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A FINAL SYNTHESIS: REVISITING THE THREE LEARNING PRINCIPLES: 13 Pulling Threads
Pages 199-222

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From page 201...
... After visiting multiple topics in history, math, and science, we are now poised to use those discussions to explore further the three principles of learning. ENGAGING RESILIENT PRECONCEPTIONS All of the chapters in this volume address common preconceptions that students bring to the topic of focus Principle one from How People Learn suggests that those preconceptions must be engaged in the learning process, and the chapters suggest strategies for doing so.
From page 202...
... . Yet students typically have expenence with thinking about percents in the context of sale items in stores, grades in school, or loading of programs on a computer Moss's approach to teaching rational number as described in Chapter 7 uses that knowledge of percents to which most students have easy access as an alternative path to learning rational number She brings students' recessive understanding of proportion in the context of reasoning about percents to the fore and strengthens their knowledge and skill by creating multiple contexts in which proportional reasoning is employed (pipes and tubes, beakers, stnngs)
From page 203...
... Relying on students' existing knowledge and experiences can be diff~cult in some instances because everyday experiences provide little if any opportunity to become familiar with The phenomenon of interest. This is often true in science, for example, where The subject of study may require specialized tools or controlled environmental conditions that students do not commonly encounter In The study of gravity, for example, students do not come to The classroom with experiences that easily support conceptual change because gravity is a constant in their world.
From page 204...
... In such cases, student observations are not so much "wrong'' as They are insufficiently ~efinecl Scientists are more aware of variation because They engage in careful measurement and attend to differences at a level of detail not commonly noticed by the lay person. Stewart and colleagues had students count and sort sunflower seeds by Their number of stripes as an easy route to a discrepant event of sorts.
From page 205...
... arwin's dheory is the one that is accepted scientifically, students work widh dlree opposing dheones as they were developed, supported, and argued in t) arwin's day: William Paley's model of intelligent design, Jean Baptiste de Lamarck's model of acquired characteristics based on use, and t)
From page 206...
... For purposes of supporting conceptual change, however, f crional story telling may do just as well as history. In Teaching as Story Telling, Egan' relates a tale that can support students' understanding of place value: A king wanted to count his army He had fire dveless covuselors and one ingeniov s con nselor Each of the d Recess five tried to work out a way of counting the soldiers, but came up with metbods that were hopeless One, for example, tried using tally sticks to make a con nt, be t the soldiers kept moving arov nd, and the con nt was confused The ingenious courtselor told the king to have the Jewess counselors pick up ten pebbles each He then bad them stand behind a table that was set up where the army was to ma rcb past.
From page 207...
... ORGANL~NGKNOW7EDGE AROUND CORE CONCEPTS In the Fish is Fish story discussed in Chapter 1, we understand quite easily that when the description of a human generates an image of an upnght fish wearing clothing, there are some key missing concepts: adaptation, warm-blooded versus cold-blooded species, and the difference in mobility challenges in and out of water How do we know which concepts are "core? " Is it always obvious?
From page 208...
... And he demonstrates very persuasively in his work dhat students bring preconceptions about The discipline that are just as powerful and difficult to change as Those they bring about The specific subject mater For teachers, knowing the core concepts of The discipline itself—the standards of evidence, what constitutes proof and disproof, and modes of reasoning and engaging in inquiry—is clearly required. This requirement is undoubtedly at the root of arguments in support of teachers course work in the discipline in which They will teach.
From page 209...
... in which efforts to teach for understanding widhout a solid grasp of disciplinary concepts falls short. SUPPORTING METACOGNITION A prominent feature of all of The chapters in dlis volume is The extent to which The teaching described emphasizes The development of metacognitive skills in students.
From page 210...
... Barry's manipulative would not convey any conceptual understanding of the mathematical topic he was supposed to teach. Another teacher who grasps the core concept comments on the idea of "borrowing" as follows:9 Some of my students may have learned from their parents that you Borrow one unit form the tens and regard it as 10 ones C .
From page 211...
... If teachers simply give students the knowledge to incorporate, the practice and skill development of doing one's own mental search is shortchanged. Group work and discussions encourage students to engage actively in the mental search; they also provide examples from other students' thinking of different searches and search results.
From page 212...
... Michelle Why did you count up7 Jorge Maria Andy Maria Palincsar" has documented the progress of students as they move beyond early, unskilled efforts at questioning. Initially, students often parrot the questions of a teacher regardless of their appropriateness or develop questions from a written text that repeat a line of the text verbatim, leaving a blank to be filled in.
From page 213...
... The dialogue in Box 13-4 provides an example of a student becoming clearer about the meaning of what he observed as the teacher helped structure the articulation.
From page 214...
... If the male can protect his Group work and group or classroom discussions have another potential pitfall that requires teacher attention: some students may dominate dhe discussion and She group decisions, while odhers may participate little if at all. Having a classmate take charge is no more effective at promoting metacognitive development or supporting conceptual change—Than having a teacher take charge.
From page 215...
... As students discussed the kind of person Columbus was, Bain asked them to wnte a 2-minute essay before discussing further Such an exercise ensures that students who do not engage in the public discussion nonetheless formulate their ideas. Group work is certainly not the only approach to supporting the development of metacognitive skills.
From page 216...
... Lacey Kevin Ms. Lacey Kevin Derek Kevin Derek Kevin Derek I'm wondering.
From page 217...
... This brings conscious attention to the change in a student s own thinking. Similarly, the reflective assessment aspect of the ThinkerTools curnculum described in Chapter 1 shifts students from group inquiry work to evaluating their group's inquiry individually.
From page 218...
... , in many of The examples of student discussion dhroughout tills volume—for example, The discussion in Chapter 2 of students examining the role of Hider in World War 11—one sees individual students becoming clearer about their own thinking as the discussion develops. · Conceptual change can be supported when students' thinking is challenged, as when one group points out a phenomenon that another group's model cannot explain (knowledge-centered)
From page 219...
... That design incorporates a strategy for accomplishing The learning goals described Throughout dlis volume " Feynman anticipates and addresses The points at which studentst preconceptions may be a problem. Knowing dhat students will likely have had no experiences that support grasping The size of an atom, he spends time on dlis issue, using familiar references for relative size dhat allow students to envision just how tiny an atom is.
From page 220...
... 3 Liping Mass work, described in Chapter I, refers to the set of core concepts and the connected concepts and knowledge that support them as "knowledge packages." 4 Griffin and Case, 1995 5.
From page 221...
... 14. For example, he high ights core concepts conspicuously.
From page 222...
... 590 HOW STUDENTS LEARN N THE CEASSFOOM Oll=R RESOURCES National Academy of Sciences.


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