Teenagers’ learning ‘dumbed down’
Posted on | October 28, 2008 |
Today’s 14-year-old pupils are better at quick-fire answers, but much worse at complex questions than teenagers in the 1970s, research suggests.
Professor Michael Shayer of King’s College London looked at how 800 secondary pupils performed in problem-solving tests.
He said his findings reflected that pupils now lived in an environment favouring instant responses.
But the downside was a “dumbing down” and a lack of deeper understanding.
Professor Shayer says that the tests studied two levels of knowledge - one which required quick, descriptive responses - and in such questions today’s 14-year-olds were better than their predecessors who had taken the same tests in 1976.
This study links in with what employers have been saying about students having no ability to perform in the workplace and hence the creation of the 14-19 diplomas and Functional Skills to give students the tools that they need.
Further Reading: BBC
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