Some videos I found useful

I found a few videos I would like to share. 

First, I find it useful to know the historical background of theory and from whence it derived.  This video is a short information clip that provides an overview of the influences on behaviorist theory.   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4kDmkXwU2k

The most useful video I found described different types of learning theories.  It helped me better understand behaviorism when compared to other theories such as cognitivism and constructivism.  I enjoyed the presentation and music as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcrD9ufag5s

The last video shows examples of operant conditioning performed by Professor Armstrong and his wife.  Humorous short skits end with a quiz question regarding operant conditioning, punishment, and reinforcement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHFt_nDVl-A

15: Will

       In his last talk, James explains the idea of will.  He states in the broader sense that will “designates our entire capacity for impulsive and active life” (p. 83).  In the narrower sense, James claims that will are acts such that “cannot be inattentively performed” (p. 83).  Most of the students I teach, fail to hold their own education with high regard.  They are in school because they have to be.  For the most part, they do not complete assignments outside of class because once they leave the classroom,  that particular part of their life is over.  For me it truly is a battle of wills. I see the potential that I desire them to achieve.  I encourage, reward, and just short of beg them to take charge of their own education.   I am sure I reach some, others slip through the proverbial cracks.  On a daily basis, I try to make the students realize that education and learning reaches far beyond the classroom. 

It does not matter what subject you teach, differences in students’ performance are affected by how much they are willing to learn.  Effective teaching is deliberate.  It involves attention to detail, creativity, and careful planning.  Teachers must choose instructional activities that fit the students’ level of prior knowledge along with their own internal motivation.  Even if every thought is taken into consideration, teachers still may be unable to reach a student simply because the student has no desire to learn or is apathetic to school in general.   James relays a similar thought in his last talk.  He states “So long as the inhibiting sense of impossibility remains in the child’s mind he will continue unable to get beyond the obstacle” (p. 89).

How can we instill the will to learn in our students so that we reach beyond their preconceived notion that school is a hassle or a waste of time?  How can get the student to go beyond that obstacle?

William realizing Turbo does
whatever Turbo wills to do.

14: Apperception

      In his second to last talk, James defined apperception as the “act of taking a thing into the mind” (p. 77).  Additionally, he described the process of apperception to be “a resultant of the association of ideas” (p. 78).   He emphasized the importance of associating new knowledge with old knowledge.  My daughters are competitive swimmers and my husband, Josh, coaches the team for which they swim.  One day they came home from swim practice, and I asked how the girls did that day.  Josh told me that he gave Riette, our youngest who is ten, a set of short sprints to complete. Next, he explained to her the time interval on which the swims were based and told her to “Go fast.” Riette proceeded to sprint the entire set and complete the swim within the allotted time interval with many seconds to spare.  To me, this is an excellent example of apperception.  Riette has swum competitively for four years.  She is only ten. and just learning about the concept of interval training.  By associating  “Go fast’ to the time interval, Riette was able to understand what was expected, upon which she reacted, and then performed better than expected.  

James also discussed the significance of connections among old knowledge and new knowledge.  “Every impression that comes in from without… no sooner enters our consciousness than it is drafted off in some determinate direction or other, making connection with the other materials already there” (p. 77).  I can say from experience, I really ENJOY observing students make the connection.  Anyone that has taught will agree, when a student goes “OHHHHH” or “AHA”, the teacher feels a sense of accomplishment along with the student.  The student is happy, the teacher is happy…one big happy classroom.  Making the connection is a beautiful thing, and one we should all strive to achieve.   It is here where I pondered the different methods that can be used to help make this connection, and I immediately thought of the SMARTBoard™.

       SMARTBoard™ allows the presentation and manipulation of images, text, and video on a large touch-sensitive screen. The SMARTBoard™ connects to a projector which reflects the content it takes from the computer onto the screen.  Special software is installed on the whiteboard and offers a variety of features that can be used for instruction. It is also possible to add new images and animations from the web or other programs to existing ones in the software.   Teachers can use ready-made materials or make their own materials and resources to support content delivery in lessons.  In addition, the teachers can save the work and return to the saved files at any time. 

The IWB software provides a variety of functions on the display in the classroom (Glover, et al., 2007)

·         Drag-and-drop (objects on board can be moved around)

·         Hide-and-reveal (objects placed over others can be removed)

                  ·         Highlighting (transparent color can be placed over writing or other objects)

                  ·         Animation (objects can be rotated, enlarged, and set to move
                      along a specified path)

·         Indefinite storage and quick retrieval of material

                  ·         Feedback (when a particular object is touched, a visual or verbal
                       response is generated)

 Here are some screen captures of SMARTBoard™ presentations I have used.

Can connect old with knew knowledge.

Fun interactives.

Teach students how to think abstractly.

          The SMARTBoard™ grabs the attention of the student, and the features help connect ideas together throughout instruction .   Some teachers may view SMARTBoard™, along with other technology, as a gimmick.   They see the technology as more of a form of entertainment rather than an instructional tool.  However, I feel the SMARTBoard™  is a powerful tool and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching and instruction.  In what other ways can teachers use technology to help students make connections?

Glover, D., Miller, D., Averis, D., & Door, V. (2007). The evolution of an effective pedagogy
for teachers using the interactive whiteboard in mathematics and modern languages:  an empirical analysis from the secondary sector. Learning, Media, and Technology, 32(1), 5-20.

William wants to race Riette. 

13: The Acquistion of Ideas

In James’ thirteenth talk, he explains to teachers that their job “is to fill the mind little by little, as experiences accrete, with a stock of such ideas” (pg 71).  He also discusses the order in which these ideas are acquired talks about the value of verbal material.  In this blog, I will discuss the importance of storytelling as an instructional tool ,and given the new Common Core State Standards recently put into practice, I will attempt to understand why the ‘standards people’ did not heed William James’ advice  regarding the order of idea acquisition.

James states “verbal material is the vehicle by which the mind thinks” and that asserts that words “must constitute a large part, and an always larger part as life advances, of what the human begin has to learn  (p. 73).  This statement reminded me of the power of storytelling in the classroom.  Storytelling is a unique educational resource that can range from the purely traditional telling of stories person to person to the technological storytelling programs that can be found on the internet.  Whether in person or online, a student can be a listener or a storyteller, thus creating an interactive learning event.   In the case of online storytelling, the message can be acquired through different channels such as auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.  Using different sensory experiences increases student understanding of the material.  The act of storytelling increases awareness and allows for associations of personal relevance and thereby can serve as an effective instructional tool.  In my classes I use stories to explain procedures and relate real world applications.  I find that the students enjoy them and pay attention better than if I were to just relay how to work out the problem. 

Now for the rest of my story… 

      Every now and again, new standards are given to us to teach to the students. In mathematics, the decision makers work with the National Council of Mathematics to formulate a curriculum that is ‘new and improved’ and designed to be what every child should know by the time they graduate.  Inevitably, when new standards are implemented the content gets pushed down such that lower grades are learning what the upper grades did previously.  This basically means what was once taught in 11^th grade now would be covered in the 9^th grade, what was once taught in 7^th grade is covered in the 5^th grade, and so on.  

The technology component of CCSS is well written.  The goals and objectives are clearly outlined and make ‘sense’ with regard to the use of technology paired with content.  I agree with the thought-process behind the technology component.  Technology is now a survival skill, and it is important for the curriculum to address it.  

However, this year the new CCSS has pushed the curriculum down further than I have ever experienced in my tenure.   In my opinion, one of the first abstract concepts taught is the nature and relationship between functions and their graphs.  Functions are an introduction to the concepts found in calculus –An even larger abstract.   Based on the new standards, the concept of functions and their graphs are now addressed within the first semester of ninth grade.  Personally, I think the students should be trained to think abstractly first, then cover topics such as function.  Up until now, they have not been asked to think that way.  I think James’ would agree.  “It is not till adolescence is reached that the mind grows able to take in the more abstract aspects of experience…” (p. 73).   Up until this point most of the students have yet to experience thinking in the abstract.  What are some instructional solutions that can be used to help solve this problem?

Where's William?

12. Memory

James acknowledges memory as a result of associations between old and new information.  Retentiveness is a fixed property of an individual given that the prior knowledge of students varies.  This blog will ponder effective instructional design strategies that support student memory and retention of math concepts.  

When designing instruction that incorporates worked examples, there are two important considerations a teacher must bear in mind with regards to memory.  First, there are two types of knowledge that a student must retain.  The student must understand the problem type or schema, and the student must know the calculations and procedures associated with the problem type.  Connecting the two types of knowledge is essential for effective worked examples.  James alluded to this when he said, “The connecting is the thinking; and,  if we attend clearly to the connection, the connected thing will certainly be likely to remain within recall”  (p. 70). 

Secondly, the selection and order of examples presented in the lessons need to be chosen with the problem type and procedural knowledge in mind.  An effective presentation of examples will help improve memory of schema and problem solving processes.  The Einstellung effect is the creation of a mechanized state of mind.  It refers to a person’s predisposition to solve a given problem using a specific procedure even though there may be a better or other way of solving the problem. 

Here is an example of the Einstellung effect in an Algebra class. A teacher gives the following examples: 

1.     2x + 5 = 12

2.    3x + 2 = 9

3.    -2x + 1 = 15

4.    -6x + 6 = 24

In the previous examples, the first step is to use the additive inverse to eliminate the integer on the left side of the equal side.  For each one of those problems, students would perform subtraction as their first step.

Now the teacher gives the final example:  2x – 12 = -16.  In this example, students will perform addition as their first step.  However, they have just completed four problems using subtraction as the first step, and may be inclined to continue because that is what all the previous examples had them do.  The students who chose to use addition did not understand the overall concept of inverse relationships when solving equations and therefore, performed the operation they were trained to do given the previous worked examples.  A teacher may want to consider varying problem type in order to avoid problems such as the Einstellung effect, and use techniques and strategies that focus on the problem type and schema, rather than just the procedural calculations. A teacher could use verbal and visual cues to help students form associations between problem types and procedures, therby reducing the chance of errors such as the Einstellung effect. I often use graphic organizers in my Algebra class for this same purpose.    

James defines memory as the result of the association of ideas, and a teacher can elicit the associations through directed cues.  He states, “…the cue is something contiguously associated with the thing recalled” (p. 59).   While worked examples are math specific, other types of examples are used in different subject areas.  What are some effective cues that a teacher can employ to spawn the association of ideas and improve memory of concepts?

William completing a
graphing calculator exercise.

11: Attention

James addresses the subject of attention in chapter 11.  He contends that interest and attention are two features of one fact.  The connection between old knowledge and new knowledge is what excites interest in the student, thus resulting in attention.  James described ways teachers could incite and keep attention during instruction.  He talks about a lecture on the art of obtaining attention that addresses the types of questions asked during a lesson.   He notes, “There are, therefore, certain external methods, which every teacher knows, of voluntarily arousing the attention from time to time and keeping it upon the subject” (p. 53). I love teaching Advanced Geometry.  The proofs, the pictures, and the logic provide a great platform in which a rigorous line of questioning can develop.  My blog will discuss questioning techniques used to gain and/or keep attention. 

There exist many questioning techniques used to keep student attention.  Addressing individual students, wait time, types of questions asked are all examples of such strategies.  However, developing questioning techniques that demand a high cognitive level from the student takes deliberate and thoughtful planning by the teacher.  Effective questioning techniques orchestrate productive discussions in classrooms.  In addition, questioning so that the student must explain their thinking helps students clarify their own ideas and understand the concept being presented.   What are some strategies or guidelines that a teacher can use to develop and improve his or her questioning skills?

On another note, I was moved by James’ statement: “Above all, the teacher must himself be alive and ready, and must use the contagion of his own example” (p. 53).  To me this describes the importance of selflessness when it comes to being a teacher.  I think we can all agree that our best teachers exhibited some sort of selfless behavior.  It is what a good teacher does. 

~ ‘Proud I am a Teacher’ moment.

William solving triangle puzzles

10: Interest

James addresses the child’s native interests in his tenth talk.  He proposes that : student interest is gained when using objects as opposed to speech or text.  A teacher demonstration of a concept or a ‘hands on’ activity completed by the student is a better way to gain student attention and interest in the subject matter.  James affirms this idea when he states, “If, then, you wish to insure the interest of your pupils, there is only one way to do it; and that is to make certain that they have something in their minds to attend with, when you begin a talk”  (p. 49).  He goes further to emphasize that effective instruction must be of relevant interest to the student.  My blog will discuss interest with relevance in regards to today’s high school student. 

There is a time and place for teacher led or direct instruction.  However, I believe these times are few and far between.  No longer can a teacher walk into the classroom and lecture from start to finish.  Students will lose interest and inevitably become distracted and thus leading to the distraction of others.  Before you know it, the teacher is basically talking to his or herself.  Among others, engaging activities, real world applications, and class discussions are instructional fixes to the blasé of direct instruction.   During the last couple of years, the math department has been encouraging the use of engaging activities during the course of instruction.  This is a result of a district-wide initiative posed to incorporate more activity throughout class time.  Examples of these activities are partner-problems, round-robin problem sets, and color match.  

I would like to point out a design flaw in activities provided to the teacher by the department.  Take for example, the color-match activity.  In this activity, the problems and answers are presented in a table.  There are usually 6-8 problem and answer pairs.  When a student solves a problem, they proceed to locate the answer somewhere in the table and color the problem and answer the same color.  While this activity has instructional benefits such as student self-discovery of calculable errors, it lacks a sense of relevance for the age of the student for whom the activity is directed.  A former student of mine, who at the time was taking a senior level math class, approached me one day after completing a color match.  He said, “Bloom, I get that we are trying to see if we got the right answer, but I am a senior, and I am a boy, and I don’t’ like to color.  What is the point of coloring it?” 

The goal of color match is to break up direct instruction and review or practice a concept in a short amount of time.  What are some other ways activities that would obtain this goal and be relevant to the age and maturity level of a high school student? 

William had morning
duty this week.

9: The Association of Ideas

       In his ninth talk, James begins by explaining  our “thinking and feeling processes are largely subject to the law of habit” (p. 40).  He labels this occurrence as the association of ideas.  James states there are two laws of association , the law of contiguity and the law of similarity, and that we can trace the association of ideas backward, but cannot foretell future associations. 

       James further asserts that the teacher’s job is to build up useful associations.  “The more copious the associative systems, the completer the individual’s adaptations to the world” (p.42).  Cross-curricular teaching involves the application of knowledge to more than one academic discipline simultaneously.  The disciplines may be related through a central them, issue, problem, process, topic, or experience.  The organization structure of the cross-curricular student is a framework with goals that specify what students are expected to learn as a result of the experiences and lessons that are a part of the unit.  Cross curricular teaching is a way to address some of the fragmentation and isolated skill instructions and can be used to associate one subject area with another.  In real life, we do not use each subject skill independently from others. 

       For example, if I have a problem with a water bill, I gather information (science), calculate with numbers(math), and prepare an argument (language arts) to present to the water company.  Real world issues require you to think and work in cross-curricular ways.  If school is really about preparing kids for life, why do we often teach each subject independent of the others?  Wouldn’t better meaning be made through associating multiple subjects within the entire curriculum?

William's trip to the grocery

8: Laws of Habit

In this chapter, James discusses good and bad habits.  He believes the aim of education is to make useful habits automatic.  James also lists 5 maxims relative to habit-forming:  1) Strong initiative,  2)  No exception, 3)  Seize first opportunity to act, 4)  Don’t preach, and  5) Keep the faculty of effort trained.

Before I discuss James’ talk under the educational context, there is a relationship between one James’ five maxims and the sport of swimming that is worth mentioning.  “The second maxim is,  Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life” (p. 35).   Due to the repetitive motion of the arms through the water, the most frequent injury to a competitive swimmer occurs in the shoulder.  Many of these injuries can be avoided by using the proper stroke technique which includes hand entry, body position, and timing.   Developing correct stroke technique is the same as developing a good habit.  During practice, swimmers become fatigued, and good habits seem to fall to the wayside.  A swimmer must make the conscious effort to continue to practice the proper technique.   It is important that swimmers use good stroke technique,  not only to avoid injury, but it will enable the swimmer to swim faster.  The moral of the story is when swimmers become tired, they need to be mindful and not allow their stroke techniques to ‘suffer an execption’. Further, once the correct stroke technique becomes deeply rooted within the swimmer, faster times will be swum. When I read James’ second maxim,  I decided that it could be a good quote on the back of our next team shirt. 

When contemplating habit within the educational realm, my college prep students come to mind.   The students are seniors in high school, and from what I have observed, a majority have extremely poor, if any, study habits at all.  When teaching the college prep students, I often find myself asking, in what way can I help my students develop good study habits?  James answers my question when describing his fourth maxim, don’t preach.  He advocates for teachers to lie “in wait rather for the practical opportunities, be prompt to seize those as they pass…” (p. 36).   I do my best instill good study habits to my students by way of course design and instruction.  I also try to live by example through my own schooling and use that to encourage good habit behavior.  I do not want to engage in a debate on home support, or lack thereof,  and the correlation to good study habits. These seniors are young adults and soon to be on their own. How can teachers instill good study habits so that they transfer to student practice outside of the classroom?

William and I stopped to talk with
our next door neighbor while reading
together on my porch.

7: What Native Reactions Are

In Chapter 7, James accentuates the humanistic side of teaching.  Regardless of what behavior the teacher is trying to impart, it is the human to human contact that makes education what it is.  He describes native reactions some of which are Fear, Love, Ambition, and Pride.  My blog will discuss the native reaction Ownership and how it relates to teaching.

I believe that ownership plays a key role in the success of a student.  James asserts this also stating, “In education, the instinct of ownership is fundamental, and can be appealed to in many ways” (p. 29).  Two thoughts came to mind when I read this sentence.  First, to establish student ownership, a student must be given opportunities to contribute to the classroom, to make decisions, and to be responsible for their own education.  As a result, students have a sense of place within the instructional setting, and therefore perform better in order to take care of what they own.  Second,  there are many ways teachers can appeal to the student with regards to the native reaction of ownership.  In an elementary school, students are given ‘jobs’ to do such as the calendar, the line leader, etc.   Incorporating student choice in a lesson is another way a teacher can develop student ownership.   For example, in my classroom, I design problem sets where the students can choose which problems they want to complete. 

I do not think that our schools employ student choice frequently enough in the area of instruction. However, given too much choice, the students would travel aimlessly around the subject matter.  Where do you find the balance between student choice and direction?  How can a teacher design instruction so that it supports that balance? 

William's favorite movie is
"Willy Wonka"

6: Native Reactions and Acquired Reactions

James introduces this chapter by stating his belief that acquired reactions must be preceded by native ones, and the purpose of teaching is to train the student to control what reaction is emitted.  He illustrates this concept by describing a child who is presented with a new toy.  The child’s initial reaction is to snatch the toy.  It then becomes the responsibility of the adult to teach the child to ask for the toy.  Also in chapter six, James emphasizes that man has more instincts than other mammals.  He feels this is to an educator’s advantage in that it ultimately enables a student to be trained for specific behaviors. 

James maintains, “Every acquired reaction is, as a rule, either a complication grafted on a native reaction or a substitute for a native reaction, which the same object originally tended to provoke” (p. 20).  He goes further to state “The teacher’s art consists in bringing about the substitution or complication, and success in the art presupposes a sympathetic acquaintance with the reactive tendencies natively there” (p. 20).  Teachers often focus on the ideas and concepts that they want their students to know after the delivery of instruction.  The role of prior knowledge influences whether or not the student grasps the concept.  If a student’s prior knowledge is at odds with the presented material, the result of the learning experience may not be what the teacher had intended. 

Consider this situation: 

A teacher has 30 students in her regular Algebra 1 class. The lesson for the day is on solving 2-step equations.  To solve the equation, a student must understand the concept of variables and inverse operations as well as know how to perform calculations with integers.   Each student comes to class with their own comprehension of the knowledge types needed to solve the equation.  Some students are already aware and know how to use inverse operations while others struggle with integer computation.

How does the teacher ensure that all students leave the class knowing how to solve 2-step equations?

William and Hippo both
want Riette's milk.

5: The Necessity of Reactions

In this chapter, William James asserts that every new behavior learned by a student results in an expression or reaction.  He described this as “no impression without correlative expression” (p. 17).  In addition, James also discusses the ineffectiveness of verbal reproduction used as an instructional technique.   He talks about the benefits of manual training and stresses the importance of feedback.  I believe this to be the pre-historic occurrence of ‘formative assessment.’ 

On the whole, I consider James’ pedagogical ideas presented in chapter five, well before his time.   He stated, “When we turn to modern pedagogics, we see how enormously the field of reactive conduct has been extended by the introduction of all those methods of concrete object teaching which are the glory of our contemporary schools (p.17).  This idea correlates with a current strategy used by some teachers called Concrete-Representational-Abstract (CRA) instruction.  CRA is an intervention for mathematics that consists of three stages of instruction.

·         Concrete.  Students study concept through modeling.  Concrete materials include hand-held blocks, chips, figures, etc.  Virtual manipulatives and other forms of technology-based tactile exercises can also be used. 

·         Representational.  Students represent the concepts and problem solving procedures using organizers, diagrams, and drawings. 

·         Abstract.  The concept and procedures are presented using numbers, notation, and mathematical symbols. 

       I use this approach with my Math Strategies students, and I have had great results.  The concrete activity helps the student understand the reason behind the procedures they are completing.  I spent a semester researching ‘worked examples’.  (Extensive research has been done on the effective use and design  of worked examples.  I say this only because,  during that particular semester, I learned the hard way the importance of narrowing your topic).  The brief version, that  is pertinent to my discussion, is that worked examples contain two parts:  The schema (reasoning) and the procedures (calculations).  If students understand the reasoning behind the steps they are doing, they are more likely to transfer this reasoning to a new set of problems.  I believe this to be the goal of mathematic instruction, and highly respect William James’ ideas for that reason.

James fully supported student feedback.  “It would only seem natural to say that, since after acting we normally get some return impression of result” (p.19).  I agree with James and know that students need feedback in order to know what to correct if their answer was wrong.  More importantly, especially the context in which I teach, they need to know when they are right.  This serves as motivation to keep going.  The premise of teaching with concrete materials is for students to learn the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the problem sets.  In other words, the pedagogical goal is for students to develop an understanding of the concept.  Assessing whether a student understands a problem is easy when they are asked to use mathematical symbols. For example, if  x = 5, then they either have a “5” written down or they do not.  I find grading the concrete activities rather challenging.  How do you accurately assess if that goal has been obtained rather than just writing it off as a ‘participation grade’ ?  

William did not attend my daughter Isabell's
first choir performance.  He waited
politely in the car. 

4: Education and Behavior

When I was a young teenager, my dad would run ‘goofy-like’  from the mailbox to our front door with the annual phone books in hand and scream, “THE NEW  PHONE BOOKS ARE HERE!!!! THE NEW PHONE BOOKS ARE HERE!!” He would do this for no other reason to embarrass me and my sister for we lived in the same neighborhood as our school and everybody would see him.  I experience the same feeling upon the arrival of the annual test scores and school reports.  It is as if all the powers that be in the district are running like my dad with scores and reports in tow screaming, “THE NEW TEST SCORES ARE HERE!!! THE NEW TEST SCORES ARE HERE!!”

I wonder if this was the relationship between education and behavior, James envisioned when he presented his fourth essay in “Talks to Teachers?” In this chapter, he defines education as “the organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior”     (p. 15). James also discusses “ the various ideals of education that are prevalent in the different countries, we see that what they all aim at is to organize capacities for conduct” 
(p. 16). 

What conduct is our system of education aiming to organize?  Once upon a time the NCLB law was enacted and schools not making ‘grade’ were announced to the public as ‘failed schools’.  At which point, various sorts of assistance would come in to save the day.  To foster even more improvement, schools began rewarding teachers extrinsically.  The thought behind this reward system was to promote healthy competition and ultimately raise test scores and school performance rates.   An unfortunate by product of extrinsic reward is greed, and naturally this initiative in some cases resulted unethical pedagogical practice. 

If you cannot locate William,
he is probably hanging out
with the computer.

3: The Child as a Behaving Organism

I.               The Child as a Behaving Organism

Given that I teach freshman, I found the title of this chapter quite humorous. Inevitably a student will interrupt instruction to ask to use the restroom, even though it is explicitly stated in my syllabus that to exhibit that particular behavior is unacceptable during instruction.  Freshman behavior is relative and the organism reacts to the conditional of the day (or the moon, as some claim).  I anticipated reading how to use psychological warfare to control those beasts—who apparently have very small bladders.  On the contrary, James further enlightened his audience with philosophical views and the application of psychology to teaching.  Under the premise of William James’ suggestions, this blog will discuss how to improve the design of instruction with the intention of training a student to exhibit certain behaviors.     

In the third chapter, James expands on his view of the stream of consciousness and discusses its functions. He asserts the stream of consciousness has two functions:  it leads to knowledge and action.  He introduces his talk by explaining the contradictory views of the mind – the mind as pure reason and the mind as a practical guide. James’ bases his premise on the latter view – the mind as practical guide where man is primarily a behaving organism.  From this he proposes to the teacher “You should regard your professional task as if it consisted chiefly and essentially in training the pupil to behavior’ (p. 13).  He defines how teachers should understand behavior, “not in the narrow sense of manners, but in the very widest possible sense, as including every possible sort of fit reaction..” (p. 13).

Please consider the following scenario:

A teacher presents a new unit to the students called ‘Functions.’  During this unit, students will be asked to define a function, describe the types of functions, perform calculations using functions, and demonstrate proficiency when using the graphing calculator.

In this case, the listed tasks would be certain behaviors that are to be performed by the student. When designing instructional materials for the unit, the teacher may want to consider how the knowledge needed to accomplish the tasks is represented.  The content to be covered is very abstract and theorectical.  While there are certain procedurals tasks to accomplish, the way functions, their graphs, and their equations relate is a very abstract concept.  And one that is 'impractical' in the eyes of the student.  Therefore, the way the information is presented should correspond with knowledge type.  For example, a graphic organizer can be used to display a procedural task or to show the relationships between objects.   Inaddition, the teacher may want to take into account the mode and media chosen to present the knowledge.    Making the form of representation integral to meaning will enable behavioral change by the student.

Later during the Functions Unit:

                    The teacher has a set of review exercises for the students. In groups, students will    rotate around the room to complete each review exercise.  The groups will visit four stations:  1.  The Smartboard  2. Student laptops 3. Group table practice with calculators 4. Teacher guided individual practice.

In this instance, the teacher is presented with a different set of desired student behaviors.  Students are asked to move around the room in such a way that is conducive to learning.  They also are asked to use various technologies to accomplish the review exercises.  It is here the teacher can apply James’ notion of the depth to which student behavior is controlled by the teacher.  James  alluded to this idea when  he suggested  to consider behavior “in the very widest possible sense, as including every possible sort of fit reaction..” (p. 13).  The teacher may want to consider a training series that addresses classroom movement and technology usage separate from the content material. 

Algebra is full of abstract concepts.  I believe it is what my students despise the most about the subject.  They desire practically and students (especially the ones I teach) have an extremely hard time understanding the theoretical message behind the procedural task.   If learning occurs when a set of behaviors is observed, as James’ claims, how can a teacher address the abstract concepts so that they become real (practical) to the student? 

William likes the pumpkins
that Isabell & Riette drew.

2: The Stream of Consciousness

In my last blog I discussed the necessity for psychology to play a role in teaching.  It is evident the two must work together.  This blog will describe William James’ view on consciousness and discuss its importance when considering the instructional choices made during the design of a course. 

In his second chapter, James describes his landscape of human consciousness by comparing it to a stream.  He describes our mental life as unbroken and continuous series of events that entails constant shifts and changes.   James’ point of view enables designers to produce reliably effective instructional sequences to guide student learning behavior and supports James’ assertion that the most significant function of consciousness is the role it plays in selecting what to pay attention to. 

Though James’ philosophical point of view was more behaviorist than today’s modern constructivist views, I believe his considerations play an important role in the designing of instruction.   For example, the first semester of my College prep math course is designed to train students to improve on their ACT score.  Roughly 98% of my students have not met the state standard benchmark.  (Benchmarks change ever so rapidly; my stream of consciousness cannot keep up...) 

I am faced with the challenge of designing a course that reviews math skills covered from  6^th grade to 11^th grade.  In addition, I also have to address the math literacy level of the students.  The seniors in my class are well below grade level in both math skills and literacy.  As in most educational settings, given time allotted and amount to cover, the instructional design must be precise and direct the student to what is to be learned. 

The shifts and changes that occur are between the ”focal objects and marginal objects.”   James states that  “process by which one dissolves into another is often very gradual and all sorts of inner rearrangements of contents occur” (p. 8).   Instructional designers and content experts use task analysis to determine the focal points of instruction.  However, the shifts and changes between focal and marginal should also be addressed.  Effective instruction must enable focal pieces of information to be learned so that they may become marginal objects. Subsequently, this move from focal to marginal makes room for new information to be learned.  For example, in 4^th grade, multiplication facts are the focal point of instruction. When a student becomes older, it is hoped the student has mastered the multiplication facts and reside peripheral conscience.  Therefore multiplication facts can be used by the student without expending too much cognitive energy.     

The instructional strategy known as “chunking information” comes to mind here.  Chunking information organizes learning tasks in a way that they can easily be “chunked” by the learner and in essence, increases working memory capacity. (Driscoll, 2000)  If we want what is taught to be the ‘focal point’ of the learner, then designers must organize learning tasks in such a way that they are manageable by the student. 

James saw the stream of consciousness as an unending parade of thoughts, feelings, images, ideas, etc.  which appear before our conscious awareness and then pass away.  Recognizing that the lines between the separate objects of consciousness is not discreet, is it plausible to address this instructionally? Further, how can instructional designers insure retention given the fluctuating characteristic of a student’s consciousness?

      Driscoll, M.  (2002). Psychology of learning for instruction. Needham Heights, MA:  
              Allyn & Bacon. 

William and I streamed
consciousness during my
weekly long run.

1: Psychology and the Teaching Art

In the first chapter of James’ “Talks to Teachers”, he offers insight on what teachers may expect from psychology in their professional pursuit.  He discussed the combination of psychology and teaching methodology and what each subject offered to the other.  James’ maintains that teaching methods must agree with psychology, however, pedagogical decisions should not be based solely on psychological science.  To support his assertion, James defines the educational uses of psychology and describes the teacher’s duty toward child-study. 

In Chapter 1, William James underplays the role of psychology in teaching almost to a point where one might start to believe the union of psychological science and teaching is impossible.  However, he uses this viewpoint to emphasize the relationship in an ideal union is created by a set of compromises, limits, and responsibilities where neither of the objects that form the union dictates the other.  Further, the end result, in this case an educated individual, occurs due to a common set of beliefs and ideals shared by both parties of the union.

James goes to great lengths to say, “Psychology is a science, and teaching is an art”(p.3).  Scientists perform experiments by following a set of established procedures. Emotion and sensation are not factors in the scientist’s work. However, artists such as sculptures and painters, rely on these factors to drive their creativity and enable them to produce works of art.  Given the human to human factor in education, it makes sense that the union of psychology and teaching is necessary.  

James uses an example for how teachers should relate to their students.  Metaphorically speaking he asserted that teaching was like war where the student was the “youthful organism who is our enemy” (p. 4). In his comparison he states, “you must simply work your pupil into such a state of interest in what you are going to teach him that every other object of attention is banished from his mind” (p. 4).  When I first read the ‘war’ metaphor, I was taken aback.  I teach teenagers.  If I were to treat them as a literal enemy, we would get nowhere.  Not only do I teach teenagers, I teach the lowest level of math one can take in high school.  My classroom is filled with students who come from broken homes, low socio-economical conditions, and in some cases do not even have parents that graduated from high school.  Instinctually they are combative due to having to fight their way through life for whatever reasons.  In no such way would I be able to banish objects of attention from their minds if I were to treat my position as one of war.  At the very least, I may be able to avoid the flying pencil or desk. 

However, given that his example was a metaphor, I can see James’ point, but I do not necessarily agree.  To get the best out of my students, I have to consider their psyche and present the instruction in such a way that appeases their mindset.   I strive to embrace their objects of attention and relate them to the content so that the information becomes attached to something relative to them.  Given the trials and tribulations these students face on a daily basis, in and out of the school setting, how can teachers afford not to use psychological science?

William helping me cook tacos

 

All About Bloom

     Currently I am in my 14th year teaching and my 6th year at Henry Clay High School.  Since I have been at Henry Clay, I have developed the Algebra/Math Strategies program which is designed to help students who have previously struggled with mathematics and provide the tools that will enable the students to have a successful high school mathematical career.  Most of my efforts in the last six years have been to discover alternative ways to present the Algebra 1 material and provide differentiatied activities for students to show academic growth and content mastery.  Known as the "close-the-gap" guru around the math department I recently was given a similar charge by the administration to develop a course that targets seniors who have not yet met the ACT benchmark.  This has provided new challenges for me, but I think I am getting the hang of it!  Teaching freshman and teaching seniors are two different forms of teaching and I have had to expand my learning curve (as i hope my students have as well).

     Prior to teaching at Henry Clay, I taught high school in Charleston, SC and spent some time teaching middle school in Lexington.  I am originally from Hopkinsville, Ky and attended Transylvania University.  I finished my Masters in Educational Leadership at EKU in 2006  and fell in love with curriculum.  Since then have been working on my doctoral degree in Instructional Systems Design at UK.  My thesis work will involve pedagogical practice using the Smartboard™ interactive whiteboard. 

     Being in the doctoral program has changed how I view teaching and learning.  It is my responsibility to make sure each child leaves my class with the necessary knowledge of the subject matter.   I have also become more cognizant of purposeful instructional methods.  I enjoy teaching and designing lessons that help students understand math.  More importantly,  I love watching the students learn.   

       I am very involved with the sport of swimming.  I swam competitively through high school and earned a swimming scholarship to Transy.  Currently, I am coaching along side my husband, the year-round team on which my children swim.   This holds a special place in my heart as my own father was my coach, and it really means a lot to share similar experiences with my two girls, Isabell & Riette. 

     In my spare time (haha) I like to run, cook, and play the occasional game of Mario Party on the Wii with the family.
     The goal of  my blog is to explore William James' "Talks to Teachers.." from a pedagogical point of view, both as a teacher and a student of Instrucitonal Design.  I also included pictures of William as he traveled along with me during this time.  Hope you enjoy.   

   

     Happy Learning,
     bloom

  Isabell, me, & Riette  (Summer 2011)