Teena,
I'm all for research on teaching and learning. Unfortunately, most of the faculty of education schools in American universities tend to be teacher trainers rather than educational researchers. What passes for "research" is often unsupported by evidence. I have to believe that Robert's example:
> from John Biggs book 'Teaching for Quality
> Learning at University' (2nd Edition) (2003, p. 80),
[snip]
> Most people learn...
> 10% of what they read
> 20% of what they hear
> 30% of what they see
> 50% of what they see and hear
> 70% of what they talk over with others
> 80% of what they use and do in real life
> 95% of what they teach someone else
>
> (Source: attributed to William Glasser; quoted by
> Association for Supervisors and Curriculum
> Development Guide 1988).
is a case in point. "Attributed"? If Glasser did say it, on what basis? The nice round numbers make it clear that this is some sort of "rule of thumb" but it's often quoted as if the numbers are accurate descriptions of something. "Most people"? What does that mean? Are these figures comparable? Is the "what they use and do" eight times the "what they read" or is this a different sort of stuff or a different kind of learning? Since 20% + 30% = 50% on the chart, is this all additive? If you read something *and* used it and did it in real life, would you learn nine times as much as you would by reading?
If you read something simple and short, do you really learn the same 10% of it as if you had read something complex and voluminous? What the hell could learning 30% of everything you see actually mean? Am I learning 30% of everything on my television, 30% of the furniture in the room, and 30% of my Mac keyboard as I type this? Huh?
Education folk spend a lot of time telling us about how people have different learning styles so how is it that "most people" hit these nice, even percentages for each mode of perception?
Gunnar
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