Check List Feb. 26th (Due March 9th)

To do (lots of reading but you have two weeks to complete it :)

• Read Chapter 5 (book): Is Drilling Worth It? 
• Read Chapter 1 (Super Crunchers): Who's doing your thinking for you? (Library Reserves) 
• Read Chronicle of Higher Education article: As Big-Data Companies Come to Teaching, a Pioneer Issues a Warning 
• Read article "Impacts of the Digital Ocean on Education" 
• Attend the C-ALT meeting March 1st at 2:00 (TILT 104) 
• Continue to build your TEL toolkit (add articles found and tools located) 
• Locate articles on your learning principle that apply to classroom teaching or learning (prepare to talk about about you found on March 9th (in class) 

Don't forget 

• We will not have class next week (March 2nd) 

Spaced Retrieval Practice

This semester my goal is to learn more about "spaced retrieval practice" and model behaviors that will enhance my learning and long term retention of information about this practice through the use of several technologies. I will be using this blog (technology) to produce several posts over the course of this semester in an effort to synthesize what I learn about spaced retrieval practice (active content generation). In this effort I will attempt to write these posts by pulling content from my memory and referencing my notes only as necessary. Here we go... .

Spaced retrieval practice is the practice of applying two well established and frequently reproduced cognitive psychology effects the testing effect (retrieval practice effect) and the spacing effect.

The testing effect is translated into the practice of testing your ability to remember information through active recall. In other words, the behavior of independently thinking about a subject and brining content back to your working memory from long-term memory reinforces neurological pathways that are critical for memory. We should always recall that long-term memories are residuals of what we think about and if we don't think about something our brains are very efficient and systematic about forgetting (to learn more about forgetting search "Ebbinghaus forgetting curves" here is one interesting article).

Hermann Ebbinghaus

The spacing effect is translated into the practice of spacing your active retrieval (or testing effect practice) over time. There is consistent evidence that by spacing your practice out over longer periods of time you can cheat forgetting. As I mentioned in class there are technology tools that have been designed to help you apply the spacing effect (or spaced retrieval practice) to your learning. One such tool is Anki (see ankisrs.net). I will be building an Anki built around spaced retrieval practice and will continue to use that anki over an extended period of time.

In subsequent posts I plan to explore the classic research findings, how this practice is being studied within classroom settings, and what are the implications beyond retention and connection of these effects / practices to transfer of knowledge.

Check List Feb. 17th (Due Feb. 24th)

To do:

• Read chapter 4 (book): Why is it so hard for students to understand abstract ideas?

• Read about the learning principle that you selected (find resources) 

• Write a blog post that introduces your learning principle (brief introduction with sources) 

• Prepare to share an idea of how you might apply this principle in your classroom or in your own learning 

• Imagine how a technology could be used to leverage this learning principle (Be creative in your thinking)

• Add the above information to your TEL toolkit 

VoiceThread Activity

• Engage with the following VoiceThread (LINK) before class on Wednesday. 

As always if you have questions about any of these activities - don't hesitate to contact me.

Resources: 
Top 100 Tools for Learning 2015

Check List Feb. 10th (Due Feb. 18th)

To do: 

1. Read Chapter 3 (book): Why do students remember everything that's on television and forget everything I say.
2. Start Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Tool Kit (bring to class to share your ideas). 
3. Select a learning principle (see listing on previous blog post). The principles are first come, first serve. Place your selection in the comments section (comment here or on post with learning principles).

Think about this essay: 

• I have created a essay type quiz in our Canvas course (yes I did break down and create one :) 
• The quiz (essay format) is titled - Think about learning. 
• As you will see this is a no-stakes essay quiz that does not count for points. 
• The objective is to complete the quiz without referencing your notes or any other resources. 
• It opens Sunday morning (spacing) and closes on Tuesday at 11:59pm.  
• Please complete the essay during this window of time. 
• IMPORTANT NOTE: these essay responses do not need to be extensive or composed as formal complete essays, in fact these could be in a bulleted type format that capture your ideas. 

If you have questions about these "to do" items - don't hesitate to contact me. 

Next Steps - Additional Principles of Learning (Article)

I am writing this blog post in an effort to direct our thinking and work on additional principles of learning. Take a look at this article "Science support learning: The behavioral research base for psychology's top 20 principles for enhancing learning and teaching."  Here is the abstract...

Abstract: Psychological science has much to contribute to preK-12 education because substantial psychological research exists on the processes of learning, teaching, motivation, classroom management, social interaction, communication, and assessment. This article details the psychological science that led to the identification, by the American Psychological Association’s Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education, of the “Top 20 Principles from Psychology for PreK-12 Teaching and Learning.” Also noted are the major implications for educational practice that follow from the principles.

Here is a list of the principles that they identified.

Principle 1: Students’ beliefs or perceptions about intelligence and ability affect their cognitive functioning and learning 

Principle 2: What students already know affects their learning 

Principle 3: Students’ cognitive development and learning is not limited by general stages of development 

Principle 4: Learning is based on context, so generalizing learning to new contexts is not spontaneous, but rather needs to be facilitated 

Principle 5: Acquiring long-term knowledge and skill Is largely dependent on practice 

Principle 6: Clear, explanatory, and timely feedback to students Is important for learning 

Principle 7: Students’ self-regulation assists learning and self-regulatory skills can be taught 

I couldn't locate Principle 8. (help anyone?)  

Principle 9: Students tend to enjoy learning and perform better when they are more intrinsically than extrinsically motivated 

Principle 10: Students persist in the face of challenging tasks and process information more deeply when they adopt mastery goals rather than performance goals 

Principle 11: Teachers’ expectations about their students affect students’ opportunities to learn their motivation, and their learning outcomes 

Principle 12: Setting goals that are short term (proximal), specific, and moderately challenging enhances motivation more than establishing goals that are long term (distal), general, and overly challenging 

Principle 13: Learning is situated within multiple social contexts

Principle 14: Interpersonal relationships and interpersonal communication are critical to both the teaching–learning process and the social–emotional development of students

Principle 15: Emotional well-being influences educational performance, learning, and development

Principle 16: Expectations for classroom conduct and social interaction are learned and can be taught using proven principles of behavior and effective classroom instruction

Principle 17: Effective classroom management is based on (1) setting and communicating high expectations, (2) consistently nurturing positive relationships, and (3) providing a high level of student support

Principle 18. Formative and summative assessments are both useful, but they require different approaches

Principle 19. Students’ skill and knowledge should be assessed with processes that are grounded in psychological science and that have provided well-defined standards for quality and fairness

Principle 20. Good use of assessment data depends on clear, appropriate, and fair interpretation

This article will be food for thought for next weeks class.

Checklist 2-3-2016

Spacing effect: What do we know about this remarkable learning behavior? 

1. Read Chapter 2 in book: How can I teach students the skills they need when standardized tests require only facts? 
2. Read the article: Dempster, F. N. (1988). The spacing effect: A case study in the failure to apply the results of psychological research. American Psychologist, 43(8), 627. 
3. Select an article related to Dempster's 1988 article, read it and write a blog post summarizing what you learned.