Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

When science demonstrates you are wrong, the obvious thing to do is deny it… well not to me, but it seems that is the preferred action at least here in the USA.

@salrandolph yeah… I haven’t watched that franchise since the 1970’s… so there. :)

Ok…if shoddy research is disallowed… much of the data in education will be… well let’s just keep that research because it really matches the stories we have decided to tell.

If you hang out with jerks, then I assume you are… wait for it… a jerk.

“Data” generally assumes you have a large dataset and seek to describe patterns and correlations… “data” was never meant to characterize an individual.

Don’t say, “I didn’t do it” to the person. Who knows how to get into the logs.

One thing I learned during 35 years in education: there are plenty of educators, and a vast majority of curriculum leaders, standards writers, etc. who vastly underestimate students’ interest in and capacity to learn about and potentially solve complex problems.

It never ceases to amaze me that folks look to me (yes, I work in IT) and ask "What's my password?"

One thing I learned during 35 years in education: there are some folks who really do believe “passing the test” and “knowing the material” are the same thing.

@trinsec Yes! Only my biases should be privileged to make it into my writing!

Quotes are great, but often when we go to the original source and find the context and meaning, the author was making the opposite point.

I’ve no interest in AI tools to help me write.

I write to understand the topic and clarify my thinking. That others consume the words, sentences, and paragraphs and find meaning in them too is a delightful side effect.

@Chris_Swan

Knowledge!

There sure are different meanings of that word!

Retention.

I'm not sure this is a really useful concept in teaching.

Why don't we let our students know what the assessment will be like before we "test them?"

Mastery is a temporary state. Let's not make it the goal of #education.

Business and politics are human endeavors that are easily measured; the results of business and politics are generally objective and unequivocal. Profits sufficient for the owner or shareholders defines successful business. Capturing more votes makes one a political winner. (Yes, I know there are plenty of exceptions but let’s not get distracted.)

In both cases, the measure is clearly defined and quantifiable. In both cases, also, the term is relatively short; profits are reported quarterly, elections held every few years. Further, in each case, there is an element of competition; businesses gain greater profits or market share than other companies producing similar products or services, and elections have winners who take office and losers who remain in the citizenry.

Learning is a natural phenomena that is not clearly definable, it is difficult to quantify, and it is long-term in that the quality of the education may not be known until much later and the judgments of the quality can change over time. What is learned, how well it is learned, and how long it stays learned are all aspects of human nature that cannot be defined and quantified like profits and votes.