Tag Archives: concentration

Flip Convention on Its Head

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Transforming Education Through Flipped Classrooms

-Tradition
What we view as the standard, traditional, lecture based classroom was actually conceived in Prussia- imported to the United States in the early 1800’s by Horace Mann.  As Julianna noted in an earlier blog post, the development of this format came about mirroring developments brought about during the industrial revolution; educating the national workforce much akin to factories manufacturing commodities.  Horace Mann, Secretary of Education at the time, took lease of the Prussian model, importing the template for use in Massachusetts in 1852.

Horace Mann's School for the Deaf

Mann sought to provide the coming generation of American children a common experience, one that would help bridge the sectarian divide between Catholic and Protestant communities in Massachusetts, a conflict he believed was perpetuated by parochial schools.  By providing a free education to all citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he was able to consolidate a common sense of identity between the two communities, and in this sense, it more than fulfilled its purpose.

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How To – Create an Active Learning Environment

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In getting to the brass tacks of any educational system, one of the most fundamental is also one of the most overlooked.  As teaching has developed over the years, the lecture method has been incorporated into instruction so completely that, today, it feels as though it were more like a fact of education rather than a choice that educators are making.  However, lecture methodology is merely one small part of instructional tools that are available to educators and, studies show, one of the least effective in promoting student motivation, comprehension, and retention.

Photo from Michael McCurry.

The effects of the lecture methodology.

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Motivate, Educate

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Before the advent of the public education system, student motivation was not a big concern for educators.  In order to learn, students actually had to seek out their education in the form of tutoring or apprenticeship.  Logically, any student who would take the time and effort to do so already had a great deal of motivation to learn their chosen subject.  As modern policy makers introduced compulsory education as well as a predetermined mandatory curriculum, student’s motivation became one of the most critical issues facing modern educators.  Whereas before, students chose when and what they learned, the modern education system forces kids to learn about subjects toward which they may have no natural inclination. Continue reading →

The State of Education

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Photo by ABC News.

"Challenges remain. And we know how to solve them."

Last Tuesday on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama delivered the penultimate State of the Union of his first term.  In previous editions of this historic annual speech, education has been somewhat overshadowed by other domestic issues such as the ailing economy and the fate of the middle class.  However, scholastic issues figured largely into Tuesday’s speech, as a range of shortcomings in education were connected with the untapped potential of the American workforce – the products of a flawed education system.  Sara Ferguson, a teacher from Pennslyvania who was invited to attend the speech, was pleased to see that Obama made the connection between education and the United States’ economic issues. “We need more politicians to realize that quality public education is the way to economic recovery.”  Continue reading →

Keeping Students Engaged: Multiple Intelligence & Student Centered Learning

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In 1983 Howard Gardner published his first book on a subject that would revolutionize the way we understand human beings to understand, process and learn new information.   “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences”, published by Basic Books, details seven identifiable forms of multiple intelligence (MI), revealing the various ways human beings think, learn and understand the world around them.  With the help of LDPride.net, I’ve included a brief break down of the seven types of MI, which inform us of the different ways we understand students to learn:

1.   Visual/Spatial Intelligence

The ability to visualize using spatial or visual elements.  These learners tend to think using pictures, graphs, videos and movies, retaining information most efficiently when vivid mental images are integrated as part of the educational experience.

2.     Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence

The ability to use words and language using highly developed auditory skills.  These learners tend to think in words as opposed to pictures.  These students are keen listeners, strong readers, writers and storytellers.  They are particularly adept at remembering information, conveying knowledge and convincing others of their point of view.  They learn best by taking notes, listening to lectures and discussing what they have learned.

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Interactive Learning; Revolutionizing Education

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Recent trends in the study of students, their study habits and the effectiveness of traditional strategies of learning reveal a surprising range of misconceptions about how we understand students to learn.  Noting that students, on average, lose their concentration after just 20 minutes of lecture, the search is on for more effective ways for students to study and strategies for instructors to teach subjects effectively.
According to a study on information retention rates of students, J.J Lagowski’s article in the Journal of Chemical Education has yielded surprising results in the graph below.  Lagowski found that compared to traditional models in education the key to the most effective way students learn is marked by

  1. Less of a reliance on face-to-face teaching
  2. Greater reliance on high quality learning.
While this does not discount the importance of having a teacher present for students to learn, it does mark the need for a marked shift in teaching strategies instructors utilize in school.
So What Does This Mean For My Child’s Learning?

Parents and teachers alike need not worry.  Findings reveal that students don’t have to be in the classroom to learn the subjects covered in class; they just need to be engaged in ways that are interactive.  Traditional classroom teaching that center around lectures mean students on average will retain 26% of what they hear.  This is not a comforting statistic for lecture heavy classes, keeping in mind students will retain only 26% of what they “hear” in the 20 minutes that they actually pay attention.  Notes displayed on the board in class during lecture only represents an added 4% to the information students retain, with students remembering “30% of what they see”.


What does this reveal about the be key to learning?  Students must be engaged, key to this is classroom participation and group activities where students “say, as they do”, to demonstrate learning.  This is a strategy Lagowski registers as having a 90% rate of retention in what students learn.  Teaching strategies in school must then center on “cooperative learning groups in class” and employ “flexible teaching opportunities”.
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