[RUME] Finnishing Touches

[Jerome Epstein]

The results from the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI) for Finland may be 
of interest. I am nor sure if the Basic Skills Diagnostic Test (BSD) was 
also given in Finland, I will try to check.

The CCI results were typical of American classes. . . . that is to say, 
not very good -- and thus a surprise to those requesting the test.

Again, to summarize. . . . the American results on the CCI are very 
dramatic, depending on teaching methodology, and show an interesting 
pattern in other countries.

In brief: So called "Interactive Engagement" classes in calculus show 
radically different outcomes from all the other classes, regardless of 
whether the instructors believe they are doing interactive teaching or 
not. The normalized gain runs from 0.05 to about 0.25, with a mean of 
0.15. This shows that the amount of conceptual understanding generated 
from s semester of teaching is exceedingly small.

There were three small populations with clearly interactive-engagement 
methodologies, plus a large population (about 1000) from University of 
Michigan (Karen Rhea) that were clearly, demonstrably, Interactive 
Engagement. These differ from the lecture based sections by two sigma -- 
basically two Gaussians with no overlap. It is in astonishing effect. A 
major chunk of this is clearly due to the nature of the tasks on the 
test. All of the items are "Conceptual Understanding" (CU), not 
calculation of manipulation based, but also considered easy if basic 
conceptual understanding is present.

The ting that astonished me is that the different teaching methodology 
makes such an enormous difference, and the fact that the test items 
isolates the effect, in that the it ems really are exactly the kind that 
are clearly lost in lecture based teaching.

The results in China (about 1000 students) were entirely equivalent to 
the best classes here on average. . The Chinese classes of course are 
strongly lecture based, although there is supplementary work, outside 
the main lectures (well described in the literature) that are much more 
group work, much more interactive, and, of course the Chinese students 
have experienced much more interactive group work in math for many 
years. . . . One doesn't know if this is a criticism of American 
education (the overwhelming bulk of the students get almost no 
conceptual understanding from a semester of year of calculus) or a 
compliment in that they can come up to the level of the Chinese students 
in one semester of drastically different education. . . . .

We are starting to work on organizing this data and publishing. . . 
something. . . . .But the outline of what it all shows is already quite 
clear.

Jerry Epstein

On 4/22/2012 7:39 PM, Richard Hake wrote:
> Some subscribers to RUME might be interested in a recent 
> discussion-list post "Finnishing Touches" [Hake (2012)].
>
> The abstract reads:
>
> ****************************************************
> ABSTRACT:  There have been several recent posts regarding the 
> evidently exemplary Finnish educational system on the discussion lists 
> Physoc at<http://bit.ly/JjCbfH>and Math-Teach at 
> <http://bit.ly/IJwwwf>. These threads were stimulated by, 
> respectively, Al Bartlett's Physoc post"Education in Finland" at 
> <http://bit.ly/HXVVAS> and Jerry Becker's Math-Teach post"What it 
> takes to cross the Finnish line"at<http://bit.ly/IegubS>.
> Is this just Yogi Berra's "deja vu all over again"? - see e.g., "Could 
> the U.S. Put Finnishing Touches on K-12?" by Hake (2005b) at 
> <http://bit.ly/IJiNW4 >.
> Probably not, because material by evidently well-informed Finnish 
> writers is cited by Becker: "Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn 
> from Educational Change in Finland? by educator Pasi Sahlberg (2011) - 
> see <http://www.finnishlessons.com/> , and "What Americans Keep 
> Ignoring About Finland's School Success" by journalist Anu Partanen  
> (2011) at <http://bit.ly/JZpKB2>.
> ****************************************************
> To access the complete 10 kB post please click on <http://bit.ly/Ixkqa7>.
>
> Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
> <rrhake at earthlink.net>
> Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
> Links to SDI Labs: <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
> Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
> Academia: <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>
> Twitter <https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake>
>
> "The story of Finland's extraordinary educational reforms is one that 
> should inform policymakers and educators around the world."
>          Linda Darling-Hammond, quoted at <http://bit.ly/Jjsa2a>
>
> "A terrific synthesis by a native Finn, a teacher, a researcher, and a 
> policy analyst all rolled up into one excellent writer. Pasi Sahlberg 
> teaches us a great deal about what we need to know before engaging in 
> national educational reforms."
>          David Berliner, quoted at <http://bit.ly/Jjsa2a>
>
>
> REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 22 
> April 2012.]
> Hake, R.R. 2012. "Finnishing Touches" online on the OPEN! AERA-L 
> archives at <http://bit.ly/Ixkqa7>. Post of 22 Apr 2012 11:28:54-0700 
> to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are 
> also being transmitted to several discussion lists and are on my blog 
> "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/IJW3FA> with a provision for comments.
>
> .
>
>
>
>
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> Rume at betterfilecabinet.com
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