Trying to apply educational research to students of all abilities and backgrounds
I was asked to deliver some CPD on planning for the online lesson environment. It was about how best to direct a student's attention to the relevant areas. I made this powerpoint that illustrates the ideas with a few examples based on an old SoW I had for Alevel physics. This was my starting point.... Continue Reading →
I started to read The Ape that Understood the Universe by Steve Stewart-Williams and it got me thinking about the teaching of evolution. I posted a quick survey on twitter because it occurred to me that the sequencing of ecology and evolution is quite varied. In this blog I want to discuss the various ways... Continue Reading →
In lockdown I've tried to live by the mantra everything you do now, try to make sure it is of use when "normality" returns. With this in mind I have been going through the Biology SLOP booklets and made some changes to the originals Some changes that have been made are: Proof readingSlight reduction in... Continue Reading →
I've recently been reading "Why don't children like school?" by the incredibly insightful Professor Daniel T. Willingham. It's amazing! I wish I had read it years ago. While there are lots of ideas that I am now familiar with, through CogSciSci and reading other books and blogs, it's great to read Professor Willingham's perspective on... Continue Reading →
Here is where you will find all my Biology GCSE SLOP booklets. I've taken the excellent work done by a large group of biology teachers and updated them to include: More questions (over 100 in each booklet)More maths in biology (graphs, percentage increases, standard form etc..)More literacy support (refutation texts , graphic organisers)Interleaving from prior... Continue Reading →
Here is a blog to share my presentation from Friday's CogSciSci conference at The Westminster School. At the end you can get access to my presentation if you want to share the ideas within your department. The goal-free approach in some ways is the nucleation point of cognitive load theory. Whilst Sweller et al. published... Continue Reading →
This blog comes off a series of tweets I've read about 'revision lesson' requests and also discussion about how to use KO's in class. It's easier to put it in a blog than tweets. I also want to discuss the pros and cons of revision lesson structure. Revision lessons I wonder how many of us... Continue Reading →
Ironically, I've had a draft blog titled 'Motivation' since 30th August and just not been certain I had anything useful to add to the discussion. But after reading MARGE by Arthur Shimamura (with thanks to Tom Sherrington and Dan Willingham for summarising and bringing it to my attention), I was relieved it seemed to back... Continue Reading →
Reflections on Education 