April 12, 2008

Subliminal Messages, Positive Reinforcement, and “The Secret” Can Support the Tutoring Process

(Article length 907 words)

Editor’s Notes: Tutors, especially those who specialize in helping students become self-directed learners, have, by nature of their discipline, an acute interest in any technique that can "help the student help himself".  Particularly, as it pertains to brain research, subliminal suggestion is re-emerging as a necessary and viable channel with which tutors can tap into their students latent potential.  Here, Mitchell Weisburgh, explores some of the uses of subliminal theory, while considering it’s overall application in the field of education.

This issue of PILOTed is about how the mind works in mysterious ways.

The first example comes from a 6 minute video on subliminal messages. It is well worth spending the time to look at the video,
before reading on. In fact, the other Derren Brown videos are fascinating as well, for example, How to take someone’s wallet, just by asking.

As a summary of the subliminal messages video, two advertising executives, on their way to a meeting, were exposed to the entrance to a zoo, various images of angel’s wings and harps, and a picture of a bear. They were then asked to develop an ad campaign, and lo and behold, the campaign incorporated all of the images that they’d seen on the way to the meeting.

It is tremendously powerful. If you can scaffold the right images into a student’s experience, can you better prepare the student to learn? How could this be incorporated into learning materials?


Click here to read more.

Filed under: Academic Learning Centers,Assessment,Coaching,Productivity,Small Private Practices,Tutoring Practices

April 9, 2008

Using the Myers-Briggs in Tutoring: Understanding Type

(Article length 2903 words)


The Association for the Tutoring Profession provides these articles as a service to its membership and the tutoring profession

Dr. Jack Truschel, Ed.D., Psy.D.

East Stroudsburg University

Introduction

People perceive issues, problems, happiness, sadness, general information etc., in different and fundamental ways. We also have a propensity to attribute the way people react to problems or issues, in a unique manner. We may apply causal attribution (Kelley, 1972) such as asking ‘why’ the person behaves as they do. Why did the tutee not show up for their appointment or why did the tutee not begin to do the assignment as previously discussed? At times, our attributes are in error and at other times, they are accurate. We make these fundamental attributions in error because we have a tendency to believe a person acts as they do because they are “that kind of person”, (Van Overwalle, 1997). These differences, especially when in a one-on-one environment such as tutoring, can be especially challenging. People, in general, are motivated by different things and although there are many theories of motivation, I will briefly discuss three.

To read more on "Using The Myer-Briggs in Tutoring: Understanding Type"

Filed under: Academic Learning Centers,Assessment,Coaching,Peer-Tutoring,Tutoring Practices

April 6, 2008

The Electronics of Teaching Developmental Reading

(Article length 1627 words)

By Linda Sweeney, National-Louis University

Literacy has been entwined with technology since the first human being picked up a stick and scratched signs on a cave wall. Most of us are aware of the various methods used to read and write through the ages: chisels and stone tablets, brushes and papyrus, quill pens and scrolls, typeset and printing presses. It’s just that we no longer connect the word "technology" to any of this equipment, though we oldsters do tend to privilege the printed page, especially if it’s bound and called a book.

I refer to myself and those who are reading this article as "old" because the generations that follow us, even the kids now in elementary school, will be dealing with far more technological change in the future than we can even imagine. They may likely do as much or more reading on the Internet or via electronic devices as with printed pages. Since around 1980 or so, our society has undergone a revolution, has entered a new age of literacy (Coiro, 2003; Schmar-Dobler, 2003; Reinking, 1997). It is estimated that at least 50% of current 12-17 year olds have computers, as well as the Internet (Sutherland-Smith, 2002). Almost all jobs require computers, even car repair. With the leaps and bounds of both software and hardware, it is hard to say how "wired" we will be in just 2-5 years.

Click here to read more.

Filed under: Academic Learning Centers,Assessment,Coaching,Peer-Tutoring,Tutoring Practices

March 21, 2008

How Tutoring Fares Against NCLB – Studies Reveal That Tutoring Can Help

(Article length 899 words)

By Carla Thomas McClure
March 2008

Under the No Child Left Behind act, districts receiving Title I funds are required to offer free tutoring and other supplemental educational services to students from low-income families who attend a Title I school that has not achieved Adequate Yearly Progress for at least three years. District personnel may be asked to help parents select a provider from a state-approved list. They may also be asked what the research says about tutoring as an intervention strategy. Although high-quality research on this topic is limited, available studies provide useful insights and caveats.
Tutoring under NCLB

In the summer of 2007, RAND released the first federally funded evaluation of school choice and supplemental educational services under NCLB. After examining data from nine large urban districts, RAND researchers concluded that tutoring had "a positive influence on reading and math scores in five of the seven districts where there were enough students to examine effects." Although academic gains were small during the first year, they increased after students received a second year of tutoring, indicating a positive cumulative effect. Comparisons of commercial tutoring services versus district-operated tutoring programs fielded mixed results as to which was better at producing academic gains. Meanwhile, students who elected transfer to better performing schools over tutoring showed no significant improvement in test scores, although researchers cautioned that these findings should not be viewed as nationally representative.
Researchers and analysts caution against adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
 

Click here to read more on "How Tutoring Fares Against NCLB – Studies Reveal That Tutoring Can Help"

Filed under: Academic Learning Centers,Assessment,NCLB,Peer-Tutoring,Research,Small Private Practices

March 12, 2008

A Fresh Look at Brain-Based Education

(Article length 6992 words)

It has been more than 20 years since it was first suggested that there could be connections between brain function and educational practice. In the face of all the evidence that has now accumulated to support this notion, Mr. Jensen advocates that educators take full advantage of the relevant knowledge from a variety of scientific disciplines.

By Eric P. Jensen

TEN YEARS ago John Bruer, executive administrator of the James S. McDonnell Foundation, began a series of articles critical of brain-based education. They included "Education and the Brain: A Bridge Too Far" (1997), "In Search of . . . Brain-Based Education" (1999), and, most recently, "On the Implications of Neuroscience Research for Science Teaching and Learning: Are There Any?" (2006). Bruer argued that educators should ignore neuroscience and focus on what psychologists and cognitive scientists have already discovered about teaching and learning. His message to educators was "hands off the brain research," and he predicted it would be 25 years before we would see practical classroom applications of the new brain research. Bruer linked brain-based education with tabloid mythology by announcing that, if brain-based education is true, then "the pyramids were built by aliens — to house Elvis."

Click here to read more on

"A Fresh Look at Brain-Based Education"

Filed under: Academic Learning Centers,Assessment,Pedagogy,Research,Training/Education

« Newer PostsOlder Posts »
Resources
Tutoring Foundations Tutor Training