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The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
Maths journaling is giving students control over lessons
It is also one which may be doing more damage than we realise. According to data collected through the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), more than half of Scottish 15-year-olds worry about poor marks in maths and nearly the same amount are anxious about failing. The overall Pisa results also showed that Scottish students' performance in maths has fallen again, down 18 points from the last time the scores were released. The Scottish Government is in the middle of a major curriculum review, and mathematics is the first subject under the microscope. As with most problems, however, teachers are working to solve them, and two educators in Edinburgh are laying a new path for students. Erskine Stewart Melville Junior School teachers Holly Drummond and Dr Kirsten Fenton are working to change attitudes towards maths one classroom at a time through a teaching strategy they call 'mathematical journaling.' It is a core tool in their teaching ethos, which focuses on play, agency, creativity, and engagement (PACE, because "you know we love an acronym in education," Dr Fenton said). Dr Fenton said that maths journaling, at its foundation, is about helping students learn how they want to approach a topic and be creative about maths lessons. "It's a real teacher-developed approach that Holly and I have come up with. It aims really to put the learner at its centre. It's joyful, which is what learning and teaching should be about, but it's also practical because it gives children a way of reconnecting with what learning is." The journaling method is, in some ways, as simple as it sounds. As Mrs Drummond and Dr Fenton's students work on a mathematical principle over the course of a week, they have set times to 'stop and jot' in their journals as Mrs Drummond described. Teachers will show some example journal entries, but the idea is to get students thinking about the lesson in their own words. This works to dispel the myth that maths is a "secret language" that only some can understand, Mrs Drummond said. "We wanted to move away from jotters being a space of rote practice, and to see it much more as a tool for their learning. It's a messy space, just as learning is messy. "It is a place to collect their thoughts, it's a place that evidences their struggle, but it also evidences their progress much more. Not just by marking out of ten, or having neat calculations laid out all the time." Many maths teachers constantly tell students to 'Show your work', but the team at ESMS believes that taking this a step further and teaching students how to show their full thought process helps them connect more with their lesson. Dr Kirsten Fenton works on a mathematical journaling exercise with her students. (Image: Gordon Terris) Beyond that, Mrs Drummond said that having a space to show their work to the fullest without risk of being marked down also makes it easier for students to learn from their mistakes with less anxiety. "I think we have placed too much emphasis early on with children about getting things right, and life doesn't actually work that way. "We thought that we needed something different. Having done quite a bit of reading and going to various conferences, we decided that what is missing a lot of the time is the talk side of maths teaching. "We are very good at that in other areas, whereas in maths thinking and teaching we don't always allow for purposeful talk. "We wanted to embed that and create students who are numerically literate." Dr Fenton said that part of PACE and maths journaling is about students being brave and "exploring mistakes" in their work, while having the correct vocabulary and understanding to discuss different approaches with their classmates. "At the start of the week, we will often take a mathematical concept and do a brain dump. "What do you know about, say, fractions? Can you give me definitions? Can you talk me through an example? If you were teaching someone who knew nothing about the subject, how would you start? "This is a really useful tool for us because it offers a starting point, and it gives a really early indication of any misconceptions that might not normally cause problems until later. "Their journaling helps us with responsive teaching as well, and really getting it right for each learner, which is very important to our approach." Read more: The PACE approach and mathematical journaling help tackle arithmophobia by teaching students how to think about lessons in their own words. Dr Fenton said every student likes to process information differently, and teachers always look for ways to adapt to their students. However, maths can be intimidating for some young people because the subject feels inflexible to the uninitiated: there is always only one correct answer and one way to get there. Students do not naturally see room for creativity or individuality, which leads to that tendency for defeatism. Frustration can lead young people to avoid the subject, which is part of another unhelpful narrative in society: the idea that maths can be escaped, sectioned off from our lives and careers. Mrs Drummond and Dr Fenton are chipping away at this misconception, too. Although there is much discussion about creativity, literacy, speaking, and writing, that is not to say that numbers have fled the classroom. "There still needs to be that explicit teaching of mathematical strategies," Mrs Drummond said. Colleagues at ESMS Junior School, Dr Kirsten Fenton and Holly Drummond, said they don't have all the answers, but they want to help teachers reimagine teaching and learning.(Image: Gordon Terris) However, she added it is essential that children should never feel "excluded" from any subject because it does not immediately resonate with them. "Students should not think, 'This one's not for me, it's inaccessible, it's hard.'" She said that just as other subjects will seep into maths lessons, it is just as crucial for students to recognise when they are using maths in other disciplines. "There needs to be a give and take between maths and other subjects. We are pulling in the literacy to make the maths more accessible, but we are also bringing maths into other areas as well." The pair of pioneers have been taking their PACE approach on the road recently. They have been sharing their approach with the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM) at multiple conferences, showcasing how mathematical journaling has helped their students feel more confident, combat their maths anxiety and build new critical thinking skills. Feedback from other teachers and researchers has been positive. Dr Fenton said they are hoping for more collaboration as they try to do their part to give students the best foundation possible in a challenging time. "We see this as a crunch point in Scottish education with the curriculum review, rising maths anxiety and Pisa scores. They are all warning signs, but they also provide an opportunity for us to rethink how children learn. "Classrooms need to be places of possibility and we hope our PACE approach can be a call to arms for that. "We're not saying that we have all the right answers, but we're working with something that is research-based, that we can apply in our classrooms and teachers can take and go and apply themselves. "We want to encourage others to rethink what learning could and should look like."
The Herald Scotland
30-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland's educational establishment is betraying children and economy
Scotland has, in theory, a strong economic future, but it is a future that demands a workforce with a considerably high level of education and skilling. Our growth industries - renewables, primarily, but also life sciences, tourism, food and drink and a range of rural-based activities including farming, fisheries and forestry - need good people, from welders to lawyers to engineers to scientists. Read more by Andy Maciver Our current educational performance is jeopardising our future economic prospects, yet it is far from clear that they will have them and, bluntly, the educational establishment seems disinterested in doing anything about it. For those who want to cut through SNP and Labour politicians shouting at each other, there is more obviously factual evidence available. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the only international school performance study to which Scotland has submitted itself in recent years, offers us data for our children's performance in maths, science and reading which should simultaneously chill us and focus our collective minds. In all three disciplines - maths, reading and science - Scottish children's scores are continually declining. We are now hovering around average. If our trend continues into the next set of PISA data at the end of next year (and there seems little reason to believe that it will not), we will officially see Scottish education, once held up as the envy of the world, delivering a standard below the OECD average. That decline, almost precisely, corresponds with the onset of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), and it is in this area where the most obvious, rapid and impactful change could be made. CfE was a perfectly reasonable, evidenced concept, but it has suffered from a misinterpreted and bureaucratised implementation which has had a direct impact in children's learning. However there is a way out, and individual pockets of success provide us with a route. Perhaps the most obvious example comes from Berwickshire High School under the leadership of its Headteacher Bruce Robertson. Amidst a raft of other changes to the school's ethos and to the level of expectation placed on children, Mr Robertson injected content based on knowledge into a curriculum which has been largely stripped of it. The outcome was astonishing. In only six years, the proportion of kids achieving at least five Level 5 qualifications in S4 went from around two-fifths to almost two-thirds. The proportion attaining at least five Level 6 qualifications in S5 doubled to over 40 per cent. Scottish children's scores in maths, reading and science are declining in the PISA rankings (Image: free) Berwickshire High's boldness in taking on the blob has reshaped the future of its pupils. Nothing other than old-fashioned Scottish grit prevents this being tried at every school in the country. A knowledge-based, skills-oriented curriculum would take a chunk out of our educational deficit, but it is not the only game in town. The Covid school shutdown continues to have a corrosive impact. Unlike in many European peers, Scotland doubled-down on school closures against the wind of scientific evidence, buckling to the education trade unions and destroying, in effect, a year of education. To make matters worse, we declined to engage in any meaningful catch-up programme, and pupils continue to suffer. We now need to do the right thing by the children we have wronged. We could start by reinstating structure and hierarchy between pupils, parents and teachers. In a post-Covid osmosis which we will inevitably regret, we have allowed an almost complete erosion of this basic tenet of a child's life. We have placed children at the centre of educational decision-making, giving them far too much control over what they learn and how they learn it. This is not the job of a pupil; it is the job of a teacher. Similarly, we have allowed teachers to be placed in a situation where they are responsible for the social growth of a child as much as their academic growth. This is not the job of a teacher; it is the job of a parent. As we learned through data collected from Scottish teachers earlier this year, there has been an exponential increase in absence, abuse and violence directed by children at teachers. No wonder. This is a near-inevitable consequence of any kind of hierarchical structure, and giving children far too much agency over decisions which should be taken for them. Read more The brain's prefrontal cortex - the part which determines judgement and decision-making - is not fully developed until the early 20s. Delegating agency over life-altering decisions to children half this age is absurd. In short, we expect far too much of children's developing brains in a social context, and far too little of their developing brains in an academic context. So, let us go back to a more traditional hierarchy of the sort that was in place when Scottish education indeed was looked upon with envy rather than pity. We can return more respectful behaviour and academic excellence to schools through a series of decisions which adults make on behalf of children. Adults can decide, for instance, that children will not be permitted to access their mobile phones during the school day. Adults can decide what a child will learn, and how they will learn it. Adults can decide that children will wear a school uniform. The list goes on. This is now Scotland's number one long term problem. It is a flashing red light in our economic and political risk register. Every day we fail to tackle it is another day where we risk our country's future prospects. Andy Maciver is Founding Director of Message Matters, and co-host of the Holyrood Sources podcast
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Don't ask what AI can do for us, ask what it is doing to us': are ChatGPT and co harming human intelligence?
Imagine for a moment you are a child in 1941, sitting the common entrance exam for public schools with nothing but a pencil and paper. You read the following: 'Write, for no more than a quarter of an hour, about a British author.' Today, most of us wouldn't need 15 minutes to ponder such a question. We'd get the answer instantly by turning to AI tools such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT or Siri. Offloading cognitive effort to artificial intelligence has become second nature, but with mounting evidence that human intelligence is declining, some experts fear this impulse is driving the trend. Of course, this isn't the first time that new technology has raised concerns. Studies already show how mobile phones distract us, social media damages our fragile attention spans and GPS has rendered our navigational abilities obsolete. Now, here comes an AI co-pilot to relieve us of our most cognitively demanding tasks – from handling tax returns to providing therapy and even telling us how to think. Where does that leave our brains? Free to engage in more substantive pursuits or wither on the vine as we outsource our thinking to faceless algorithms? 'The greatest worry in these times of generative AI is not that it may compromise human creativity or intelligence,' says psychologist Robert Sternberg at Cornell University, who is known for his groundbreaking work on intelligence, 'but that it already has.' The argument that we are becoming less intelligent draws from several studies. Some of the most compelling are those that examine the Flynn effect – the observed increase in IQ over successive generations throughout the world since at least 1930, attributed to environmental factors rather than genetic changes. But in recent decades, the Flynn effect has slowed or even reversed. In the UK, James Flynn himself showed that the average IQ of a 14-year-old dropped by more than two points between 1980 and 2008. Meanwhile, global study the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows an unprecedented drop in maths, reading and science scores across many regions, with young people also showing poorer attention spans and weaker critical thinking. Related: James Flynn: IQ may go up as well as down Nevertheless, while these trends are empirical and statistically robust, their interpretations are anything but. 'Everyone wants to point the finger at AI as the boogeyman, but that should be avoided,' says Elizabeth Dworak, at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, who recently identified hints of a reversal of the Flynn effect in a large sample of the US population tested between 2006 and 2018. Intelligence is far more complicated than that, and probably shaped by many variables – micronutrients such as iodine are known to affect brain development and intellectual abilities, likewise changes in prenatal care, number of years in education, pollution, pandemics and technology all influence IQ, making it difficult to isolate the impact of a single factor. 'We don't act in a vacuum, and we can't point to one thing and say, 'That's it,'' says Dworak. Still, while AI's impact on overall intelligence is challenging to quantify (at least in the short term), concerns about cognitive offloading diminishing specific cognitive skills are valid – and measurable. Studies have suggested that the use of AI for memory-related tasks may lead to a decline in an individual's own memory capacity When considering AI's impact on our brains, most studies focus on generative AI (GenAI) – the tool that has allowed us to offload more cognitive effort than ever before. Anyone who owns a phone or a computer can access almost any answer, write any essay or computer code, produce art or photography – all in an instant. There have been thousands of articles written about the many ways in which GenAI has the potential to improve our lives, through increased revenues, job satisfaction and scientific progress, to name a few. In 2023, Goldman Sachs estimated that GenAI could boost annual global GDP by 7% over a 10-year period – an increase of roughly $7tn. The fear comes, however, from the fact that automating these tasks deprives us of the opportunity to practise those skills ourselves, weakening the neural architecture that supports them. Just as neglecting our physical workouts leads to muscle deterioration, outsourcing cognitive effort atrophies neural pathways. One of our most vital cognitive skills at risk is critical thinking. Why consider what you admire about a British author when you can get ChatGPT to reflect on that for you? Research underscores these concerns. Michael Gerlich at SBS Swiss Business School in Kloten, Switzerland, tested 666 people in the UK and found a significant correlation between frequent AI use and lower critical-thinking skills – with younger participants who showed higher dependence on AI tools scoring lower in critical thinking compared with older adults. Similarly, a study by researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania surveyed 319 people in professions that use GenAI at least once a week. While it improved their efficiency, it also inhibited critical thinking and fostered long-term overreliance on the technology, which the researchers predict could result in a diminished ability to solve problems without AI support. 'It's great to have all this information at my fingertips,' said one participant in Gerlich's study, 'but I sometimes worry that I'm not really learning or retaining anything. I rely so much on AI that I don't think I'd know how to solve certain problems without it.' Indeed, other studies have suggested that the use of AI systems for memory-related tasks may lead to a decline in an individual's own memory capacity. This erosion of critical thinking is compounded by the AI-driven algorithms that dictate what we see on social media. 'The impact of social media on critical thinking is enormous,' says Gerlich. 'To get your video seen, you have four seconds to capture someone's attention.' The result? A flood of bite-size messages that are easily digested but don't encourage critical thinking. 'It gives you information that you don't have to process any further,' says Gerlich. By being served information rather than acquiring that knowledge through cognitive effort, the ability to critically analyse the meaning, impact, ethics and accuracy of what you have learned is easily neglected in the wake of what appears to be a quick and perfect answer. 'To be critical of AI is difficult – you have to be disciplined. It is very challenging not to offload your critical thinking to these machines,' says Gerlich. Wendy Johnson, who studies intelligence at Edinburgh University, sees this in her students every day. She emphasises that it is not something she has tested empirically but believes that students are too ready to substitute independent thinking with letting the internet tell them what to do and believe. Without critical thinking, it is difficult to ensure that we consume AI-generated content wisely. It may appear credible, particularly as you become more dependent on it, but don't be fooled. A 2023 study in Science Advances showed that, compared with humans, GPT-3 chat not only produces information that is easier to understand but also more compelling disinformation. * * * Why does that matter? 'Think of a hypothetical billionaire,' says Gerlich. 'They create their own AI and they use that to influence people because they can train it in a specific way to emphasise certain politics or certain opinions. If there is trust and dependency on it, the question arises of how much it is influencing our thoughts and actions.' AI's effect on creativity is equally disconcerting. Studies show that AI tends to help individuals produce more creative ideas than they can generate alone. However, across the whole population, AI-concocted ideas are less diverse, which ultimately means fewer 'Eureka!' moments. Sternberg captures these concerns in a recent essay in the Journal of Intelligence: 'Generative AI is replicative. It can recombine and re-sort ideas, but it is not clear that it will generate the kinds of paradigm-breaking ideas the world needs to solve the serious problems that confront it, such as global climate change, pollution, violence, increasing income disparities, and creeping autocracy.' To ensure that you maintain your ability to think creatively, you might want to consider how you engage with AI – actively or passively. Research by Marko Müller from the University of Ulm in Germany shows a link between social media use and higher creativity in younger people but not in older generations. Digging into the data, he suggests this may be to do with the difference in how people who were born in the era of social media use it compared with those who came to it later in life. Younger people seem to benefit creatively from idea-sharing and collaboration, says Müller, perhaps because they're more open with what they share online compared with older users, who tend to consume it more passively. Alongside what happens while you use AI, you might spare a thought to what happens after you use it. Cognitive neuroscientist John Kounios from Drexel University in Philadelphia explains that, just like anything else that is pleasurable, our brain gets a buzz from having a sudden moment of insight, fuelled by activity in our neural reward systems. These mental rewards help us remember our world-changing ideas and also modify our immediate behaviour, making us less risk averse – this is all thought to drive further learning, creativity and opportunities. But insights generated from AI don't seem to have such a powerful effect in the brain. 'The reward system is an extremely important part of brain development, and we just don't know what the effect of using these technologies will have downstream,' says Kounios. 'Nobody's tested that yet.' There are other long-term implications to consider. Researchers have only recently discovered that learning a second language, for instance, helps delay the onset of dementia for around four years, yet in many countries, fewer students are applying for language courses. Giving up a second language in favour of AI-powered instant-translation apps might be the reason, but none of these can – so far – claim to protect your future brain health. As Sternberg warns, we need to stop asking what AI can do for us and start asking what it is doing to us. Until we know for sure, the answer, according to Gerlich, is to 'train humans to be more human again – using critical thinking, intuition – the things that computers can't yet do and where we can add real value.' We can't expect the big tech companies to help us do this, he says. No developer wants to be told their program works too well; makes it too easy for a person to find an answer. 'So it needs to start in schools,' says Gerlich. 'AI is here to stay. We have to interact with it, so we need to learn how to do that in the right way.' If we don't, we won't just make ourselves redundant, but our cognitive abilities too.
Scoop
12-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
New Research Highlights Gaps In Financial Education For Diverse Learners
Through surveys and interviews with 87 families, the study sought to understand the values, practices and expectations surrounding financial learning in the home. The research project, Developing Culturally Sustaining and Equitable Financial Education Resources for Young Diverse Learners, was led by a team from the Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University's Financial Education and Research Centre (Fin-Ed Centre) and the Institute of Education. It focused on how families with children aged 10 to 15 engage with financial situations in their daily lives. Through surveys and interviews with 87 families, the study sought to understand the values, practices and expectations surrounding financial learning in the home. The study found that most parents talk openly about money with their children, sharing advice on saving, budgeting and spending. However, parents also expressed a strong desire for schools to provide consistent, culturally-aware financial education. Director of the Fin-Ed Centre Dr Pushpa Wood ONZM says families are doing a great job laying the foundation, but financial education should not be left to chance. 'It must be part of the school curriculum to ensure consistency and equity. The recent announcement by the Minister of Education about making financial education compulsory in schools from 2027 is very welcome initiative indeed.' More than 90 per cent of children involved in the study indicated that their parents want them to learn about money at school. The most desired topics included saving strategies, financial goal setting and understanding KiwiSaver and insurance. In many Pacific households, cultural traditions shape financial behaviours. For instance, giving monetary gifts at events like weddings, funerals, birthdays or church gatherings is common and considered a reflection of generosity and community values. Professor Jodie Hunter of the Institute of Education says the study shows the need to tailor both resources and financial education to student experiences. She adds that considering how cultural values impact ideas about money as a shared resource is important. Dr Wood says when you ignore culture, you miss context. 'We can't keep using one-size-fits-all materials and expect meaningful outcomes. Financial literacy is not just about numbers, it's about values, identities and lived experiences.' The study also echoes international concerns about the equity of financial education. Previous assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment have shown lower financial literacy outcomes for Māori and Pacific students compared to the national average, suggesting systemic gaps in how financial capability is taught. 'If we want to close the gap, we have to start with what students already know. Their everyday experiences are valid and valuable starting points for learning,' Dr Wood says. Drawing from the findings, the research team is now developing and testing culturally-relevant resources to support financial education for diverse learners. These materials aim to bridge the gap between home and school and ensure students see their own realities reflected in what they are taught. The team is also developing a series of short professional development courses to support teachers in their future journey of offering financial literacy in classrooms. 'This is about building confidence and capability. If we give young people tools that reflect their world, they'll be better prepared to make sound financial decisions and to thrive,' Dr Wood says.
Scoop
12-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
New Research Highlights Gaps In Financial Education For Diverse Learners
The research project, Developing Culturally Sustaining and Equitable Financial Education Resources for Young Diverse Learners, was led by a team from the Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University's Financial Education and Research Centre (Fin-Ed Centre) and the Institute of Education. It focused on how families with children aged 10 to 15 engage with financial situations in their daily lives. Through surveys and interviews with 87 families, the study sought to understand the values, practices and expectations surrounding financial learning in the home. The study found that most parents talk openly about money with their children, sharing advice on saving, budgeting and spending. However, parents also expressed a strong desire for schools to provide consistent, culturally-aware financial education. Director of the Fin-Ed Centre Dr Pushpa Wood ONZM says families are doing a great job laying the foundation, but financial education should not be left to chance. 'It must be part of the school curriculum to ensure consistency and equity. The recent announcement by the Minister of Education about making financial education compulsory in schools from 2027 is very welcome initiative indeed.' More than 90 per cent of children involved in the study indicated that their parents want them to learn about money at school. The most desired topics included saving strategies, financial goal setting and understanding KiwiSaver and insurance. In many Pacific households, cultural traditions shape financial behaviours. For instance, giving monetary gifts at events like weddings, funerals, birthdays or church gatherings is common and considered a reflection of generosity and community values. Professor Jodie Hunter of the Institute of Education says the study shows the need to tailor both resources and financial education to student experiences. She adds that considering how cultural values impact ideas about money as a shared resource is important. Dr Wood says when you ignore culture, you miss context. 'We can't keep using one-size-fits-all materials and expect meaningful outcomes. Financial literacy is not just about numbers, it's about values, identities and lived experiences.' The study also echoes international concerns about the equity of financial education. Previous assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment have shown lower financial literacy outcomes for Māori and Pacific students compared to the national average, suggesting systemic gaps in how financial capability is taught. 'If we want to close the gap, we have to start with what students already know. Their everyday experiences are valid and valuable starting points for learning,' Dr Wood says. Drawing from the findings, the research team is now developing and testing culturally-relevant resources to support financial education for diverse learners. These materials aim to bridge the gap between home and school and ensure students see their own realities reflected in what they are taught. The team is also developing a series of short professional development courses to support teachers in their future journey of offering financial literacy in classrooms. 'This is about building confidence and capability. If we give young people tools that reflect their world, they'll be better prepared to make sound financial decisions and to thrive,' Dr Wood says.
