Transcript HOW PEOPLE LEARN

HOW PEOPLE LEARN
”knowing” has shifted from being able to remember and repeat
information to being able to find and use it.
(Nobel laureate Herbert Simon)
How Learning Has Changed
The goal of education is better conceived as helping students develop the
intellectual tools and learning strategies as the magnitude of
knowledge increases
Change of sheer memorization of ideas to fundamental understanding
Attempts to change the ways to introduce students to the traditional
subjects (science, math, literature and history) as to increase the
understanding of these subjects
Development of the science of
learning
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Learn by trial and error (cat in the box exercise)
Learning with understanding, instead of emphasizing memory
Connection of seemingly disconnected facts to organize around
important concepts
Change from ‘teach by telling’ to ‘ teach by inquiry’
Understanding about pre-existing knowledge
– Build on student’s existing ideas
– Understanding incompleteness and erroneousness of those ideas
– Limit assumptions on what is already known
Active Learning
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Help students take control of their own learning
Understanding leads to knowing when to look for more information
Comparison on teaching methods:
– Supervising and overseeing of production of work (emphasis on process
and product)
– Carrying out of activities (emphasis on activity, checking on process)
– Learning process turned over to students (emphasis on continuous learning)
Emphasize the need to become active learners who understand
their subject matter and can transfer it to new problems
They’re not dumb, they’re different
Why are students not going in to science?
Why is there such a high rate of science illiteracy?
Why do so many students start college with a science major, but transfer
out?
Who goes into science?
Definition of the ‘first tier’
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More than 80% of working scientists decided on a career in science
before entering high school - once a scientist, always a scientist
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Intrinsic interest in the subject matter, more important that teachers
and prestige
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With a reduction in American students, foreign born students are filling
the role
Who doesn’t go into science?
Definition of the ‘second tier’
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Of the 750,000 potential science and engineering professionals (high
school sophomores who claimed to be interested in science), only
9,700 have gone on to complete a Ph.D. (0.24%)
Why the decrease in interest?
– The fall off in interest is inevitable, so increase the number coming in and
not worry about the leaks
– It is assumed that those who can do science will do science so increase
precollege preparedness
– Not all students who don’t do science can’t do science they just choose not
to - they have different kinds of minds
The experiment
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Non-science, high achiever post-graduates were asked to ‘seriously’
audit a science class and keep a log.
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Intimidated by the subject matter and other students
Intimidated by the class size
Demands science makes on student’s time
Teaching a class as a part of an apprenticeship, not for just interest or
pleasure
– Lack of post-graduate use for science
– An existence of an ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude
– Attraction of ideas and aesthetic pleasures