Emergent Learning: The Power of Complex Adaptive Systems

in the Classroom

byJohn P. Sullivan

Boston CollegeLynch School of

Education

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Underlying World View

• The world is not as simple as we wish it was

o Poking a dog (Davis & Sumara, 2006)

o Nature abhors simplicity

o Dissection kills

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Underlying World View

• School = students in groups

o Few study the learning dynamics of groups

o Why not consider the class as the unit of learning?

o Is it possible that a class could sometimes generate new knowledge in addition to receiving it from experts?

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

A CAS Definition for Classroom Studies

• Well-networked collective of agents

• Nonlinear dynamics

• Bounded

• Synergistic (Emergent)

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

How was this definition derived?

Davis & Sumara (2006)

• Self-organized• Short-range relationships• Nested structure

• Ambiguously bounded• Organizationally closed

• Far from equilibrium

Clarke & Collins (2007)

• Networked (not hierarchal) structures• Self-organizing• Fractal

• Feedback loops• Disequilibrium

• Self-regulating

• Bottom-up emergent

Carr-Chellman (2000)

• Perturbation• Butterfly Effect• Entropy• Self-organization

• Dissipation of hierarchies

• Strange Attractors

• Bifurcations / change

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Well-networked Nonlinear

Bounded

Synergistic

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Purpose

• Investigate the extent to which each of three classes demonstrated the properties of complex adaptive systems, most especially emergent learning.

• Determine if these properties could be found in classes not designed with complexity theory in mind

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Research Questions

1. Were these classes complex adaptive systems? If so, what factors came into play?

2. To what degree did each class manifest the properties of complex adaptive systems? Did this create a continuum of complexity?

3. Could emergent learning be found in any of these classes? To what extent?

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Design of this study

• Collaborative case study (Stake, 2000)

• Cases chosen by self-declared pedagogical styles of teachers and, in one case, the presumption of theorists that the subject matter would encourage complexity.

o Jazz-Rock Ensemble (a select group of musicians)

o English I (taken by all freshmen)

o Geometry (taken by all sophomores who didn’t take it as freshmen)

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

About Metropolitan Catholic High School• Catholic Jesuit school• Privately owned by a board of trustees• Grades 7-12, but 7&8 operated as a separate division• All male student body• Academically selective• Located in a large Eastern US city, but draws students from the surrounding suburbs in large numbers• Total student population about 1500

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

MethodData Source Participants Frequency Totals

Observations All students in each of three classes. One group of nine students, one of 21 and one of 25.

About once every other scheduling cycle of seven school days.

Eight one hour observations per class plus additional as needed. Twenty-six total.

Interviews Three students and one teacher from each class.

One audio-recorded interview per key informant, plus informal discussions with teachers and students.

Twelve interviews plus more informal discussions.

Artifacts All of Metropolitan Catholic High School and its surrounding community.

As materials became available.

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Analysis• Combination of deductive (a priori) and inductive (grounded) approaches

• Repeated examination of the data revealed that the a priori codes were sufficient to describe the phenomena in these classes

• A priori codes were derived from my definition of complex adaptive systems and its descriptors.

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

AnalysisA priori codes

Well NetworkedAgencyShort-Range RelationshipsNested / Fractal Networking

NonlinearSystems Far From Equilibrium (Edge of Chaos)Feedback LoopsThe Butterfly Effect

BoundedSynergistic

Emergent Learning

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Findings

Boundaries Agency (for students)

Network Type Edge of Chaos

Feedback Butterfly Effect Emergent Learning

Geometry Tightly Bound Minimal Centralized Avoided Limited and short range

Undetectable Undetectable

English Defined by specific rule sets

Provided by the ability to contribute valued knowledge

Distributed Extended Complex and intertwined among many students

Facilitated by feedback and chaotic learning

Frequent

Jazz Rock Defined by sheet music and jazz itself

Provided by virtuosity and emphasis on improvisation

Distributed / Simultaneous

Constant Constant and simultaneous

Both musical and social.

Constant

Boundaries . Networking . . Nonlinearity . Synergy

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Fostering Emergence LearningEmergent Learning

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Emergence and Educational Goals

Amount and

quality of

time spent in

the synergistic

zone where

cognitive

dissonance is

maintained.

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

Summary

• Groups of students need NOT be restricted to receiving knowledge

• Under the right circumstances, they can generate new knowledge

• This acknowledgement is only useful if the goal of the class is higher-level cognitive learning.

• There is no prescription available for emergent learning, only mindfulness of the balance among networking, nonlinearity, and appropriate boundaries

Emergent Learning:The Power of Complex Adaptive

Systems in the Classroom

ReferencesAnderson, L.W. (2005). Objectives, evaluation and the improvement of education.

Studies in Educational Evaluation, 31(1), 102-113.Carr-Chellman, A. (2000). The new sciences and systemic change in education. Educational

Technology, 40(1), 28-37.Clarke, A., & Collins, S. (2007). Complexity science and student teacher supervision.

Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(2), 160-172.Conn, C. (2008). Nirvana di novo. Accessed December 10, 2008 at

http://www.fractalfactory.com/thumbnails/056.jpgDavis, B. & Sumara, D. (2006). Complexity and education: Inquiries into learning, teaching, and

research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Stake, R. (2000). Case studies. In N.K. Denzin & Y.H. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative

research (2nd. ed., pp. 435-454). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.