Subject: Change in state standards

Posted by Steve Bosacker on 4/19/2009
In Reply To:Change in state standards Posted by Steve Crowley on 3/10/2009

Message:

2 ideas to share here:

1) Mile-wide-inch-deep cannot work
I was going to suggest this same article (reported in EdWeek). Research I've been tracking shows that people need a base of experience and effective mental models to "hang" new information on. Our brains can only take in so much detail at a time (short term memory amounting to 3 to 12 seconds before it is gone). Only through repetition and rehearsal do new "facts" or "information" get laid down in our long term memories. As depth of experience and knowledge grow people develop expertise and are able to take in or process more information in their areas of expertise. They can also extend their knowledge and experience based on an area of expertise. This explains why the average educational approach of "mile wide but an inch deep" does not create the intended benefits.

Younger children are highly gifted at remembering facts and information. If they can be taught the ways of thinking that helps them form more effective mental models, and be taught in very effective ways, it seems that then students can begin to master the breadth of knowledge required in state standards. It would take extremely concerted and careful preparation, planning and coordinated teaching by all teachers K-12 to achieve current standards by the time students graduate from high school.

The problem comes when students don't have the strong foundations in mental models and learning disciplines. This is painfully evident among high school-aged students who have dropped out of school. Standard education practices are not producing intended results.

2) Teach more effectively (and SD can help)
Richard Turnock pointed us to Dr. David Hestenes at ASU a while back. Dr. Hestenes' team have developed very effective teaching practices for physics, chemistry, biology and math. Their methods empower teachers to engage students to wrestle with and improve their own mental models. Few people are aware of these teacher training programs. I would love to get teachers I know to attend this training.

Preaching to the choir, we believe SD and systems thinking skills should become an important part of teaching students. However, I think we lack the understanding of how people think about the foundational skills and ways of thinking that make SD a powerful tool. Dr. Hestenes had to do the foundational research in how people think correctly and erroneously about physics before he could begin to help students improve their mental models. We need the same basic research in SD thinking. I believe there is a methodology that could greatly accelerate understanding in this area. If anyone is interested in talking more about this, please contact me or we can discuss this on the list serve.

Stephen Bosacker