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Category Archives: Education trends
Is creativity on a downhill slide?
Just as the business world seems to be competing to attract creative workers, students’ scores on tests of creative thinking appear to be declining. Education professor at the College of William and Mary Kyung Hee Kim analyzed scores from the … Continue reading
Conforming to divergency
My first experience with creative problem solving competitions involved a group of rather ambitious second graders. Rather than opting for the easier non-competitive primary challenge they insisted on a difficult one. They spent hours trying to build structures out of fragile materials such … Continue reading
Learning through social networking media?
In the past with students glued to their phones rather than paying attention in class, teachers wondered if they could teach better using a social network. Social media may be useful, but the belief that everyone is using it sometimes … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, Technology in education
Tagged social learning, Social network
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Are children more creative?
If you listened to Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk about “How Schools Kill Creativity” [1], you would assume most children enter school tremendously talented and creative and exit at the opposite end of the spectrum. It is an entertaining talk, including … Continue reading
The complexity conundrum
While working with the development of a secondary language arts and literature curriculum, I had a co-worker say “If you don’t live by the 6 + 1 trait writing model, we are not going to get along.” At the time … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, The information age, Writer's resource
Tagged educational fads, Language arts, Rote learning, Writing
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The school of social networking
With students glued to Facebook rather than paying attention in class, teachers begin to wonder if they could teach better using a social network instead. Social media and e-learning may be useful, but Facebook is by no means universal. The … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, The information age
Tagged Artificial neural network, Facebook, Pinterest, Social media, Social network, Tumblr
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The higher level gamble
The attempt to create “higher level” multiple choice questions does not always result in valid assessment. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if this kind of close-ended, limited choice question can even legitimately test anything beyond a simple analysis. In … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, Standardized testing
Tagged Bloom's Taxonomy, Multiple choice, Skill, Tests
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The time of tests
The ancient Chinese refined the process of choosing officials based on testing. Prospective government employees would spend days ensconced in little tents taking the massive exam. If they scored high they could expect a cushy job as part of the … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, Standardized testing
Tagged China, Purpose of testing, Standardized test
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Multiple Choice Mess
Having worked both in education as a teacher, and in industry as a developer of certifications, I understand the prevalence of multiple-choice tests. They are easy to administer and grade without the specter of subjectivity. But it is not simple … Continue reading
What exactly are we testing?
The two big criteria for judging tests are reliability and validity. Reliability refers to the consistency of the test results each time it is given. For example, psychometric tests attempt to gain a picture of a person’s more permanent personality … Continue reading
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