This week I am joined by Bradley Busch and Edward Watson from InnerDrive for one final time this year and we are talking about their new book 'Teaching and Learning Illuminated'.  Chris Hack from Abingdon School is also co-hosting the episode.  This week you have the chance to win your very own copy of the book so just listen to the episode and find out how you can win. (T&Cs can be found here).

This week Karen Duffy and the Psychology PGCE students of Manchester Metropolitan University have taken over the podcast.  Take a listen to this lively conversation about the dreams, fears and expectations of teachers just entering the profession.  A reminder too, for those of us who have been here a while, about the joys of the classroom.  With just a hint of how a knowledge of psychology has supported these trainees through the past year.

What a year this has been, as I upload this podcast I currently have 145 episodes of Psychology in the Classroom for you to listen to.  But there are still more to come but this is the last solo episode of the year so I thought I would take the chance to reflect on the year gone and look forward to the year ahead.  As I plan for 2023-24 please do let me know what you would like to learn more about, get in touch via social media or on the speakpipe link.  I love hearing from you.   Here is the link to my Libsyn page - just in case.

This podcast reviews a paper with the title ‘Teacher, forgive me, I forgot to do it’ the impact of children’s prospective memory on teachers’ evaluation of academic performance.  Prospective memory is, according to Einstein and McDaniel the memory for intentions. It enables us to remember to carry out an action that has been planned for a predefined time in the future, while performing a concurrent activity named ongoing task.  One of the interesting things about prospective memory is how others perceive it.  If you fail to carry out your intention it is seen as character flaw - so where you forget to hand in book you might be considered forgetful, flaky, or in terms of social skills - like remembering to wish someone happy birthday you might be thought of as indifferent.  Can this then affect teachers' perceptions of students and can this in turn inpact academic success? The link to Grace Molloy's podcast on cognitive bias is here. Reference: Basso D, Corradini G, Cottini M. "Teacher, forgive me, I forgot to do it!" The impact of children's prospective memory on teachers' evaluation of academic performance. Br J Educ Psychol. 2023 Mar;93(1):17-32. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12537. Epub 2022 Aug 7. PMID: 35934815; PMCID: PMC10087291.    

The Note Taking Effect is the well documented effect that taking notes during learning increases retention and recall.  There are factors that effect it such as whether you type or hand write - the latter is more effective - for example.  This episode looks at research into the underlying cognitive processes that may help us improve our students retention through more effective note taking techniques. If you would like to take a look at the original paper:  Lalchandani, L. A., & Healy, A. F. (2022). Elucidating the cognitive processes involved in the note-taking effect. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 36(5), 1009–1021. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3985

This week looks at a research paper into the Pomodoro Technique - breaking down revision into 25 minutes segments with 5 minute breaks.  Whilst many people use this we often don't consider why it is useful or what processes might support its use or not.  The use of system-regulated breaks may have several benefits over self-regulated breaks such as reducing secondary cognitive load, making students more motivated and more efficient but little research has been done on this. This paper is a starting point for this research. You may also like to listen to these podcasts on Cognitive Load and Task Switching. Original Paper: : Biwer, F., Wiradhany, W., oude Egbrink, M. G. A., & de Bruin, A. B.  H. (2023). Understanding effort regulation: Comparing ‘Pomodoro’ breaks and self-regulated  breaks. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 00, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12593  

This week Psychology in the Classroom talks to Dr Daniel Jolley, Assistant Professor in Social Psychology at the University of Nottingham. His research explores the psychology of conspiracy theories,  where he is interested in understanding why millions of people find conspiracy theories so appealing. He is also keen to explore the social consequences of believing in conspiracy theories and develop tools to address their negative impact.  In particularly we talk about how adolscents may develop beliefs in conspiracy theories and how, as teachers, we can address such beliefs and encourage young people to critically assess the content they are viewing.   If you wish to have a go with the Conspiracy Kitchen here is the link and you can find out more about Daniel's work here or follow him on twitter: @DrDanielJolley Additionally (not mentioned in the podcast) Daniel has also helped to develop some lesson plan about mis/disinformation more broadly which can be found at Project Real.

This week (15th May 2023) is Mental Health Awareness week and the theme is anxiety and to mark it I am looking at the link between perfectionism and anxiety.  This is based on two papers by Burcas and Cretu (2021) and Egan et al. (2022) that explore the link between the two concepts in different ways.    I have got quite a lot out there this week so please do take a look at my blog for OCR and my podcast with Natalie Hunt for Abingdon School.  Further back in time I have a wide range of mental health podcasts that you can find on my website.   To download resources please click this link. References Burcaş, S., Creţu, R.Z. Multidimensional Perfectionism and Test Anxiety: a Meta-analytic Review of Two Decades of Research. Educ Psychol Rev 33, 249–273 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09531-3 Egan, S., Wade, T., Fitzallen, G., O’Brien, A., & Shafran, R. (2022). A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies of the link between anxiety, depression and perfectionism: Implications for treatment. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 50(1), 89-105. doi:10.1017/S1352465821000357

How do students choose A levels?  There are all sorts of reasons that might influence a student’s A level choices such as enjoyment of a subject, parental influence, university requirements and in Psychology we talk about the therapy hypothesis - that students choose psychology to better understand themselves and possibly their own neurodivergence or mental health conditions.  But the GCSE data in 2020 provided a unique opportunity to understand how much influence class rank (and potentially self-perception of their ability in a given subject) plays into students’ A level choices. Whilst this research is quantitative in nature it raises so many interesting questions around setting, self-perception, referencing and even student-teacher relationships. My guest Dr Joanna Williamson from at Cambridge University Press & Assessment where she  is a Senior Researcher in educational measurement. You can find the research on this link and the link to the Fleischmann paper here.

We all use videos in teaching and the ability to embed them directly into powerpoints or just find a good link on Youtube has transformed our ability, as teachers, to bring learning to life.  But passively consuming videos doesn't necessairly encourage long term learning.  This week we look at research that considers how to make the most of videos to aid learning.  Based on Fiorella, L. (2022) Learning by explaining after pauses in video lectures: Are provided visuals a scaffold or a crutch? Applied Cognitive Psychology 36:5, 1142-1149 https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3994.   

This week I am speaking to Bradley Busch from InnerDrive about the most recent research on the impact of social media and screens.  We consider how teens navigating this new digital world are affected in terms of Mental Health, wellbeing, learning and life in general.  As parents we also share some of the challenges we have have faced as digital immigrants when our children are digital natives, and the battle against the brains of silicon valley screaming for our children’s attention - and mostly winning.  We mention the latest OfCom report - Children and Parents: Media use and attitudes report 2022 - which you can read on this link.

The second of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will think about making your revision as effective as possible and how to avoid bad revision strategies that feel good but don't help you remember things long term.  You can listen to other podcasts in the series on this link or hear more about sleep here.

The fourth of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will think about where you revise and things that make it easier or harder to get started and stay focused.  It also discusses whether music is a good or bad thing and the challenges of mobile phones.  You can listen to other podcasts in the series on this link.

The third of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will consider 5 effective revision strategies that can help you make the most of your revision.  You can watch a short video and listen to other podcasts in the series on this link.

The second of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will think about making your revision as effective as possible and how to avoid bad revision strategies that feel good but don't help you remember things long term.  You can watch a short video and listen to other podcasts in the series on this link.

The first of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will think about the best way to plan your revision to make sure that you get the most out of the time you are revising and a balance between work and play.  You can watch a short video and listen to other podcasts in the series on this link.

When we switch between one task and another due to an interuption there is a cost.  Whilst we may feel like we are managing we often underestimate the toll task-switching has on our time, productivity and wellbeing.  In this episode we take a brief look at how we get interupted, the cost of those interuptions and the impact it has on learning, productivity and our wellbeing as a whole.  Plus there is a great little experiment you can do so have a pen and paper ready.  The book mentioned is Flow: the classic work on how to achieve happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

This week we really start to draw on previous episodes with the theory of Dual Coding.  Key to this is Working Memory Model (for a image of this please use this link) which is covered here.  This epsiode then discusses dual coding before extending to the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning proposed by Mayer (2002) and links it back to  Schemas and Cognitive Load Theory (the links take you back to previous episodes).  Finally we consider the EEF's review of the evidence and then the implications for classroom practice.

What exactly are schemas and why should teachers know about them?  We learn about retrieval practice, metacognition, cognitive load, working memory and many other cognitive theories and underpinning pretty much all of them are schemas.  It is the way that we theorise about how knowledge is stored in, linked and retrieved from long-term memory and so therefore we need to understand not only what they are but how to move our students from novice schema to expert schema.  In this episode we will look at different ways that this can be done and reflect on some best practice.  There are lots of previous episodes that link to schema that can be found via this link.

The links between sports psychology and education may not be immediately obvious but talking to Matt Shaw from InnerDrive clearly demonstrates just how interrelated these two areas are.  Both sport and education require learning, need students to manage emotions especially during performance and aim to encourage behaviour change for many different reasons.  Packed with top tips this is a really fascinating podcast.   Matt mentions the InnerDrive Blogs: the sports blogs can be found here and the education blogs here.

This week's episode looks at Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) in detail, we have talked about it before with Bradley Busch but this delves into the original theory and how it has been researched more recently.  With a good understanding of CLT and various other concepts that underpin it such as working memory and schemas teachers can transform learning in the classroom.  We cover Sweller's 5 principles, different types of cognitive load and 14 things you could try in your classroom. The document mentioned in the podcast can be downloaded here. Sweller, J. (2010). Cognitive Load Theory: Recent Theoretical Advances. In J. Plass, R. Moreno, & R. Brünken (Eds.), Cognitive Load Theory (pp. 29-47). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511844744.004 The EEF Review can be accessed on this link.

Don Berg is an author, education psychology researcher, alternative education practitioner, and leader.  He has over 20 years of experience leading children in self-directed educational settings.  In this episode we focus on motivation, going beyond the traditional intrinsic-extrinsic paradigm to discuss the need for autonomy, competency and relatedness in order for students to feel motivated and engage with learning in the classroom.  Some great ideas on how to make small changes to help motivation, engagement and wellbeing.   You can find out more about Don’s work on his website www.holisticequity.org and click this link for his Book: Schooling For Holistic Equity: How To Manage the Hidden Curriculum for K-12

Interleaving is a concept that has been around in the pyschological literature for about 10 years, the findings are quite robust but there is a lot of confusion about exactly what interleaving is and how it should be used in the classroom.  This episode we define what interleaving is and is not, the consider the research that underpins it as a concept and the theories as to why it might work and finally what exactly interleaving could look like in your classroom. There are two reviews that I mention and you can click on the links below to access them: EEF Cognitive Science in the Classroom: Evidence and Practice review (go to page 53) Firth, Rivers & Boyle (2021) Contest and Implications Document for: A systematic review of interleaving as a concept learning strategy.

Following on from last week Bradley Busch from InnerDrive talks about the importance of retrieval practice in learning and how it links to the broader landscape of learning through the development of schemas, how to develop effective questions, not to mention why students don't opt for retrieval practice in their revision. If you's like to listen to Bradley's other Psychology in the Classroom Podcasts you can hear them here: The Science of Learning or Cognitive Load. You can find out more about the work that InnerDrive does at www.innerdrive.co.uk

Many teachers understand the concept of retrieval practice in learning, in this week’s podcast we are looking back at some seminal research on this by Roediger and Karpicke (2006) that looks at how effective recall is over reading as a learning strategy, whether more retrieval practice means better learning and how good we are at judging how well we know stuff.  Knowing this research has implications for our classroom practice, students revision techniques and the links to metacognition as well.   Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests Improves Long-Term Retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x

Dancing has been shown to have numerous benefits and as we will hear they are physical, social and cognitive. Dr Peter Lovatt explains the psychology of dance and movement, why it is so important to get movement into the classroom and suggests some great ways to do this in any classroom. You can find out more about the psychology of dance and join the programmes on these links: Dr Peter Lovatt’s Website: www.peterlovatt.com Dance Assure: https://move-assure.com/ Movement in Practice: https://www.movementinpractice.com/ Or get reading: The Dance Cure: The surprising secret to being smarter, stronger, happier. Or follow Peter on LinkedIn

I have been struggling to get my head around Metacognition and what it looks like in the classroom.  In this episode I go right back to Flavell's 1979 paper where he outlines his ideas and discuss a variety of examples of metacognition in the classroom.  I hope you find it a useful introduction to metacognition and a spring board to thinkin about what it looks like in your classroom. Useful links: Podcast on Cognitive Psychology EEF Metacognition Guidance Document (2018)  Reference: Flavell, John H. 1979. “Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive-Developmental Inquiry.” American Psychologist 34 (10): 906–911.

Today’s episode we are revisiting the RE-STAR project or Regulating Emotions - Strengthening Adolescent Resilience, a large 4 year research project looking at the relationship between poor mental health and neuro-atypicalities, in particular Autism and Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder (ADHD). Today I am joined by Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, who is leading the project and we are also joined by Professor Emily Siminoff who is also involved with the project.  The focus for today’s discussion is why young people with Autism and ADHD might be at greater risk of mental ill health, in particular depression.  Emily and Edmund also talk about how both these conditions present in the classroom, how we, as teachers, can support young people with Autism & ADHD.   We also consider how depression and anxiety present in a typical developing adolescent and how it might be different in young people with Autism and ADHD. You can hear all the RE-STAR podcasts here. For information about the Tools for School research study click here information about the research study. The toolkit resource itself is on www.toolsforschools.info (see "resources bank") although please be aware that this is in very early testing so it is not recommended that schools adopt just yet however, you are welcome to explore it though and provide any feedback - the details are all on the website For more information about the ADHD Foundation click here

The final takeover podcast of the season comes from Will, Todd and Dan who, as you will hear, are all keen sports fans.  Whilst the conversation is loosely linked to psychology it is great to hear young people's thoughts on the effects of crowds on performance, the issue of sport related violence and why it is so prevalent in football rather than other sports.  It is great to eavesdrop on the conversation and as Will says sometimes this is the best way to learn! Psychology in the Classroom will be back next week with and interview from the RE-STAR research team.  

Welcome to the next of the takeover podcasts about memory, music and Alzheimer’s from Effie from Bootham School.  I am sure that for many of us there are songs that come on the radio and we are instantly transported back to a specific moment in time, a memory.  There is something different about the way we store musical memories and this is what forms the basis of music therapy for patients with dementia.  In this short podcast Effie takes us on a personal journey about the effect of Music on her grandfather.

What is the point of Psychological research. In this short episode James asks if you can spot the real and the fake research? Showing our intuition isn't always correct.

For the next two weeks I hand my podcast over to students and teachers who would like to tell you about an area of psychology that interests them.  Today Harriet Ennis (a teacher and trained hynotherapist) introduces self-hypnosis with an explanation of what self-hypnosis is, how it can help you relax and how you can do it.  The second part of the recording (at 14 minutes) is the self-hypnosis recording so if you want to skip straight to that you can, equally if you are driving that is where you might want to pause it until you can engage more safely!  If you would like to know more please do feel free to email Harriet on [email protected].

As Research fellows of the Oxford Character Project, co-authors of the book ‘Leader: Know, love and inspire your people’, Senior Fellows of the Human Flourishing Program's Network at Harvard University, and director and founder, respecitvely of the Wellington Leadership and Coaching Institute Emmie Bidsotn and Dr Katy Granville-Chapman are well placed to talk about leadership and its role in schools.  In this podcast they talk about the importance of love in leadership and how it can enable flourising. You can find out more about their work on these links. https://www.leadershipforflourishing.com/ https://oxfordcharacter.org/ https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/flourishing-network-HFH Brene Brown's Dare to Lead McKinsey: The Boss Factor Amy Edmunsdon - Psychological Safety

Sleep is a vital part of every animal's life and plays a vital role in emotional regulation, memory consolidation and physical health.  But many people struggle to get a good night’s sleep and that includes adolescents.  The impact of poor sleep can be devastating.  This week Dr Maria Gardani talks about her research into sleep and why and how we can all get a better night’s sleep.   The links Maria mentioned are The National Sleep Foundation and The NHS Sleepio Website

How can Neuropsychology integrate with education to support our understanding of how learning works?  This week Clinical Psychologist and neuropsychologist Dr Jenny G’in-toni talks about her work in the multidisciplinary fields of educational neuroscience.  This is a really interesting area but it is difficult, as we shall hear, to make the move from research to practical application.  If you want to find the paper that I talk about and more about Jenny’s work please use this link.

Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou is an assistant professor based at the Department of Psychology and Human Development at University College London and is the lead autism workforce trainer at the Anna Freud Centre. She is the founder of the Group for Research in Relationships in Neurodiversity.   We discuss the relationship and experiences of neurotypical siblings who have a neurodiverse sibling.  The impact this may have on them both positive and negative and as schools what we need to be aware of and what we can do to support them in the role.  Georgia mentions several free access research papers with and for siblings. Which you can find on the links below: Adolescent females' siblinghood experiences, needs and perspectives growing up with a preverbal autistic brother or sister “I often have to explain to school staff what she needs”. School experiences of non-autistic siblings growing up with an autistic brother or sister A strengths-based approach to autism research with siblings To join free events and find out more about Relationships and Neurodiversity visit: https://www.neurodiversity-research.org/ For free support and advice by siblings for siblings: https://www.sibs.org.uk/evidence/

Cognitive Load is something that we should all be aware of when teaching, but what is the scientific theory that underpins it and how can we hit the sweet spot where cognitive load isn’t too high but is still high enough to engage and motivate students to learn.  This week Bradley Busch from InnerDrive talks about the science of cognitive load, as well as redundancy effect, coherency effect and split attention to name just a few concepts that affect learning in the classroom. To hear Bradley and Edward’s previous interview click here.

Over its very long history, cannabis has been celebrated by some for its pleasures and medicinal properties.  It has also been demonised for inducing psychotic effects, addiction and cognitive impairment.  A cannabis plant can contain over 140 cannabinoids and levels of these vary widely in different strains of cannabis.  In this episode I am talking to Professor Valerie Curran from University College London.  As we will hear, her research focuses on the short- and long-term effects of psychoactive drugs on mental health, cognition, memory and the brain. Also how cannabis use and effects have changed, how cannabis addiction could be treated and how, as schools, we can better educate young people about cannabis.  For more information about Valerie’s research click here and here is the link to DrugScience.

Is it ok to smile before Christmas? This week my guest, David Lowe and I talk about humour in the classroom - what it is, how it can help learning and how it can go wrong, there are also some (very good) jokes!  If you want to find out more about David’s research or get involved you can visit his website hahasquad.com. Research Mentioned: Huber, G. & Brown, A. (2017) Identity Work, Humour and Disciplinary Power (in Organization Studies) found: Humour is used by coop workers to set and uphold norms Identity creation categorised into: 'homogenising' (common characteristics across the group, i.e. identifying as part of the co-op community; respectful to each other); differentiating (identifying how they are different from other members of the organisation who have undesirable characteristics, i.e. being a flexible rule follower vs officious; not too serious/self-righteous); personalising (identifying as independent from the coop, i.e. being oneself/having autonomy). Power is help by collective workforce, not just implemented by specific people or groups (i.e. managers) Research into humour and academic success: Archakis, Argiris, and Villy Tsakona (2005) Analyzing Conversational Data in Gtvh Terms: A New Approach to the Issue of Identity Construction Via Humor (in HUMOR: International journal of humor research) - studied youths and found that people used humour as a covert correction mechanism of in-group behaviour (reinforcing existing bonds, evaluation of behaviour) and social identity. Lovorn, M. (2008) Humor in the Home and in the Classroom: The Benefits of Laughing While We Learn (in Journal of Education and Human Development) -- social and intellectual development among preadolescent children can be enhanced and enriched when the children are exposed to the regular, structured, appropriate use of humor by parents and teachers.

Dr Laura Jenkins, Laura is a University Teacher in Psychology at Loughborough University, a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.  Laura’s research interests focus around areas of personality and factors that could be influenced by personality.  Today we are going to be talking about how three very specific personality traits may be linked to academic misconduct (in other words cheating) and what, if anything, teachers can do to intervene and stop academic misconduct occurring.  We also talk about the challenges that face researchers trying to study both personality and cheating behaviour.     If you would like to find out more, the book Laura mentioned can be found on this link and her blogs on personality and education can be found here. 

We don’t give much thought to names, but we probably ought to.  In this emotive podcast Prof. I. M. Nick, the current Editor-in-Chief of NAMES, the scholarly journal for onomastic research(“Onomastics” is the formal name for the scientific study of names and naming) discusses name-based prejudice and how incredibly harmful to individuals and groups.  Teachers have a critical role to play in calling attention to this problem and helping to end societal tolerance of name-based prejudice and discrimination.  You can find out more about the American Name Society and access the ANS Journal.  If you would like to get in touch with Iman please do email her:  [email protected]

A couple of years ago I saw a tweet asking if the fashion for hessian backing on display boards was based on any evidence.  It turns out no one has researched this but Dr Karrie Godwin researches (amongst other things) the impact of classroom displays on off-task behaviour and learning. In this podcast we talk about just how distracting displays can be to learning and what the perfect classroom might just look like.  You can find out more about Karrie here and her work on her website here.

Aphantasia is the inability to visualize, people with aphantasia don’t create any pictures of familiar objects, people, or places in their mind’s eye. Not for thoughts, memories, or images of the future.  This conversation is a fascinating insight into the condition itself but also how our assumptions about other people’s perception and understanding of the world may differ from our own.  Whilst research into Aphantasia is in its infancy this conversation is full of thought provoking ideas about the uniqueness of individual perception and a reminder that we need to be mindful in the classroom about assuming one-size-fits all. If you would like to find out more check out the Aphantasia Network and you can find out where you fall on the imagination spectrum.

This week Dr Grace Molloy discusses Unconscious Bias, something she believes we all need to be thinking about more carefully particularly in the context of how it can impact students and families we work with.  Closely linked to prejudice, it is a tricky topic to address and to be able to address it, we need to be able to create a safe and open culture in schools.  If you want to look at the reading Grace suggests or take the implicit bias test the links are: Unconscious Bias in Schools (Book) Thinking Fast and Slow (book) Implicit Bias Test

Psychological and Educational research is often difficult to access and fully of jargon that makes it hard to understand.  In this interview Edward and Bradley from InnerDrive talk about how they have made research more accessible, their favourite pieces of research, why they are important and how they can help teachers in the classroom.  We discuss their book the 'Science of Learning - 99 Studies That Every Teacher Should Know' and give you the opportunity to win a free copy of the book (T&Cs can be found here).

Ever wondered about the difference time makes to your teaching practice?  This week David Weston from the Teacher Development Trust discusses the difference between novice and expert teachers, how teachers develop expertise in their craft and how schools can best create conditions for teachers to thrive professionally - all of which is underpinned by research.  With top tips for both early careers teachers and the more seasoned professional it is well worth a listen.  You can find out more about the Teacher Development Trust on their website www.TDTrust.org or follow them on Twitter @informed_edu.  Click to access the Kraft and Papay (2014) paper and the DfE Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development and the TDT Culture of Improvement Review.

It's really hot today!  Some schools have closed, others have cancelled events such as sports day.  But how much does weather really affect our mood and behaviour.  Does wind really make kids a bit wild?  It is the last episode of the year and as a bit of fun I have been researching how weather affects us and the implications this might have in the classroom. Trevor Harley's book the Psychology of Weather can be purchased here.