The Problem Solving Methods Learners Use – and How to Develop Them

Solving problems, especially in physics, has been well studied (e.g. Larkin, McDermott, Simon and Simon 1980: here and Chi, Glaser … More

Cartoons and Abstract Visuals

Barbara Tversky (Minds in Motion) discusses the cognitive power of cartoons to explain abstract concepts. In these three images, I … More

Using Visual Explanations Leads to Better Performance

I have been listening to Barbara Tversky’s wonderful new book: Mind in Motion, about the roots of thinking in the … More

Up and Down the Ladder of Abstraction

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of physical, experiential knowlegde of physics: a sense of forces and flow; of motion … More

A Short Booklet on What Research Says About Using Visuals in Teaching

Dear all, I have been thinking hard (and reading a lot) about using visualisations in class. Here is a booklet … More

My ASE Talk January 10th 2019 – How to Teach Problem Solving in Science (with added Bar-Models!)

I have planned the outline of my ASE Annual Conference talk (Thursday 12.00). It may develop a little, but the … More

Learning Intentions

I have been worrying about Learning Intentions for a quarter of a century. Occasionally I discreetly ask someone I trust … More

Why Bar-Model Works #1: Dual Coding

I have been using bar-model incidentally in my year 11 revision groups for a couple of months now. I usually … More

Using Visual Representations to Help Solve Abstract Physics Problems

By year 6, pupils are skilled mathematical problem solvers. They can solve multi-step questions involving abstract concepts. This sounds like … More

But where is the cognitive science and the knowledge?

I’ve just received an email from TES advertising a book they are publishing titled: tes guide to STEM.I was hoping … More