Alex Black

A Learn to think curriculum developed by Philip Adey and Chinese Professors. Evaluated in researchgate.net/publication/49… Read more about it at abceducation.ch/blog/2017/02/2…

@olicav I wrote about this on Linkedin. There is enough evidence to see CLT as some kind of degenerating research programme in an analysis using Lakatos linkedin.com/posts/alex-bla… and more details at abceducation.ch/blog/2026/02/2…

Is Cognitive Load Theory the least thought about/proded/tested 'evidence-informed' practice? Ever? Sure I hear the term 'cognitive load' used a great deal but never with specifics. In that sense no different to previously used terms like 'overwhelmed'.

On my way to Nottingham for the superb Association of Science Education annual conference Looking forward to presenting on Thursday about Epistemic Inquiry sched.co/26lpV and co presenting on CASE with Natasha Serret sched.co/26PUf

@TPLTD @C_Hendrick Also community.letsthink.org.uk/research/chapt… Philip Adey, Michael Shayer and Caroline Yates use of Vygotsky in the development of Cognitive Acceleration has exactly the dialogic, dialectical teacher as mediator concept deeply embodied in CASE pedagogy

@C_Hendrick Not sure that the general Western view of Vygotsky is one of a person who favours discovery learning over support from a more knowledgeable person. See this short AI perspective for example:

Vygotsky's 'Zone of Proximal Development' is perhaps the most misunderstood idea in education. It was never a teaching method but a metaphor for how teaching can pull thinking upward, from the everyday to the scientific. ⬇️ 🧵

In the Foreward to this OECD report  the complexity of effective teaching and learning is stressed.  abceducation.ch/blog/2025/04/2…

What human clarity this guy Yuri shows great interview youtube.com/watch?v=wXBdOc…

@warmMagnet @C_Hendrick @learningandtheb Thanks I have blogged about it here abceducation.ch/blog/2025/04/2…

@alexbclearning @C_Hendrick @learningandtheb Really like this impressive paper, thank you. Busy day today but hope to comment soon.

Is there a science of teaching? Honoured to be on this panel to discuss this topic at @learningandtheb

@warmMagnet @C_Hendrick @learningandtheb Mabe this is a nuanced answer oecd.org/en/publication…

@C_Hendrick @learningandtheb Quite impossible, I think, Carl. A "science of teaching" would have to gather and speak to all schools, teachers, and ideologies everywhere because failure to do so would mean it was something less than science proper.

PY

3D Chess or appeasment What do you think Elon ?

@Emma_Turner75 That is one of the reasons why I presented "Getting to know how our students think" bit.ly/ase25abknow at the ASE Conference in January

Something is really bothering me with CPD. During my training in the 90s and for the first few yrs of my career, there was a sharp focus on understanding child development. This has all but disappeared from the CPD landscape.

@TPLTD @olicav @CasperHuls @ikatiemusgrave @P_A_Kirschner @cbokhove Flyvvberg wrote an interesting paper ereserve.library.utah.edu/Annual/URBPL/5… Made me ask is Cogsci and other Science of learning Science or social inquiry? as he frames it

@TPLTD @olicav @CasperHuls @ikatiemusgrave @P_A_Kirschner @cbokhove This seems to sum up the need for but critical stance towards the Learning Sciences or Science of Learning.

If you asked a colleague what constituted cognitive load in professional learning could they answer in ordinary language? Such as: too much, too new, too fast, too transient, only once and, it must be admitted (though Sweller's not there yet) too boring.

@olicav @CasperHuls @ikatiemusgrave @TPLTD @P_A_Kirschner researchgate.net/profile/Wolfga… Always found this clears up a lot but leads back to dangerous constructivist territory

@CasperHuls @ikatiemusgrave @TPLTD @P_A_Kirschner I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, Casper, but I'd love to drop in to one of your lectures. Load or no load, I'd be fully engaged. Your perspective on many topics is very 'balancing'.

Looking forward to presenting with Natasha Serret at ASE 2025 in Nottingham next month on metacognition. 2025aseannualconf.sched.com/event/1gerd/en…