[RUME] Finnishing Touches

Mon Apr 23 23:29:21 EDT 2012

I made so many typographical errors when I posted this, I am taking the 
liberty of correcting it. If you were not interested in this, or if it 
was all clear to you, just delete this message and read no further. . . 
. Apologies. . . . needed to proof-read. . .
JE

On 4/23/2012 5:17 PM, Jerome Epstein wrote:
> The results from the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI) for Finland may 
> be of interest. I am not sure if the Basic Skills Diagnostic Test 
> (BSDT) 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 a semester of teaching is exceedingly small.
>
> There were three small populations in the US 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 an 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 or manipulation 
> based, but also considered easy if basic conceptual understanding is 
> present.
>
> The thing that astonished me is that the different teaching 
> methodology makes such an enormous difference, and the fact that the 
> test items isolate the effect, in that the items 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 (US) 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 is 
> 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 or year of calculus), or a 
> complimen, 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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