Future Questions
CPD: Cognitive Science Level 2, topic 5.1.1
Future Questions
Although cognitive sciences have shown the power of some learning strategies over others, not always these findings are easily translatable to the classroom.
Phonics
- The EEF mentions the use of phonics interventions.
- There is ample support for the use of phonics when teaching children to read.
- However, several interventions have simply failed to provide any improvement in children’s performance.
- How and when does phonics actually work?
Individual differences
- One difficulty in bringing lab findings to the classroom is that a classroom is composed of students from different backgrounds and with different levels of abilities and motivation.
- For example, teaching an older child to read poses additional challenges than teaching a student at the right age.
- SEND students also require specific strategies and techniques.
Engaging material
- In 2014, the US Department of Education was funding research that would investigate the applicability of cognitive sciences to education. They concluded with the following questions:
- How can teacher capture students’ attention to critical information?
- How should new material be presented so that it gets connected to prior knowledge?
- How should the curriculum be designed so that students can transfer skills to broader situations?
Interleaving and spacing
- Interleaving is an extremely powerful learning strategy with immense support in the scientific literature. However, some practical questions remain unanswered?
- What is the optimal spacing between study sessions?
- How is the spacing interval influenced by the date of the exam?
- Should the spacing intervals be consistent or gradually extended?
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Some unanswered questions about interleaving and spacing
US Department of Education main questions