The Problem with Lecturing Back in the late 1970s a colleague came to David Hestenes with a problem. The two of them were physics professors at Arizona State University. Hestenes was teaching mostly graduate students, but his colleague was teaching introductory physics, and the students in his classes were not doing well. Semester after semester, the class average on his exams never got above about 40 percent. "And I noted that the reason for that was that his examination questions were mostly qualitative, requiring understanding of the concepts," says Hestenes. Most professors didn't test for this kind of understanding; students just had to solve problems to pass the exams. This observation prompted a series of conversations between Hestenes and his colleague about the difference between being able to solve problems and really understanding the concepts behind those problems. Testing Understanding They developed a multiple-choice test, now known as the Force Concept Inventory, or FCI. Taking It to Heart
Don't Lecture Me | American RadioWorks by Emily Hanford College students spend a lot of time listening to lectures. But research shows there are better ways to learn. And experts say students need to learn better because the 21st century economy demands more well-educated workers. Lecturing was invented as a way to share information in a time before books were widely available. Now, there are better approaches. The traditional college lecture has never been a good way to learn. In the past 30 years, scientists have discovered a lot about how people learn. The Tomorrow's College series is funded by a grant from Lumina Foundation, which is committed to enrolling and graduating more students from college, and by a grant from the Spencer Foundation, which is dedicated to the belief that research is necessary to the improvement of education.
The effects of school quality on long-term health Volume 30, Issue 6, December 2011, Pages 1320–1333 Special Issue: Economic Returns to Education Edited By Colm Harmon and Matt Dickson Abstract In this paper I estimate the relationship between school quality and mortality. Highlights ► I examine the relationship between school quality and mortality. ► School quality is measured by the pupil–teacher ratio, length of term, and teacher wage. ► I find that increasing school quality increases the health return to education. ► There is also a direct relationship between school quality and overall mortality rates. JEL classification Keywords Educational economics; Rate of return Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Flash spécial : Le rapport Fourgous pour faire entrer l'Ecole dans son siècle Remis le 15 février, le rapport Fourgous est à la fois un plaidoyer pour l'intégration des TICE dans l'enseignement et un programme de 70 mesures pour faire basculer l'Ecole dans l'ère numérique. "Le numérique représente une vraie chance pour l’école. Donnons-nous les moyens de réussir". Député des Yvelines, Jean-Michel Fourgous avait reçu fin août 2009 du premier ministre une mission " de réflexion et de propositions pour la promotion des TIC dans l'enseignement scolaire". La publication de son rapport est un événement majeur pour l'Ecole qu'il invite non seulement à s'équiper mais aussi à changer ses pratiques pédagogiques pour tirer le maximum de profit des TICE. Le retard français. Mais il y a pire encore : le système éducatif français est plus inégalitaire; il fabrique aussi davantage d'élèves manquant de confiance en soi et malheureux à l'Ecole. " L'école est aujourd’hui trop déconnectée de la société. L'efficacité des TICE. Des TICE pour changer l'Ecole. 70 mesures. Les 70 mesures
Will Dropouts Save America? Michael Ellsberg is the author of “The Education of Millionaires: It’s Not What You Think and It’s Not Too Late.” I TYPED these words on a computer designed by Apple, co-founded by the college dropout Steve Jobs. The program I used to write it was created by Microsoft, started by the college dropouts Bill Gates and Paul Allen. And as soon as it is published, I will share it with my friends via Twitter, co-founded by the college dropouts Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams and Biz Stone, and Facebook — invented, among others, by the college dropouts Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz, and nurtured by the degreeless Sean Parker. American academia is good at producing writers, literary critics and historians. In a recent speech promoting a jobs bill, President Obama told Congress, “Everyone here knows that small businesses are where most new jobs begin.” Close, but not quite. No business in America — and therefore no job creation — happens without someone buying something.
Insights From the 21st Century Talent Sessions Ashoka Eight Reasons Startup Incubators Are Better Than Business School Let’s get this straight: If you want to work at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey or General Electric GE +0.00%, an MBA is a handy scrap of paper. But if you’d prefer to bypass the corporate ladder and actually build something of your own, spending upwards of $140,000 and two years without pay is just about the worst way to go about it. Because looming outside those classroom walls is a creature far less merciful than any b-school professor: the market. Customers, you may be surprised to find, don’t give a damn about your degree—and the market will fire you faster than any ungrateful boss. Want to take the plunge but need a bit of guidance and support? Business incubators have been around since the 1950s. Now a new breed of incubator, catering mainly to technology types, is springing up all over the country. Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, is the father of all startup incubators. Like top business schools, startup incubators are particular about whom they let in.
Enrayer la Machine à trier - La machine à trier La jeunesse, le plus bel âge de la vie ? Si les jeunes d’aujourd’hui n’ont pas connu la guerre, la plupart d’entre eux connaissent la galère. On parle souvent de « génération sacrifiée ». La réalité de la France, c’est que sans diplôme le système vous élimine. « La Machine à trier » empêche les plus défavorisés d’accéder à l’emploi. Les jeunes partagent les valeurs fondamentales de la société. un système scolaire élitiste, qui accroît les inégalités plus qu’il ne les corrige ; un marché du travail dont les portes sont fermées aux sans diplôme ; un système social qui n’aide pas ceux qui en ont le plus besoin, qui n’offre aucun filet de sécurité aux plus fragiles. Pour les non diplômés, la jeunesse paraît une voie sans issue. Ce diagnostic, étayé par de nombreuses études, est au cœur de « La Machine à trier – Comment la France divise sa jeunesse ». Des discours sur la jeunesse, on en entend depuis plus de 30 ans. Christian Boghos, directeur de la Fondation ManpowerGroup pour l’Emploi
Can Technology Transform Education Before It’s Too Late? Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by Prerna Gupta, who is CEO of Khush (now part of Smule), whose music apps, like Songify and LaDiDa, have been used to create over 125 million songs worldwide. You can follow her @prernagupta. As technology continues its march toward the Singularity, transforming the way we work, socialize and play at an increasing rate, there is one very important aspect of American society that lags behind: education. Many in Silicon Valley have strong opinions on how education should be improved, perhaps most notably Peter Thiel, who believes we are in a higher education bubble and should be encouraging kids to skip college and pursue entrepreneurship instead. Why is higher education overvalued? It’s because our primary and secondary education systems suck and are thus shifting the burden of educating our population to college. Dave McClure’s fund, 500 Startups, plans to invest in 10-20 education startups this year. There are other examples as well.
Will We Need Teachers Or Algorithms? Editor’s note: This is Part III of a guest post written by legendary Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla, the founder of Khosla Ventures. In Part I, he laid the groundwork by describing how artificial intelligence is a combination of human and computer capabilities In Part II, he discussed how software and mobile technologies can augment and even replace doctors. Now, in Part III, he talks about how technology will sweep through education. In my last post, I argued that software will take over many of the tasks doctors do today. I want to comment on what I consider a far greater misuse of talent and training: that of our children/students, mostly here talking about high school education. Identifying Emerging Trends In Education There are new key trends that I see emerging in education enabled by advancing technology: namely decentralization and gamification. Still, nearly all the attempts at technology in education have mostly failed so far, but I doubt they will continue to fail.
Cern residency programme unites artists and physicists Cern has launched a programme that aims to bring together artists and physicists at its laboratory near Geneva. Collide@Cern -- which falls into a wider Cern policy for engaging with the arts called Great Arts for Great Science -- is a three-month residency programme for artists to be mentored by leading scientists, supported by a stipend of €10,000. The head of Cern's arts programme, Ariane Koek, said: "The arts touch the parts that science alone cannot reach and vice versa. Collide@Cern gives Cern, artists and scientists the opportunity to engage in creative collisions that can occur when these two areas of human creativity and ingenuity come together." The first part of the scheme -- Prix Ars Electronica -- was launched in August at digital arts festival Ars Electronica. The chosen artist will spend two months at Cern and then one month at the Ars Electronica Futurelab, the festival's studio space. You can still apply for the residencies until 31 October.
The Macroscope: Chap. 6 This is chapter 6 of the "The Macroscope" by Joël de Rosnay Our education remains hopelessly analytical, centered on a few disciplines, like a puzzle whose pieces overlap rather than fit together. Nevertheless the present generation of eighteen- to twenty-five-year-olds itself poses problems globally. Yet this emergent thought, this new manner of seeing and judging the world, is not the monopoly of one generation alone. The new vision of the world is not the effect of a single cause but the result of the convergence, integration, and interdependence of a large number of factors. Some observers emphasize the catalytic effect of communications. It is impossible to dissociate these elements from one another. Certain great scientific discoveries have contributed, perhaps more than anything else, to expanding our vision of the world and to opening people's minds to the global approach. Today, suddenly, everything is changed. This narcissistic vision prolongs and reinforces itself in time.