Week 3

SMART Learning Objectives

At the end of the tutorial, students will define the two Systems of Knowing.
At the end of the tutorial, students will evaluate scenarios to identify the intelligence levels.
At the end of the tutorial, students will identify a form of Dynamic Testing.

Content Summaries

Chapter 5

In previous chapters, we explored different methods of retrieving knowledge, including how testing can be a critical tool for learning. This chapter covers how that knowledge and memory can be distorted by emotional events. To introduce this, Brown (2014) describes two Systems of Knowing: automatic and controlled. The automatic system controls immediate, unconscious reactions, like an athlete on a soccer field, or a helicopter pilot resolving an emergency. The controlled system is slower and more analytical, with the ability to process information and "train" the automatic system. One example is with athletes practicing moves and positions to the point that the automatic system can unconsciously react during a game.

Although the automatic system is immediate, it is susceptible, and can be affected by Memory Distortions (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014). One form of distortion is Illusion, where the brain trusts emotional responses to situations, instead of the analytical reasoning. One example is with inexperienced pilots trusting their own senses instead of the cockpit instruments (Brown et al., 2014). For example, aircraft pilots have to complete additional training in order to be certified to fly within clouds. The main reason is that it is easy to become spatially disoriented within clouds, if the pilot does not trust the instruments.

Another example of Memory Distortion is labeled as the Curse of Knowledge (Brown et al., 2014). Teachers and instructors often experience this distortion, especially after teaching the same material for years. It is easy for them to forget that the knowledge and techniques that are easy for the instructors, are new and difficult for the students.

Chapter 6

How do people learn best in different environments? The currently held beliefs are that students have different Learning Styles, to which content must be presented in multiple formats in order to take advantage of those styles (Brown et al., 2014). This chapter proposes that students do not have different learning styles, but instead have preferred methods of learning that work best for them. Instead of teaching material in multiple formats, the content taught must instead be presented in a method that best fits that material (Brown et al., 2014). For example, a shop class will not benefit much from simply watching a bookshelf being built, those students must use kinesthetic methods to learn how to build their own bookshelves.

In addition to learning, this chapter presents methods for measuring intelligence. One method is the Sternberg Intelligence model which lists three levels: analytical, creative, and practical (Brown et al., 2014). Analytical intelligence relates to reasoning skills commonly associated with academics, Creative intelligence relates to the ability to apply knowledge to new and different situations, and Practical intelligence relates to the ability to fulfill the basic needs of life (Brown et al., 2014). These levels of intelligence are dependent on culture and demographics, since events may dictate which level takes precedence. Tests need to be able to measure intelligence at these different levels, and not just the analytical level.

As described in previous chapters, testing can be a critical factor for learning. Dynamic Testing takes that ability a step further by revealing to the student what needs to be improved, instead of what has been learned. For example, having a peer proof read a rough draft of a paper, in order to learn which revisions need to be made (Brown et al., 2014).

Jeffrey Karpicke: Student Assessment Part 1 Video

In this video, Jeffrey Karpicke presents the benefits of Retrieval Practice during a student assessment conference. Across all experiments, test results showed that Retrieval Practice exponentially improved performance versus passive study of the material (FFMS, 2013).

Do Learning Styles Really Exist? Video

In this video, McMaster University students Dana Abu-Jazar, Ana Kovacevic, Amber Kayed, Jasleen Khaira, Babak Nouhi, Simranpal Dhanju, Ria Oommen, Hemisha Patel, and Nisha Gajaria explore the existence of Learning Styles. The results from multiple studies revealed that students who received instruction in their learning style did not perform better on tests. Plus no scientific evidence has been provided to prove the existence of learning styles (Medicine, 2014).

Connections to Field and/or Discipline

The Systems of Knowing seem to be more prevalent within sports and kinesthetically oriented classes (band, choir, stage design). These environments require skills to be practiced and trained, in order to be immediately recalled when needed. Classes that are more traditional may find it more difficult to implement. In my keyboarding classes, the students had to work hard to train their automatic system to learn how to type without looking at the keys.

The Praxis assessments strongly encourage the diversification of instruction in order to accommodate the multiple learning styles of the students. This requirement was never questioned in my mind since it was obvious that some students excelled differently than others. With individual learning styles being questioned, how then can accommodation for students be fulfilled?

Suggestions for Implementation

As stated above, many of the more kinesthetically oriented classes already take advantage of the two systems of knowing. Perhaps more traditional classes could use quizzes and retrieval practice techniques as "training" material to help students retrieve the information more easily.

Learning styles are deeply ingrained in education, yet the struggle to accommodate them has aided in improving the diversity of classroom instruction. However, using teaching methods that are best suited for the classes could help alleviate some of that stress for the instructors. Training students to use retrieval practice techniques in all of their classes would accomplish much better results.

Formative Assessment

Congratulations on completing this tutorial!

Use this Speller activity to quiz yourself on what you have learned.

References

Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning [Kindle DX version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com

FFMS. (2013, May 15). Conference "student assessment" part 1. [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CioabgMyFlA

Demystifying Medicine. (2014, November 18). Do learning styles really exist? [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYyVWBJn59g

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