Things To Say!

Read the book Data Smog (by David Shenk) for an extremely well-written expose on all the data we are exposed to! A good additon to your professional collection!
Another good book is Things That Make US Smart by Donald Norman....an extremely well-written book on high techonology in our society.


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Hello and a hearty EH to my friends Dougal and Jon in Toronto!
Adam's car is noisy...ask him how much he paid for the gear shift handle!
In order to maximize their achievement, especially when studying conceptually complex and content-dense materials, students should not be allowed to be passive while they are learning. One way to get students more actively involved in this process is to structure cooperative interaction into classes so that students have to explain what they are learning to each other, learn each other's point of view, give and receive support from classmates, and help each other dig below the superficial level of understanding of the material they are learning. It is vital for students to have peer support and to be active learners, not only so that more students learn the material, but so that they get to know other students in class a build a sense of community that centers on the academic side of school. It is equally important that when seniors graduate they have developed skills in talking through material with peers, listening with real skill, knowing how to build trust in a working relationship, and providing leadership to group efforts. Without developing and practicing the social skills required to work cooperatively with other, how can faculty honestly claim they have prepared students for a world where they will need to coordinate their efforts with others on the job, skillfully keep a marriage and family functioning, and be a contributing member of a community and society? (KARL A. SMITH)
There are at least six basic skills our children must acquire if they are to learn how to function effectively and compassionately as adults. They are: (1) The ability to use language well and thoughtfully, (2) the ability to think through a problem and experiment with soultions, (3) the ability to understand scientific and technological ideas and to use tools, (4) the ability to use imagination and participate in and appreciate different forms of personal and group expression, (5) the ability to understand how people function in groups and to apply that knowledge to group problems in one's own life, and (6) the ability to know how to learn something yourself and to have the skills and confidence to be a learner all your life. (HERBERT KOHL)
Learners retain

• 10% of what they read
• 20% of what they hear
• 30% of what they see
• 50% of what they see and hear
• 70% of what they say (discuss with others)
• 80% of what they experience personally
• 90% of what they say and do
• 95% of what they teach to someone else (ROBERT GLASER)
Studies indicate that, in general, people tend to remember in accordance with the following percentages:

• 10% Reading, probably the most commonly used technique for "furthering instruction" appears to be on the lowest level, with only 10% retention. Why then the emphasis on outside or correlated readings?
• 20% Hearing, does not fare much better, with only 20% retention. Could this have implications for those who lecture only?
• 30% Seeing may be believing, but it is not remembering. With only a 30% retention of the things that are seen, we might well question the effectiveness of bulletin boards, charts, and other visuals that are merely displayed and not taught.
• 50% Combining hearing and seeing in one presentation apparently also combines the percentages of retention involved. Getting better now, but could this have a bearing on disucssions following the visualized lesson?
• 70% A 70% retention of information that is said by the learner. Remember the technique of having class members summarize the lesson in their own words.
• 90% Every teacher's dream! When a learner both verbalizes and performs a task he remembers 90% of the information. Could this call for role-playing and dramatization techniques?
Accomplishment of an objective depends on what the learner does, not what the teacher does.
Effective learning demands active manipulation of information by the LEARNER.

Last updated 7/29/97

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