Making Sense of Learning: A Research-Based Approach

Description

This textbook brings together findings from global research on teaching and learning, with an emphasis on secondary and higher education. The book is unique in that the content is selected in an original way and its presentation reflects the most recent research evidence related to understanding. The book covers and presents themes that are based tightly on worldwide research evidence, scrupulously avoiding opinion or any dependence on the personal experience of the authors. The book starts by reflecting on educational research itself. The four chapters that follow relate the story of the research that shows how all humans learn and the variations within that framework. These chapters offer a tight framework that underpins much of the rest of the text. The next four chapters look at the way school curricula are organised and how the performance of learners can be assessed. They summarise the research evidence related to thinking skills and consider the importance of practical teaching. This is followed by two chapters that draw from the extensive social psychology research on attitude development as it applies in education, and then by two chapters that summarise the research related to major issues of controversy: the performativity agenda and the issue of quality. One chapter looks at the place of statistics in education. The next two chapters look at the evidence that can support or undermine many typical education beliefs, or myths and mirages. Finally, the last chapter brings it all together and looks into the future, pointing to some areas where future research is likely to be helpful, based on current knowledge. Preface Acknowledgements Contents About the Authors 1 Introduction 1.1 The Nature of Research 1.2 Educational Research 1.3 What is Research? 1.4 The Purpose of the Book 1.5 Educational Decision-Taking 1.6 Types of Educational Research 1.7 Two Problem Words: Theory and Hypothesis References 2 How Do Students Learn? 2.1 Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909) 2.2 Jean Piaget (1896–1980) 2.3 Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896–1934) 2.4 Some Implications 2.5 David Ausubel (1918–2008) 2.6 Jerome Bruner (1915–2016) 2.7 Robert Gagné (1916–2002) 2.8 Bringing in All Together 2.9 Alex H. Johnstone (1930–2017) 2.10 More About Piaget and Vygotsky 2.11 More About Ausubel and Bruner 2.12 More About Robert Gagné References 3 A World of Information 3.1 What is Information Overload? 3.2 Memory Components 3.3 From Psychology to Education 3.4 A Model of Information Flow 3.5 The Perception Filter 3.6 The Working Memory 3.7 The Long-Term Memory 3.8 Learning 3.9 Interim Summary 3.10 Sensory Memory (Perception Filter) 3.11 The Long Term Memory 3.12 Summary References 4 Why Are Concepts Difficult? 4.1 Difficulties 4.2 Information Load and Difficulties 4.3 The Central Role of Working Memory 4.4 More About Working Memory 4.5 Reducing the Working Memory Limitations 4.6 Working Memory and Test Performance 4.7 A Summary 4.8 Chunking 4.9 Further Aspects of Working Memory 4.10 Components of the Working Memory 4.11 Special Needs References 5 Learner Characteristics 5.1 Folk Lore and Evidence 5.2 Variations Within a Common Framework 5.3 Working Memory Capacity 5.4 The Convergency-Divergency Characteristics 5.5 Field Dependency 5.6 Visual-Spatial Skills 5.7 Convergency and Divergency 5.8 More About Field Dependency 5.9 The Visual-Spatial 5.10 Information Processing and Learner Characteristics 5.11 Towards a Summary References 6 Models of the Curriculum 6.1 Why Education? 6.2 Developing Education 6.3 Developing Subject Curricula 6.4 The Learner at the Centre 6.5 Curriculum Design 6.6 Summary 6.7 The Applications-Led Curriculum 6.8 The Overall Curriculum Structure 6.9 More About Modes of Thinking 6.10 More About Bloom’s Taxonomy 6.11 Emotional Development 6.12 Developing Skills 6.13 Education and Economics 6.14 Curriculum Design 6.15 Attitudes and Skills 6.16 Assessment 6.17 Summary References 7 School Subjects and the Curriculum 7.1 The Purpose of Education 7.2 School Subjects 7.3 The Concept of Literacy 7.4 Scientific Literacy 7.5 Computer Literacy 7.6 Summary References 8 Assessment Principles 8.1 Determining Success for Our Learners 8.2 What is Educational Assessment 8.3 Assessment, Teaching and Learning 8.4 Nature of Assessment 8.5 Purposes of Assessment 8.6 Some Key Questions 8.7 Functions of Assessment 8.8 More on What to Assess 8.9 Assessment Literacy 8.10 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains 8.11 Words of Warning 8.12 For Whom Do We Assess 8.13 Sources of Error in National Examinations 8.14 Assessment Jargon 8.15 Validity and Reliability 8.16 Criterion-Referenced and Norm-Referenced Assessment 8.17 Bringing It Together References 9 Assessment Practicalities 9.1 Assessment Quality 9.2 Methods of Assessment 9.3 Objective Assessment Formats 9.4 A Summary: Multiple Choice and Partial Knowledge Multiple Choice 9.4.1 Advantages 9.4.2 Disadvantages 9.5 Some Practical Aspects 9.6 Structural Communication Grids 9.7 A Summary: Structural Communication Grids 9.7.1 Advantages 9.7.2 Disadvantages 9.8 Written Examinations: Question Formats 9.9 Assessing Skills 9.10 Duly Performed Assessment 9.11 Some Conclusions 9.12 Gathering Ideas to Generate Quality Questions 9.13 From Questions to Examination Papers 9.14 Constructing an Examination Paper 9.14.1 Step One 9.14.2 Step Two 9.14.3 Step Three 9.14.4 Overall 9.15 Analysing the Structure of the Paper 9.16 National Examinations 9.17 Getting the Marking Right 9.18 Examination Specifications 9.19 End Piece References 10 Thinking Skills 10.1 Education for Life? 10.2 Types of Thinking 10.3 Thinking is Good Thing! 10.4 A Way Forward 10.5 Scientific Thinking 10.6 Systems Thinking 10.7 Creative Thinking 10.8 Critical Thinking 10.9 More About Critical Thinking 10.10 Assessing Critical Thinking 10.11 Findings from Assessment References 11 Beliefs and Attitudes 11.1 History of Attitudes 11.2 The Concept of Attitudes 11.3 Attitudes are Everywhere 11.4 Attitudes: Knowledge, Feelings and Behaviour 11.5 Attitudes and Behaviour 11.6 Measuring Attitudes 11.7 From Attitudes Towards Motivation 11.8 Bringing It Together 11.9 More About Thurstone 11.10 More About the Work of Charles Osgood 11.11 Examples of the Semantic Differential 11.12 Comparing Approaches 11.13 Rating Questions 11.14 The Situational Set Question 11.15 Designing an Attitude Survey 11.16 Summary References 12 The Development of Attitudes 12.1 Measuring Attitudes 12.2 Handling Survey Data 12.3 Handling Interview Data 12.4 Handling the Observation of Behaviour 12.5 What Research Studies Have Revealed 12.6 What Allows Attitudes to Develop? 12.7 Consistency and Inconsistency 12.8 Dissonance—The Key 12.9 Mental Interaction 12.10 The Importance of Attitudes 12.11 More About the Nature of Attitudes 12.12 More About Measurement Problems 12.13 More About Dissonance 12.14 More About Practical Ways Forward References 13 Practical Teaching 13.1 Three Teaching Approaches 13.2 Lecturing—Teaching as Telling 13.3 Practical Work—Teaching as Doing 13.4 Goals for Laboratory Work 13.5 A Way Forward 13.6 Wider Practical Skills 13.7 Group Work—Teaching as Teamwork 13.8 Summary References 14 Intelligence, Ability and Performance 14.1 History of Intelligence 14.2 Motives 14.3 The Work of Godfrey Thomson 14.4 The Evidence 14.5 High Stakes Testing 14.6 Some Conclusions 14.7 More from Alfred Binet 14.8 More from Robert Sternberg 14.9 More from Howard Gardner 14.10 More from Gordon Stobart 14.11 More About High Stakes Testing 14.12 Further Problems 14.13 The GERM Concept 14.14 The Road to Success? References 15 Developing Quality Education 15.1 Quality in the Workplace 15.2 What Is Quality? 15.3 What Are We Measuring? 15.4 Why Measure Quality? 15.5 What Is Good Teaching? 15.6 Issues of Training 15.7 Development of Teachers 15.8 More About Teacher Evaluation 15.9 Focus on Students 15.10 Examples of World Approaches to Quality Assurance 15.11 The World Picture 15.12 Summary References 16 Making Sense of Statistics 16.1 Statistical Literacy 16.2 Popularity and Difficulty 16.3 Spreadsheets 16.4 Meaning from Marks 16.5 The World of Probability 16.6 Further Uses of Statistics 16.7 The Way Ahead 16.8 Teaching Statistics 16.9 More About Statistical Relationships 16.10 Statistical Comparisons 16.11 More About Statistics 16.12 Standardisation of Marks 16.13 More About Questionnaires 16.14 Summary References 17 Myths and Mirages 17.1 Educational Myths: A Growing Problem 17.2 The Concept of Constructivism 17.3 Student Centred Learning 17.4 Problem Solving References 18 More Myths and Mirages 18.1 Learning Styles 18.2 New Technologies 18.3 Motivation 18.4 Use of Questionnaires References 19 Educational Futures 19.1 Overview 19.2 Theme 1: Key Messages About Learning Processes 19.3 Towards a Research Agenda 19.4 Theme 2: Key Messages About Goals and Assessment 19.5 Towards a Research Agenda 19.6 Theme 3: Key Messages About Skills and Attitudes 19.7 Towards a Research Agenda 19.8 Theme 4: Key Messages About Educational Myths 19.9 Theme 5: Key Messages About Educational Research 19.10 Tomorrow’s Research 19.11 Endpiece Reference Appendix References Index