Myron Terence Miao Jim

1
Through the Learning Glass

• Bennys Adventures in Learningland

2

• Welcome to this E-book about Benny. Benny is a
  relatively normal stick figure kid who has a
  great adventure, meets some strange creatures and
  learns about learning. To follow Bennys
  adventure, read the story and follow the
  directions. You will sometimes have to go
  different places, so pay attention!
• If you find that it is just too hard to figure
  out what Benny is supposed to do, you can click
  the next button and move onwards. You can also
  move backwards to review the previous page, or
  click on the home button if you want to start
  back on this page.

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• One day, Benny Stickman was out walking. He saw
  something on the ground, and picked it up. It
  looked like someone had stepped on a spider. He
  could not figure out what it was.
• Curious, he said. What is this strange thing?
  It looks like someone stepped on a spider!

4

• Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and a sound of
  a far off trumpet playing ta DAA! and there
  appreared a very strange creature! Benny was
  surprised.
• Who are you? he asked. The creature (who looked
  strangely like a caterpillar) said Im A
  Creature Who Looks Strangely Like A Caterpillar,
  but you can call me Acwlslac. Im here to help
  you figure out the symbol you have found.
• Oh, said Benny, How will you do that?
• Im sending you on a journey Acwlslac said. In
  fact, your journey has already begun. Here is
  your first clue. Acslwlac handed Benny a strange
  diagram. Study it carefully, and when you are
  done, you may move to your next clue. But dont
  go forward until you have finished exploring this
  diagram.
• With that, Acwlslac disappeared in a puff of
  smoke, with a sound like a far off trumpet
  playing ta DAA!
• Curious, said Benny. He looked at the diagram.

Click here to see the diagram Benny was given
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Benny explore this diagram by looking inside the
three circles! Then move forward when you have
finished.
Click here when you have finished exploring the
diagram
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• Behaviorist model
• the idea that by controlling the environment we
  can control behavior
• Controlled environment
• Stimulus-response (Trial and error)
• Instant feedback
• Positive reinforcement
• Something you like is given as a reward for
  desired behavior.
• Negative reinforcement
• something you dont like is taken away as a
  reward.
• Punishment
• Something you dont like is added when your
  response is wrong (not the desired outcome)

Back to the Diagram
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• Information Processing
• Computer as a metaphor
• Conceptual understanding
• Speed is power
• Differs from behaviorism in that it asks Why
• Connections represent conceptual understanding
• Developing cognitive schemes (representations)
• Accretion (Assimilation)
• Modification (Accommodation)
• Motivational sets
• Goals
• Learning goals
• Performance goals
• Task Analysis
• Determine what students know
• Move from concrete to abstract representations

Back to the Diagram
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• Constructivism
• Knowledge is actively created or invented by the
  person, not passively received from the
  environment.
• People create knowledge by reflecting on their
  physical and mental actions.
• No one true reality exists, only individual
  interpretations.
• Learning is a social process in which people grow
  into the intellectual life of those around them.
• Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)
• Scaffolding
• Equilibration
• Cognitive balance
• Disequalibration
• Occurs when we are confronted with unfamiliar
  ideas.

publication
conventionalization
transformation
appropriation
Back to the Diagram
9
As soon as Benny finished exploring his diagram,
Acwlslac appeared again. Wow said Benny. I
didnt know there were so many ways to look at
learning. Am I smart yet? Acwlslac said I
cant tell you that. Only you can tell me that.
Look at the symbol you found on the ground. Does
it make any sense

• Benny scratched his head. Not yet. But I know
  that this is because I dont have enough prior
  experience to build on, and that makes the
  meaning of this particular artifact difficult to
  assimilate. And that bothers me
• Thats right, said Acwlslac. You are feeling a
  sense of Cognitive dissonance, and you have a
  desire to resolve this information in light of
  what you already understand.
• Well, at least thats how a Constructivist would
  put it said Benny.
• See? said Acwlslac. Youre getting smarter
  already.
• Suddenly, Benny fell through a hole in the ground
  that appeared at his feet

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• ..and he landed right at the feet of a very
  strange pair of creatures. This is getting
  curiouser and curiouser thought Benny.
• Who are you? he asked the pair.
• We are Mindful and Mindless they replied.

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• What is the meaning of your name? asked Benny.
• Mindless said, mindlessly, Aw, youre just
  asking that to be polite or something!
• Mindful thought for a second, and said Or maybe
  not. It all depends on how hard you want to think
  about it. To get to know us, you need to
  understand about experiential and reflective
  cognition. But were not going to tell you about
  that yet.
• Oh, great said Benny. More cognitive
  dissonance. How will I ever figure out how to
  understand the symbol unless I can reach
  equilibratation.
• Cute word. said Mindless, blowing a bubble with
  his bubblegum.
• Actually, thats a word that Jean Piaget
  coined. Mindful said. As you learn more about
  us, and about experiential and reflective, you
  will understand more.
• Benny thought for a second. But to do that, I
  will have to think hard about it! Otherwise, I
  can just not think about it and just hope that it
  clicks. said Benny.
• Suddenly Mindful smiled. And thats just what
  our name means!

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MINDFUL

• But to really understand what our names mean,
  you should go explore these two doors. They will
  help you to accommodate this new information. But
  only if you do it reflectively, not
  experientially. Dont move forward until you have
  explored both doors
• Hey theres those words again! said Benny, as
  he walked towards the doors.
• Mindful turned to Mindless. Hes getting to be a
  smart kid, I think.

MINDLESS
Yeah, I guess. said Mindless, mindlessly.
CLICK HERE when you have explored both doors.
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• Well, thought Benny. Now I know that, to be
  mindful, I need to think about strategies, focus
  on what I am doing, and not just be reactive
  and do things from instinct. But sometimes, I
  already know how to do something, and I act
  reactive to those things, too. I wonder if that
  is also mindless. Hmmm, how can I figure this
  out?
• Suddenly, he saw a smile. The smile grew and grew
  until it was connected to a head, then to a head
  and neck, and finally to a cat!

Very curious! said Benny to the cat. You just
appeared!! Who are you? I am the Elusive
Paradigm, and Im here to help you finish
learning about experiential and cognitive Yay,
finally! said Benny.
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Experiential and Reflective are different forms
of cognition said the Elusive Paradigm.
Reflective cognition means you are thinking
about what you are trying to learn or what you
are doing. You can ponder deeply, make strategies
and reject them, deliberately choose what
strategies or learning tools you will use.
Experiential cognition is when you do something
without having to think about it. You just react
to whatever you are experiencing.
Ahh said Benny, pondering deeply. But
sometimes I can do something without thinking
about it because Im very familiar with it. Like
I can brush my teeth without having to pay
attention. Is that the same as just watching
something without thinking about it?
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• What do you think? said the Elusive Paradigm.
  Think about it.
• Benny thought about it.
• Well said Benny. I think that when Im
  brushing my teeth, its a different form of
  experiential cognition because Im an expert at
  brushing my teeth. So its different than just
  watching something mindlessly.

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• Ahh, said the Elusive Paradigm. That could be
  exactly right. Now you can experience what you
  have said by looking in this little house. And
  with that, he grinned. And with THAT, he started
  disappearing again, starting at his tail and
  slowly more and more of him was gone until
  nothing was left but his smile. Then, that
  disappeared too.
• Curious, said Benny.

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BENNY Explore these two items to better
understand Reflective and Experiential. When you
are done with both, you can move forward.
Click on each of the items above to move forward.
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Benny Answer the question on the next page. You
get ONLY ONE chance, and if you get it wrong, you
exit the book! Choose carefully!!!
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What is the importance of using a TV set as the
symbol for the experiential cognition mode and
a notebook for the reflective cognition mode.

• The TV represents something that you are an
  expert at, so you can watch without having to
  engage it. The notebook represents something you
  can only engage with conscious effort.
• The TV is a form of mindless entertainment,
  however the notebook represents writing, which is
  something you are an expert at.
• Neither of these the TV is both expert and
  mindless experiential engagement. The notebook,
  however, is both experiential and reflective,
  depending on the task.

A
B
C
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• That was very interesting, said Benny. Now I
  know that thinking can be reflective or
  experiential, that I can be engaged mindfully or
  mindlessly, and that there are three different
  learning theories that provide a framework for
  how people learn. This can be very confusingI
  wonder if there is a way I can learn more about
  this?
• Benny walked around the corner and suddenly
  arrived at another strange creature, who said

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• ARP!
• Benny asked Who are you?
• ARP! said the creature, who looked like a
  walrus.
• Arp? asked Benny, deep in mindful cognition,
  utilizing constructivist theory and trying to
  accommodate his new experience in terms of his
  prior knowledge.
• Arp! said the walrus.
• Oh! said Benny. Youre ARP!
• Im Arp! smiled Arp.

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• But whats an Arp? asked Benny.
• Arp said Im an Arp. But an ARP is an Action
  Research Project Pleased at his little pun, Arp
  clapped gleefully. Arp Arp Arp Arp!
• Okay, okay said Benny, so, what is action
  research project?!?
• Well, Benny, its a long story, but basically I
  am compilation of everything you have learned put
  into practice. By doing this you become better at
  what you do

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• Well, that sounds easy. said Benny.
• Oh, no. ARPs are arduous Benny! said the walrus
  harping on the ARP.
• He continued, But the idea is to put some of
  these nifty theories you learned into practice.
  Ultimately, you hope to learn more about your own
  teaching practice, and discover something that
  you can share with other people. So you
  understand?
• Oh, yes, said Benny, not understanding at all.

24

• Well, I can see that you might need to learn
  more about the theories and ideas behind the
  theories. You should read these arpuh,
  articles. said Arp, and handed Benny some
  papers. Dont move forward until youve reviewed
  these!

Click here after you have reviewed all three of
the arpuh, articles above.
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• Norman summary
• Technology makes us "smart in the sense of being
  better able to think". It has the simultaneous
  capacity, however, to 'entrap', 'confuse',
  'control' and 'dominate' us.
• Norman focuses on "mental tools" which he refers
  to as cognitive artifacts. Artifacts allow us "to
  think better and more clearly" and expand our
  human knowledge.
• There are tools for experiential
  cognition/learning and tools for reflective
  cognition/learning. The experiential mode
  involves perceiving and reacting "efficiently and
  effortlessly" the reflective mode "is that of
  comparison and contrast, of thought, of decision
  making.
• the experiential mode involves use of artifacts
  that "allow us to experience events as if we were
  there.
• Reflective artifacts concentrate on abstract
  "artificial, representing worlds" of language and
  thought

Go Back to the pile of articles you have to read.
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• Saloman summary
• Effect with and Effect of technology
• Effect with what happens while you are sitting
  at the computer. The things that you can do with
  the technology.
• Effect of what you take with you, how you apply
  this to new situations. The changes that take
  place in how you think, behave, learn, etc.

Go Back to the pile of articles you have to read.
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• Duckworth summary
• Research (big R) is something formal and
  structured that people in Ivory Towers do.
• Research (little r) is informal and informative,
  and something that teachers and other
  practicitioners can do to gather knowledge.

Go Back to the pile of articles you have to read.
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• Whew, Ive read all three, said Benny. That was
  a lot to absorb, but now I know what an Action
  Research Project is, and a lot more about
  learning theory. And more importantly, I know
  that I have to think about what each of these
  authors had contributed. But there must be a way
  to remember all this stuff. There is a lot of
  information to absorb.
• Benny strolled off, deep in reflection..

29

• and bumped into a very strange character in a
  big hat, who looked strangely like Tom Petty.
• Hullo! said Benny. Who are you?
• Why, Im Cognitive Artifact! said Cognitive
  Artifact. But you can call me Art. Im here to
  tell you all about, what else, but Cognitive
  Artifacts. Have some Ter, I mean, tea?

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• Benny didnt know what to say, but he sat down
  and had some tea anyway. Art began speaking.
• Cognitive Artifacts are tools that help us
  learn. They make us able to become smarter. Want
  some sugar? I cant get it without this spoon.
  Thats an artifact. If the sugar was an idea,
  then the teaspoon would be a cognitive artifact.
  Remember this diagram that Acwlsac gave you
• Oh, yes! said Benny. Those were the Learning
  Theories!
• Thats right! said Art. That diagram is a
  Cognitive artifact, and it helped you remember
  the theories!

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• In fact, you are surrounded by cognitive
  artifacts. Without them, you could not possibly
  remember as much as you do, and certainly not
  learn very much!!
• Oh, said Benny. So is this strange symbol that
  I found on the ground a cognitive artifact?
• Absolutely, said Art. Anything that helps you
  learn.
• Hmmm, thought Benny. This thing doesnt really
  look so much like a spider to me anymore..

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Well, said Art. That means you are coming
along. And speaking of coming along, heres my
old friend, the Dornob. Hello, Dornob. Want some
T? Y,T would be nice, said a little voice from
out of the teapot. My T nice indeed!

• A most curious creature popped his head out,
  rubbed his nose, sniffled once, and said, Y,
  yes, oh my, Art. That would be quite nice. Y,
  hello there, Benny. Do you have your tools with
  you?

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• Benny was so surprised that he never even thought
  of asking why Dornob was in the teapot! But he
  wasnt too surprised to say, Tools? What tools?
  I dont have any tools.
• Dornob took a sip of tea and said, Why Bennie.
  You have been gathering tools for quite a while
  now. In fact, you should have a veritable
  armamentarium of tools by now! Cognitive
  artifacts, learning theories, ideas of your own,
  friends like Art and me with good ideasall these
  things are tools that you can use as you learn
  about learning! In fact, lets look at your
  toolbox now!

Click here to see Bennys toolbox
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Wow! Said Benny. I didnt know I had so many
tools! But these are strange tools. They are
flat, and made of pictures, and in fact, they are
just images in an electronic e-book!!
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• Dornob and Art laughed and laughed.
• Of course they are, Benny! These arent the type
  of tools that you can work with physically. These
  tools are REPRESENTATIONS! They are a type of
  abstract cognitive artifact that helps you recall
  things and keep your knowledge organized. They
  only look like real tools because we are calling
  them tools. And thats because you work with
  them, like you work with real tools.

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• Ahh, said Benny, thinking very deeply. Now I
  get it. These things I have been learning about
  learning theory, and the writings of Norman and
  Saloman and the rest, and the diagrams that I
  have been given, and the places I have
  visited.they are all tools that helped me to
  learn! And the ARP is another tool that will help
  me to restructure the knowledge I am gaining! And
  when I am gone from here, if I have been
  mindfully engaging in reflective thought, the
  cognitive residue that is left behind will make
  me even smarter than ever!
• Well said Art and Dornob together, I think
  youre almost there! and they looked at each
  other, knowingly..

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• Suddenly, POOF! they disappeared and Benny found
  himself in front of his old friend and mentor,
  Acwlslac!

Hullo, Benny! said Acwlslac. I hear youve been
having grand adventures! Oh My YES! said Benny.
I met Mindful and Mindless, the Elusive
Paradigm, Dornob, Cognitive Artifact, Arp.my
mind is just bursting with ideas! But how do I
know if I have really learned anything?
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• Ahhh said Acwlslac. Look at that strange
  diagram you found on the ground again. Tell me
  what you see. I think, if you have been engaging
  reflectively in what our friends have shown you,
  then you will be very surprised to discover that
  it makes a LOT more sense to you now
• Benny pulled the diagram out of his toolbox and
  took a long, hard look at it.

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Bennys Diagram
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• Oh MY!! he exclaimed. This isnt a strange
  diagram at all! I can completely see what it
  represents..in fact, it represents exactly the
  wonderful adventure I just had!! This is so
  great, Acwlslac! I can completely understand this
  now!
• Thats because you have now restructured your
  knowledge said Acwlslac. And now, you can go
  home!
• Home! said Benny. Now THAT will be nice!

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And Benny faded off into the sunset, leaving
nothing but Acwlslac..
.and a smile, that just hung there in the air.