Joe Boylan’s Post

Before new content can move into long-term memory, it must first activate a sense of wonder that makes students want to learn more. Strategies such as cognitive interest cues can ignite curiosity and deepen learning from the start of each lesson. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ektDSCzR

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I'm always looking for real facts and science based tips related to the learning process 🤓. It is amazing "learning how to learn" and understanding the tips that are supported by science findings and practical insights. I recently found a very interesting article titled "Teaching the science of learning" which focuses on how educators (and us) can leverage cognitive science principles to improve learning when studying. Here's a summary of the key elements and examples provided: Key elements: 📌 Spacing: Spreading out learning sessions over time, instead of cramming information all at once. This allows for better retention and retrieval of information. 📌 Interleaving: Mixing up the practice of different concepts or skills during a learning session, rather than focusing on one at a time. This helps students develop a deeper understanding of the relationships between concepts. 📌 Retrieval practice: Actively testing students' knowledge through activities like quizzes, flashcards, or self-explanation, which strengthens memory and learning. 📌 Providing feedback: Offering specific and timely feedback to students on their learning progress, allowing them to identify and address any misunderstandings. 📌 Metacognition: Encouraging students to reflect on their own learning process, including their strengths, weaknesses, and learning strategies. This empowers them to take ownership of their learning journey. Examples: 📌 Spacing: when studying, revisit key concepts from previous weeks throughout the semester, or assign spaced repetition practice exercises. 📌 Interleaving: if learning math, you could alternate between practicing one type of problem and other type of problems within the same lesson. This could be extended to change subjects too. 📌 Retrieval practice: incorporate short quizzes at the beginning of the study to review previously learned material. 📌 Providing feedback: get written feedback on assignments from tutor or mentor, or hold individual conferences with other students or classmates to discuss their progress. 📌 Metacognition: prompt yourself or students or classmates to reflect on their study habits and identify areas for improvement, or ask yourself or friend to explain their thought process when solving problems. By incorporating these evidence-based practices into your studying process, you can create more effective learning experiences for yourself or others, fostering deeper understanding and long-term knowledge retention. I would love to hear your thoughts about it and if you know if some of them are really practical. For more information, here the article from Weinstein and colleagues (2018)

6 Evidence-Based Instructional Practices Drawn From Cognitive Science These research-backed strategies have the capacity to help students learn and retain more information. https://lnkd.in/gmzZUTKp

Learning: a process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. There is an overwhelming body of research on learning and the brain. Our brains change when we are learning, building new neurons to connect to information we already know (neuroplasticity). When these neural pathways are solidified, we can recall and transfer this new knowledge. Because our brains are social organs (we require both stimulation and connections for our brains to continue to grow), learning also requires positive social experiences as well as adequate time to result in a long-term transfer. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/gYuCvGcQ #Education #EducationTips #Teaching #CEC

Are "learning styles" an educational urban legend? Current neuroscience seems to think so due to the lack of supporting evidence. Instead, it's said to be more about the context of the learning, whether someone is a novice or experienced, and designing for learning with how we tick in mind 🧠 Have a read of this article and let me know what you think! https://lnkd.in/deiKEYH #BrainsOnChange

New STP E-Book: Integrating Artificial Intelligence into the Psychology Classroom: Call for contributions: The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) marked a sudden and significant transformation in the realm of higher education, provoking concern among educators about its impact on established teaching methods. Despite the rapid nature of this change, AI's integration into educational contexts appears to be inevitable. The goal of this e-book is to provide psychology instructors with concrete examples of how to implement AI in their psychology classes. The primary focus is on the implementation of AI within classroom settings, rather than on instructors' reflections on their own use of AI for teaching. We are interested in, but not limited to, topics such as: 1) innovative learning practices such as adaptive learning, personalized learning, chatbots as teaching assistants, tutoring, and gamification 2) teaching students to use AI to help generate ideas, topics, arguments, etc. using AI to provide feedback to students on the preliminary assessment of their work (i.e., how students can use AI to generate, evaluate, and incorporate feedback on assignments such as papers, presentations, etc.) 3) specific activities and methods used in a variety of courses, such as clinical and applied, research methods and statistics, and discipline-specific. The book aims at a broad range of courses (any psychology course), levels (introductory and advanced undergraduate, graduate), and modalities (in person, online), and a broad range of pedagogical features that have integrated AI, including classroom activities, class curriculum approaches, pedagogical strategies and frameworks, readings, and other materials, etc. Each chapter will include (1) an overview and rationale for the pedagogical feature used, (2) a description of the specific feature, (3) students’ response to the feature, and (4) a reflection on the efficacy and expansion of the feature. If you are interested in contributing a chapter to the proposed e-book, please fill out this short proposal form by August 31, 2024: https://lnkd.in/gbvbfBu9 Authors will be notified of invitations to submit full chapter drafts no later than September 3, 2024. Complete first drafts of chapters will be due February 1, 2025. Please contact Iva Katzarska-Miller, Mark Jackson, and Melissa Fortner at STPAIpsychologybook@gmail.com for more information about potential contributions to this e-book. STP publishes e-books related to the teaching and learning of psychology. These books can be downloaded from the STP website (https://lnkd.in/gZRvwFXn).

Educational Insight # 11 [How We Learn: The New Science of Education] About the Author: Stanislas Dehaene is a French cognitive neuroscientist and mathematician, renowned for his work on numerical cognition and brain development. He is the director of the INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit in Paris. Publication Details: - Publisher: Penguin Books (London) - Publication Date: June 2018 (English translation) - Original Publication Date: 2011 (French edition, "Apprendre!") - ISBN: 978-0-14-198241-4 - Pages: 416 Review: In "How We Learn", Dehaene synthesizes cutting-edge research in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and education to provide insights into the learning process. This comprehensive guide offers practical implications for educators, policymakers, and learners. Dehaene begins by exploring various definitions of learning, including: 1. Behaviorist learning: associating stimuli with responses. 2. Cognitive learning: acquiring knowledge and mental representations. 3. Neurobiological learning: reorganizing brain connections. 4. Social learning: learning through interaction and culture. He argues that a holistic understanding of learning must integrate these perspectives. Key Takeaways: 1. Neural plasticity enables lifelong learning. 2. Sleep and consolidation optimize memory retention. 3. Active recall and spaced repetition enhance learning. 4. Emotional connection and social learning facilitate understanding. 5. Individual differences require adaptable teaching methods. Strengths: 1. Accessible and engaging writing style. 2. Interdisciplinary approach combines neuroscience, psychology, and education. 3. Challenges traditional teaching methods. Weaknesses: 1. Some chapters feel dense or technical. 2. Limited focus on specific educational contexts. Recommendation: "How We Learn" is essential reading for educators, policymakers, and anyone interested in understanding the science behind learning. Target Audience: 1. Educators (teachers, administrators) 2. Education researchers and policymakers 3. Parents and learners interested in optimizing learning 4. Cognitive science enthusiasts By acknowledging the multifaceted nature of learning, Dehaene's work provides a foundational text for anyone seeking to improve education.

Tap cognitive science to keep students learning in the final weeks! Read the latest article from the In Your Corner Newsletter - written just for educators. #cognitivescience #edchat #education #educators #Educhat #endofschoolyear #learningtips #students #studentsuccess #teachers #teachersoflinkedin

Want to improve online students sense of belonging in your course? Try social annotation! Alison Kelly and I conducted a randomized experiment and found that social annotation enhanced intro to psychology students' sense of belong compared to individual annotation. No change in a graduate educational psychology course, likely because sense of belonging was already high (many students were in a cohort and knew each other at the beginning of the course). Learn more in this #openacess article! https://lnkd.in/gAQcCBsr

https://lnkd.in/dbBXJp9H Retrieval practice improves learning for neurodiverse students Professor Pooja Agarwal, co-author of Powerful Teaching, brings encouraging news about retrieval practice—those pop quizzes and quick knowledge checks we use to pull information from memory. While we've known for a while that retrieval practice helps typical learners, what about students with different learning needs? After diving into over 30 research papers, Agarwal found consistent evidence that retrieval practice benefits neurodiverse students, including those with developmental language disorders, Down syndrome, dyslexia, and ADHD. What I found particularly striking was how this held true across different countries and teaching methods—suggesting there's no single "right way" to implement retrieval practice. Teachers can adapt it to what works best for their specific students. Want to learn more? Head over to Pooja's detailed write-up. Her work offers hope that some of our best learning tools may be more universally helpful than we previously realized. https://lnkd.in/dC2Qmwma