Doing Dewey in the Digital Age Ravyn Wilson-Bernard Kristy Shuda McGuire Ruth Baker Community College of Philadelphia

Members of our Faculty Learning Community (FLC)  Ravyn Wilson-Bernard Instructor, English Department  Kristy Shuda McGuire Assistant Professor, Biology Department  Ruth Baker Assistant Professor, Library

Part I:The Problem of Training Thought Chapter IV. “School Conditions and the Training of Thought”

“It’s the condition our condition is in.” Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon 1. “the mental attitudes and habits of the persons with whom the child is in contact; 2. the subjects studied; 3. current educational aims and ideals” (Dewey 46,47)

Mental Attitudes and Habits “Most people are quite unaware of the distinguishing peculiarities of their own mental habit. They take their own mental operations for granted, and unconsciously make them the standard for judging the mental processes of others.” (Dewey 48)

Subjects “In school, amassing information always tends to escape from the ideal of wisdom or good judgment... ‘Covering the ground’ is the primary necessity; the nurture of mind a bad second.” (Dewey 52)

Educational Aims and Ideals “In instruction, the external standard manifests itself in the importance attached to the ‘correct answer.’ No one other thing, probably, works so fatally against focusing the attention of teachers upon the training of mind as the domination of their minds by the idea that the chief thing is to get pupils to recite their lessons correctly.” (Dewey 53)

Summary “Education that takes as its standard the improvement of the intellectual attitude and method of students demands more serious preparatory training, for it exacts sympathetic and intelligent insight into the workings of individual minds, and a very wide and flexible command of subject matter—so as to be able to select and apply just what is needed when it is needed.” (Dewey 54)

Part II: Logical Considerations Chapter VI. “The Analysis of a Complete Act of Thought”

“Five distinctive steps in reflection” 1. “a felt difficulty” 2. “its location and definition” 3. “suggestion of possible solution” 4. “development by reasoning of the bearings of the suggestion” 5. “further observation and experiment leading to its acceptance or rejection; that is, the conclusion of belief or disbelief” (Dewey 72) (Hoefnagels 11)

Problem “The problem is the discovery of intervening terms which when inserted between the remoter end and the given means will harmonize them with each other.” (Dewey 72) er-Toba/ch5_bottleneck/fig5-7.gif

Hypothesis “Occurrence of a suggested explanation or possible solution” (Dewey 75)

Reasoning “The development of an idea through reasoning helps at least to supply the intervening or intermediate terms that link together into a consistent whole apparently discrepant extremes.” (Dewey 76)

Conclusion “The concluding and conclusive step is some kind of experimental corroboration, or verification, of the conjectural idea.” (Dewey 77) rojects/humanevolution/

Summar y “The trained mind is the one that best grasps the degree of observation, forming of ideas, reasoning, and experimental testing required in any special case, and that profits the most, in future thinking, by mistakes made in the past.” (Dewey 78)

Part III: The Training of Thought Chapter XI. “Empirical and Scientific Thinking” Chapter XII. “Activity and the Training of Thought”

Dewey's Constructivism Experience/Empirical Observation Social Interaction Puzzlement/Curiosity

One-Minute Dewey "...experience also includes the reflection that sets us free from the limiting influence of sense, appetite, and tradition." (Dewey 156) “...the business of education might be defined as...an emancipation and enlargement of experience.” (Dewey 156) "The attitude of childhood is naive, wondering, experimental; the world of man and natures new. Right methods of education preserve and perfect this attitude..." (Dewey 156) "...useful work is not necessarily labor""...there's no contrast in doing things for utility and for fun." (Dewey 167) “When one is doing something, one is compelled, if the work is to succeed...to use eyes, ears, and sense of touch as guides to action.” (Dewey 188)

Applying Dewey to Inquiry-based Learning (Savery 2006, Coe 2001) The 5 Phases of Inquiry: Engagement: Begins with curiosity or puzzlement and recognition of existing knowledge Exploration: Students gain expertise and experience in identifying/addressing a problem in groups and are, individually, responsible for their own learning - Use active learning: questioning, critical thinking, and problem-solving

Explanation: Investigate alternative solutions -Active, conscious thought and comprehension is achieved through use of curiosity, observation, reading, reciting and discussion(social learning) Elaboration: Create new knowledge as information is gathered and understood Evaluation: Reflect on new knowledge to form solution(s) -Recognize that there is no single “correct” answer -Action on a solution (implement a plan)

Stages of Problem-Solving

Your Turn!  Yellow Group Ravyn Wilson-Bernard  Green Group Kristy Shuda McGuire  Blue Group Ruth L. Baker

Reflections on Your Experience in an FLC  Yellow Group Ravyn Wilson-Bernard  Green Group Kristy Shuda McGuire  Blue Group Ruth L. Baker

Collaboration and Sharing in an FLC Bringing Dewey into the Digital Age with LibGuides: - Collect information for ongoing research - Share information in a Social Media space - Collaborate with other faculty or students