Principles to Improve the Effectiveness of Instructional Videos

Five to-dos and one to-don't when creating instructional videos.

July 31, 2020 5

Superfoods and Classroom Instruction

What sort of diet are you providing for your students?

July 29, 2020 4

Ask A Researcher #8 – Dr. Nick Soderstrom

Get to know the work of Dr. Nick Soderstrom and close the gap between researcher and teacher.

July 28, 2020 0

Desirable Difficulties Presentation

Link to a presentation on Desirable Difficulties in the classroom.

July 23, 2020 2

Ask A Researcher #7 – Dr. Brandy Tiernan

Get to know the work of Dr. Brandy Tiernan and close the gap between researcher and teacher.

July 21, 2020 0

Ask A Researcher #6 – Dr. Regan Gurung

Ask A Researcher #6 - Dr. Regan Gurung Get to know the work of Dr. Regan Gurung and close the gap between researcher and teacher.

July 14, 2020 0

Ask A Researcher #5 – Dr. Paul Kirschner

Get to know the work of Dr. Paul Kirschner and close the gap between researcher and teacher.

July 7, 2020 1

Ask A Researcher #4 – Dr. Katie Wissman

Get to know the work of Dr. Katie Wissman and close the gap between researcher and teacher.

June 30, 2020 0

Zooming In and Out

Knowledge allows students to zoom in and zoom out; to see the fine details and the bigger picture.

June 29, 2020 4

Ask A Researcher #3 – Dr. Joe Kim

Get to know the work of Dr. Joe Kim and close the gap between researcher and teacher.

June 23, 2020 0

Confidence Weighted Multiple-Choice Questioning

Can this strategy for answering multiple-choice questions improve retention of both correct and incorrect responses?

June 22, 2020 4

Focusing on the Classroom Environment

Is your classroom helping or hindering learning?

June 17, 2020 0

Ask A Researcher #2 – Dr. Kripa Sundar

Get to know the work of Dr. Kripa Sundar and close the gap between researcher and teacher.

June 16, 2020 1

Multiple-Choice Questioning as a Valuable Learning Opportunity

Can multiple-choice questions provide opportunities for learning superior to questions requiring recall of information?

June 14, 2020 3

Ask A Researcher #1 – Dr. Robert Bjork

Get to know the work of Dr. Robert Bjork and close the gap between researcher and teacher.

June 9, 2020 4

Repetition and Learning

If students want to retain information, they should repeat their studies, right? Maybe not.

June 8, 2020 17

Dealing with Reluctancy

Why are teachers/administrators reluctant to implement more effective learning strategies?

June 7, 2020 0

How Should I Study for the Test?

Two strategies to introduce to students when they ask, "How should I study for the test?"

June 6, 2020 2

Forgetting to Learn

Counter to intuition, forgetting can actually create a powerful condition for learning.

May 29, 2020 2

An Honest Assessment

Three criteria I use when deciding what material to include on retrieval practice opportunities.

May 27, 2020 6

Desiring Difficulties

How do we get students to desire the difficulties produced by more effective learning strategies?

May 22, 2020 9

Three Hurdles Students Must Clear to Maximize Assessment’s Benefits

What ideas about assessment block students from seeing it as a powerful tool for learning?

May 20, 2020 4

A Better Retrieval Practice?

There's evidence to support the use of diminishing cues retrieval practice in place of standard retrieval practice.

May 18, 2020 5

Learning vs. Performance in the Classroom

Are you measuring learning or performance with assessment in the classroom?

May 16, 2020 3

Five Pillars of the Cognition Conscious Classroom Presentation

Video, notes, and slides from a presentation I led.

May 15, 2020 2

Getting Started with the Cognitive Sciences

Where should teachers looking to get into the cognitive sciences start? What resources to read? Who to follow?

May 14, 2020 7

Book Review – The Psychology of Effective Studying

The Psychology of Effective Studying covers an array of topics relevant to academic success.

April 29, 2020 0

Ranking Multiple-Choice Answers to Increase Cognition

How can ranking multiple-choice answers increase cognition and understanding of material?

April 27, 2020 9

Five Essential Article Reads for Teachers

These five articles should be required reading for any teachers who want to improve learning in their classroom.

April 20, 2020 6

Book Review – How Learning Happens

How Learning Happens analyzes 28 giants of education research and discusses lessons for the classroom.

April 11, 2020 2

Five Pillars For My Online Classroom

What major considerations need to be made with the move to online learning?

April 2, 2020 2

Highs and Lows

Transitions in education can be difficult. There will be highs and lows.

March 30, 2020 2

Knowing When to Let Go in the Classroom

Are there parallels between teaching someone to ride a bike and leading a classroom of students?

March 27, 2020 0

Why I Assign Zeros

I assign zeros in my class. While this may be controversial, I believe the grade is sometimes deserved.

March 12, 2020 0

What Were They Thinking?

Maybe the most important question we can ask in our classroom is this: What were they thinking?

March 9, 2020 2

At My Breaking Point

Teachers are exploited by major conferences. What can we do about it?

March 4, 2020 6

How Do You Know What You Know?

I was recently asked this question: What advice would you give to a young adult student who can't tell whether she knows the material?

February 13, 2020 5

The Illusion of Multitasking and its Impact on Learning

How is the illusion of multitasking negatively impacting students' learning?

January 21, 2020 11

Growing a Brain Dump

How can growing a brain dump lead to more efficient and effective study habits?

January 13, 2020 7

Going Goal-Free During Formative Assessment

How can removing goals during assessment lead to better thinking with/about class material?

January 9, 2020 8

Three Practices to Avoid in the Classroom

No matter your subject or student's level, here are three practices to avoid in the classroom.

January 6, 2020 7

The Gilded Age of the Classroom

The gilding of the classroom is only cheapening the learning experience for our students.

January 5, 2020 2

Three Tips for Surviving in Teaching

This profession can be overwhelming. What have I learned in 14 years of teaching that have decreased stress/anxiety and helped me enjoy teaching so much more?

December 17, 2019 9

Pumping the Brakes on Innovation

Sometimes innovations aren't very...innovative. What makes an innovation in education worthwhile?

December 16, 2019 3

Recall or Recognition Questions When Retrieving?

When reviewing, should recall or recognition questions be provided for students to answer?

December 4, 2019 11

A Great Day Of Teaching…Or Was It?

How do you know when you've had a great day of teaching?

October 18, 2019 3

Who’s to Blame?

If a teacher gives an assignment that is copied, who's to blame? The teacher or the students?

October 9, 2019 4

An “Ah-Ha” Moment with Spaced Practice in the Classroom

I was recently given the perfect chance to show my students how powerful spacing practice can be on retrieval of material.

October 5, 2019 11

Building A Web Of Knowledge

How is learning information like building a spider web? Why is this important?

September 18, 2019 9

Fighting the Good Fight…Against Neuromyths

A recent article took a look at an intervention attempting to curtail the proliferation of neuromyths among teachers.

September 16, 2019 2

Edtech…We Have A Problem

Some statistics on effectiveness of edtech don't quite add up.

September 12, 2019 3

There’s Been A Misunderstanding

Never judge a book (a research article) by its cover (its title).

September 9, 2019 5

Two Questions About Learning

A colleague asked me two questions about learning. Here are my answers.

September 3, 2019 9

Practicing to Boredom in the Classroom

Maybe boredom, when used as an indicator of learning, can be quite useful in the classroom.

August 29, 2019 4

The Struggle is Real

I've been stuck, lately...unable to really write anything. This is me trying to get the frustration off my chest.

August 23, 2019 18

Two Simple ‘Add-ons’ to Get More Out of Formative Assessment

Two simple strategies that are easily applied across a wide range of classes.

July 28, 2019 3

I’m Not Being Negative

There's a difference between the negative and the critical person...and that's important on Edutwitter.

July 24, 2019 4

Just Call Me Teacher

Let's stop with the shallow attempts to rebrand the teaching profession.

July 11, 2019 11

Laissez-faire Questioning in the Classroom

How can a laissez-faire approach to questioning impact learning?

June 16, 2019 4

Fighting for Our Profession

You've got to fight...for your right...to have sound pedagogical philosophy.

June 9, 2019 9

Making Learning Simpler, not Easier

We should be striving to create simpler classrooms, not easier classrooms.

June 6, 2019 10

Vaccinations and Learning Styles

We haven't stayed current on our vaccinations and now learning styles is showing itself again.

May 31, 2019 8

From Unknown to Known in the Classroom

How can analysis of formative assessment lead to more deliberate studying and more efficient and effective study habits?

May 29, 2019 10

Would You Rather? Education Edition #1

Would you rather have a great explanation with no retrieval practice OR decent explanation with well-designed spaced retrieval practice and interleaving?

May 23, 2019 1