Tell Me a Story: in University Level...
24
2/2/2013 1 Tell Me a Story: Narrative in University Level Instruction Joanna Szurmak & Mindy Thuna University of Toronto Mississauga Jan 31, 2013 Stories by normalityrelief. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/normalityrelief/3224721382. Story Time by Squiggle. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenr/382287444.
Transcript of Tell Me a Story: in University Level...
2/2/2013
1
Tell Me a Story: Narrative in University
Level Instruction
Joanna Szurmak & Mindy Thuna University of Toronto Mississauga
Jan 31, 2013
Stories by normalityrelief. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/normalityrelief/3224721382.
Story Time by Squiggle. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenr/382287444.
2/2/2013
2
Learning Outcomes
• Define narrative.
• Connect neuropsychological processes of learning to attributes of narrative.
• Identify aspects of narrative useful for teaching.
• Determine a narrative for your instructional context.
Narrative in Teaching & Learning
• Do narratives work in teaching and learning?
• If yes, why do they work?
• How can you use the tricks that make narratives a powerful teaching tool in your own practice?
2/2/2013
3
BIO201
COURSE: BIO201: Biology Behind the News
NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 86
YEARS OFFERED: 2006 (‐2013)
INTERACTION FRAMEWORK: Worked collaboratively with instructor to design course; every lecture had an IL component of
varying lengths.
The Woodcutter of Gura
An Eritrean Folktale
2/2/2013
4
What is a narrative?What is a story?
(What is the difference?)
Applied approaches
Definitions of Narrative
A story is a chronological sequence of events.
Abbott, H. P. (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Applied approaches
Definitions of Narrative
2/2/2013
5
A story is always chronological and linear.
Beginning Event(s) Conclusion
Abbott, H. P. (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Applied approaches
Definitions of Narrative
“A narrative is the representation of an event or a series of events.” p. 13.
Applied approaches
Definitions of Narrative
Abbott, H. P. (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2/2/2013
6
Plot provides context.
“Stories are concerned with human attempts to progress to a solution, clarification or unraveling of an incomplete situation.” p. 14.
Applied approaches
Definitions of Narrative
Polkinghorne, D.E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. In Hatch, J. A., & Wisniewski, R. (Eds.). Life History and Narrative. London: Routledge.
“People do not deal with with the world event by event or with text sentence by sentence. They frame events and sentences in larger structures” p. 14.
Applied approaches
Definitions of Narrative
Polkinghorne, D.E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. In Hatch, J. A., & Wisniewski, R. (Eds.). Life History and Narrative. London: Routledge..
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
2/2/2013
7
“The narrative, connected to a well‐known event aroused their interest greatly. Chemistry was set in a useful context and the abstract theories were shown to have great value for human enterprises.” p. 393.
Applied approaches
Definitions of Narrative
Bostrom, A. (2008). Narratives as Tools in Designing the School Chemistry Curriculum.Interchange. 39(4) 391‐413.
Power of Narrative
• Creates scope for embedding details while establishing a guiding structure.
• Contextualizes information.
2/2/2013
8
BIO309/409
COURSE: BIO309/409: Laboratory in Physiology
NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 20 to 50
YEARS OFFERED: 2006‐2013
INTERACTION FRAMEWORK: One 1 hr session in which the Librarian and the professor (or TA) present/discuss with the class. There is no hands‐on component.
Idea
Research
Meetings Emails Conversations
Technical Reports Preprints Websites
Conference Proceedings Dissertations Patents Journal Articles
Indexes Review Articles Books
Handbooks Encyclopedias Dictionaries Textbooks
2/2/2013
9
Perspectives on Learning
What is learning?
Learning is a dynamic process that includes interaction and change.
2/2/2013
10
Constructivist theories emphasize learning as a process of meaning construction and worldview synthesis through interaction with the world.
Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L.K., & A. K. Caspari. (2007). Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Theories of Learning
Theories of Learning
Driscoll, M.P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction, 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson.
1.Learning results from experience2.Learning occurred if there is lasting change in the learner.
2/2/2013
11
Learner
Ongoing Interaction
Environment
}
Experience
Learner
Ongoing Interaction
Experience
}Change in Learner
LEARNING
Learning involves emotion, cognition and perception, but at the core of it there are neural processes that result in changes in the brain.
Theories of Learning
Branford, J. D., Brown, A.L. & Cocking, R.R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school (Expanded ed.). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Tokuhama‐Espinosa, T. (2010). The new science of teaching and learning: Using the best of mind, brain, and education science in the classroom. NY: Teachers College Press.
Willis, J. (2006). Research‐based strategies to ignite student learning: Insights from a neurologist and classroom teacher. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
2/2/2013
12
• All people seek meaning innately.
• Emotions (affective stimuli) are key drivers of neural activity.
Theories of Learning
Tokuhama‐Espinosa, T. (2010). The new science of teaching and learning: Using the best of mind, brain, and education science in the classroom. NY: Teachers College Press.
Why is this important?
Because it tells us that emotions, not the intellect, drive our search for meaning and our learning behaviour.
Theories of Learning
2/2/2013
13
• Brain self‐corrects.
• Pattern recognition is used in sense‐making and learning processes.
• Learning involves interplay between seeking familiar patterns and identifying novelty.
Theories of Learning
Tokuhama‐Espinosa, T. (2010). The new science of teaching and learning: Using the best of mind, brain, and education science in the classroom. NY: Teachers College Press.
• Only some learning processes are conscious.
• Attention and memory need to be engaged in order to learn.
Theories of Learning
Tokuhama‐Espinosa, T. (2010). The new science of teaching and learning: Using the best of mind, brain, and education science in the classroom. NY: Teachers College Press.
Willis, J. (2006). Research‐based strategies to ignite student learning: Insights from a neurologist and classroom teacher. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
2/2/2013
14
• Learning depends on feedback and social context.
• Learning happens most effectively when facts and new skills are embedded in natural contexts and accompanied by clear examples.
Theories of Learning
Tokuhama‐Espinosa, T. (2010). The new science of teaching and learning: Using the best of mind, brain, and education science in the classroom. NY: Teachers College Press.
The brain is a fractal
• it perceives and integrates new knowledge both at the big picture level and in detail simultaneously.
Theories of Learning
Tokuhama‐Espinosa, T. (2010). The new science of teaching and learning: Using the best of mind, brain, and education science in the classroom. NY: Teachers College Press.
2/2/2013
15
So…what do brains need to learn?
• Emotional engagement
• A pattern to identify, follow (and defy!)
• A practical context and meaningful examples
• Something to build on, something to remember…
• Enough detail, and structure, to (fractally) zoom in and out of.
Power of Narrative
• Employs an ordered pattern
• Creates scope for embedding details while establishing a guiding structure.
• Contextualizes unfamiliar information.
• Activates affective motivation.
2/2/2013
16
BIO342
COURSE: BIO342 Evolutionary Biology
NUMBER OF STUDENTS (2012): 147
YEARS OFFERED: 2012
INTERACTION FRAMEWORK: One 1‐hour lecture with no hands‐on component but a required assignment on the content covered
I NEED A NEW PAIR OF…
2/2/2013
17
2/2/2013
18
SCI398
COURSE: SCI398 Science Education
NUMBER OF STUDENTS (2008): 20
YEARS OFFERED: 2008
INTERACTION FRAMEWORK: One 1‐hour lecture in a computer room with time to work on their term project
2/2/2013
19
Say you want to buy a banana…
2/2/2013
20
Photo by Nathan Freitas http://www.onwardtibet.org/index.html
2/2/2013
21
General Store
• Intute• Scirus• Google Scholar
Grocery Store
• CSA Francis• Web of Science• Scopus
2/2/2013
22
Farmer’s Market
• Education Full Text• ERIC• Education: A SAGE Full-Text
Collection• InfoTrac Educators e-collection
Practice
Our Teaching Practice
Research‐Based Understanding of
Narrative in Instruction
Applied approaches
Definitions of Narrative
Theories of Learning
2/2/2013
23
Evidence
• Narrative makes something abstract more concrete/immediate.
• Allows students to have immediate emotional experience.
• Contextualizes concepts.
Now close your eyes and jump…
• Develop your own narrative
• Remember: size of audience does not matter
• Metaphor and contextualization matter!
