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"This edited book represents a sliver, albeit a substantial one, of the scholarship on the science of learning and its application in educational settings. Most of the work described in this book is based on theory and research in cognitive psychology." This is a free e-book, published by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association.

"This edited book represents a sliver, albeit a substantial one, of the scholarship on the science of learning and its application in educational settings. Most of the work described in this book is based on theory and research in cognitive psychology." This is a free e-book, published by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association.

Not only in science, but in all disciplines, we need to question the narratives about talent and moments of revelation and instead talk about hard, sustained work. How do you talk to students who are waiting, instead of working, for a subject to "click"?

Instructors of introductory science classes at Kenyon face the dual challenge of historically large class sizes and the nationally low number of minority and first-gen students completing science programs. This article reviews research that makes a strong case for active learning as a more effective way to engage students in larger classes and to significantly improve the performance of disadvantaged students in those classes.

We've had some experiments at Kenyon with making videos for lab methods. Making them well is no small commitment, but it looks like we're not alone in thinking that some processes are better shown than written down. (h/t to Jen Smith for the link.)

A terrific summary of the existing research from cognitive science related to how students learn, and connecting this research to its practical implications for teaching and learning. Hat tip to Katie Corker for the link.

The author of this opinion urges caution in the rush to MOOC-ify higher education. He touts the benefits of (another version? of a MOOC called) a hybrid online-field course. I think this type of course is tailored for field-based disciplines such as his own (marine biology), but I am sure this could be modified for non-field science disciplines. I am almost positive, though, that such a hybrid course would fail to live up to the largest, most-inclusive (in terms of numbers of students enrolled) meaning of a MOOC.

A great article about map design, from the simple ("does that data really need to be on a map?") to the complex ("normalize your cloropleth"). Includes a couple of recommendations for mapping tools at the end.

The author discusses a report on the value of having students evaluate their peer's presentations in the political science classroom. Being required to evaluate their peer's presentations using the same criteria as the instructor uses, students report a greater understanding of the expectations for the presentations and gain more knowledge from the content of those presentations than they would have otherwise.

A good introduction to Weiman's approach to improving science education. In spite of the title, the lack of scientific rigor in his presentation might bother some of you (especially initially). However, stick it out until the fourth page, and your patience will be rewarded.

"perhaps VAK is just a version of the same problem scholars run into time and again, the pull of catchy-but-wrong ideas against the nebulous, unsatisfying ones that are closer to the truth."

A bibliography on service learning in STEM fields from the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.

How would your Moodle page if you thought of it as acting as the students' organizer, or a space for frequent feedback and interleaved practice?

Some faculty are receiving direct sales calls from these proctoring software companies, who make money off your fear (and then inspire fear of you in our students). Josh Eyler asks important questions about their potential effect on student performance.

"Maturity" is a complex topic in brain development. I liked the claim in the original article that "most neuroscientists are typically focused on the "journey"... more than when a brain reaches a particular "destination."" If parts of the brain are still maturing at 30, what does that imply about education?

Interesting post from the Rice University Center for Teaching Excellence blog. The criticism that we conflate "art" and "talent" seems spot on, though I think there's room to debate whether simply being observant and iterative is the same as as "scientific."

Might be some good tips in here as we close in on the end of the year.

Show me the data! Frankly, I think any survey that includes 722 physics faculty members has to be worthwhile -- that is quite the sample size! Moreover, this is likely to be pretty representative. While it is impressive that a very large majority (88%) were aware of certain "research-based instructional strategies," what is even more impressive is that 82% of the respondents had tried some of these strategies. True, 1/3 of these have given up and gone back to traditional lectures, but I agree with Eric Mazur's comment that this means that 2/3 are still plugging away. The follow-up studies should be interesting, especially if they shed light on what drove the 1/3 who gave up to do so.

This report is about a "nationally representative" survey which finds that educational attainment is one of the best predictors of high technology and information literacy skills - so I would assume that the results aren't quite as dire for those Millennials who go to college. That said, it's a good reminder that many so-called "digital natives" are not (yet) sophisticated creators and managers of information with their devices. I also want to point out that the kinds of information management tasks tested are perfectly relevant to research in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts, not just STEM as the think tank suggests.

A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology "found that after using a search engine, people were more confident in their ability to explain an unrelated topic." This poses an interesting question for the lit review component of research assignments - how do they affect students' self-perception of learning? What do you do to help students accurately assess their own ability to answer questions? Hat tip to Simon Garcia for the link.