Should teaching practices be changed if they contradict scientific research? / ITech content

Contents:

• How to understand whether you can trust the research
• What if there are only two studies

Research shows that allowing students to draw during explanations in class can promote better absorption of the material and reduce distraction. However, there is another point of view that doodling does not significantly affect the ability to memorize information and distractibility. In this context, note-taking appears to be a more effective method for improving knowledge acquisition. Therefore, it is important to consider different teaching approaches to select the most productive methods for enhancing the educational process.

Imagine this situation: you learned about the first study and began to implement the doodling method in your lessons while explaining a new topic. And then you come across another study that claims this method is ineffective. What should you do in this situation? Should you change your practice? Perhaps new research will soon appear that will confirm that doodling is just as effective as note-taking. It is important to remember that educational methods should be based on current data, but at the same time, the teacher's experience and intuition also matter.

A study published in 2022 confirmed that photographing presentation slides promotes information retention. However, another scientific study found that this method is not as effective as traditional note-taking, highlighting the importance of note-taking. If you previously shared the first study with your students and they began actively photographing slides during lectures, what should you do now? Should you inform them that this method is not producing the expected results? It is important to remember that traditional memorization methods, such as note-taking, can be more effective for retaining information.

In recent years, the concept of evidence-based pedagogy has become increasingly relevant. It suggests that teachers should use only scientifically proven methods and closely monitor new research in the field of education. However, the examples provided highlight that the results of different studies can be contradictory. This raises the question: how reliable are the findings of scientific studies and how can they be relied upon in educational practice?

British expert Andrew Watson shared his opinion on the blog "Learning and the Brain." In this article, he discusses important aspects of learning and its impact on brain function. We present the main ideas and conclusions of his research.

British educator and author of scientific and educational books for teachers with experience in school education since 1988. In 2008, he began researching the practical application of psychology and neuroscience in education. In 2011, he received a master's degree in educational neuroscience from Harvard University. He currently serves as the director of Translate the Brain, an organization that provides educational outreach to teachers aimed at facilitating learning and improving teaching effectiveness. He also maintains the blog "Learning and the Brain," where he shares relevant materials on the interaction between neuroscience and educational practices.

How to Know if Research Can Be Trusted

Andrew Watson emphasizes the importance of critically evaluating scientific papers, as not all of them are highly reliable. He illustrates this by citing a case in which a friend claimed that chewing gum was beneficial for learning by improving concentration and memory. The friend also cited a published study that supported his viewpoint. This highlights the need to be careful when interpreting scientific data and sources of information.

At first glance, my friend found a study that supported his viewpoint, but the study is not conclusive. It involved only 16 people and was published in a journal focused on engineering, not areas such as memory or learning. The method of measuring attention in this study can be considered highly unscientific. So, while the research confirms my friend's claims, its validity is questionable, and this doesn't require in-depth analysis.

Research may seem compelling and its results attractive, but this doesn't mean one should trust the scientists unconditionally. An important aspect is the natural curiosity that many renowned scientists possess. They don't accept conclusions at face value or dismiss them out of hand, but rather ask: have these conclusions been refuted by anyone? This approach helps to gain a deeper understanding of the subject of research and contributes to the development of science.

It is recommended to use scientific databases to verify the information. Andrew Watson suggests two reliable resources for this purpose:

• Scite.ai (paid, but with seven-day free access) will tell you how often the research paper you're interested in has been cited by others, and whether its findings have been confirmed or refuted.
• Connectedpapers.com (free) finds the most recent studies that have cited a research paper and shows how different studies are related.

You can use the artificial intelligence-based service elicit.org. It provides access to various research papers on a single topic and creates a general summary from them. It's worth noting that all of the platforms mentioned function exclusively in English.

For a more accurate understanding of the effects of chewing gum, it's necessary to consider not one, but a whole range of scientific studies. In studying scientists' opinions on the effects of chewing gum, I came to two key conclusions. First, the research in this area turned out to be significantly more extensive than I expected, confirming the interest of scientists in this topic. Second, even the results of high-quality studies involving more than 16 participants show conflicting data. These aspects highlight the complexity and multifaceted nature of the issue of gum's impact on health and everyday life. Chewing has both positive and negative effects on people. It is important not only to confirm various hypotheses but also to correctly interpret the research results. Even high-quality scientific studies can lead to conflicting conclusions. The key question is whether multiple studies truly support the same point of view. Watson argues that teachers can begin to change their practices only if they receive a positive answer to this question. This underscores the importance of scientific research in educational practice.

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Finding and reading research on effective teaching and education is an essential skill for teachers, students, and anyone interested in pedagogy. Start by identifying keywords and phrases related to your topic. Use specialized databases such as Google Scholar, JSTOR, and ERIC to find relevant research articles and studies. Focus on reputable journals and publications with high citation rates.

When reading research, it is important to pay attention to the methodology used by the authors. Examine how the experiment or study was conducted, what data collection methods were used, and what the results were. This will help you evaluate the reliability and applicability of the findings. Also, remember to check the publication date, as new approaches and technologies in the field of education can quickly change ideas about effective teaching.

Don't limit yourself to just one source of information. Compare different studies and look for common trends as well as contradictions. This will allow you to gain a more complete understanding of the topic. Take notes, highlight important points, and formulate your own conclusions based on what you read. This way, you will be able to not only deepen your knowledge but also apply it in practice to improve the educational process.

It is normal for researchers to come to conflicting conclusions. Watson explains that psychology studies people involved in teaching and learning, and these topics are extremely complex. This is why conflicting research results are often observed in the field of psychology. Furthermore, no single study can provide a definitive answer to questions regarding human behavior and learning.

To gain a deeper understanding of a topic, experts advise looking not at individual studies, but at entire groups of papers that demonstrate a consistent direction. This approach allows for a more complete understanding of the topic and the identification of general trends and conclusions. Analyzing multiple studies contributes to a more accurate interpretation of the data and the formation of substantiated conclusions.

Watson formulates his "confidence formula", arguing that if ten studies confirm a positive result, two studies show a negative one, and two more create uncertainty, then the conclusion about a positive result seems most justified. This statement highlights the importance of analyzing scientific evidence and interpreting it in context. For now, this formula can serve as a guide for making decisions based on the available evidence.

What if there are only two studies?

How do you choose a study if there are only two and their findings contradict each other? This question is addressed in detail by Andy Watson in his article, where he analyzes two studies on the benefits and harms of photographing slides during class. The article presents arguments from both sides, allowing the reader to better understand the complexity of the topic and make an informed choice.

Studies show conflicting results regarding the effect of photographing slides on retention. Some studies claim that this process promotes better assimilation of the material, while others indicate no significant effect. Thus, the question of how exactly photographing slides affects memory remains open and requires further study.

Andrew, following his algorithm, first checked for other studies on the topic of photographing slides. However, a search of popular resources such as scite.ai, connectedpapers.com, and elicit.org did not reveal any additional results.

Andrew Watson recommends carefully examining the boundaries of each scientific paper, paying particular attention to its methodology. This will allow for a better understanding of the limitations and potential of the presented studies.

Studies that support the benefits of photographing slides and those that find no positive effect may yield conflicting results when accounting for differences in the participant population. For example, if one study was conducted with adult students and another with third-graders, it might be assumed that the difference in results is due to the age and educational background of the participants. Although both studies involved adult students, it is important to consider that differences in sample sizes can significantly influence the findings. These factors should be taken into account when interpreting the results of scientific studies.

Watson suggests paying attention to the specific subjects in which the studies were conducted. For example, the study might have focused on history or mathematics. This suggests that the use of presentation photography may improve retention in some subjects but have no effect in others. Similarly, the entire context of the studies could be analyzed, taking into account the characteristics of the educational institutions, national culture, and other factors that could explain the differences in findings. Watson emphasizes the importance of this idea for a deep understanding of the results.

Research on Photography has its own differences, which Watson explains. One of them is that the scientific approach emphasizes mind-wandering as an important variable, but this is not enough to draw clear conclusions about the benefits of photography. Approaches to data analysis and interpretation of results play a key role in understanding the impact of photography on cognitive processes.

In situations where clear conclusions are absent, it is important to rely on one's own empirical experience. Andrew Watson emphasizes that educators should be curious and informed. However, ultimately, decisions are made based on teachers' personal judgment. This approach helps develop professional intuition and make more informed decisions in the educational process.

According to Watson, he would approach the problem of using photographs in teaching in the following way: he would allow students to take pictures of complex diagrams and infographics, but would ask them to take notes on the rest of the information. The more students participate in processing information, the greater the likelihood of understanding and remembering it.

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