Book Excerpt ( 42 pages!) - Heart of Wisdom

Part I: How to Use This BookStudies show that this four-step method motivates students to comprehend the material betterand retain the information longer. Dozens of studies have been done comparing the 4MatSystem to traditional textbooks. These studies show again and again that students learningunder the 4Mat System achieved significantly greater gains than students in the textbookgroup. 1Since the development of this teaching approach, Dr. McCarthy has achieved national recognitionas a leader in the instructional field. The 4MAT System is being used by hundreds ofthousands of teachers throughout the country to design and develop unit plans for every agegroup; kindergarten, college, law, medical schools, etc. In documented field studies of the4Mat System the following outcomes have been found to recur consistently:Improved Retention ............From the earliest stages of implementation, students showsignificantly better recall of information when taught withthe 4MAT System.Higher Achievement ...........On objective achievement tests measuring knowledge, comprehension,application, and analysis, 4MAT students scoresignificantly higher than their traditionally taught counterparts.Increased Motivation .........Qualitative studies show that teachers and students displaymore-positive attitudes toward learning with 4MAT thanwith traditional methods. Teachers report more frequent collaboration,greater commitment to assessment, and a deeperappreciation of the teacher’s role as a motivator.Improved Thinking Skills ..In studies measuring analytical and creative thinking, 4MATstudents show a substantially better command of basicthinking skills than control groups. Improvements tend to bemost dramatic in verbal and figural creative thought.Lower Remediation ............4MAT substantially improves success rates with at-risk andspecial-education students. The need for re-teaching alsodeclines.1. For more on this subject see: The 4MAT System, Teaching to Learning Styles with Right and Brain Processing Techniquesby Bernice McCarthy; 4Mat in Action by Susan Morris and Bernice McCarthy; The 4Mat System Workbook; 4Mation DeveloperSoftware by Excel, Inc; 4Mation Lesson Bank by Excel, Inc.Heart of Wisdom Publishing 13