THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING TO LEARN

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES: VALUE

Quiz questions. Regarding the first quiz question, Hulleman has found that simply telling people that information has value can backfire. When we’re told how to feel or think, we can feel threatened or overly managed. For studies on this idea, see here.

Regarding the second quiz question, see "utility-value interventions," and work by Chris S. Hulleman and Judith M. Harackiewicz, ”Making Education Relevant: Increasing Interest and Performance in High School Science Classes” Science 326, no. 598 (2009):1410-1412. 

Regarding the third quiz question, there's little evidence for learning styles. The APA is basically the voice of psychologists, and they produced a pretty damning report on learning styles. (Or just read the digest version here). ​

Dan Willingham has a great post on the topic too. Another way to think about it, I'd argue, is what matters isn't the learning style, but the content. Think of a kid who wants to learn soccer. If he's an auditory learner, does that mean he should learn soccer by just listening to podcasts? 

I should add that the definition of learning styles is pretty narrow, and often when people talk about learning styles, what they really mean is that people are different, and that idea is beyond dispute. From smarts to personality to interests, we're all different. ​

References. Much has been written on the idea of people see the world through a frame. My favorite study, which is mentioned in the text, is Aaron C. Kay et al, "Material priming: The influence of mundane physical objects on situational construal and competitive behavioral choice." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 95, no. 1 (2004): 83-96.

For details on meaning in learning, see Judith M. Harackiewicz et al, "Helping parents to motivate adolescents in mathematics and science an experimental test of a utility-value intervention" Psychological Science 28, no. 8 (2012): 899-906. Also see Kenneth E. Barron and Chris S. Hulleman, ”Is There A Formula to Help Understand and Improve Student Motivation? ” Essays from Excellence in Teaching 8, (2006). Retrieved (August 7, 2006) from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, http://list.kennesaw.edu/archives/psychteacher.html and Suzanne Hidi and K. Ann Renninger, "The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development" Educational Psychologist 41, no. 2 (2006): 111-127.

On Minecraft see Ewalt, Ryan Mac, David M. “Inside The Post-Minecraft Life Of Billionaire Gamer God Markus Persson.” Forbes. Accessed October 27, 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2015/03/03/minecraft-markus-persson-life-after-microsoft-sale/. McVeigh, Tracy. “Minecraft: How a Game with No Rules Changed the Rules of the Game for Ever.” The Guardian, November 16, 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/16/minecraft-game-no-rules-changed-gaming. Statt, Nick. “Markus ‘Notch’ Persson: The Mind behind Minecraft (Q&A).” CNET. Accessed October 27, 2016. https://www.cnet.com/news/markus-notch-persson-the-mind-behind-minecraft-q-a/. The quote from the biographers came from the Guardian article. The Persson quote came from the CNET article.

The idea for the Minecraft point came from Thompson, Clive. “The Sims: Suburban Rhapsody.” Psychology Today. Accessed October 27, 2016. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200311/the-sims-suburban-rhapsody.