This was by far one of the most interesting and contentious of all the keynotes I attended at the Australian Summer School for Mathematics. I think the reason for this was a combination of Johns passion and the ideas and evidence he brought with him.

Briefly it was Johns contention that most of what is regarded as good teacher and school practice such as: team teaching, individualistion, computer assisted instruction and ability grouping all have a ‘below average’ effectiveness rating. With the average being 0.40.

He countered this by explaining that strategies like reinforcement, direct instruction, acceleration and class environment all have above average effects.

While these neither of these lists are exhaustive they did provide the basis for some interesting discussion in the proceeding workshop and discussion sessions.

Professional Reading

John Hattie: Influences on student learning

John Hattie: What is the nature of Evidence that makes a Difference to Learning?

The following clip is an interview John gave on his keynote:

Sue Thomson presentation.

Workshop discussion points.

The following are a collection ofpoints that were raised in the workshop after Sue’s presentation: