professor jane mellanby university of oxford · 2018-07-18 · education and learning: an...

Whereresearchmeetstheclassroom:assessingevidenceforchangeinpractice

ProfessorJaneMellanbyUniversityofOxford

Tuesday6thMarch

Where research meets the classroom: assessing evidence for change in

practice

Education and Learning: An evidence-based approach

JaneMellanbyandKatyTheobaldWiley-Blackwell,2014

OxfordGroupforChildren’spotentialDepartmentofExperimentalPsychology,UniversityofOxford

Plan of talk

1.  Historicalapproach2.  Whatdowemeanbyevidence?3.  Memory.Roleoflong-termandshort-term4.  Spokenlanguageandreading5.  Hiddenpotential?

1.History.•  Isthereanythingnew?

IdeaofanationalcurriculumTransferableskillsvknowledgeHowtolearntoreadImportanceofexerciseTeacher-centredvpupil-centred

Different views on role of education

• Reproductionofculture(History,structure,valuesofsociety;culturalachievements).Individualidentity•  Transmissionofskills• Provisionofasuitablyqualifiedworkforce

Why look at past Educational systems ?

• AretherecommonfactorsWhatwastaught?Pedagogy:memorialvdocumentaryWhowastaught?

• Generalapplicability?

Plato 427-347 BC

Socrates 470-399BC

Process v content

• AncientGreece.Pre5thcenturyBC.Culture=process 4thcenturyAthens:Philosophersandself-

consciousnessofProcessPLUStransmissionofculture.Making‘leadersofmen’.Harmonyofmindandbody(poetry,music,gymnastics).

Theideaofastandard,anidealpersonandanidealcommunity

Curriculum

AncientGreece.• Age7+:orderlybehaviour,(moralvaluesearlier,athome)reading,writing,playingthelyre,poemsandmusicbyheartandnotetheirmoralinstruction,gymnastics•  Teen-age:Trivium–Grammar,rhetoric,dialectic•  LateraddedQuadrivium–Arithmetic,geometry,Music,Astronomy• Hencethe7LiberalArts

Curriculum: Medieval England

• MonasticschoolsinmedievalEngland(untildissolution,1541).• ReadingviaLatin(phonics;JohnofSalisbury,1115-1180),PhilosophyandTheologyviarotelearning,vocabularyfromcontext

Curriculum: Germany

•  JohnAmosComenius(1592-1670):•  Age6-7.3Rsplushistory,geography,morality,thevernacular.•  Age12-17Developunderstandingandjudgement.4languages,science,arts,philosophy,maths,dialectic,rhetoric

‘New’ Primary School Curriculum

•  Facts• Grammar•  Skills:3Rs•  Early‘diagnostic’phonicstesting•  Teacherstodecidehowtodeliverthefacts

Ancient Chinese curriculum (589-1903)

•  Toreplacearistocracywithmeritocracy•  Toproduce‘rulebycivilizedbureaucrats•  Emphasisonlanguage•  FourBooksandFiveClassics.Learntbyrote• Widerangeofclassicalliterature• Composepoemsinstyleofclassics•  (Mathematicsofratherlowimportance)

Pedagogy

• AncientGreece:Platonicdialogue(fromSocrates).Questionandanswerwillleadtounderstanding.Pulip+teacher• MedievalEngland:(Monasticschools)Memorialvdocumentaryculture(rotelearning)

VocabularyfromcontextLearningtoread(inLatin):Syntheticphonics–fromletters,tosyllables,towords,tomeaning.JohnofSalisbury,(1115-1180)• PostReformation.Grammarschools.Grammar(LatinandlaterGreek)muchrotelearning,Rhetoric

Rhetoric

1.  Collectandorganizerelevantinformation2.  Constructanargument3.  Decideonstyleofdelivery4.  Commitspeechtomemory5.  Delivertorelevantaudience

Can we learn from educational systems of the past ? Common factors ?

•  Learningbyrotefollowedbyunderstanding•  Emphasisonlanguageanditsstructure(Grammar)• Widevocabulary• AccesstoHistory,Politics,Philosophy,Literature• Abilitytore-shapethisinformation• Presentingareasonedargument• Writingpoetry•  Importanceofphysicalexercise

Effects of Exercise

“Ifwehaven'tenoughtodo-oo-oo,Wegetthehump—Cameelioushump—Thehumpthatisblackandblue!““Thecureforthisillisnottositstill,Orfrowstwithabookbythefire;Buttotakealargehoeandashovelalso,Anddigtillyougentlyperspire;”Releaseofendorphins

Evidence in Education

•  FromResearchtopractice?The‘sowhat?’question• Mediamyths• Neuromyths

frombrainfunction(ratsandhumanimaging)totheclassroom? Brainfunctionandcognition–yes EducationandCognition–yes Educationandbrainfunction–abridgetoofar?

How to examine evidence for what works

• Example:Exerciseimproveslearninginchildren.• Populationstudiese.g.physicallyfitvunfitchildren.

OR•  Interventionstudy.Baselinemeasuresfollowedbycomparinginterventiongroupwithnointervention

AND/OR•  Longitudinalstudy

What to look out for

•  Sizeofsample• Representativeornot•  Statisticalsignificanceof‘effect’.Cutoffp=0.05(i.e.only5%chancecouldhaveoccurredbychance).•  Inlargesamples,askwhetherasigeffectMATTERS• Matchingofgroups:

gender,age,previouseducation,spokenlanguagelevel,SES,EALornot,…….•  Evenwithinterventioncannotprovedirectionofcausality

How would you do a RCT ? Randomized controlled trial: The ‘gold standard’

• Bigsample• Randomlyallocatetointerventionornot• HaveaTLCcontrolgroupaswellas‘waitinglist’• Measureoutcomee.g.memory• Compare3groupsonallmeasures• Hopetheymatchonallirrelevantmeasures(orstatisticallyaccountfordifferences)

Many problems with ‘scientific’ approach in education research • Needtohavecontrols(passiveandalsoTLCcontrols)• BUTcanyoudodifferentthingswithdifferentclassesinthesameschool?Ethics?• Needlotsofschoolstoget‘nested’design• OurstudyofteachingLatin•  Longitudinalstudiesbesetbyproblemswithturnoverofchildrenandteachers

Exercise example 1. Population study (Chaddock et al, 2010)

• Childrenaged9-10years.•  42selectedtobehighorlowfitonbasisofVO2max• MatchedonIQ,ADHDrating.SEShigherinfitgroup•  9%higher‘relationalmemory’infitgroup• Couldrelatetoincreasedhippocampalfunction

Exercise example 2: Intervention study (Chaddock-Heyman et al, 2013)

• Childrenaged8-9years•  Selection:32(only24included)•  14withexerciseintervention.•  Exercise:1hr/day,5days/weekfor9months.• Control:noextraexercise• Matchedfor:SES,VO2max,BMI,IQ,age(moremalesincontrolgroup)• Changes,pre-topost:VO2max,cognitivecontrolimprovedINBOTHGROUPS,fMRIshowedchangeinactivityinfrontalcortexinintervention

The role of memory in education

Role of memory in Education

• Nopointinteachingifforgotten•  Long-termmemory:foracquisitionofskillsandknowledge• Workingmemory:forproblem-solving• Workingmemoryneedsinteractionwithlong-termmemoryforsuccessfulproblem-solving

Classification of learning and long-term memory Non-declarative:Non-associativelearning(e.g.habituation)Classicalconditioning,operantconditioningSkillsandhabitsPrimingCategorizationDeclarative:SemanticEpisodicWhatrelevancetoeducation?

What is knowledge ?

1.   Implicit/proceduralknowledge=skill2.  Explicit/declarative:

a.Semanticinformation:facts,vocabulary,structures/categories

b.Episodicinformation autobiographical:what,where,when

Acquiring knowledge

Rotelearning‘Surfacelearningapproach’MuchrepetitionneededNotnecessarilybad!BecomesautomaticCanbeusedcreatively

Frameworks(schemata)forcomplexknowledgeNewknowledgeneedstobebuiltintoexistingframeworksThisis‘deeplearningapproach’Teachers’roleinhelpingstudenttoconstructinitialframeworks

Acquisition of skills (implicit, non-declarative, automatic)

1.  Declarative2.  Knowledgecompilationstage;transitionfromdeclarativeto

procedural.Practicepracticepractice3.  Proceduralstage;furthertuningandspeedingup:BECOMES

AUTOMATIC.Morepractice4.  Canbeusedwithoutputtingloadonworkingmemorycapacity

Schema-dependent learning (Van Kesteren et al, 2014) •  StudentsofBiology((n=19)orEducation(n=12)•  Learnsentenceswithfactualcontentineithereducationorbiology• Day1:20biologyand20educationquestionsforpre-test•  Learned200sentencesinthescanner,halfbiology,halfeducation• Day2.Answered200retrievalquestions

Schema-dependent learning

Results• Congruencyeffect:Schema-related–50.4%correct;unrelated–34.2%correct(andnotdifferentfromchance)• mPFCmoreinvolvedincongruentencoding;hippocampalregion,moreinnon-congruent.•  Schema-relatedmPFCeffectrelatedtoperformanceinexamslater

Short-term(STM)/working memory(WM)

• Definition• WMinvolvedinproblem-solvingandinacquiringmuchnewknowledge• WMrelatedtofluidintelligence(g)(butisnotidentical)•  STMandWMhaveLIMITEDCAPACITY• Capacityincreasesduringdevelopment

What affects WM ?

•  Stress.Stateanxiety:emotionality+worry.Mathsanxiety.• Concurrenttasksinthesamedomain• Distractions•  Tiredness

Working memory and education

•  Involvedinmostofcurriculum:e.g.understandingwrittenandspokenlanguage,foreignlanguagetranslation,mathsandscience.• NeedtoprotectWMfrominterferenceintheclassroom(andexamroom)• Canitbeimproved?•  IdentifychildrenwithpoorWMandshowthemhowtocompensate• NB.Acquisitionofautomatic/implicitmemorylessaffectedby‘stress’

Teaching implications re WM

•  Reducestressinclassrocmandexams•  BUTautomaticmemorynotaffectedbystress(henceroleforrotelearning)•  Reducedistractions.Noisyclassrooms(lotsofchat)willnotfavourlearningandproblem-solving•  Giveinstructionsinsmallbites.Putthemuponboardforinspectionthroughoutthelesson.(Youneedaplainboardaswellasaninteractivewhiteboard)• WM.Iftimeandmoneyavailable,perhapstryKlingbergetctrainingprogrammes

Importance of oral language

Oral Language and Reading

•  Interactionbetweenspokenlanguageandreading• Roleofphonologicalawareness•  Effectofearlyenvironmentaldeprivationinlanguageacquisition

Implicitacquisitioninearlyyears.EXPOSUREneededUseexplicitteachinginolderchildren

Acquisition of Complex language

•  Specificallytheconditionale.g.‘Ifyouhadnotforgottenyourhomework,youwouldnot

havegotadetention’or‘IfHitlerhadnotinvadedPoland,wouldthesecondworldwarhavehappened?’(TypeIII).‘IfIhadthemoney,Iwouldbuyacar’(TypeII)• Relatedinyrs4-6tounderstandingscientificconcepts•  Earlyacquisition(year2)relatedtolaterreading(years4-6)andarithmetic• Notallchildrenhaveacquiredcomprehensionofitbyyear9.• Worthtestingcomprehensioninyear7

Hidden potential ?

Regional differences in AAAs at A-level

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Notheast NorthWest yorkshum EMids WMids Eastern GLondon SEast SWest Wales

AAAandapplicantspermillionpopulation

UCASAAA Applicants

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

High Medum Low

%ofcandidatesreceiving3A*or3AsatA-levelrelatedtoareadeprivationlevels

3A*%

Identifying hidden talent

•  ‘Fluidintelligence’=reasoningability•  Spatialandverbaldomainspartiallyseparable• Highspatialforspatialjobse.g.architect,carpenter,bricklayer,surgeon• Highverbalrelatedtousualacademicoutcomese.g.readingandwriting,GCSEs,Alevels,•  IdentifythoseperformingacademicallybelowverbalreasoningpotentialANDthosewhoarerelativelygoodspatially

Verbal Vesparch

Verbal Vesparch - category

Spatial Vesparch - analogy

Spatial Vesparch - category

Underachievement relative to potential

•  Identify6-12%ofstudentsinsecondaryschool(dependingonschoolandoncriterionforcut-off)• Problemsidentified:

Phonologicalawareness(hencepoorreadinglevel)Short-termmemoryComplexgrammarBehavioural?

So what ?

•  Identificationfirst•  Follow-upfor‘diagnosis’ofproblems• Reading‘remediation’–tryanothermethod•  TeacherandstudentwaystoovercomeSTMproblem•  Teachcomplexgrammar•  Tellthestudent?orparents?

Conclusions

• Wecanlearnfrompasteducationalsystems•  Neuromyths,educationalmythsandedictsonchangingpracticeneedcarefulexamination.ASKFOREVIDENCE•  Aroleforrotelearning•  Understandinglong-termandWMroleintheclassroomshouldinformourteachingpractice•  Complexlanguageneedstobetaughtforthosewhohavenotacquiredit•  AidsforthosewithpoorSTM•  Identifyandattemptremediationforthosewhounderachieverelativetopotential

Exercise example 1. Population study (Chaddock et al, 2010)

• Childrenaged9-10years.•  42selectedtobehighorlowfitonbasisofVO2max• MatchedonIQ,ADHDrating.SEShigherinfitgroup•  9%higher‘relationalmemory’infitgroup• Couldrelatetoincreasedhippocampalfunction

Exercise example 2: Intervention study (Chaddock-Heyman et al, 2013)

• Childrenaged8-9years•  Selection:32(only24included)•  14withexerciseintervention.•  Exercise:1hr/day,5days/weekfor9months.• Control:noextraexercise• Matchedfor:SES,VO2max,BMI,IQ,age(moremalesincontrolgroup)• Changes,pre-topost:VO2max,cognitivecontrolimprovedINBOTHGROUPS,fMRIshowedchangeinactivityinfrontalcortexinintervention

Schema-dependent learning (Van Kesteren et al, 2014) •  StudentsofBiology((n=19)orEducation(n=12)•  Learnsentenceswithfactualcontentineithereducationorbiology• Day1:20biologyand20educationquestionsforpre-test•  Learned200sentencesinthescanner,halfbiology,halfeducation• Day2.Answered200retrievalquestions

Schema-dependent learning

Results• Congruencyeffect:Schema-related–50.4%correct;unrelated–34.2%correct(andnotdifferentfromchance)• mPFCmoreinvolvedincongruentencoding;hippocampalregion,moreinnon-congruent.•  Schema-relatedmPFCeffectrelatedtoperformanceinexamslater

Contact Details Professor Jane Mallenby

jane.mellanby@psy.ox.ac.uk