When Can You Trust the Experts?: How to Tell Good Science from Bad in Education

Front Cover
John Wiley & Sons, Jun 20, 2012 - Education - 272 pages
Clear, easy principles to spot what's nonsense and what's reliable

Each year, teachers, administrators, and parents face a barrage of new education software, games, workbooks, and professional development programs purporting to be "based on the latest research." While some of these products are rooted in solid science, the research behind many others is grossly exaggerated. This new book, written by a top thought leader, helps everyday teachers, administrators, and family members—who don't have years of statistics courses under their belts—separate the wheat from the chaff and determine which new educational approaches are scientifically supported and worth adopting.

  • Author's first book, Why Don't Students Like School?, catapulted him to superstar status in the field of education
  • Willingham's work has been hailed as "brilliant analysis" by The Wall Street Journal and "a triumph" by The Washington Post
  • Author blogs for The Washington Post and Brittanica.com, and writes a column for American Educator

In this insightful book, thought leader and bestselling author Dan Willingham offers an easy, reliable way to discern which programs are scientifically supported and which are the equivalent of "educational snake oil."

 

Contents

The Shortcut Solution
23
PART
25
CHAPTER 1
31
What Scientists Call Good Science
81
How to Use Science
107
CHAPTER 5
135
Trace
167
Analyze
183
Should I Do
207
Endnotes
223
Name Index
237
Subject Index
243
Copyright

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About the author (2012)

Daniel T. Willingham is professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. His bestselling book, Why Don't Students Like School?, was hailed as "a triumph" by The Washington Post and "brilliant analysis" by The Wall Street Journal; it is recommended by scores of education-related magazines and blogs and is published in ten languages. Willingham writes a regular column called "Ask the Cognitive Scientist" for the American Federation of Teachers' magazine, American Educator.

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