tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/explicit-instruction-11289/articlesExplicit Instruction – The Conversation2021-08-17T05:11:52Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1661782021-08-17T05:11:52Z2021-08-17T05:11:52ZTeachers use many teaching approaches to impart knowledge. Pitting one against another harms education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416261/original/file-20210816-24-11ts197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C25%2C5760%2C3794&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/stem-education-children-studying-robotic-class-1661335720">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The education debate in Australia has, for some time now, been marred by the presence of a simple binary: explicit teaching, or direct instruction, versus inquiry-based learning. </p>
<p>Simply put, <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-explicit-instruction-and-how-does-it-help-children-learn-115144">explicit teaching</a> is a structured sequence of learning led by the teacher, who demonstrates and explains a new concept or technique, and kids practise it. <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-inquiry-based-learning-and-how-does-it-help-prepare-children-for-the-real-world-115299">Inquiry-based learning</a> is student-centred and involves the students, guided by the teacher, creating essential questions, exploring and investigating these, and sharing ideas to arrive at new understanding.</p>
<p>A recent article in <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/schools-paper-ends-teaching-debate-once-and-for-always/news-story/9407a55b98a351cbe18b3fdd21eb998a">The Weekend Australian</a> by Noel Pearson has breathed new life into this dichotomy. </p>
<p>It lays the blame for Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-students-are-a-year-behind-students-10-years-ago-in-science-maths-and-reading-127013">declining Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores</a> on the fact most teachers are using inquiry-based approaches — although the evidence for this is not presented. </p>
<p>And it says explicit teaching is the answer.</p>
<p>Pearson’s argument leans on a recent <a href="https://www.cis.org.au/publications/analysis-papers/why-inquiry-based-approaches-harm-students-learning/">Centre for Independent Studies paper</a> by Emeritus Professor John Sweller. In that paper, Sweller outlines his research on “cognitive load theory” – the idea we need to finesse a new concept until it enters our long-term memory and becomes almost second nature – to demonstrate that explicit teaching produces better learning outcomes than inquiry-based learning.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-had-an-idea-in-the-1980s-and-to-my-surprise-it-changed-education-around-the-world-126519">I had an idea in the 1980s and to my surprise, it changed education around the world</a>
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<p>Pearson urges teachers, politicians and policymakers to forget inquiry-based learning and adopt explicit teaching as their educational guiding star. In my view they should be very wary of doing so because the case is based on at least three serious flaws.</p>
<h2>1. Teachers use more than one approach</h2>
<p>First, the argument against inquiry-based learning assumes teachers use only one approach to teaching – either explicit or inquiry-based. </p>
<p>In my experience of teaching and working with teachers in schools, most educators move up and down a teacher-centred and student-centred continuum on a daily basis. They select, from a toolkit of teaching approaches, one that best suits the purposes of the topic or program, the context of the study, and their students’ interests and needs. </p>
<p>In other words, teachers sometimes employ explicit teaching and sometimes inquiry-based approaches. Indeed, they might draw on explicit teaching at a specific moment during a guided inquiry. </p>
<p>The idea teachers are straitjacketed to one approach is an affront to their professionalism.</p>
<h2>2. Not all inquiry-based methods are the same</h2>
<p>Second, the argument is based on a misguided view about what constitutes inquiry-based learning. </p>
<p>Sweller and Pearson maintain inquiry learning began six decades ago with the work of American cognitive psychologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_learning">Jerome Bruner</a> and his concept of “discovery learning” in the 1960s. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416457/original/file-20210817-22-1q77pp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Picture of Jerome Bruner" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416457/original/file-20210817-22-1q77pp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416457/original/file-20210817-22-1q77pp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416457/original/file-20210817-22-1q77pp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416457/original/file-20210817-22-1q77pp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416457/original/file-20210817-22-1q77pp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416457/original/file-20210817-22-1q77pp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416457/original/file-20210817-22-1q77pp9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Jerome Bruner significantly contributed to learning theories, including inquiry-based learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Bruner">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>With discovery learning, instead of students being given the information to learn, they are given (or choose themselves) questions or problems and use their prior knowledge and experiences to test new understandings. Bruner argued that, as well as gaining new knowledge, students would develop crucial skills such as questioning and critical thinking, along with curiosity and a love of learning. </p>
<p>Pearson writes: “The great majority of Australian schools follow Bruner, even today, with only a minority of teachers and schools delivering teacher-led instruction.” </p>
<p>Apart from the fact he doesn’t cite any evidence to support this assertion, the implication here is that the development of inquiry-based learning stopped in the 1960s with Bruner. It didn’t.</p>
<p>When Bruner’s work first gained prominence it was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1083585">adapted to the teaching of science</a>, and then slowly spread to other areas of the curriculum. Over the next 50 years, through practice and research, a number of different models of inquiry learning have developed – each with different emphases – such as <a href="http://sites.nd.edu/kaneb/2019/09/30/problem-based-and-inquiry-based-learning-whats-the-difference/">problem-based</a> and <a href="https://www.graniteschools.org/edtech/tip/project-based-learning/">project-based inquiry</a>.</p>
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<p>More than this, inquiry-based approaches differ in such matters as purpose and method. Thus they can vary in approach such as <a href="https://scientificinquiryinsocialwork.pressbooks.com/chapter/6-3-inductive-and-deductive-reasoning/">inductive and deductive inquiry</a>, and in the extent to which teachers are in control of topic choice and process. There can be strong teacher guidance (structured inquiry, controlled inquiry), or students can have greater freedom to discover and investigate (modified free inquiry).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-inquiry-based-learning-and-how-does-it-help-prepare-children-for-the-real-world-115299">Explainer: what is inquiry-based learning and how does it help prepare children for the real world?</a>
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<p>In other words, there is no homogenous model of inquiry-based learning. If people want to criticise inquiry-based approaches they need to be explicit about which model they are judging.</p>
<h2>3. Flawed data used to justify the argument</h2>
<p>The third flaw in the argument is that much of the research used to show explicit teaching produces better learning outcomes is based on data that are contaminated by the confusion about what constitutes inquiry-based learning. </p>
<p>Take the research published by <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/how-to-improve-student-educational-outcomes-new-insights-from-data-analytics#">McKinsey and Company in 2017</a>, which Pearson cites as exposing the “detrimental effects of inquiry learning”. That research uses student interviews conducted by the OECD in the 2015 PISA tests to find out about the extent to which some students experienced inquiry learning in their science classes. </p>
<p>The questions were based on the understanding that inquiry in science involves students in practical experiments and class debates, with the teacher giving them time to explain ideas and use the scientific method. But, for all the reasons explained above, this is a very narrow view of inquiry-based learning.</p>
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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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<p>Notwithstanding these limitations, the OECD aggregated the students’ responses and correlated them with the PISA scores in science to arrive at an index of inquiry-based instruction. This purported to show that, for many countries, <a href="https://www.oecd.org/education/pisa-2015-results-volume-ii-9789264267510-en.htm">there was a negative correlation</a> between inquiry-based learning and success in the science tests.</p>
<p>Despite the warped view of inquiry and the inadequate methodology on which the OECD report was based, once the report hit the public domain its findings were further distorted. The results based on interviews with 15-year-old students about their science teaching classes were turned into generalisations about teaching in <em>all</em> subjects across <em>all</em> year levels.</p>
<p>Such research tells us very little about inquiry-based learning itself. And yet it is used to demonstrate the superior outcomes produced by explicit teaching. </p>
<p>There’s a variety of useful teaching models — and this includes explicit instruction — which have been designed for different purposes. It is the educator’s task to select the most appropriate given the context.</p>
<p>Creating simplistic binaries in a field as complex and nuanced as education impoverishes the debate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Reid 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>The ongoing debate between teacher-led and student-led learning is simplistic. Education is a complex field and teachers adapt their methods to context. It’s never just one or the other.Alan Reid, Professor Emeritus of Education, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1290082020-01-29T19:07:13Z2020-01-29T19:07:13ZKids learn best when you add a problem-solving boost to ‘back-to-basics’ instruction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312385/original/file-20200129-92964-q93y38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C0%2C3093%2C2067&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's no need for the tug of war. Explicit instruction and inquiry based learning go hand-in-hand.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last year there was substantial hand-wringing over <a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-students-are-a-year-behind-students-10-years-ago-in-science-maths-and-reading-127013">Australia’s declining results</a> in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. Ideas for how to reverse this decline were coming from far and wide, thick and fast. </p>
<p>Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan declared Australian education needed to go “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/education-minister-pushes-for-back-to-basics-approach-in-schools-20191209-p53i7z.html">back-to-basics</a>” while influential commentators pointed out PISA tests are focused on “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/focus-on-basics-leaves-schoolkids-short-in-essential-deep-thinking-20191203-p53gd6.html">problem-solving</a>” and this is what we need more of in Australian schools.</p>
<p>Of course, both views are correct. The problem is they are often framed as mutually exclusive, when in fact we can effectively teach the basics and optimise problem-solving at the same time.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-doesnt-define-education-quality-and-knee-jerk-policy-proposals-wont-fix-whatever-is-broken-128389">PISA doesn't define education quality, and knee-jerk policy proposals won't fix whatever is broken</a>
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<p>Our recent research suggests “<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310102750_Using_Load_Reduction_Instruction_LRI_to_boost_motivation_and_engagement">load reduction instruction</a>” is one way to do this. To explain load reduction, we must first explain a bit about memory.</p>
<h2>Short and long-term memory</h2>
<p>There are two key parts of the human memory system: <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-11701-011">working memory and long-term memory</a>. </p>
<p>Working memory is the in-the-moment component that receives and sends information to long-term memory. It is limited and estimated to hold information for <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1994-28274-001">about 15-20 seconds</a>, with a capacity about the size of a phone number. </p>
<p>Long-term memory has vast capacity and indefinite duration. The teacher needs to help students build up their long-term memory such as fundamental facts and rules (times-tables) as well as concepts and procedures needed for performing more complex tasks (difficult algebra).</p>
<p>Teachers need to teach in a way that reduces the burden on students’ working memory when they are learning new content or skills. If <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1">working memory is overloaded</a>, students may misunderstand information or not understand it at all. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-had-an-idea-in-the-1980s-and-to-my-surprise-it-changed-education-around-the-world-126519">I had an idea in the 1980s and to my surprise, it changed education around the world</a>
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<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-explicit-instruction-and-how-does-it-help-children-learn-115144">Explicit instruction</a> is a good way to ease this burden when students are learning the basics. Here, for example, a teacher clearly and systematically shows the students what to do and how to do it.</p>
<p>Once students understand the basics, they can take on more complex information. In fact, research has shown if students are not moved onto problem-solving opportunities after they have learnt the basics, their learning can decline (this is called the “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-18059-013">expertise reversal effect</a>”). </p>
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<span class="caption">Short-term memory is limited and can only hold information the size of a phone number at any one time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Fostering problem-solving can be done through guided inquiry-oriented learning. Here the teacher may assign a more open-ended or complex task students complete on their own using, or inferring from, the information and skill they gained in the explicit instructional phase. It is “guided” because the teacher still has a role in monitoring progress and assisting as appropriate.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-inquiry-based-learning-and-how-does-it-help-prepare-children-for-the-real-world-115299">Explainer: what is inquiry-based learning and how does it help prepare children for the real world?</a>
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<h2>What is load reduction instruction?</h2>
<p>Load reduction instruction aims to integrate explicit instruction and guided inquiry with the following <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334756895_Load_reduction_instruction_Sequencing_explicit_instruction_and_guided_discovery_to_enhance_students%27_motivation_engagement_learning_and_achievement">five principles</a>: </p>
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<li><p>make tasks simple enough to suit the students’ existing knowledge or skill level at the start of the learning process. The teacher could do some pre-testing to understand what the students already know and then present information and tasks at a level of difficulty that matches the students’ ability</p></li>
<li><p>instructional support from the teacher through the task. The teacher could provide a task for students to do in steps and work closely with them through each one </p></li>
<li><p>structured practice and repetition. After working through a task with students, the teacher could give similar tasks where students can practise what they know or can do </p></li>
<li><p>feed-back and feed-forward. The teacher could provide corrective information (if correction is needed) and specific suggestions for the student to apply or to improve on the next task</p></li>
<li><p>guided independent practice, problem-solving and inquiry-oriented learning. The teacher could provide a more complex task students do on their own and that may involve more than one path to a solution or more than one solution. The teacher’s guidance is minimal (such as reminding students of the likely steps involved or providing some hints when students get stuck), but always available. </p></li>
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<p>The first four principles may be considered the “back-to-basics” parts of load reduction instruction and rely on the more traditional explicit approaches. Then, as core skill and knowledge develop, the fifth principle is emphasised: problem-solving.</p>
<h2>How we know it works</h2>
<p>We have conducted two studies exploring load reduction instruction in class. The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0742051X17315172">first study</a> involved 393 high school students in 40 maths classrooms. </p>
<p>Students rated their maths teacher on five aspects of each of the five principles described above.</p>
<p>Students also reported on their own motivation and engagement in maths, their academic buoyancy in maths (how well they bounce back from academic setback), and their maths achievement. We found the more the teacher was reported to implement load reduction instruction, the higher their students’ levels of motivation, engagement, academic buoyancy and achievement. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-just-solve-for-x-letting-kids-explore-real-world-scenarios-will-keep-them-in-maths-class-124876">Don’t just solve for x: letting kids explore real-world scenarios will keep them in maths class</a>
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<p>In a second study (currently under peer review), students from more than 150 science classrooms rated their science teacher using the five principles. Students also rated their own engagement in science (how much they enjoyed and participated in class) and completed a brief science test. </p>
<p>Our analyses revealed students who were taught using load reduction principles had higher levels of engagement in science and higher levels of science achievement.</p>
<p>Back-to-basics and problem-solving should go hand in hand. The success of one is inextricably tied to the success of the other. But the order in which things are done is critical. Explicit instruction must first be used to ease the load on students as they learn the basics. Then, when some expertise has developed, students move to guided inquiry to nurture their problem-solving capacity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129008/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew J. Martin received funding from the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (Grant # DP140104294) and an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant in partnership with The Future Project at The King’s School (LP170100253) for the research reported in this study.</span></em></p>Research has shown if students are not given problem-solving opportunities after they have learnt the basics, their learning can decline.Andrew J. Martin, Scientia Professor and Professor of Educational Psychology, UNSW SydneyLicensed 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>
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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>
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<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>
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<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>
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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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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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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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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/1152992019-04-30T20:13:14Z2019-04-30T20:13:14ZExplainer: what is inquiry-based learning and how does it help prepare children for the real world?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269875/original/file-20190417-139088-u57il0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Inquiry encourages students to explore and understand the application of concepts in a real-world context.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Inquiry-based learning emphasises a student’s role in the learning process and asks them to engage with an idea or topic in an active way, rather than by sitting and listening to a teacher. The overall goal of an inquiry-based approach is for students to make meaning of what they are learning about and to understand how a concept works in a real-world context. </p>
<p>The inquiry approach is sometimes known as project-based or experiential learning. To learn about a topic, students explore resources, ask questions and share ideas. The teacher helps students apply new concepts to different contexts, which allows them to discover knowledge for themselves by exploring, experiencing and discussing as they go.</p>
<p>Learning through inquiry can be done differently depending on the subject area and the age of the student. Inquiry-based teaching and learning practices feature in many classrooms across the world. Teachers are conducting lessons with an inquiry-based approach, or aspects of it, without realising it. </p>
<h2>How does it actually work?</h2>
<p>If you’ve read the Harry Potter books, or watched the movies, you may remember that, in “The Order of the Phoenix”, Harry’s class gets an unpopular Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge. Her teaching method is based on learning through textbooks and discipline.</p>
<p>Harry questions whether this type of learning will help young wizards and witches if they ever come across the dark lord, Voldemort. So Harry sets up his own classroom in secret, where the class practise spells and learn from each other. This is a good example of inquiry-based learning.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Harry Potter’s version of the inquiry-based approach to learning defence against the dark arts.</span></figcaption>
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<p>US philosopher and liberal education reformer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey">John Dewey</a> advocated learning through inquiry. His work to change pedagogical methods and curricula in 1916 was developed into <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300883802_Critically_Examining_Inquiry-Based_Learning_John_Dewey_in_Theory_History_and_Practice">classroom experiences in the 1930s</a>. Although initially influencing schools in the United States, Dewey’s influence spread worldwide. </p>
<p>A key characteristic of inquiry is that it is <a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781784714796/9781784714796.00015.xml">externally and internally motivated, by the student</a>. External motivation includes members in the team, the nature of the project and feedback from teachers. Intrinsic motivations include an eagerness to learn.</p>
<p>Although the inquiry is motivated by the student, it is guided by the teacher. A <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137534620">skilled inquiry teacher</a> will vary their role along a continuum – from explicit instruction (where the teacher has clear goals as to what he or she will present to the students) to an inquiry approach that helps students control their learning. </p>
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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>From primary to secondary</h2>
<p>The primary school classroom offers rich inquiry opportunities as there is usually one teacher per class and s/he can use inquiry to link ideas and activities between learning areas. I observed a Year 1 classroom where the teacher and students were exploring nursery rhymes while developing early reading skills. </p>
<p>During the reading of Jack and Jill, a six-year-old boy asked: “What is the hill made out of?” The teacher built on this question to create an inquiry experience spanning five weeks. The children learnt concepts in science (forces, pushes, pulls, friction, soil types, rock types) and mathematics (slopes, fractions, time). </p>
<p>In doing so, children’s reading, writing and spelling (push, pull, trip, fall, tumble, slope etc) were enhanced. The class explored the geography of hills and mountains. Literacy, mathematics, science and humanities lessons revolved around learning about hills and answering the original question. </p>
<p>The class concluded that Jack slipped on wet clay and Jill tripped on a rock embedded in the clay. The class also discussed pushing and shoving each other, with one child asking if Jill could have been pushed by the same person who pushed Humpty Dumpty off the wall.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271381/original/file-20190429-194606-7xbwnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271381/original/file-20190429-194606-7xbwnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271381/original/file-20190429-194606-7xbwnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271381/original/file-20190429-194606-7xbwnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271381/original/file-20190429-194606-7xbwnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271381/original/file-20190429-194606-7xbwnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271381/original/file-20190429-194606-7xbwnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271381/original/file-20190429-194606-7xbwnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">One lateral query about a nursery rhyme led to five weeks of inquiry-based learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>In secondary schools there are multiple teachers and classes, and therefore reduced opportunity for integrated inquiry. So the inquiry is generally within disciplines.</p>
<p>Different disciplines have different models for inquiry. In history, for instance, <a href="https://importanceofanzacdaytoaustralia.weebly.com/incorporating-the-telstar-inquiry-model.html">Telstar</a> prompts inquiry by checking questions for guiding student progress. And in science, there are the <a href="https://primaryconnections.org.au/sites/default/files/files/Implementation%20of%20science%20based%20on%20the%205E%20Learning%20Model%20%284%29.pdf">5 Es</a> where literacy is emphasised in five consecutive phases – engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate. </p>
<p>Teachers usually start with these generic models to accompany information contained in curriculum documents. </p>
<h2>Challenges and misconceptions</h2>
<p>The main challenge with an inquiry approach is assessment. Standardised testing monopolises educational assessment, which puts a value on core literacies: reading, writing, computation, and the accumulation of facts and figures. Educators are only beginning to identify parameters through which they can assess students’ discovery of knowledge and making meaning.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-your-child-will-benefit-from-inquiry-based-learning-97245">Why your child will benefit from inquiry-based learning</a>
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<p>Global culture has become one of innovation, discovery and interdisciplinary thinking, which means solely relying on a standardised way of learning and testing is at odds with the outside world. Educators <a href="https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/28820/inquiry-learning-vs-standardized-content-can-they-coexist">promoting an inquiry-based learning system</a> believe it is only a matter of time until inquiry skills take precedence over learning content. </p>
<p>Misconceptions about using <a href="https://rosscoops31.com/2016/10/10/busting-5-myths-inquiry-based-learning-hackingpbl/">inquiry-based learning in the classroom</a> include inquiry being too difficult for most students (that it is for the older gifted child) and that during inquiry the teacher does little and the class is in chaos. </p>
<p>But inquiry-based learning, guided by a teacher who models the process to <a href="https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789813224223_0016">various students</a>, is valuable for the whole class. Classroom chaos is rarely seen in situations where the teacher is an active learner alongside their students.</p>
<p>Inquiry is part of human nature, but one can benefit from learning how to be a good inquirer. This includes learning skills such as how to ask and answer questions, solve problems and conduct investigations and research. To be an inquirer is liberating, exciting and transformative. It involves taking risks and is intellectually demanding. And, above all, it helps us learn.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115299/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gillian Kidman 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>Instead of just memorising facts and figures, an inquiry-based approach is one where the teacher facilitates students to discover knowledge for themselves.Gillian Kidman, Associate Professor, Science Education, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1151442019-04-11T20:09:56Z2019-04-11T20:09:56ZExplainer: what is explicit instruction and how does it help children learn?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268520/original/file-20190410-2909-1o3g19f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Explicit instruction is based on a learning theory that suggests we remember what we think about most.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002248718703800308">Explicit instruction</a> is a term that summarises a type of teaching in which lessons are designed and delivered to novices to help them develop readily-available background knowledge on a particular topic.</p>
<p>Explicit instruction emerged out of <a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Rosenshine.pdf">research conducted in the 1960s and 1970s</a>. Researchers sat at the back of classrooms and looked for relationships between particular <a href="https://education.msu.edu/irt/PDFs/OccasionalPapers/op073.pdf">behaviours of effective teachers</a> and their students’ academic performance. </p>
<p>This research found <a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Rosenshine.pdf">teachers with the best results</a> spent more time reviewing previously learned concepts, checking whether students had understood concepts and correcting misconceptions during the lesson. Explicit teaching practices involve showing students what to do and how to do it. </p>
<p>Like baking a cake, explicit instruction is a step-by-step process where deviating from the recipe or omitting ingredients can have an underwhelming result.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268706/original/file-20190411-2921-1jtug1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268706/original/file-20190411-2921-1jtug1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268706/original/file-20190411-2921-1jtug1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268706/original/file-20190411-2921-1jtug1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268706/original/file-20190411-2921-1jtug1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268706/original/file-20190411-2921-1jtug1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268706/original/file-20190411-2921-1jtug1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268706/original/file-20190411-2921-1jtug1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Explicit instruction came out of 1960s research, when researchers observed effective teachers from the back of their classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>This is contrasted to a type of learning where, before students are shown the essential information, they are asked to practise a task, and then discover and construct some or all of the essential information themselves. This is sometimes known as inquiry-based learning. </p>
<p>It can be useful for someone who wants to conduct an experiment to learn about evaporation and condensation, provided they already understand the nature of solids, liquids and gases and how to safely use a Bunsen burner.</p>
<h2>We remember what we think about</h2>
<p>Explicit instruction is also known as <a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Clark.pdf">“fully guided” practice</a>. Teachers who follow an explicit approach explain, demonstrate and model everything: from blending sounds together to decode words, to writing a complex sentence with figurative language, to kicking a football. </p>
<p>While some students achieve success quickly, others need far more opportunities for practice. Explicit instruction teachers provide daily reviews of previously learned knowledge and skills so they become automatic. Then they can be applied to more complex tasks such as reading, writing a short story or playing a game of AFL.</p>
<p>Explicit instruction is underscored by a learning theory known as the <a href="https://www.learning-theories.com/information-processing-theory.html">information processing model</a>. It is based on the assumption we only remember what we think about, and keep thinking about. If you can still remember your childhood telephone number, it’s probably because of the number of times you have used and retrieved that information. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/comic-explainer-how-memory-works-64485">Comic explainer: how memory works</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s well known there is a limit to how much new information the human brain can process and how much can be stored in our long-term memory. These understandings form something known as <a href="https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/stories/PDF/cognitive-load-theory-VR_AA3.pdf">cognitive load theory</a>, which adds further value to the effectiveness of explicit instruction.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268711/original/file-20190411-2905-1t7tmai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268711/original/file-20190411-2905-1t7tmai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268711/original/file-20190411-2905-1t7tmai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268711/original/file-20190411-2905-1t7tmai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268711/original/file-20190411-2905-1t7tmai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268711/original/file-20190411-2905-1t7tmai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268711/original/file-20190411-2905-1t7tmai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268711/original/file-20190411-2905-1t7tmai.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Information procession theory suggests we only remember what we keep thinking about.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Put simply, knowing precursor maths skills – such as times-tables and the difference between the numerator and denominator – reduces the strain on the limited space you have in your brain. So it might free up some brain space to learn about more complex maths, such as simplifying fractions.</p>
<p>Particular models fall under the umbrella term of explicit instruction in Australia and include: <a href="https://explicitinstruction.org/">explicit instruction</a>, <a href="https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/explicit-direct-instruction-edi/book250450">explicit direct instruction</a>, <a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Rosenshine.pdf">Direct Instruction</a> and <a href="https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/81f204_9c9551a55dfb410b993fbdf29532e912.pdf">I do, we do, you do</a>. These models are based on similar instructional principles and refer to specific lesson design and delivery components.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/direct-instruction-and-the-teaching-of-reading-29157">Direct Instruction and the teaching of reading</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.nifdi.org/15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=27">Direct Instruction</a>, for instance, consists of a suite of commercially available teaching resources developed from the work of US educator Siegfried Engelmann in the 1960s. It is a highly scripted model, which is both a reason some teachers perceive the approach as inflexible, and the reason it is effective. When followed with fidelity, direct instruction <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0034654317751919">has been shown</a> to work. The model has proven quite effective when applied in remote aboriginal communities. </p>
<p>Explicit instruction, however, is not scripted. This means there is often variability between the way teachers use it and of the component parts of this approach. This also makes <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318176128_Explicit_Instruction_Historical_and_Contemporary_Contexts_LEARNING_DISABILITIES_RESEARCH">definitive statements</a> on its efficacy problematic.</p>
<h2>So, what’s the controversy?</h2>
<p>Since the late 1970s, more child-centred approaches have been the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review_of_the_national_curriculum_final_report.pdf">prevailing orthodoxy</a> in teacher education and curriculum design in Australia. These approaches include discovery learning and inquiry. They are based on a theory of learning called <a href="https://www.learning-theories.com/constructivism.html">constructivism</a>, that sees learning as an active process.</p>
<p>Teachers following a constructivist approach provide learning opportunities that enable students to come to their own unique understandings of what is being taught. Constructivism is popular and prevalent because it personalises learning, emphasises the active construction of knowledge and privileges hands-on learning to solve real-world problems. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?tag=direct-instruction">Critics</a> of explicit instruction typically argue it is a deficit model that sees students sitting passively in rows all day engaging in rote learning. This is a misunderstanding of explicit instruction, which – when done properly – is engaging and rarely done for extended periods of time.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268713/original/file-20190411-2918-qt3lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268713/original/file-20190411-2918-qt3lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268713/original/file-20190411-2918-qt3lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268713/original/file-20190411-2918-qt3lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268713/original/file-20190411-2918-qt3lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268713/original/file-20190411-2918-qt3lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268713/original/file-20190411-2918-qt3lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268713/original/file-20190411-2918-qt3lad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Explicit instruction requires students to face the teacher.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s true the model requires students to face the teacher. This is because the process involves the teacher asking a lot of questions. She or he may also ask children to write on mini-whiteboards to show their understanding during the lesson.</p>
<p>Arguments that explicit instruction doesn’t allow teachers to cater for range of student abilities are also ill-founded. Explicit instruction allows teachers to teach the same concept to students but differentiate at the point of individual practice. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-languages-early-is-key-to-making-australia-more-multilingual-99085">Learning languages early is key to making Australia more multilingual</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For example, after teaching the algorithm for subtraction, students will have the same time to solve problems of increasing difficulty. But not all students will follow the same process. While some students will only solve (29-13), others might solve (189-101) and (1692-1331).</p>
<p>As adults learning to abseil or skydive, we prefer it when information is broken down into manageable chunks, the instructor checks for understanding and we are given opportunities to practise the skills we’ll need before we step over the edge. There is a place for explicit instruction in Australian classrooms, particularly when background knowledge is low and the task is difficult.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorraine Hammond is affiliated with Learning Difficulties Australia and is a Professional Development Consultant with the Kimberley Schools Project, a state government initiative in Western Australia. </span></em></p>Explicit instruction is a type of teaching model where students are shown what to do and how to do it.Lorraine Hammond, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/396342015-04-08T20:06:08Z2015-04-08T20:06:08ZIgnore the fads: teachers should teach and students should listen<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76756/original/image-20150401-21726-2c3w70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's no use pretending the teacher doesn't have more knowledge than everyone else in the room; this is the way it should be. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When imagining a teacher at work there’s a good chance you picture someone standing at the front of a classroom, explaining concepts and asking questions. Add to this students independently applying the concepts with some corrective feedback from the teacher and you have a form of teaching known as “explicit instruction”.</p>
<h2>What is explicit instruction?</h2>
<p>It’s as old as the hills and pretty effective; so much so that the New South Wales government’s Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) <a href="http://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/stories/PDF/what_works_best.pdf">recently published a report</a> that stresses explicit teaching as one of its seven evidence-based themes.</p>
<p>You may have heard of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/direct-instruction-and-the-teaching-of-reading-29157">Direct Instruction initiative in Cape York</a> that is being promoted by Noel Pearson. This is a specific form of explicit teaching where lessons are scripted and a clear progression through concepts is mapped out in accordance with the ideas of the American educationalist <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/controversial-teaching-method-brings-hope-and-social-change-to-cape-york/story-fn9hm1pm-1226639388060">Siegfried Engelmann</a>. Although it is too early to say how the program is going in Cape York, Engelmann’s ideas have demonstrated great potential in the US, notably through the huge <a href="http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Eadiep/ft/adams.htm">“Follow Through” project of the 1960s and 1970s</a>.</p>
<p>There is a large body of evidence for explicit teaching more generally. <a href="http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Rosenshine.pdf">Different types of research</a> examining a range of learning goals support the basic principles. But not all explicit instruction is equally effective.</p>
<p>You might therefore imagine that researchers would be working on ways to fine-tune it. What makes a good explanation? How should concepts be sequenced? How can we ensure students are thinking about the key ideas? What’s the right balance between abstract concepts and concrete examples?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, explicit instruction is unfashionable. While accepting that it has a role to play, educationalists often seem ambivalent towards it, sometimes describing explicit approaches using pejorative terms such as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/biggest-loser-policy-on-literacy-will-not-deliver-long-term-gains-28649">drilling</a>”.</p>
<p>The key principle behind explicit instruction is that the teacher fully explains ideas and concepts. In this sense, its opposite is something that is often called “inquiry learning” where students are asked to pose questions and find out things for themselves. In such programs, teachers are seen as co-learners rather than subject-matter authorities.</p>
<p>There is little evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of inquiry learning for learning new concepts (although it can be effective for those who are <a href="http://www.davidlewisphd.com/courses/EDD8121/readings/2003-Kalyuga_et_al.pdf">more expert</a> in a subject). </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s1532690xci0201_3#.VRoeZ_mUd7E">When tested in controlled experiments</a>, features characteristic of inquiry learning such as problem-solving are shown to be less effective than features characteristic of explicit instruction such as the use of worked examples. And a number of attempts to introduce programs similar to inquiry learning have <a href="http://apps.fischlerschool.nova.edu/toolbox/instructionalproducts/8001/EDD8001/SUM12/2004-Mayer.pdf">met with very little success</a> over the past 50 years.</p>
<h2>Why is explicit instruction daggy?</h2>
<p>Despite this, inquiry learning is very much in vogue. Teacher education courses run units on it even though you would struggle to find equivalent units on explicit instruction. A recent report from the OECD on <a href="http://istp2015.org/Documents/ISTP2015_OECD-background-report.pdf">“Schools for 21st-Century Learners”</a> has a whole section on inquiry learning while mentioning explicit instruction only in passing. </p>
<p>New science VCE courses in Victoria have focused on incorporating inquiry learning and will require evidence that it has taken place. <a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/physics/PhysicsSD-2016.pdf">The physics VCE study design</a> explains that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In VCE Physics students develop a range of inquiry skills involving practical experimentation and research, analytical skills including critical and creative thinking, and communication skills.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As the OECD report also suggests, the evidence in favour of inquiry learning may be lacking but it is assumed to be superior in preparing students for the 21st century by developing ill-defined skills such as critical thinking or creativity.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that such skills are <a href="http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Crit_Thinking.pdf">highly dependent upon knowing a lot about the subject</a>: if you want to think critically about physics, then first learn a lot of physics.</p>
<p>There may also be philosophical reasons that educationalists choose to privilege inquiry methods over explicit instruction. There is a tradition of questioning teacher-led approaches to education that is at least 200 years old.</p>
<p>Philosophers of education such as John Dewey and Paolo Freire have criticised the notion that a teacher’s role is to impart knowledge. Freire called it the “<a href="https://libcom.org/files/FreirePedagogyoftheOppressed.pdf">banking model</a>” and found that it did not fit his revolutionary principles. Others believe it to be inimical to the spirit of democracy. How can students grow up to ask questions if we expect them to defer to a teacher’s authority in the classroom?</p>
<p>This argument fails on two counts. Firstly, teachers really should know more than their students, so why pretend otherwise? Secondly, it fails to recognise the compassionate and empathetic ways in which contemporary teachers structure explicit instruction in the classroom, providing plenty of time for students to be heard.</p>
<p>Clearly, there are instances where we might choose to use varied approaches to learning for a wide variety of reasons. I am all in favour of balance. Sometimes, we may be seeking to build motivation. At other times, we may simply wish to mix things up a bit. </p>
<p>However, an unbalanced focus on inquiry learning that sidelines the proven practice of explicit instruction should be a matter of serious concern.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39634/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Ashman 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>Explicit instruction - where the teacher stands at the front of the class and teaches - is out of vogue with educators who prefer collaborative learning. But it’s really the only teaching style with proven results.Greg Ashman, Experienced teacher and PhD candidate in instructional design, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/286492014-07-01T19:12:32Z2014-07-01T19:12:32Z‘Biggest Loser’ policy on literacy will not deliver long-term gains<p>Yesterday’s <a href="http://education.gov.au/flexible-literacy-remote-primary-schools-programme">announcement</a> of a $22 million grant for a Direct Instruction program - a direct method of teaching using lectures and demonstrations - to improve literacy outcomes for remote Indigenous children should be regarded with caution.</p>
<p>It seems like a bizarre kind of double-think that the government can <a href="http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Publications/2014/McMorrowjune2014.pdf">abandon</a> the Gonski funding model, which would have most helped disadvantaged students; cut <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-13/budget-2014-534-cut-to-indigenous-programs-and-health/5451144">$534 million</a> in funding for Indigenous community health and education programs; and then turn around and claim that a sparkly new program will somehow “fix” Indigenous literacy.</p>
<p>This program simply takes a “Biggest Loser” approach to literacy teaching, by skilling and drilling students to the point of exhaustion, in order to get the most visible results possible (i.e. increased NAPLAN scores) in the shortest time. Just like the reality television weight-loss show, very little attention is given to long-term improvements and what happens beyond the immediacy of the program itself.</p>
<h2>Does Indigenous literacy need fixing?</h2>
<p>The OECD’s latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results show that there is about a two-and-a-half-year <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-pisa-slump-is-big-news-but-whats-the-real-story-20964">gap</a> between non-Indigenous and Indigenous literacy rates in Australia. There is also a persistent gap in <a href="https://theconversation.com/naplan-improvements-for-indigenous-students-but-not-everyone-is-taking-the-test-21475">NAPLAN</a> results. </p>
<p>There are some concerns about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/abbott-is-quietly-failing-on-his-pm-for-aboriginal-affairs-promise-26948">normalising</a> effect of policies that claim to work towards <a href="https://www.coag.gov.au/closing_the_gap_in_indigenous_disadvantage">“Closing the Gap”</a>. One example might be the assumption that raising Indigenous literacy levels across Australia is inherently a good thing, in and of itself. </p>
<p>It might be argued that such attempts are no better than historic attempts to make Aboriginal kids more “white” by sending them off to missions to be properly educated. In his seminal book, <a href="http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/59691/20060614-0000/stolen.pdf">The Stolen Generations</a>, Peter Read writes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Missionaries, teachers, government officials have believed that the best way to make black people behave like whites was to get hold of the children who had not yet learned Aboriginal life ways.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are some resonances with teaching Aboriginal children in remote communities a version of literacy that is more about success in NAPLAN tests than success in life.</p>
<p>Perhaps we should be asking questions about the underlying assumptions that are made about what it actually means to be literate, how this changes over time and how it differs across cultures. Who gets to decide? Are there different literacy demands for students in our major cities and those who live in remote communities? What cultural literacies are valued?</p>
<p>What relevance does sitting for the NAPLAN tests have for a young child, living in a largely oral-language culture in remote communities, where English may be their third or fourth language?</p>
<p>Each time that we reduce the discussion to a simple metric of whether students are meeting a benchmark that is determined by a narrowly devised literacy test, we are missing the opportunity to ask some of these tougher questions.</p>
<h2>What are direct and explicit instruction?</h2>
<p>The $22 million funding package will go the <a href="http://www.goodtogreatschools.org.au/index">Good to Great Schools</a> Direct Instruction-Explicit Instruction literacy program, expanding a <a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2012/McCollow12.pdf">Cape York trial</a> across the country.</p>
<p>So what exactly are direct instruction and explicit instruction, as defined by this <a href="http://education.gov.au/flexible-literacy-remote-primary-schools-programme">program?</a> These definitions are provided:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Direct Instruction provides step-by-step lessons that focus on skill mastery and grouping students by ability rather than age.</p></li>
<li><p>With Explicit Instruction teachers focus on explanations, demonstrations, feedback and practice until the skill is mastered.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>As a literacies education lecturer, I work closely with pre-service teachers on exactly these kinds of teaching strategies. They are an important part of the basic pedagogical arsenal that all teachers have, and it’s really nothing new.</p>
<p>An article in <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/noel-pearson-teaching-model-to-get-22m/story-fn9hm1pm-1226972990901">The Australian</a> heralded the announcement as a triumph of “back-to-basics” schooling. This is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-never-return-to-the-three-rs-13179">troubling</a>, as it is out of step with the lived realities of young people and ignores the importance of thinking about the impacts of <a href="http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/leu/">new literacies</a> in favour of outdated understandings of reading and writing.</p>
<p>While a large body of evidence supports the use of direct instruction within a <a href="https://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/ch2-II.pdf">balanced</a> approach to literacy teaching and learning, it can be concerning when a narrow concept of “what works” is applied in literacy teaching and learning to the exclusion of all else. We have seen this in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-first-ideology-teaching-reading-falls-victim-to-the-culture-wars-187410">obsession with phonics</a>.</p>
<p>Direct and explicit instruction work best when combined with techniques based on experience and observation, giving students opportunities to use and play with language, helping them through the reading and writing process, as well as modelling targeted reading and writing strategies, guiding students through their own writing and co-constructing texts with students.</p>
<h2>Delivering long-term improvements in Indigenous literacy</h2>
<p>The Greens’ spokesperson for schools, Senator Penny Wright, <a href="http://penny-wright.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/pyne-picks-wrong-approach-fix-remote-schools">argued</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mr Pyne’s Direct Instruction plan only looks at one part of the problem and ignores the broader evidence about what makes a difference in schools.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As with Tony Abbott’s call for <a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-the-gap-on-indigenous-literacy-requires-more-than-increased-attendance-23142">increased school attendance</a>, this latest strategy is another attempt to use simple solutions for complex problems.</p>
<p>Anything that is imposed from above simply won’t work in the long term. This was seen clearly in the <a href="http://caepr.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/Publications/topical/Altman_AIATSIS.pdf">failure</a> of the previous Coalition government’s Northern Territory intervention. </p>
<p>When families and communities are not only involved, but also deeply committed and in control, then there is a real chance for lasting change. </p>
<p>While direct instruction itself is not a bad thing, declaring that a narrow-focused top-down literacy intervention is going to “fix” anything is a pipe-dream. Especially when we are simultaneously removing all other hope for equitable educational opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28649/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Riddle 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>Yesterday’s announcement of a $22 million grant for a Direct Instruction program - a direct method of teaching using lectures and demonstrations - to improve literacy outcomes for remote Indigenous children…Stewart Riddle, Lecturer in Literacies Education, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.