Items to Share; 20 April

I shall be away for a few weeks, and I'll resume sharing when I get back.
Education Focus

• Do we really have high expectations of our students? Or is it just talk? Part Two: Curriculum. | Tabula Rasa 'I want to [...] suggest that low expectations are so entrenched in the system that even the curriculum we teach perpetuates poor standards. The rhetoric of high expectations continues to chime throughout the halls of my school and I wonder once again: is it just talk?'

• How could assessment & accountability unshackle schools? | Pragmatic Education

• First steps into learning and teaching in higher education  A free OOC from the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (disclosure--I worked there for a while) principally for people new to the field. For a fee, it can be assessed for 10 Master's level credits. 

• Perspectives on Kirschner, Sweller, Clark (2006) | websofsubstance 'In the period since I published a post linking to the original Kirschner, Sweller, Clark paper and the various responses to this paper, there has been some comment on Twitter and in other blogs. Some of this is thoughtful and considered; some of it is less so. I would like to respond to the main points that have been raised and of which I am aware.' 

• Advocates of RCTs in education should look more closely at the differences between medical research and education research | British Politics and Policy at LSE  'So does the Secretary of State for Education have a “huge enthusiasm” for rigorously evaluating policy, as Goldacre claims? His decisions over spending and the commissioning of policy papers suggests that, like his predecessors, he cares more about appearing interested in evidence rather than actually committing to invest any serious money on gathering it.'

Other Business

• The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens: Scientific American 'How exactly does the technology we use to read change the way we read?'

• Is Brain Science Really Changing How We See Ourselves? | Psychology Today 'There is in fact very little research into the way neuroscience findings are affecting the way we talk and think about ourselves.' 

• Wringing out a washcloth in space Fascinating video.

• Friedrich Nietzsche & Existentialism Explained to Five-Year-Olds (in Comical Video by Reddit) | Open Culture  'A web series inspired by a subreddit, “Explain Like I’m Five” has explained other complicated subjects to five year-olds, including the crisis in Syria and the volatility of the stock market. In this episode, our two presenters prime their students for a discussion on slave morality with the question “who here thinks they’re a good boy or a good girl?”'