Teachers' gestures boost math learning!

Mar. 29, 2013 — Students perform better when their instructors use hand gestures -- a simple teaching tool that could yield benefits in higher-level math such as algebra.

A study published in Child Development,the top-ranked educational psychology journal, provides some of the strongest evidence yet that gesturing may have a unique effect on learning. Teachers in the United States tend to use gestures less than teachers in other countries. "Gesturing can be a very beneficial tool that is completely free and easily employed in classrooms," said Kimberly Fenn, study co-author and assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University. "And I think it can have long-lasting effects."

Fenn and Ryan Duffy of MSU and Susan Cook of the University of Iowa conducted an experiment with 184 second-, third- and fourth-graders in Michigan elementary classrooms.

Half ofthe students were shown videos of an instructor teaching math problems using only speech. The others were shown videos of the instructor teaching the same problems using both speech and gestures.

The problem involved mathematical equivalence (i.e., 4+5+7=__+7), which is known to be critical to later algebraic learning. In the speech-only videos, the instructor simply explains the problem. In the other videos, the instructor uses two hand gestures while speaking, using different hands to refer to the two sides of the equation.

Students who learned from the gesture videos performed better on a test given immediately afterward than those who learned from the speech-only video.

Another test was given 24 hours later, and the gesture students actually showed improvement in their performance while the speech-only students did not.

While previous research has shown the benefits of gestures in a one-on-one tutoring-style environment, the new study is the first to test the role of gestures in equivalence learning in a regular classroom.

The study also is the first to show that gestures can help students transfer learning to new contexts -- such as transferring the knowledge learned in an addition-based equation to a multiplication-based equation.

Fenn noted that U.S. students lag behind those in many other Western countries in math and have a particularly hard time mastering equivalence problems in early grades.

"So if we can help them grasp this foundational knowledge earlier," she said, "it will help them as they learn algebra and higher levels of mathematics."

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Michigan State University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Susan Wagner Cook, Ryan G. Duffy, Kimberly M. Fenn.Consolidation and Transfer of Learning After Observing Hand Gesture. Child Development, 2013; DOI:10.1111/cdev.12097

Daily online testing boosts college performance, reduces achievement gaps

Daily online testing boosts college performance, reduces achievement gaps

Nov. 21, 2013 — More low-income students are attending college than ever before, but many of them are ill prepared for the challenges of higher learning. Now University of Texas at Austin researchers are finding ways to level the higher-education playing field with a new online learning model. 

With a new teaching platform called TOWER (Texas Online World of Educational Research), psychology professors James Pennebaker and Samuel Gosling are transforming the way students learn. The findings, published online this month in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE, show the customized online teaching model leads to improved test scores and attendance for all students. But students of low socioeconomic status are benefiting the most.

In fall 2011, Pennebaker and Gosling integrated the TOWER system into their large classroom-based Psychology 301 course, in which they delivered personalized in-class quizzes, free online readings, small discussion groups, and live chats to each student's laptop or tablet. Facilitated by Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services, the new system allowed the researchers to retrieve data about the students and see how they navigated the online tools.

The researchers found that daily "benchmark" quizzes, which were followed up with instant results on incorrectly answered questions, helped the students remember and learn from their mistakes, says Pennebaker.

"One important self-regulatory method to improve preparation and performance is to give students frequent testing along with rapid, targeted and structured feedback on their performance, so that they can adjust their learning and studying strategies in time to improve their grades in a course," says Pennebaker, who team-teaches the course with Gosling.

In the experiment, 901 students enrolled in the fall 2011 TOWER course provided information about their parents' education levels. The subjects took 26 brief multiple-choice quizzes at the beginning of every class. Eighty-six percent of the final grade was based on the quizzes, and 14 percent was based on online writing assignments. No final or other exams were administered. The TOWER student performance was compared with 935 students enrolled in Gosling's and Pennebaker's previous traditional Psychology 301 courses, in which four exams accounted for the bulk of the final grade.

According to the results:

- The new system resulted in a 50 percent reduction in the achievement gap as measured by grades among students of different social classes.

- TOWER students performed better in other classes, both in the semester they took the course and in subsequent semester classes.

- TOWER exam performance was about half a letter grade above previous semesters, based on comparisons of identical questions asked from earlier years.

- The daily quizzes encouraged students to attend classes at much higher rates.

The researchers attribute much of the students' success to the daily quizzes, which required them to diligently keep up with the material. As a result, they developed better skills in time management and studying.

"These findings suggest that frequent quizzing should be used routinely in large lecture courses to improve performance in class and in other concurrent and subsequent courses," Gosling says. "Repeated testing of students does much more than assess learning skills; it is a powerful vehicle that directly enhances learning and thinking skills."

This fall, the researchers implemented the TOWER model into their live-broadcast online Psychology 301 class, called a SMOC (synchronous massive online course). Gosling says this new online platform will help instructors provide rapid, individualized feedback on students' performance in massive lecture courses, a feat that is not possible even in average-size conventional classes.

"In light of the benefits of frequent testing with immediate feedback, colleges might benefit from adopting these methods during students' first semesters so they can continue to benefit from the learning skills they acquire," Gosling says.

QR Codes in Education: Reach and Engage Students in Learning

Engaging student in active learning is a continual quest for most educators. What follows are links to one under used tool which educators can leverage to increase student engagement and, we hope, student learning. In addition to a brief explanation of QR Codes and QR Generators, I’ve also included several sites where educators have successfully used QR coding in a variety of ways to engage their students in learning. Not every method discussed may be appropriate for your student, but with a little imagination, you can probably tweak enough of the offerings to justify the time you invest in reading this article. To increase that likelihood I’ve added a bonus method at the end.

QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. The information encoded by a QR code may be made up of four standardized types (“modes”) of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte / binary, Kanji) or, through supported extensions, virtually any type of data. The QR code when scanned with the camera of a mobile device such as an iPad, Android tablet, or smartphone can transfer video, web links, text and email addresses amongst other digital content quickly and easily to users.

What is most impressive about the QR code is that it is free; all that is needed is a free QR Code generator. In addition to the many instructional videos available on YouTube.com that detail exactly how to create QR codes, below are two sites that list some of the top QR code generators. Those with “*” indicate QR generators that have appeared on multiple lists as most preferred or highly rated.

http://freenuts.com/top-10-free-online-qr-code-generators/

*Kaywa QR Code

*Maestro

*BeQRious

*GoQRme

*BeeTagg QR Generator

ZXing Project

Delivr

Azonmedia

Online Qr Lab

Mobile-Barcodes

http://www.freakzion.com/index.php/The-Blog-July-2013/qr-codes-the-best-10-qr-code-generators.html

*Kaywa QR Code

*Maestro

*BeQRious

*GoQRme

*BeeTagg QR Generator

QR Stuff

QRLicious

The QR Code Generator

Exploring The Educational Potential of QR Codes by Joe Dale (http://connectlearningtoday.com/exploring-the-educational-potential-of-qr-codes-3/)

Popular with advertisers and marketing companies, QR codes give readers an immediate opportunity to visit a website to find out more information about a range of facts, products and services.

For schools that have invested in iPads or tablets as learning tools or allow their students to bring in their own devices (BYOD), QR codes have proven to be a great timesaver for sharing links and distributing information en masse. Projecting large QR codes on a screen so they can be scanned from around the class makes it easy for students to access the same content on their own devices and interact with it individually instead of passively looking at the interactive whiteboard.

5 Real Ways To Use QR Codes In Education by Nick Grantham (http://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/02/20/qr-codes-in-education/#sthash.9bITZFOQ.dpuf)

Book Reviews: One of the best ideas I have heard for using QR codes is in the school library. QR codes are created for specific books, linking to reviews, trailers, or additional resources.

QR Code Orienteering: Create an orienteering course where each checkpoint is a QR code. As students check-in (scan the code) the virtual treasure map will unfold, with each code being a clue to find the next.

Multimedia Content: A popular use for QR codes in education is to add multimedia content to hard copy pages. It is kind of like a stepping-stone on our way to fully digitized textbooks and worksheets.

Solutions And Tutorials: A practical and fun application for QR codes is a modern version of answers being written in the back of the book. By placing answers to questions online and linking with QR codes, students can attempt their own solutions before using the code to review the correct answer. Not only is this a novel way for students to look up answers, it once again lets teachers use interactive media to present solutions in a more thorough and engaging manner.

QR Codes On School Equipment: QR codes let us link physical objects in the real world with digital assets online. This is very useful as we can now attach all sorts of additional information to equipment to assist in use.

Ways to Use QR Codes for Education by Christy Crawford

For the complete list visit (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2012/09/ways-use-qr-codes-education). The following ideas are focused more toward HigherEd interactions.

1. Become a museum curator. Bring a President’s Day, Black History Month, or Women’s History Month bulletin board to life with QR codes. Place the code linking to compelling video or audio and/or a short quiz underneath images

3. Is there a special basket, bin, or shelf in your library devoted to an author? Use a QR code on that basket, bin, or shelf to instantly pull up videos of the author discussing their life, their favorite books, or tips on writing

6. Eliminate math phobia. Send home how-to videos for “scary” math problems by adding QR codes to homework sheets. Nervous parents will get at-home assistance and students will appreciate the review.

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Bonus: Virtual Introductions. When staff or faculty are in class session and therefor unavailable to introduce themselves to perspective students, a QR code can reclaim a missed opportunity. Similar to a self-guided tour, the staff and faculty can generate a short introductory video with a brief bio and other information of interest linked to a QR code. Perspective students, parents, or campus guides can scan the QR code and use their mobile device to get a brief introduction from staff and faculty.

Simple Choices

We are all provided with the same opportunities with regard to general choices we make; and often we practice active or passive avoidance of those choices. That is, we either recognize or understand the “right” thing to do and passively avoid it by doing nothing, or upon recognition, we actively choose to do something completely opposite and often the “wrong” thing. This is a simple quirk in our human nature, which can be modulated, modified, and overcome with the simple introduction of ‘will’, humorously referred to as “want to.”

If  we examine a situation or opportunity to make a choice and go passive, it could be because our “want to” (will) is too weak to face the rigors of doing what is right. This could be anything from maintaining the legal speed limit while driving, to sharing a hard truth with a friend, trusted colleague or coworker regarding some personal issue.

If, on the other hand we look at our choices and go active in an effort to avoid then, it could be because our “want to” is damaged or broken. We may harbor some fear or resentment associated with doing the “right” thing that may have little to do with the situation and lots to do with our past. We may have suffered embarrassment, become ostracized, or endured some sort of personal humiliation the last time we did, or tried to do the “right” thing; so we resolve not to subject ourselves to possible ridicule again.

The problem is that, no matter how recent or long ago it occurred, it is still in the past; it was a different time and situation, and very likely the circumstances were different. So we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to gain wisdom, show mercy, walk humbly and improve someone else’s lot in life…maybe even our own, by dragging the past failures into the future. To be clear, learning from ones mistakes, and learning from the mistakes of others is far different from looking for permission not to do the right thing.

It should be our purpose in life to do more than strive to be good enough, or do good enough, or even just endure. We should, each of us, take it upon ourselves to do the best we can, as often as we can, for as long as we can, and for as many as we can. While this may not be our path to enlightenment, it will most assuredly enlighten someone else’s path. 

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About the Author: In addition to teaching, I've also conducted training workshops on areas of leadership, mentoring, leveraging everyday technology. Among my published works is my first book of poetry, The World through the Eyes of a Cop, The Quick Guide to Principles of Leadership, and Mentoring and other Leadership tools. The information I share is from my personal and professional experiences, which many have found helpful in advancing their professional development. I welcome comments letting me know your thoughts, and look forward to assisting where I can. Feel free to comment on any posting, or send an email directly to me at: ledcome@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter, and share my work through your favorite social media outlets. Also I encourage you to check out my website (http://www.ledcome.com) where I openly promote low-cost, high quality professional development resources for your success! Good luck in your endeavors and "run to your destiny."