六合彩彩票

Misinformation is having a moment鈥攁gain.

At Meta, the parent company of Facebook, fact-checkers are a . Elsewhere, fast-moving new technologies enable so-called deepfakes, realistic but entirely fabricated audio clips, public service announcements, and celebrity product endorsements. Even well-intentioned 鈥渆ducation鈥� content runs afoul of the truth: A found that only 27 percent of the most popular TikTok videos about autism were accurate, while a whopping 73 percent were either 鈥渙vergeneralized鈥� or outright 鈥渋naccurate.鈥� 

As students progress from kindergarten through 12th grade, it鈥檚 likely they鈥檒l pick up some mistaken beliefs about their own cognition. Teachers must continue to prioritize their academic targets, with the result that metacognitive discussions aimed at dispelling harmful misconceptions can often fall to the wayside.

In an article for ASCD, 鈥溾�� educator and ASCD CEO Richard Culatta lists some of the most pernicious learning myths in an attempt to help lay them to rest. Building on Culatta鈥檚 writing, here are seven of the top myths your students may believe, along with some simple ways to steer them toward a more accurate understanding of how learning鈥攁nd our brains鈥攁ctually work.

Myth 1: Left- and right-brain thinking

Many students are stuck on the false notion that there are 鈥渓eft brain鈥� and 鈥渞ight brain鈥� thinkers, Culatta writes. Left-brain thinkers are more logical and analytical, the myth suggests, while right- brain thinkers are more creative and artistic.

There鈥檚 truth to the notion that specific regions of the brain are the primary contributors to specific mental functions and that this division of labor sometimes falls along hemispheric lines鈥攚ith language processing generally occurring in the left hemisphere and in the right. But left-brained/right-brained thinking is a radical oversimplification. As we reported in 2019, fMRI images increasingly reveal 鈥渢hat the brain is less like a collection of discrete, specialized modules鈥攐ne for speech and one for vision鈥攁nd more like an integrated network of functions that support each other.鈥�

A puts the debate to rest: Researchers examined the resting-state brain scans of over 1,000 people. 鈥淥ur analyses suggest that an individual brain is not 鈥榣eft-brained鈥� or 鈥榬ight-brained鈥� as a global property,鈥� the researchers concluded鈥攁nd the scans 鈥渄emonstrate that activity is similar on both sides of the brain regardless of one鈥檚 personality,鈥� , for Harvard Health Publishing.

If your students have begun to divide themselves into right-brained and left-brained categories, it鈥檚 worth reminding them that creativity comes in many forms (software engineers can be creative!); that there are no biological or mechanical differences between creative and analytical brains; and that anyone can get more creative or more analytical with practice.

Myth 2: Intelligence is a fixed quality

By middle and high school, many students believe that their academic success is determined by an innate level of intelligence鈥攁 fixed intellectual capacity they were born with.

Standardized tests of intelligence like the SAT and the IQ propagate the myth. In reality, the tests have a checkered past, and they fail as a consistent measure of a person鈥檚 intellectual ability. One of the earliest widely adopted tests of general intelligence鈥攖he Binet鈥揝imon scale, a precursor to the modern IQ test鈥攚as developed specifically to determine whether a student had an intellectual disability and should be removed from the general school population, as a reveals. It wasn鈥檛 designed as a measurement of general intelligence.

Meanwhile, a person鈥檚 IQ test results can vary greatly over time. A that tested and retested teenagers鈥� IQs found that their scores could fluctuate by as many as 20 points over the course of four years鈥攖he difference between a 50th percentile and a 90th percentile IQ score. 鈥淚Q tests are known to be sensitive to things like motivation and coaching,鈥� cognitive scientist Steven Piantadosi . 

Be careful: Your own students may sometimes view a single test score as a verdict on their overall intelligence. English teacher Kimberly Hellerich suggests offering exam retakes鈥攁t least periodically鈥攁s a means of demonstrating growth and to 鈥渋mprove their self-perception and the quality of their work.鈥� To reinforce students鈥� confidence in their own abilities, mix hard problems with a few easy ones, a suggests: The simple tactic dramatically improved students鈥� attitude toward hard work.

Myth 3: You can multitask effectively

The myth of multitasking plagues almost everyone, even adults who know better鈥攂ut it鈥檚 especially pervasive among students. In tech-friendly classrooms, , students spent a full third of instructional time on nonacademic work like playing browser games or shopping鈥攅arnestly believing that they could process the lesson at the same time.

But . 鈥淗uman brains are not able to focus on multiple things at one time,鈥� Culatta writes. 鈥淲hat is actually happening is that our brain is quickly switching from one task to another, but still only focusing on one of them at any given moment鈥濃�攍eading to substandard performance on each of the tasks we鈥檙e engaged with. 

This is particularly true when the competing tasks are relying on the same brain circuitry. A offers a prime example: 鈥淟istening to lyrics of a familiar language may rely on the same cognitive resources as vocabulary learning,鈥� and so playing lyrically intensive music while reading or writing about challenging topics can 鈥渓ead to an overload of processing capacity and thus to an interference effect,鈥� the researchers assert.

To help break their multitasking habit, 鈥淚 recommend that teachers explain the 鈥榳hy鈥� around everything,鈥� educational consultant Catlin Tucker told 六合彩彩票. Kids 鈥渁ren鈥檛 reading cognitive science articles about these things,鈥� so many of them genuinely believe that they can multitask鈥攁nd that things like cell phone bans are just unfair regulations. After explaining the research to her class, Tucker even made a deal with one student: He could wear AirPods during class one day, but not the next, and he鈥檇 be quizzed after both lessons. When the student saw the difference in his scores, 鈥渋t was not a struggle anymore,鈥� Tucker says.

Myth 4: You have a 鈥榣earning style鈥�

This is one of the most enduring education myths, capturing the hearts and minds of teachers and students alike. The learning styles framework suggests that every student has a biological predisposition for a particular form of learning鈥攁n innate preference for learning visually, kinesthetically, or verbally, for example. It鈥檚 an enticingly simple idea. In fact, many students who have never heard the term learning styles might develop it independently鈥攐r hear about it secondhand鈥攁nd start to believe it themselves.

This myth also shapes how adults perceive a student鈥檚 potential, concluded. In the study, teachers and parents rated 鈥渧isual learners鈥� as more intelligent and 鈥渉ands-on learners鈥� as more athletic, by wide margins. Even teaching colleges can perpetuate these misconceptions, the study found, falling back on casual misstatements like 鈥淐hemists and engineers are often kinesthetic learners.鈥� Such faulty notions can lead teachers to pigeonhole kids based on their apparent abilities鈥攁nd thus limit their potential.

While 鈥渋t鈥檚 true that we have individual preferences for learning activities... our brains are not wired differently to learn better from one style or another,鈥� writes Culatta. A of decades of research found no evidence that students learn more effectively when instruction is tailored to their preferred 鈥渟tyle.鈥� 

On the contrary, 鈥渞esearch suggests that students will learn, remember, and apply novel information better if they process that information in multiple different ways,鈥� wrote professor of educational psychology Jonathan G. Tullis for 六合彩彩票鈥攁s this 鈥渃reates elaborated and detailed memories, which enhances the long-term retention and generalization of that knowledge.鈥� For example, when learning about cells, all students should see diagrams, read about them, draw them, and even build models by hand鈥攔ather than only doing one thing or another in accordance with their preferred 鈥渟tyle.鈥�

Myth 5: Talent beats persistence

Whether it鈥檚 math, English, or art, if a student is struggling in a particular subject, the talent beats persistence myth may lead them to throw up their hands and say, 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 have the knack for it.鈥�

Unfortunately, this myth is often perpetuated by the adults in students鈥� lives鈥攕ometimes unintentionally. In a phenomenon called the 鈥�,鈥� evaluators tend to rate a person who appears naturally gifted at something more highly than someone who had to work hard at it, even when their overall performance is comparable.

But persistence is a more important factor than innate ability in the majority of academic endeavors, research suggests. A landmark led by psychologists Brian Galla and Angela Duckworth found that high school GPA is a better predictor of on-time college completion than SAT scores. Unlike standardized test scores, 鈥済rades are a very good index of your self-regulation鈥攜our ability to stick with things, your ability to regulate your impulses, your ability to delay gratification and work hard instead of goofing off,鈥� Duckworth told 六合彩彩票 in 2020. Their predictive power suggests that perseverance is what truly determines long-term academic and professional success.

Remind struggling students that hard work, not inborn skill, is what matters in the end. 鈥淲orld-class experts start off like everyone else鈥攖hey are awkward, clumsy amateurs,鈥� Duckworth said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 through thousands of hours of deliberate practice that they attain greatness.鈥� To drive the point home, as we wrote last year, 鈥渃onsider praising students for their improvement instead of their raw scores,鈥� and think about periodically assigning 鈥渞eports on the mistakes and growing pains of accomplished writers, scientists, and artists.鈥�

Myth 6: Learning is 鈥榝illing your brain鈥�

In his ASCD article, Culatta points out that many educational metaphors involve 鈥渇illing鈥� your brain with information, as if it starts as an empty bucket that could one day be filled to the brim鈥攐r 鈥渁 hard drive or filing cabinet where you store things.鈥� 

That language obfuscates how the brain really works. Rather than simply dropping bits of information into an empty container, 鈥渙ur knowledge grows by making connections to things we already know,鈥� Culatta writes.

鈥淎s we amass knowledge over the course of our life and connect events in our memory, we learn to model complex contingencies and make inferences about novel relations,鈥� writes neuroscientist Anthony Greene . 鈥淚t is the connections that let us understand cause and effect, learn from our mistakes, and anticipate the future.鈥� 

To help dispel this myth, reconsider the language you鈥檙e using to describe learning in the classroom. Instead of a storage system, 鈥渁 better analogy might be to compare the brain to a strip of Velcro where new things stick if they have enough hooks to build a connection,鈥� Culatta suggests. To align your pedagogy with the science, kick off lessons with activities that connect new material to learned material, like concept mapping, Venn diagrams, or structured think-pair-share activities.

Myth 7: Study as close to the test date as possible

Students鈥� fondness for cramming is understandable; the strategy requires much less effort than studying a bit each day, and it can even feel effective, since a single night of intense study may be sufficient to pass a test. But the approach ultimately sets students up for failure: Kids who cram will often perform poorly on the exam鈥攁nd subsequently forget the material more quickly, robbing themselves of the foundation needed to succeed in the future.

Committing information to longer-term memory requires students to engage in 鈥渄istributed practice,鈥� psychology professor Daniel Willingham told 六合彩彩票 in 2023鈥攔eviewing the material a little bit at a time over an extended period of time. In particular, research supports the practice of 鈥�,鈥� wherein students recall information from memory (without notes or aids) on a number of spread-out occasions. Flash cards and self-quizzes are a few ways students can do this on their own.

To help students break their cramming habit, consider coaching them to schedule out their studying in advance, Duckworth recommended to 六合彩彩票 in a 2021 interview. For example, in a group activity at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, eighth-grade teacher Catherine Paul calls on students to name each of the assignments that are in progress across all of their classes; one student stands at the board to write them down. Through a whole-class discussion, the class decides how to rank-order the assignments in terms of their priority鈥攆actoring in their deadlines and the level of effort each one is likely to require.

In fact, a that students who received explicit encouragement to prepare for an upcoming test鈥攁nd were prompted to consider which resources would be most useful to their studying, such as the class textbook or practice problem worksheets鈥攕cored a third of a letter grade higher than their peers who did not receive this advice.