Take This 7 Question Quiz

Some time ago, I noticed that my colleagues would share theories and strategies that were a bit iffy. That got me thinking. What about myself? Maybe I’m not as up to date as I hoped. What is it that YOU believe to be true (yet is false)? Please take this 99″ survey, and let’s get up to date.

What Do You Know About Learning?

There are seven statements below. On a separate piece of paper, make a vertical list and number from 1-7. Read each of the seven statements here, then jot down a T or F next to the number on your paper. Maybe you’ll learn something new. I sure did.

After you have marked all seven, check your response from the author references at the bottom of this newsletter. There you will find information to help guide your answers and insights.

Topic: Relationships or Rigor
T/F Top teachers can be savvy at applying either strong relationships or high-expectation rigor in their work, but not both. Researchers believe the traits may compete. (See #1 below)

Topic: Boost Performance or Achievement Goals with Motivation
T/F Motivational attributes (enhancing the student’s “will to learn”) have strong importance for academic achievement. (See #2 below)

Topic: Brain Breaks
T/F The time intervals after a focused practice session for procedural/skill learning are crucial because too much continuous content starts erasing the learning. (See #3 below)

Topic: Special Needs
T/F When SPED students spent at least 80% of their school day in general education classes, they were more able to keep up with the reading and math scores of their more isolated SPED peers with similar disabilities. (See #4 below)

Topic: Emotions Help Form Strong Memories
T/F Traumatic memories with strong emotions are usually remembered very well, often decades later. When students (or adults) share a story about the trauma, it’s likely to be accurate. (See #5 below)

Topic: Kids Have Inherent Learning Preferences
T/F Students have individual learning styles (e.g., auditory, visual, kinesthetic, as well as right-brained or left-brained). (See #6 below)

Topic: Graphic Organizers
T/F Graphic organizers are one of the best ways to foster understanding of new, printed, in-depth text learning. (See #7 below)

CITATIONS (listed by question number, not alphabetically)

1. Relationships or Rigor Allen JP, Pianta RC, Gregory A, Mikami AY, Lun J. (2011). An interaction-based approach to enhancing secondary school instruction and student achievement. Science. 333(6045):1034-7. This statement is False. Effective teachers can and do engage in BOTH relationship and rigor. Plus, the combination is more successful with students.

2. Setting Performance or Mastery Goals Hulleman, C. S., Schrager, S. M., Bodmann, S. M. & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2010). A meta-analytic review of achievement goal measures: Different labels for the same constructs or different constructs with similar labels? Psychol. Bull. 136, 422. This statement is False. Data from 249 studies and 91,087 students with resulting correlations of 0.05 and 0.12 (a correlation of 1.0 = 100%) show the correlations between mastery and performance goal striving is zilch; near zero. What does work the most includes fostering student agency to reach goals (chunking, risk/reward assessment, identity, mitigating potential obstacles, access to the available resources, curiosity, peer support, etc.).

3. Brain breaks Robertson E.M. (2019). Skill memory: Mind the ever-decreasing gap for offline processing. Curr. Biol. 29: R287-R289. This statement is True. Give students “downtime” for processing and consolidating every 5-15 minutes for word/text learning. If students have a high background (or content is low in complexity), you can add additional input time plus 50% more downtime. Remember, you lose a portion of new learning unless you add the brief “chill out” step to your teaching (indoor walks with a peer, drawing, listening to music, reflection, etc.)

4. Special Needs Cole, S. M., Murphy, H. R., Frisby, M. B., & Robinson, J. (2022). The Relationship Between Special Education Placement and High School Outcomes. This statement is True. The Journal of Special Education. Researchers tracked nearly 24,000 SPED adolescents. They discovered that spending at least 80% in general education classes improved reading scores by a whopping 24 points and math scores by 18 points (compared with scores of their more isolated peers with similar disabilities.) Many SPED placements are made because of biases, discipline issues, or teachers who struggle and already have enough on their plate.

5. Emotions Help Form Memories. Bos MG, Schuijer J, Lodestijn F, Beckers T, Kindt M.(2014). Stress enhances the reconsolidation of declarative memory. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 46, 102-13. (establishes the impact of stress) The statement is BOTH True & False. Emotional memories are typically very strong for the actual event that happened. But excess stress impairs the retrieval of details (who, where, when, what, etc.). We make many types of memories. They include location-based (episodic), text-based (books, online), procedural (using the body, making gestures), and sensory memories (taste, smell, or powerful emotions). Studies show moderate or strong cortisol increases the imprinting of the event.

But it also decreases the correct retrieval for the detailed, specific memories of the event. An example would be, “She recalled a vivid memory of the car accident but could not provide much detail to the police.” Diekelmann S, Wilhelm I, Wagner U, Born J. (2011). Elevated cortisol at retrieval suppresses false memories in parallel with correct memories. Cogn Neurosci. 23,772-81. (reveals strategies for accuracy) When students have a stressful memory, re-activating it can actually improve declarative (word-based) performance. In short, for better student memory chunk it down, energize, establish relevance, make it emotional with suspense, celebration, or applause. Then practice retrieval (with error correction) later in the day or week.

6. Kids Have Inherent Learning Preferences Rogowsky, B. A., Calhoun, B. M., and Tallal, P. (2015). Matching learning style to the instructional method: effects on comprehension. J. Educ. Psychol. 107, 64–78, and Newton PM, Miah M. (2017). Evidence-Based Higher Education – Is the Learning Styles’ Myth’ Important? Front Psychol. 8:444. Other cites include Boland RJ & Amonoo HL. (2021). Types of Learners. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 44, 141-148. Finally, Pashler H, McDaniel M, Rohrer D, Bjork R. (2009). Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence. Psychol Sci Public Interest. 3,105-19. Also, Willingham, DT, Hughes, EM, & Dobolyi, DG. (2015). The Scientific Status of Learning Styles Theories. Teaching of Psychology. Vol. 42, 266-271. This statement is False. Much of the evidence about learning styles is anecdotal, circumstantial, has weak distinctions in assessing, or small samples sizes (age, income, teacher quality, disabilities, etc.). Most of the students assessed were multimodal learners, and no differences were observed between male and female preferences. While learning styles may exist (individuals often display a preferred way – visual, auditory, kinesthetic – to learn), there is little evidence that the styles are either fixed or innate. When the teaching has buy-in, is engaging, and with a connecting teacher, students learn well.

7. Use Graphic Organizers Often Thiede, K.W., Wright, K.L., Hagenah, S., Wenner, J.A., Abbott, J.Z., & Arechiga, A. (2022). Drawing to improve meta-comprehension accuracy. Learning and Instruction. Volume 77, February 101541. This statement is True. Drawings that link concepts with arrows, pics, and other connecting marks give students a better, more precise sense of the big picture with up to 20 % or more improvement. Drawings allow students to visualize how ideas are connected, and it’s a method for spotting gaps in their understanding. Start students with simple diagrams to help them remember the material. Then build on it with greater detail to make connections to prior knowledge. Do this daily.

Thank you for doing the quiz. I hope you have a great day. Next time!