The quantity of educational research is enormous, but only some of this research has relevance for classroom practice and it is no small task to identify relevant research. As part of an effort to make academic research accessible to educational practitioners, the American Psychological Association (APA) created a task force composed of renowned educational theorists and researchers "to distill the massive body of psychological research into core, evidence-based principles that could effectively guide educational reform and practice" (Dr. Patricia A. Alexander (2006), "Psychology in Learning and Instruction"). In her book, "Psychology in Learning and Instruction," Dr. Alexander (an experienced teacher and academic researcher, and my doctoral advisor, who analyzed the psychological research underlying the 14 learner-centered psychological principles set forth in the APA's report) responds to the question, "What principles of knowledge promote effective educational practice?"

The following are excerpts from a section in her book on what the research literature reveals about classroom practice and are reproduced with the permission of the author:

1. Knowledge is Idiosyncratic

a. Anticipate and Embrace Diversity in What Students Say and Do

One of the first principles of effective teaching is to expect differences in what students say and do. Just because students read or hear the same words, teachers cannot assume that they internalize or interpret the information similarly. . . . When teachers are surprised by what they hear or see from their students, they are being reminded that teachers' understandings are not necessarily those of their students.

b. Look for Patterns and Explanations in Students' Correct and Incorrect Responses

[Students'] [e]rrors are rich sources of information about what students are thinking or doing and should not be ignored or dismissed. Errors can be more enlightening than correct responses, because they reveal something about the respondents' thinking and can stimulate exploration and discussion (citations omitted).

2. Knowledge Begets Knowledge

One of the most powerful notions to emerge from the decades of research on knowledge . . . is that students who are cognitively or motivationally richer get richer by building on the resources they already possess. Conversely, those who begin their academic journeys with limited cognitive and motivational resources face the prospect of falling further and further behind their more privileged classmates. This reality must be faced head-on in the educational system. Teachers must not stand by and simply watch as the gap widens between the haves and the have nots.

a. Bring Student Understandings to the Foreground

In planning lessons or organizing activities, effective teachers are always predicting what their students are likely to know about the subject at hand. And when content is expected to be novel or complex for students, effective teachers take the time to establish or reinforce foundational or background information. They also guide students through academic rough spots, a process . . . known as scaffolding. But good teachers do not simply let students' knowledge serve as a backdrop for instruction; instead, they find suitable ways for their students to display or share their knowledge.

b. Analyze the Tasks Involved in Assignments

Many cognitive psychologists . . . have discussed the importance of task analysis in learning and instruction. Task analysis is the systematic analysis of the component processes involved in performing a specific activity. . . . Because teachers are mature learners, they sometimes forget what they are requiring their students to know or do to complete an assignment or perform an activity. Task analysis is a reminder of those demands and can help educators understand where students' thinking or processing may go awry.

3. Knowledge is Never Context Free

a. Ensure that the Classroom Environment Supports Student Learning

One of the lessons . . . is that students learn better when they are in an environment that affords them the resources for active and meaningful engagement. Such resources are both human (e.g., teacher, students, parents) and nonhuman (e.g., books, computers). In addition, effective learning environments attend not only to students' cognitive needs, but also to their social and motivational development.

b. Initiate Learning by Anchoring it to Meaningful and Thought-Provoking Experiences

The concepts behind anchored instruction are not new to education; [John] Dewey argued for experience-based and problem-based learning [over 100 years ago].

4. Knowledge Reflects Experiences In and Out of School

Efforts to institutionalize learning or constrain it in a rigid manner can result in students viewing knowledge and knowing as a job, as routine labor rather than personal pursuit. Knowledge seeking occurs in and out of classrooms, as the power of unschooled knowledge makes clear. Therefore, effective teachers must use the ubiquitous nature of knowledge and knowing to their advantage by fostering bidirectional, seamless learning between the classroom and the world outside (citations omitted).

a. Extend the Learning Environment Beyond the Walls of the Classroom

The world is a powerful teacher and a boundless source of educational experiences. A multitude of real-world experiences can demonstrate, reinforce, or extend any concept one wishes to teach. Textbooks can help to capture some of the world outside the classroom, but their descriptions, illustrations, and explanations are abstract and one-dimensional. Effective teachers need to think beyond the formal curriculum, the textbooks, and the instructional routines and take advantage of the resources in the world at large.

b. Look for Learning Opportunities in the Experiences and Interests of the Students

The content of instruction need not arise from the teacher or the established curriculum. The lives and interests of the students are natural conduits for meaningful educational experiences. [William] James put it well when he said that the way to get the attention of students is to dovetail the lesson to the ideas they already find interesting.

5. Knowledge is Socially and Culturally Constructed

a. Embrace the Spectrum of Sociocultural Backgrounds Not Just Those that are Mainstream

[I]ndividuals are members of many cultures, and those memberships affect what and how they learn.

b. Show Students that the Pursuit of Knowledge is Unending and Pleasurable

Teachers should demonstrate that knowledge is not always certain or simple to acquire and that effort to discover meaning is a worthwhile undertaking rather than an indicator of some intellectual weakness. Such views about knowledge have been linked to higher student motivation and achievement (citations omitted).