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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Watson
Andrew began his classroom life as a high-school English teacher in 1988, and has been working in or near schools ever since. In 2008, Andrew began exploring the practical application of psychology and neuroscience in his classroom. In 2011, he earned his M. Ed. from the “Mind, Brain, Education” program at Harvard University. As President of “Translate the Brain,” Andrew now works with teachers, students, administrators, and parents to make learning easier and teaching more effective. He has presented at schools and workshops across the country; he also serves as an adviser to several organizations, including “The People’s Science.” Andrew is the author of "Learning Begins: The Science of Working Memory and Attention for the Classroom Teacher."
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ABOUT THE BLOG
Sad News
Like so many who study psychology, we at LatB are terribly sad to learn…
Have We Finally Arrived at 2nd Grade?
When I first met him, Kurt Fischer used to say “when it comes to the…
Update on “Collaborative Learning”
Last week, I wrote about a potential strategy for making group-work more effective. A Boston-based…
The Unexpected Dangers of Reading (and Writing) Blogs
A recent post on a well-known education blog beats up on that old nemesis: “rote…
What’s the Best Timing for Collaborative Learning?
Learning can be a lonely business. Does collaborative learning help students? If yes, what guidelines…
The Surprising (Potential) Benefits of Stress
We’ve known for years that people listen to good news more than bad news. New research suggests, surprisingly, that stress helps us learn from the bad news as well as we learn from the good. Teachers should hope that this study will be repeated with school-aged children. Continue reading
Improve Your Syllabus & Lesson Plan With “Prior Knowledge”
By explicitly including prior knowledge in our lesson plans, we can help students learn new material more effective. And, this effect might explain the syllabus-level benefits of spreading practice out over time: the “spacing effect.” Continue reading
Play More Chess, Get More Smarts?
Some research suggests that general cognitive training — through chess, or music lessons — might help students learn a broad array of academic disciplines. However, research that controls for placebo effects discounts that finding. Almost certainly, students must learn each particular skill by practicing it. Continue reading
Resources to Get Started with “Embodied Cognition”:
The field of embodied cognition has gotten increasing attention in recent years. The short version…
Let’s Get Practical: When Should Students Self-Test?
When should students self-test for maximum learning? Recent research suggests that retrieval practice timing matters less than retrieval practice doing. That is: students can self test at the end of a textbook section, or an the end of a chapter; both techniques help them learn. For even better memories, do both! Continue reading
