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How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom

For those of you, who wish to join this discussion, the full text is available online at:

http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11102#toc

Here's the synopsis again for those of you new to this discussion thread:

How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom builds on the discoveries detailed in the best-selling How People Learn. Now these findings are presented in a way that teachers can use immediately, to revitalize their work in the classroom for even greater effectiveness.

Organized for utility, the book explores how the principles of learning can be applied in science at three levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Leading educators explain in detail how they developed successful curricula and teaching approaches, presenting strategies that serve as models for curriculum development and classroom instruction. Their recounting of personal teaching experiences lends strength and warmth to this volume.

This book discusses how to build straightforward science experiments into true understanding of scientific principles. It also features illustrated suggestions for classroom activities.

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Permalink Reply by Gregory Louie on September 12, 2009 at 11:01pm: Raw Notes from pages 1-6:

Summary of Principle #1: Understanding and addressing a student's pre-conceptions is necessary to lasting conceptual change that allows students to apply that understanding in the real world.

pg. 5: "If a students pre-conceptions are not addressed directly (momentum), they often memorize content (e.g. formulas in physics) but still use their experience-based pre-conceptions to act in the world."

Summary of Principle #2: Facts are necessary but insufficient to produce understanding. The correct conceptual framework must be built to place the facts withing a more powerful and integrative context. Conceptual frameworks are not obviously experience-based and therefore present a greater challenge for developing true understanding. Facts derive their true meaning when placed in the correct context provided by a well-constructed conceptual framework.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tom Jenkins on September 13, 2009 at 3:03pm: A picture is worth a thousand words.......I love how the authors demonstrate their point about pre-conceptions by using "A Fish is a Fish" illustrations. Its an effective way of proving that we have 30 different view points (each created by their own unique backgrounds) walking into our classrooms every day.

Gregory Louie said:
Raw Notes from pages 1-6:

Summary of Principle #1: Understanding and addressing a student's pre-conceptions is necessary to lasting conceptual change that allows students to apply that understanding in the real world.

pg. 5: "If a students pre-conceptions are not addressed directly (momentum), they often memorize content (e.g. formulas in physics) but still use their experience-based pre-conceptions to act in the world."

Summary of Principle #2: Facts are necessary but insufficient to produce understanding. The correct conceptual framework must be built to place the facts withing a more powerful and integrative context. Conceptual frameworks are not obviously experience-based and therefore present a greater challenge for developing true understanding. Facts derive their true meaning when placed in the correct context provided by a well-constructed conceptual framework.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gregory Louie on September 13, 2009 at 8:35pm: Hi Tom,

Thanks for posting.

I totally agree. The illustrations were wonderful and whimsical, which made them all that more memorable. Knowing that my students have 30 or more different viewpoints, the question a teacher must ask is how can I possible address all of those pre-conceptions.

It goes back to one of the original questions I posted to start the thread ...

How can I make my student's thinking visible?

Another question naturally follows...if I can make my student's thinking visible, how can I address 30 different viewpoints effectively?

I'll have more to say about that later, but for now I'm interested in reading what the authors will eventually present that speaks to this question.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gregory Louie on September 13, 2009 at 8:47pm: Raw Notes from pages 7 -15:

Summary of Principle #3: When faced with a challenging task, students who self-monitor their comprehension are much more successful at learning.

Comments:
1. Fairly obvious point - more interesting is the discussion on how to help students become more proficient at self-monitoring...They suggest that a teacher build in many opportunities for self-assessment, for testing their ideas and creating discussions that draw out a student's thinking process for sensemaking.
2. They state (without any references) that it is better to draw out the thinking process within each subject matter domain. This is probably true for adolescent students as I am aware that there are multiple studies on the difficulty of "transfer."

pg. 13-15 Main Point of Learning Environments: Students must be supported over time to develop expertise in a learning progression that allows students to go from vague understandings to more precise quantitative understanding of phenomena. This requires teachers who understand the conceptual basis of a topic and the enduring connected ideas.; ▶ Reply to This