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T h e M e m o r y K e y

<http://www.memory-key.com>

Your resource for information about memory and memory improvement

August 2005

http://www.memory-key.com/newsletters/issue_64.htm

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THIS MONTH ON MEMORY-KEY.COM:


CLASS SIZE AND HOMEWORK

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS IN EDUCATION

ALZHEIMER'S

MORE WEB UPDATES

BLOG

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Find out more about my e-book on "Remembering intentions" at:
http://www.memory-key.com/shop/intention_ebook.htm

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CLASS SIZE AND HOMEWORK

I've added three new articles to the section in the Parents’ Center “How should children be taught”.

One of these is on the issue of class size; here's the summary:

Research into class size has been mixed partly because few studies have directly manipulated class size and successfully removed any other factors that could influence learning, and partly because of there has been no consistency in what constitutes a "small" or "reduced" class size.

Evidence points to a class size of 15 students or less being necessary to show clear benefits.

Small class size is more important in the early years.

Small class size may have greater benefit for disadvantaged students.

You can read the full article at:
http://www.memory-key.com/parents/class_size.htm

The second article is on the question of homework. Here's the summary:

Overall, homework does appear to result in higher levels of achievement for older students (at the secondary level).

For these students, more time spent on homework is associated with higher levels of achievement, although there is probably a level beyond which more is counterproductive (perhaps at three hours a day).

For students aged 11-13, homework appears to be of benefit, but not to the same degree as for older students.

For these students, spending more than an hour or two on homework does not result in greater benefit.

There is little evidence of benefit for students younger than 11, although it can be plausibly argued that small amounts of homework can have an indirect benefit for promoting good study habits and attitudes to learning.

You can read the full article at:
http://www.memory-key.com/parents/homework.htm

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INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS IN EDUCATION

The third article I've added to the section on "How should children be taught" looks briefly at some interesting international comparisons of different countries' policies on:

Compulsory Education: When it starts and how long it lasts

School structure: Segregating by ability

School structure: Progression between classes

Textbook selection

There are also links to other websites with more details on different countries' educational systems.
http://www.memory-key.com/parents/international.htm

I’ve also added two new pages to the section “What should children be taught”. One concerns national curricula, and includes details of the national curricula of England, France, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, and Spain:
http://www.memory-key.com/parents/international_curriculum.htm

The other concerns international comparisons of achievement, and includes details of the results of the 2001 international math and science study (TIMSS) and the 2003 international literacy study (PIRLS):
http://www.memory-key.com/parents/international_achievement.htm

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ALZHEIMER'S

I’ve (finally) updated the Alzheimer’s section, adding research news for January through to July. I’ve also added a glossary of terms for Alzheimer’s research.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers_2005a.htm

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers_2005b.htm

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/glossary_alzheimer.htm

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MORE WEB UPDATES

I’ve added more links to the websites I mention in “Sites for parents and teachers”, and “Web Resources for Students”.

http://www.memory-key.com/Parents/for_parents_and_teachers.htm

http://www.memory-key.com/StudyHall/resources.htm

I’ve also done some housekeeping, removing broken links throughout my site (no small task, considering I have nearly 4500 external links!).

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BLOG
www.memory-key.com/blogger.html

Latest posts:

* Newborns know who’s attractive
* Personal Space Phobia
* Study concludes most people are risk averse
* more on “your gut is a second brain" idea
* More on the supposed IQ gender gap
* how placebos work
* Supposed IQ gender gap
* why the world doesn't go dark when you blink
* clinical condition where stroke victims deny they're paralyzed
* gender differences
* consumers' response to advertising
* birth order and educational achievement
* making the first pure batch of brain stem cells from human stem cells
* web survey to try and find out how much our appreciation of music is rooted in learning versus instinct
* article on pain

* latest math achievement from Alex, the African gray parrot -- training
technique proving useful with autistic children
* the new fashion for "cognitive fitness"
* advantages of video game training for laparoscopic surgeons
* getting closer to a machine that can "read our minds"
* brain differences between the genders

Note that the blog is indexed chronologically at

http://www.memory-key.com/indices/blog_index.htm

And by subject, at

http://www.memory-key.com/indices/blog_index2.htm

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If you have missed any issue of the newsletter (those people who use hotmail
in particular sometimes have their mail bounced back "overquota"), you can
read back issues at: http://www.memory-key.com/newsletters/newsletters.htm

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The Memory Key website is named after my book "The Memory Key", a
practical user-friendly handbook designed to help people achieve
genuine, long-lasting memory improvement.

http://www.memory-key.com/AboutTheSite/about_book.htm

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1564144704/thememorykey-20

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Copyright © 2005 Capital Research Limited.

All Rights Reserved

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