Professor Kris

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...