Those
who had been praised for their effort significantly improved on their
first score—by about 30 percent. Those who’d been told they were smart
did worse than they had at the very beginning—by about 20 percent.
It's not just memory that is
improved by sleep. Recent studies indicate that sleep not only helps
store facts, it also helps make connections between them.
And
yet the average American gets only 6.5 hours of sleep a night. Schwartz
also cites a famous 1993 study by Anders Ericsson in which the habits
of three levels of violin students were studied. The students at the
top level practiced than the bottom level. But what intrigued Schwartz
was the fact that the top level students also slept more, napped more
in the day, and were much more disciplined about giving themselves down
time and creating rituals to renew their energy. In other words,
"periods of high focus and intermittent rest."
Mr. Willingham notes that students
cannot apply generic "critical thinking skills" (another voguish
concept) to new material unless they first understand that material.
And they cannot understand it without the requisite background
knowledge.
Is drilling worth it?"
The answer is yes, because research shows that practice not only makes
a skill perfect but also makes it permanent, automatic and transferable
to new situations, enabling more complex work that relies on the
basics. Another question: "What is the secret to getting students to
think like real scientists, mathematicians, and historians?" According
to Mr. Willingham, this goal is too ambitious: Students are ready to
understand knowledge but not create it.
At some point, no amount of dancing will help you learn more algebra.
That the democratization of the A.P. curriculum has
sometimes come at a price was evident in the response of teachers when
they were asked if their students were ready and able to handle the
work in such courses. More than half, 56 percent, said they believed
that “too many students overestimate their abilities and are in over
their heads.” Even more teachers, 60 percent, said that “parents push
their children into A.P. classes when they really don’t belong there.
...some
professors and ethicists are questioning whether such Web sites
encourage cheating and undermine the mental sweat equity of day-to-day
learning by seducing students with ready-made solutions and essays.
Fifty-two percent said such courses should be open only to students who could demonstrate that they could handle the work
For
adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge
the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while
young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult
learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts
that are contrary to their own.
"...we
need to move beyond that and challenge our perception of the world. If
you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that
agree with what you already know, you’re not going to wrestle with your
established brain connections.”
As
adults we have all those brain pathways built up, and we need to look
at our insights critically,” he says. “This is the best way for adults
to learn. And if we do it, we can remain sharp.
Students
who studied alone, read and wrote more, attended more selective schools
and majored in traditional arts and sciences majors posted greater
learning gains.
Social engagement
generally does not help student performance. Students who spent more
time studying with peers showed diminishing growth and students who
spent more time in the Greek system had decreased rates of learning,
while activities such as working off campus, participating in campus
clubs and volunteering did not impact learning.
The fact is, 4 is far too young an age to reach any conclusions about the prospects of a child’s mind.
“Early good testers don’t make better students,” he tells me, “any more than early walkers make better runners.”
And when were IQs the least stable? Before the age of 6.
Only
45 percent of the kids who scored 130 or above on the Stanford-Binet
would do so on another, similar IQ test at the same point in time.
What
percentage of 4-year-olds who scored 130 or above would do so again as
17-year-olds? He answered with a careful regression analysis: about 25
percent.
“No university I know,” he says, “would think of using a 4-year-old’s data to decide who to admit.”
“It’s
not entirely inaccurate to observe that more and more high-achieving
students go off to university and don’t care about anything,” says
Nelson. “They don’t ask questions, they don’t have original ideas."
“The
kindergarten-admission process has always been about openly judging a
4-year-old and secretly judging the parents’ wealth, connections, and
likeliness to give.”
He suggests
that schools assess children at an age when IQs get more stable. And in
fact, that’s just what City and Country, one of Manhattan’s more
progressive schools, does. Standardized tests aren’t required of their
applicants until they’re 7 or older. “That way, the kids are further
along in their schooling,” explains Elise Clark, the school’s
admissions director. “They’re used to an academic setting, they can
handle a test-taking situation, and overall, we consider the results
more reliable.”
