Short answer: in science lessons, use enquiry once pupils already know the content. You might ask: Why use a pedagogical … More
Category: learning
A Reflection on “The 10 Key Issues with Children’s Learning in Primary Science in England” (Bianchi, Whittaker and Poole: 2021)
This post is a reflection on the publication by Bianchi, Whittaker and Poole’s publication in March 2021 (here). This publication … More
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