New 'science of learning' could reinvent teaching techniques - USAT...

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New 'science of learning' could reinvent teaching techniques

Updated 7/22/2009 5:16 AM | Comments

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By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY Scientists are quietly tackling education issues, offering up new tools, new approaches and even a new discipline. "New insights from many different fields are converging to create a new science of learning that may transform educational practices," begins a report led by Andrew Meltzoff, co-director of the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences in Seattle. The review in the current Science journal makes the case that psychologists, neuroscientists, roboticists and teachers should create a new field that combines everything from how brains grow to how classrooms work into a new kind of learning research.

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by Jerry Larson, Temple (Texas) Daily Telegram, via AP

Children learn best by social cues, says expert Andrew Meltzoff.

For example, a companion study in Science by John Gabrieli of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows how neuroscience and education researchers have teamed up to tackle dyslexia, a difficulty with reading and vocabulary that afflicts 5% to 17% of children. Behavioral and brain measures can identify dyslexic tendencies in infants and lead to teaching that can "prevent dyslexia from occurring in the majority of children who would otherwise develop dyslexia," the study states.

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Politicians and educators increasingly worry about learning for all children, citing tests such as the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which found U.S. fourth- and eighth-graders trailing Asian and European peers in science and math. In April, President Obama called on National Academy of Sciences members to "think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering" and announced an initiative to raise those TIMSS scores. Three principles are espoused in the proposal for a field of learning research: Learning is computational. Even infants and toddlers possess innate capabilities to see and hear patterns, something psychologists doubted decades ago. Reinforcing those capabilities by teaching patterns early might sharpen kids' brains. Learning is social. People, even infants, learn better through social cues. We "most readily learn and re-enact an event when it is produced by a person," Meltzoff and colleagues write. "Social factors also play a role in life-long learning new social technologies (for example, text messaging, Facebook, and Twitter) tap humans' drive for social communication," they add. Learning is driven by brain circuitry. Brain cells fired up during both perception and action overlap in people, which allows students to identify with their teachers and speeds learning. "The young learn best from people in human social interaction. But one of the fundamental characteristics of the human mind is our flexibility and our inventiveness our capacity to invent tools to amplify our own sensory and motor abilities," Meltzoff says by e-mail. So, the researchers say, the goal for education in this century is to create teaching tools such as robots, computer programs or science fairs that produce the same benefits of the very best teaching situation, one-to-one tutoring.

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New 'science of learning' could reinvent teaching techniques - USAT...

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Posted 7/21/2009 6:34 PM E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions |

Updated 7/22/2009 5:16 AM

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Texas Charlie (74 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 11:14:36 PM

2b (5 friends, send message) wrote: 23h 42m ago bad orange (94 friends, send message) wrote: 8h 51m ago another stupid liberal idea.------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------If it wasn't for a liberal the wheel won't have been invented. ---...or books. or science. or medicine....
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Ford Driver (88 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 3:49:05 PM

D Rap (0 friends, send message) wrote: 4m ago Ford Driver (69 friends, send message) wrote: 58m ago I won't deny that there are currently issues in colleges, and by extension, probably high schools, but I think it's a cop-out to just claim kids are lazy or don't care. I'm not so sure that hasn't always been the case. ===============================================< br /> Of course there were lazy kids back then, but it is worse now I think. Back then there were consequences for things -- if you didn't graduate you probably didn't get a good job, people made fun of you, it was an embarrassment (sp??) to not graduate. Now it doesn't even matter; cheating is rampant, learning is rote with no teaching of "why" something happens, just that it does (here in south florida there's a major problem with FCAT testing because the kids are not taught cognitive thinking at all). Mediocrity is rewarded much more often (or at least much more openly) than it used to be. +++++++++ So it's really not the kids' fault in the sense that kids nowadays are somehow more lazy by nature. It's the fault of the system for poor teaching techniques, inappropriate expectations and possibly some other factors. At least this is what I garner from your comment. So I say, what's wrong then with a field of study that focuses on all of these things? You certainly can't be suggesting that the only way to "fix" the system is to beat or scare the kids into learning. Perhaps the best way to combat well-intentioned but disastrous policies like No Child Left Behind with its emphasis on artificial testing and rote learning would be to estabish a clear consensus on what works and what doesn't in education via a formal field of inquiry like the one being proposed here.
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D Rap (0 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 3:40:18 PM

Ford Driver (69 friends, send message) wrote: 58m ago I won't deny that there are currently issues in colleges, and by extension, probably high schools, but I think it's a cop-out to just claim kids are lazy or don't care. I'm not so sure that hasn't always been the case. ===============================================< br /> Of course there were lazy kids back then, but it is worse now I think. Back then there were consequences for things -- if you didn't graduate you probably didn't get a good job, people made fun of you, it was an embarrassment (sp??) to not graduate. Now it doesn't even matter; cheating is rampant, learning is rote with no teaching of "why" something happens, just that it does (here in south florida there's a major problem with FCAT testing because the kids are not taught cognitive thinking at all). Mediocrity is rewarded much more often (or at least much more openly) than it used to be.
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Ford Driver (88 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 2:21:57 PM

Texas (0 friends, send message) wrote: 3h 32m ago

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New 'science of learning' could reinvent teaching techniques - USAT...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-07-21-education_N.ht...

The author should try teaching this latest crop of illiterates. I've taught at the college level for over 30 years and it just keeps getting worse. Not because we don't provide Johnnie with the proper tools for learning, but because Johnnie doesn't care to expend any effort in his education. +++++++++++ You've taught at the college level for 30 years and tex@ss is your screen name? Curious choice. In any case, I think comparisons like this are next to useless unless they are based on solid research. Can you prove your memory about kids 30 years ago isn't selective or hasn't become better over time? Can you prove that this effect actually has to do with kids being more poorly prepared or could it have to do with more kids going to college. If the same percentage of kids going to college now went to college 30 years ago, would the kids from 30 years ago have all seemed so much better? I won't deny that there are currently issues in colleges, and by extension, probably high schools, but I think it's a cop-out to just claim kids are lazy or don't care. I'm not so sure that hasn't always been the case.
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Masha Bell (0 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 1:42:40 PM

When I was at uni in the late 60s learning theory was already a huge part of psychology courses. We did quite a bit on 'cognitive confusion': the trouble the brain has learning things which make no sense. This has always explained why all English-speaking countries have much more dyslexia than many others. It is much harder to link sounds to letters when identical sounds can have different spellings (blue shoe flew through to you too) and identical letters different sounds (on only once other who). But how many people are prepared to tackle such nonsensical ancient relics for the sake of making learning to read and write English easier in order to ensure that more children benefit from their compulsory schooling?
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mamadiesel (40 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 1:16:09 PM

mamadiesel (19 friends, send message) wrote: 58m ago I work in a university tutoring center and do agree that some people have different learning styles and respond better to certain techniques. We assess students everyday to determine just that. I see nothing wrong in trying to make each child's education as effective as possible; just don't try to reinvent the wheel in doing so. ================ And then they are placed into classrooms with professors who use an exclusively expository (lecture) style. Brilliant. -------------------I totally agree that all-one-format course are harder for some students. I recommend using peer-recommendation tools like Pick-a-Prof to research which give some info on class style and teaching method. Also, you can request (not always given) a copy of a prof's syllabus beforehand to determine if that class is right for you. The system is far from perfect.
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thirdparty (0 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 11:57:26 AM

2b (5 friends, send message) wrote: 12h 23m ago "If it wasn't for a liberal the wheel won't have been invented." *************************** Wow! I think that 2b was a child left behind. I wonder if he/she meant say, "If it weren't for a liberal the wheel wouldn't have been invented."
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Texass (0 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 10:43:11 AM

The author should try teaching this latest crop of illiterates. I've taught at the college level for over 30 years and it just keeps getting worse. Not because we don't provide Johnnie with the proper tools for learning, but because Johnnie doesn't care to expend any effort in his education.
Recommend 3 | Report Abuse

AngryVet (8 friends, send message) wrote: 7/23/2009 7:45:32 AM

When I was studying education the most commonly used pharase was teaching is not the same as learning. It is a paraphrase of the old adage, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. The best prepare lesson plan does not guarantee the learners master the subject matter. We burden the teachers with the children's success but it should be a reflection of the children because they are the ones who must master the subject matter. Texting in class and other disruptions do not lean themselves to enhanced education. BTW to the cons on this forum, name one conservative plan of education that works! Just one! Surprise there isn't one. Status quo is never better. If it was the Soviet would have beat us to the moon.
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2b (2 friends, send message) wrote: 7/22/2009 11:30:55 PM

bad orange (94 friends, send message) wrote: 8h 51m ago another stupid liberal idea.------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------If it wasn't for a liberal the wheel won't have been invented.

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New 'science of learning' could reinvent teaching techniques - USAT...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-07-21-education_N.ht...

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