Daniel Willingham

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Cognitive Science

Prof Daniel Willingham is one of the strongest advocates of using cognitive sciences and evidence to inform teaching.

Like architecture

Cognitive sciences are boundary conditions for teaching.
Willingham compares it to architecture.
- To build a skyscraper, you need to respect the laws of Physics and other scientific principles, or the building will fall.
- However, you are still free to decide what the building will look like at the end.

Improvisation

Many situations in the classroom are unpredictable.
How teachers respond to that will depend on their beliefs and knowledge about how children learn.
To have accurate beliefs that will lead to effective responses, teachers should try to be aware of the evidence and research about students' cognition.

The Myth of Learning Styles

Research by prof Willingham and others has revealed no support for the idea that different learning styles affect students' learning.

What are learning styles

The idea is that each student has a preferable way to learn and that teaching accordingly would increase pupil's understanding of content.
It usually classifies students' styles as visual, auditory and kinesthetic.

Little supporting evidence

Although different people may prefer different learning methods, adjusting instruction to fit this preference does not improve learning.
Research shows that pupils that study according to their styles do not perform better than their peers.
Experiments that support learning styles often do not follow a proper scientific method.
Well-designed experiments often contradict many of the claims around learning styles.

Why is it so widely believed?

Partly because of the appeal in treating each student as an individual within the system.
Truly effective learning techniques usually require more planning and effort.
In fields like Medicine, there are practitioner-led organisations that are figures of authority in the field.
- Willingham says no such thing exists for education, which is one of the reasons myths are not busted quickly enough.

1Memory

1.1Memory Processing

1.1.1Overview of Memory

1.1.2Memory Processing

1.2Types of Memory

1.2.1Types of Memory

1.2.2Working Memory

2How Do We Learn?

2.1Neural Model of Learning

2.1.1Neural Model of Learning

2.1.2Desirable Difficulties

2.1.3The Forgetting Curve

3Cognitive Load Theory

3.1CLT

3.1.1CLT

3.1.2Background Knowledge

4Effective Strategies

4.1Rosenshine's Principles

4.1.1Rosenshine's Top 1-5

4.1.2Rosenshine's 6-10

4.2Dunlosky's Strategies

4.2.1Dunlosky's Strategies

4.3Dylan Wiliam

4.3.1Dylan Wiliam

4.4Daniel Willingham

4.4.1Daniel Willingham

4.5The Learning Scientists

4.5.1The Learning Scientists

4.5.2Practical Ideas

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