Episode 55: Is It Really Better to Give Than to Receive?
We’ve looked at the story of the Good Samaritan so now it’s time to scientifically answer the question: is it better to give than to receive? Psychologists have recently examined the relationship between happiness and charitable giving. Will you be happier if you donate money rather than spend it on yourself?
The research study discussed in this episode used a 2×2 factorial design. The image below is actually a "voicethread". This is a new technology which allows you to comment and draw on images and video. Here I explain the factorial design used in this study on the effects of giving on happiness. I can’t make this image any larger here, so use your mouse to zoom in and out as I explain the 2×2 factorial design. You can also click here to see this voicethread on the voicethread site.
If you go to the VoiceThread website get an account (it’s free) and you can insert your comments into this image as well. It’s pretty neat - try it out.
- The article discussed in this episode is Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness, by Elizabeth W. Dunn, Lara B. Aknin, and Michael I. Norton, and it appeared in Science 21 March 2008: Vol. 319. no. 5870, pp. 1687 - 1688
Related Episodes
- The Good Samaritan Study
- Basic Research Design Part 1 (one independent variable with two and three groups)
- Basic Research Design Part 2 (factorial design with two independent variables)
Episodes Related to Happiness
Popularity: 10% [?]
Popularity: 10% [?]
Continue reading this entry»Episode 54: Math Anxiety - Causes and Cures
Could it be that the roots of math anxiety lie not with math itself but with the way math is taught? In this episode I am extremely fortunate to speak with Dr. Eugene Geist, Associate Professor at Ohio University - Athens, Ohio and specialist in early childhood education. We talk about math anxiety - how it develops and what can be done to help kids overcome it. So if you have math anxiety, are a parent of a child with math anxiety or are a teacher of math you’ll want to hear what Dr. Geist has to say about this topic. Don’t let your kids say “I hate math!” Children are, as Dr. Geist will point out, natural born mathematicians and you can help them with their math homework and in the process help them overcome math anxiety.
Summary of Dr. Geist’s ideas as to what causes math anxiety
- Understand that, developmentally, young people hate to be wrong. We all don’t like being wrong, but it is especially embarrassing and painful to the developing child.
- Don’t Create Embarrassing situations: Asking students to “come to the front of the class and work out a problem on the board” contains the potential for a publicly embarrassing situation for a child. Use this approach (if at all) very carefully.
- Don’t focus on right and wrong: Math learning is difficult if it occurs in an atmosphere (either school or home) in which there is pressure to use one method to find the right answer. Allow some room for exploration and for the child to find one or more ways to find the best answer.
- Focus on Concepts instead of Math Facts and Processes. Focus math on applications and uses in daily life. When teachers focus on teaching only the processes or procedures of solving math problems and not on helping students understand conceptually why we do those procedures, then students will focus on learning processes (ex: “invert and multiply”) and not on seeing how those processes make sense. Fluency with the multiplication table can come later - first make sure students understand what is going on and why.
- Let Students Work On Their Own. Let students try to figure math problems out first on their own and let them debate with each other about the right answer. You’ll find that they enjoy learning math this way and are more likely to understand it better.
- Don’t Let Math be a Mystery: It is no wonder that math can seem like a mystery and create anxiety in many children when it is taught in the ways described above.
- Don’t Give The Right Answer. Give a try doing what Dr. Geist mentioned in the podcast: give students a problem, but don’t give them the answer right away. Let them think about it until next class when you give an answer - but tell them that it may not be the right answer. Let them tell you if it’s right or wrong and why.
What to do if Your Math/Statistics Teacher’s approach Isn’t Working For You
- Study in Groups: work with other students in your class to see how they are coping with the situation. Students can be great at explaining things to other students.
- Look online for help. Search YouTube - there’s lots of tutorials there on math made by other teachers. Also, iTunesU may have a lecture from a teacher on the topic you’re stuck on.
- Put up a question on Yahoo Answers. Yahoo Answers is a place where students ask other students questions about a whole range of topics. Check it out. See if some other student somewhere in the world would be willing to answer a math/stats question. Experts also drop by to answer questions on Yahoo Answers. I go there myself every once in a while to see if there’s a question I can answer.
- Rewrite Your Notes After Class. I know - this one sounds dull, but I did it when I was taking a class and was really confused. Re-writing your class notes - immediately after class - can really help clarify things for you.
- Use Your Textbook. Most textbook authors bend over backwards to explain things clearly. You paid for it - use it. And don’t forget to use the website that accompanies most textbooks.
Ideas on What Teachers and Parents Can Do to Avoid Fostering Math Anxiety in Children
- Have the right attitude toward math: math is not inherently “hard”. Math is about puzzles and kids love puzzles
- Work together with the child when working on math problems. Don’t stand over the child holding onto the “right” answer, ready to judge the child if he/she doesn’t get it right. Work collaboratively with the child to solve the puzzle.
- Model problem solving with the child. “Now let’s see, what should we do…?”, “How about if we try this…?”, “You know, I think I may be wrong here - let’s try a different approach.”
- Take a constructive approach to wrong answers: “Gee, that seems like a really big number. Do you think that’s right? I mean, how could….lead to….?” and, “I’m not sure about that one. Can you show me how you got that answer?”
- Get kids to work with each other to solve a problem. When they come up with different answers, have them work together to see who has the right answer.
- Make math learning not about long pages of worksheets, but rather an adventure in puzzle-solving.
Resources on Math Anxiety
- Dr. Geist has written and spoken widely about the topic of math anxiety as well as about the teaching of math and about constructivism. Here is a link to his website, and here is just a sample of some of his publications:
- Geist, E.A. (2008 In Review) Because I SAID So: Power Relationships in Teaching Mathematics
- Geist, E.A. (2008 In Review) What Is The Self-Fulfilling Prophesy and What Does It Have To Do With Learning Mathematics?
- Geist, E.A. (2008 In Review) Dealing with Math Anxiety in Early Childhood Teachers and Students
- Geist E.A & Geist K. (2007 in press) Do Re Mi:That’s how easy math can be: Music interventions to support mathematics concepts in infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Young Children
- Geist E.A. & Janson G. (2007 in Review) Timed Tests and the Effects of Anxiety of Learning Mathematics.
- Phillips, S.K., Duffrin, M.W. and Geist, E.A. (2004). Scientific salad and apple analysis: Take food out of the kitchen and into the classroom to teach mathematics, science, and more. Science and Children, 41(4), 24-29.
- Geist, E.A. (2002) Annual Editions - Early Childhood Education 03/04 Children are Born Mathematicians: Encouraging and Promoting Early Mathematical Concepts in Children Under Five. p.174-179 McGraw-Hill; Guilford CT
- 1993 Jacksonville State University - Jacksonville, Alabama - What is Constructivism: Beyond Just a Buzz Word.
- 2000 Research Council on Mathematics Learning - Las Vegas, NV - Constructivist VS Traditional Methods of Teaching Mathematics.
- Here is the word problem Dr. Geist discusses in this class:
A man buys a horse for #20 and then he sells it again for $30. He then he buys the horse back for $40 and sells it to somebody else for $50. Did he make money or lose money and how much did he make or lose?
- Here is the link to the web site called Project Construct. Here’s a blurb from their website telling what Project Construct is all about:
Project Construct is derived from constructivism—the theoretical view that learners construct knowledge through interaction with the physical and social environments. Through “hands-on, minds-on” experiences, students in Project Construct classrooms attain deep understandings in the core content areas, while they also learn to work collaboratively with adults and peers and to be lifelong problem solvers.
- Dr. Geist highly recommends the books of Constance Kamii. Here is a link to one of her books on Amazon: Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic: Implications of Piaget’s Theory (Early Childhood Education Series (Teachers College Pr))
- Dr. Geist also recommends the work of Catherine Twomey Fosnot. She has a number of books on Amazon as well: Young Mathematicians at Work: Constructing Fractions, Decimals, and Percents
Books
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Popularity: 15% [?]
Continue reading this entry»Episode 53: Mindful Learning, NCLB, and the True Foundations of Success
Tired of rote memorization? Tired of NCLB? Try mindful learning. In this episode I explore psychologist Ellen Langer’s concept of mindful learning. What does it mean to teach and learn in a mindful way? How does this concept differ from what is being encouraged in the new report on the teaching of math called the Foundations of Success? Find out the answers to all these questions in this episode of The Psych Files podcast.
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Resources on Mindful Learning
- Here’s an excellent powerpoint presentation on Ellen Langer’s concept of mindful learning (clicking on this link will download a pdf version of the presentation). This presentation was created by Micah Fierstein, Ed.D, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska. Dr. Fierstein has created exercises he calls “practice fields” (safe spaces for students to engage in deeper learning) based on Langer’s work. You can contact him at micah@uaa.alaska.edu for more information on his work with mindful learning.
- Here’s a short article by Ellen Langer in which she discusses mindful learning (a pdf file). This article appeared in Current Directions in Psychological Science.
- Here is Ellen Langer’s homepage at Harvard University.
- The Power of Mindful Learning
- Mindful Learning: 101 Proven Strategies for Student and Teacher Success
- Here’s a nice summary of the main points in Ellen Langer’s book.
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Popularity: 19% [?]
Continue reading this entry»