September 2009
2 posts
November 2008
4 posts
US Election Results
The two maps above compare the 2004 and the 2008 US election results on a state by state basis. Each state has been scaled so that the area of the state on the map is proportional to the population of the state. This makes the shift in opinion easier to see, as it is not masked by the low population and large area of some states.
Copied and scaled down from Mark Newman’s Election Maps.
Rounding Numbers →
Maths is Fun page with a significant figures calculator (scroll down the page a bit!). Have a go at putting your own numbers into the significant figures calculator and see if you can work out how it works.
October 2008
4 posts
Learn about atoms... →
Some samples of learning materials designed for screen use…
Geoff Petty →
Geoff Petty runs a nice Web site - you can download plenty of stuff that contains ideas for planning teaching.
Research in education →
A set of Web pages about research methods used in education. This resource describes the various methods, gives simple examples, and describes the limitations and assumptions that might underpin the method. Each page is quite short and not ‘formal’. I’ll be adding links to particular pages in the posts above.
September 2008
5 posts
ESCalate Publications page →
ESCalate is part of the Higher Education Academy which is the equivalent of IfL for University teachers. ESCalate publishes peer reviewed research produced by teachers in conjunction with local Universities. You could write up a ‘Hot Topic’ report and see it published. Thanks to Chris D for the link.
Learning Styles and Pedagogy →
The orange heading above leads to a major research report on the reliability and usefulness of various types of learning style inventory. Includes Honey and Mumford. Have a look at the ‘positive recommendations’ on page 132. Just read the page in the Acrobat reader!
http://www.infed.org/ →
I know that Joy used to recommend this site to participants.
Theory Into Practice →
From the reaction this afternoon, Joy used this one! It is a good site for suggesting bits of theory to work with…
Frank Coffield's research report on teaching in FE →
Frank Coffield has written a report called “Just suppose teaching and learning became the first priority”. You can download it from the Learning Skills Network for nothing. A quick skim might boost morale, but don’t feel you need to read the whole thing in detail.
August 2008
4 posts
“As a teacher I have been confronted with many students who don’t know how...”
– Cyrus Highsmith
“Many of the students we spoke to are making some use of their own tools to...”
– Learning from digital natives: bridging formal and informal learning
“Journalism that people get paid to do—nowadays, so far as I can tell—is about...”
– Sam Schwartz
June 2008
2 posts
“performing bricolage in real time over the course of hours, I am...”
– John Batelle quoted by Bill Thompson
“Well done everyone. Thankyou for letting me into your lessons - they have been...”
May 2008
4 posts
Information about the new Diplomas →
Diplomas are a new qualification that runs alongside GCSE and A levels and BTECs - don’t confuse them with BTEC National Diplomas The qualifications are 14-19, run over consortia including Colleges and Schools, and include core skills
April 2008
25 posts
“The problem with feeling you’re doomed is not just that it makes you...”
– Paul Graham who knows a thing or two about setting up new technology companies but is not a teacher. Brookfield seems to be tapping in to a common set of experiences.
How to link your presentation to your Webfolio
You have to do two things… Upload your ppt as a single file into your asset store Make a link from your Webfolio to your ppt To upload your ppt file into your asset store… Log into PebblePad Click on Upload File and select Single File Give the ‘asset’ a title (‘component 4’ or similar) and perhaps a sentence of description Click on the green paperclip at the...
“We are also interested in transformative nature of Transactional Analysis. Eric...”
– Attempt to use Transactional Analysis as a way of changing relationships in a classroom. Small scale, but very real and local.
Bloom's taxonomies →
Cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The cognitive domain taxonomy is very handy when planning question follow ups try to get them moving up the levels) and for writing learning outcomes.
Laurillard's Conversational Model →
Summary of Diana Laurillard’s model of the teaching process in HE
Dialogue model for CBT →
Has good references for dialog based teaching at higher levels.
Schon activity
Think of a small incident that happened in a class Describe the puzzlement phase What did your reflection suggest? What experiment did you try? Work with someone else Hand your description to the other person Other person tries to find a theory (of any kind) that fits or might describe the situation Swap over Theories explored Kolb Transactional analysis (feelings) Behaviorist approach...
“The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion...”
– Donald Schon, The Reflective Practitioner, 1983, London.
“Much teaching doesn’t work because it consists of answering questions...”
– Using questions in teaching. Scroll down for examples of questions by Bloom’s taxonomy level…