Cognitive Load, emotion and buoyancy
In his 2019 review of twenty years of Cognitive Load Theory, John Sweller explores several avenues of further investigation. One such avenue relates to emotions, stress and uncertainty and how these factors influence cognitive load. Within the education community aspects of cognition in learning are often starkly separated from seemingly non-cognitive factors. Curiously, the formerContinue reading Cognitive Load, emotion and buoyancy
What do we really mean by cognitive Load?
The term cognitive load has been around for a long time but definitions have tended to shift and often depend on theoretical positions. Early researchers rarely attempted to define cognitive load at all. In a 1966 paper, Levine describes cognitive load as the amount of information that the observer is required to store in memoryContinue reading What do we really mean by cognitive Load?
Does information in short-term memory decay?
The very fact that I’ve posed this as a question rather than a statement probably gives some indication that the answer isn’t exactly straightforward. The notion of decay is a vital component of the short-term/long-term memory distinction, so even asking the question risks casting doubt on an assumption that is almost as old cognitive psychologyContinue reading Does information in short-term memory decay?
What is Latent learning?
According to Soderstrom and Bjork, latent learning refers to “learning that occurs in the absence of any obvious reinforcement or noticeable behavioural changes” (Soderstrom and Bjork, 2015 p177). Most often associated with the work of Edward Tolman in the 1930s, latent learning is viewed as hidden (or behaviourally silent) because it is only when reinforcementContinue reading What is Latent learning?
What is Working Memory?
The answer to this question is both very simple and incredibly complex. Simple because it’s very straightforward to demonstrate working memory in action; complex because to fully grasp the nature of working memory we really need to understand how it’s related to other types of memory. Let us then get the easy explanation out ofContinue reading What is Working Memory?
Learning: The importance of timing
I’ve written elsewhere about how British psychologists at the MRC Applied Psychology Unit, now the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, worked with the British Post Office to design the most memorable system of postcodes in the world. The Unit was also involved in other projects for the Post Office, primarily concerned with changes takingContinue reading Learning: The importance of timing
The Forgetting Curve: How useful is it?
In recent years, the phenomenon dubbed the forgetting curve has tweaked the interest of a growing number of teachers and other educationalists motivated by the application of cognitive psychology to learning. Put simply, the forgetting curve states that newly learned information will fade quickly unless returned to regularly. This makes intuitive sense; if I learnContinue reading The Forgetting Curve: How useful is it?
Attention in the classroom
What is it to pay attention? Why is it that sometimes I can be engaged in a conversation when suddenly my focus of attention is drawn away from it, only to return when I realise I’m expected to offer a response to a comment I didn’t catch? And what was it that disrupted by attentionContinue reading Attention in the classroom
Attribution Theory and Learning
Adapted from Chapter 10 (Control) of Becoming Buoyant, now available. Control, within an academic environment, refers to the belief that students are able to control their own academic outcomes. Control in this context doesn’t refer to students ability to dictate their own learning (such as choosing activities), but rather, to be the vehicles of theirContinue reading Attribution Theory and Learning
What’s that all about? Prog vs. Trad
You may have heard the terms progressive and traditional used within educational discourse. They represent two distinct schools of thought that encompass both the theory and practice of teaching, each with their own unique features and often polarising views based around the underlying purpose of education. On some level these distinctions create a rift thatContinue reading What’s that all about? Prog vs. Trad
Where does creativity come from?
Creativity is a tricky concept. Some would suggest its spontaneous nature sits outside traditional learning and that it can be nurtured through flexible forms of education. Others insist that in order to be creative we need to already have knowledge and facts stored in long-term memory. Both are legitimate proposals, yet as a predominately cognitiveContinue reading Where does creativity come from?
Video: The Friday five #2
Still not entirely sure what to call this series; Friday Five, Five on Friday? Anyway, here are five tips to help you overcome procrastination. Other videos are available on the channel, so please consider subscribing.
regular testing improves outcomes
The role of testing in education is always going to divide opinion. My position on the matter had always been clear, in that regular low stakes tests or quizzes not only aid learning but also reduce test anxiety by normalising something that, in essence, isn’t normal. Test anxiety is, in part, the result of theContinue reading regular testing improves outcomes
Video: The friday five #1
For the first of the Friday Fives, I look at 5 tips to help you learn better.
instructional design: Working memory & expertise reversal
Working memory limitations indicate that we should design learning in such a way as to reduce cognitive load. Working memory is a resource with limited capacity and duration – there is only so much we can attend to at any one time. This is not just a proposal of working memory theory – it’s alsoContinue reading instructional design: Working memory & expertise reversal
Becoming Buoyant
Exciting news! Becoming Buoyant: Helping Teachers and Students Cope with the Day to Day is due for publication next month (July 2020). It’s taken me about five years to write this, indeed, I began investigating resilience well before I began writing The Emotional Learner. If you’re a regular visitor to the this site or you’veContinue reading Becoming Buoyant
What are non-cognitive skills?
The term non-cognitive skills has become increasingly prevalent within education over the past few years. But what do we actually mean by non-cognitive, how do these skills differ from cognitive ones and is any aspect of learning truly non-cognitive anyway? The roots of non-cognitive skills lie in the writings of sociologists Samuel Bowles and HerbertContinue reading What are non-cognitive skills?
Re-evaluating Failure
Failure is still seen as something to feel ashamed of rather than a vital component of eventual success. The need to succeed first time and our propensity towards perfection, however, can often lead to either the illusion of success or act as a barrier to it. Failure is ubiquitous, it’s experienced by everybody, from studentsContinue reading Re-evaluating Failure
10 Podcasts to Educate & Entertain
I don’t listen to as many podcasts as I would like to, so I asked people on Twitter to recommend some. Here’s a list of some of my favourites and suggestions from the Twittersphere, in no particular order. PsychCrunch The podcast of the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest. This is the place to start ifContinue reading 10 Podcasts to Educate & Entertain
Memory: A Curious Journey
When we discuss memory, particularly in the context of learning, we usually refer to psychological models, such as the Working Memory Model of Baddeley and Hitch or the earlier Multi-store Model of Atkinson and Shiffrin. At a push we may refer to Cowan’s Embedded Process Theory or discuss working memory from within models of instructionalContinue reading Memory: A Curious Journey
