Week 5 Learning with Others

The mystery tape measure Says 1 foot but is a little more than 3 feet Says 2 feet but is somewhat more than 6 feet Says 3 feet but is almost 9 ½ feet

Announcements  Thank you for your proposals. Responses back in a week.  Section meetings this last week. Next section meetings: Wednesday, November 1 at 11:30 AM Thursday, November 2 at 2:00 PM  Quick questions after class

Review & Preview

 Creating learning  Pandora questions  Avoiding ‘aboutitis’  Theory One  Teaching for Understanding  Whole game learning, big field of action around the knowledge base  Teaching and learning for transfer

Preview 1.Distributed cognition 2.The Jasper series 3.Jasper in the classroom 4.Rapid review and looking ahead

Learning goals  Develop awareness of distributed cognition  Develop awareness of the ‘cognitive economy’ of classrooms  Probe the implications of both for creating learning

Distributed cognition Goal: Review distributed cognition with a running example

Distributed cognition in a nutshell Person solo Person plus Social Physical Symbolic ? Fingertip (non) effect ? Deskilling Effects “with” and “of”

The Jasper Series Goal: Understand distributed cognition and refresh the Pandora questions by analyzing an example

Jasper in a nutshell  Famous development initiative  Math focused: Trip planning, statistics and business plans, algebra, geometry  12 episodes (we’ll see the first, Journey to Cedar Creek)  Highly researched, impact on attitudes and performance  Anchored instruction: Anti inert knowledge, pro active knowledge and transfer  Highly distributed cognition

Journey to Cedar Creek Challenge  When should Jasper leave for home?  Can he make it without running out of fuel?

1.What’s worth learning? 2.What’s hard about learning that? 3.So how is it best learned? 4.How is the learning going?

Jasper in the Classroom Goal: Build awareness of distributed cognition and the ‘cognitive economy’ of the classroom by analyzing classroom interactions

Analysis  How do the two teachers compare in the way they distribute cognition?  Which classroom has the hotter cognitive economy and why?

Quick design What social groupings, physical layouts, symbolic practices, etc., could one set up in a Jasper classroom to foster distributed cognition and a hot cognitive economy?

Rapid Review and Looking Ahead Goal: Consolidation and mental preparation

Learning goals  Develop awareness of distributed cognition  Develop awareness of the ‘cognitive economy’ of classrooms  Probe the implications of both for creating learning

1.What’s worth learning? What topics are worth learning? What inside a topic is worth learning? Beyond knowing stuff, what ‘whole games’ are learners getting better at? (Avoid ‘aboutitis’! Not just the knowledge base but lots of action around it!) Can we have generative topics (TfU)? What can transfer, and to where? 2.What’s hard about learning that? Where should we watch out for fragile knowledge: missing, inert, naïve, ritual Will the transfer we want occur? How can we ‘shepherd’ it? 3.So how is it best learned? What’s the source’s share? / What’s the learner’s share Can we keep all four sides of Theory One in play? – clear information, thoughtful practice, informative feedback, strong intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Can we mobilize TfU: Generative topics, understanding goals, understanding performances, ongoing assessment, mental models? How can we teach this for transfer with the ‘low road’ and the ‘high road’? How can we leverage social, physical, and symbolic distribution of cognition? How can we encourage and reward complex cognition? (‘Hot cognitive economy’) 4.How is the learning going? Can we arrange for truly informative feedback (from Theory one)? How can we organize ongoing assessment (TfU)? What transfers can we look for to track the process of learning? How can we use distributed cognition to track and inform progress?

Transferring distributed cognition As you encounter various learning experiences, ask: 1.How well are they designed for the social, physical, and symbolic distribution of cognition? 2.How well are they designed for effective distribution of the executive function? 3.How ‘hot’ are the cognitive economies, how encouraging and rewarding of complex cognition?

Moving on to a new unit… from The Challenge of New Knowledge and Ideas to The Challenge of Better Thinkers and Learners  The critical mind  The dispositional mind  The proactive mind