The Evidence Based Education Podcast

In this episode of the Trialled and Tested podcast we explore working memory and its importance to teaching and learning; what it is, why it’s important for teachers to know about it and how an understanding of working memory can inform the way teachers teach. Working memory is the ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind while you use it to finish a task. For example, this could be how many numbers you can keep in your mind at the same time to complete a mental arithmetic task. Research has suggested that working memory is a reliable predictor of numeracy outcomes. But why is it important to learning? What do teachers need to know about it and how can they attend to it in their daily working practices? In this podcast, we hear from a psychologist and leading expert, Dr Tracy Alloway, as well as conversation with Alex Quigley from the EEF and Julie Watson from Huntington Research School. You can read about the Education Endowment Trust’s project focused on improving working memory for pupils age seven and eight here. For more podcasts, be sure to check out our podcast archive. We also have a collection of eBooks, videos and webinars in our Resource Library, which is free to join! Or listen here on Apple Podcasts. The post Trialled and Tested: Working Memory appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

“Teaching should start from where the student is, not from where we would like them to be.” says education professor Dylan Wiliam. In this episode of Trialled and Tested: Embedding Formative Assessment, we introduce how formative assessment strategies can be used in the classroom. Dylan is the co-developer of a professional development programme, Embedding Formative Assessment, which supports teachers to use real-time knowledge of their pupils’ strengths and weaknesses to adapt their practice. The programme builds on existing evidence that formative assessment can improve students’ learning. Many schools already prioritise formative assessment, but it can be challenging to implement. An independent evaluation funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) recently found that pupils in schools following the Embedding Formative Assessment programme made the equivalent of +2 months’ additional progress in their Attainment 8 GCSE score. Find out more, as Evidence Based Education’s Jamie Scott spoke to some of the people behind the programme – Dylan Wiliam, Emily Yeomans, Corinne Settle and Claire Taylor – and its evaluation to find out what it is all about. Tune in to hear from: Dylan Wiliam: Start to 16:40 Emily Yeomans: 16:40 to 21:40 Corinne Settle: 21:40 to 28:52 Claire Taylor: 28:52 to 35:23 Dylan Wiliam: 35:23 to end Full length: 38m You can read about the Education Endowment Trust’s Embedding Formative Assessment project in full here. Or listen here on Apple Podcasts. The post Trialled and Tested: Embedding Formative Assessment appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

In this episode of Trialled and Tested: Improving secondary science, Jamie Scott from Evidence Based Education speaks to Emily Yeomans (EEF Head of Programme Strategy), Sir John Holman (Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of York) and Dr Niki Kaiser (Chemistry Teacher and Research Lead at Norwich Research School) to explore some of the evidence-informed strategies teachers can adopt or focus on to enhance the teaching and learning of science at Key Stages 3 and 4. Emily Yeomans and Sir John Holman: Start to 31:35 Dr Niki Kaiser: 31:35 to end The recommendations discussed in the podcast, as well as many others, feature in the EEF Improving Secondary Science guidance report which you can download here: Improving secondary science guidance report and Summary of recommendations. All of our podcasts, including the Trialled and Tested podcast series, can be found in our resources section. Or listen here on Apple Podcasts. The post Improving secondary science appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

Is the science of learning really a science? What can teachers and students learn from the research evidence on effective studying and learning? What aspects of cognitive psychology could affect teachers and students in the next ten years? These are some of the questions Stuart Kime posed to Professors Anne Cleary and Matt Rhodes from Colorado State University when they recorded this podcast early in 2019. Anne and Matt’s new book – A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning – is published by OUP and is available now. We discussed their new book, and covered the following topics: Is the science of learning really a science? Does neuroscience have lessons for classroom practice? How is knowing something different to understanding? What is spacing and how does it help learners learn? What research in cognitive psychology should all teachers know about? What developments in cognitive psychology do you think will influence the way teachers teach and students learn in the next ten years? If you were in charge of the education system for the USA and could make any three changes, what would they be? And why? All of our podcasts can be found in our resources section, which includes blogs and webinars! Or listen here on Apple Podcasts. The post The Science of Learning appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

In this episode of the Trialled and Tested podcast, ‘Efficacy, evidence and evaluation’, Jamie Scott from Evidence Based Education speaks to Eleanor Stringer and Matthew van Poortvliet from the Education Endowment Foundation to find out more about their approach to identifying projects to fund, scaling-up promising projects and running evaluations. Here’s a full account of the questions put to Eleanor and Matthew: 2:02 – What does the EEF look for when considering which projects to fund? 3:15 – How much initial evidence do you need to get EEF funding for a project? 3:58 – What are the different stages of the EEF evaluation pipeline? And why and how might you scale-up a project from efficacy to effectiveness? 6:45 – Examples of scale-up projects 9:20 – Are EEF evaluation projects typically coming out of academic institutions or schools? 11:19 – Why have some trials been re-trialled? 14:08 – How does the evidence behind the ‘Embedding Formative Assessment’ project differ from other professional development programmes that might not have been trialled? 16:41 – How does the EEF respond to criticism of the approach to project evaluation, especially a perceived preference for randomised controlled trial designs? 21:55 – Some EEF trials have found results that conflict with previously-published findings – does this point to a replication problem in education research? 24:43 – How has the work the EEF has done since its inception improved the scientific endeavour of evaluation? 26:33 – What do you hope is the lasting impact of EEF project evaluations? 28:09 – Why are certain approaches or strategies not included in the EEF toolkit, despite there being strong evidence behind them? Remember to subscribe to the Trialled and Tested podcast feed, wherever you get your podcasts, as this is the last episode that we’ll also share through our EBE feed… Don’t miss out! Or listen here on Apple Podcasts. The post Efficacy, evidence and evaluation appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

In the latest episode of The Evidence Based Education podcast, UCLA Psychology Professor Alan Castel talks to our Director of Education Stuart Kime about his new book, Better with Age, and offers practical tips for staying mentally sharp as the years pass. We cover a wide range of fascinating and highly relevant topics, including metacognition, memory, cognitive load and teaching, and Alan offers deep insight from his years of research into this important subject. What does the evidence on learning, memory and aging tell us about how to keep our minds sharp and active as we grow older? How can physical activity improve cognitive function? Do we decline as we age, or simply change? Alan Castel’s book is available from all good booksellers, and can be very conveniently found on Book Depository here. [Ed.: No aspersion cast… no implication that Book Depository is not, indeed, a very fine bookseller!] Or listen here on Apple Podcasts. The post Professor Alan Castel on memory and aging appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

We’ve teamed up with the Education Endowment Foundation to bring you a new podcast – Trialled and Tested! This first episode is on metacognition and self-regulated learning. We’ll post this inaugural episode on the EBE podcast too, but to make sure you have access to future episodes, do search for Trialled and Tested in iTunes, Spotify or Google Store and make sure you subscribe there. In this first episode, and in future episodes, we’re going to explore a specific piece of information or guidance within the EEF suite of resources and try to bring that to life through discussion with others. In addition, we’ll be providing brief updates from the network of Research Schools around England, to find out what they’re doing to support the use of evidence to improve teaching practice. In this first episode, EBE’s own Jamie Scott talks to Alex Quigley and Megan Dixon to ask what is metacognition and self-regulation and how can approaches be implemented in the classroom? In addition we hear from Caroline Creaby and Roger Higgins from Sandringham and Norwich Research Schools. Alex Quigley: Start to 26:55 Megan Dixon: 26:55 to 37:52 Caroline Creaby and Roger Higgins: 37:52 to end If you enjoy this podcast you might also like this podcast where EBE Director of Education Stuart Kime talks to Robert and Elizabeth Bjork about their work on desirable difficulties Or listen here on Apple Podcasts. The post Trialled and tested: Metacognition and self-regulated learning appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

Many people who are well known for their work in education have such interesting backgrounds and stories to tell, although many of us don’t get to hear them. The aim of this podcast series is to learn a bit more about these people. We sit down for a chat to find out a bit more about them – what was their experience of school? How did they come to work in education? What they’re currently working on etc. And in every episode we ask for three favourite pieces of music. Whatever we discuss, every podcast episode ends with the same question: If you were in charge of the education system for a day, what one policy or structural change would you make? Professor Rob Coe is a former Teacher, and is now Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring and Professor of Education at Durham University. We work very closely with Rob and his team at Durham University, and while he is fairly well-known in education circles, it’s fair to say that he’s not someone people know much about. In this interview, we chat about his time at school, rowing at Oxford, having Dylan Wiliam and Guy Claxton as PGCE tutors, free schools (but not as we know them now), the birth of the EEF toolkit and more! As it’s a long old episode, we’ve divided it into three parts for you, to be released on 16th, 17th and 18th March. In Friday’s first part, we covered school, sport and wanting to be Bertrand Russell. In yesterday’s section, you can learn more about Rob’s university and rowing career, as well as his PGCE and step into teaching. And today, in the final part, we discuss how far we’ve come since his Manifesto for Evidence-Based Education (the philosophy rather than us!), establishment of the EEF, the birth of ‘the toolkit’, current research and his answer to the big question… If you haven’t already, do check out the previous episodes of Knowing Me Knowing Ed-U with Daisy Christodoulou, Alison Peacock, Geoff Barton and Sugata Mitra. Do you have suggestions for future guests of Knowing Me Knowing Ed-U? Who would you like to hear from? Let us know at info@evidencebased.education. The post Knowing Me, Knowing Ed-U: Professor Rob Coe (Part 3) appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

Many people who are well known for their work in education have such interesting backgrounds and stories to tell, although many of us don’t get to hear them. The aim of this podcast series is to learn a bit more about these people. We sit down for a chat to find out a bit more about them – what was their experience of school? How did they come to work in education? What they’re currently working on etc. And in every episode we ask for three favourite pieces of music. Whatever we discuss, every podcast episode ends with the same question: If you were in charge of the education system for a day, what one policy or structural change would you make? Professor Rob Coe is a former Teacher, and is now Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring and Professor of Education at Durham University. We work very closely with Rob and his team at Durham University, and while he is fairly well-known in education circles, it’s fair to say that he’s not someone people know much about. In this interview, we chat about his time at school, rowing at Oxford, having Dylan Wiliam and Guy Claxton as PGCE tutors, free schools (but not as we know them now), the birth of the EEF toolkit and more! As it’s a long old episode, we’ve divided it into three parts for you, to be released on 16th, 17th and 18th March. In yesterday’s first part, we covered school, sport and wanting to be Bertrand Russell. Today, you can find out more about Rob’s university and rowing career, as well as his PGCE and step into teaching. Tomorrow, in the final part, we discuss how far we’ve come since his Manifesto for Evidence-Based Education (the philosophy rather than us!), establishment of the EEF, the birth of ‘the toolkit’, current research and his answer to the big question… If you haven’t already, do check out the previous episodes of Knowing Me Knowing Ed-U with Daisy Christodoulou, Alison Peacock, Geoff Barton and Sugata Mitra. Do you have suggestions for future guests of Knowing Me Knowing Ed-U? Who would you like to hear from? Let us know at info@evidencebased.education. The post Knowing Me, Knowing Ed-U: Professor Rob Coe (Part 2) appeared first on Evidence Based Education.

Many people who are well known for their work in education have such interesting backgrounds and stories to tell, although many of us don’t get to hear them. The aim of this podcast series is to learn a bit more about these people. We sit down for a chat to find out a bit more about them – what was their experience of school? How did they come to work in education? What they’re currently working on etc. And in every episode we ask for three favourite pieces of music. Whatever we discuss, every podcast episode ends with the same question: If you were in charge of the education system for a day, what one policy or structural change would you make? Professor Rob Coe is a former Teacher, and is now Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring and Professor of Education at Durham University. We work very closely with Rob and his team at Durham University, and while he is fairly well-known in education circles, it’s fair to say that he’s not someone people know much about. In this interview, we chat about his time at school, rowing at Oxford, having Dylan Wiliam and Guy Claxton as PGCE tutors, free schools (but not as we know them now), the birth of the EEF toolkit and more! As it’s a long old episode, we’ve divided it into three parts for you, to be released on 16th, 17th and 18th March. In this first part, we cover school, sport and wanting to be Bertrand Russell. Tune back in tomorrow to find out about Rob’s university and rowing career, as well as his PGCE and step into teaching. If you haven’t already, do check out the previous episodes of Knowing Me Knowing Ed-U with Daisy Christodoulou, Alison Peacock, Geoff Barton and Sugata Mitra. Do you have suggestions for future guests of Knowing Me Knowing Ed-U? Who would you like to hear from? Let us know at info@evidencebased.education. The post Knowing Me, Knowing Ed-U: Professor Rob Coe (Part 1) appeared first on Evidence Based Education.