How People Learn

1
How People LearnRevisited

• Differentiating conceptual beliefs from present
  ideas in science

2
Student scientific achievements necessitate

• Memory and the structure of knowledge
• Problem solving and reasoning
• Early foundation of learning
• Regulatory process that govern learning (i.e.
  metacognition)
• Symbolic thinking as it emerges from the culture
  and community of the leader

3
How preconceived ideas affect ability to learn
and process new information
4
Re-conceptualize the world as a sphere, not a
flat disc
5
Progression of thoughts to deal with this type of
issue

• Reject the new cognition (Student)
• The Earth can't possibly be round, because I know
  it's flat.
• Reduce the importance of the dissonant cognitions
  (Student)
• I'll never venture beyond the town where I live,
  so it does not matter if the Earth is flat or
  round.
• Add new cognitions (Teacher)
• The Earth casts a round shadow on the moon, so it
  is possible the Earth is round. If I go to the
  harbor and watch the boats depart, they disappear
  with the top of the mast being the last thing I
  see.
• Change the dissonant beliefs so they are no
  longer inconsistent (Teacher)
• Magellan circumnavigated the Earth, so it cannot
  be flat.
• Change the behavior to reflect the cognition
  (Student and Teacher)
• I will sail around the Earth.

6
How do we teach best to all students?

• Unfortunately, there is no universal teaching
  doctrine that will always work for all students
  for all subject matter. The trick is to integrate
  problem solving skills and assimilation of
  information.

7
How do we do that??

• Be aware of cultural differences and instead of
  viewing them as a barrier, find way to use it
  to your advantage
• Reconstruct idea of intelligencefixed entity
  vs. malleable definition
• Fixed entity ? performance orienteddont want to
  make any mistakes want to look good/impress the
  teacher
• Malleable definition ? generally more willing to
  struggle with challenging tasks and material
  less of a sense of failure driving them to
  understand

8
How do we do that??

• Learning/knowledge centered classroom
• Pay attention to
• What is taught (subject matter, information)
• Why it is taught (understanding)
• What competence/mastery looks like

9
How do we do that??
10
How do we do that??

• Formative assessments
• Testing for pure knowledge vs. understanding
• Ongoing assessmentstudent projects,
  presentations, etc.to help guide the teacher in
  the direction where instruction should head

11
How do we do that??

• Consider the environment and culture of the
  students and think of dynamic ways for them to
  think about their surroundings.
• For example, here in SB discussions about geology
  can refer to personal experience
• Where does all the water drain to when it rains?
  Why is the ocean brown near shore after a storm?
  What happens to the trash you throw onto the
  street?
• What does it feel like when an earthquake
  happens? Do they happen all the time?
• Why is there so much tar on the beaches in Santa
  Barbara? Why are all the oil platforms lined up?
• Why are those mountains there? Do you notice any
  patterns? Why do you think there are patterns?

12
Go Beyond the Information Given

• We should encourage students to discover
  principles themselves. The instructor and student
  should engage in an active dialogue (Socratic
  learning).
• The task of the instructor is to translate
  information to be learned into a format
  appropriate to the learner's current state of
  understanding. Curriculum should be organized so
  that the student continually builds upon what
  they have already learned.
• Ongoing structuring (organizing) processes are
  the conceptual heart of constructivism and result
  in more active learning/inquiry based learning.

13
What does the NSTA suggest?

• Instructors should not only create learning
  environments that engage students in learning
  science, but also help students think critically
  about important issues related to learning and
  science

14
Whats their evidence?
15
More evidence

• Newspaper section
• Evidence based report, not opinion. Must collect
  and refer exclusively to evidence
• Feature Article
• Analysis of an event and the amount of student
  learning that took place in response
• Free Format
• Cannot be similar to any of the other
  assignments allows for freedom of expression
  that forces students to be critical of what they
  observe

16
More evidence

• Benefits observed
• Critique news reports in peer-edit fashion ? less
  intimidating
• Benefit of requiring students to write,
  ultimately improving this critical skill
• Allows for the opportunity to test out teaching
  methodologies and creativity before responsible
  for entire classs learning

17
Three Teacher Types