Educational practice does not, for the most part, rely on research findings. Instead, there’s a preference for relying on our intuitions about what’s best for learning. But relying on intuition may be a bad idea for teachers and learners alike. This accessible guide helps teachers to integrate effective, research-backed strategies for learning into their classroom practice. The book explores exactly what constitutes good evidence for effective learning and teaching strategies, how to make evidence-based judgments instead of relying on intuition, and how to apply findings from cognitive psychology directly to the classroom. Including real-life examples and case studies, FAQs, and a wealth of engaging illustrations to explain complex concepts and emphasize key points, the book is divided into four parts: Evidence-based education and the science of learning Basics of human cognitive processes Strategies for effective learning Tips for students, teachers, and parents. Written by "The Learning Scientists" and fully illustrated by Oliver Caviglioli, Understanding How We Learn is a rejuvenating and fresh examination of cognitive psychology's application to education. This is an essential read for all teachers and educational practitioners, designed to convey the concepts of research to the reality of a teacher's classroom.

Cutting-edge insights and perspectives from today’s leading minds in the field of learning science The discipline of learning science is fast becoming a primary approach for answering one of the most important questions of our time: How do we most effectively educate students to reach their full potential? Spanning the disciplines of psychology, data science, cognitive science, sociology, and anthropology, Learning Science offers solutions to our most urgent educational challenges. Composed of insightful essays from top figures in their respective fields, the book also shows how a thorough understanding of this critical discipline all but ensures better decision making when it comes to education. Chapters include: • Exploring Student Interactions in Collaborative Problem-Solving with a Multimodal Approach • Learning Science Research Through a Social Science Lens • Semantic Representation & Analysis and its Application in Conversation-based Intelligent Tutoring Systems • Advancing the Relationship Between Learning Sciences and Teaching Practice • Advancing the State of Online Learning: Stay Integrated, Stay Accessible, Stay Curious • Designing Immersive Authentic Simulations that Enhance Motivation and Learning • High School OER STEM Lessons Leading to Deep Learning, For Students and Teachers • How to Increase Learning While Not Decreasing the Fun in Educational Games Whether you’re creating curricula, developing policies, or educating students in a classroom setting, Learning Science delivers the knowledge, insight, and inspiration you need to do your part to ensure every student meets his or her full potential.

An innovative, internationally developed system to help advance science learning and instruction for high school students This book tells the story of a $3.6 million research project funded by the National Science Foundation aimed at increasing scientific literacy and addressing global concerns of declining science engagement. Studying dozens of classrooms across the United States and Finland, this international team combines large-scale studies with intensive interviews from teachers and students to examine how to transform science education. Written for teachers, parents, policymakers, and researchers, this book offers solutions for matching science learning and instruction with newly recommended twenty-first-century standards.

Time-tested activities to teach the key ideas of science—and turn students into scientists! This witty book adapts classic investigations to help students in grades 3 through 8 truly think and act like scientists. Chapter by chapter, this accessible primer illustrates a “big idea” about the nature of science and offers clear links to the Next Generation Science Standards and its Science and Engineering Practices. You’ll also find: A reader-friendly overview of the NGSS Guidance on adapting the activities to your grade level, including communicating instructions, facilitating discussions, and managing safety concerns Case studies of working scientists to highlight specifics about the science and engineering practices

In the best science classrooms, teachers see learning through the eyes of their students, and students view themselves as explorers. But with so many instructional approaches to choose from—inquiry, laboratory, project-based learning, discovery learning—which is most effective for student success? In Visible Learning for Science, the authors reveal that it’s not which strategy, but when, and plot a vital K-12 framework for choosing the right approach at the right time, depending on where students are within the three phases of learning: surface, deep, and transfer. Synthesizing state-of-the-art science instruction and assessment with over fifteen years of John Hattie’s cornerstone educational research, this framework for maximum learning spans the range of topics in the life and physical sciences. Employing classroom examples from all grade levels, the authors empower teachers to plan, develop, and implement high-impact instruction for each phase of the learning cycle: Surface learning: when, through precise approaches, students explore science concepts and skills that give way to a deeper exploration of scientific inquiry. Deep learning: when students engage with data and evidence to uncover relationships between concepts—students think metacognitively, and use knowledge to plan, investigate, and articulate generalizations about scientific connections. Transfer learning: when students apply knowledge of scientific principles, processes, and relationships to novel contexts, and are able to discern and innovate to solve complex problems. Visible Learning for Science opens the door to maximum-impact science teaching, so that students demonstrate more than a year’s worth of learning for a year spent in school.

Informal science is a burgeoning field that operates across a broad range of venues and envisages learning outcomes for individuals, schools, families, and society. The evidence base that describes informal science, its promise, and effects is informed by a range of disciplines and perspectives, including field-based research, visitor studies, and psychological and anthropological studies of learning. Learning Science in Informal Environments draws together disparate literatures, synthesizes the state of knowledge, and articulates a common framework for the next generation of research on learning science in informal environments across a life span. Contributors include recognized experts in a range of disciplines-research and evaluation, exhibit designers, program developers, and educators. They also have experience in a range of settings-museums, after-school programs, science and technology centers, media enterprises, aquariums, zoos, state parks, and botanical gardens. Learning Science in Informal Environments is an invaluable guide for program and exhibit designers, evaluators, staff of science-rich informal learning institutions and community-based organizations, scientists interested in educational outreach, federal science agency education staff, and K-12 science educators.

This volume considers the future of science learning - what is being learned and how it is being learned - in formal and informal contexts for science education. To do this, the book explores major contemporary shifts in the forms of science that could or should be learned in the next 20 years, what forms of learning of that science should occur, and how that learning happens, including from the perspective of learners. In particular, this volume addresses shifts in the forms of science that are researched and taught post-school – emerging sciences, new sciences that are new integrations, “futures science”, and increases in the complexity and multidisciplinarity of science, including a multidisciplinarity that embraces ways of knowing beyond science. A central aspect of this in terms of the future of learning science is the urgent need to engage students, including their non-cognitive, affective dimensions, both for an educated citizenry and for a productive response to the ubiquitous concerns about future demand for science-based professionals. Another central issue is the actual impact of ICT on science learning and teaching, including shifts in how students use mobile technology to learn science.