Learning Scientists Posts

Cover image by katerinavulcova from PixabayBy Althea Need KaminskeTransfer of learning, the process by which people can recognize and apply previously learned information to different situations, is one of the primary goals of education. We can think of transfer and learning as happening along a continuum from highly similar to highly dissimilar. Learning, when people…

The extraordinary volume of information and the high-stakes nature of the board exams has led to an entire industry of test-preparation tools. While there are a few different types of study tools marketed towards medical schools, the biggest ones are question banks (QBanks). Selection and use of QBanks is one of the most prominent features…

As with any of the formats above, the key to making combination notes is recognizing what type of information needs to be recorded/learned and choosing the appropriate format, while making sure it’s in a format that you can practice spaced retrieval with. I really like using these different formats because they are already set up to…

We're right in the middle of a season where a lot of us are giving thanks and reflecting on the year we have had. For some of us it is because of American or Canadian Thanksgiving, Japanese Labour Thanksgiving, or Turkish National Day of Thanks, or upcoming holidays such as Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa. For…

Cover image by Kei from PixabayBy Megan SumerackiLast week, my blog post covered a paper by Simon Cullen and Daniel Oppenheimer. Their paper is titled Choosing to Learn: The Importance of Student Autonomy in Higher Education (1). In their paper, they present two studies. The first study, covered in Part 1, was a randomized controlled…

Many AI chatbot platforms are designed to simulate human relationships and are marketed as companions or experts. The APA urges for safeguards to mitigate harm because 1) adolescents are less likely to question the accuracy and intent of the chatbot and 2) adolescents’ relationship with AI may displace or interfere with development of healthy, real-world…

Students in the experiment read the explanations and completed their practice cases with feedback in the way outlined by their particular experimental condition (i.e., interleaved with one context, interleaved with two contexts, blocked with one context, blocked with two contexts). Measuring Learning and TransferThe students were then tested to see how much they could remember…

Factorial ANOVAs are a bit more complicated. A factorial ANOVA means there is more than one factor being examined. Maybe we’re interested in both multiple choice vs. short answer questions as well as whether the questions are factual or applied. There are two factors that require a factorial ANOVA. There can be more factors and…

Cover Image by huoadg5888 from PixabayBy Althea Need KaminskeWhen I meet with a student to discuss why their performance in a class isn’t where they want it to be, I remind them that there are many factors that affect how well they do in a course. Many of those things are under their control -…

[Cover image by ovariancancer1 on Pixabay]by Cindy NebelNaturally, we typically talk about classroom learning with student learners. But fundamentally, we are all learners and as professionals in education, we are expected to continue learning. This means that the same evidence-based strategies that you seek out for your students can apply to you as well.Today I’m…