Effective Teaching

“The Effective Teaching” section of the online book, How People Learn, describes the effective teaching methods of Barb Johnson, a very popular sixth-grade history teacher. Apparently, this teacher’s methods were effective because she taught history in a way that made the subject matter relevant to her students. However, I inferred from the article that the authors felt that we should not expect most history teachers to employ similar strategies because they lack the requisite “wide range of disciplinary knowledge” (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008, p.145). However, I wonder if certain technological tools could help mitigate this problem. For example, I know that the folks involved with the Education Arcade at MIT used the Never Winter Nights game engine to create Revolution, a situation-based, multi-player learning game, based on historical events in colonial Williamsburg (Haas, 2008). As they assume roles of period characters and grapple with major conflicts as well as mundane issues of the period, I can easily imagine that Revolution makes this period of American history more relevant for many students.

Nonetheless, I am also aware of the persistent reticence of educators to employ this type of technology. While attending a class at Bloomsburg University, prompted by a request from a local school administrator, my professor asked our class to contact the administrator if we had any ideas for innovative learning concepts.
After confirming that the local school had an adequate number of computers and unrestricted online access to download the program, I suggested that they use Making History: the Calm and the Storm, a turned-based strategy video game, to teach a component of high school history. Muzzy Lane Software, a well-established educational software company, designed Making History to accommodate the time constraints that are inherent in high school classrooms. Making History also provided supporting documentation that included various resources to augment the material presented in the game environment (Making History, 2008).

I explained to the administrator that, by playing the game, students could investigate prewar scenarios relative to certain European domestic distractions and political policies based on appeasement, non-intervention, and isolationism that contributed to the outbreak of WWII. This historic period included some of the most intriguing, controversial, and repercussive historic events that culminated in a calamitous war. Moreover, this topic is especially relevant to students, since some in the United States government evoked this historic sequence of events to justify engaging in the current war with Iraq.

Initially, the administrator was enthusiastic about the idea. The topic was appropriate, the cost of licensing the program was within the school budget, and the computer hardware was available. Inexplicably, to both of us, the teaching staff in the history department at his school would not even consider the idea. I can only assume that while the teachers said they wanted new ideas, in reality they were insufficiently motivated to act on concepts that were significantly innovative. Therefore, it seems to me that, in addition to student motivation, effective instructional design needs to address teacher motivation as well.

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L, & Cocking, R. R. (2008). How People Learn: How Experts Differ from Novices. National Academy Press. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6160&page=17

Haas, J. (2008). Revolution. The Education Arcade. Accessed October 25, 2008: http://www/educationarcade.org/node/357

Making History (2008). Making history: The calm and the storm. Accessed October 25, 2008: http://www.making-history.com/

The Design of Learning Environments

The Design of Learning Environments (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008) article indicated the importance of designing educational environments that comprise learning-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community centered elements. The section about assessments got me thinking about a conversation that I had earlier this semester with Dan, one of the other students in our class.

Our conversation took place the week after we read the How Experts Differ from Novices section of How People Learn, the online book that we have been reading for or class this semester. I expressed to Dan that I thought that perhaps our educational system would improve if we eliminated standardized tests and instead focused on meaningful knowledge acquisition. Dan had reservations about the degree of emphasis that the current educational system placed on standardized testing. Of course, he felt that there was a definite need for some kind of assessment. Nonetheless, I was starting to think that perhaps we did not need to conduct assessments at all, since most assessments did not seem to measure accurately the “degree to which the students’ knowledge is conditionalized” (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008, p. 31).

Upon reflection, I recognized that it was impractical to eliminate all assessments. For instance, how would universities determine who was qualified to enter academically rigorous PhD programs? Subsequently, while reading a journal article, Assessing Higher Order Thinking in Video Games (Rice, 2007), for another paper, I realized that perhaps more covert assessments methods would be more valid indicators of students’ conditional knowledge. Rice (2007) suggests that certain complex video games that promote higher order thinking possess certain qualities, such as:
 Complex story lines “with characters that users care about”
 Allow “different ways to complete the game”
 Simulate “complex processes requiring adjustment of variable by users to obtain desired results or adjusting variables that produce different outcomes
 Require “synthesis of knowledge in order to complete”

However, by continually adjusting and responding to user input, perpetual covert assessment is an attribute that these games also possess. In effect, players receive assessment results of their conditionalized knowledge when they are promoted to more challenging levels, and eventually win the game.

Conversely, many educational applications contain overt quizzes or tests to assess a learner’s knowledge. Perhaps, embedding covert assessment techniques, which are similar to those used in many video games, would improve the efficacy of assessing conditionalized knowledge in educational applications.


Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L, & Cocking, R. R. (2008). How People Learn: How Experts Differ from Novices. National Academy Press. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6160&page=17
Rice, J. W. (2007). Assessing higher order thinking in video games. Journal of Technology & Teacher Education. 15(1), 87-100.

Mind and Brain

One section in this chapter (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000, p.103) reminded me of an article, which I read years ago, that described a new brain imagining technology called functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). When I saw the images of the brain produced by fMRI that were printed in the magazine, I was amazed. Apparently, Functional MRI produced rapid brain scans, excellent spatial resolution, and provided images that bone tissue obscured with previous imaging methods (RSNA, 2004). I was also surprised to learn that fMRI was completely non-invasive and non-radioactive (Bear, Connors, & Paradiso, 2001 p.177). S. Ogawa of Bell Labs made the first step in the development of fMRI. Ogawa used innovative imaging techniques, blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast, and MRI technologies to measure differences in blood oxygen levels caused by brain activity. (Bear, Connors, & Paradiso, 2001 p.176).

Subsequently, I learned that neuroscientists used fMRI to study brain function and anatomy. The data produced by fMRI technology enabled scientists to “explore the higher level workings of the human mind” (Cohen, 1994). Furthermore, I thought it was interesting that, while even nineteenth century antiquated invasive procedures provided scientists with enough information to locate the brain regions where speech, memory, and other functions were typically processed, the exact location differed among certain individuals. However, the detailed information provided by fMRI allowed radiologists to determine the exact location of neuronal processing within each person (RSNA, 2004). In addition to location, fMRI revealed the timing of cognitive events. This capacity gave researchers the ability to pinpoint and quantify the amount of activity related to perception and memory (NIMH, 1997). To explain the concept, The National Institute of Mental Health (1997) used the following analogy: “Brain circuits, that process short-term information, differ from those that store long-term memory, much as a computer’s random access memory (RAM) differs from hard disk memory.” Short term processing “is used for such tasks as holding phone numbers in mind just long enough to write it down,” as well as for higher cognitive functions, such as planning, organizing, and rehearsing (1997).

Nonetheless, I think that the fMRI may not be the most powerful instrument for studying cognitive function. Rather, it may be what Ogawa and even 19th century researchers, such as Angelo Mosso, used to effectively study the brain: their own “expertise, intelligence, and creativity” (Cacioppo, Berntson, Lorig, Norris, Rickett, & Nusbaum, 2003).

[In Mosso’s experiments] the subject to be observed lay on a delicately balanced table,which could tip downward either at the head or at the foot if the weight of either end were increased. The moment emotional or intellectual activity began in the subject, down went the balance at the head-end, in consequence of the redistribution of blood in his system. (James, 1890).

References

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. (Expanded ed.). Washington: National Academy Press.

Cacioppo, J. T., Berntson, G. G., Lorig, T. S., Norris, C. J., Rickett, E., & Nusbaum, H. (2003). Just because you’re imaging the brain doesn’t mean you can stop using your head: A primer and set of first principles. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 85(4), 650-661.

Cohen, M. S., Bookheimer, S. Y. (1994). Localization of brain function with magnetic resonance imaging. Trends in Neurosciences, 17(7).

Bear, M. F., Connors, B. W., & Paradiso, M. A. (2001). Imaging the living brain. In S. Katz & A. Heubeck (Eds.), Neuroscience: Exploring the brain (2nd ed., pp. 173-77). Baltimore:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

James, W. (1890). Principles of Psychology. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

NIMH (1997, April). fMRI reveals dynamics of working memory. National Institute of Mental Health Retrieved October 4, 2008 from http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr97/nimh-09.htm

RSNA. (2004). RadiologyInfo. Radiological Society of North America, Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2008 from http://www.radiologyinfo.com/content/functional_mr.htm

How Children Learn

As I mentioned in a previous posting, my children took violin lessons. During that time, I had the opportunity to meet Julie. In addition to being very personable, Julie was a gifted violinist, poet, and athlete. However, despite her many exemplary extracurricular performances, Julie received demeaning comments from her teacher and below average grades on her fourth grade report card.

Julie’s situation reminded me of Gardner’s (1989) theory of multiple intelligences that a friend of mine had told me about previously. Gardner postulated that musical prowess, interpersonal acumen, linguistic skill, and athletic ability were four of seven distinct forms of intellect (1989). Unfortunately, for Julie and many other children, the school system almost exclusively focused on “linguistic symbolization and logical-mathematical symbolization” (1989). The system did not support Julie’s learning strengths (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Furthermore, instead of receiving help working on her weaknesses (2000), Julie only seemed to get perpetual criticism from her teacher. While Julie initially wanted to be a competent student, eventually her interest in school started to wane. Gardner (1999) believed that children who are taught in an environment where disciplines such as music are revered will want to “enhance their own skills and achieve disciplined expertise” (1999, p. 171).

Fortunately, Julie had her parents, music teacher, and coaches, to help guide her development (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Yet, Julie may have had a more positive educational experience if a different “teaching and assessment model” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler, 2009, p. 117), such as Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory, had been utilized. In additional to memorization, Sternberg believed that education should focus on “analytical, creative, and practical” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler, 2009, p. 117) skills. For example, to support Julie’s creativity, the teacher could have asked Julie to write a poem about one of the founding fathers for a social studies assignment. Undoubtedly, incorporating Julie’s strengths into her educational program would have bolstered Julie’s academic performance.

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. (Expanded ed.). Washington: National Academy Press.
Gardner, H. (1999). A disciplined approach to school reform. Peabody Journal of Education, 74(1), 166-173.
Gardner, H., & Hatch T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school: Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences. Educational Researcher, 18(8), 4-10.
Snowman, J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching (12th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin , p. 117)