Items to Share: 6 April 2014
Education Focus
- We're good at something, but what is it? PISA problems [Tom Bennett] '"Pupils in England are 'significantly better' at problem solving than
the average for the industrialised world, the latest results from an
influential comparative education study show. [] The country finished 11th among the 44 different international
territories where 15-year-olds took new computer-based tests, as part of
the last round of Pisa (Programme for International Student
Assessment).' But what does it actually mean?
Other Business
- Big data: are we making a big mistake? - FT.com 'Cheerleaders for big data have made four exciting claims, each one reflected in the success of Google Flu Trends: that data analysis produces uncannily accurate results; that every single data point can be captured, making old statistical sampling techniques obsolete; that it is passé to fret about what causes what, because statistical correlation tells us what we need to know; and that scientific or statistical models aren’t needed because, to quote “The End of Theory”, a provocative essay published in Wired in 2008, “with enough data, the numbers speak for themselves”.'
Regarding the assumptions of adult learning theory (I'm glad to see the infographic labels them as such), one need look no further than a toddler or preschooler to see an infinite amount of internal motivation to learn. Are they likely to patiently sit in a structured environment and endure a boring lecture or rote rehearsal of seemingly unimportant facts? Of course not, but adults' ability to do that isn't always about being internally motivated; it's often about the ability to tolerate poor teaching (combined with being externally motivated since many adults only engage in such things when they are required to or will receive something in return, like a degree or CEUs). Outside of (and sometimes inside of) formal education environments, kids are plenty motivated to learn--so much so that they do it without even thinking. Sure would be nice if these assumptions had some data to back them up!
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