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If not properly handled, some projects can spiral out of control like a runaway train. Assignments involving project-based learning professes that children learn best when they experience the real-world problems and solve them on their own. In one of the elementary schools I had worked with, students were spotted to rush in with awkwardly large homemade robots as part of their 4th grade project. The teacher’s conditions were such that each student had to design the robot without spending more than $5, assemble it without parents’ help, put together an operating manual, and finally present everything in front of the class.  Project management involves the finer aspects of executive function skills and is rarely taught systematically. So did this project truly help inculcate the crucial skills for real world problem solving? My guest Lynn Meltzer, Ph.D., will discuss this very idea of ways to increase student’s control over his or her learning.

* This is Lynn’s first podcast episode where she discusses Executive Function, managing long range goals, and learning the how of learning.

About Lynn Meltzer, Ph.D.
Lynn Meltzer, Ph.D. is the President and Director of Research at the Research Institute for Learning and Development (ResearchILD) and Director of Assessment at the Institute for Learning and Development (ILD) in Lexington, MA. She holds appointments as an Associate in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Tufts University Department of Child Development. She is a fellow and Past-President of the prestigious International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities. Her 35 years of assessment and clinical consultation with children, adolescents, and adults have emphasized the critical importance of the theory-to-practice cycle of knowledge.

Her research, publications, and presentations have focused on understanding the complexity of learning and attention problems using a multi-dimensional model to bridge the gap between theory, research, and practice. Her extensive publications and professional presentations include articles, chapters, and books relating to the assessment and treatment of learning difficulties with an emphasis on the importance of metacognition, strategy use, cognitive flexibility, self-concept, and resilience.

Books

• The Power of Peers in the Classroom: Enhancing Learning and Social Skills
• Promoting Executive Function in the Classroom

Websites

• ResearchILD.org
• SMARTS-EF.org

About Host, Sucheta Kamath
Sucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.

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