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Thursday 22 August 2013
Fantasy Vuelta?
Thursday 11 October 2012
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Can you get more intelligent?
One of my core beliefs in education is that Potential is not fixed - that students can alter what they can achieve based on hard work and new opportunities.
A study suggests IQ is not stable during teenage years as was thought, but shifts in step with changes in particular brain areas
IQ scores can change dramatically in teenage years in parallel with changes to the brain, according to a study that suggests caution in using the 11+ exam for grammar school entrance to predict academic ability.
IQ was always thought to be stable across a person's life. Childhood scores are often used to predict education outcome and job prospects as an adult. But the study suggests scores are surprisingly variable.
Robert Sternberg from Oklahoma State University, who studies intelligence but was not in the research team, said: "A testing industry has developed around the notion that IQ is relatively fixed and pretty well set in the early years of life. This study shows in a compelling way that meaningful changes can occur throughout the teenage years."
Our mental faculties are not fixed, he said: "People who are mentally active and alert will likely benefit, and the couch potatoes who do not exercise themselves intellectually will pay a price."
Sue Ramsden from University College London recruited 33 pupils aged 12 to 16, from high achievers at 11+ to struggling students referred for assessments. She tested their IQ in 2004, and again three to four years later, and also analysed their brains using magnetic resonance imaging. The average of all scores stayed the same across the years, but individual IQ scores rose or fell by as many as 21 points, a substantial difference – enough to take a person of "average" intelligence to "gifted" status, or vice versa.
The study contradicts a long-standing view of intelligence as fixed. Alfred Binet, father of modern intelligence tests, believed mental development ended at 16, while child psychologist Jean Piaget thought it ended even earlier.
The team now wants to know what causes IQ drift: the rate of brain change, or educational factors that stimulate some skills but not others; and also if changes are teenage only or whether IQ can vary as dramatically in adults. In the meantime, the message for children, parents and teachers is, as Ramsden writes in Nature: "This study is encouraging to some whose intellect may improve, and a warning that early achievers may not maintain potential."
This article is adapted from one that first appeared in The Guardian in October 2011
A study suggests IQ is not stable during teenage years as was thought, but shifts in step with changes in particular brain areas
IQ scores can change dramatically in teenage years in parallel with changes to the brain, according to a study that suggests caution in using the 11+ exam for grammar school entrance to predict academic ability.
IQ was always thought to be stable across a person's life. Childhood scores are often used to predict education outcome and job prospects as an adult. But the study suggests scores are surprisingly variable.
Robert Sternberg from Oklahoma State University, who studies intelligence but was not in the research team, said: "A testing industry has developed around the notion that IQ is relatively fixed and pretty well set in the early years of life. This study shows in a compelling way that meaningful changes can occur throughout the teenage years."
Our mental faculties are not fixed, he said: "People who are mentally active and alert will likely benefit, and the couch potatoes who do not exercise themselves intellectually will pay a price."
Sue Ramsden from University College London recruited 33 pupils aged 12 to 16, from high achievers at 11+ to struggling students referred for assessments. She tested their IQ in 2004, and again three to four years later, and also analysed their brains using magnetic resonance imaging. The average of all scores stayed the same across the years, but individual IQ scores rose or fell by as many as 21 points, a substantial difference – enough to take a person of "average" intelligence to "gifted" status, or vice versa.
The study contradicts a long-standing view of intelligence as fixed. Alfred Binet, father of modern intelligence tests, believed mental development ended at 16, while child psychologist Jean Piaget thought it ended even earlier.
The team now wants to know what causes IQ drift: the rate of brain change, or educational factors that stimulate some skills but not others; and also if changes are teenage only or whether IQ can vary as dramatically in adults. In the meantime, the message for children, parents and teachers is, as Ramsden writes in Nature: "This study is encouraging to some whose intellect may improve, and a warning that early achievers may not maintain potential."
This article is adapted from one that first appeared in The Guardian in October 2011
Monday 20 February 2012
The first follower
Sometimes I feel like I am leading into an area where others don't want to go. If the quote below is correct, maybe I'm not a 'nut' after all!
"The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself. … The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.” — Derek Sivers http://on.ted.com/ANtu #TED
Thursday 20 October 2011
Intelligence Is Not “Fixed”
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - The Best Articles On The New Study Showing That Intelligence Is Not “Fixed”:
One of my core beliefs in education is that Potential is not fixed - that students can alter what they can achieve based on hard work and new opportunities. This collection of articles is the best evidence I have come across to back this view. Thanks Larry!
One of my core beliefs in education is that Potential is not fixed - that students can alter what they can achieve based on hard work and new opportunities. This collection of articles is the best evidence I have come across to back this view. Thanks Larry!
Sunday 16 October 2011
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Teachers get a 'shout-out'
Followers of my tweets over the past few years and readers of my various blogs will probably be aware that I am a huge fan of Barack Obama's abilities. He has had a tough time, but regardless of the situation his strength in oratory shines through.
This is a link to the text of his speech (or prepared remarks at least) that he will give as a 'back-to-school' speech aimed at students across the US. Firstly, what a good idea - I believe the president does it every year, secondly I bet it sounds better from Obama that it did from old GWB.
The whole thing is worth reading and if I can locate a video I'll post tomorrow, but below is my favourite bit. It is basically a big 'shout-out' to teachers - now wouldn't it be nice if our PM or Ed Sec said something similar (fat chance!)
This is a link to the text of his speech (or prepared remarks at least) that he will give as a 'back-to-school' speech aimed at students across the US. Firstly, what a good idea - I believe the president does it every year, secondly I bet it sounds better from Obama that it did from old GWB.
The whole thing is worth reading and if I can locate a video I'll post tomorrow, but below is my favourite bit. It is basically a big 'shout-out' to teachers - now wouldn't it be nice if our PM or Ed Sec said something similar (fat chance!)
“Now, teachers are the men and women who might be
working harder than anybody. Whether you go to a big school or a small one,
whether you attend a public, private, or charter school – your teachers are
giving up their weekends and waking up at dawn. They’re cramming their days
full of classes and extra-curriculars. Then they’re going home, eating some
dinner, and staying up past midnight to grade your papers.
And they don’t do it for a fancy office or a big
salary. They do it for you. They live for those moments when something clicks,
when you amaze them with your intellect and they see the kind of person you can
become. They know that you’ll be the citizens and leaders who take us into
tomorrow. They know that you’re the future.”
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