From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anned/8700093610/

In this post, I did think about the WISE platform and how it embedded learning to a point where learners doesn’t think twice in doing the activities and they just progress in their thoughts without knowing or thinking about it.  WISE is a platform where teachers can create and develop, and where learners will learn, experiment, chat, exchange and negociate ideas, and where learning is happening.

I believe the motivation behind WISE was to sustain learning through inquiry.  Linn et al. (2003) define inquiry as “…engaging students in the intentional process of diagnosing problems, critiquing experiments, distinguishing alternatives, planning investigations, revising views, researching conjectures, searching for information, constructing models, debating with peers, communicating to diverse audiences, and forming coherent arguments.”  At that point, they developed the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE).

Projects in WISE are developed by teachers and are supported by curriculum objectives.  As it is through the internet, students need to use technology to connect to those projects.  It offers a great opportunity to gain knowledge on the use of 21st Century tools available to them.  While using the technology, the learners connect with peers across the country and have possibilities to discuss subjects of interest with them.  They build knowledge on science but also gain skills and new ideas.

One project I found interesting and that I could relate and use in my classroom is: Investigating Planetary Motion and Seasons.  This project connects with my curriculum and it is a unit that I will be working on very soon with my students.  I found interesting ideas in this project, and I believe I would use it in with my students to deepen their understanding of the planet movement and the seasons and how the phases of the moon have an influence here.  One problem i could notice is that I am working in french in my school and all of these are great ideas, but they don’t come in french and I did not find anything like it in french.  Meaning, there would be a lot of work translating this activity in french for my students.  At this point, this is not an option.  But I could see the potential for science in schools.

Cheers,

• Linn, M., Clark, D., & Slotta, J. (2003). Wise design for knowledge integration. Science                              Education, 87(4), 517-538.                                                                                                                                http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sce.10086/abstract

(Image captured from the WISE4 website)

« The Web-based Inquiry Science Environment is a research-based digital learning platform that fosters exploration and science inquiry. » (http://wise.berkeley.edu/)    Projects focus on science inquiry and are specifically tailored for the classroom.  They explore new ideas and evidence and provide peer interactions on these ideas along the way.  Students have the possibilities to write their thoughts, discuss them and put them against other ideas to form their own ideas about the subject of inquiry.  Collaboratively, these theories are framed and validated  through discussion and model-based testing, where after they refine these ideas using a variety of tools.  Multiple authors wrote on this model to explore the possibilities offered and to understand the process of learning presented.  Linn et al. mentioned that their research team is convinced that students possess a lot of intriguing and potentially valuable ideas about science, but there’s limits to their ability to interconnect these ideas or to apply them to new ideas or concepts.   Science must capitalize on views held by students for 2 reasons:

1. intellectual contributions of the students
2. by connecting science to everyday life experiences can make science more relevant to                students

Students need new ideas, improve capabilities to make inferences, develop criteria for what constitutes important evidences and draw conclusions based on multiple ideas or observations.  The WISE platform makes thinking visible to help students understand their own ideas.  The use of technology in schools provide much more possibilities in science and science literacies.  The design of this project was based on four pedagogical principles (Gobert et al., 2002):

1. Make science accessible to all students ;
2. Make thinking visible ;
3. Provide social support so that students can learn from each other ;
4. Promote autonomy and lifelong learning.

By offering these opportunities to the learners, the WISE projects bring forward learning and provide feedbacks from peers.  As Hattie et al. (2007) stated, feedback needs to provide information specifically relating to the task or process of learning that fills a gap between what is understood and what is aimed to be understood.  Vygotsky named it the Zone of Proximal Development.  For the feedback to be effective, there must be learning going on.  In this process, the WISE project offers multiple options.  Hattie et al. (2007) stated that the idea of students developing self-regulation and error detection skills… are created by teachers in WISE.

Reference

• Gobert, J., Snyder, J., & Houghton, C. (2002, April). The influence of students’ understanding         of models on model-based reasoning. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the             American Educational Research Association (AERA), New Orleans, Louisiana. This is a            conference paper. Retrieved conference paper Saturday, October 29, 2013                             from: http://mtv.concord.org/publications/epistimology_paper.pdf
• Hattie, H. & Timperly, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research,               77(1),81-112.                                                                                                                                 http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/loginurl=http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487

• Linn, M., Clark, D., & Slotta, J. (2003). Wise design for knowledge integration. Science                          Education, 87(4), 517-538. Retrieved from:                                                                                  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sce.10086/abstract

This last week, after the anchored instruction symposium, I opened to other perspectives on teaching and that made me review my own ways.  The Jasper series offer a great set of tool to teach mathematical concepts.  It does ask the learner to be more involved in it’s own learning and go through a series of challenges to demonstrate it’s learning.  Is it appropriate for every learners?  Following some of the discussions in our group, I noticed some really good aspects discussed by colleagues.

There is been some discussions around the Jasper series being video textbooks but also great learning tools when well used.  I think that using that kind of technology is a great opportunity for our learners but we need to be careful on using it.  The tools can’t replace the teacher and they won’t teach by themselves.  These kind of technology “afford students opportunities to create problem structure as they solve the problem, potentially leading to more opportunities for group interactions that support generative learning.” (Shyu, 2000)  Teacher has to build on these discoveries and quest to explore more concepts and extrapolate to greater understandings.  Real life situations offer multiple learning affordances that teachers can apply in classroom to better solidify the learners foundation.

Reference

• Shyu, H. Y. C. (2000). Using video‐based anchored instruction to enhance learning: Taiwan’s           experience. British Journal of Educational Technology, 31(1), 57-69.                                             http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8535.00135

How does this technology support learning and conversely how might it confound learning?

The Cognition Technology Group at Vanderbuilt (1992) stated that the Jasper Series is a technology-based program designed to motivate students and help them learn to think and reason about complex problems.  The theoretical framework is consistent with constructivist theories and emphasizes generative learning anchored in meaningful contexts.  This series offered a different approach to mathematics more appealing to students and presenting multiple options of resolution.  The student was stimulated all the way by an interesting story and the quest for pieces of the puzzle to answer a challenging question.  Not only the answer is the goal, but the process, the thinking and the questioning are equally important.  Done indivdually or in teams, the effort would only stimulate and motivate the learner to find an answer and hope that is the best one.  Building on the constructivist theory, where with the help of teamates, the learner would grow it’s learning on evidence and experience, the “theorists emphasize the importance of having students become actively involved in the construction of knowledge.” (CTGV, 1992)  Involving the learner in  his development and reflection has a large impact on his understanding and long term memory.  ” A number of theorists emphasize the importance of helping students engage in generative rather than passive learning activities.”(CTGV, 1992) Also, Bottge et al. state that the cognitive perspective defines “problems” according to howthey function for the persons attempting to solve them.  Meaning, to integrate meaningful problems in the learning they have to mean something or relate to the learner.  Otherwise, it is almost a waist of time.

What suggestions do you have for how the Jasper materials or other digital video might be utilized in your context (include suggestions for activities that do not involve the videos)? What research supports your suggestions?

In my context, I have 20 Grade 6 students largely involved in sports.  I am not convinced that the majority of my students would be interested in the Jasper series for a long period has it doesn’t relate to them that much and it is a bit old.  Shyu (2000) mentioned that with the widespread application of multimedia technology, the ideas of situated learning can be better achieved, because computer technology can be deployed to expand the power and flexibility of learning resources.  In 2014, the concept created by the Cognition Teachnology Group at Vanderbuilt is really interesting and supports well the constructivist approach, but today’s learners need more interaction.  There is other options available today, like C.S.I. Web Adventures or The Adventures of Josie True which provide the learner with a close to life experience to experiment math or science.  I think capturing the interest of our learners is key to involvement and engagement.  Also, Webquests offer potential for math learners, like Mathematics and Sports Webquest, in MathGoodies. For the challenged learners, the interaction and the audio-visual offer more potential than just paper.  Bottge et al. (2002) discovered that previous studies have shown that students with disabilities can solve challenging and authenticmath problems in remedial settings when the tasks are presented in video and applied formats.  Meaning that the anchored intruction brings up different aspects of the learning involving personal experiences that support the learner in his challenging questions related to a known environment.

How might the video and/or the activities be augmented for children with learning issues in math?

Bottge et al. (2002) suggest that full-time general education instruction without in-class special educationsupport does not adequately meet the needs of students with learning disabilities.  Is the anchored instruction the best solution for the students with learning challenges?  Probably not.  They still need direct support to keep them on task and support them with heavier challenges.  It doesn’t mean they dcan’t do it, they need support to achieve the problem or to find information.  To improve these activities for children with learning issues in math, I believe that more manipulative and smaller video sections could help. They need more scaffolding to be able to connect the dots and reach the objective.

Cheers,

References

Bottge, BA, Heinrichs M, Mehta, ZD, Hung, Y. (2002). Weighing the benefits of anchored math               instruction for students with disabilities in general education classes. Journal of Special               Education, 35, 186-200.                                                                                                                       http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/loginurl=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002246690203500401

Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1992b). The Jasper series as an example of                   anchored instruction: Theory, program, description, and assessment data. Educational               Psychologist, 27(3), 291-315.

Shyu, H. Y. C. (2000). Using video‐based anchored instruction to enhance learning: Taiwan’s                 experience. British Journal of Educational Technology, 31(1), 57-69.                                               http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8535.00135

From the website “The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury” I discovered a series of videos available with a fee to support math curriculum through multiple challenges.

“The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury™ consists of 12 videodisc-based adventures that focus on mathematical problem finding and problem solving. In particular, each adventure provides multiple opportunities for problem solving, reasoning, communication and making connections to other areas such as science, social studies, literature and history (NCTM, 1989; 1991). Jasper adventures are designed for students in grades 5 and up. Each videodisc contains a short (approximately 17 minute) video adventure that ends in a complex challenge. The adventures are designed like good detective novels where all the data necessary to solve the adventure (plus additional data that are not relevant to the solution) are embedded in the story. Jasper adventures also contain “embedded teaching” episodes that provide models of particular approaches to solving problems. These episodes can be revisited on a “just-in-time” basis as students need them to solve the Jasper challenges. Each adventure is designed from the perspective of the standards recommended by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).”

These videos and challenges are a great add-on to the math curriculum in a classroom, I believe.  They are challenging and offer life “as we know it” problem.  The students are facing real life situation where they could think of what they would do exactly to help solve the challenges.  I think it was a great concept to represent problem solving, reasoning, communication, etc.  To build this adventure and add all the details and make them visible without knowing it, it was a great representation of PCK.  The creators knew their content and had pedagogical experience to have the learner figure out the solution without giving information freely.  It would be interesting to rebuild something like this today, with actual problems lived by our students. Could it be on a field trip to the mountains, maybe a group of students going on a ski trip through their Phys. Ed. program.  On the way, they might find an injured elk and try to find someone to save him.  This adventure project made me think of any opportunities that I miss to make some connections to real life with my students.  I will be more attentive to these possibilities to offer a better understanding through problem solving situations.

Cheers,

Reference

The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury™

So, PCK or TPCK as I prefer to look at it.  After reading Shulman’s (1987), I appreciated Nancy’s flexibility to open her teaching and modify on the go.  She deeply understands her content and make pedagogical decisions to reach her knowledge goals.  It is brilliant.  Content and Knowledge are to be in balance, as mentioned by Keith in a previous post.

Dr. Koehler (2011), in his post on PCK, mentioned “PCK exists at the intersection of content and pedagogy. Thus it does not refer to a simple consideration of both content and pedagogy, together but in isolation; but rather to an amalgam of content and pedagogy thus enabling transformation of content into pedagogically powerful forms. PCK represents the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular aspects of subject matter are organized, adapted, and represented for instruction. Shulman argued that having knowledge of subject matter and general pedagogical strategies, though necessary, were not sufficient for capturing the knowledge of good teachers. To characterize the complex ways in which teachers think about how particular content should be taught, he argued for “pedagogical content knowledge” as the content knowledge that deals with the teaching process, “

One example for me was in the evidence and invertigation unit.  to make sure my students understood the content that I taught on evidences, we went online on the C.S.I. web adventures.  We challenged ourselves on that game to refine and apply our knowledge.  It has been a great application of real life simulation.  If it wasn’t from the web based game, they wouldn’t have that kind of experimentation, as it’s not possible to have a field trip on a crime scene.

As a last thought, is PCK or TPCK covering every aspects of the learner preparedness to come in class and learn?   What are we missing?

Because this philosophy is great on paper, but does it apply everyday?

Cheers,

References