Professor Kris

Advanced students can be the hardest to engage and motivate in classroom material, while alpha students tend to prevent engagement of those around them in the class. New teachers often worry about how to motivate and engage the kids at the lower end of the achievement scale in their class, believing these are the students that have the largest impact on their class success. However, it is the super advanced and “alpha” students who have the most influence over class culture. So how do we handle these highly influential students? First, let’s distinguish between advanced and alpha students. An advanced student already has mastery over the material covered in class to the point where they are bored by the content, and when they participate, they finish assignments very quickly. This boredom can lead to behavior issues that spill over to disrupt the other students’ learning in the classroom. Alpha students are the student who takes over due to excitement about knowledge- think Herm...

Teachers and parents alike are often struggling to understand why students today aren't and shouldn't be taught in the same way they were taught 20 years ago. From complaints about Common Core math, to policies on limiting homework, adults question why these changes are necessary.  We often fall into the "but it worked for me" mentality: "But when I was young we did...[insert educational practice here]... and I turned out fine." This is a logical fallacy, since there was no control to the experiment of you -- there wasn't another you that was taught without that educational practice, so it's impossible to know if your education may have been more effective using a different pedagogical practice.  Also, the theories and understanding in education has grown and evolved just like our understanding of science or development of technology. That rotary phone worked just fine for our parents, does that mean you want to give up your iPho...

If knowledge is power, how do you learn effectively and efficiently?  Knowledge and education are based on logic and understanding. If you understand the logic behind a concept, you can understand the concept for almost any subject. For example, last night, my 8 yr old asked me to teach him how to write in cursive script. There are two ways to approach this concept - I could show him the cursive alphabet and make him memorize it, or I could explain how cursive was developed. S chools tend to opt for option one. How many of you were forced to memorize the cursive alphabet? Or your times tables? Without knowing the logic behind these concepts, they are just rote memorization and don't really form the basis for true knowledge and understanding. I explained to my son that cursive was developed when people still used quills and ink wells. If you you have ink on a quill, what will happen if you hold it above the paper? It will drip. Every time you lift the quill off the paper,...

What is the purpose of homework? Is it to reinforce the lessons learned in school, provide extra practice or teach study skills? The answer varies depending on the age and academic level  of the student , as do the research findings on the impact of homework. Elementary school: The overall goal for elementary school students is to learn how to learn in a social setting and develop a love of learning. Neither of these goals are content-specific, and neither of them rely on homework.  Studies on homework indicate that the relationship between homework and achievement (academic progress) in elementary school is minimal at best (r=0; Cooper et al. 1989), and detrimental at worst (r=-0.4; Cooper et al. 2006). There is one study (Welsh et al. 1986) that indicates that science homework in elementary school correlates with greater achievement. This is most likely the case because science is not highly emphasized in elementary school, with many elementary school teachers...

The dill pickle competition is fierce, and I’ve been told its the most competitive category of processed foods at the NC State Fair. I’ve been asked 1) how did I win on my first time entering and 2) what is my recipe. #2 (the blue ribbon recipe) will be provided at the end of this post. The answer to #1 is that I used the scientific process. That’s right, as someone who is well versed in the scientific process, I was able to have an advantage over the other entries, because once I decided I wanted to win a blue ribbon for my dill pickles (about 2 years ago), I applied the process to perfecting my recipe.  First, I did my background research: I researched types of pickling cucumbers and selected two to plant in the garden; I researched other recipes for dill pickles; And I researched the judging criteria for the NC State Fair competition. Second, I planned out my experiment. From the hundreds of recipes I found, I looked for commonalities and ratios or ingr...

I have long been an advocate for free access to information and education at every level. However, in the United States and in many areas of the world, free higher education is not the reality. And arguable, there is something to be said to the quality of education being tied to the expense - but that is a debate for another time. As a university professor, I often get asked by people who don't have the means to afford higher education, how they can improve their situation. Usually, they indicate they would like to do this through obtaining a university degree, and I have no advice on affording college beyond the usual - apply for scholarships, go part-time and work part-time, join the US military for a few years to be eligible for a Pell Grant... But I DO have advice on learning - you do not need to go to college to learn the content material you get from a college education. Now, let me also say that a university degree is more than knowledge. There is networking, debating,...