Direct instruction is hot! Whereas in the 1990s we heard a lot about discovering learning, we are now slowly seeing a renewed interest in the ‘direct instruction model’ in the Netherlands. Both in language and in mathematics there is a new interest in rote practice of knowledge (“stampen“). As that is not a surprise, since […]
The tyranny of fun in education
Fun in education is important! We hear this opinion a lot, and yesterday I saw a tweet from “Richard Feynman”* and this made me think about how bad of an idea this is. If you're not having fun, you're not learning. There's a pleasure in finding things out. pic.twitter.com/NDBn2awrNL — Prof. Feynman (@ProfFeynman) October 10, 2018 […]
Thinking out of the Box: Comparing metaphors for variables in programming education
A long time ago, almost a year now, we had the opportunity to conduct a research study at Nemo Science Live. With Science Live, researchers can perform small scientific experiments on visitors of the Nemo Science Museum in Amsterdam, which is a great and relatively easy way to find participants. If you are a Dutch researcher […]
Programming for blind kids
Programming for everyone, that is my motto these days. And when I say all kids, I mean all kids. It is easy to think of all kids, but forget about kids with disabilities. One group of kids for whom it is really hard to program is kids that are blind and visually impaired. And I am […]
Awesome Speakers (that might speak at your conference)
I often get asked to suggest awesome female speakers, so I thought let’s make a list on my blog so it is easy for me to help people out that are looking for great women for their panel/conference/event. The list was compiled based on my memory and a shout out on Twitter. I have mainly […]
