Ep. 125: Reviewing Research with Healthy Skepticism

Andrew Watson, educator and author of Learning and the Brain Blog and the book The Goldilocks Map, teaches us how to become healthy skeptics. Cognitive science and literacy intersect as we are inundated with information about reading science, curricular materials, motivation strategies and more. As we learn to discern and distill information, we ask the question: Is there research to support that? There are three steps to the process of unpacking the legitimacy of research. 

1. Determine if you trust the speaker. Ask: What is the best research you know of that supports that idea? 
2. Review the study. Ask: Is this study a good proxy for my students or scenario? 
3. Look for more research! Consider: Which direction does most of the research point me? 

Resources

• Learning and the Brain Blog by Andrew Watson
• The Goldilocks Map by Andrew Watson
• Isn’t Independent Reading a Research-Based Process? Reading Rockets /Tim Shanahan
• Tools to determine validity of research: 
  • ConnectedPapers.com
  • Scite.ai
  • Google Scholar 

Connect with us!

• Facebook and join our Facebook Group 
• Twitter 
• Instagram 

Visit our website to subscribe to our newsletter. 

Helping teachers learn about science of reading, knowledge building, and high quality curriculum. 

We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.

Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.

Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.