Masters in Teaching and Learning, DKIT Marian McCarthy, Ionad Bairre, TLC, UCC, Cork

The Project Zero Exercise: The Project Zero Exercise: Think about the following questions: on your own and then with a partner Think about the following questions: on your own and then with a partner What do I understand really well? What do I understand really well? How did I come to that understanding? How did I come to that understanding? How do I know I understand it? How do I know I understand it? Feedback : group response and discussion Feedback : group response and discussion

What do you understand really well? Lack of sleep Industry background (hotels) Sports development Student engagement Work in my own business (flavours) tiling Interaction of disciplines for building services Quality gurus Role of DNA in our cells Golf Map & compass Empathy with students Business plans Time Newtons second law Attachment theory How to write chinese characters singing

What do you understand really well? Building control regulations Fly fishing How to motivate my children Bandaging animals How to get a blood sample from a dog Lipid nutrition How to cook a roast dinner Knitting Baking Hurling Electronics

How did you come to that understanding? By catching fish Training &practice Experience Problem solving Learn first (studying), then understood then apply (doing it) Playing in competitions Other styles of singing Being given out to ! Having to use times/deadlines Trying to explain it to others Performance – doing something under pressure Watching someone else Trial & error

How did you come to that understanding? Having a curiosity for the topic Listening Finding time for the topic Being aware of how you are behaving Discussing with your peers Multiple tasks Being taught by someone with more experience Teaching some one else to help you understand it better Feedback & experience Experimenting Being assessed, looking at something from a different perspective Crisis management Making mistakes Good teacher

How do you know you understand it? Clean plates ! Present situations to students Trained people and give them key lessons Handicap comes down, seen as an expert ! Sales Apply it successfully, don’t get lost ! Ask the critical questions Read the water /river Response from people Asked to produce something for someone else Want to improve it and you can evaluate it Failure Experience from the failure Predict & anticipate Can answer questions

Implications Applying practice and feedback, assessment & reward Takes time, need to put effort into it Not linear Stop & think Constantly ongoing Perseverance Let your guard down Dynamic & diverse ways of learning

Implications for how we know we understand Flexible & read the class Creative Different ways of assessing the class You assume they know it Treat them as experts – let them self assess Challenge them Work placement Presentations in class Get students to teach part of the class

MMc-Reflective Questions : MMc-Reflective Questions : What kind of a process is learning in the above? What kind of a process is learning in the above? What does understanding look like? What does understanding look like? What are the implications of this exercise for how we teach? What are the implications of this exercise for how we teach? What are its implications for how our students learn? What are its implications for how our students learn?

Knowledge, skill and understanding are the stock in trade of education- What conception of these underwrites what happens in schools? Knowledge, skill and understanding are the stock in trade of education- What conception of these underwrites what happens in schools? Knowledge is information on tap Knowledge is information on tap Skills are routine performances on tap Skills are routine performances on tap But understanding calls for more than reproduction or routine But understanding calls for more than reproduction or routine

“Understanding is a matter of being able to do a variety of thought-demanding things with a topic – like explaining, finding evidence and examples, generalising, applying, analogising, and representing the topic in a new way. Understanding is being able to carry out a variety of “performances” that show one’s understanding of a topic and at the same time, advance it”. “Understanding is a matter of being able to do a variety of thought-demanding things with a topic – like explaining, finding evidence and examples, generalising, applying, analogising, and representing the topic in a new way. Understanding is being able to carry out a variety of “performances” that show one’s understanding of a topic and at the same time, advance it”. D. Perkins and T. Blythe, “Putting Understanding Up Front” in Educational Leadership, D. Perkins and T. Blythe, “Putting Understanding Up Front” in Educational Leadership,

Understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows. Understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows. An understanding of a topic is a “flexible performance capability” An understanding of a topic is a “flexible performance capability” learning for understanding is like learning a flexible performance- learning to hold a good conversation, to improvise jazz- rather than rote learning learning for understanding is like learning a flexible performance- learning to hold a good conversation, to improvise jazz- rather than rote learning

Learning facts can be a crucial backdrop to learning for understanding, but learning facts is not learning for understanding Learning facts can be a crucial backdrop to learning for understanding, but learning facts is not learning for understanding This performance view of understanding contrasts with the prominent representational/mental image view of understandings as things possessed, rather than performance capabilities This performance view of understanding contrasts with the prominent representational/mental image view of understandings as things possessed, rather than performance capabilities

In casual speech, phrases like “I see what you mean”, “I see the point”, “I see through you”, “I see the answer” testify to a firm link in folk psychology between perception and understanding. Therefore, understanding- as- seeing requires achieving a mental representation that captures what is to be understood. In casual speech, phrases like “I see what you mean”, “I see the point”, “I see through you”, “I see the answer” testify to a firm link in folk psychology between perception and understanding. Therefore, understanding- as- seeing requires achieving a mental representation that captures what is to be understood.

Understanding lies in possession of the right mental structure or representation. Performances are part of the picture but simply in consequence of having the right representation. A flexible performance capability is a symptom. It does not constitute the understanding but simply signals possession of an appropriate image.. Understanding lies in possession of the right mental structure or representation. Performances are part of the picture but simply in consequence of having the right representation. A flexible performance capability is a symptom. It does not constitute the understanding but simply signals possession of an appropriate image..

Understanding is seen as lying in the performance capability itself, which depending on the case may or may not be supported by representations Understanding is seen as lying in the performance capability itself, which depending on the case may or may not be supported by representations Understanding performances go beyond rote and routine- they challenge Understanding performances go beyond rote and routine- they challenge They do not undermine the importance of basic knowledge and skill-we need these They do not undermine the importance of basic knowledge and skill-we need these

We can have a mental model of something without understanding it We can have a mental model of something without understanding it A mental model is not enough for understanding simply because it does not do anything by itself A mental model is not enough for understanding simply because it does not do anything by itself For performances that show understanding a person must operate on or with a model-must manipulate and interpret it =runnable For performances that show understanding a person must operate on or with a model-must manipulate and interpret it =runnable

No one views acquiring a complex performance as a matter of “getting it” No one views acquiring a complex performance as a matter of “getting it” Performances acquire attention, practice, refinement. Performances acquire attention, practice, refinement. Performances involve multiple aspects that need careful and artful coordination. Performances involve multiple aspects that need careful and artful coordination. Developing understanding = attaining a repertoire of complex performances Developing understanding = attaining a repertoire of complex performances

Attaining understanding is less like acquiring something and more like learning to act flexibly Attaining understanding is less like acquiring something and more like learning to act flexibly in this model, teachers less in the role of informers and testers and more in that of facilitators or coaches. Their challenge is one of choreographing performance experiences that constantly extend understanding in this model, teachers less in the role of informers and testers and more in that of facilitators or coaches. Their challenge is one of choreographing performance experiences that constantly extend understanding

Though teachers acting in the performance model may well give a lecture or grade a test, these are supportive, not central, activities. Though teachers acting in the performance model may well give a lecture or grade a test, these are supportive, not central, activities. The main agenda is arranging, supporting, and sequencing performances of understanding. The main agenda is arranging, supporting, and sequencing performances of understanding.

 Central to the discipline  Exciting to students and teachers  Accessible to students  Multiple connections, think points and entry points  These topics give you the big picture - the key ideas in your field around which lessons can be organised  History: Revolution  English:Stereotypes  Science: Evolution  Business: Money

 Publicly state what teachers want students to understand  State as explicit statements or open ended questions  Explicitly link to UP’s and assessment  Science: “Students will understand why some things sink and others float”  Democracy: “Students will understand the relationship between rights and responsibilities”

 Active engagement by students that develops and demonstrates understanding of one or more goals  varied, complex and often collaborative  sequenced purposefully  These challenge students’ misconceptions, stereotypes, and rigid thinking  DTS: Build a character sketch of X in a key scene, focusing on props, costume design, set design and lighting.

 Clear,public criteria tied to U Goals  Formal and informal assessment tied to each performance  Varied sources: self, peer, teachers  Indicates progress and informs planning  Any discipline: “Students brainstorm a list of questions about a particular topic, before they begin to study it. They review the list regularly and identify which questions they have answered”.

“At first glance the framework seems simple and rather obvious. Five years of collaborative research have demonstrated that this framework is more subtle than it first appears. Teachers who have used the framework to structure extended enquiry about their practice have found that it stimulates them to learn more about their subject matter, their students and their assumptions about learning even as it guides them to make profound changes in the way they plan, conduct, and assess their work with students”. (M. Stone Wiske, Teaching for Understanding; Linking Research with Practice Jossey Bass 1998) “At first glance the framework seems simple and rather obvious. Five years of collaborative research have demonstrated that this framework is more subtle than it first appears. Teachers who have used the framework to structure extended enquiry about their practice have found that it stimulates them to learn more about their subject matter, their students and their assumptions about learning even as it guides them to make profound changes in the way they plan, conduct, and assess their work with students”. (M. Stone Wiske, Teaching for Understanding; Linking Research with Practice Jossey Bass 1998)

Knowledge: ( What ?) What questions do experts ask? What do they need to know about? Methods: (How?) How do experts find out? Purposes (Why?) Why do they do what they do? What is the goal? How do experts use what they know? Forms (How Expressed?) How do experts communicate? What are the tools of the discipline?

PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORK Generative Topics: central, accessible, exciting, making multiple connections Generative Topics: central, accessible, exciting, making multiple connections Understanding Goals: public, interrogative, holistic and specific – the big picture Understanding Goals: public, interrogative, holistic and specific – the big picture Performances of Understanding –what the students do to demonstrate and develop understanding Performances of Understanding –what the students do to demonstrate and develop understanding Ongoing assessment : continuous feedback to students Ongoing assessment : continuous feedback to students DISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK – THE DIMENSIONS OF UNDERSTANDING Knowledge – conceptual frameworks of the discipline Knowledge – conceptual frameworks of the discipline Method – how experts think in the discipline Method – how experts think in the discipline Purpose – why this topic is worth studying – ownership Purpose – why this topic is worth studying – ownership Form – how understanding is represented Form – how understanding is represented “Pedagogical content knowledge” “Pedagogical content knowledge” TfU fuses the two TfU fuses the two SoTL lens- grammar of practice SoTL lens- grammar of practice

TFU AND SOTL EMBEDDING SOTL IN THE CULTURE - TfU as sotl process : TfU as sotl process : It has all the rigour of good curriculum design and its focus on student learning It has all the rigour of good curriculum design and its focus on student learning The focus is on active learning and student performance/doing to demonstrate and develop understanding The focus is on active learning and student performance/doing to demonstrate and develop understanding Methods of assessment provide raw data for faculty re their student learning – and for me Methods of assessment provide raw data for faculty re their student learning – and for me It helps faculty to develop a language of practice – the naming of parts It helps faculty to develop a language of practice – the naming of parts Developing a community of practice Developing a community of practice Building trust and security over time Building trust and security over time Creating opportunities for discussion and reflection at each session Creating opportunities for discussion and reflection at each session Providing food for thought Providing food for thought Aligning assessment with SoTL Aligning assessment with SoTL Providing opportunities for teachers to publish and to gain recognition ( President’s Awards, NAIRTL grants and publications and international conferences ) Providing opportunities for teachers to publish and to gain recognition ( President’s Awards, NAIRTL grants and publications and international conferences )

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