Why Don’t Students Like

School?

An exploration of Daniel

Willingham’s book

People are naturally curious,

but we are not naturally good

thinkers.

Our brains try and AVOID thought

For Example: Try This

In an empty room are a candle, some

matches, and a box of tacks. The goal is

to have the lit candle about five feet off the

ground. You’ve tried melting some of the

wax on the bottom of the candle and

sticking it to the wall, but it wasn’t

effective. How can you get the lit candle

five feet off the ground without having to

hold it there?

If we’re so bad at thinking,

How do we get through the day?

And yet, we ENJOY thinking

Why are many people fascinated by the problem on the

left, but very few will work on the one of the right?

Fill the 9 X 9 Grid so each column and row contain the digits 1-9

Prove that the midpoint of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equidistant from the vertices of the triangle

How Thinking Works

Environment

WORKING MEMORY

(site of awareness and

thinking)

LONG TERM MEMORY

(factual knowledge and

procedural knowledge?

For Example: 18 x 7

Environment WORKING MEMORY

(rules, board with current

position, etc)

LONG TERM

MEMORY

1. Multiply 8 and 7

2. Retrieve the fact that 8x7=56 from long term memory

3. Remember that 6 is part of the solution, then carry 5

4. Multiply 7 and 1

5. Retrieve fact: 7x1=7

6. Add carried 5 to 7

7. Retrieve 5+7=12

8. Put 12 down, append the 6

9. Answer: 126

Successful thinking relies on:

• Information from the environment

• Facts in the long-term memory

• Procedures in long-term memory

• And the amount of space in the working

memory.

If any of these factors is inadequate,

thinking will likely fail.

CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS

Be sure that

there are problems

that can be solved

Clarify the Problems to be Solved

Reconsider when to puzzle students

Change the Pace

Background Information

Daniel Willingham is a cognitive

scientist who explores some key

questions about education.

This presentation deals with the

question “Why don’t students like

school?” – Chapter 1 in the book.

All images are part of the creative

commons and used accordingly.