Items to Share: 28 December 2014

Education Focus

• A review of 2014 | David Didau: The Learning Spy  In terms of his most popular posts, etc.

• Shopping lists and other cognitive tools | Webs of Substance 'Standard algorithms are the mathematical equivalent of phonics. Unless statutes require them to be taught then there are ideologues who will willfully neglect them. [...] Of course, there are occasions when standard algorithms are not appropriate or efficient (80 plus 12 or when completing mental maths) but, for any given problem, there will always be a most efficient strategy. And for most pencil-and-paper operations involving two-digit numbers or more, the standard algorithms are the best.' OK, as long as you understand the principles well enough to know whether ot not the answer is plausible.

• Never Mind The Data, Feel The Noise (or, seek the signal, young Jedi) [e=mc2andallthat]  'I believe that the search for a signal should be central to any examination of data, and that this is best done with a human brain through the lens of professional experience. And, given the inevitability of noise and uncertainty in any measurement process, with a generous number of grains of statistical salt.'

• What does an expert teacher need to know? | Clio et cetera — in the case of history. It's not obvious.

• Some experiences of life at Imperial College London. An external inquiry is needed after the death of Stefan Grimm [dcscience.net] A very disturbing report from David Colquhoun on what is happening to research at one of the UK's (and the world's) premier research institutions.

Other Business

• What Freud Got Right « The Dish Extract from a 1953 essay by W H Auden. 

• Gabriele Oettingen Turns Her Mind to Motivation in ‘Rethinking Positive Thinking’ - NYTimes.com 'In her smart, lucid book, “Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation,” Dr. Oettingen critically re-examines positive thinking and give readers a more nuanced — and useful — understanding of motivation based on solid empirical evidence.'

• Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine - The Long Now Fascinating piece on working with Feynman, and his approach to problems.

• A Tablet for Africa? | AfriGadget  'The Betabook is a portable whiteboard, which can be used with a smartphone for archiving, content creation, and social media sharing.'

• Tim Harford — Article — You really, really, shouldn’t have . . .  'There is a vast discrepancy between how we see the world when giving gifts and when receiving them'

• Christmas Gift! - The American Interest 'What makes this holiday so irresistible and global, yet also so particular and controversial? Why do so many people love Christmas while rejecting or in some cases actively hating Christianity? And why do so many others hate Christianity so deeply that they want to suppress all public celebration, however secular, of the symbols of Christmas? [...] For that matter, why do so many followers of the man who famously blessed the poor celebrate his birthday with the greatest spending sprees the world has ever known? How did the birthday of a crucified religious teacher become an excuse to drink egg nog?'