Thinking Deeply about Primary Education Making learning more challenging
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Mar 9, 2024 Elliot Morgan, an expert in education, discusses making learning more challenging. They explore what challenge is, the conditions surrounding learning, and how to sustain challenge over time. The podcast emphasizes the importance of pushing students out of their comfort zones and engaging them with tasks that promote deep knowledge.
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Challenge Is Relative To Prior Knowledge
- Challenge occurs when prior knowledge meets an unfamiliar context and forces deeper thinking.
- Cognitive load is the balance between task demands and available resources, like working memory and prior knowledge.
Aim For 'Just Out Of Reach' Tasks
- Push learners slightly out of their comfort zone so task demands exceed available resources just enough.
- Aim for tasks 'just out of reach' rather than overwhelming or trivial work.
More Work Isn't More Challenge
- Bigger or longer problems often don't increase cognitive challenge if the underlying structure is unchanged.
- Depth comes from varying conceptual structures, not scaling numbers or length.