URBAN LEGEND
or
PRACTICAL PEDAGOGY?
Are you a teaching ninja?
Presenters:
Alyssa Archer
Candice Benjes-Small
Susan Van Patten
Radford University
Rules
For each theory, your team needs to decide whether it’s an:
URBAN LEGEND or PRACTICAL PEDAGOGY.
We will let you know when it is time to vote.
Team with the most points at the end are declared teaching
ninjas and win a fabulous prize!
Team Formation
Get ready....
Millennial students are excellent
multitaskers; therefore, we don’t need
to worry about their learning if we
see them texting off-topic during
class.
Urban Legend
Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N. J. (2013). Laptop multitasking hinders
classroom learning for both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education,
62, 24-31.
Wood, E., Zivcakova, L., Gentile, P., Archer, K., De Pasquale, D., & Nosko, A.
(2012). Examining the impact of off-task multi-tasking with technology on realtime classroom learning. Computers & Education, 58(1), 365-374.
For e-lessons, you should include
images as well as narration that
duplicates on-screen text.
Urban Legend
Redundancy Principle
Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2003). E-Learning and the science of instruction:
Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
People learn better when content is
spread over multiple classes rather
than massed into one session.
Practical Pedagogy
Distributed Practice
Donovan, J. J., & Radosevich, D. J. (1999). A meta-analytic review of the
distribution of practice effect: Now you see it, now you don’t. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 84(5), 795-805.
The tried and true practice of
highlighting text is an optimal study
practice.
Urban Legend
Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The
science of successful learning. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press.
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T.
(2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques
promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological
Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.
In order to succeed in any field, you
must practice a specific task an
average of 10,000 hours.
Urban Legend
Epstein, D. (2013). The sports gene: Inside the science of extraordinary
athletic performance. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Goleman, D. (2013). Focus: The hidden driver of excellence. New York, NY:
HarperCollins.
True or False?
Urban Legend
Lalley, J. P., & Miller, R. H. (2007). The learning pyramid: Does it point
teachers in the right direction? Education, 128(1), 64-79.
Benjes-Small, C, & Archer, A. (2014). Tales of the undead learning theories:
The learning pyramid. Retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2014/01/13/tales-ofthe-undead-learning-theories-the-learning-pyramid/
Providing notes or partial notes
before class improves learning.
Practical Pedagogy
Clark, R. C., Nguyen, F., & Sweller, J. (2006). Efficacy in learning: Evidencebased guidelines to manage cognitive load. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley &
Sons.
In PowerPoint, have no more than
four bullets per slide.
Practical Pedagogy
Principle of Limited Capacity
Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A
reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Journal of Behavioral and Brain
Science, 24, 87–114.
Pedagogical aids in a textbook, like
bolded keywords and having
discussion questions, help student
performance.
Urban Legend
Gurung, R. A. R., & Daniel, D. (2005). Evidence-based pedagogy: Do text-based
pedagogical features enhance student learning? In D. Dunn & S. L. Chew
(Eds.),
Best practices for teaching introduction to psychology (pp. 41–55). Mahwah,
NJ: Erlbaum.
Encourage your students to
use mnemonic devices to
remember keywords for
long term learning.
Urban Legend
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T.
(2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques
promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological
Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.
Students who take notes longhand
remember conceptual information
better than those who type on a
keyboard.
Practical Pedagogy
Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the
keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological
Science, 25(6), 1159-1168.
Sending a welcome email to students
before classes starts can lead to
higher student engagement.
Practical Pedagogy
Wilson, J. H., Wilson, S. B., & Legg, A. M. (2012). Building rapport in the
classroom and student outcomes. In Schwartz, B. M. (Ed); Gurung, Regan A.
R. (Ed), Evidence-based teaching for higher education (pp. 23-37).
Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.
Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic You need to keep in mind students’
learning styles and tailor the material
accordingly to aid retention.
Urban Legend
Lilienfeld, S. O. (2010). 50 great myths of popular psychology: Shattering
widespread misconceptions about human behavior. Chichester, West Sussex:
Wiley-Blackwell.
For simple objective test questions
(T/F, multiple choice, matching)
immediate feedback is better than
delayed feedback.
Practical Pedagogy
Shute, V. J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational
Research, 78(1), 153-189.
Dihoff, R. E., Brosvic, G. M., & Epstein, M. L.
(2012). The role of feedback during academic
testing: The delay retention effect revisited. The
Psychological Record,53(4), 2.
Students’ attention declines after 10
minutes during lectures
Urban Legend
Wilson, K., & Korn, J. (2007). Attention during lectures: Beyond ten minutes.
Teaching Of Psychology, 34(2), 85-89.
Bunce, D. M., Flens, E A., & Neiles, K. Y. (2010). How long can students pay
attention in class? A study of student attention decline using clickers. Journal
of Chemical Education, 87, 1438-1443.
And the winner is...