Transcript Guiding Faculty toward Access: Ways to Facilitate Change

Guiding Faculty toward Access:
Ways to Facilitate Change
Beth Harrison, Ph.D.
University of Dayton
[email protected]
You have a piece of paper . . .
We’re going to talk about “conceptual change”…
 What it is
 Why we care
 Intro to the neuroscience of learning
 What we can (and can’t) do to
help conceptual change happen
What? Me change?!
RESISTANCE
Conceptual change = fundamental changes in the
content and organization of existing knowledge
Vosniadou (2013)
Concepts
Conceptions
Difficult!
Concepts
Conceptions
(1) Take a minute or two to write:
What do you currently think about why it is hard for
people to change the way they think about something?
What concepts
conceptions
assumptions
expectations do faculty have that we in DS
want to change?
That’s why we care.
The neuroscience:
Our brains have ~100,000,000,000 neurons.
axon
terminals
dendrites
cell body
axon
The neuroscience:
Neurons in the brain
connect at synapses.
incoming
axon
incoming
axon
incoming
axon
incoming
axon
 electrical impulses
 chemical transmitters
The neuroscience:
Neurons in the brain
connect at synapses,
forming
neural networks.
Learning = changes in the brain.
1. Grow more dendrites: Make more connections
2. Use it or lose it: Pruning
3. Use it: New and/or stronger pathways (better recall)
Interlude
With someone near you,
talk through what you’ve learned about the brain.
(2) Make a few notes: What’s important to you?
Learning depends on memory, on being able to
retrieve knowledge stored in the brain.
Sensory
Memory
is encoded into . . .
Short Term
Memory
is consolidated into . . .
Long Term
Memory
When we remember, we retrieve knowledge from LTM
Knowledge is stored in LTM in schemata.
Schema = an organized grouping of related material
= “concept ecology”
Novice
Expert
Complex, integrated, lots of connections
Knowledge is stored in LTM in schemata.
Concepts are embedded in schemata.
When you learn something new, you . . .
 create a new schema
 modify or combine with existing schema,
create connections with prior knowledge
Interlude
With someone near you,
talk through what you’ve learned about memory.
(3) Make some notes: What’s important to you?
Two techniques that we use all the time:
Retrieval
strengthens neural pathways:
easier to retrieve next time
Interlude
With someone near you, explain what a “neural
network” is and why we care. Try to find a simile
or metaphor to illustrate.
Now switch and the other person explain
“retrieval” and why we care. Try to find a simile
or metaphor to illustrate.
Two techniques that we use all the time:
Retrieval
strengthens neural pathways:
easier to retrieve next time
Elaboration
retrieval +
builds connections to prior knowledge
Durable learning & conceptual change take time!
 Learning is iterative
• Reconsolidate: makes modifiable
 Social + affective + situational + motivational factors
 Draw, write, construct a model
 Reflection
 Identify prior knowledge, assumptions,
unexamined beliefs.
 Intentional reflection
 Make connections
 Attend to nuances in people’s ideas, figure out
how to use them
 Searching for info, generating and testing
hypotheses underlie knowledge restructuring.
 Growth mindset (Dweck, Mindset)
 Bring the facts
 Discovery: problem-based learning, build models,
argumentation (argue opposite side), debate
 Elaboration is an important and powerful tool.
 Engage with others:
• Explain, ask questions, discuss
• Social & affective aspects
 Analogies, metaphors
 Examine differences
 Reflection and self-awareness are also
powerful tools for conceptual change.
 Recognize complexity
 Set goals
How can we bring about conceptual change?
Example 1: Plan for a workshop
1. List, discuss ideas, beliefs people are starting with
2. Examine relevant data, info, alternate conceptions
3. Compare their starting ideas, beliefs with the new
4. Discuss what people now understand or think
How can we bring about conceptual change?
Example 2: Problem-based learning exercise
You are planning your XXX class for the fall, and you are
constructing a Design-Build-Test PBL project to begin
the second week . . .
Your job is to make the PBL exercise accessible to all the
students in your class.
Handout:
Ideal solutions –
• Provide equitable opportunity to learn, participate, and
demonstrate learning
• Are scalable: focus on your design choices for the
class, not on each student’s individual needs
• Are reusable and sustainable
Handout:
Ideal solutions –
• Are “un-remarkable” to the class as a whole, that is,
they honor the anonymity and image of students with
disabilities
• Maintain essential elements
• Maintain academic rigor
Hint: You DO know many good solutions . . .
Follow up activity:
With your team, describe a process or protocol you
could use in the future to ensure that you make more
accessible choices when you design your courses.
What does this exercise do?
 Uses language of the discipline
 Work in teams
 Discovery learning based in own experience
 Future plan
(4) Take a minute or two to write:
Now what do you think about why it is hard for people
to change the way they think about something?
Compare what you’ve written here with what you wrote
at the beginning of the session . . . Set a goal for
yourself . . .
Resources
Ho, A., Watkins, D., & Kelly, M. (2001). The conceptual change
approach to improving teaching and learning: An
evaluation of a Hong Kong staff development programme.
In Higher Education, 42, 143-169.
Nussbaum, E. & Sinatra, G. (2003). Argument and conceptual
engagement. In Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28,
384-395.
Vosniadou, S. (2013). International handbook of research
on conceptual change. New York, NY: Routledge.