• Front Page
  • Search
    • Digital Education
    • Terry Freedman's Books Bulletin
  • RSS
    • Welcome
    • The "About" Page
    • Testimonials
    • CV/Resumé
    • My Writing
    • Published articles
  • Corrections Policy
Menu

ICT & Computing in Education

Articles on education technology and related topics
  • Front Page
  • Search
  • Newsletters
    • Digital Education
    • Terry Freedman's Books Bulletin
  • RSS
  • Info
    • Welcome
    • The "About" Page
    • Testimonials
    • CV/Resumé
    • My Writing
    • Published articles
  • Corrections Policy
Planning is useful, but is it effective?

Planning is useful, but is it effective?

The importance of research in education

April 5, 2017

I attended the conference of the National Conference of University Professors recently. One of the speakers at the event, which was titled Research Excellence and Publishing Seminar, was Professor Marilyn Leask. 

She asked: "Where is the research on lesson planning?"

We may do things without knowing if there is any research about that approach, or what the research says. Perhaps we may even justify that by taking the view that if we get it wrong, ie it turns out that what we're doing is ineffective or worse, at least nobody is going to die.

No, said Professor Leask. But if schooling is poor, pupils could go on to lead impoverished lives.

All very well, and all very true, but as Professor Leask said, teachers don't want to read academic research papers that boast 20 pages of methodology. They want practical solutions. As I always ask when I am evaluating a talk at a conference for teachers: how will this help me with class 3B next Friday afternoon?

Her solution has been to take a leaf out of the medical establishment, where they have an approach known as 'translation research'. Basically, the findings are set out in very simple terms, but doctors can drill down very quickly to obtain more detail -- ideal when you need to provide a diagnosis and a possible solution for a patient who's sitting in front of you!

To create an education equivalent, a network of universities, professional associations and individual researchers set up Mesh Guides, and formed the Education Futures Collaboration charity to take it forward. See www.meshguides.org. The co-chairs of the charity are Dr Sarah Younie and Professor Marilyn Leask.

Here are a couple of screenshots from the one on Neuroscience, to give you a better idea of how they work:

This is the top level.

This is the top level.

Click on a box in order to get more detail:

As you can see, further references are listed.

As you can see, further references are listed.

Go there now and have a look at the Mesh guides, and maybe even get involved yourself. In the meantime, you may wish to consider this question before you implement a new approach: is there any research that says this actually works?

If the answer is 'no', or you're not sure, perhaps you could set up a small classroom-based research project yourself. If so, there is plenty of information about practice-based research on the Mirandanet website.

In Leading & Managing Computing & ICT, Professional development, Research Tags NCUP, Mesh Guides
← Making and codingI'm not paranoid, but... →
Recent book reviews
Backlist: The Written World
Backlist: The Written World

Writing was invented ‘only’ a few thousand years ago. It’s a fascinating story.

Read More →
Backlist: What I'm reading: Bounce
Backlist: What I'm reading: Bounce

What does it take to become an expert? And what can the Computing teacher do about it?

Read More →
Backlist: The Fourth Education Revolution
Backlist: The Fourth Education Revolution

The title of this book invites curiosity: what were the other three ‘revolutions?

Read More →
A book review for your English department colleagues perhaps
A book review for your English department colleagues perhaps

Some of these stories are so richly told, it can almost seem as though you’re right there with him.

Read More →
Review: Pen Names
Review: Pen Names

OK, so this has nothing to do with education technology, but we all read (I hope!). A very interesting examination of the pen names some authors have adopted, and why.

Read More →
Review: The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History
Review: The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History

There's a really interesting section in this book about how ceramic storage of data and information is probably the most likely medium to stand the test of time.

Read More →
A book review for your biology colleagues perhaps
A book review for your biology colleagues perhaps

The subject under discussion here is how human physiology has developed in different ways, in response to different conditions around the world.

Read More →
Review: Social Media for Academics
Review: Social Media for Academics

This book is very readable, and if I sound surprised that is because it’s not always true of academics!

Read More →
Quick looks: VIBE Coding by Example
Quick looks: VIBE Coding by Example

For the time being, this book is free in Kindle format.

Read More →
Review: The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too
Review: The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too

Despite the relative paucity of immediately obvious National Curriculum links, teachers will find several of sections of this book to be highly engaging.

Read More →
Dig+Ed+Banner.jpg

Contact us

Privacy

Cookies

Terms and conditions

This website is powered by Squarespace

(c) Terry Freedman All Rights Reserved