A Learning Tree: Data-Informed Classroom Practice

At some point in the history of educational best practice, logic was replaced with statistics.  As an undergraduate, I took two logic courses.  I enjoyed the first course immensely as it showed me a distinct connection between language and mathematics.  So, I took a second independent study course, diving deeper into truth tables.  Lawyers are trained in logic and draw on that training often in the quest for truth. Teachers would also benefit from a logic course or two.

When I was admitted into a doctoral program in education (which I did not finish), I was required to take a statistics course.  With a great affinity towards math, and distinguished marks in both logic and statistics, I conclude the logic courses I took as an undergraduate were much more beneficial to me in my practice, research, discourse and debate than my statistics class in the field of education.

In today’s teacher preparation programs and curricula adopted for classroom practice, statistical probability and scientific evidence trump logic.   In Scientism, science supposes there must be a right and a wrong answer.  "

The Science of Learning, rather, includes philosophy. The science of learning is a relatively new discipline born of an agglomeration of fields: cognitive science, psychology, philosophy, neuroscience. Its project is to apply the methods of science to human endeavors—teaching and learning—that have for centuries been mostly treated as an art."- Eight Ways of Looking at Intelligence by Annie Murphy Paul  

Logic understands truth as more complex than numbers, statistics and probabilities, and logic offers explanation and reason.

Implications for Education

In Scientism, data is currently used to drive instruction.

Instead, in the Science of Learning,  data should be used to inform classroom practice.

Prezi-> A Learning Tree: Data-Informed Classroom Practice