The Evidence Based Education Podcast

In this episode of the Trialled and Tested podcast we explore working memory and its importance to teaching and learning; what it is, why it’s important for teachers to know about it and how an understanding of working memory can inform the way teachers teach. Working memory is the ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind while you use it to finish a task. For example, this could be how many numbers you can keep in your mind at the same time to complete a mental arithmetic task. Research has suggested that working memory is a reliable predictor of numeracy outcomes. But why is it important to learning? What do teachers need to know about it and how can they attend to it in their daily working practices? In this podcast, we hear from a psychologist and leading expert, Dr Tracy Alloway, as well as conversation with Alex Quigley from the EEF and Julie Watson from Huntington Research School. You can read about the Education Endowment Trust's project focused on improving working memory for pupils age seven and eight here. For more podcasts, be sure to check out our podcast archive. We also have a collection of eBooks, videos and webinars in our Resource Library, which is free to join!

“Teaching should start from where the student is, not from where we would like them to be." says education professor Dylan Wiliam. In this episode of Trialled and Tested: Embedding Formative Assessment, we introduce how formative assessment strategies can be used in the classroom. Dylan is the co-developer of a professional development programme, Embedding Formative Assessment, which supports teachers to use real-time knowledge of their pupils’ strengths and weaknesses to adapt their practice. The programme builds on existing evidence that formative assessment can improve students’ learning. Many schools already prioritise formative assessment, but it can be challenging to implement. An independent evaluation funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) recently found that pupils in schools following the Embedding Formative Assessment programme made the equivalent of +2 months’ additional progress in their Attainment 8 GCSE score. Find out more, as Evidence Based Education’s Jamie Scott spoke to some of the people behind the programme - Dylan Wiliam, Emily Yeomans, Corinne Settle and Claire Taylor - and its evaluation to find out what it is all about. Tune in to hear from: Dylan Wiliam: Start to 16:40 Emily Yeomans: 16:40 to 21:40 Corinne Settle: 21:40 to 28:52 Claire Taylor: 28:52 to 35:23 Dylan Wiliam: 35:23 to end Full length: 38m You can read about the Education Endowment Trust's Embedding Formative Assessment project in full here. For more podcasts, be sure to check out our podcast archive and subscribe! We also have a collection of eBooks, videos and webinars in our Resource Library, which is free to join!

In this episode of Trialled and Tested: Improving secondary science, Jamie Scott from Evidence Based Education speaks to Emily Yeomans (EEF Head of Programme Strategy), Sir John Holman (Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of York) and Dr Niki Kaiser (Chemistry Teacher and Research Lead at Norwich Research School) to explore some of the evidence-informed strategies teachers can adopt or focus on to enhance the teaching and learning of science at Key Stages 3 and 4.   Emily Yeomans and Sir John Holman: Start to 31:35 Dr Niki Kaiser: 31:35 to end   The recommendations discussed in the podcast, as well as many others, feature in the EEF Improving Secondary Science guidance report which you can download here: Improving secondary science guidance report and Summary of recommendations. All of our podcasts, including the Trialled and Tested podcast series, can be found in our podcast archive.

Is the science of learning really a science? What can teachers and students learn from the research evidence on effective studying and learning? What aspects of cognitive psychology could affect teachers and students in the next ten years?   These are some of the questions Stuart Kime posed to Professors Anne Cleary and Matt Rhodes from Colorado State University when they recorded this podcast early in 2019. Anne and Matt’s new book – A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning – is published by OUP and is available now.   We discussed their new book, and covered the following topics: Is the science of learning really a science? Does neuroscience have lessons for classroom practice? How is knowing something different to understanding? What is spacing and how does it help learners learn? What research in cognitive psychology should all teachers know about? What developments in cognitive psychology do you think will influence the way teachers teach and students learn in the next ten years? If you were in charge of the education system for the USA and could make any three changes, what would they be? And why? All of our podcasts can be found in our podcast archive, and we have a host of free eBooks, videos and webinars in our Resource Library!

In this episode of the Trialled and Tested podcast, 'Efficacy, evidence and evaluation', Jamie Scott from Evidence Based Education speaks to Eleanor Stringer and Matthew van Poortvliet from the Education Endowment Foundation to find out more about their approach to identifying projects to fund, scaling-up promising projects and running evaluations.   Here’s a full account of the questions put to Eleanor and Matthew: 2:02 - What does the EEF look for when considering which projects to fund? 3:15 - How much initial evidence do you need to get EEF funding for a project? 3:58 - What are the different stages of the EEF evaluation pipeline? And why and how might you scale-up a project from efficacy to effectiveness? 6:45 - Examples of scale-up projects 9:20 - Are EEF evaluation projects typically coming out of academic institutions or schools? 11:19 - Why have some trials been re-trialled? 14:08 - How does the evidence behind the ‘Embedding Formative Assessment’ project differ from other professional development programmes that might not have been trialled? 16:41 - How does the EEF respond to criticism of the approach to project evaluation, especially a perceived preference for randomised controlled trial designs? 21:55 - Some EEF trials have found results that conflict with previously-published findings – does this point to a replication problem in education research? 24:43 - How has the work the EEF has done since its inception improved the scientific endeavour of evaluation? 26:33 - What do you hope is the lasting impact of EEF project evaluations? 28:09 - Why are certain approaches or strategies not included in the EEF toolkit, despite there being strong evidence behind them?   Remember to subscribe to the Trialled and Tested podcast feed, wherever you get your podcasts, as this is the last episode that we'll also share through our EBE feed... Don't miss out!

Over the last year, Evidence Based Education and Suffolk County Council have been working in partnership to deliver a robust, cost-effective and enjoyable Research Support Partnership (RSP) programme to train staff from schools and academies throughout Suffolk. The aim of the programme has been to develop a network of capable Research Leads across the county. The training proved a real success among participants (even those who were sceptical at first!). On the last day of training, I spoke to some of the participants to put together a digestible summary of what a participant or sponsor might expect from an RSP. I wanted to know how it challenges participants and, ultimately, how it equips Research Leads to make better decisions with better information. Listen below to the short conversations with four members of the group. For more about the Research Support Partnership, check out this webpage and contact us with your enquiry, or watch this video featuring our RSP work at Mulgrave School, Vancouver.

What does the evidence on learning, memory and aging tell us about how to keep our minds sharp and active as we grow older? How can physical activity improve cognitive function? Do we decline as we age, or simply change? In the latest episode of The Evidence Based Education podcast, UCLA Psychology Professor Alan Castel talks to our Director of Education Stuart Kime about his new book, Better with Age, and offers practical tips for staying mentally sharp as the years pass. We cover a wide range of fascinating and highly relevant topics, including metacognition, memory, cognitive load and teaching, and Alan offers deep insight from his years of research into this important subject. Alan Castel's book is available from all good booksellers, and can be very conveniently found on Book Depository here. [Ed.: No aspersion cast... no implication that Book Depository is not, indeed, a very fine bookseller!]

We’ve teamed up with the Education Endowment Foundation to bring you a new podcast – Trialled and Tested! This first episode is on metacognition and self-regulated learning. We'll post this inaugural episode on the EBE podcast too, but to make sure you have access to future episodes, do search for Trialled and Tested in iTunes, Spotify or Google Store and make sure you subscribe there. In this first episode, and in future episodes, we’re going to explore a specific piece of information or guidance within the EEF suite of resources and try to bring that to life through discussion with others. In addition, we’ll be providing brief updates from the network of Research Schools around England, to find out what they’re doing to support the use of evidence to improve teaching practice. In this first episode, EBE’s own Jamie Scott talks to Alex Quigley and Megan Dixon to ask what is metacognition and self-regulation and how can approaches be implemented in the classroom? In addition we hear from Caroline Creaby and Roger Higgins from Sandringham and Norwich Research Schools. Alex Quigley: Start to 26:55 Megan Dixon: 26:55 to 37:52 Caroline Creaby and Roger Higgins: 37:52 to end If you enjoy this podcast you might also like this podcast where EBE Director of Education Stuart Kime talks to Robert and Elizabeth Bjork about their work on desirable difficulties

On Saturday 30th June, the International School of Geneva Institute of Learning and Teaching hosted the inaugural Research Informed Practice In Education (RIPE) conference in Geneva.  EBE Directors, Stuart and Jack, were in attendance as part of the organising committee and to present their session – The Elephant In The Room – which you can listen to via the player on this page or download to your device. In The Elephant in the Room session they suggest that the success and failure of increases and refinements in evidence-based practices in education systems depends, to a large extent, on improvements in the understanding and practice of effective implementation. They discuss the importance of implementation when adopting and enacting research-based interventions and professional development. In the presentation they draw upon examples from behavioural Science, the theoretical framework for implementation developed by the Education Endowment Foundation and examples from the development and delivery of the Assessment Lead Programme. The slides are downloadable here, which you can reference as you listen to the 15 minute presentation via the player below or as a podcast on iTunes and Android.   All of our podcasts can be found in our podcast archive, and we have a host of free eBooks, videos and webinars in our Resource Library!

The Festival of Education is so jam-packed with amazing speakers and topics that you just can’t fit them all in. If you’ve been before, you’ll know that deciding which sessions to attend is agonising. Worse still is not being able to attend at all! So, this festival, we’re teaming up with the organisers to offer a free Festival podcast so that you can hear from more Festival speakers and what they’ll be talking about – whether you’re lucky enough to be there or not. And, in true Festival fashion, there is music to enjoy too! Check out the Festival of Education Day 2 podcast which features Nick Rose, Karen Goldberg, Holly Joseph, Jonathon Haslam, Tom Rees, Daisy Christodoulou and the Foo Fighters. All of our podcasts can be found in our podcast archive, and we have a host of free eBooks, videos and webinars in our Resource Library!