The book I read was Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement by Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering and Jane E. Pollock, and it was written in 2001. This book was a meta-analysis of studies on instructional strategies that can be used by K-12 teachers. As well as including instructional strategies, the book compares out-dated research and recent research on education and talks about the conclusions of those reports and the views that came about because of them.
Chapter 1: Applying the Research on Instruction: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Marzano starts off talking about the relatively new phenomenon of education right now; how it is quickly transitioning from the "art of teaching" to the "science of teaching." Until the 1970s, teaching had never been studied in a scientific manner. It was then that the first studies looking at the effects of teaching and instruction on the students came about. Marzano brings up a well known study that was published in 1966 called Equality of Educational Opportunity. The report, now commonly referred to as the "Coleman Report" because it was written by James Coleman, came to the conclusion that school made little difference in the achievement of students. The data was taken from about 600,000 students and 60,000 teachers in more than 4,000 different schools. Their study found that "the quality of schooling a student receives only accounts for 10 percent of the variance in student achievement." According to Marzano, the Coleman Report found that the majority of differences in student achievement were due to "the student's natural ability or aptitude, the socioeconomic status of the student, and the student's home environment." This was upsetting, of course, because there was nothing the school could do to change those factors. These same findings were confirmed by Christopher Jencks in his book "Inequality: A Reassessment of the Effects of Family and Schools in America." For about a decade you can see why it was heavily thought that the schooling students had made little difference in how much they learned and how they performed.
Marzano highlights the fact that there is hope for the influence of schools and teachers on the students. He explains that this is possible because the conclusions from Coleman and Jencks reports had some major flaws.
"The finding that schools account for only 10 percent of the differences in student achievement translates into a percentile gain of about 23 points. That is, the average student who attends a "good" school will have a score that is 23 percentile points higher than the average student who attends a poor school. From this perspective, schools definitely can make a difference in student achievement."
Another reason that the schools should have hope is that more recent research has found that individual teachers can have a lot of influence on student achievement, even if the school itself does not.
Attitudes About Educational Research
Many people think that research in education is not as rigorous or conclusive as research in the hard sciences such as chemistry or physics. After being reviewed by Larry Hedges, however, it was found that research in education is comparable to research in the hard sciences in terms of its rigor. Hedges did mention, however, that many more studies in the hard sciences are thrown out if the report's findings are considered unexplainable, whereas when extreme findings are found in educational studies are rarely discarded. Hedges recommendation is to find as many studies as possible to analyze before an estimate of a topic should be considered instead of just one single study or even a small set of studies.
One of the primary goals of Marzano's study was "to identify instructional strategies that have a high probability of enhancing student achievement for all students in all subject areas at all grade levels." Nine categories of strategies that have a strong effect on student achievement were found and are talked about in chapters 2-10 of the book. These strategies include Identifying similarities and differences, Summarizing and note taking, Reinforcing effort and providing recognition, Homework and practice, Nonlinguistic representations, Cooperative learning, Setting objectives and providing feedback, Generating and testing hypotheses, and Questions, cues, and advance organizers.
Questions:
What qualities do you think a teacher must have in order to make a strong impression on a student even if the school itself has little influence?
Why do you think educational studies that find unexplainable conclusions are often kept as good data instead of being discarded like those studies in the hard sciences?
Chapter 6: Nonlinguistic Representations
This chapter focuses on one of the nine categories of strategies mentioned in chapter one; Nonlinguistic Representations.
I really liked how this chapter started out because of the great use of examples of nonlinguistic representations. Marzano tells a story of a teacher and her 5th grade class. In the story, the teacher tells her students to close their eyes and then she begins reading a story to them. After a few pages she describes to them what image she is seeing in her mind and then asks them to picture in their own minds the things she describes to them. She also tells the students to ask any pertinent questions to help the image in their minds become more concrete. After the story she asks each student to draw pictures of their "favorite scenes" from the images they had created in their minds. The next day the teachers asks the students to share their pictures in small groups and then have each group draw a semantic web to show which information from the story was the most important to them.
The teacher in this story has made good use of a powerful aspect of learning—generating mental pictures to go along with information, as well as creating graphic representations for that information. These are forms of nonlinguistic representations, or the imagery mode of representation. Studies have found that the more we use both linguistic and nonlinguistic representations, the better we are able to think about and recall knowledge. Unfortunately studies have also found that the primary way teachers present new information to students is linguistic, either by talking about new content or having students read it. "It has even been shown that explicitly engaging students in the creation of nonlinguistic representations stimulates and increases activity in the brain."
Research indicates a few different activities that enhance the development of students' nonlinguistic representations, and therefore a better understanding of the subject's content. These activities include creating graphic representations, making physical models, generating mental pictures, drawing pictures and pictographs, and engaging in kinesthetic activity. The process of generating nonlinguistic representations engages students in elaborative thinking, which is great because when students elaborate on knowledge, they can recall it more easily and understand the content in more depth.
Marzano then gets more detailed about the different types of nonlinguistic representations by providing information on every one and also showing examples of each. The first is a graphic organizer, which he states is the most common form of nonlinguistic representations that students engage in. Actually, as he states, a graphic organizer is actually a combination of both linguistic and nonlinguistic representations because they use words and phrases, and also symbols and arrows to represent relationships. Marzano lists six different types of graphic organizers that are great in a classroom. They include descriptive patterns, time-sequence patterns, process/cause-effect patterns, episode patterns, generalization/principle patterns, and concept patterns.
The next type of nonlinguistic representations Marzano covers is physical models. He gives an example of a teacher who, when helping teach about the different phases of the moon, uses a lamp and Styrofoam ball and has the students stand in the room and move their moons in such a way that they see first a crescent moon, then a half moon, a full moon, and a three-quarter moon. Mental pictures is the type gone over next. This excellent example of generating mental pictures was used:
"Imagine," Mr. Williams says, "that you suddenly see something in the distance that looks like an apartment building carved into a cliff. Would you be puzzled? Curious? Frightened? Now imagine that you gallop your horse to the edge of the cliff and peer across at the black and tan sandstone and yes, it is something like an apartment building. There are ladders, black hole windows, and circular pits, but no people. It's absolutely quiet. There's no sign of life. Would you wonder what happened to the people who lived there? What would you think about the builders of this mysterious structure? Would you be brave enough to go inside? What do you think you would find?"
The next type of nonlinguistic representations is drawing pictures and pictographs, which is seen very often. An example of this could be drawing the human skeleton to help remember the different bones in the body. The last is engaging in kinesthetic activity, or an activity that involves physical movement. By definition, physical movement associated with specific knowledge generates a mental image of the knowledge in the mind of the learner. An example Marzano gives of this is from a teacher who started an activity called Body Math. Here is an excerpt from the chapter to give an example of this:
"During the lesson on radius, diameter, and circumference of circles, Barry uses his left arm outstretched to show radius, both arms outstretched to show diameter, and both arms forming a circle to show circumference. During a different lesson on angles, Devon depicts obtuse and acute angles by making wide and not-so-wide "Vs" with her arms as the children yell out the degrees. They even have ways to show fractions, mixed numbers, and turning fractions into their simplest forms."
Questions
Why do you think the primary way teachers present new information to students is linguistic when research suggests that incorporating nonlinguistic representations further increases students' ability to think about and learn new information? Do you think it's because of lack of creativity or perhaps because some teachers do not realize how effect nonlinguistic teaching methods can be?
In conclusion
I found this book very interesting! I personally did not know that nonlinguistic representations was much more effective in helping students learn new information and helped students elaborate on knowledge. This does make sense though, because many of the things I remember from high school and college classes came from an interesting activity we did or something aside from the normal linguistic style of teaching. It was also nice to read that teachers can have significant influence over students. I would recommend other people interested in teaching to give this book a read!
I feel two qualities are important. One, that the teacher cares and the students know that they care. If they are both trying to better someone I think this is something that will encourage students work harder. Two, the ability to communicate. When you effectively it is something that will make them effective teachers.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand this either. It is something that needs to happen.
I think there are up to 3 reasons why the use linguistic representations. 1) They don't understand that nonlinguistic representation is a better way to get students to understand the information. 2) They don't know how to use nonlinguistic forms effectively. 3) They don't like to incorporate new ways into the classroom. I think that this is another way that students can connect with students that are struggling. Some may be able to grasp the material by seeing it.
ReplyDeleteTrue compassion and concern for students is important. Students know when teachers care. It shows in how a teacher communicates and instructs. It shows in how teachers see students as humans, not numbers. It shows in how willing teachers are to make themselves available to and approachable by students. Certainly setting high standards for students is important as well, but setting the highest standards means nothing if there is a disconnect between student and teacher.
ReplyDeleteAs far as keeping unexplainable data, I would like to think that those doing the educational research realize that ultimately, the subjects of all educational research are living, breathing students. Dismissing certain inexplicable data literally means that the students involved in that study "don't count." In many studies in the 'hard sciences,' the subjects could literally be anything imaginable. Throwing out an experiment after seeing that the control group of bean sprouts didn't grow according to plan won't exactly create ethical or moral turmoil. Throwing out Eastside Middle School data because it didn't meet our expectations is a whole different issue.
Just as there are many types of learners (visual, aural, tactile, etc.) there need to be just as many ways of presenting material so that all students can receive it efficiently. I am lucky to teach in a department (tech ed) that focuses heavily on non-linguistic representation, and therefore some of my students who struggle with more traditional linguistic-based teaching styles tend to excel with the hands-on application of the content. I do think that some teachers may shy away from non-linguistic methods simply because they are either unfamiliar with them, or perceive them to be more labor-intensive. Meaning, it may seem that preparing a lecture on a topic takes less time that creating a more visual or hands-on lesson over the same topic. Limited resources may also play into that scenario.
Nice job Rachel!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a book I want to read.
One sure way to make a strong impression on students is to “walk the talk”.
This is done by relating the material to real world applications. This gives a student a framework to recount lessons and to apply them.
A story is a powerful way to make an abstract point figurative.
I’m confused, is throwing out unexplainable data a good thing or bad thing?
I’m of the opinion it should be thrown out since cause/effect cannot be established.
The nonlinguistic way of presenting information has both advantages and some disadvantages.
At my Church I create much of what is viewed on the main projector screen. I also produce occasional videos. My goal is always ask what do you want to say –and then do it without using any words…
The power of a visual or nonlinguistic representation is it can re-enforce the spoken word. If done properly it can even bypass the logical mind and be invoked directly by the emotions. To read about a need to help stray dogs vs. seeing a picture of the same thing can be far different.
One disadvantage is the response could suffer if it is misinterpreted or viewed as a distraction to the material. Bill_H
To be honest the connection between academic research and the real world is miles apart. Most teachers dont spend endless hours looking at research or how they should be doing things. We also need to consider that humans are beings of habit and most of the time teachers like to do things the way they have always done them. I would also guess it is easier to prepare material in an audio based presentation. I would also look at how we decide what content should be included in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best ways to make a great impact on students is "to know your stuff".Just as a fan at a basketball game can be in awe of the talents of Kobe Bryant,so can a student be in awe of the mastery of the subject by a dynamic teacher.If you know your subject well and can deliver it in a passionate manner, then you are already halfway there.
ReplyDeleteGood question.I don't know why they hold on to it.I liked Dean's answer.
ReplyDeleteI think teachers are really pressured to get their students to be excellent readers and therefore feel that they need to approach all learning in a linguistic manner. I do believe teachers sometimes do not have the creativity or it might be more difficult to write down this non- linguistic approach in their lesson planning or relate it to the standards.
ReplyDeleteNonlinguistic representation is an application I tend to use a lot. I love to include as many hands on activities as possible in my subject. Many times a student will remember something they have worked on rather than just listening or reading a textbook. I love creativity, but reality is linguistic must be included in the curriculum for those who are auditory learners. When it comes to teacher representation of new information, I believe that some teacher's lack creativity and others might feel it takes too much time to include in the lesson. Sometimes it might be a very handful tool if you want to get your point across. Especially, if the information is new to the student. I am a visual leaner and everytime the teachers used that method, I was able to understand it better. As a visual learner I felt the teacher cared for me, because to me it was more personal, he/she took that extra step to explain it to me and I didn't feel left out.
ReplyDeleteI think the qualities a teacher has to have are as follows:
ReplyDeletea passion for his/her subject and job...someone who actually likes to teach and is interested in helping their students succeed.
a caring attitude- the teacher should actually care about their students and try to connect what is being taught to their lives.
high expectations- the teacher should believe that their students can achieve and learn at a high level. By having high expectations, the teacher demonstrates that they believe their students can rise to those standards.
I also think the teacher should connect what is being learned in their classroom to what is going on in real life--their lesson plans and activities should be relevant and authentic. What is being taught inside the classroom should be something that can be applied after students leave high school. I know when I was a high school student I wanted to know why we were always learning things that I would never use and I wasn't exactly invested or interested in learning those things. I think education should be more practical and have more applications for life outside of school.
I think a lot of teachers don't realize how effective non-linguistic methods can be and also I think if they do know about it, they may be uncomfortable with it. Also, I think many teachers lack the creativity to come up with these activities and may be scared to use them because they are non-traditional in nature.
ReplyDeleteBeth, I agree completely agree with the good qualities of a teacher that you just listed. I would like to add one more, however, which is probably one of the most obvious, but one that i've found to be lacking in many subject areas. If a teacher is going to teach about a subject, he or she should be extremely knowledgeable in that subject. I'm not talking expert-level knowledge, but for example, how could I possibly be expected to make good decisions about what books my students should read if I'm not extremely well-read myself?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of putting nonlinguistic and linguistic expression together, because it meets the needs of more than one student. And in some ways it feels like emphasis or a way to clarify as you go.