Institute of Learning

Complete Coverage  Improving Reading Isn't Just a Teaching Shift. It's a Culture Shift —Getty Flawed methods are often passed on through mentors, popular programs, and professional groups By  Stephen Sawchuk December 3, 2019 Printer-Friendly Email Article Reprints Comments A lready troubled by her 4th grade students' low reading levels, San Antonio-area teacher Melody Fernandez entered "survival mode" when she was moved down to 1st grade—and discovered the full scope of what she and many of her elementary colleagues were not prepared to teach. She had learned a lot in her preparation about reading theories, but no specific protocols for teaching the subject. So she did what many teachers new to a grade do. She used the methods more seasoned colleagues told her to use, and the curriculum on hand, which relied on leveled picture books with easily memorized, repetitive sentence structures. "You would just do ...

The Eight-Five Percent Rule Researchers have long understood the general principle: We learn best when we teeter on the "edge of our competence." If a challenge is too difficult, we become discouraged and give up. If it'is too easy, we become complacent and stagnate. But where exactly is this sweet spot? In a new paper in  Nature Communications , a team of psychologists, linguists, and neuroscientists has produced an early answer. They discovered that learning progresses most quickly when our error rate is about 15 percent. In other words, when we're practicing something new (a language, a musical instrument, a swimming stroke), we learn the most when we get it right about 85 percent of the time. So, the next time you're drilling yourself in  le subjonctif  in French or practicing an Edward Elgar piece on the bassoon, pay attention to how you're doing. If you're messing up every sixth or seventh verb, or bungling about 15 percent of the notes, you...

Έρευνες σε όλο τον κόσμο επιβεβαιώνουν το παλιό γνωμικό ‘ Ο ύπνος θρέφει τα παιδιά…’ και χτυπάνε καμπανάκια για την αφύπνιση μας!                                                        Τι συμβαίνει όταν τα παιδιά χάνουν ώρες απαραίτητου ύπνου σε καθημερινή βάση; Την απάντηση την βρίσκετε στις επιδόσεις τους στα μαθήματα. Στον αντίποδα, έρευνες επικυρώνουν τα οφέλη των μαθητών που κοιμούνται λίγο παραπάνω από την πλειοψηφία των συμμαθητών τους. Στο σημερινό σημείωμα παρουσιάζω τα αποτελέσματα μιας έρευνας που κάναμε στα Χανιά τον χειμώνα 2018-19.                                                                                     ...