Friday Four – March 2, 2012

 

 Some more Cognitive Psychology and a few other related tidbits

I seem to be running into quite a few interesting links related to the cognitive psychology or neurobiology of learning in past few weeks. The topic is a fascinating one (at least I think so!) and is really just beginning to make its way into the education world as the neuroscientists and educators begin to collaborate and communicate more. If you are looking to expand your knowledge base about the topic, I would strongly encourage attending any of the Learning and the Brain workshops. I have been to a few of them and found them incredibly informative and helpful as I rethink my lessons, homework assignments and really all that I do in the classroom. You can even follow @Learning andtheB on twitter. So here are a few of my finds from this past week that you will hopefully find interesting. If you have any suggestions for future Friday Four editions, please do not hesitate to send them along.

  • Daniel Willingham is the author of several books on the topic of cognitive psychology including “Why Don’t Student’s Like School?” Here is a link to a piece he wrote that appeared on the American Educator website titled “How Knowledge Helps.” In the piece Willingham explores how previous knowledge impacts learning.
  • Jay McTighe tweeted out a link to a great Ted talk by Dr. Judy Willis that looks at the neurobiology behind boredom and frustration in the classroom. Willis is a neuroscientist who went into teaching so that she could apply what she had learned about the brain and learning in the lab.
  • Effective and useful feedback is one of the most important factors that can lead to learning. How many of us have taken the time to solicit feedback from our students on a regular basis? This piece that appeared on the Edweek website looks at the topic of using student feedback for improvement.
  • Seth Godin has published his manifesto “Stop Stealing Dreams”  What do you think we ought to do about education? is a question Godin gets often. His response is “What is school for?”  His manifesto is an attempt to start a conversation about the goals we have for our schools and how to reach them.

Enjoy!

 

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