Daniel Muijs

Why ChatGPT for Teachers Might Make Things Worse OpenAI have just released ChatGPT for Teachers which I have just spent the morning looking at it and I have concerns.

Very useful review by @carlhendrick.substack.com on ChatGPT for Teachers. Unfortunately, the current iteration is pedagogically unsound and informed by various EduMyths (e.g. learning styles). But there are opportunities, not least designing spaced practice: carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-chatgp...

However, it does raise questions about some existing taken-for-granted's in educational research, which in itself is helpful and a reason to do more studies using non-linear models like this one.

Instructional practices was operationalised through the German three-factor model, with cognitive activation the main measure. My view is that this model doesn't work (the findings are very inconsistent across studies), and this may be another factor.

Does this mean we need to jettison the existing model? Not quite yet. There are a number of limitations in the PISA-TALIS linked dataset. Leadership was conceptualised as distributed and instructional, but each only had a few variables in the dataset.

We did not find the traditional causal model of leadership leading to better attainment through instruction. Rather, the relationship was highly complex, and in fact we found clusters of high attainment where scores on the measured leadership and instructional practices were low

How school leadership and innovation shape instructional pathways to student achievement across nations: Evidence from multilevel structural equation modeling and decision tree analysis Educational leadership, innovation and teaching play essential roles in shaping student achievement. However, extant literature primarily has relied o…

New Open Access article by Burak Aydin, Marjolein Fokkema, Nurullah Eryilmaz, Ronny Scherer, Marcus Pietsch and me on the relationship between school leadership, teaching and achievement using the PISA-TALIS 2018 link dataset. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

This description of the Irish Curriculum spec for the English LC by @finn_mcredmond is a perfect example of the vacuousness of many curricula. Typical of what we often see when curriculum developers are afraid to specify actual content and scared of setting high expectations.

What is a knowledge-rich curriculum? In any event not just facts, not just math and reading, and not elitist. It is the strongest lever for equity. And thus ultimately a matter of social justice. #EduSky

@timsurma.bsky.social, @danielmuijs.bsky.social

Five Common Misconceptions About the Knowledge-Rich Curriculum Tim Surma, Paul A. Kirschner, Michiel Wils, Daniel Muijs*, Claudio Vanhees, Jasper NijlunsingCentre of Expertise Education and Learning, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium; *Queen’s University Belfast, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work Educational reform always sparks debate. That is healthy and necessary. And what we see today is no exception, as many countries embark on the development of what is known as…

Five Common Misconceptions About the Knowledge-Rich Curriculum

Tim Surma, Paul A. Kirschner, Michiel Wils, Daniel Muijs*, Claudio Vanhees, Jasper NijlunsingCentre of Expertise Education and Learning, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium; *Queen’s University Belfast, School…

Initial reviews for @ensermark.bsky.social and @greeborunner.bsky.social’s new book, #HowDoTheyDoIt? have been glowing! ⭐ Thank you to @danielmuijs.bsky.social for these comments.

Have you ordered a copy yet? We would love to hear your comments if you do read it: buff.ly/3K6qYvp

The results (again!) suggest that explicit teaching is the most appropriate way to help low achievers from disadvantaged social backgrounds acquire new, complex, and structured mathematical knowledge

Learning basic mathematic skills in primary school: testing the effectiveness of socio-constructivist and explicit instruction In France, the proportion of low-achieving students in mathematics has increased, and the difference in results between the socially advantaged and disadvantaged students marks a significant achiev...

New evidence from France: RCT's showed that students taught using explicit instruction performed better than those who were taught with socio-constructivist teaching.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Have we reached PhD saturation point? - LSE Higher Education With doctoral student demand outstripping supply of academic jobs, it’s time for governments, universities, and prospective PhD students themselves to take action to avoid regret, says LSE HE Blog Fel...

The number of PhD’s being awarded is increasingly outpacing the supply of academic jobs. This requires a rethink by universities of (over)recruitment, training and expectation management. Interesting blog by Huw Morris blogs.lse.ac.uk/highereducat...

It’s here 👏🏻 the 5th edition of the social science student journal @danielmuijs.bsky.social

Yes, I agree

1. Ensure that subject knowledge is an important part of teacher education programmes
2. Provide CPD opportunities for teachers to develop subject knowledge when & where they need it
3. Provide high quality support materials and textbooks to scaffold teacher knowledge

Of course, not all teachers can have a subject degree in the subject they teach (in secondary). And in primary all teachers are generalists by definition. So what can we do to ensure that the subject knowledge is there?

Interestingly, the effect is mediated by teacher confidence, with teachers with a subject degree being more confident. That is similar to what David Reynolds and me found in an earlier study, and a body of evidence on the importance of teacher subject knowledge.

Subject degree is positively related to attainment in TIMSS (across countries), and explains about 17.5% of differences between teachers in effectiveness, which is a practically important effect. The effect is strongest for pupils from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

The effect of teacher subject-specific qualifications on student science achievement I investigate the effect of teacher subject-specific qualifications on student science achievement using data from TIMSS 2015, a large-scale assessmen…

This paper by Pietro Sarcassani is a nice illustration of the importance of subject knowledge to teacher effectiveness. In this study of Science teaching he finds that holding a subject degree in the relevant taught science (e.g. Biology, Physics...). sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Van extra taaluren tot aparte taalklassen: zo wil Vlaamse regering kennis van Nederlands op school bijspijkeren | VRT NWS: nieuws Instapklasjes voor peuters, extra taaluren voor kleuters, aparte taalklassen in de lagere school en het middelbaar: met een hele rist ingrepen probeert de Vlaamse regering de kennis van het Nederlands...

Dit is een goede zet. Taalachterstand moet aangepakt worden. Jong beginnen is daarbij belangrijk, dus goed dat men al bij de kleuters gaat screenen en ondersteunen. Extra taalklassen op latere leeftijd zijn ook zeer wenselijk.
www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/20...

Verjaardagsboeken/birthday books

Lining up is a sensible thing to do. Sets up the day and expectations and allows for an orderly move into classrooms.

‪And in more great news Christine Counsell will be chairing the curriculum reform task force.‬

www.education-ni.gov.uk/publications...

Lucy Crehan presenting her strategic review of the NI curriculum. Need for reform made clear: we need to move to a new curriculum framework that is specific, focussed, knowledge-rich, purposeful, and flexible and inclusive. A clear and evidence-based direction. #Curriculum #NI

As ever, the loudest voices calling for the collapse of universities, presumably in the post-92 sector, benefitted from privileged educations.

Conceptualizing teaching quality: problems, prospects, and a proposal for moving forward Empirical studies in teaching effectiveness research (TER) have largely yielded small and inconsistent effects. To better understand and explain these effects, we argue that it is core to consider ...

In educational research we are often unclear on on our definitions and concepts, which makes it harder to develop a coherent knowledge base. New article on why teacher effectiveness research often shows small effect sizes. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Our article 'The role of knowledge-rich curricula in promoting deep thinking and complex skill acquisition' is online and free. #EduSky
@danielmuijs.bsky.social @timsurma.bsky.social @dylanwiliam.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

My second order was a usb Ethernet adapter. The excitement never stops in the Muijs household.