Strategies Why does a Student choose a Particular

Strategies : Why does a Student choose a Particular Strategy ? Paul Kawachi kawachi@open-ed. net

overview 1 2 3 4 - introduction to strategies the structure of learning theories of learning is in the mind of the student 1 2 3 4 - ways of learning the perceptions of the student all the interactions what we can do to help

1 - introduction to strategies Here ‘strategies’ are the invisible cognitive learning processes Not the physical games or actions, and not the input memory aid activities like repeating a word, drawing, or passively watching a movie

1 - introduction to strategies In this presentation, we will learn that a student chooses a ‘cooperative strategy’ when she perceives any inequality in levels ( cooperation is used to make levels equal ) and a ‘collaborative strategy’ when she perceives equal knowledge levels ( collaboration is used to negotiate meaning )

1 - introduction to strategies In this presentation, we look at : What is learning What is cooperative learning What is collaborative learning and how we can help the student to use the appropriate strategy at the right time

2 - the structure of learning A negative-feedback loop compares an ideal state with the perceived current state The difference induces cognitive feeling called ‘emotion’ , then if an opportunity is seen and if a reasonable chance of success is seen, the student proceeds to engage learning

3 - theories of learning - behaviourism cognitive constructivism social constructivism - radical constructivism - constructionism - social constructionism

behaviourism : Teacher-centred Teacher gives stimulus Student response is assessed Teacher adapts stimulus, and re-tests There are two types ; - intrinsic - extrinsic

cognitivism : Teacher-sequenced inputs, Response process (not product) is assessed Connections between parts – rather than whole Teacher asks students to identify similarities or differences

cognitive constructivism : Students are pre-tested to be put into streams Teacher says the connections to be made between new information input and past prior knowledge Open-ended questions to large classes or multiple-choice to individuals

social constructivism : Pre-task awareness-raising, check there is adequate knowledge or teacher as moderator – so then cooperative Groups discuss concepts, ideas, not facts Parts must be understood only in terms of the whole

radical constructivism : Student-centred Each builds up own unique map of the world Student’s mind changes to fit with experience The outside world imposes constraints but mind acts within these constraints Assess by problem-solving

constructionism : Learning alone independently Knowledge is in the ethereal interactions not constructivist in the world and not cognitivist in the individual mind Learning occurs through interacting with own imaginative projection. S

social constructionism : Student learns through reflecting on own interactions with others not from own experience, and not from other ideas Diversity helps by enriching interactivity Context-based ( not teacher- not student-based )

low … prior knowledge … high -m s i iv t c ru t s n o c m s i v i t i n g o c m --s i r u o i v a eh b --low … task complexity … high

4 - learning is in the mind of the student In constructionism, the mind engages proactively, or sub-consciously ~ ~ with a raised area of knowledge and re-organizes this area ~ making stronger or weaker connections making and breaking connections to develop a personal consistent model

4 - learning is in the mind of the student in constructionism, the mind engages proactively to re-organize and develop a personal consistent model knowledge is in the connections or interactions

5 - ways of learning There are four distinct ways of learning - - these are physical as well as mental Depending on whether the student is alone or in a group and depending on the types of interaction

Learning-Alone Learning-in-a-Group INTERACTIONAL INDEPENDENT INDIVIDUAL Freedom No Freedom over content and method of learning over content or method of learning or pre-negotiated freedom COOPERATIVE COLLABORATIVE CONNECTED LEARNING Group with a ‘ knower ’ There are four distinct ways of learning Group with no ‘ knower ’

interactions are either cooperative or collaborative What is the difference between cooperative and collaborative learning ?

What is the difference between cooperative and collaborative learning ? Cooperative involves recycling old knowledge Collaborative involves creating new knowledge

Cooperative lower-order thinking, eliciting old knowledge, sharing, brainstorming, experiencing, publishing Collaborative higher-order thinking, rationalizing, theorizing, justifying / judging disjunctive thinking, synthesizing new knowledge These are serial in the learning narrative of the Transactional Distance Model with collaborative Structure central

Transactional Distance Model : Kawachi 2003 1 elicit needs, sharing, brainstorming 2 rationalizing, theorizing, justifying 3 consider all possible alternatives, disjunctive thinking 4 test out new way, experiential, publish

decreasing 1 S- D- Cooperative sharing old 2 S+ D- Collaborative creative 3 S+ D+ Collaborative disjunctive 4 S- D+ Cooperative experiential Transactional Distance

Here we use the letters S and D to refer to : S Structure : the educative structure imposed by the teacher, textbook or institution D Dialogue : the educative guiding conversation ( not idle or social chat )

decreasing 1 S- D- Cooperative sharing old 2 S+ D- Collaborative creative 3 S+ D+ Collaborative disjunctive 4 S- D+ Cooperative experiential Transactional Distance

Stage 4 Cooperative Stage 3 Collaborative Stage 1 Cooperative Stage 2 Collaborative

Stage 1 is characterized by cooperative sharing of prior old knowledge and prior experience, eliciting views, brainstorming and divergent thinking to gather various different frames of context

Stage 2 is characterized by collaborative creation and discovery of new theory rationalizing and underlying prior knowledge, developing metaphors, horizontal and lateral thinking

Stage 3 is characterized by collaborative testing out of hypotheses to co-discover some new potential knowledge, problem solving, vertical and disjunctive thinking

Stage 4 is characterized by cooperative presenting new idea in real-life, experiential, personal meaning-making, social-constructivist, dissemination, reflecting, judging, publishing

decreasing 1 S- D- Cooperative sharing old 2 S+ D- Collaborative creative 3 S+ D+ Collaborative disjunctive 4 S- D+ Cooperative experiential Transactional Distance

Now the main points in this Transactional Distance Model : are that initially the student chats, ( not educatively, so here Dand without teaching tasks S- ) to share own background, to reduce anxiety, and to become comfortable and able then to engage S+ reasoning

Now the main points in this Transactional Distance Model : then the student explains to others and must engage S+ reasoning At this Stage 2, social interactions may be fun or desirable but is no longer needed

Now the main points in this Transactional Distance Model : then the teacher engages ( D+ ) and raises alternatives to be explored ( S+ ), and finally the student tries out a new idea in her own context ( S- ) with teaching guidance and assessment ( D+ )

This Transactional Distance Model succeeds through bringing the student from not knowing ( greatest Transactional Distance ) to knowing something ( zero Transactional Distance )

Learning Transaction = requires 4 interactions 1 student’s prior knowledge and need are identified 2 the text or teacher gives an amount of information 3 the student outputs an own construction 4 the teacher or society confirms the meaning Three encounters / passes are needed to ‘learn’

decreasing 1 S- D- Cooperative sharing old 2 S+ D- Collaborative creative 3 S+ D+ Collaborative disjunctive 4 S- D+ Cooperative experiential Transactional Distance

1 less S- Dadded 2 S+ added D- 3 S+ Structure D+ Transactional Distance Dialogue 4 S- D+ Four Categories in Transactional Distance Theory

cooperative learning proceeds through interactions different from the interactions for collaborative learning

cooperative learning : the aim is to make knowledge levels the same through sharing, explaining, translating, repeating, practising ( cooperation starts with eliciting differences )

cooperative learning : A) (Hello) Affirm + Elicitation B) Opinion + Request understanding A) Organization + Reflection back B) Affirm + Appropriation A) Confirm + Re-Elicitation followed by BABA sequences

cooperative interactions in practice

collaborative learning : in the sciences, the aim is to test out hypotheses so to co-create new shared knowledge in the arts, the aim is to find an individual new insight built on critical reflection

collaborative learning : Two different scaffolds or processes Induce collaborative learning 1 - in the sciences, and 2 - in the arts These are given next. . .

collaborative learning in the sciences : A) (Hello) Affirm + Elicitation B) Opinion + Request understanding A) Confirm + Counter-opinion A) Affirm + Elicitation A) Opinion + Request understanding B)Confirm + Counter-opinion. . This is given in the three-leaves pattern next

Counteropinion 6 5 Confirm Opinion 3 Request understanding 2 4 Elicit 1 Affirm collaborative interactions in practice

collaborative learning in the arts : A) (Hello) Affirm + Elicitation B) Opinion / Analysis + Request understanding A) Affirm + Elicitation of Evidence B) Reflect + Elicit other opinions / Analyses A) B) A) Opinion / Analysis + Request understanding Affirm + Elicitation of Evidence Reflect + Elicit other opinions / Analyses

6 - the perceptions of the student K - K knowledge - knowledge interactional partners perceived as equal then rich complex interaction collaboratively

6 - the perceptions of the student K - C knowledge - content interactional partners perceived as unequal then simplistic interaction cooperatively

6 - the perceptions of the student In the mind, there can be many interactional partners eg (a) the idea that a zoo is fun (b) the idea that a zoo is dirty, and (c) the sensory idea that it is cold (c) may strengthen (b), and weaken (a) whether these three ideas are from different people does not matter

7 - all the interactions can be categorized as Student - Tutor Student - Content and Student - Student and Student - Technology and Vicarious Interaction

7 - all the interactions continued can be reduced to the interaction within the student’s mind between knowledge - knowledge Generally some knowledge is better known than other knowledge, but even if equal - fundamentally, there is only one interaction and this is the internal negotiation of meaning

there is only one interaction and this is the internal negotiation of meaning From this, you can see that any external source ( book, person, experience ) can provide input to become the stimulus in the mind for the student then to re-construct personal meaning

the question naturally arises as to which is better – cooperative or collaborative : as you saw in the Transactional Distance Model, cooperative 1 S- Dcollaborative 2 S+ Dcollaborative 3 S+ D+ cooperative 4 S- D+ Stages 2 & 3 of added Structure are collaborative

Both cooperative and collaborative are needed In vocational training, perhaps only Stages 1 and 4 are used to keep the course practical, without theorising, as in learning office or factory skills For creative critical thinking, you should include the central collaborative Stages of added Structure

7 kinds of interaction have been found : Coop 1 re-phrasing, translating 2 to avoid misunderstanding 3 to extend to familiar or new contexts Collab 4 5 6 7 contrasting ideas limiting the applicability to warn of consequences to raise inconsistencies

3 kinds of interaction have been found in Conversation Theory : appropriation elaboration justification these 3 need to be opened up and re-categorized as coop or collab so that they can be put in sequence for learning

5 kinds of cooperation have been suggested : automatic traditional contractual directed spontaneous Nisbet (1968) These also need to be opened up so that they can be deployed in learning

8 - what we can do to help the student to interact in her mind knowledge – knowledge for the student to learn. . . we can help in all the five Domains of Learning

the five Domains of Learning COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE METACOGNITIVE ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT

COGNITIVE DOMAIN OF LEARNING the aptitude, prior knowledge and skills necessary for performing a task or test, notably the reflective critical thinking skills

AFFECTIVE DOMAIN OF LEARNING the motivation, attitude and decision to initiate performance, including the will to reduce own autonomy in order to achieve group tasks

METACOGNITIVE DOMAIN OF LEARNING understanding how the task is performed, and the ability to self-monitor, evaluate and plan own future learning and help others learn

ENVIRONMENT DOMAIN OF LEARNING social or physical forum and virtual or augmented reality in which learning occurs, including group size to suit each learning task

MANAGEMENT DOMAIN OF LEARNING coping with massive amounts of information to obtain appropriate material in a suitable quality for learning, and time management

8 - what we can do to help continued the student to interact in her mind knowledge – knowledge There is a Content Effect Adults are reluctant to self-question Women are reluctant to question others / self

The Content Effect : “ When we reason we do not automatically accept the given premises as true. We use our knowledge about the topic ( content ) to judge the veracity of the premises and to supply additional information that influences which conclusion we will accept as valid. ” Halpern, D. F. ( 1984, p. 359 ) Thought and Knowledge. Hillsdale, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

the Content Effect is closely related to the reluctance of adults to suspend knowledge they have trusted for years, to then explore without prejudice new less-well known ideas Adults more so than young people, because more ideas and trusted over longer time

Men and Women in groups have different Conversation Styles Men may prefer independent collaborative argument Women may prefer connected cooperative sharing

in practice, a student may ask ( for cooperation ) if anyone knows & then if no-one knows go to collaborative and suggest a hypothesis. . .

8 - what we can do to help There are several interventions we can do to help a student to learn Let’s take a quick look again at the second point 2 - the structure of learning. . .

2 - the structure of learning A negative-feedback loop compares an ideal state with the perceived current state The difference induces cognitive feeling called ‘emotion’ , then if an opportunity is seen and if a reasonable chance of success is seen, the student proceeds to engage learning

2 - the structure of learning We can model a desirable ideal state ( show a picture of a successful business and large comfortable house, etc ) We can ask the student about her current state We can present a range of opportunities, and We can show that others have succeeded. . .

2 - the structure of learning we can intervene at every stage to induce the student to learn

2 - the structure of learning A negative-feedback loop compares an ideal state with the perceived current state The difference induces cognitive feeling called ‘emotion’ , then if an opportunity is seen and if a reasonable chance of success is seen, the student proceeds to engage learning

What kind of ‘ideal state’ do we model ? We do a Needs Analysis listening carefully to the student taking into consideration the various levels of need, in order. . .

These needs are in order ( highest = at top ) personal development / self-actualization needs self-esteem, recognition, and status social belonging to a group and love safety, security, shelter physiological needs – food, water, procreation

Let’s simplify these : (a) Personal (b) Feel-good (c) Group (d) Shelter (e) Food Students who have food (e) and live in a company dormitory - not yet (d), will be best motivated if we show that he can get his own secure home (d)

In another case, an MBA student may have (a) food, (b) own home, (c) marriage, and (d) company respect, and will then be best motivated if we show the ideal state how he can (e) personally develop his career - we can initiate motivations towards this, through modelling a high-flying executive or showing inconsistencies in his CV, and so on

summary Learning occurs in the mind Knowledge is in the interactions If perceived to be at equal levels, then deep rich complex collaborative interactions can occur, and if at unequal levels, then surface sharing cooperative interactions Scaffolds can help add Structure to Dialogue Structure is the central essence of collaborative learning transactions

summary Which learning strategy is chosen cooperative or collaborative depends on the student’s perception of the raised knowledge levels, We can help the student choose collaborative through careful interventions to induce the perception of equal levels

further study How a student decides which strategy ( coop / collab ) to use other questions naturally arise How does a teacher decide which strategy or method to use ? How does a researcher decide which research design to use ? These questions will be covered soon. . .

f o r our further discussion : http: //Open. Teacher. blogspot. com QQ 60338304 : Open Teach google group : Open-Teach email : kawachi@open-ed. net

You can download these slides freely from the website http: //www. open-ed. net / library / strategies. ppt or by email to me at kawachi @ open-ed. net