Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Answer Sheet - Willingham: The zeitgeist of reading instruction


The Answer Sheet- Willingham: The zeitgeist of reading instruction:

"My guest today is cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a professor at the University of Virginia and author of 'Why Don't Students Like School?'

By Daniel Willingham
I have written (on this blog and elsewhere) about the importance of background knowledge and about the limited value of instructing students in reading comprehension strategies.

To be clear, I don’t think that such instruction is worthless. It has a significant impact, but it seems to be a one-time effect and the strategies are quickly learned. More practice of these strategies pays little or no return. You can read more about that here."