Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom

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John Wiley & Sons, Jun 10, 2009 - Education - 240 pages
Easy-to-apply, scientifically-based approaches for engaging students in the classroom

Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His book will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn. It reveals-the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences.

  • Nine, easy-to-understand principles with clear applications for the classroom
  • Includes surprising findings, such as that intelligence is malleable, and that you cannot develop "thinking skills" without facts
  • How an understanding of the brain's workings can help teachers hone their teaching skills

"Mr. Willingham's answers apply just as well outside the classroom. Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents -anyone who cares about how we learn-should find his book valuable reading."
—Wall Street Journal

 

Contents

Title Page
How Thinking Works
Notes
WhyIsItSoHard for Studentsto Understand Abstract
Understanding Is Remembering in Disguise
WhyDoesnt Knowledge Transfer?
Implications for the Classroom
Bibliography
VisualAuditory And Kinesthetic Learners
Abilities and Multiple Intelligences
Conclusions Implications for the Classroom
What MakesPeople Intelligent?
How Beliefs About Intelligence Matter
Implicationsforthe Classroom
Conclusion
Copyright

HowShouldI Adjust My Teaching for Different Types

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About the author (2009)

Daniel T. Willingham is professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1992. He writes the popular Ask the Cognitive Scientist column for American Educator magazine.

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