Communicating Ocean Sciences Session 5: Constructing Knowledge, Building Understanding

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Communicating Ocean SciencesSession 5
Constructing Knowledge, Building Understanding
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Session 5 objectives

• Determine what is building understanding and
  constructing knowledge
• Discuss strategies facilitators use to help
  learners build understanding
• Discuss the basic premise of constructivist
  approach to learning and teaching
• Discuss the role of prior knowledge in building
  understanding
• Engage participants in a learning experience and
  a reflection on how your prior knowledge, the use
  of a model, conversations with peers, and
  facilitation by the instructor influenced that
  experience
• Discuss the major research perspectives regarding
  constructing understandings and building on prior
  knowledge

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Quick Write

• Address Roschelles assertion that considering
  prior knowledge forces a shift to thinking of
  learning as conceptual change. How does this
  affect how you plan to implement your classroom
  lessons? Please give a specific example.

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Learning

• Blank slates
• Learner as a tabula rasa, blank slate, or empty
  vessel.
• Learning is filling the learner with information.
• Teaching is transmission of knowledge, i.e.
  teaching as telling.

• Clever minds
• Learner as clever minds, full of preconceived
  ideas private explanations.
• Learning is adding to, connecting to, changing
  learners ideas explanations.
• Teaching is guiding learners through the learning
  process.

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Basic ideas about constructivism

• All learners arrive at any learning situation
  with their own often quite elaborate ideas,
  explanations theories. They are far from
  blank slates.
• Learning is an active process of engaging
  manipulating objects, experiences,
  conversations.
• Learners construct their own understanding of
  the world based on their experiences,
  motivations, cultural and social interactions
  with peers and others.

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Terms for learners thinking

• Misconception
• Preconception
• Alternate conception
• Learners thinking ideas, conceptions, and
  understanding

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Phases of the Moon
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Think-Pair-Share

• Think about the times you looked at the Moon.
• What did it look like?
• Did you see it last night?
• What shape was it?
• The different shapes and look of the moon is
  referred to as the phases of the moon.
• What do you think causes the phases of the Moon?

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Thinking about Thinking

• How was prior knowledge elicited and used in the
  activity?
• What did you do to make sense of what causes the
  phases of the moon?

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Strategies for learning teaching

• Hands on, manipulation of the model
• Listening to talking with peers
• Thinking on your own
• Listening talking with the instructor in the
  whole group
• Overhearing other peers
• Discussing and testing out ideas that agree or
  disagree with your own understanding
• Asking new questions
• Explaining your ideas to peers or instructor
• Accessing and making connections to prior
  knowledge experiences

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Ponder this

• What makes experiences important for learning?
• What makes social interactions important for
  learning?
• What affect did your prior knowledge have on your
  learning experiences?

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A constructivist process for learning

• Complex ideas develop over a long period of time.
• Learners must encounter multiple learning
  experiences that encourage them to
• question their assumptions
• engage in discussion about their ideas
• make connections to and build on their prior
  knowledge
• apply their new understandings in different
  contexts.

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Ideas from research

• Read each finding aloud in your small group
  then together choose two or more of the
  statements discuss the following questions
• What are your experiences, impressions, and/or
  opinion of the ideas?
• Which statements would you like to discuss more
  fully what about each one leads you to want to
  discuss it further?
• How might you facilitate an activity in a
  learning environment (even your own learning) to
  take the research on learning into account?

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Ponder this

• How do you know what prior knowledge your
  learners are bringing with them to the experience?

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Metacognition

• Metacognitive abilities are critical to learning.
  
• Metacognition is thought about thought, and
  refers to a broad range of processes, including
  monitoring, detecting incongruities or anomalies,
  self-correcting, planning and selecting goals,
  even reflecting on the structure of ones
  knowledge thinking.
• Metacognitive abilities enable learners to detect
  inconsistencies in their thinking.

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Tides Interactive Science Presentation
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Lesson Planning and Prep
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Reflection Quick Write

• How can these ideas about learning, prior
  knowledge and metacognition be useful and
  relevant to you?
• When you teach, how might you help your learners
  to make sense of the science?
• What challenges might face you when applying
  these ideas in designing and engaging in learning
  experiences in an informal environment?

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Homework

• Reading
• National Research Council. (2007). Chapter 6
  Understanding how scientific knowledge is
  constructed.
• Michaels, S., Shouse, A.W., Schweingruber, H.A.
  (2008). Chapter 5 Making thinking visible Talk
  and argument.
• Moon phases readings
• http//starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/ques
  tions/question3.html
• http//imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answer
  s/970103b.html
• http//stardate.org/nightsky/moon/