Timetabling the life out of things
Many schools have been questioning their approach to timetabling lessons, experimenting with longer stretches of time to limit movement between classes, or asynchronous and blended learning that affords students as much time as they want on a topic.
When it comes to timetable design in schools, it’s all about location, location, location. According to one teacher I met this past month, if a subject has more time allocated to it, especially in the morning, it’s more important. But does a morning slot guarantee better results?
The research is mixed. There’s no one correct answer.
Some of the research shows that time of day impacts learning because productivity decreases over the course of a day. There are other variables that affect learning, too; circadian rhythm, individual stamina, adult cognitive function, cultures and even meal times.
Strangely, circadian rhythm research indicates that adolescents’ activity level and cognitive function is higher in the afternoon than the morning. There is an argument, then, that hands-on learning is best conducted in the afternoon, leaving other learning to the morning.
Does this mean that Design and Technology should be placed in the afternoon, with Maths and English in the morning? Not necessarily. There may be an underlying assumption that Maths and English are not hands-on which is why some researchers suggest that those subjects should be delivered in the morning.
And what about adults? When should we be doing our best learning? Conversely to the kids, the cognitive function of adults peaks in late morning and they have a lower cognitive function in the afternoon. Might this affect their ability to deliver creative and hands-on learning later in the day? And what about professional learning, which all too often gets bolted on once the bell chimes at 4pm?
The experience of teachers has an effect.
Class sizes may even have an effect.
But, how long should lessons should go on for?
If you teach early childhood or middle school or senior school, you’ll probably find that different lengths of time work better for different ages. Yet, in one article, results showed that moving some Mathematics classes to the morning and other classes, like English, to the afternoon increased students’ test scores.
In some cultures, those that inculcate concentration and patience, longer learning time works better.
In the end, we can find research to show anything we want could be true. There's only one way to work out what works: try it out for yourself.
Chantelle
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