New developments in the science of learning science of learning overview mind and brain how experts differ from novices how children learn learning and transfer the learning environment curriculum, instruction and commnity effective teaching - examples in history, mathematics and science teacher learning technology to support learning conclusions from new developments in the science of learning.

How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school.

The importance of intellectual talent to achievement in all professional domains is well established, but less is known about other individual differences that predict success. The authors tested the importance of 1 noncognitive trait: grit. Defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, grit accounted for an average of 4% of the variance in success outcomes, including educational attainment among 2 samples of adults (N=1,545 and N=690), grade point average among Ivy League undergraduates (N=138), retention in 2 classes of United States Military Academy, West Point, cadets (N=1,218 and N=1,308), and ranking in the National Spelling Bee (N=175). Grit did not relate positively to IQ but was highly correlated with Big Five Conscientiousness. Grit nonetheless demonstrated incremental predictive validity of success measures over and beyond IQ and conscientiousness. Collectively, these findings suggest that the achievement of difficult goals entails not only talent but also the sustained and focused application of talent over time.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/92/6/1087.pdf

Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals

A review is presented of the book “Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment,” edited by Thomas Gilovich, Dale Griffin, and Daniel Kahneman.

Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment

The culture of education

Much research in the last two decades has demon- strated that human responses deviate from the performance deemed normative according to various models of decision mak- ing and rational judgment (e.g., the basic axioms of utility theory). This gap between the normative and the descriptive can be inter- preted as indicating systematic irrationalities in human cognition. However, four alternative interpretations preserve the assumption that human behavior and cognition is largely rational. These posit that the gap is due to (1) performance errors, (2) computational limitations, (3) the wrong norm being applied by the experi- menter, and (4) a different construal of the task by the subject. In the debates about the viability of these alternative explanations, attention has been focused too narrowly on the modal response. In a series of experiments involving most of the classic tasks in the heuristics and biases literature, we have examined the implica- tions of individual differences in performance for each of the four explanations of the normative/descriptive gap. Performance er- rors are a minor factor in the gap; computational limitations un- derlie non-normative responding on several tasks, particularly those that involve some type of cognitive decontextualization. Un- expected patterns of covariance can suggest when the wrong norm is being applied to a task or when an alternative construal of the task should be considered appropriate.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0140525X00003435

Individual differences in reasoning: Implications for the rationality debate?

Ulric Neisser (Chair) Gwyneth Boodoo Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr. A. Wade Boykin Nathan Brody Stephen J. Ceci Diane E Halpern John C. Loehlin Robert Perloff Robert J. Sternberg Susana Urbina Emory University Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Howard University Wesleyan University Cornell University California State University, San Bernardino University of Texas, Austin University of Pittsburgh Yale University University of North Florida

/pdf/intelligence-knowns-and-unknowns-10r4cnx354.pdf

Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns.

This article seeks to establish that contextual factors informed by certain postulated cultural experiences can influence the cognitive performance of African-American children Toward this end, a 

African-American Children and the Educational Process: Alleviating Cultural Discontinuity through Prescriptive Pedagogy.

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in expressions of cultural integrity among African Americans. Many more recent efforts have argued that such expressions of integrity are rooted in an African cultural legacy and that these Afrocultural expressions continue to help shape the contours and textures of the African American experience (e.g., Boykin, 1983, 1986; Nobles, 1991; Stuckey, 1987; Thompson, 1983). Among expressions thought to be embodied in this cultural legacy are the following: spirituality, which suggests a focus on the vitalistic, shared essence of all things; the oral tradition, which places a premium on the spoken word; rhythmic-movement expressiveness; and communalism, which highlights the social interdependence of people (e.g., Boykin, 1983, 1986; Dixon, 1976; Jones, 1991; Nobles, 1974, 1991). Although postulated, there have been few systematic efforts within the psychological literature to document the coherency and

Communalism Conceptualization and Measurement of an Afrocultural Social Orientation

This qualitative study investigates the existence of cultural themes in classrooms serving low-income African American students. A classification scheme categorizing classroom dynamics that evidenced cultural themes is developed and used to record teachers and students'behaviors. Four hundred sixty classroom observations are specified to either a mainstream or Afrocultural ethos. Results support the home-school cultural misalignment argument. There are more observations of mainstream classroom behaviors than Afrocultural ones. Mainstream cultural themes emerge from teacher-initiated behaviors, whereas Afrocultural themes are most often recorded as student-initiated behaviors. Instrumentation limitations and implications of the observed cultural dissonance between teachers and students’ behaviors are discussed.

A. Wade Boykin

Papers

Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns.

African-American Children and the Educational Process: Alleviating Cultural Discontinuity through Prescriptive Pedagogy.

Communalism Conceptualization and Measurement of an Afrocultural Social Orientation

In Search of Cultural Themes and Their Expressions in the Dynamics of Classroom Life.

Cultural considerations in teachers’ perceptions of student classroom behavior and achievement