Those who are aware of what they know, capable of judging the situations in which they can solve problems, and reacting to fil gaps in their knowledge with their existing knowledge are demonstrating their metacognitive abilities. They know what they know and they know what to do if they don’t know. Greater metacognitive understanding is Read More
As we get closer to the start of another school year (my 34th year working in education), I’m thinking about what I would tell myself if I was starting out. Here is my current list: Students must take an active role in learning. Although physical activity is associated with learning, “active” refers to cognitive activity. Read More
211: On Extended Minds “The extended mind” has focus some of my attention recently. It seems to be one of the basic epistemological assumptions upon which many teaching, learning, and schooling decisions are made. First, the mind. Let’s adopt the materialist view that it exists in the brain. There can be little debate in the Read More
232: Essence and Variation The word “essential” is interesting. It describes that which we cannot do without. Food, water, and oxygen (in the right concentration) is essential to human life. It also describes the fundamental character. When we remove the unimportant or marginal parts of something we are left with its essence; removing anything more Read More
Humans are social creatures. Our brains function differently when we are engaged with others compared to when we are engages alone. We have capacity to solve much more complex problems when working together compared to when we work alone, but we also have greater capacity to deceive ourselves. This summer, I finally read Edwin Hutchin’s Cognition Read More
The multidimensional nature of human learning can be interpreted differently. In the previous section, I reviewed the multidimensional nature of what humans know. Harris and Williams (2016) claim learning is “a multidimensional process [emphasis added] that causes a change of state in the brain (p. 8).” For those authors, multidimensionality refers to the types of experiences that Read More
Merrill (2002) placed real-word problems at the center of effective teaching. The problems, however, must be judged “interesting, relevant, and engaging” (p. 46) to the lead to learners so they have a sense of caring that was labeled “ownership.” Such problems are also selected so that students understand the problems, care the problem be solved, Read More
My definition is grounded in three assumptions about learning. First, learning can be inert. Whithead North, introduced this term in to describe the knowledge that can be expressed by learners, but they have no idea what it means or how it should be interpreted or applied. In my experience as a science and math teacher (and also a student Read More
What exactly does it mean that “students learn?” For many generations, student learning in classrooms has been focused on their ability to remember information. If students could accurately recall what they were taught for a long time after they were taught it, then we assumed they had learned it well. That concept of learning seems inadequate today. In recent decades, scholars have detailed the Read More
There can be little question that characteristics of our brains differentiate humans from other creatures. Increasingly, cognitive scientists recognize our brains are designed for the social interactions that have allowed humans to cooperate, and this cooperation has enabled our species to avoid extinction. Cognitive and developmental psychologist Michael Tomassello (2014) described the importance of social Read More