Skool

This week and last, I have had the entire period to devote to my small ‘constellation’ group of 4 girls and our unique investigation. This work will culminate in presentations at the STARS Science Conference coming up on Dec 2nd.

My group is very energetic. Sometimes this energy is directed at some aspect of the investigation, but often it is not. I feel that my role is not to ensure that students stay on task. Rather, I’d like to get a feel (such an ambiguous concept!) for each student because I think this better enables positive encouragement. Ultimately, I understand that they own their investigation. This is a relief for me as their project is a product of themselves. This makes their work meaningful. This is not to say that I don’t play an important role. In whatever way I’m able, I’m happy to help and guide them.

In many ways, this perspective is a reflection of my dislike for expectations. This is not to say that expectations in and of themselves are bad, but an undesirable side-effect is that they often prevent us from appreciating what we actually experience. A more healthy attitude might be to desire that students engage in real and rigorous science and do everything you’re able to facilitate this. Meanwhile, regardless of whether or not my hopes are realized, focus on the value and beauty of each student and appreciate all contribution, whatever form it takes.

In completing the STARS lessons, I have the opportunity to reflect on my own progression in teaching. There are some aspects of teaching that come easily for myself which I’d rather not focus on here. Instead, I’d like to discuss what I consider challenges that I’ve recently become aware of.


The Art of Asking Questions & Listening

It seems that the ability to ask provocative questions depends heavily on listening skills. I think my struggle with the former is directly related to deficiencies in the latter. This is something I plan on improving. I’m motivated because I don’t like the feeling of being caught up in my own thoughts and explanations, isolated from those around me. In the way that Myers-Briggs suggests that we are diverse in our motivations and perception, I can only connect with my students by listening to them as they won’t necessarily see things the way I do. I assume that stepping outside myself and my own bias in learning will be an ongoing challenge.

This was recently demonstrated during a questioning period where students were developing an experiment to test how temperature affects humans. Many ideas were offered but it took a while to hone in on explicit methods specific to our question. I was constantly trying to mold and focus student ideas to the question at hand. This interaction felt like a dance where my guidance was motivated by student feedback in any given moment. Partly because I have a lot of room for improvement, it was super fun and I look forward to continued practice.


Organizing & Planning

This skill does not come naturally for me. I have to put forth a concerted effort to keep my schedule and materials in order. Along these same lines, I perform best under pressure (good standardized test taker!). Thus, without external motivation, I tend to procrastinate versus plan. However, to effectively teach a lesson, one must have a detailed plan that includes activities, timing, materials, etc. Accordingly, I must commit myself to put forth the time and energy required to develop a solid lesson plan before entering the classroom.

Poor planning was exemplified during the 3rd lesson in our STARS series where students were asked to pick a graph to represent their data sets. In the process, we had a discussion about different types of graphs and when each is useful. I found that I wasn’t prepared for this discussion as I didn’t know how to clearly explain this myself. The second time around, I prepared through web research and printed out some examples. Not surprisingly, this made the same discussion more productive.


Documenting, Rules, & Safety

As was discussed during our class on lab safety, documenting incidents and taking precautions to ensure a physically safe environment are important, not only to keep the students and oneself from getting hurt, but to protect oneself from and legal issues that may arise. I tend not to worry very much (enough?). I am also really excited about experiential learning because of its positive effect on my own life. Naturally, I have the desire to “teach” students in this way regardless of potential conflict with rules (whether related to safety or otherwise). It would be wise for me to temper my appreciation of experience with social and institutional concerns. I understand that integrating the two will result in a more balanced pedagogy benefiting myself and students. This doesn’t negate the fact that it will take awareness and effort on my part to achieve this balance.


Of course, this is just a partial list of aspirations which will surely ebb and flow with experience. I appreciate STARS for helping me progress.

The Tibetan plateau is the highest and biggest land feature on Earth. As a research scientist, I am trying to understand the history of its growth by looking at rocks in and around the adjacent Pamir Plateau. For those who are interested, I posted some photos from a recent trip to the area here:

http://dijon.soulrebels.com/viewer

I miss the desert!

The Pipeline is Leaking Women Along the Way
- by Joe Alper (Science 2003)

This short article describes ways in which women are being disenfranchised from pursuing physical and inorganic sciences in college and beyond. Though research by Benbow and Lubinski suggest that dominance of men in science programs is a result of genetic differences, others (like Sue Rosser at the University of South Carolina) are highly critical of their research methods maintaining that both women and men have equal potential in science success. It’s this perspective that would advocate changing the way in which science is presented in classrooms to better accomodate both genders. Research by Astin and Sax of UCLA lead the author to state,

“…a loss of self-confidence - rather than any difference in abilities - may be what produces the first leak in the female science pipeline.”

It’s been suggested that requiring women to take more science courses in intermediate and high school will have a positive effect on confidence levels. This would not only make the subject more familiar, but it would result in a larger number of women making up the science classroom population which would decrease male intimidation.

Lastly, science education curriculum should be modified to better accomodate female learning styles. Leona Truchan of Alverno College experiences a relatively high rate of retention for female science majors by offering science classes that are more hands-on and cooperative in nature. Similar tactics have proven successful at Wellesley.

Regardless of your feelings about why women are underrepresented in the sciences, most agree that gender diversity in any discipline is a healthy thing. Here, Mr. Alper provides models educators can use to work toward this goal.



Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch
- by Dwight McBride (2005)

In this essay, Mr. McBride argues that Abercrombie & Fitch is a brand based on ideals of “whiteness”. Their marketing effort has resulted in objectionable practices including the production of demeaning clothing (to both minorities and women) and a class action lawsuit alleging discrimination in hiring practices.

McBride focuses largely on Abercrombie’s social engineering of store employees to embody their brand. This is done partly through use of a small book given to all new employees which explicitely describes the A&F Look. Among other things, he raises issue with the words “natural”, “American”, and “classic” which are used heavily throughout the book to describe the predominately white, upper-middle class demographic their brand describes.

Though this reading was not focused on science education, it does relate to the social context in which we teach. Students, whether consciously or not, express their affiliation to ideas partly through their choice of clothes. If the classroom environment is dominated by one cultural style or affiliation, minorities (of any ethnicity) may feel less inclined to participate. Being aware of this dynamic is the first step to making everyone feel safe and equal.

*On a side note, the website aesthetic reminds me of Brokeback Mountain. Does anyone else feel this connection?!

In reading the Op-Ed piece by Bob Herbert entitled, “Why Aren’t We Shocked?“, I am left without a clear answer. However, one way to understand why may be to consider motivation(s). To simplify, let’s focus on the Abercrombie T-shirt that states,

I’m not as learned on the subject as I’d like to be, but I assume there are forces, both internal and external, that motivate a company to design and sell this T-shirt, as well as motivations in consumers to buy and wear them. Otherwise, assuming ours is a true, capitalistic system, the shirts would not be produced.

In ascertaining causation (answering why), one might analyze how entities affect each other. For example, does the media determine our desires and actions? If so, to what degree? Conversely, do we affect the media? One could ask the same questions of society, history, family, school, nature, and/or numerous other environmental factor(s).

“The company’s [Abercrombie & Fitch’s] success depends on the teenager’s basic psychological yearning to belong. And that means more than just selling the right kinds of clothes.” - Lauren Goldstein, The Alpha Teenager

This investigation reminds me of Global Climate Models (GCMs) which contain so many interdependent dynamic and unknown variables that their ability to predict and accurately characterize is seriously compromised. In this sense, this issue might be too complex to boil down into a neat and simple answer (intuitive thinking - NT!).

So, what to do?

The Op-Ed author (Bob Herbert) does not provide an answer to his own question (Why aren’t we shocked?). He seems truly stumped. Though, it is obvious from the tone that he feels strongly we should recognize the pervasiveness of sexism and objectification of women in our society and take action to curtail it. Though I don’t know how Mr. Herbert comes to this conclusion, I agree with him on this point. I believe that respect and love for another (whether spouse or stranger) should be mindful of their own sense of self. Focusing on someone’s parts for self-indugence is not related to connection (at least with that individual). This is not disrespectful in and of itself. However, I believe it can be unhealthy if the focus of one’s attention is not understood or respected.

This brings up two points:

1. Direct interaction with diverse people (gender, race, economics, etc.) enables one to develop concepts (understanding) based on real experience versus social prejudice.
2. Our innate desire to belong and feel safe must be tempered with [unconditional!] respect for humanity.

The first item can be embraced through public policy by encouraging diversity in schools and the workplace. Supporting programs that expose diverse, underrepresented groups in the public sphere would also be appropriate. The second item seems much more elusive and difficult to institute. There is so much impetus to act irrationally and disrespectfully toward others who threaten us (no matter the reason), that this behavior has become engrained into our households, governments, and cultures. To this end, it is little surprise that racism and all other -isms have been with us throughout history.

“In our society, straight white males of my generation - even earnestly egalitarian straight white males - cannot easily stop themselves from feeling guilty relief that they were not born women, or gay, or black… This is in part because of a calculation of the obvious socioeconomic disadvantage of being so born…” - Richard Rorty, Feminism and Pragmatism

Accordingly, much of what perpetuates inequality is rationalized to the point of ignorance/unconsciousness. I imagine that both the ‘powerful‘ and ‘powerless‘ often choose to overlook these issues. So, why aren’t we shocked? Partly because inequality is something that we’re used to. Also, fighting an issue that’s deeply entrenched in Western culture (others too) and seemingly perpetuated by human nature is both tiring and time consuming. Ugh. ;)

Julie & I taught the 3rd of our lessons to the science STARS yesterday. Interestingly, I think I can best describe it as ‘comfortable’. I assume this is related to my getting to know both Julie and the students better. In this way, I not only knew what to expect (to some degree), but some personal connections had been made which makes communication fluid. I am happy with our dynamic as teachers. I think that we do well to compliment each other which makes me thankful we’re paired up.

In this case, success can partly be attributed to the diversity of myself and Julie as a team. Each student (and people in general) resonate with personalities in different ways. As a high school student, I remember connecting deeply with certain teachers and mentors. However, there were others who I had little desire to spend time with. Because I was forced to interact with the latter on occasion, I was able to practice making the best of a difficult situation (obviously an invaluable skill… which I still lack!). I also observed that other students got along well with the teachers I disliked.

It’s this observation that makes me wonder whether one teaching paradigm (as Micheal described in creating a common assessment for all teachers to use) is valuable for all students. I am inclined to believe that some students will excel in a more traditional teaching environment (including lecture, tests, etc.). Though the majority may not do well in this environment, I believe that diverse students need diverse teachers to not only cater to all learning styles and personalities, but to prepare students well for the wide array of people they will inevitably deal with post-graduation. This is not to say that standards and consistency should be thrown out altogether. However, it seems important to respect and encourage personalities to manifest their own unique style (whether traditional or contemporary).

In this regard, I am also reminded of an experience I had guiding ‘at risk’ teens on wilderness hikes in central Oregon. As one might expect, adverse situations arose daily and it was my job to deal with these as best I knew how. I found my own style to be fairly mellow and communicative while some other counselors dealt with issues in a more authoritarian way. Students seemed to resonate with each of us differently. But, I believe both methods were effective and necessary.

Regardless of the teacher, there is always something for students to learn from a challenging or adverse classroom. In high school, I often experienced poignant conceptual change (oftentimes socio-political) completely outside the teacher’s radar. In grapling with a difficult teacher or classroom, I would mull it over and record my own ideas about the situation in writing assignments for other classes. I now deeply appreciate the adversity that catalyzed such personal growth.

Our readings bring up a debate mentioned previously concerning universalism vs. multi-culturalism in science. The universalist view contends that science is reflective of reality which is consistent regardless of one’s cultural lens. As such, there is one correct science that should be taught in classrooms to aid both students’ conceptual understanding of the world around them and to enable students’ success in Western society. The multi-cultural view seems akin to the social constructivist notion that science is a product of social context to the extent that scientific knowledge itself is not objective (Knorr-Cetina, 1981; Latour, 1987).

Personally, I would be surprised if one theory is true and the other false. Alternatively, I would suggest that each has merit and that Truth (if there is such a thing) is a nuance of both. Because diverse people have potential to communicate and reproduce scientific observations, there is some aspect of universalism inherent in science. This may have something to do with similarities in all humans’ sensual response to stimuli. However, the interpretation of a physiological response seems to vary considerably depending on unique individuals and cultures. Thus, a multi-culturalistic approach can be constructive (!) in that it enhances perspective on observed phenomena, discouraging bias within the substantive content of science.

Here is a shot of Native Americans from Omaha attending colonial school in Pennsylvania circa 1880. While at the Rochester Museum Science Center, I saw an exhibit on Native Americans and different ways in which they coped with colonization of their land. Some advocated violent opposition to all things Western. Others advocated integrating the ‘good’ aspects of Western culture and rejecting the ‘bad’. Still, a handful thought assimilation was key to survival. It is this last group that would promote a more practical approach to learning science, enabling future success (survival). Whether you believe science is culturally biased or not, empowerment will only come after becoming proficient in the discipline as it currently exists. For good or bad (unless you’re a true revolutionary), I believe you must speak the establishment’s language in order to become an effective force of change.

BACKGROUND
Today, I led a discussion on stable isotopes as analyzed in carbonate rox for four students (normally eight). Everyone had read two journal articles on the topic. The class is composed of graduate students and one undergraduate. Normally, the undergraduate student does not contribute at all while the others dominate the discussion. This typically lasts about 1-2 hours (there is no time-limit).

THE PLAN
Because I knew it would not be a problem to get people talking and debating, I focused on trying to equalize contribution. I sent an email out asking people to pick a phrase or data set from a figure/table that piqued them in some way. I advised that they should be prepared to explain why they found it interesting. Coffee and pastries would be served to induce sugar highs.

THE RESULT
Everyone did contribute, but not equally. However, even with 4 people, the dialogue was lively with people spontaneously approaching the blackboard to make points. The discussion lasted 2 hours. Considering the meager turnout, I was happy with the results.

Today, I had the opportunity to deliver a 75 minute lecture in sedimentology & stratigraphy to a group of 8 undergraduates. Unfortunately, I was given short notice of the assignment (24 hours) so had little time to review the material (as defined by the syllabus) and plan a lesson.

Regardless, my previous experience sitting in on this class leaves me with a couple impressions:

1. Students generally are disinterested in the material as presented
2. The vast majority of student motivation comes from grades. In fact, if grades did not exist, students would not come to class
3. 98% of teaching is traditional lecture (students take notes as teacher talks and writes on blackboard/overhead)
4. When asked questions by the teacher, students generally do not respond (whether the answer is known or not)

Now that I’ve outlined some of the challenges I face in engaging the students toward conceptual change, following is a list of what I would call positive potentiality:

1. The class is small which affords opportunity for intimate discussion
2. Students are bright and most seem to have high self-esteem in this respect
3. The subject matter holds real world relevance/interest and can be explored outside the classroom (especially outdoors!)
4. The teacher (in this case myself) is excited by the material

In preparing, I put together an outline of the lesson which did include some traditional-style lecturing and writing on the blackboard. In going over the teacher’s notes, I rewrote them and included color coding to cue transitions and different activities or media. As much as I could, I tried to include opportunities for students to contribute ideas (like concept mapping) for concepts as they were being taught. I also formulated an exercise for them which integrated their field work from the previous day with a new concept and required them to contribute and critique each other. As this plan was being devised, I was also reading the text to make sure I understood the lesson myself.

Just before class, I switched the room location to a more intimate and ‘warm’ space to encourage participation (and comfort!). I found that students were generally engaged and willing to contribute throughout. However, when I asked one student a question, he responded with,

“What? Oh, sorry, I was daydreaming.”

Whoops! If I looked in his notebook, I may have found something like this:

Obviously, I didn’t succeed in engaging everyone. Also, my own knowledge of select topics wasn’t complete and this came out when trying to explain them. I tried to keep my overview of these items brief, but it was still uncomfortable for me and I assume students could tell. Lastly, I wish I had spent more time bringing together multi-media resources relevant to students’ past experience and the lesson (ex: photos in nature of the structures I was describing).

It’s impossible to inspire everyone as people are diverse and issues extend far beyond the classroom. However, I do feel that it should be possible to sculpt an environment over time where interest and excitement pervade. This is my goal.

I wish I would have tried putting together an epistemology of how people learn before doing the readings for this week. I was effectively provided a conceptual framework (Pintrich et al, 1993) of learning including both historical (cold conceptual change) and contemporary (individual motivation and social environment) ideas on the subject.

I have little classroom experience. At present, my own learning style could be characterized by ‘assimilation’ (Posner et al, 1982). The material is more abstract for me than it is mechanical. In the classroom, I want to reflect deeply on decisions, which takes time. This reminds me of the difference between computer software and hardware. Software is slow and cumbersome, but is easily modified. In this sense it can quickly adapt and grow. Hardware is very difficult to change but extremely efficient in its completion of a task. By manifesting my conceptual understanding of effective teaching practices kinesthetically, I will, in essence, translate cerebral understanding to my muscles and physical senses (software to hardware?). This goal almost has a Daoist flavor. Back to epistemology…

When considering how we learn, I am tempted to simplify the issue conceptually (of course, within the context of my own Weltanschauung). In a fashion amenable to scientists, we can strip away many variables by considering infants. I would argue that an infant’s ego is not yet as complicated/developed as an adult’s. So, how does an infant gain knowledge? It seems to me there are two main components:

1. Instinctual
2. Experiential

(…in that order)

The instinctual aspect refers to knowledge that is hardwired into our beings. No one needs to teach a newborn how to breath or nurse. Instinct is also applicable to social behavior such as the desire to protect oneself from harm (often expressed in fear of the unknown). These behaviors are exemplified by the vast majority of living organisms to ensure survival. Though we are taught how to subsist throughout life, people posses a handful of fundamental survival skills, regardless of environment.

The experiential aspect is knowledge gained by an individual’s interaction with one’s environment and/or oneself. This would coincide with Pintrich et al’s (1993) definition of learning as,

“…the interaction that takes place between an individual’s experiences and his or her current conceptions and ideas.”

So, how does one learn? At its simplest, I would say learning inevitably occurs as part of the human experience, deeply affected and molded by our physio-psychological precondition (instinct). Whether or not the latter is truly hard-wired is a debate about nature vs. nurture which I won’t get into here.

As teachers, we have control (debatable) over the classroom. As such, it’s appropriate to explore the ‘human experience’ within the context of our instinctive tendancies, as individuals and parts of a social culture. As the literature consistently suggests, understanding how we learn empowers us as teachers to create effective learning environments. To this end, I have delineated 3 concepts that are deeply ingrained in both realms.

1. Social - Motivated largely by instinct, humans (with possible rare exception) are affected by other humans. Specifically, we want to experience ‘connection’ with others. This, in turn helps develop our own self-image among other things. Most of us care what others think (including peers, authority, and even subordinates). In addition, our development is influenced greatly by social context (culture, family, cliques, etc.). The social landscape in which we learn is relevant and should be understood, manifest, and even inspired by teachers (me!).
2. Motivation - Motivation, like social, can express itself in multivariate ways. It will inevitably be a product of both our instinct and experience as humans. Regardless, the reasons (or lack thereof) a student has for learning will inform the nature and depth of conceptual understanding.
3. Language - As I alluded to in an earlier post, an innate aspect of human beingness is to define, categorize, and in this way ‘make sense’ of the world around us. The method by which we encode information as recorded by our senses depends largely on the language and culture (see social) we grow up in. It is difficult to delineate the impact language has on understanding as no one can easily step outside their own cultural bias to objectively observe the effects. However, one can observe major differences between peoples to conclude language is a powerful, often unconscious player in conceptual learning and teaching alike.

As Pintrich et al (1993) point out, none of these concepts in learning are considered in a traditional, ‘cold’ conceptual change model. However, to effectively teach, we must try to understand reality which, I believe, requires a more holistic approach. Thus, even though I have just written (and established) my own conceptual framework on the epistemology of learning, as I accommodate (!) more information and understanding on the topic, I expect this too will evolve.