Chess in Education. Education With Chess?

Transcription

1 Chess in Education or Education With Chess?

2 2001: First Koltanowski, Dallas Trial Study presented. Proposed the angle of chess instruction for economically disadvantaged students. Goal was initially to study how chess instruction effected student self perception, but the dissertation committee chair wanted a quantitative study.

3 2006 Chicago: Presented the results of the 2003 full research project emphasizing the impact of chess instruction on the academic potential of economically disadvantaged students. Suggested a shift in the language of Chess in Education From: chess makes you better in math, reading, etc To: chess develops the thinking skills that are at the foundation of improvement in math and reading. Weightlifting Analogy

4 2011 Second Koltanowski, Dallas: Reflecting on 10 years, during which time much has been learned about how we learn. Neuroscience is taking us to the next level The Next Question: Neuroscience is contributing to a biological understanding of cognitive development can we now also use neuroscience to better understand affective development?.

5 It is recommended that research be conducted on the effects of chess on the control motive which could provide needed research on the affective benefits of chess instruction.

6 A Review of the 2003 Research

7 Introduction Efficiency Contradicts Equity If streamlined curriculum reduces the enrichment needed to develop cognitive processes, then providing enrichment opportunities for cognitive development would be an important step in educating children from poverty. Enrichment programs are still most accessible to middle and upper-income families. Cotlin, L. (May 1999). Enriching children s out-of-school time. ERIC Digest, p. 3.

8 Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of chess instruction on the verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning abilities of students identified as economically disadvantaged. Schools with predominantly low-income populations might be able to solve the standardization dilemma with the inclusion of chess instruction as a heuristic enabler for improving the problemsolving skills of children from poverty.

9 Review of the Literature Constructivism Cognitive Development and Social Context Enriched environments have an unmistakable effect on brain development. Bruer, J. (Nov 1998). Brain science, brain fiction. Educational Leadership, 56 (3), Enrichment promotes higher-level thinking. Cotlin, L. (May 1999). Enriching children s out-of-school time. ERIC Digest.

10 Review of the Literature Constructivism Cognitive Development and Social Context Impoverished Environments As a result of a lack of enriched experiences many children from poverty enter the school system deficient in problem solving abilities and language skills. Gratz, D. (May 2000). High standards for whom? Phi Delta Kappan, Students from poverty begin school at risk of academic failure. Leroy, C. & Symes, B. (2001). Teachers perspectives on the family backgrounds of children at risk. McGill Journal of Education, 36 (1),

11 Review of the Literature Constructivism Cognitive Development and Social Context Verbal Skills If children have limited opportunity to learn language, organize perceptions, and develop other higher order cognitive processes, their ability to solve problems and think independently is negatively affected. Leroy, C. & Symes, B. (2001). Teachers perspectives on the family backgrounds of children at risk. McGill Journal of Education, 36 (1),

12 Review of the Literature Constructivism Stipek and Ryan: Motivation versus Cognitive Competency Significant SES differences were found on all eight cognitive assessments given, including tests of basic reading related and number skills, problem solving, creativity, memory, and language skills. Disadvantaged children on a trajectory of low academic achievement and all of the negative social and personal outcomes that are associated with poor school performance. Stipek, D., & Ryan, R. (1997). Economically disadvantaged preschoolers: Ready to learn but further to go. Developmental Psychology, 33,

13 Review of the Literature Constructivism Cognitive Development and Social Context Alvidrez and Weinstein: When socioeconomic status was controlled, preschool teachers perceptions of I.Q. significantly predicted G.P.A. and S.A.T. scores fourteen years later. Alvidrez, J., & Weinstein, R. (Dec 1999). Early teacher perceptions and later student academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91 (4),

14 Review of the Literature Constructivism Cognitive Development and Social Context The deficiencies that developed from the culture of poverty should be addressed in the manner in which they developed Socially

15 Review of the Literature Constructivism The Value of Games Play Therapy to Learning Through Play Play is considered to be a significant component of cognitive and social development. Meckley, A. (1994). Shared knowledge of play events in young children's social play construction. In Jean-Pierre Rossie (ed.), Play, Communication and Cognition, Communication and Cognition, 27, (3) p , Communication & Cognition, State University of Ghent, Ghent, p

16 Review of the Literature Constructivism What Kind of Game? Gobet and Simon: pattern identification played key role in problem solving. Gobet, F., & Simon, H. (1992). Pattern recognition makes search possible: Comments on Holding. Psychological Research, 63, Leamnson: problem solving should be hands-on. Leamnson, R. (2000). Learning as biological brain change. Change, 32 (6),

17 Review of the Literature Chess and Problem Solving Chess and Cognitive Development Beyond the studies of psychologists, chess and cognitive development has been more extensively researched than chess and social skills.

18 Research Design, continued Four Pretest-Posttest CogAT Verbal Reasoning Test (outcomes) CogAT Quantitative Reasoning Test (outcomes) CogAT Nonverbal Reasoning Test (potential) Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test (potential)

19 Description of Instruments Nonverbal Cognitive Abilities Tests (CogAT) This set of tests does not correlate to academic success as much as the verbal and quantitative tests, but is more useful for obtaining an accurate assessment of the cognitive development of students who have difficulty with reading or for whom English is not the first language. Thorndike, R., & Hagen, E. (1986). Cognitive Abilities Test: Examiner s Manual, CogAT Multilevel Edition, Form 4. Chicago: The Riverside Publishing Company, pp. 6-7.

20 Description of Instruments Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test (NNAT) NNAT: pattern identification, serial reasoning, spatial visualization Used for measuring general ability as a predictor of scholastic achievement for students from diverse cultural and language backgrounds. Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement. (1997). Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test: Multilevel Norms Booklet. San Antonio: Harcourt Brace, p. 8.

21 Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations

22 Summary Verbal Reasoning Statistical significance for all students in chess group No statistical improvement for control no chess group No statistical improvement for economically disadvantaged chess students Advantaged students improved significantly Advantaged students in chess group improved significantly compared to economically disadvantaged students in chess group

23 Summary Quantitative Reasoning No significant improvements for either socioeconomic group in chess and non chess groups. Economically disadvantaged students in chess group had greater improvement over non chess economically disadvantaged than the advantaged student differences between chess and non chess groups.

24 Summary Nonverbal Reasoning Two nonverbal tests administered were consistent in all evaluations. Statistical improvement for all students in chess group No statistical improvement for students in no chess group Both socioeconomic groups in chess group showed significant improvement. Greatest change in performance level was advantaged students in chess group over advantaged students in no chess group.

25 Conclusions Verbal Reasoning Improvements for advantaged students in chess group are consistent with review of literature verbal studies. Time period of 12 weeks instruction is shorter than the 1 and 2 year studies found in the review of literature. Economically disadvantaged students may need more TIME to demonstrate improvements in verbal reasoning.

26 Conclusions Quantitative Reasoning Expectations for improvements after twelve weeks of instruction were low, based on length of instruction in review of literature. The larger change in performance levels from pretest to posttest for the economically disadvantaged chess students over the advantaged non chess players students suggests that there is potential for chess instruction to improve quantitative reasoning abilities.

27 Conclusions Nonverbal Reasoning The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of chess instruction on economically disadvantaged students, and thus the need for nonverbal measurements. This data drawn from two separate nonverbal measurements supports the conclusion that chess instruction had an impact on the nonverbal reasoning abilities of students in the chess classes, but specifically for economically disadvantaged students, and, therefore, improved their academic potential.

28 Teaching the Affective Before the Cognitive

29 Review of the Literature Constructivism Cognitive Development and Social Context Alvidrez and Weinstein: When socioeconomic status was controlled, preschool teachers perceptions of I.Q. significantly predicted G.P.A. and S.A.T. scores fourteen years later. Alvidrez, J., & Weinstein, R. (Dec 1999). Early teacher perceptions and later student academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91 (4), Kids try hard at things they think they are good at.

30 Chess in Education In the Context of Changes in Education

31 Agricultural Age (10,000 12,000 B.P.) Farming Division of Labor Skills needed: Planting and harvesting Influence: School Calendar Alvin Toffler The Third Wave, 1993

32 Industrial Age (mid-1700 s early 1900 s) Factory Work City People Concept of Time Skills Needed: Show up on time, discipline, productivity Influence: Industrial model for school organization, business model of curriculum

33 Information Age (mid 1950 s to Present) Average person makes a living processing information Skills Needed: Attention, Working memory, Processing speed, Visual processing, Long-term memory, Auditory processing, Reasoning and logic, comprehension Influence: minimal, as education is rooted firmly in the previous two ages.

34 What has changed in the last 10 years? Technology dial up to smart phones Amount of information available is staggering The role of the educator is changing faster than our ability to comprehend the shift into this new age that will require a different skill set.

35 Ten Years of Applying the Weightlifting Analogy At A Title One School

36 Chess as an environmental change rather than preparation for tournaments What changes? Bughouse is now o.k. It s how I get kids hooked on chess. Bughouse is social, exciting, FUN, and they learn to use pieces in combination.

37 Chess Players from a Title One School, Academic Teams Outcomes Lone Star Challenge (grades 4-6) 5 State championships 7 th grade Academic Pentathlon 4 state championships, 1 National Championship 8 th grade Academic Pentathlon, 6 state championships, 4 National Championships Academic Octathlon (grades 9 and 10) 8 state championships Academic Decathlon (grades 11 and 12), 11 Region Championships, 8 top 5 state ranks, 1 National Championship

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55 Academic Decathlon waiting for the Awards Ceremony (2004)

56 Chess... Academic Outcomes