even to <em>enter</em> teacher-training programs for school teaching. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/viewpoints-should-universities-raise-the-atar-required-for-entrance-into-teaching-degrees-102841">Viewpoints: should universities raise the ATAR required for entrance into teaching degrees?</a>
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<p>But it doesn’t seem to care about the qualifications of those who teach our young people, workers and citizens in VET. For the last 20 years, VET teachers have only been required to have a Certificate IV level qualification in VET teaching, and the industry qualification at the level at which they are teaching people. </p>
<p>Teacher preparation has been identified as a key factor in the quality of education, so to improve the quality of the VET sector, we need to ensure teachers and trainers are getting the right training themselves. Other factors – such as funding – affect VET quality and student success. </p>
<p>But, in the school sector, it has been shown teachers make the most difference, so the same is likely to be true of VET. Teaching in any sector is a highly skilled activity and VET, especially, has such a range of learners that diverse teaching strategies are needed.</p>
<h2>Who are these teachers and trainers?</h2>
<p>VET teachers work in TAFE (the public provider) private registered training organisations (RTOs), community colleges or enterprise RTOs (providing qualifications to their workforces). They may teach full-time, have a portfolio of jobs across several providers, or may still work in their industry while they teach part-time. </p>
<p>They are “dual professionals”, needing to keep up with changes in industry, the economy and society, and developing their teaching skills to deal with increasingly complex learner groups and teaching environments. </p>
<p><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/306/Keynote_Address_-_Roger_Harris_-_What_do_we_learn_from_40_years_of_history.pdf?1538441019">Until 1997</a>, all full-time TAFE teachers nationally were helped to get degrees in VET teacher training after recruitment, or graduate diplomas if they already had a degree in another area. They studied part-time while teaching. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/expert-panel-what-makes-a-good-teacher-25696">Expert panel: what makes a good teacher</a>
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<p>In 1998, the minimum qualification – the Certificate IV level – was introduced for all VET teachers and trainers. States and territory TAFE systems gradually stopped requiring higher-level qualifications. The Certificate IV <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14480220.2017.1355301">floor became a ceiling</a>. </p>
<p>While some teachers undertake higher-level study, they are now the minority. Yet, those who undertake higher level qualifications can clearly point to their value. </p>
<h2>Where’s the evidence these qualifications benefit teachers?</h2>
<p>Our national <a href="http://federation.edu.au/research-vet-quality">study</a>, conducted from 2015 to 2017, looked at whether and how VET teachers’ qualifications made a difference. The project had seven phases of qualitative and quantitative research over three years, with 1,255 participants from the sector, from all types of training provider and industry areas. We had good numbers of teacher participants at all qualification levels.</p>
<p>In TAFE and RTO case studies for this project, we interviewed supervisors, managers, professional development staff and students as well as teachers. </p>
<p>Based on detailed survey responses and our case study results, we found:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>higher level qualifications, either in VET teaching practice or another discipline improve teaching approaches, confidence and ability</p></li>
<li><p>higher level qualifications in VET teaching specifically make a significant difference to VET teachers’ confidence in teaching a diversity of learners</p></li>
<li><p>the qualification level that makes the most difference is a degree.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>How many VET teacher are qualified at different levels?</h2>
<p>There is no national source of information on how many VET teachers are qualified at different levels. In our main survey, twice as many VET teachers had degrees in their industry area (37%) as had degrees in VET teaching (19%). Some 27% had qualifications only at Certificate III or Certificate IV in their industry area, and 64% had only a Certificate IV qualification in VET teaching.</p>
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<p>By far, the greatest proportion of teachers sat in the lowest qualification combination (sub-degree qualification in their industry area and Certificate IV in VET teaching). Only 11.9% had qualifications at degree level or above in both their industry area and in VET teaching.</p>
<p>But our study showed teachers with degree-level knowledge in teaching and their industry area were the most confident in passing on knowledge and skills to their students. Some teachers with lower qualification levels did show the characteristics of excellent teaching, but these were more common in highly-qualified teachers.</p>
<h2>What’s stopping VET teachers from qualifying themselves?</h2>
<p>Perhaps the existence of a mandated minimum VET teaching qualification may provide an excuse not to progress further than the minimum. Some people think professional development can act as a substitute for qualifications – but our study found people with lower level qualifications undertake less professional development. </p>
<p>In most jobs, professional development supplements rather than replaces initial qualifications. Perhaps resourcing is an issue. TAFE teachers <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/__data/assets/file/0016/3724/2311.pdf">may expect</a> their study to be supported by employer funding and a workload allowance, neither of which may be possible. </p>
<p>Some people imagine to get a university qualification in VET teaching, people must give up their jobs and go to university for three years. This could, of course, be difficult if it were true - <a href="https://www.acde.edu.au/networks-and-partnerships/acde-vocational-group/">but it isn’t</a>. </p>
<p>All <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13596748.2015.1081752">VET teacher-training courses</a> at universities are part-time and offered flexibly, as most students are working full-time in VET or in industry and may live at a distance. Universities work closely with individual TAFE and other providers in making their VET teacher-training courses relevant. </p>
<h2>What could help VET teachers become more qualified?</h2>
<p>Already, a higher level qualification in adult education (the Diploma of VET or university degree) is recognised by the VET regulator, the <a href="https://www.asqa.gov.au/">Australian Skills Quality Authority</a> (ASQA), as an alternative to the Certificate IV. VET teachers must now show continuous professional development in VET as well as in industry. Undertaking a VET teaching qualification can meet this requirement. </p>
<p>A more open attitude from some in the VET sector – allowing teachers to attain higher-level qualifications rather than the sector insisting only on educating its own – would help. Ambassadors, such as graduates of higher level courses, could spread the word about what they’ve gained from their studies, personally and in their careers. </p>
<p>Federal and state government could introduce policy provisions to improve teacher/trainer qualification levels, as they do with <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/start-your-career/registration/nationally-consistent-teacher-registration">school teaching</a> and have done with <a href="https://www.acecqa.gov.au/qualification-requirements">early childhood education</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teach-for-australia-a-small-part-of-the-solution-to-a-serious-problem-30152">Teach for Australia: a small part of the solution to a serious problem</a>
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<p>Finally, a “Teach VET for Australia” program, similar to <a href="https://www.teachforaustralia.org/">Teach for Australia</a> would be useful. The idea of taking adults with life experience and training them as teachers is what VET teacher-training has done for decades. A named and targeted program could demonstrate the benefits of higher-level qualifications.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author would like to thank Keiko Yasukawa, Roger Harris, Jackie Tuck, Patrick Korbel and Hugh Guthrie who were researchers on the ARC-funded project, and Steven Hodge who was involved in an earlier project.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101384/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erica Smith receives funding from the ARC. She is affiliated with the Australian Council of Deans of Education. </span></em></p>Teacher preparation has been identified as a key factor in the quality of education. To improve the quality of the VET sector, we need to ensure teachers and trainers are qualified to teach.Erica Smith, Professor of Vocational Education and Training, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1023162018-09-11T21:39:07Z2018-09-11T21:39:07ZLet’s teach students why math matters in the real world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234923/original/file-20180904-45181-10qk96e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teaching students about how ancient civilizations used geometry to build structures like the pyramids in Egypt is part of a new integrated approach to learning science, technology, engineering and math.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“When will I ever use this?” It’s a question math and science teachers hear all the time from their high school students.</p>
<p>Teaching science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills is more important than ever, but it’s often difficult for students to understand the practical applications of such fundamental learning and how it will help them down the road.</p>
<p>Classroom activities should be relevant, meaningful and connected to students’ prior knowledge and experiences. Learning must be based on lived experiences within both formal and informal educational settings.</p>
<p>Increasingly, teacher educators are realizing that we must break away from traditional silos of courses, disciplines and formal schooling. Educators must lead by example and provide students with opportunities to explore interdisciplinary approaches to learning. </p>
<h2>Creative thinking</h2>
<p>The new <a href="https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/">British Columbia curriculum</a> embraces these principles of learning. In the same spirit, I’m part of a new and unique Bachelor of Education program at Thompson Rivers University where <a href="http://inside.tru.ca/2018/06/12/love-for-teaching-stems-from-science/">teacher candidates are learning to teach STEM by actively engaging students</a>. The program promotes cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to learning and is tied to the provincial curriculum <a href="https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies">core competencies</a> of communication, critical and creative thinking.</p>
<p>So how do you teach a subject like math differently in a way that can help students learn through creative thinking and experience, rather than rote memorization?</p>
<p>Let’s take, for example, Pi. </p>
<p>I often ask my teacher candidates: What is π? Many respond “3.14” and, if probed further, explain the meaning by merely stating an equation like A=πr² (where A is the area of a circle and r is the radius of a circle). Or they may tell me C=2πr (where C is the circumference of a circle).</p>
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<span class="caption">A door handle in the shape of Pi at the National Museum of Mathematics in New York,</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)</span></span>
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<h2>Teaching through discovery</h2>
<p>I encourage these teacher candidates to think differently and to help students discover mathematical concepts for themselves. What better way to teach students that π is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter than to have them trace any circle and then measure it with a piece of string?</p>
<p>They will soon learn that regardless of the size of the circle, the ratio of circumference to diameter will always be 22/7, an approximation of π.</p>
<p>Innovative educators can integrate history, geography, math and science lessons by teaching a thematic unit on ancient civilizations.</p>
<p>For example, the Egyptians succeeded in building great pyramids with incredible precision and accuracy. These magnificent architectural accomplishments have stood the test of time, remaining largely intact after centuries — a tribute to their construction.</p>
<p>The ancient Egyptians understood the significance of mathematics through the very beauty and symmetry of nature. They used geometry to solve everyday problems.</p>
<h2>Tearing down silos</h2>
<p>Increasingly, teacher educators are realizing that we must break away from traditional silos of courses, disciplines and formal schooling — exactly the opposite of the <a href="https://www.ontariopc.ca/on_education_doug_ford_will_respect_parents_and_get_back_to_basics">“back to basics” approach suggested by populist politicians like new Ontario Premier Doug Ford</a>.</p>
<p>Students benefit from learning experiences that are meaningful, relevant and well-connected to their own experiences. For that to happen, the people teaching those students must be prepared to take on new attitudes of reflectiveness and inquisitiveness.</p>
<p>What is necessary is to follow in the footsteps of the great thinkers like Galileo and Newton, who questioned our perceptions of reality and sought answers from tactile experiences rather than textbooks or teachers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward R. Howe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To get more students interested in STEM subjects, teachers must break out of the traditional subject-matter silos and use an approach that helps kids understand how math is used in the real world.Edward R. Howe, Associate Professor, Thompson Rivers UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/906352018-02-06T14:06:57Z2018-02-06T14:06:57ZWhy sarcasm is such a brilliantly inclusive and effective way to teach children – not<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204601/original/file-20180202-162101-d25f0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teachers-desk-color-pencil-notebook-other-114019363?src=5KDaUQxHKSmCjJ5TYWtCZQ-1-69">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The image of the sarcastic teacher is a common one. From the masterful speech given by Socrates at his trial for corruption (his “<a href="http://www.cirp.uqam.ca/documents%20pdf/Collection%20vol.%201/10.S.Rojcewicz.pdf">apology</a>”), to the withering insults of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwkZ_EGeQ40">Mr Gilbert on The Inbetweeners</a> TV show, sarcasm and teachers seem inextricably linked. </p>
<p>Ignoring advice from handbooks and manuals, in my own work as a teacher I have often used sarcasm to highlight rule breaking (“Late again, Timmy? What was it this time, alien abduction or a volcano in your garden?”) or challenge misunderstandings (“Oh yes, absolutely, clouds are definitely 100% made by steam from kettles”). And some believe that I was right to do so.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.tes.com/news/tes-magazine/tes-magazine/no-sarcasm-class-dont-take-mick">recent essay</a> in the Times Educational Supplement referenced a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074959781500076X">study</a> that argued that sarcasm from trusted people “increases creativity without elevating conflict” and can act as a useful <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/call-for-more-sarcasm-at-school-is-no-joke-emily-seeber-bedales-8hvzhr9br">teaching method</a>. </p>
<p>The teacher who wrote that essay said in a subsequent <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09lw3l9">interview</a> that sarcasm is one of many tools available to improve creativity in science lessons. But it is a conclusion I have some trouble accepting. </p>
<p>On a basic level, sarcastic comments are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093934X99921247">more difficult to understand</a> than plainly spoken phrases. This would suggest that the use of sarcasm impedes learning rather than improving it.</p>
<p>And aside from the pro-sarcasm stance being based on just one or <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-09700-001">two</a> studies, there are other significant issues surrounding its use as a teaching tool. First, it’s not for children and, second, it’s discriminatory.</p>
<h2>Not suitable for children</h2>
<p>The studies around sarcasm and creativity use participants aged 18-69. Unlike adults, who can discern sarcasm from context, children <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1130840">rely heavily on intonation</a> to verify ironic suggestions or humorous exaggeration. </p>
<p>If sarcasm isn’t identified by the “recipient” then it can seem misleading at best, cruel or damaging at worst. A study in <a href="https://journals.co.za/content/interim/12/4/EJC151575">South African schools</a> concluded that sarcasm could be “a direct violation of fundamental rights of learners to dignity”, akin to corporal punishment. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/819365">One teacher</a> suggested that “sarcasm can be as destructive and painful as other forms of humour can be rejuvenating”.</p>
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<p>There is some <a href="https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/honorstheses/368/">suggestion</a> that millennials may be particularly sensitive to sarcasm, and a negative interpretation may damage trust and create obstacles between “juniors” and those in positions of power. </p>
<p>The risk of damaging the pupil-teacher relationship is particularly high for teachers new to the profession, or those taking on new classes, since a lack of familiarity with the speaker makes sarcasm <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.2003.97.1.251">more likely to go undetected</a>. </p>
<p>If sarcastic comments are undetected as humour, and subsequently interpreted as a true statement, then misunderstandings will abound. </p>
<p>School classrooms, labs, and workshops are inclusive places, where learners with different backgrounds and needs work in the same space. This variety makes sarcasm a questionable tool. Students with English as an additional language may <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sociocultural-Theory-and-the-Pedagogical-Imperative-in-L2-Education-Vygotskian/Lantolf-Poehner/p/book/9780203813850">struggle to either understand sarcasm</a> due to a language barrier, or see sarcasm as wholly negative due to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378216613002063">cultural differences</a>. </p>
<p>People with learning disorders find it difficult to recognise and interpret sarcasm. An inability to understand a sarcastic situation has been seen in children with high-functioning <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0387760403001700">developmental disorders</a>, and children with ADHD have demonstrated specific <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021992416301423">deficits</a> in comprehending paradoxical sarcasm. </p>
<p>If sarcasm is used in inclusive environments such as schools, teachers run the risk of communicating in a way that is alienating, misleading, or insulting.</p>
<h2>Oh, so you think sarcasm is utterly evil…</h2>
<p>Despite the many pitfalls, there may be positives to a careful use of sarcasm. Both using and receiving may indeed have a positive effect on creativity. In some cases sarcastic comments can serve as a “hook” to help people remember a particular fact or lesson. Where students “get” a teacher’s comments, it strengthens relationships. </p>
<p>This would be particularly true for older students. Their brains have a more developed prefrontal cortex, which is an essential part of <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-12819-062">understanding and interpretation of sarcasm</a>. In certain circumstances, sarcastic teacher comments are revered, and collected to be <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/student-writes-down-teachers-best-5772714">shared more widely</a>. </p>
<p>Like much in education, the use of sarcasm in the classroom seems to be something of a double-edged sword. Sure, it may stimulate creativity and strengthen existing relationships, but it may also lead to feelings of exclusion. Given the minefield that a use of sarcasm presents, and range of safer ways in which <a href="https://www.ase.org.uk/journals/school-science-review/2009/03/332/1957/SSR332Mar2009p91.pdf">creativity may be encouraged in science</a>, my feeling is that giving in to sarcastic tendencies is probably best avoided. </p>
<p>So if you want to use sarcasm to improve creativity in education, go right ahead. I can’t see that causing any problems for you at all …</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90635/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Dunk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sarcasm can alienate and discriminate.Richard Dunk, Lecturer in Education, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/786602017-06-21T10:31:01Z2017-06-21T10:31:01ZChallenging the status quo in mathematics: Teaching for understanding<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174303/original/file-20170618-28772-1vhqkpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How can we change math instruction to meet the needs of today's kids?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/97aGY8">World Bank Photo Collection / flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite decades of <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED372969.pdf">reform efforts</a>, mathematics teaching in the U.S. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/20405948">has changed little</a> in the last century. As a result, it seems, American students have been left behind, now ranking <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017048.pdf#page=31">40th in the world</a> in math literacy. </p>
<p>Several state and national reform efforts have tried to improve things. The most recent <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/">Common Core standards</a> had a great deal of promise with their focus on how to teach mathematics, but after several years, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0013189X17711899">changes in teaching practices</a> have been minimal. </p>
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<p>As an education researcher, I’ve observed teachers trying to implement reforms – often with limited success. They sometimes make changes that are more cosmetic than substantive (e.g., more student discussion and group activity), while failing to get at the heart of the matter: What does it truly mean to teach and learn mathematics?</p>
<h2>Traditional mathematics teaching</h2>
<p>Traditional middle or high school mathematics teaching in the U.S. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/20405948">typically follows this pattern</a>: The teacher demonstrates a set of procedures that can be used to solve a particular kind of problem. A similar problem is then introduced for the class to solve together. Then, the students get a number of exercises to practice on their own.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The basics of math instruction have changed little since George Eaton taught at Phillips Academy (1880-1930).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/jKrzFZ">Phillips Academy Archives and Special Collections / flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, when students learn about the area of shapes, they’re given a set of formulas. They put numbers into the correct formula and compute a solution. More complex questions might give the students the area and have them work backwards to find a missing dimension. Students will often learn a different set of formulas each day: perhaps squares and rectangles one day, triangles the next. </p>
<p>Students in these kinds of lessons are learning to follow a rote process to arrive at a solution. This kind of instruction is so common that it’s seldom even questioned. After all, within a particular lesson, it makes the math seem easier, and students who are successful at getting the right answers find this kind of teaching to be very satisfying.</p>
<p>But it turns out that teaching mathematics this way can actually <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3696735">hinder learning</a>. Children can become dependent on <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5951/teacchilmath.21.1.0018">tricks and rules</a> that don’t hold true in all situations, making it harder to adapt their knowledge to new situations.</p>
<p>For example, in traditional teaching, children learn that they should distribute a number by multiplying across parentheses and will practice doing so with numerous examples. When they begin learning how to solve equations, they often have trouble realizing that it’s not always needed. To illustrate, take the equation 3(x + 5) = 30. Children are likely to multiply the 3 across the parentheses to make 3x + 15 = 30. They might just as easily have divided both sides by 3 to make x + 5 = 10, but a child who learned the distribution method might have great difficulty recognizing the alternate method – or even that both procedures are equally correct.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students who learn by rote drilling often have trouble realizing that there are equally valid alternative methods for solving a problem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kaitlyn Chantry</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More than a right answer</h2>
<p>A key missing ingredient in these traditional lessons is conceptual understanding. </p>
<p>Concepts are ideas, meaning and relationships. It’s not just about knowing the procedure (like how to compute the area of a triangle) but also the significance behind the procedure (like what area means). How concepts and procedures are related is important as well, such as how the area of a triangle can be considered half the area of a rectangle and how that relationship can be seen in their area formulas. </p>
<p>Teaching for conceptual understanding has <a href="http://math.coe.uga.edu/Olive/EMAT3500f08/instrumental-relational.pdf">several benefits</a>. Less information has to be memorized, and students can translate their knowledge to new situations more easily. For example, understanding what area means and how areas of different shapes are related can help students understand the concept of volume better. And learning the relationship between area and volume can help students understand how to interpret what the volume means once it’s been calculated.</p>
<p>In short, building relationships between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9302-x">how to solve a problem and why it’s solved that way</a> helps students <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.91.1.175">use what they already know</a> to solve new problems that they face. Students with a truly conceptual understanding can see how methods emerged from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.1.175">multiple interconnected ideas</a>; their relationship to the solution goes deeper than rote drilling.</p>
<p>Teaching this way is a critical first step if students are to begin recognizing mathematics as meaningful. Conceptual understanding is a key ingredient to helping people think mathematically and use mathematics outside of a classroom.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Procedural learning promotes memorization instead of critical thinking and problem solving.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/math-study-exam-set-book-pencil-250606378">m.jrn/shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The will to change</h2>
<p>Conceptual understanding in mathematics has been recognized as important for <a href="http://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/About/President,_Board_and_Committees/Board_Materials/MLarson-SF-NCTM-4-16.pdf">over a century</a> and widely discussed for decades. So why has it not been incorporated into the curriculum, and why does traditional teaching abound? </p>
<p>Learning conceptually can take longer and be more difficult than just presenting formulas. Teaching this way may require additional time commitments both in and outside the classroom. Students may have never been asked to think this way before.</p>
<p>There are systemic obstacles to face as well. A new teacher may face pressure from fellow teachers who teach in traditional ways. The <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/high-stakes-testing-overtesting-in-americas-public-schools-3194591">culture of overtesting</a> in the last two decades means that students face more pressure than ever to get right answers on tests. </p>
<p>The results of these tests are also being <a href="https://tcta.org/node/13251-issues_with_test_based_value_added_models_of_teacher_assessment">tied to teacher evaluation systems</a>. Many teachers feel pressure to teach to the test, drilling students so that they can regurgitate information accurately.</p>
<p>If we really want to improve America’s mathematics education, we need to rethink both our education system and our teaching methods, and perhaps to <a href="http://www.nea.org/home/40991.htm">consider how other countries approach mathematics instruction</a>. Research has provided evidence that teaching conceptually has <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb04/vol61/num05/Improving-Mathematics-Teaching.aspx">benefits</a> not offered by traditional teaching. And students who learn conceptually typically do <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654310374880">as well or better</a> on achievement tests. </p>
<p>Renowned education expert <a href="https://pasisahlberg.com/">Pasi Sahlberg</a> is a former mathematics and physics teacher from Finland, which is renowned for its world-class education. He <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/">sums it up</a> well:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We prepare children to learn how to learn, not how to take a test.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78660/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Rakes receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Math instruction is stuck in the last century. How can we change teaching methods to move past rote memorization and help students develop a more meaningful understanding – and be better at math?Christopher Rakes, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/759762017-05-17T00:06:46Z2017-05-17T00:06:46ZAre movies a good way to learn history?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169574/original/file-20170516-11966-7ci4ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Daniel Day-Lewis won the 2012 Academy Award for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. Is Spielberg's historical drama a good way to learn about the 16th U.S. president?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.fox.co.uk/lincoln">Touchstone Pictures</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hollywood loves history. At <a href="http://oscar.go.com/news/winners/oscar-winners-2017-see-the-complete-list">this year’s Academy Awards</a>, three nominees for Best Picture (“<a href="http://www.fencesmovie.com/">Fences</a>,” “<a href="http://www.hacksawridge.movie/">Hacksaw Ridge</a>” and “<a href="http://www.hiddenfigures.com/">Hidden Figures</a>”) were “historical” to today’s teenagers – set in or about events that occurred before they were born.</p>
<p>History movies, like most movies, have a huge audience in the U.S. Even Disney’s notorious 2004 version of “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318974/">The Alamo</a>” – <a href="http://business.time.com/2012/03/21/the-top-ten-biggest-money-losing-movies-of-all-time/slide/the-alamo/">a box office “bomb”</a> – was seen by millions. That’s far more people than read most best-selling historians’ books.</p>
<p>A lot of these viewers are kids, watching the movies in theaters, at home and even at school. I’ve observed “The Alamo” used by teachers on more than one occasion.</p>
<p>But are motion pictures like these good for learning about history? As a scholar of social studies education and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-History-with-Film-Strategies-for-Secondary-Social-Studies/Marcus-Metzger-Paxton-Stoddard/p/book/9780415999564">the use of film to teach history</a>, I offer the response that films can support learning – if used to meet specific goals and connected to the proper subject matter.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RK8xHq6dfAo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">2016’s ‘Hidden Figures’ was nominated for Best Picture. Will it be used in classrooms some day to teach about this moment in the 1960s?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The allure of history movies</h2>
<p>Fact-based or fictional, realistic or fantastic, history movies shape the way people think about the past. In a study of how 15 families discussed historical understanding of the Vietnam War era, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831206298677">kids and parents both spontaneously drew on memories of movies</a>. “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Forrest Gump</a>,” in particular, was referenced by both generations.</p>
<p>It’s not surprising that teachers want to draw on this cultural power, showing movies in class to get students more excited about history. In one study of <a href="http://www.mccc.edu/pdf/cmn107/the%20burden%20of%20historical%20representation%20race%20freedom%20and%20educational%20hollywood%20film.pdf">84 Wisconsin and Connecticut teachers</a>, nearly 93 percent reported that they use some portion of a film at least once a week. While not enough to draw clear conclusions, this study does suggest that history films are likely used quite often in the classroom.</p>
<p>So why do teachers choose to show movies with class time?</p>
<p>People often talk about the <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/pros-and-cons-movies-in-class-7762">stereotype of the busy/lazy/overwhelmed teacher</a> who puts on a movie instead of doing “real” teaching. However, research indicates that teachers actually tend to have good motives when it comes to showing movies in class.</p>
<p>In that study of 84 teachers, most felt that students are more motivated and learn more when a film is used. Case studies also describe <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-History-with-Film-Strategies-for-Secondary-Social-Studies/Marcus-Metzger-Paxton-Stoddard/p/book/9780415999564">other academic goals teachers have for using movies in class</a>, which include understanding historical controversies, visualizing narratives of the past and studying movies as “primary sources” that reflect the time at which they were made.</p>
<p>In a recent study of <a href="https://www.history.org.uk/publications/categories/304/resource/7132/the-international-journal-volume-12-number-1">more than 200 Australian teachers</a>, many described how movies added audio and visual elements to learning and showcased a more personal, empathetic look at historical figures and events – both aspects that the teachers felt resonated with the learning styles and preferences of their pupils.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169557/original/file-20170516-11966-kob1uw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169557/original/file-20170516-11966-kob1uw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169557/original/file-20170516-11966-kob1uw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169557/original/file-20170516-11966-kob1uw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169557/original/file-20170516-11966-kob1uw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169557/original/file-20170516-11966-kob1uw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169557/original/file-20170516-11966-kob1uw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169557/original/file-20170516-11966-kob1uw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1994’s ‘Forrest Gump’ is a popular cultural touchpoint for thinking about the Vietnam War.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.paramount.com/movies/forrest-gump">Paramount Pictures</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Do students trust movies?</h2>
<p>Most young people are savvy enough to know that movies and TV are fictionalized, but that doesn’t mean they know how to keep history and Hollywood separate. After all, movies and TV shows set in a historical period can be extensively researched and often <a href="http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/57hsn7hf9780252076893.html">blend fact and fiction</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ760285">a study of two U.S. history classes,</a> high school students interviewed claimed that “Hollywood” films are less trustworthy sources of information. Yet in classroom activities, they treated them like any other legitimate source – perhaps because the teacher adds some unintentional legitimacy simply by choosing the film. The teacher “must see some good history in it,” explained one student. “I don’t think he’s going to show something random,” said another.</p>
<p>A case study by education professor <a href="http://education.uconn.edu/person/alan-marcus/">Alan Marcus</a> found that students believed most movies watched in class to be <a href="http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Celluloid-Blackboard-Teaching-History-with-Film">at least somewhat trustworthy</a> – a source of information to gather facts.</p>
<p>The level of trust students have may also depend on their prior knowledge or cultural viewpoints, as in a study of <a href="http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Celluloid-Blackboard-Teaching-History-with-Film">26 Wisconsin teenagers</a> – half of them white and half Native American. The Native American teens found the 1993 Kevin Costner film “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099348/">Dances with Wolves</a>” to be slightly more trustworthy than their white peers did. The white students, on the other hand, rated the school textbook as much more trustworthy than the Native American teens did.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169561/original/file-20170516-11956-1oo69a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169561/original/file-20170516-11956-1oo69a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169561/original/file-20170516-11956-1oo69a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169561/original/file-20170516-11956-1oo69a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169561/original/file-20170516-11956-1oo69a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169561/original/file-20170516-11956-1oo69a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169561/original/file-20170516-11956-1oo69a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169561/original/file-20170516-11956-1oo69a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The perceived trustworthiness of Kevin Costner’s ‘Dances with Wolves’ may depend on a student’s cultural background.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Orion Pictures</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Educational challenges</h2>
<p>The complicated relationship between fact and fiction is just one of the many challenges educators face when using history movies in their classrooms. It’s not as simple as pressing “play.”</p>
<p>Among the host of practical and academic challenges:</p>
<ul>
<li>Many history movies are R-rated, with material parents may not want shown in class.</li>
<li>Some administrators aren’t supportive of spending class time on popular media.</li>
<li>Pressure to cover content standards and prepare for testing can leave little time for intensive media projects.</li>
</ul>
<p>The very structure of the school day, in fact, <a href="http://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/article/viewArticle/116">makes it difficult to fit film viewing into the curriculum</a> – especially if discussion and reviewing strategies are included.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most daunting question is whether movies are actually good for learning history.</p>
<p>In one Australian study, most participating teachers believed film to be useful, but some took the position that <a href="http://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/article/viewArticle/116">film can confuse students with inaccurate portrayals</a>. “Hollywood distorts history, but kids remember what they‘ve seen more than the facts,” said one teacher.</p>
<p>A psychological research study found that viewing history films <a href="http://psych.wustl.edu/memory/Roddy%20article%20PDF%27s/Butler%20et%20al%20(2009)_PsychSci.pdf">considerably increased factual recall</a> when the film matched historical readings. However, students came away with considerable misinformation when the film conflicted with the readings – because the students remembered the film and not the text. This occurred even when students were generally warned that the history movies were fictional.</p>
<p>With specific warnings about false details, most students were able to remember the accurate information as well as the misinformation. Teachers must set the stage when a movie is introduced, helping students mentally tag which elements are inaccurate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169567/original/file-20170516-11956-d5q30w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169567/original/file-20170516-11956-d5q30w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169567/original/file-20170516-11956-d5q30w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169567/original/file-20170516-11956-d5q30w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169567/original/file-20170516-11956-d5q30w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169567/original/file-20170516-11956-d5q30w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169567/original/file-20170516-11956-d5q30w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169567/original/file-20170516-11956-d5q30w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Zack Snyder’s 2006 epic ‘300’ has some big pieces of misinformation, but the bulk of the narrative elements is more accurate than many people think.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.warnerbros.com/300">Warner Bros.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to learn history from Hollywood</h2>
<p>History movies have potential as learning tools, but that potential isn’t easy to realize.</p>
<p>Teachers need strong subject matter knowledge about the topics portrayed, so that they can frame the movie and its relationship to fact and fiction. Teachers also need to have sound learning goals and awareness of the diverse cultural viewpoints that students bring to the classroom. And they need the time and resources for meaningful discussion or assignments after viewing.</p>
<p>Simply put, history movies – and most other media – by themselves don’t teach.</p>
<p>If a teacher lines up proper film choice, lesson goals, subject matter and class activities using the film, it is possible to really learn about history by way of Hollywood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75976/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Alan Metzger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>History movies may have Oscar potential, but their educational potential is more complicated. Should teachers use Hollywood to teach?Scott Alan Metzger, Associate Professor of Education, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/557172016-03-08T04:39:08Z2016-03-08T04:39:08ZTeaching in troubled times: South African academics try a new approach<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113864/original/image-20160304-17723-wpahzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lecturing is an important, intimidating job and the academic's role is changing all the time.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Academics in South Africa have perhaps more responsibility than ever before. The country’s universities are <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa/topics/student-protests">in flux</a>. Enrolment rates have <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20140425131554856">more than doubled</a> since formal apartheid ended in 1994. </p>
<p>Institutions no longer cater for a narrow racial and economic demographic. More black South Africans than ever before are attending university, many from working-class or very poor families. A struggling basic education system has left its mark on universities – dropout rates <a href="http://www.dhet.gov.za/DHET%20Statistics%20Publication/Statistics%20on%20Post-School%20Education%20and%20Training%20in%20South%20Africa%202013.pdf">are high</a>.</p>
<p>All of this challenges academics to rethink much that has been taken for granted until now – like the curriculum, ways of teaching and methods of assessment. How can they best develop the tools to guide their teaching in a changing environment? </p>
<p>Staff development is obviously crucial. But one of the difficulties with traditional staff development programs is that they often bring staff from one university together instead of encouraging collaboration between institutions. This sort of relationship would allow academics to pool their expertise and support each other.</p>
<p>Institutional staff development programs are extremely important, but there needs to be a wider system of acknowledging the valuable role played by committed, creative and innovative teachers. Globally, good teaching <a href="http://interplayofstructure.blogspot.co.za/">tends to be</a> less valued and acknowledged than research by universities, particularly as international ranking systems give more weight to research.</p>
<p>Now 22 South African universities, supported by the country’s Department of Higher Education and Training, and the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa, have come together to test a possible new approach that’s been successful elsewhere in the world. </p>
<h2>A new way of thinking</h2>
<p>The Teaching Advancement at Universities (TAU) Fellowship <a href="http://heltasa.org.za/teaching-fellowships/">program</a> has three major aims.</p>
<p>The first involves contributing towards the enhancement of teaching and learning in South African higher education. The program is working to develop a cadre of academics across institutions and disciplines as scholars, leaders and mentors in their institutions or disciplinary fields.</p>
<p>Second, it hopes to contribute towards the definition of what “teaching excellence” means in a variety of institutional settings. </p>
<p>Its third aim is to extend senior academics’ knowledge and experience of educational development. These are individuals who have been acknowledged for their teaching excellence.</p>
<p>But what makes this program different? How can its developers and champions be so sure that it will deliver on its aims? </p>
<h2>International precedent</h2>
<p>Importantly, the program does not exist in a vacuum. Similar projects exist in <a href="http://www.stlhe.ca/awards/3m-national-teaching-fellowships/">Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.wisconsin.edu/opid/wisconsin-teaching-fellows-scholars-program/">US</a>, and TAU’s management team visited these before the South African equivalent kicked off formally in July 2015.</p>
<p>Another similar program is the <a href="http://www.faimer.org/education/ifme/index.html">International Fellowship</a> in Medical Education. It has been running for 16 years and takes in fellows from around the world who are interested in setting up regional networks that focus on scholarship of teaching and learning in the health sciences. Such networks exist in places like India, Brazil and South Africa.</p>
<p>All three programs have been <a href="http://heltasa.org.za/news-from-the-teaching-advancement-at-universities-tau-programme/">evaluated at least once</a>. Recognising the value of feedback, TAU’s organisers have set up an intensive evaluation project to run alongside the program. </p>
<p>An expert from the University of Wisconsin-Madison – the director of its Office of Professional Instruction and Development, La Vonne Cornell-Swanson – is participating in the evaluation. TAU will also be benchmarked against the Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars Program.</p>
<h2>Deep engagement</h2>
<p>Another important element of the program is that it requires a long-term commitment. Participants sign up for 13 months during which they continuously engage with core issues related to teaching and learning.</p>
<p>There are three residential units when academics come together for five days at a time – a sort of retreat during which they can really focus. The idea is that participants develop a broader understanding of the South African higher education context while building a network of people they can draw upon for advice, support and collaboration in the future. </p>
<p>Most of the participants in this cohort are senior staff who have institutional experience and clout. Hopefully this will allow them to drive real changes in teaching and learning at their universities.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113865/original/image-20160304-23874-4qzklv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113865/original/image-20160304-23874-4qzklv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113865/original/image-20160304-23874-4qzklv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113865/original/image-20160304-23874-4qzklv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113865/original/image-20160304-23874-4qzklv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113865/original/image-20160304-23874-4qzklv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113865/original/image-20160304-23874-4qzklv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113865/original/image-20160304-23874-4qzklv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The first cohort of TAU fellows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There has been excellent feedback and very good buy-in. Of the 52 academics who enrolled for the pilot project, 50 attended the second residential session. This bodes well for a good completion rate. </p>
<p>Participants have said that they particularly appreciate being able to learn about different universities’ contexts and challenges. Many appreciate the chance to learn about teaching from their colleagues: some clearly feel very isolated at their own institutions and welcome the opportunity to be with others who are passionate about facilitating learning.</p>
<h2>Looking to the future</h2>
<p>So far, TAU reads like a success story. But the true test will be the fellows’ impact on their home institutions when the pilot project is done. It will also be crucial to see whether institutions keep collaborating even when the fellows are not actively working together.</p>
<p>There must also be discussions about future funding sources. The Department of Higher Education and Training awarded a substantial grant to the pilot project, so it is fully funded and universities bear no cost. Should this change in future? If it does, less well funded institutions might be forced to opt out. That would be to the program’s detriment.</p>
<p>Whatever happens, and whether TAU becomes institutionalised or not, academics clearly need opportunities to be acknowledged and empowered. They must be equipped to respond adequately to the challenges of the times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth de Kadt is the project coordinator of the TAU Fellowship Programme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brenda Leibowitz is the convener of the TAU Fellowship Programme.</span></em></p>Universities stand to benefit enormously if excellent teachers are celebrated and given the chance to share their skills, and if they have the power to really change their institutions.Elizabeth de Kadt, Professor and Consultant in Higher Education, University of JohannesburgBrenda Leibowitz, Professor of Teaching and Learning, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/533142016-01-19T04:03:20Z2016-01-19T04:03:20ZHow parents and teachers can make school a happy place for kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108405/original/image-20160118-31814-1nfgttz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The beginning of any child's school career can be a scary time. But parents and teachers can make it easier.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Mukoya/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across Africa – from South Africa to Botswana, Kenya to Rwanda and many others – January marks the beginning of the academic year for millions of new pupils.</p>
<p>Research has consistently shown that a <a href="http://www.saraece.org.za">solid foundation</a> in the early years of schooling is extremely beneficial to a child’s cognitive development. It is also important to consider children’s affective, or emotional, experiences. Motivation and enthusiasm are <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109028/chapters/Introduction.aspx">key components</a> of successful learning, so an important question is what parents and teachers can do to make school a happy place for young learners.</p>
<p>For those children who have been fortunate enough to attend a good pre-school or, in South Africa, a <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/Parents/Childregistration/tabid/407/Default.aspx">Grade R</a> class, the first days of school are likely to be more familiar and probably less threatening. However, there are ways in which teachers and parents can make any child’s all-important first days memorable and motivating.</p>
<h2>People, places and activities all matter</h2>
<p>Making school a happy place for learners is a combined outcome of people, places and activities.</p>
<p>The key people are the teachers. A welcoming smile and a caring demeanour will allow the child to feel safe and noticed, and helps develop confidence. By creating a positive and supportive environment for learning, the teacher is actively modelling how they would like children to behave. </p>
<p>Equally important are the parents or caregivers. The key for parents and caregivers is to create a sense of excitement for this milestone of life without inducing stress or anxiety. Preparatory work at home, like reading to the child or encouraging conversation, stimulates curiosity and ignites the imagination – both of which are huge investments for learning.</p>
<p>Attention to place is also crucial. Unfortunately schools often do not look like interesting, exciting and well-organised environments for learning. A school that is neat and clean, where children’s work and school activities are displayed on the walls and where information is easily viewed, creates the impression of being cheerful, orderly, well-managed and focused on learning. </p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=yWhdeL9fgLQ%3D&tabid=422&mid=1301">investigation</a> conducted by South Africa’s Department of Basic Education into “schools that work” showed how schools that focused on the central tasks of teaching, learning and management with a sense of responsibility, purpose and commitment were able to overcome many of their challenges and to create a positive environment for learning. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/84454282" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Mbilwi Secondary School in South Africa’s Limpopo province is not limited by its poor surroundings, and is an example of what the government calls a ‘school that works’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Classroom layout can also <a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671627/study-shows-how-classroom-design-affects-student-learning">affect</a> how children concentrate and behave. The teacher could think about the use of quiet spots, the arrangement of desks, or working on a mat.</p>
<p>Appropriate and balanced learning activities are important too. Young children do not have a long attention span, so it is important to structure and vary learning activities and to remember that children have different strengths. The more a teacher can get to know the individual child – and understand their background – the more the teacher can assist the child. </p>
<p>Planning is essential. In South Africa, the national <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/Curriculum/NCSGradesR12/CAPS/tabid/420/Default.aspx">CAPS curriculum</a> can be helpful if it is used with thought, understanding and purpose. Daily routines create structure and predictability and help children to learn to manage themselves. But routines must not be stifling: variety and fun are key aspects of enjoyment for anyone. This is where physical play and time outdoors come in. </p>
<h2>Don’t get stuck in the classroom</h2>
<p>Too much focus on “desk” learning can be threatening and does not help to develop natural learning and all of the senses. <a href="http://www.education.com/reference/article/importance-play--social-emotional/">Physical play is crucial</a> for children’s motor development, as well as for learning social skills of co-operation and team work. </p>
<p>There should be a balance of indoor and outdoor activities that include cognitive learning as well as physical exertion. Even if playgrounds are not available, children can break sedentary exhaustion through the simple movements of standing up, moving their fingers and toes, shaking their heads and stretching their limbs. </p>
<p>Bored children become fidgety, something which is often mistaken for being inattentive. This sets up a negative cycle of reprimand and frustration.</p>
<h2>Schools need everyone’s support</h2>
<p>Many schools around the world are faced with barriers to learning that include large classes, a lack of resources and poverty in the home and community. </p>
<p>Within this reality, <a href="http://www.included.org.za">various organisations</a> in South Africa are working with teachers, parents, caregivers and departments of education to help children reach their full learning potential.</p>
<p>By working as partners on such strategies, parents and teachers can go a long way to making school a happy place that is focused on learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53314/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maureen Robinson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It takes a combination of people, places and activities to make school a happy environment for kids. Here’s how teachers and parents can get involved.Maureen Robinson, Dean, Faculty of Education, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/441672015-07-16T04:28:26Z2015-07-16T04:28:26ZWhat it takes to teach a large class – and do it well<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88226/original/image-20150713-11825-bq3hzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's a little intimidating when all of those chairs are full, but teaching large classes doesn't need to stress you out.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">From www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You don’t have to suffer from <a href="http://www.glossophobia.com/">glossophobia</a> to hyperventilate at the thought of standing up in front of a large hall full of people. Many university lecturers dread the thought of teaching a large class. That’s because teaching large classes is hard. It can be scary and stressful, and it takes a lot of time and preparation.</p>
<p>Adding to all of that stress, large classes also don’t have a good reputation when it comes to fostering student learning. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/1363546/Introducing_International_Studies_Student_Engagement_in_Large_Classes">We know</a> that students struggle in these contexts to stay engaged, to perform well and to develop important skills like critical thinking. </p>
<p>But large classes are a reality in many developed and developing countries. They form part of the drive towards the <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120831155341147">massification</a> of higher education. </p>
<p>So what is a “large class”? It can’t be defined by a numerical threshold: instead, it’s a context where student learning is negatively impacted by the number in a class. Large classes have different meanings in different disciplines. A biology class may have more than 800 students before it’s considered “large”, while a sculpture course may be classified as “large” with 20 students.</p>
<p>There are two dominant logics that drive the emergence of large classes in higher education. The first is about efficiency, and suggests that large classes will result in increased <a href="https://www.academia.edu/6182729/Massification_in_Higher_Education_Large_Classes_and_Student_Learning">revenue</a> and decreased costs to the “system”.</p>
<p>The second is a progressive logic which argues that higher education is key to resolving problems of poverty, inequality and economic development. To do this, access to higher education needs <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/aug/31/consequences-increasing-access-to-education">to be increased</a>.</p>
<p>Neither of these logics places student learning front and centre. Nor do they consider how student learning might be negatively affected. How can we address this?</p>
<p>I don’t think we can solve the challenges of large classes outright – but we can attempt to mitigate their negative effects by adopting strategies that we know are good for student learning and generally good for speaking to large groups. Here are some things that may work, based on research I’ve conducted and <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Large_class_Pedagogy.html?id=KpT3AwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y">recently published</a> in book form.</p>
<p>1) Treat your large class like it is a small class. Small classes are great for learning because they allow interaction, discussion and debate. Yet many lecturers actively try to avoid this in large class scenarios. This avoidance is usually justified through concerns about “managing” and “controlling” students. Lecturers argue that a class may become unwieldy if students are allowed to speak. But unwieldiness can be avoided by properly structuring the interaction moment. </p>
<p>2) Integrate problems into the class and get students to figure them out. I start each of my Introduction to International Relations lectures with a problem – usually something that is rooted in a current event. The problem is related to the concepts being discussed that day in class. I get students in my class of more than 400 students to respond to the problem and suggest how to solve it. More than half of the class participates, and it never gets out of control. Such a focused exercise gets them to apply their knowledge and experiences while keeping them connected with the purpose of the lecture.</p>
<p>3) Change your teaching approach every 15 minutes. Students have an average attention span of between <a href="http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/Journal/Reviews/Pages/student-attention.aspx">ten and 15 minutes</a>. So mix it up a bit. You don’t need to change the subject matter, but change the way it’s presented. I use things like class discussions, YouTube videos and podcasts to deviate from a standard lecture format in the classroom. This keeps students engaged and on topic.</p>
<p>4) Structure assessments to build on each other and make them about responding to problem scenarios. Noticing a theme here? Student engagement and performance in large classes is a big problem. We need to find ways to connect with them, and introducing a practical element to what they are doing can help. Students also need opportunities to learn what is expected from them in terms of assessments. When opportunities for direct guidance from the lecturer don’t exist, like in large classes, we have to find other ways for students to learn from making mistakes. </p>
<p>Structuring assessments to build on each other (some call it <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber">scaffolding</a>) is also important. We know that students can adapt to the expectations of our learning environments, but they need opportunities to do so. Continuous assessment allows students to make mistakes and to learn from these without necessarily failing the course. </p>
<p>This adds to your marking load – but even this can be mitigated by adopting different types of assessment approaches. For example, I have two online multiple choice quizzes and three writing exercises. The quizzes are marked automatically online. Great teaching assistants help with the marking of the writing exercises.</p>
<p>5) Don’t be scared to have fun and experiment with different approaches and strategies. Teaching is ripe with opportunities to try different innovations. Some will work and some won’t – and that is OK.</p>
<p>6) Stay positive. Big classes involve lots of different types of students who have different experiences and understandings of the world. Some will be faster than others to get to the conclusions we want. Just remember, though, that if they knew all we do, they wouldn’t need to be in class!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44167/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David J Hornsby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Large classes don’t have a good reputation when it comes to fostering student learning. But there are a few ways for teachers to adapt to bigger classes.David J Hornsby, Senior Lecturer in International Relations & Assistant Dean of Humanities, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/429622015-06-24T04:44:15Z2015-06-24T04:44:15ZWhen there’s meaning in mathematical mistakes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86093/original/image-20150623-19415-ch5ouv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teachers can learn a great deal from their pupils' mistakes in maths.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">From www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A grade one learner is enjoying school tremendously, but one day she comes home unhappy. Her mother asks why she is so upset and the child replies: “First my teacher told me that 3+3 = 6, then she told me that 4+2 = 6 and then she told me that 5+1 = 6. Until she makes up her mind, I am not going back to school.”</p>
<p>This story usually makes people smile or laugh out loud. The reason it does so provides a lesson for mathematics teachers. The learner is clearly mathematically incorrect and yet there is something about the way she is thinking that seems reasonable to an adult. Her reasoning might be something like this: “When I add 4+2, there is only one answer. So when I get an answer – 6 – there should be only one set of numbers that adds to give that answer.”</p>
<p>Research <a href="http://www.cirtl.net/node/2628">has shown</a> that learners often have underlying conceptions that produce errors. These are misconceptions – ideas that make sense to learners and are reasonable in relation to what they know, but are incorrect mathematically. </p>
<p>Many teachers and parents believe that if learners make mistakes in mathematics it means they do not understand, they have not listened, or they have not done enough work. The opposite may actually be true: the learner may be thinking more deeply than we expect. Learner errors and misconceptions are important tools for teachers. They show teachers that the learner is thinking mathematically, even though she does not yet have enough knowledge to produce the correct answer.</p>
<h2>Reasons for errors</h2>
<p>Misconceptions are often remarkably consistent across different countries, which suggests that misconceptions are not the result of particular approaches to teaching and learning.</p>
<p>Misconceptions usually arise when learners take knowledge that is correct in one area of mathematics and apply it in another area where it’s <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/749095">no longer correct</a>. For example, learners often think that 0.568 is bigger than 0.67 because they know that in whole numbers 568 is bigger than 67. Their prior knowledge conflicts with new knowledge about decimals. Having two reasonable but conflicting sets of knowledge makes it difficult for learners to judge which is correct.</p>
<p>Interestingly, learners who apply this misconception may get some examples correct. They would say, for instance, that 0.568 is bigger than 0.45, which is correct. That misconceptions can produce correct answers as well as errors can make them difficult to detect. Learners can get their mathematics correct for the wrong reasons, which may hinder their learning later on.</p>
<p>One key challenge with misconceptions is that they may not be <a href="http://people.ucsc.edu/%7Egwells/Files/Courses_Folder/ED%20261%20Papers/Misconceptions%20reconceived.pdf">easy to correct</a> because they come from long-term knowledge which holds true in many situations. Teachers therefore need to engage learners about their thinking and find ways to explain where their reasoning is valid as well as where – and why – it is not.</p>
<p>In South Africa, many learners struggle with mathematics and mathematics results are <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/probe-after-dismal-grade-9-maths-mark-1.1791175#.VYK3Qfmqqko">generally poor</a> at all levels of the system. Many learner challenges stem from errors and misconceptions that have not been dealt with. If these misconceptions are dealt with, they can help teachers to support stronger learning of mathematics among learners.</p>
<h2>Finding meaning in mistakes</h2>
<p>The Data Informed Practice Improvement Project at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg is <a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/academic/humanities/education/staff/karinbrodie/7981/research.html">working with teachers</a> to analyse the reasoning behind learner errors and to think about how best to deal with them.</p>
<p>Teachers analyse errors in tests, classwork and in lesson videotapes. They also interview learners about their thinking. They read research about common learner errors and misconceptions and plan lessons together to help reveal and engage with learner errors.</p>
<p>Over the past five years we have worked with ten government high schools, with communities of teachers working within and across schools. Each small community has between four and eight teachers who meet regularly to discuss learner errors.</p>
<p>Research in the project has shown that through working on the activities, many teachers do identify and engage with learner errors in class. We have found that the full range of activities is necessary. The error analysis and learner interviews enable teachers to start understanding learner thinking in more depth. </p>
<p>However, teachers are not often able to act on these new insights in the first round of classroom teaching. Reflecting on their videotaped lessons helps the teachers to see how they might have responded differently and how they might do so in future. Error analysis without subsequent follow up, lesson planning and reflection is unlikely to be useful.</p>
<p>Our approach is very different to the kind of analysis that teachers are required to do with South Africa’s Annual National Assessments, which test learners’ numeracy at different grade levels. These tick-the-box analyses do not support new classroom practices and may promote, rather than prevent, blaming of learners and teachers for mathematical mistakes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42962/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>For the project described in this article, I received funding from the Gauteng Education Development Trust and from the National Research Foundation.
I am affiliated with a number of professional and research organisations, including SAARMSTE and AMESA.
</span></em></p>What if instead of dismissing wrong answers as a sign of failure, maths teachers tried to understand how their pupils came to that answer and then guided them in the right direction?Karin Brodie, Professor of Education and Mathematics Education, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/362392015-01-15T11:02:19Z2015-01-15T11:02:19ZWhy I taught a class on rivals Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69047/original/image-20150114-3871-1iihmqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Directors Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee don't see eye-to-eye on much of anything. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/13/7538099/spike-lee-vimeo-movie-da-sweet-blood-of-jesus">in the news</a> for the film’s straight-to-Vimeo release, and Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight currently in production (see Samuel L. Jackson’s <a href="http://campl.us/user/SamuelLJackson">Camera+ page</a> for updates), it’s a good time to share my experience teaching a college class on these two directors. More to the point, I’d like to explain why I chose to teach it at all.</p>
<p>Last year, when I announced I’d be teaching a class that combines the works of Lee and Tarantino, I heard the same question: Why? </p>
<p>And within seconds came the clarification: I mean, why teach those two together?</p>
<p>It’s a valid question. After all, the two directors don’t see eye-to-eye on much of anything. Here’s a quick refresher.</p>
<h2>Feuding directors</h2>
<p>The feud between Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino began 18 years ago with the release of Jackie Brown (1997), Tarantino’s homage to 1970s blaxploitation films like Shaft (1971) and Foxy Brown (1974).</p>
<p>In an interview with Daily Variety, <a href="http://variety.com/1997/voices/columns/lee-has-choice-words-for-tarantino-111779698/">Lee reacted</a> to Jackie Brown’s excessive use of the N-word (it’s uttered 38 times): “Quentin is infatuated with that word,” Lee complains. “What does he want to be made—an honorary black man?” For the same reason, Lee has criticized Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992), True Romance (1993), and Pulp Fiction (1994).</p>
<p>Within a week of Lee’s Jackie Brown comments, <a href="http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/5166">Tarantino struck back</a> on the TV program Charlie Rose, declaring his “rights” as a screenwriter: “As a writer, I demand the right to write any character in the world that I want to write. And to say that I can’t do that because I’m white […] that is racist.”</p>
<p>For a while, the Lee-Tarantino rivalry subsided – until Django Unchained (2012) galloped into theaters.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, Lee vocalized his disapproval of Tarantino’s slave-revenge film/fantasy, which cites the N-word over 100 times. In an interview with Vibe TV, Lee vowed to never see Django, calling it “disrespectful to my ancestors.” And later (in his usual sentence-case style) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpikeLee/status/282611091777941504">he tweeted</a>, “American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them.”</p>
<p>On this occasion, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9781208/Quentin-Tarantino-not-wasting-time-over-Spike-Lee.html">Tarantino simply countered</a> that he would not “waste time” responding to Lee. </p>
<p>Thus ends the quarreling…for now.</p>
<h2>Lee and Tarantino: an ideal pairing</h2>
<p>Based on these accounts, it’s perhaps understandable that many aren’t sure why I paired Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino in a college film course. But I’ve never questioned the juxtaposition. Rather, <em>because</em> of the ongoing animosity between the two, I’ve contrasted the filmmakers’ works for some time now. To that end, here are five more reasons that <a href="http://kellimarshall.net/wp-content/uploads/Syllabus_Tarantino-Lee.pdf">I created a 10-week class on Tarantino and Lee</a>.</p>
<p>The directors are:</p>
<p><strong>1) Marketable</strong></p>
<p>Like my upcoming class on The Walking Dead and <a href="http://www.kellimarshall.net/seinfeld/">my class on Seinfeld</a>, the two names attached to this course drew a diverse group of students. A full class with varying perspectives on these popular filmmakers is good for the university, our department and, most importantly, classroom discussion.</p>
<p><strong>2) Relevant</strong></p>
<p>When I taught my class on Lee and Tarantino (spring 2014), the Django Unchained controversy was still fresh in our minds (along with the film’s constant comparisons to Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave) and Spike Lee had just released Oldboy. To this end, students were technically learning in the moment, watching the discourse surrounding these directors unfold.</p>
<p>Moreover, students became aware of black directors currently working in the industry for whom Spike Lee paved the way, like Lee Daniels (The Butler), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), and Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man Holiday).</p>
<p><strong>3) Auteurs</strong></p>
<p>Despite directors and showrunners (like Breaking Bad’s Vince Gilligan) who <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/sep/20/breaking-bad-writers-room-vince-gilligan">pooh-pooh the auteur theory</a> (“it’s a load of horseshit,” Gilligan griped), I still think it’s a useful starting point when discussing directors like Lee and Tarantino, who have a decent-sized oeuvre, or body of visual work.</p>
<p>The basic premise of the auteur theory is that film directors, like writers with pens or painters with brushes, use the technical apparatus of film (cinematography, editing, sound, etc.) to stamp their personalities onto their works – yes, even though filmmaking is a highly collaborative process. The films of Tarantino and Lee most certainly have distinct looks, tones and styles. As expected, students distinguished these immediately and were able to converse about them with excitement and ease.</p>
<p><strong>4) Catalysts for discussions about race</strong></p>
<p>Most incoming students had not considered Tarantino’s films from Lee’s perspective, or vice-versa. But after we pitted the two directors alongside each other, they quickly learned there is “a different set of standards,” as Lee puts it.</p>
<p><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=neaB76iFhCEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false">Here’s Lee again</a>: “I called up Harvey Weinstein, head of Miramax, and said, ‘Harvey, if I brought you a script that had 38 <em>Jewish cocksuckers</em> in it and 38 <em>kikes</em> in it, would you make that script?’ And he said, ‘No.’ And if I went to any other executive in this business, they would say the same thing. But if you put <em>nigger</em> in it, that’s all right.‘ </p>
<p>While never a pleasant discussion, it’s one that students (and filmgoers) ought to participate in.</p>
<p><strong>5) Conflicted in their representations of women</strong></p>
<p>For many feminists, Spike Lee has "a woman problem.” Some common complaints: he’s unsure whether to demonize or praise women, his male characters are always far more three-dimensional than his female ones, and he relies too heavily on the “conniving siren” trope.</p>
<p>Conversely, Tarantino’s female characters, who are generally fierce, capable, feisty and complex, often fare better in both scholarship and the media. Still, some viewers wonder if the director is responsible for fetishizing sexual violence against women and many are still scratching their heads about Kerry Washington’s passive, mannequin-like character in Django Unchained. These are discussions, like those centering on race, that students need to participate in.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36239/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelli Marshall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus in the news for the film’s straight-to-Vimeo release, and Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight currently in production (see Samuel L. Jackson’s Camera+ page for…Kelli Marshall, Lecturer, DePaul UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/291572014-07-17T19:58:34Z2014-07-17T19:58:34ZDirect Instruction and the teaching of reading<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53976/original/8zqbrqkh-1405492271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We keep hearing about "Direct Instruction" but what does it actually mean?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/5484879">Flickr/Judy Baxter</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prominent Indigenous Australian <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/controversial-teaching-method-brings-hope-and-social-change-to-cape-york/story-fn9hm1pm-1226639388060">Noel Pearson</a> is promoting <a href="https://theconversation.com/biggest-loser-policy-on-literacy-will-not-deliver-long-term-gains-28649">Direct Instruction in Cape York schools</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissarra/status/64158695491252224">prominent educationalists</a> have dismissed it as “pedagogy for the poor”, and Education Minister <a href="http://www.pyneonline.com.au/media/transcripts/press-conference-james-cook-university">Christopher Pyne</a> has just found $22 million to extend it to other remote schools. But what is Direct Instruction and what has it got to do with good reading teaching?</p>
<h2>The Direct Instruction method</h2>
<p>Direct Instruction is a teaching method developed in the United States in the 1960s, focused particularly on the needs of children with learning difficulties. Building on behaviourist learning theory, Direct Instruction breaks each learning task down into its smallest component and requires mastery of simpler skills before proceeding to more difficult skills. Students are grouped according to their achievement, teachers are provided with closely scripted lesson plans, students respond to the teacher orally and as a group, and the group does not move on until everyone understands the material.</p>
<p>Direct Instruction is a family of approaches, rather than a single approach. What is being trialled in the Cape is a particularly pure form of Direct Instruction, based directly on the work of its originators Englemann and Becker. Other similar and successful approaches have been comprehensive school reform programs such as <a href="http://www.successforall.org/Elementary/Research/">Success for All</a> in the United States and effective remedial reading programs such as <a href="http://www.multilit.com/research/">MultiLit</a> in Australia.</p>
<p>Education researcher <a href="http://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/hattie-ranking-teaching-effects/">John Hattie’s</a> comprehensive meta-analysis of curriculum reforms rates Direct Instruction among the most effective teaching strategies. Direct Instruction reading programs, however, are nested: Direct Instruction is the approach and reading is the content.</p>
<p>In addition to the Direct Instruction approach of ability grouping, scripting, mastery learning and stimulus response teaching, these programs often include characteristics associated with the “gold standard” for effective reading teaching: relentless attention to the component skills required for understanding the letter-sound relationships in written text, and reinforcement of these components in the context of book reading.</p>
<h2>The gold standard</h2>
<p>The teaching of reading is probably the most researched topic in education. The gold standard consensus, articulated by the US <a href="http://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/Pages/nrp.aspx/">National Reading Panel</a> and supported by the Australian <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/tll_misc/5/">Rowe Review</a>, is that the key components of effective reading teaching are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Phonemic awareness is the capacity to break words down into sound units (phonemes): H/A/T; SH/I/P. Some children learn this before they go to school from book reading with parents and from playing rhyming games. Those who don’t already know this need to practise segmenting words into sounds and identifying rhyming patterns in words.</p></li>
<li><p>Phonics is knowledge about matching these sounds to letters: how graphemes (letters and letter combinations) represent phonemes. This allows readers to decode new written words by sounding out the phonemes rather than memorising whole words. </p></li>
<li><p>Fluency is the capacity to read unfamiliar texts quickly, accurately and automatically. This is often developed by guided oral reading, repeated reading aloud with feedback and guidance from teachers, peers or parents. </p></li>
<li><p>Vocabulary development is essential to skilled reading. It can be taught directly, by introducing and defining new words, as well indirectly by teaching word-learning strategies such as word roots, dictionary use and context clues.</p></li>
<li><p>Comprehension is the goal of reading teaching. It involves making meaning by connecting what the reader already knows with what has been read, using strategies such as answering questions, generating questions and summarising.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Direct Instruction and the gold standard</h2>
<p>Reading programs that deal effectively with all five of the essential components, teaching both skills for decoding (phonemic awareness and phonics) and for reading in context (fluency, vocabulary and comprehension), are likely to be effective in teaching young children to read. What makes Direct Instruction programs incorporating these components attractive is the relative lack of variability in teaching quality that they promise. Rather than requiring a teacher to have the knowledge and wisdom to produce their own individual gold standard program, teachers are trained to follow a published program.</p>
<p>This promise of reduced variability is particularly attractive in schools that have many inexperienced teachers and high levels of teacher transiency. Perhaps that is why <a href="http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/36205/Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT.pdf">Bruce Wilson’s</a> review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory has recommended that the use of structured skills-based literacy programs be mandated. Although he has stopped short of recommending universal Direct Instruction in bush schools, he has recommended either Direct Instruction or explicit programs such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Phonics">Jolly Phonics</a> (where students learn the sounds used in English rather than the letters of the alphabet) or Crack the Code to teach phonics and phonemic awareness.</p>
<h2>What’s not to like?</h2>
<p>Critics of Direct Instruction are concerned about what is lost on the way. Leading Indigenous educator <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/leading-indigenous-educator-chris-sarra-slams-teaching-approach-used-in-772m-cape-york-trial/story-e6freoof-1226490937841?nk=2993794470ec5ee29fcc003e560be8b1">Chris Sarra</a>, chair of the <a href="http://strongersmarter.com.au/">Stronger Smarter Institute</a>, has dismissed Direct Instruction as a remedial program that takes out the human connection between children and teachers and doesn’t allow teachers to be exceptional.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?tag=direct-instruction">Alan Luke</a>, a leading Australian literacy researcher, acknowledges the impact that Direct Instruction has on students’ basic skills test scores, but argues that it is not a complete solution. The scripted lessons leave no space for local cultural knowledge or community contexts and prevent teachers from responding to differences among students or in their learning contexts. </p>
<p>In the Cape, however, it is too soon to tell whether the shift to Direct Instruction will fulfil its promise of better test scores. In the recent evaluation by the <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/indigenous_education/36/">Australian Council for Educational Research</a>, school and community members reported that Direct Instruction was having a positive impact on student outcomes, but the researchers were not yet able to say whether or not the initiative has had an impact on student learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29157/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Louden was a member of the Rowe Review into the teaching of reading in Australia.</span></em></p>Prominent Indigenous Australian Noel Pearson is promoting Direct Instruction in Cape York schools, prominent educationalists have dismissed it as “pedagogy for the poor”, and Education Minister Christopher…Bill Louden, Emeritus Professor of Education, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.