OLDaily

Effect Sizes and Meta-Analyses: How to Interpret the 'Evidence' in Evidence-Based
Kripa Sundar, Pooja K. Agarwal, Retrieval Practice, 2022/03/17

This report is written at a fairly theoretical but is actually concerned with a very practical question: "If retrieval practice is so powerful, why is (John) Hattie's score for retrieval practice only 0.54?" It's a good question, but what really valuable here is this discussion of the difference between individual studies, meta-analyses, and meta-meta-analyses (which is what Hattie does). It's especially important to note the requirements for good meta-anayses: consistency in learning outcomes measured, consistency in learning strategies studied, and inclusion of recent studies. These requirements are the greatest strength of meta-analyses, but also the greatest weakness. The only way to measure outcomes, for example, is to include "studies that measured student learning and transfer of knowledge in similar ways, i.e. using exams," which creates a very narrow and one-dimensional focus. Via 3-Star.

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What is JavaScript used for? 7 practical JavaScript uses
FutureLearn, 2022/03/17

I want to preface this post by saying that Futurelearn is normally very good. But I don't think I've ever seen an article miss the point as badly as this article on Javascript. The key, main and core thing to know about Javascript is that it works with the document object model (DOM). This object oriented approach allows programmers to manipulate and attach functions to web page properties, including media elements, the canvas, and much more. The second main thing to know is that it is asynchronous, which means that you can write a function and let it do do something while you do other things, and then deal with it when it comes back with a response. The third thing to know about is Javascript templating and the wide use of frameworks such as Vue, React, jQuery and Node. These capabilities not only make Javascript unique, it also creates a complexity to Javascript programming that needs to be understood to be appreciated. The FutureLearn article describes none of this, instead treating Javascript as though it were just another scripting language.

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AI and Human Enhancement: Americans’ Openness Is Tempered by a Range of Concerns
Lee Rainie, Cary Funk, Monica Anderson, Alec Tyson, Pew Research Center, 2022/03/17

This is a survey on American attitudes toward several specific AI technologies, including driverless cars, facial recognition, exoskeletons, fake news detection, brain chip enhancements and gene editing. Opinions are mostly split, though there's a marked aversion to brain chips. I fall mostly on the side of saying they would all be good for society, which interestingly aligns me more with Republican respondents, according to the survey. Yes, there is a possibility for dystopia - but from where I sit, no matter what technology we use, there's always a possibility for dystopia. Just ask the Kievan Rus or the Kievans of today. Anyhow, there's a lot more than just a surface discussion here, as people's views about each technology is described in some depth.

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How to think like a phenomenologist
D J Hobbs, Psyche, 2022/03/17

Living in a house with four cats means I'm constantly seeing what I think is a cat out of the corner of my eye. Is it really a cat, or just a crumpled shirt, or just a shadow from a cloud outside. From the phenomenological perspective, it doesn't matter. We can set aside the question if what I saw was 'real' (this process is called 'bracketing') and ask about the connection between what I saw and what I thought about it. For Edmund Husserl, this process of 'reduction' needs to be done as precisely as possible, to avoid allowing our assumptions to creep into our understanding of what we actually experience in consciousness. This is a great article on Husserl's thinking about phenomenology and makes something that is quite complex easily readible and accessible. I have a lot of time for Husserl and this way of thinking and recommend it.

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Personalised digital learning system: can it work in Kenya?
Jillian Makungu, Caspar Groenveld, EdTech Hub, 2022/03/17

This article profiles the EIDU mobile learning app, which provides learning analytics and "is tailored for learners in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)." The fawning language and over-use of adjectives tell me that this is probably a sponsored advertising message, though we are not told this anywhere. So much for EdTech Hub's credibility as a trustworthy news source. It's too bad - the topic is genuinely interesting, which is why I'm including it here, and I'm sure readers would want to learn more from a credible observer (if you know of good independent ed tech coverage from east Africa, please let me know).

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