VISIBLE LEARNINGA synthesis of over 800 meta-

analyses relating to achievement

John Hattie

Chapter 3Gerry Sozio

St Mary Star of the Sea CollegeWollongong

• John Hattie is Professor of Education at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

• 15 years research and synthesises over 800 meta-analyses relating to the influences on achievement in school-aged students.

• Builds a story about the power of teachers and of feedback, and constructs a model of learning and understanding.

Ch3: The Argument Visible Teaching & Visible

Learning

It is teachers seeing learning through the eyes of students; and students seeing teaching as the key to their ongoing learning.

What Teachers do Matters

The act of teaching requires deliberate interventions to ensure that there is cognitive change in the student. The key ingredients are:

– Awareness of the learning intentions

– Knowing when a student is successful

– Having sufficient understanding of the student’s understanding

– Know enough about the content to provide meaningful and challenging experiences

• A safe environment is an environment where error is welcomed and fostered.

• To facilitate such a learning environment, to command a range of learning strategies and to be aware of the pedagogical means to enable the student to learn requires dedicated, passionate people.

• Passion reflects the thrills as well as the frustrations of learning.

• It requires more than content knowledge, acts of skilled teaching or engaged students to make the difference – it requires a love of the discipline being taught.

Visible Teaching

• Teaching and Learning are visible in the classrooms of the successful teachers and students.

• Teaching and Learning are visible in the passion displayed by the teacher and learner when successful learning and teaching occurs.

• The teacher must know when to experiment and learn from the experience, learn to monitor, seek and give feedback; and know to try alternate learning strategies when others do not work.

• The more the student becomes the teacher and the teacher becomes the learner, then the more successful are the outcomes.

• Education is more than teaching people to think – it is also teaching people things that are worth learning.

Teachers

• Clear learning intentions

• Challenging success criteria

• Range of learning strategies

• Know when students are not

progressing

• Providing feedback

• Visibly learns themselves

Students

• Understand learning intentions

• Are challenged by success criteria

• Develop a range of learning strategies

• Know when they are not progressing

• Seek feedback

• Visibly teach themselves

Hattie’s Questions

• How do I know this is working?

• How can I compare this with that?

• What is the merit and worth of this influence on learning?

• What is the magnitude of the effect?

• What evidence would convince you that you are wrong?

• Where is the evidence that shows this is superior to other programs?

• Where have you seen this practice installed so that it produces effective results?

• Do I share a common conception of progress?

The Six Factors

– The child– The home– The school– The curricula– The teacher– The approaches to teaching

Barometer of Effectiveness

• Greater than 0.4 = Zone of desired effects

• 0.15 to 0.4 = Teacher effects

• 0 to 0.15 = Developmental effects

• Less than 0 = Reverse effects

Rank these 11 effects:

• Reducing disruptive behavior in the class• Feedback• Acceleration of gifted students• Reading Recovery• Integrated curriculum programs• Homework• Individualized instruction• Ability grouping• Open vs. traditional classes• Retention (holding back a year)• Shifting schools

Rank these 11 effects: Answers

• Reducing disruptive behavior in the class .86• Feedback .72• Acceleration of gifted students .60• Reading Recovery .50• Integrated curriculum programs .40• Homework .30• Individualized instruction .20• Ability grouping .10• Open vs. traditional classes .00• Retention (hold back a year) -.16• Shifting schools -.34

The Disasters

• Mobility (shifting schools) -0.34

• Retention -0.16

• Television -0.14

• Summer vacation -.09

The Well Belows

• Distance education 0.09

• Ability grouping 0.11

Not Worth It Yet

• Extra-curricula programs 0.17

• Family structure 0.18

• Class size 0.21

Typical Average Teacher Territory

• Finances 0.23

• Summer school 0 .23

• Mainstreaming 0.28

• Exercise/relaxation 0.28

Close to Average

• Principals/school leaders on student

achievement 0.30

• Ability grouping for gifted students 0.30

• Homework 0.31

• Teacher positive expectations 0.37

Average

• Enrichment on gifted 0.39

• Integrated curriculum programs 0.39

• Self-concept on achievement 0.43

• Frequent/effects of testing 0.46

• Early intervention 0 .47

• Motivation on learning 0.48

Getting There

• Questioning 0.49• Concept mapping 0.52 “development of graphical representations

of the conceptual structure of the content to be learned”

• Peer influences 0.53

Let’s Have Them

• Parental Involvement 0.55

• Peer tutoring 0.55

• Goals - challenging 0.56

• Mastery learning 0.57

• Home environment 0.57

• Providing worked examples 0.57

Exciting

• Direct instruction 0.59• Time on task 0.59 “Increasing allocated time, without increasing

productive time, is unlikely to improve educational performance.”

• Study skills 0.59

• Acceleration of gifted 0.60

The Winners

• Self-report grades 0.44

• Quality of teaching 0.77

• Prior achievement 0.73

• Teacher-student relationships 0.72

• Feedback 0.72

• Creativity programs 0.70

Various Influences

• Teacher

• Curricula

• Teaching

• Student

• Home

• School