Thinking like a scientist...

1/23/2019

I was recently online and an ad similar to the following displayed in my browser:

I clicked on the "Start Training" button and was transported to the official Lumosity website. I was anxious to learn more about improving my general brain power, and what I discovered at the website was a program that included a variety of exciting online games designed to increase my memory abilities, problem-solving capabilities, and thinking speed. Excellent! I can use a faster brain, so I created a free account (with limited features) and began my "brain training." I suggest you navigate to the site an try out the Lumosity games yourself.

When you are on the Lumosity site, you will notice that the people who have designed the material (and the marketing strategy) have provided some "research" to back up their claims regarding the effectiveness and effects of their gaming techniques. For example, the developers use a strategy called "n-back" which supposedly affects memory capabilities (check out the Wikipedia entry for more information). And here is a short video that promotes the Lumosity "brain training" strategies:

"Suppress impulsive responses that get in the way of your goals." I can use some of this. The Lumosity website even promotes a slick research reports with titles like "The Science of Lumosity" supporting the cognitive benefits of their gaming strategies (see them here).

You can examine the material presented at the site, and spend some time reviewing some of the games available (and the reporting features), and you might even be compelled enough to pay for the deluxe version at around $60/year. The products sure seem legitimate, particular when you read through the research study posted on the company website.

But wait a minute. Another developer of "brain training" software has prepared material that seems to discredit some of the claims presented by the good people at Lumosity (many of whom have "Ph.D." after their names). Check out this video from Braingainer:

After viewing this video, you may be tempted to ask "Who is right?!?" Of course, if you watch the Braingainer video long enough, you soon realize it is just a crummy commercial too!

After viewing all the material for the brain training resources, I felt a little bit the way Ralphie did when he decoded the radio message in A Christmas Story. The material presented looks legitimate, but the more you examine the claims and "research," the more you realize that such material seems to have been generated by the people who are trying to sell you something.

All this reminds me of a conversation I recently had with students in one of my other courses about the value of learning certain content-area skills in school, and whether any skills we expect students to learn might ultimately be good for the brain in general, particularly in the area of critical and creative thinking. The issue of learning math skills was discussed, including basic math skills like math facts (e.g. knowing that 3 X 7 = 21 without doing a calculation every time) as well as more complex skills included in algebra and calculus curricula. I questioned the reasoning that such skills would have an impact on general thinking skills, and received some healthy push-back on my position from some of the students. I do believe that many people have misconceptions about the value of mathematical skill learning in school. If you think about it, our society has placed a very high premium on math skills (after all, math and reading standardized test scores seem to be the only thing that matters to many people). I believe part of this premium comes from an erroneous belief that mathematics is "good fro the brain," as if the brain works like a muscle and math experiences make the entire cognitive functioning stronger. From a scientific perspective, such claims need to be backed up with research results supporting hypotheses that suggest a positive relationship between learning math and improving general problem-solving abilities. But have such studies been designed and implemented? If so, what do the results suggest? And how does this idea apply to other subject skill sets as well? Likewise, do advanced reading skills contribute to better "thinking" abilities? Can learning more about the scientific method improve reasoning skills? What subject-specific skills, if any, HAVE been linked to proficiencies in broader skill sets?

I think a lot about such matters. One of the best conference presentations I every experienced was a keynote address by Seymour Papert, an MIT professor who worked in the areas of mathematics, learning theory, and computer application in teaching and learning (among other things). Part of his presentation included the value of learning math in school, and he made a general conclusion that a good deal of the math we expect kids to learn is essentially a waste of time and effort. In response to a comment that complex math helps develop general problem-solving ability, Papert asked the audience if they personally knew any mathematicians. He challenged us to think about the problem-solving ability of mathematicians (or scientists or engineers), and whether or not their abilities were extraordinary outside their specific discipline. He asked us if they are better at solving problems in other areas of their life than most people. Are their relationships more successful? Can they diagnose trouble with their automobiles more easily than most, or make better decisions about money than the average person? "Not the mathematicians I know...including myself," he remarked.

Papert brought up some very good points. As did Daniel Willingham in the video from the Week 1 information about learning styles. I have had similar thoughts about the way in which I observe teachers trying to teach to "multiple intelligences".

What about you?

So the first step in thinking like a scientist is making observations, followed by identifying problems based on your observations.

Please post a comment...

Here at the beginning of the course, I am interested in learning about the types of problems or questions you have about anything related to education that have been raised based on your personal observations. These could be observations made when you were a student, a teacher, or just a regular person walking around in the world noticing things. in the comments below, post a question r problem statement you have about education, and briefly describe the observations that led to you raising the question(s). You don;t need to do anything with these problems...now or in the future. Just share any questions bouncing around in your head....

29 Comments

Devyn Johnson

1/24/2019 07:14:37 am

One of my biggest questions about the current education system is one of education inequality. I'd like to know how and why resources are sometimes incredibly unequally distributed throughout the same school district. I came to notice this issue during my time interning for Horton's Kids in D.C. Most of my children from Horton's Kids went to schools that were in the DC public school system. Their schools had poor resources. Everything from the classrooms to the textbooks to the computers (if they had any) were incredibly old and sometimes not even functional anymore. However, when you look at schools from different areas of D.C, like the north west side rather than south east side of D.C, you find schools with much better quality resources. Therefore, I'd like to know how and why the money and resources of certain school systems can be so unequally distributed.

Greg Sherman

1/24/2019 09:04:35 pm

This is a very good line of inquiry, for sure. Inequity in schools has been a problem as long as I have been alive, and the problems seem to be getting worse. The root causes are likely based in how funding to relieve inequity, such as Title I, has been changing over the years. It is true that public schools have had to rely more and more on local sources of funding, which explains why some districts will have more resources than others.

Melissa Caldwell

1/24/2019 05:55:25 pm

Devyn, great question and there can be many answers and perceptions. Within the county that I currently teach in we have different zones and one zone is more affluent then the other two and well... those students have newer schools, better athletic fields, and so on. While all schools are in the same district, money does talk and when you have doctors and lawyers in one zone and blue collar workers in another, differences will show no matter how it looks on paper. The students from one zone to the next see the differences!
So, I am an ECSE teacher and I find it interesting how so much "academics" are being pushed down to our little ones. When will we learn to let children be children and PLAY. We wonder why we are having so many behavior issues within our schools and it's because so many are not developmentally ready for the work that is being presented. I am waiting for the day when preschool becomes mandatory due to all the "things" that children "need" to know before they come to kindergarten.

1/27/2019 09:25:17 am

I think the value of play is such an important line of inquiry. When you watch you children carefully as they play, you really get a sense that they are learning and practicing many general skills that, but my account, are very worthwhile. Communication, problem-solving, creative thinking, etc. Not to mention the fact that they are acquiring information through their experiences that constitute examples of phenomena that may help to organize new knowledge and skills later. BUT....is any of this true? Does any of it really make a difference? In what ways?

Breann Mullen link

1/25/2019 11:40:26 am

I agree with both Melissa and Devyn's comments above. Melissa the second part of your question really got me thinking about inequality as well. Even as far as, for example, free schools vs. the public school system. Where in free schools students are choosing their own schedules and what they want to do for the day as compared to a non-democratic public school. What makes a 'good' student? What qualities of a 'good' student make them a functioning part of society as adults? Or even lead them to be happier adults regardless of careers/income? Even comparing different public school districts (or schools in the same district for that matter) where some students have access to higher level courses than others? Does this make them a 'better' student and in turn lead them to have 'better' futures?

1/27/2019 09:20:46 am

Breann, you raise a lot of excellent questions that definitely qualify as "researchable" problems using a number of different methods. But such a line of inquiry would need very careful design. For example, comparing the "success" (however this variable is defined) of students in more well-off schools is easy, but attempting to determine the cause of success could prove almost impossible. What factors might influence success later in life? Better nutrition? More healthy interpersonal relationships? More experiences outside the home, such as international travel? More business connections in the real world? Better healthcare? Better self-esteem? More time to devote to studying in high school or college because the bills are all being paid?

Jennifer Bridges

1/26/2019 01:46:42 pm

I teach the alternative placement class for our county (grades 7-12, all in my classroom). I have the foster children, students on probation, and those at the lowest income level (sadly, often the ones getting into trouble or have other issues). Most of their classes are on the computer, so they don't get up out of their seats, other than lunch and a couple of breaks during the day. I added a Nintendo wii to the classroom, to get them active during those out of seat times. It's understandable that they get "antsy" sometimes and have trouble remaining seated. It's important that I add in other activities, like walking around the track outside, or playing basketball once in awhile. Melissa is correct, that they'd be better behaved and work better, if they would get out that energy. Exercise has been shown to help the mind work better, not to mention I'm pretty sure it helps depression.

Also, I used to teach at a "well-off" charter school in a fancy area. Those parents provided so much money for activities, it was crazy and frustrating when you compare it to the other public schools in that area. It was a public charter school, receiving state funding. They seemed to have an unfair advantage.

Growing up living with my mother, we moved around a lot and went without. It was an extreme. When we went to visit my father once in awhile, he was the other extreme. It is challenging for a child to experience such drastic differences and have no control over what's happening. I think the public school's should all have certain standards for quality of environment, materials, activities, etc.; that are to be expected and followed through with. Communities need to demand their students all receive an equal quality of education across the country.

1/27/2019 09:30:41 am

There is no doubt that the alternative placement kids are NOT receiving an equal education. YES, computer-based learning experiences can be effective (I hope THIS one is!), but such experiences are not easy to develop, and it has been my experience that computers in these situations deliver instructional experiences that tend to be more decontextualized (though more individualized) than more holistic classroom-based experiences. Kudos for providing opportunities to encourage some physical movement!

DeeDee Hartson

1/27/2019 08:05:38 am

The blog brought up a question I've been asking in the past week. I am a special education teacher and I am currently co-teaching in 4th grade. We are covering long division and I have 3 students who have a calculator accommodation who do not have a strong number sense. The general education teacher wanted me to teach them long division using estimation and base 10 blocks. I explained to her that I felt those methods confused my students and what they really needed was to learn the procedure for long division while using their calculators. She believes that teaching them in-depth number sense to do long division helps them understand it better while I believe the students with learning disabilities in math (and number sense) are only further confused by breaking it all down. My question is, in the grand scheme of things, do these students really need to understand all the concepts behind place value and estimation to do long division or do they just need to know how to divide numbers correctly using a calculator? I’m not trying to minimize what my students are capable of or what they learn, but I don’t feel like confusing them and making them feel less than is the road to take.

1/27/2019 09:39:55 am

DeeDee, I think you raise two excellent points related to education, teaching, and perhaps research. First, you identify some good questions about mathematical thinking and the skills students need in order to function in the real world as well as continue learning more complex math. Such analyses are part of every educator's practice, and teachers shouldn't just rely on the decision-making of textbook companies to organized their instructional offerings. It also speaks to the need for operationalizing "understanding". Your colleague believes that learners need to acquire skills associated with number sense so they can better understand long division. So...how can you tell somebody understand long division? Is it enough that they can just solve long division problems correctly (with or without a calculator)?

Which brings up the other point related to education. What role SHOULD technology play in teaching and learning? Should learners be able to use calculators whenever they like, considering they will always have access to such technology in the real world? What about Google? What role should this technology play in teaching and learning...and assessment? Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg....but are some real questions teachers need to ask, and answer.

Sharon Edwards

1/27/2019 06:36:44 pm

Hi DeeDee,

I am also a Special Education teacher and this is the same question I was going to bring up. I teach students who have multiple disabilities in an adaptive classroom. Last year, I found myself teaching students about high mathematical concepts and social studies topics like "renewable and nonrenewable resources" because the students needed to learn these things for their ASOL's. Needless to say, it took up a lot of time that I felt I could have been using teaching more basic concepts and functional skills. I do believe that all students have the right to exposure to these concepts in education but I have a difficult time wrapping my head around why they must be tested.

Mac McArthur-Fox

1/28/2019 01:57:12 pm

As we continue to hear more about the diverse societal impacts of the opioid crisis nationally and in southwest Virginia, I wonder what schools can be doing to effectively respond. What can be learned from the research on trauma sensitive approaches in schools? What changes need to be made to health curricula? What factors might impact the effectiveness of peer-to-peer support programs? How can schools most effectively support the rising numbers of children in foster and kinship care - and their families? What should the focus of community outreach be? How can schools most effectively prioritize their response across all the possible areas of focus?

1/29/2019 08:21:16 am

Mac, you ask some very heavy questions! All re very important, I believe, and I hope that there has been/will be some good research conducted to address these important concerns.

Hannah Ritchie

1/28/2019 02:05:25 pm

One problem I had as a young student was connecting science projects with real-life situations. I was able to complete tasks effectively and maintain grades, but failed to understand their relevance. When it came time to create projects independently, they always seemed lackluster and without any practical application or demonstration of deep understanding. When taking more advanced courses later on, budget cuts often removed or diluted some potentially engaging labs and projects. Time constraints often meant we had little time to look critically at the results we acquired.
Not all students taking science classes will go into scientific fields, but I feel more can be done to give them skills they can use in their lives. As mentioned in the course intro, thinking like a scientist has its uses. All students need to learn how to connect what goes on in the classroom with the world outside of their school building. All students need to learn how to process information critically. But it seems quite the task for a time-pressed teacher to give them these skills along with the ones necessary for the curriculum.

1/29/2019 08:24:07 am

Relevance is a very important factor in the design of effective instruction. And research conducted on variables that influence and affect the efficacy in adult learning situations point clearly to relevancy as one of the most important characteristics of good instruction. Hopefully, anything you do in this course that is science related will have some relevance to your personal and/or professional life!

Jack Aders

1/29/2019 03:07:59 pm

I may be missing the mark completely on what you're looking for. I'm an instructional assistant and have been working in a positive behavior support program for the past 8 years. I've had chairs thrown at me. I've been hit with various objects, punched, scratched, bitten, pinched, and spat upon. I've been called every name in the book, and not in the book. This is tolerable. What I find most intolerable is the lack of support some parents give us. A student doesn't complete their assignments due to behaviors or unwillingness. It goes home to be completed. The parent responds by saying they don't want to fight the fight and their time together to be an argument. "They don't act like that at home." I do poses a teaching degree, and that infuriates me beyond measure. I wish there was something that could be done to open their eyes while the student still has a chance. If this sounds like I'm venting, I apologize.

1/30/2019 07:37:09 am

I don't take this as venting. But it does raise an interesting, researchable point. You indicate a lack of support in student homes, especially as it relates to completing homework. So are there strategies that might help address such issues? One might be to never assign or expect homework. Research already conducted on the value of homework might support such a strategy. But there might be other options as well. I know this is a simplification, but t does sound like you face many profession-related questions that could use some answers.

1/30/2019 07:38:41 am

https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/rethinking-homework/

Karen A. Lee

2/3/2019 11:45:19 pm

I do not believe you're venting at all Jack; within our county school district I find we can lay out the best road map to success for our students and that may involve homework assigned in class and communicated to the families for the support as well. I am disheartened at times when these assignments are neither returned completed nor done at all. When you follow up with their support network you can find they may be disengaged or simply believe it's up to us to provide during the day because they do have the time or support available at home.

Amy Christian

2/6/2019 05:39:13 pm

I currently work at a residential school and I find that we have two very distinct battles related to the issue of homework and involvement from families. Because of the nature of our school, one would think that the "homework connection" between school and dorm would be much easier to navigate. Quite frankly, it is just as difficult. Most of our students have complex learning issues. The residential advisors are not trained in accommodating the learning needs of the students. Our teachers have to be highly trained in content areas plus endorsements in VI or HI. Some of our teachers become frustrated with the disconnect between school and residential. I am not a proponent of homework anyway and never give it. But, I believe that it is an unrealistic expectation for teachers to expect residential staff to prioritize the work in the same way that they would. The residential advisors oversee much of the social learning and daily living skills that our students desperately need. Both programs are valuable to the overall success of our students and can support each other in more productive ways than constantly struggling over homework.
The second issue is related to the involvement of families. One of the most difficult parts of my job is knowing that, for most of my students, they go home every weekend to families who cannot fully communicate with them. A vast majority of our students live in homes where they are the only fluent signer. Extended breaks are excruciatingly painful for some of our older students because the are completely isolated within their own home. I believe that the issue is partly do to an inherent flaw in the educational system. When young children are identified with a hearing impairment, the IFSP is developed and the entire family gets support for language development (and other supports). Services are offered in the natural environment and the parent and child partner in the learning process. All of that changes after the child turns three. In one meeting, the focus shifts from supporting the family as a unit to solely supporting the child. I would LOVE to know what research shows about the rate of language development for the caregivers of children with hearing impairments during the IFSP years and how that changes after the shift is made to the IEP.

LaKeisha Jones

1/30/2019 03:45:08 am

I have conducted Action Research previously, the purpose of my research was to discover if Reciprocal Teaching Methods improved Student Reading Comprehension in the Middle School Language Arts classroom. Although, I did my best to conduct this Action Research my findings, I believe were very flawed, due to numerous factors. I have now transitioned from a classroom teacher to a classroom teacher, and as I observe my school surroundings, I am constantly questioning motivations of student behaviors. I would be interested in research concerning factors which may improve student behaviors within our school building, as well as, is the PBIS system of support which our school is now in the second year of implementation truly working to improve behaviors.

1/30/2019 11:58:13 am

You raise some very interesting lines of inquiry, LaKeisha. This is a good place to point out an important difference in research versus evaluation. Determining the degree to which a program met its goals (including comparing one program with another) would be considered a program evaluation IF the overall intention was to determine program effectiveness. But if investigators wanted to study the effects of a particular program (or variables within the program) on other variables (such as student behavior) to support generalization knowledge about such interventions, then the activities might constitute research. Same methods, but different intentions.

Chris Ratliff

1/30/2019 07:11:19 am

The current biggest question and issue I have regarding education, at least as I am experiencing it right now, is reflective of what Jack said above - the constant push to be positive when it comes to SPED students specifically. I feel like all the new "studies" have pushed to a point where we have began to overlook consequences and always look at a way to accommodate and make a student feel better.... sometimes these behaviors are just that, behavior and NOT disability related.

1/30/2019 06:09:48 pm

I do believe that behavior modification is still an area in education that needs a lot of work. Of course, methods and strategies need to be somewhat responsive to the current education and social climate, but there are definitely things that could be done differently, with potentially more effective results.

Elizabeth Danielle Williams

1/30/2019 11:14:08 am

A couple questions that I am currently focused on concerning education have to do with the same topic as Mac's questions. I have been involved in research aimed to change the way rural students view STEM careers in their area. Working with these students and becoming more aware of their views about STEM related courses and jobs has made me want to delve further into the notion of children in rural schools being "left behind" in the STEM areas. More specifically I am questioning how the depravity caused by opioid addiction is contributing to rural Appalachians being left behind in STEM advancements in secondary schools. An observation that I have had in the school system and as a student whose family has been affected by the opioid crisis is that students are not aware of all the STEM related careers in their area. Most students also do not have access to the resources needed to better learn the material. Are we as teachers expected to be the only resource trying to close this gap? When will people realize that we cannot help students in these regions until the root problem is addressed? The opioid epidemic runs deep within these rural Appalachian communities and it is suffocating many bright students who have the potential to make an impact in their community.

1/30/2019 06:14:24 pm

I agree with you that root problems such as drug addictions need to be addressed in an effort to help solve problems associated with how such difficulties impact families and students. But from and educational perspective, I also think we need to figure out how to best operate within a system that faces such problems. Because if it isn't opioids, it is alcohol, and/or emotional or physical abuse, and/or poor nutrition, and/or too much screen time and not enough exercise, and/or bullying, and/or inadequate funding to address the basic needs of schools in poorer communities, etc. *sigh* It is always going to be something.

Dustin Sullivan

2/2/2019 06:20:49 pm

In my experience it seems that some people tend to over think how to teach a student. I have taken courses at other colleges that left me more confused at the end then before I started. I recently went to a conference that gave me some really good ideas but on the other hand there was times were I felt some of the training was unnecessary . Why is this?

2/4/2019 07:49:49 am

I agree about the overthinking at one level, Dustin. After all, most of the things we have learned how to do really well in our life were "taught" in very fluid and informal ways. We practiced things for a purpose that mattered to us, and with adequate feedback...we learned. And continue to. I suppose the complexity of some educational models come into play when you examine how to help an entire class of people learn the same things, even though all the students are starting at different places and with different experiences and motivations for learning. Tricky.

Karen A. Lee link

2/3/2019 11:26:55 pm

Devyn has posted a topic that has personally frustrated me for years within the educational system. Within our county we have schools that have adequate resources and others that struggle to simply provide the equipment / tools available for our student's success. I teach Special Education as well and have observed depending on the affluent / middle income areas determine whether our student's receive the necessary tools, voice recorders, etc. When implementing an I.E.P. we can map out a road map to success for a student going forward but that depends whether the tools in the plan can or will be provided by the school district.

Thinking like a scientist...

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