The Nature of Learning
Using Research to Inspire Practice
What do we know about how people learn? How do young people’s motivations and emotions influence their learning? What does research show to be the benefits of group work, formative assessments, technology applications, or project-based learning and when are they most effective? How is learning affected by family background? These are among the questions addressed for the OECD by leading researchers from North America and Europe. This book brings together the lessons of research on both the nature of learning and different educational applications, and it summarises these as seven key concluding principles.
Among the contributors are Brigid Barron, Monique Boekaerts, Erik de Corte, Linda Darling-Hammond, Kurt Fischer, Andrew Furco, Richard Mayer, Lauren Resnick, Barbara Schneider, Robert Slavin, James Spillane, Elsbeth Stern and Dylan Wiliam.
The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice is essential reading for all those interested in knowing what research has to say about how to optimise learning in classrooms, schools and other settings. It aims, first and foremost, to inform practice and educational reform. It will be of particular interest to teachers, education leaders, teacher educators, advisors and decision makers, as well as the research community
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Co-operative learning: what makes group-work work?
Centre for Educational Research and Innovation
Robert Slavin reviews the substantial body of studies of co-operative learning in schools, in particular those using control groups being taught with more traditional methods. There are two main categories – “Structured Team Learning” and “Informal Group Learning Methods” – each reviewed and illustrated. As regards affective outcomes, co-operative learning overwhelmingly shows beneficial results. For achievement outcomes, positive results depend heavily on two key factors. One is the presence of group goals (the learner groups are working towards a goal or to gain reward or recognition), the other is individual accountability (the success of the group depends on the individual learning of every member). The chapter presents alternative perspectives to explain the benefits of co-operative learning – whether it acts via motivations, social cohesion, cognitive development, or “cognitive elaboration”. Despite the very robust evidence base of positive outcomes, cooperative learning “remains at the edge of school policy” and is often poorly implemented.
Also available in: French
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