*By Michael Geisen, United States 2008 Best Teacher of the Year Belize is a country rich with natural beauty: reefs, beaches, mangroves, savannahs, forests, and the remains of a great Mayan civilization with a population that was once much larger than the population now. All of these wonderful resources are being used in myriad ways to enrich the lives of Belizeans … [Lee más...] about The art of teaching: reflections on Belize
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The “Coffee-Stain Puzzle”
I have always found it fascinating to learn about how scientific “discoveries” are made. Scientists have the power of observing the ordinary and seeing the extraordinary. One of my favorite cases comes from an episode I watched some years ago on the Discovery Channel where a Physics professor from the University of Chicago, Sidney Nagel, one morning, as he was pouring … [Lee más...] about The “Coffee-Stain Puzzle”
Harvey and Darwin: Two Profiles in Child Development
In my previous post, I introduced the PRIDI project and the Engle Scale and highlighted some of the really interesting results – like the importance of the nurturing environment for child development – that are emerging from the project. In this post, I talk about some of the more specific findings. … [Lee más...] about Harvey and Darwin: Two Profiles in Child Development
3 key ideas on evaluation to improve education quality
Last month we visited The National Institute of Education Studies and Research (INEP) in Brasil and the Secretariat of Education of the State of Ceará to exchange experiences about the use of evaluations as a tool to improve public policies. Given that Ecuador is also producing more and more information about the effectiveness of its education system, it was very rewarding to … [Lee más...] about 3 key ideas on evaluation to improve education quality
Battle of the Sexes – Who is Underachieving?
Yes, it’s true. A higher percentage of girls than boys obtain passes in the regional Caribbean Secondary Education Council/CSEC Examinations (used as a secondary school leaving exam) in most subject areas. However, in key subjects such as mathematics, more than half of all Jamaican candidates failed in 2013, regardless of sex. Though boys underperform in relation to girls, what … [Lee más...] about Battle of the Sexes – Who is Underachieving?
