PSYC 3800 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: The American Soldier, Knowledge Mobilization
22 Aug 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
CHAPTER 1
Learning and Teaching Today
What are classrooms like today?
culturally diverse
by 2031, it’s indicated that the foreign-born population will increase from 20% to up to 28%
more than half of the population in TO and Vancouver is visible minorities
religiously diverse
half with a religious identity other than Christian are Muslim
religions other than Christianity has doubled from 2006
socio-economically diverse
abilities and disabilities
familial diversity
single parents, nuclear, two moms/dads, grandparents, adoptions, etc.
Confidence in every context
teacher’s sense of efficacy = a teacher’s belief that they can reach even difficult students to help them learn
one of the few personal characteristics of teachers that predict student achievement
Do teachers make a difference?
teacher-student relationships
the quality of the kindergarten relationship with the teacher (level of conflict, dependency, and affection) predicted many
academic and behavioural outcomes through grade 8
first teachers are incredibly important
teacher preparation and quality
fully-qualified are the strongest predictors of student achievement in reading and mathematics
What is Good Teaching?
Commitment, knowledge, and creativity
Commitment to their students
adapting instruction and assessment to students needs
making things understandable
using new technologies
taking care of academic AND emotional needs
reflective = constantly thinking back over situations to analyze what they did and why, and consider how they might improve
learning for their students
Knowledgeable
basic research-based routines for managing classes
know patterns for ages, culture, social cass, geography, and gender
Inventive
flexibility from routine for different situations
know their own students
Differentiated instruction
students differ in their knowledge of the subjects being taught
language, SES< culture, race, ethnicity
they also bring different strengths and abilities
differentiated instruction = taking into account students’ abilities, prior knowledge, and challenges so that instruction matches not
only the subject being taught, but also student needs
elements of differentiation (aka the ‘cogs of differentiation’)
crete curriculum and instruction for each student
allowing kids to decide e.g. what mammal they want to study allows them to address their diverse interests
Concerns of beginning teachers
personal concerns
e.g. how to maintain discipline, how to motivate, how to accommodate differences, evaluate, deal with parents, and get along
with coworkers
student teaching does not completely prepare teachers for staring off
remember: it’s less about how you’re doing, and more about how the children are doing
The Role of Educational Psychology
Linking educational psychology and teaching
educational psychology = the discipline concerned with teaching and learning processes; it applies the methods and theories of
psychology and has its own as well
has been around since the 1890s, when the field of psychology was officially created
the first educational psychology textbook was made in 1903 by Thorndike
educational psychology today
distinct discipline
own theories, research methods, problems, and techniques
educational psychologists examine what happens when someone something teaches something to someone else in some
setting
Research* (if you are not me, you’ll want to read this section, as I have a background in statistics)
is it just common sense?
bottom line — psychology is not common sense
types of research
descriptive studies (ethnography, participant observation, case study)
correlational studies (correlation, causation, positive/negative correlation)
experimental studies (experimentation, participants/subjects, random, quasi-experimental, statistically significant)
single-subject experimental studies
microgenetic studies (change as it’s happening)
1. observe the entire period of change
2. make many observations
3. observe moment-by-moment, or trial-by-trial
time (longitudinal studies, cross-sectional studies)
teachers as researchers
research can be done by teachers in simpler terms (without statistical analyses)
if enough studies are completed in a certain area, and findings repeatedly point to the same conclusions, we arrive at a principle
principle = established relationship between 2+ factors (e.g. teaching strategy and student achievement)
other research terminology
theory, hypothesis, empirical
COOPER, LEVIN, & CAMPBELL - Evidence in Education Policy and Practice
The growing interest in research and evidence
knowledge mobilization (KM) = growth of interest and activity in the incorporating research evidence into policy and practice
there is an increase in all areas to incorporate research and evidence into legislation and public policy
esp. in the health care circles
why is there more interest?
growth in well-educated and well-informed public
explosion of available data
growth of research
emphasis on productivity
emphasis on accountability in the government
but there is the issue of whether evidence will replace professional judgment and experience
what do we include as formal evidence?
we can find research to back any number of positions (e.g. last semester’s debate on leadership)
knowledge development involves both believing that current knowledge is a sound basis for action, but simultaneously being
skeptical about it and always looking for new evidence that might either confirm or deny one’s beliefs
we need to act on the best available grounds, which includes research
Growing efforts to share and use research
international developments reflect increased interest (heavily related to KM)
KM worldwide has exploded in the last 15 years
new journals, new degree programs, new conferences, new literature
powerful played by third parties
most people get their info from mediating processes (lobby groups, mass media, etc.)
national and international initiatives
UK — more funding and resource allocations, many prominent international scholars
NA — long history of funding regional research labs, linking services, third-party researchers, new institutions, new
associations, networking, even TUG
international efforts
contextual differences across countries can be an issue
creation of European research
What impact is this work having?
the TUG initiative has been extraordinarily helpful for Guelph/Waterloo/Laurier
but most universities have no organized approach to making research more generally available
reports of governmental or non-governmental organizations have improved enormously through electronic communications
Issues and challenges
inadequately conceptualized
the discussion of evidence-based policy is itself not based on good evidence!
little is known about how organizations find, share, and use research
terminology can be outdated, which is why we are using the terms “mobilization”, not interaction, because it implies effort and
direction
and conceptualizations underlie different terms
academic literature pays more attention to the creation of knowledge than how it’s used in organizations
knowledge brokers bridge the divide between evidence and practice
this can include charities, research centres, government agencies, individual researchers, etc.
What next?
research will most likely play an increasingly important role in education
three important areas of action
strengthen research efforts related to knowledge mobilization
research producing organizations (esp. universities) should do more active KM work
organizations that deliver education need to find, share, understand, and use more research
GAGE - The Obviousness of Social and Educational Research Results
Most people scoff at results
claim that they are ‘obvious’ and that ‘everyone knows that'
Lazarsfeld (1949) said the same thing about the research done on The American Soldier
but reversed them all (e.g. he said “of course highly educated soldiers were more neurotic!” but in actuality, it was the poorly
educated soldiers, etc.)
Mischel’s Study
asked school kids (grades 4 and 6) to circle one of the 2-4 answers on ‘obvious’ questions
e.g. water temperature feels (warmer/cooler) on a hot day than on a cool one)
66% correct rate
Baratz’s Study
similar test, but to undergraduate students
with several statements, and an explanation of why they were(n’t) true
given a four point scale: being certain it was true, think it was true, think it was incorrect, certain it was incorrect
whatever their answer, if they were told it was the opposite, they retrospectively judged it as ‘obvious'
Wong’s Study
replication and extension of Baratz, but specifically about classroom teaching
tested engineering undergrads, psych undergrads, teacher trainees, and experienced teachers from Singapore and America
12 statements
again rating them on a 4pt-scale of obviousness
Singaporeans rated more things as obvious
but teachers were no more accurate
“when people claim to have known it all along when an event is reported to them, their claim is often not warranted"
People tend to regard any reasonable statement made about human behaviour as “obvious"
Document Summary
Con dence in every context teacher"s sense of e cacy = a teacher"s belief that they can reach even di cult students to help them learn one of the few personal characteristics of teachers that predict student achievement. Do teachers make a di erence? teacher-student relationships the quality of the kindergarten relationship with the teacher (level of con ict, dependency, and a ection) predicted many academic and behavioural outcomes through grade 8. Rst teachers are incredibly important teacher preparation and quality fully-quali ed are the strongest predictors of student achievement in reading and mathematics. Knowledgeable basic research-based routines for managing classes know patterns for ages, culture, social cass, geography, and gender. Exibility from routine for di erent situations know their own students. Cooper, levin, & campbell - evidence in education policy and practice. Growing e orts to share and use research international developments re ect increased interest (heavily related to km)
