demystifying the learning process

saw this not-too-new 2017 article on mindshift introducing some ideas teachers can help students to see the (true) nature of learning, and help them develop useful habits of learning. these ideas were proposed by Barbara Oakley. ignore the title of the article cos to me, EVERYONE struggles, from time to time, and whether one would like to admit it or not.

some lines, including words from Oakley, in the article that caught my attention:

“…the common experience of students who reread their notes and think they know the material — only to enter a test and find that they cannot retrieve the information. ”

“students tend to equate speed with smarts, Oakley suggests sharing this metaphor: ‘There’s a race car brain and a hiker brain. They both get to the finish line, but not at the same time. The race car brain gets there really fast, but everything goes by in a blur. The hiker brain takes time. It hears birds singing, sees the rabbit trails, feels the leaves. It’s a very different experience and, in some ways, much richer and deeper. You don’t need to be a super swift learner. In fact, sometimes you can learn more deeply by going slowly.'”

“Learning is all about developing strong chains.” (cf. chunks)

“familiar metaphors allow a learner to draw on a concept they have already mastered and apply it to a new situation. Or as Oakley says, metaphors ‘rapidly on-board’ new ideas.”

“…’Pomodoro Technique.’ Developed by Francesco Cirillo, this strategy uses a timer to help the learner work and break at set intervals. First, choose a task to accomplish. Then, set a timer for 25 minutes and work until the timer goes off. At that point, take a five-minute break: stand up, walk around, take a drink of water, etc. After three or four 25-minute intervals, take a longer break (15 – 30 minutes) to recharge. “

“…I would tell students, you don’t just have to be stuck following your passion. You can broaden your passions enormously.”

one idea chunk came to my mind as i read the article: micro-learning. what myth(s) are pple propagating with this term and it’s associated ‘benefits’ for learning i wonder. is learning fast? how often is learning fast?

which term is the ‘correct’ use?

身为华文老师,经常得面对自己或学生的提问,例如“春节”、“农历新年”两个词应该用哪个?有没有哪个是“对”的?还是都不对或都对?

语言的使用本来就没有对错,是约定俗成的。但语文老师因为教学的特殊关系,经常需要把握对错的问题。对错的问题有时没有办法直接回答,一个方法是看看官方报章怎么用。如何寻找报章用语,可使用 NewspaperSG – Search Term Visualiser

(screenshot credit: NewspaperSG)

网址:http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Visualiser

要注意的是,在作搜寻时,记得要加引号quotation marks. 因为 “农历新年” 和 农历新年 的搜寻结果是不同的。以前者为准。

have fun (:

on research methodology preference

research methodologies can largely be classified into 3 categories: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. saw this quote while reading Teddlie and Tashakkori (2011)’s chapter on MMR (mixed methods research):

“A change in paradigmatic postures involves a personal odyssey, that is we each have a personal history with our preferred paradigm and this needs to be honored.” (Denzin, 2008, p.322, as cited in Teddie & Tashakkori, p.287)

yes, we respect others’ preference of methodology, for we each live a different personal history (: (cf. serial-numbered robots)

ref:
Teddlie, C. & Tashakkori, A. (2011). Mixed methods research. In Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed., pp. 285-299). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

unique persons, or numbers

i believe there is no absolute answer to this, but it is a common argument between qualitative vs. quantitative researchers in the field of education. was reading Chapter 17 on Case Study, and saw the following sentence:

“…in the study of human affairs, there appears to exist only context-dependent knowledge, which thus presently rules out the possibility for social science to emulate natural science in developing epstemic theory, that is, theory that is explanatory and predictive.” (Bent Flyvbjerg, 2011, p.302)

source: Flyvbjerg, B. (2011). Case study. In Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed., pp. 301-316). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

this view basically represents my (world)view of our learners, as a teacher and teacher educator. every person has an unique sociocultural-historical background. while our individual experiences may overlap, it is unique from person-to-person, either as a learner or as a person. we are not factory products that can be standardised nor serial-numbered. in short, claiming representations or meanings in numbers where learners are concerned, is probably short of the full-er story.

story photo
(acknowledgement: photo by pompi)

learning theories for teachers

thanks to si hui for pinging me on variation theory, and i chanced upon this piece of gem created by professors at HKU:

what teachers should know about learning theories website

it’s many hours of reading and hard work to produce this piece of excellent quick reference for teachers. extending this idea, we could perhaps create something similar for SLA/CL teachers, bringing together learning sciences and SLA works and making it accessible to our CL teachers (: