A class larger than X is qualitatively different from a smaller class. This is intuitively obvious to experienced teachers, but not well supported in Effectiveness research. Darius Lakdawalla wrote in 2002 that there is little or no evidence of benefit from smaller class sizes and pointed out an economic effect:

The rising price of skill means that it is cheaper for schools to improve education by lowering class sizes than by attracting more skilled teachers. Schools will thus compensate for the loss of skilled teachers by reducing class sizes. This helps to understand the long-standing and continuing push for smaller classes in the United States.

Nevertheless, responding to NSW teachers’ claims and American findings that maximum learning occurs in small classes, the NSW government undertook to limit kindergarten classes to 20 students.

There is fresh reason to think that this might be appropriate. C. Northcote Parkinson noted that discussions in a group of mature, engaged, externally motivated adults is distinctly less efficient in committees larger than 20. Recently-published investigation by Thurner, Klinek and Hanel has now found strong correlations between effectiveness and size of national Cabinets that supports this.

Now, children are not adults and the task of a class is not the same as the task of a committee. But we should at least expect peer-learning to be qualitatively different in large classes.

Is educational effectiveness of small classes hard to demonstrate because we are failing to measure important educational outcomes? Or is the learning of children insensitive to the dynamics found in adult committees? Or are teachers completely failing to respond to the difference between large and small class dynamics?

References

1. Photograph courtesy of Hoover Institute, retrieved 10/05/2008 from http://media.hoover.org/images/ednext20023_66d.jpg
2. Graph courtesy of PhysicsWorld.com, retrieved 10/05/2008 from http://images.iop.org/objects/physicsweb/news/thumb/12/4/22/cabinet1.jpg
3. Leete, J., 2002, Class sizes focus on the early years. Retrieved 10/05/2008 from http://www.nswtf.org.au/edu_online/29/class.html
4. National Education Association 2008, Class size. Retrieved 10/05/2008 from http://www.nea.org/classsize/index.html
5. NSW Department of Education and Training 2007, Class size reduction program. Retrieved 10/05/2008 from http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/studentsupport/programs/classsize/index.php
6. Johnston, H. 2008, Physicists quantify the coefficient of inefficiency. PhysicsWorld.com 27 Apr 2008. Retrieved 10/05/2008 from http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/33926
7. Lakdawalla, D. 2002. Quantity over Quality. Hoover Institute. Retrieved 10/05/2008 from http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/3365326.html

Miss Zilch, did you really mean that?

Miss Zilch seems to have a somewhat unusual approach to motivation. Here are some quotes (as remembered by students) and their translations.

Miss Zilch: You diverted from the set task. You didn’t do what I asked you to do. You will lose marks in your exams for not answering the questions.

• Student hears: Creativity is a baaaad thing.

Miss Zilch: In your exam next week, they aren’t going to be as lenient as the school. They will be marking on the grammar and punctuation, not the whole effect.

• Student hears: blah blah exam blah marked on little, unimportant things. Creativity and story doesn’t matter.

Miss Zilch: You may not think English is important and in Year 12 this is going to be an HSC topic. We do Jane Eyre because it has cultural significance.

• Student hears: English is not important. HSC is irrelevant. Jane Eyre is not fun. Culture is uninteresting.

Miss Zilch: I don’t care if you hate reading… You may not think this class is important but you have to do this class. It is important for your education.

• Student hears: I don’t care blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Miss Zilch: I’m not in a hurry [to mark your work] when the work I get is so poor that it is painful to mark it!

• Student hears: You are a pain.

Miss Zilch: I’m the boss here!

• Student hears: Flee!
  

Miss Zilch: You are the lowest rung on the pecking order.

• Student hears: Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.

Miss Zilch: You should be able to do it [an essay] on Thursday if you have to.

• Student hears: The task is trivial. Any difficulty just proves you are hopeless.

Miss Zilch: [Work]….that I’m going to have to mark – and weep over.

• Student hears: You are pitiful.

Miss Zilch: I think far too many of you don’t listen. You sit there not engaged …. listening to your ipod [looking at C], reading your magazine [looking at D]

• Student hears: Don’t listen blah blah blah – God, she’s looking at me! – blah blah

Miss Zilch: I’m doing the talking here. You’re listening. You’re learning. That’s the relationship.

• Student hears: You’re voiceless.

Miss Zilch: Most of the pieces of work were very bad, although three of them were pretty good. [Students applaud. Miss Zilch rants.] It’s nothing special! You should be thinking of what these people did and how can you make your work better. [Miss Zilch then neglects to return any of the students’ work.]

• Students hear: Don’t honour success. You’re hopeless. It’s your own fault. I don’t want you to get better.

Rating Miss Zilch?

Remarkably, Miss Zilch has been pretty much ignored on RateMyTeacher.com which currently shows only a few positive and one low rating.

However, students should not expect RateMyTeacher to affect teachers’ behaviour at all. Sane teachers and wise coordinators care about the students in front of them far more than anonymous voices on the internet.

Miss Zilch is a pseudonym.

Why do I let my children do homework? What do I want my students to gain from homework?

Good outcomes

1. Having some success, every night.
2. Getting better in some skill or knowledge, every week.
3. Talking about learning, every week.
4. Hearing happy words from a teacher, more often than criticism.
5. Showing faith in the teacher and school.

Please sir, may I have some more?

Homework provides an opportunity for learning when

• A child wants more practice or more depth than is possible at school.
• A parent wants to observe a child’s learning experience.
• A child needs experience to build confidence in independent study.
• A child needs practice to build habits needed for future study.

Say ‘When’

Harris Cooper recommends 10 minutes homework per night, per grade level. For example, Year 6 might have up to 60 minutes homework a night. (In our family we often do 50% or 100% more than this guideline!) Queensland schools echo this. NSW schools each set their own policy. Kohn questions the value of any homework.
My children normally want to do homework. We have worked out that enough is too much…

• When child does not receive feedback on the homework.
• When homework seems more important than self-care (sleep/exercise/food) or school.
• When child has no social world apart from school and household.
• If Learning Difficulties change the nature of the task.

I can give it up any time I want

‘How to cut back’ is coming soon…

References

1. Image courtesy flickr.com “Chris and Jenni”, Creative Commons, online at http://farm1.static.flickr.com/156/431074917_e56269f13a_m.jpg
2. Houghton, K 2008. When your kids say, I have too much homework. – School Reform. Online at http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art36027.asp
3. Child and Youth Health 2006, Parenting and Child Health – Health Topics – Specific Learning Difficulties. Children Youth and Women’s Health Service, South Australia. Online at http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=306&id=1711
4. Queensland Department of Education 2008, Homework – it’s a matter of balance. http://education.qld.gov.au/publication/schoolsandparents/2008/issue1-5-homework.html
5. NSW Department of Education and Training, 2008, School Handbook – Homework. Online at http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/a-z/homework.php
6. Duke University 2006, http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2006/03/homework.html
7. Kohn, A 2006. The homework myth. Audio interview online at http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/hm.htm

Sometimes I don’t start a task until the risks of further delay have become more stressful than the doing. There is always a seemingly legitimate distraction (like blogging!) available…

There is substantial research into this phenomenon. After a decade long meta-analysis project, Piers Steel said: “Essentially, procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task.”

So, to reduce procrastination, should I (a) increase stress associated with delays; or (b) make action less stressful?

Taking it as given that I am pleasure-seeking (not depressed) and that procrastination is about impulse control, here is a tentative strategy for reducing procrastination.

1. Identify. Which task makes me feel most anxious? That is the task likely to waste my time and energy the most.
2. Eliminate. Delegate stressful tasks to someone more capable, if possible. There is no point doing hard emotional work unless it is necessary.
3. Calm. Always approach the stressful task via structured relaxation – a calming activity such as breathing, meditation, prayer, exercise, breadmaking.
4. Socialise. Involve a friendly companion. ‘Belongingness’ soothes anxiety and builds confidence.
5. Associate. Couple stressful tasks with satisfying activities. By this, associate good feelings with the unpleasant task.
6. Atomise. Write targets that can be quickly achieved. Enjoy the feeling of success on completion of small steps.

Experiment begins….

References

1. Image from http://www.wittysparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/confusion_1.jpg
2. University of Calgary (2007, January 10). We’re Sorry This Is Late … We Really Meant To Post It Sooner: Research Into Procrastination Shows Surprising Findings. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 5, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/01/070110090851.htm
3. Steel, Piers 2007, The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 133(1), Jan 2007. pp. 65-94. [Journal Article]

TypeRacer

Exciting, even stressful – although it provides no incentive for ‘correct’ fingering. Forget your fingers, just wait at the traffic lights and, on the green signal, type the paragraph as it appears word-by-word in front of you. Race against other players, and see each player’s car progress across the screen as you type. Free online.

BBC Dance Mat Typing

Light hearted, online or offline – colourful, fun, musical and animated, it teaches quickly and cheerfully with immediate feedback from a cartoon rock-and-roll goat.

Keyboarding Skills

Lovingly designed – but long, slow and boring! Become a master Type-E-Chi at e-Learning for Kids. This is a traditional touch-typing keyboard tutor that tracks the player through many levels. Free online, and similar to a large family of other learning objects.

TouchTypers

Pointless gimmick – labelled gloves to remind kids of the key fingers when they are away from the keyboard. These seem to get lost or disregarded very quickly, so don’t justify their admittedly low cost.

Installed software

Redundant. e.g. Kewala TypeQuick, Ultrakey, Mavis Beacon teaches typing and dozens of other programs requiring installation. Multimedia games can be engaging and effective, but many such packages were designed before the current operating systems’ security models; the time spent installing and debugging on a single computer can easily exceed the time spent in use.

Do we need to teach touch-typing?

• Many children type effectively before they can fluently hand-write.
• 2-finger typists may exceed handwriting speeds.
• Writer and other tools autocomplete words after a couple of letters.
• DragonDictate is now faster than most typists.

The trends away from keyboarding can be expected to continue with future hardware generations. The continuing increase in internet bandwidth and data-centre capacity will soon allow ‘cloud’ applications (e.g. ThinkFree) to match these capabilities.

It seems that our one noble purpose in training is to alleviate a child’s immediate difficulty with the mechanics of expression.

Dissenting views

• LearningCurve 2008, discusses Linda Starr’s 2001 article.
• Carnegie 1990, reviewed the effectiveness of different methods of learning to use keyboards.

Has there been any recent research into the educational benefits of teaching Touch Typing?

References

1. Typeracer 2008, TypeRacer. Online at http://play.typeracer.com/
2. BBC 2007, Dance Mat Typing. Online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
3. E-learning for kids 2007, Keyboarding Skills. Online at http://e-learningforkids.org/Courses/Keyboarding_Skills/index.html
4. TouchType Learning 2005, TouchTypers. DJP Solutions. Online at http://www.touchtypers.com/
5. Starr, L 2001, Teaching Keyboard – When, Why, How? Education World 02/02/2001, online at http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech072.shtml
6. LearningCurve 2008, Keyboarding: a vital skill. GlobalTeacher. Online at http://learningcurve.globalteacher.org.au/2008/04/12/keyboarding-a-vital-skill
7. Carnegie, U. (1990). Start think-keying. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 6(1), 66-73. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet6/carnegie.html

Miss – an astute and popular primary teacher – split her class into groups, each to write and present a play about the colonisation of Australia.

William* soon presented a swashbuckling action script to his group, who all deemed it seaworthy. Sadly, Miss felt it should have a little more connection to the official history.

Jas* laboured through holidays to create a more historically recognisable script, finding no place for the first work. The group deemed it playable, but Miss told them to merge the two scripts.  This demand will do violence to both authorial visions. The children cannot resolve this, as long as they focus on the product.

The children cannot see how to negotiate this. In Vygotsky’s terms, they are no longer in the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ for this problem and there is no likely success ahead of them. There is no ‘More Knowledgeable Other’ in their group. I imagine two likely outcomes. The teacher could either remove the negotiation task or model it until they do ‘get it’; or, students could find a disappointing solution and so learn that they are inherently incapable of group work.

Cooperative learning is not a natural event but a formal method, involving “positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual accountability, small groups and interpersonal skills, and group self-evaluation.” (Doolittle 1995)

This incident reminds us to:

• Assign roles. It is common for group projects at school to be largely designed by a single member (with guilt felt by all) unless teachers assign individual responsibilities.
• Scaffold social skills. Teachers have a duty to scaffold group-work behaviours at least as much as other skills. The interaction (the process) should be identified as a distinct task and goal.
• Intervene on uncertainty. The teacher is an ex officio member of each group. When a teacher rejects a group’s second attempt, it is time for teacher to participate face-to-face.
• Schedule evaluation. The group needs a guided discussion to draw appropriate conclusions about their process.

*Names have been changed.
References

1. Doolittle, PE 1995. Understanding Cooperative Learning through Vygotzky’s Zone of Proximal Development. Lilly National Conference on Excellence in College Teaching (Columbia, SC, June 2-4, 1995). Online at http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED384575

Yesterday I heard Dr Andrew Martin (CV), speak to teachers with beautiful clarity about motivation and academic achievement.

He defined motivation as the thoughts and behaviours that reflect a student’s energy and drive to learn, work effectively and achieve.

This is probably not what most students or teachers think when they hear the word. Common usage is probably closer to the feeling domain or to purpose. However, the focus on thoughts and behaviours provides a natural link to psychological interventions such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

When we say: not motivated; more consistent effort needed; must try harder; we are failing to tell students or parents what they have to do. If we want better results, we need to address the specific thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and specific behaviours that contribute to success.

Compared to theories of Learning Styles, this focus on motivation seems to give a more immediate, less abstract and more definite explanation for levels of success at a specific time.

Even better, motivation can be improved.

References

1. Photograph from http://www.lifelongachievement.com
2. Martin, AJ 2008, Curriculum Vita: Selected Extracts – Associate Professor Andrew Martin. University of Sydney. Online at http://apcen.edfac.usyd.edu.au/staff/martina/MartinProfile.pdf
3. Kids.Net.Au 2008, Definition: Motivation. Online at http://dictionary.kids.net.au/word/motivation
4. Reach Out 2008, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Online at http://www.reachout.com.au/default.asp?ti=1283