Morning – just a quick post on using a fishbone diagram to help students write more focused cause and effect … More
Category: literacy
Why Gestures are Important
This post summarises the findings of a paper by Barbara Tversky: Gestures for Thinking and Explaining (2005). The author demonstrates … 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
Communicating Physics in the Grid
Last weekend, my friend, a graphic designer, recommended this book by Joseph Muller-Brockman. It’s central message is that text and … More
How Seductive Details Do Their Damage
I have been doing my homework on using images for learning and found this great 1997 paper by Harp and … More
How Good Are Our Multiple Choice Questions?
At Paradigm Trust we have developed an assessment programme based on comparative judgement combined with multiple choice questions. The reasoning … More
Telling Stories in Science with Bar Charts
The formula ΔQ=mcΔθ tells a story. It describes the relationship between temperature and thermal energy in an elegant, succinct and … More
Pre-Topic Assessments
This is the stuff of every teacher training course: “The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner … More
Visualising Abstract Concepts using 1D, 2D and 3D models – The Specific Heat Capacity of Aluminium
I wanted to give an example of how visualisations can be used to help learners get a deeper understanding of … More
Is there evidence for using visual representations of abstract concepts (e.g. bar-model) in science? Yes – from maths
I have written a fair amount on visual representations of abstract physical quantities such as energy, power, current and momentum. … More
