Applying learning to lesson planning

LOEX 2014 Keynote 1: Terry Doyle, learnercenteredteaching.wordpress.com
& Reflective teaching, effective learning: instructional literacy for library educators by Char Booth. Chicago: American Library Association, 2011. (pp.21-23)

Modified COM 300 plan to incorporate reflection at beginning & end of class, brain research. Created SurveyMonkeys for pre- and post-questions.

Q1:  Your name:

        topic idea:

Q2:    Pre-Survey

Objectives were already present:

A.        Course Objectives; Kim’s objectives bolded. Think/pair/share discussion on each

Student who successfully completes the course will be able to:

• Describe the ethical principles which guide communication research. Define these as they apply to information you’ll gather for your lit review.
• List and locate relevant and credible communication research using appropriate search engines and strategies. Describe each of these.
• Understand the criteria for a “good research question” and apply these criteria to a prospective research project. How do you find good examples of research questions?

There are activities:
EXPERIMENT: use Thesaurus to note subject terms, compare subject terms across databases

EXPERIMENT & WRITE NOTES: combine concepts in advanced search; choose, use, & list multiple databases; view articles for constructing research questions (introduction) & suggested research areas (end of articles).

Just before the end of class, I added Q3: Post-Survey.

Threshold Concepts Overview; related to information literacy

Google: Meyer Land "threshold concepts" and you will see articles, books, websites, conferences (Biennial International Threshold Concepts Conference), presentations, videos, theses, dissertations, teaching awards, a Facebook group, & discussion lists. Meyer & Land defined the idea in 2003.

Flanagan digests Meyer & Land's defining characteristics of threshold concepts (TC):

• Transformative (conceptual changes occur)
• Troublesome (difficult, counterintuitive)
• Irreversible (hard to unlearn, but understanding varies as learning is iterative)
• Integrative (relates concepts to one another to form a whole)
• Bounded (limited, specific to a discipline)
• Discursive (conversational, dialogic)
• Reconstitutive (involves paradigm shifts)
• Liminal (unsettled place of partial understanding without true mastery)

Scholars are busy defining TC for their own disciplines. Works on TC in Information literacy began to appear in 2008. Today there are about 20 works identified under "Library Studies, Information Science and Information Literacy."

The University of New South Wales Library in Australia undertook a project in 2010 "to
identify threshold concepts which enable learners to effectively engage with information in a university environment" (Blackmore, 1). Their ideas are completely different from the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.

In 2011, Coonan & Secker defined TC for information literacy & supplied learning outcomes along with example activities & assessments. They also mapped TC to the SCONUL 7 Pillars, the ACRL Standards, & the ANZIIL standards.

Virginia Tucker explored threshold concepts among librarians as searchers. She wrote, "LIS professionals are concerned with competencies that will endure. Threshold concept theory provides a robust framework for studying conceptual knowledge that is independent of shifting technologies" (269).

(Despite Townsend's assertion that Bruce's Informed Learning & phenomenography only "focused on students," whereas TC is "focused on us--librarians, our expertise & knowledge of content," Bruce is an internationally-recognized theorist in information literacy, has suggested practical application by librarians, & her work was used by Tucker (under Bruce's supervision) to investigate librarians' views as well. Phenomenography is only a research methodology & Bruce used it in her earlier works, transitioning to variation theory. Meyer & Land draw upon variation theory to research threshold concepts; variation theory underpins Bruce's concept of informed learning. Informed learning is ours.)

Works Cited

Blackmore, M. (2010). Student engagement with information: Applying a threshold concept approach to information literacy development. Paper presented at the 3rd Biennial Threshold Concepts Symposium: Exploring transformative dimensions of threshold concepts. Sydney, Australia 1‐2 July, 2010.

Coonan, Emma. "Teaching and Learning: Perceptions of Information Literacy." http://ccfil.pbworks.com/f/emma_report_final.pdf. 
a.k.a. Secker, Jane & Emma Coonan. A New Curriculum for Information Literacy:  transitional▪ transferable ▪ transformational: CURRICULUM AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS. Arcadia Project, Cambridge University Library, July 2011.

Flanagan, Michael Thomas. The Threshold Concept: a brief introduction and bibliography. http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/thresholds.html#gen. Accessed 5/21/2014.

Townsend, Lori. Personal conversation, 5/9/14, Grand Rapids, MI.

Tucker, Virginia Miller. (2012). Acquiring search expertise: Learning experiences and threshold concepts. PhD Thesis. www.virginiatucker.com/docs/VirginiaTucker_thesis_finalA4.pdf‎  or http://eprints.qut.edu.au/63652/

Contemplative Practices in Higher Education, 2

Ch.2
Contemplation means creating a space in which "to observe & gain insight. Introspection is looking inward, attending carefully to what is occurring within" (21). Meditation "attempts to deepen & enrich experience & meaning" by way of "a deep focus & the intention of developing insight" (22). It results in "significant gains in attention & self-regulation even after short periods (as few as 5 days)" &:

• increased concentration & attention
• increased mental health & psychological well-being
• increased connection, generosity, & loving kindness
• deepened understanding
• increased creativity & insight.

"More & more, teachers are seeking ways to focus on the whole student" (23) - seeking a holistic approach!

Contemplative practices decrease anxiety & depression, result in "an increased sense of control & decreased neuroticism" via "an increased sense of purpose in life" & result in "more antibodies after receiving a flu shot" (26-29).

One practice focuses on loving kindness - developing "well-wishing for all beings," ... "enabling them to have a more profound & empathic response to others" (30). "Training in compassion meditation lowered stress responses; ... also stimulate[s] self-compassion, ... kindness & understanding toward oneself rather than self-criticism & judgment, holding oneself as connected rather than separate & isolated, & sustaining balance with thoughts & feelings & not overidentifying with negative thoughts" (31). Increased self-compassion "had a far greater impact on ... anxiety & depression." Thus, "we should redesign learning environments & pedagogy to reap the benefits of greater self-awareness & social connection" (32).

LOEX 2014 Conference

Keynote 1: Terry Doyle, learnercenteredteaching.wordpress.com

• Help students to understand how their brains work & how to learn--making neural connections & networks. Brain only engages when one pays attention!
• Learning /complex mental tasks involve multiple regions & sides of the brain simultaneously. Little evidence for learning styles (!); long-term memories are formed visually & auditorily (auditorially or aurally). 
• Multitasking - texting & social media - are habit-forming (addictive), not deep learning. Habit= short-term attention span, values all stimuli, distractedness increases.
• Learning is a change in neuron patterns in the brain - new cellular growth; if not repeated/practices/reinforced, the cells get re-absorbed. Learning takes a lot of practice & time.
• Learning is the ability to use information after significant periods of disuse & to solve problems in a different context. Application & transfer (extrapolation).
• The one who does the work does the learning. E.g., students should create test review questions themselves & collaborate.
• We need to prepare ourselves to learn: hydration, diet, exercise, sleep, oxygen. 
• Brain cells store water - communication system. Mild dehydration influences mood, energy, ability to think clearly, short-term memory, recall of long-term memory. 
• The brain uses 22% more energy than physical exercise. Diet: saturated fat reduces cognitive processing; refined sugar reduces neuroplasticity & learning.
• Exercise - brains solve problems while in motion outdoors. Movement sharpens brain & learning - protein FNDC5 & BDNF - more cellular growth & connections, & memory - neurotransmitters noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine improve focus, attention, mood, motivation, resilience, patience, & time on task! Exercise reduces toxins/stress. (Sitting on an exercise ball in class = "on the ball"!) Have walking discussion groups, strolling collaboration groups. Walking in woods helps but in the city doesn't - too much stimulation.
• Sleep affects moral judgment, attention, irritability, immune system, reaction time. Sheds neurotoxins in brain! 7 1/2 - 9 hours are good. Memories are made during sleep - transfer to long-term memory - cortex. Sleep cleans hippocampus (short-term memories & visual stimulation move to long-term memory or get deleted/cleansed). Takes place in 2nd half of night. Sleep reorganizes memories, extracts emotional content, & improves/produces creativity. Sleeping directly after learning something new is beneficial for memory. 27-minute afternoon nap improves performance 34%.
• Oxygen: breathe properly!
• Procrastination exercise: write down the thing that you're best at, then tell me when you started to learn it, how often you did it, any coaching? How many years have you done it? If apply to learning intellectual content - takes time, practice, coaching/guiding. Is it instant? No. 10,000-50,000 hours over 10 years = expertise.
• Metacognition - ask what skill students just learned/used & have them describe it (create pattern in own words).
• Brain stops paying attention when it thinks it has the answer! Brain loves novelty! Helps attention & creativity.

Birds & Wildflowers

Yesterday I was only a few steps into Aman Park when I realized I was surrounded by warblers. Here's the certain list:

• Yellow-rumped "Myrtle"
• Pine
• Nashville 
• Black-throated Green. 

I'm not sure if I was seeing

• Black and White Warblers or Blackpolls; 
• Black-throated Blues or Ceruleans. 

Without my books or binoculars, it was hard to tell.
Other birds: mockingbird, titmice (one followed me around), nuthatches (white-breasted), downy woodpeckers, red-breasted woodpeckers, robins, thrushes singing (never know if they're wood or hermit), chickadees. There are now black squirrels in the park.

Newly blooming wildflowers: Jack-in-the-Pulpits, Large-flowered bellwort.

Contemplative Practices in Higher Education, 1

For a GVSU Faculty Teaching & Learning Center retreat in June, I'm reading Contemplative Practices in Higher Education by Barbezat & Bush. Like the books on my religion & spirituality shelves, it speaks deep truths to me.

We want to teach so that students engage with information in ways that let them apply it in their own lives, feel deeply, find meaning, and feel a sense of their own agency (3). Concentrating on goals & outcomes rather than process "makes it difficult to have a mindful attitude," explore, & engage in "creative, synthetic thinking." The latter require a "holistic engagement & attention" which happens when students find themselves in the material, when they're aware of their "thoughts, beliefs, & reactions." Relating to the information, developing relationships with their classmates, & "discerning what is most meaningful to them" is more likely to happen when "students engage in these introspective exercises" -- practices which "have an inward or first-person focus that creates opportunities for greater connection & insight" and "focus on the present experience" (4-5). Contemplative introspection helps students "retain their knowledge better once they have a personal context in which to frame it, ... builds capacity, deepens understanding, generates compassion, & initiates an inquiry into their human nature" (6). Contemplative practices also help students "hone their concentration skills," ... and learn to regulate their emotions through recognizing "triggers" and decreasing their reactions (8). "Students who monitor their progress & explain to themselves what they are learning have greater learning gains & were better problem solvers." Also, if we do not or have not practiced a skill, "we have a tendency to overestimate our abilities" (9) -- we know that from surveying & questioning students in library research sessions!

Contemplative practices can mirror presentation styles--"visual information like form & color is probably best conveyed with visual examples, ... location ... might incorporate movement to help students understand" (9).

Threshold Concepts & Librarians - ACRL, Tucker, & Akerlind

Listened to the ACRL webinar on Threshold concepts Wednesday, April 23. The things which caught my attention:

• students as content creators & curators
• supports our (librarians') conversations with faculty teaching & learning centers
• encourages collaboration between librarians & classroom faculty
• we need to creatively re-do our single library research sessions: e.g., teach where info comes from in a database & why it's there instead of searching techniques
• WHERE design by Wiggins & McTighe* sounds like contemplative T&L
• new definition of IL - much better
• no learning outcomes, only an outline of threshold concepts
• re-envision what we librarians can do
• not aimed at first-year students (except in high-impact learning experiences)

*(Wiggins, Grant and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 1999)

http://www.flec.ednet.ns.ca/staff/What%20is%20Backward%20Design%20etc.pdf

To READ:

Tucker, Virginia Miller. (2012). Acquiring search expertise: Learning experiences and threshold concepts. PhD Thesis. www.virginiatucker.com/docs/VirginiaTucker_thesis_finalA4.pdf‎  or http://eprints.qut.edu.au/63652/

Tucker explored threshold concepts among librarians as searchers. Her work is relevant to the work I've been doing with Leek and Veenstra: for redesigning courses, Akerlind et al "looked not only at student learning outcomes but also at the impact on the thinking and practice of the participant teachers (Akerlind 2012). The decoding-the-disciplines model also provides step-by-step guidance for course design that may be applied (Pace and Middendorf, 2004: Díaz & Pace, 2012)" (261).

Tucker also wrote, "LIS professionals are concerned with competencies that will endure. Threshold concept theory provides a robust framework for studying conceptual knowledge that is independent of shifting technologies" (269).

Follow up with these!

http://thresholdvariation.edu.au/

Akerlind, G., McKenzie, J., and Lupton, M. (2011). Final report: A threshold concepts focus to curriculum design: Supporting student learning through application of variation theory [PDF document]. Retrieved from
http://thresholdvariation.edu.au/sites/default/files/pp8-885_anu_akerlind_final_report_v1.0__3.pdf
(in Threshold Concepts folder)

Coonan, Emma. "Teaching and Learning: Perceptions of Information Literacy." http://ccfil.pbworks.com/f/emma_report_final.pdf. 
a.k.a. Secker, Jane & Emma Coonan. A New Curriculum for Information Literacy:  transitional▪ transferable ▪ transformational: CURRICULUM AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS. Arcadia Project, Cambridge University Library, July 2011.
(in Threshold Concepts folder)

Dìaz, A., Middendorf, J., Pace, D., & Shopkow, L. (2011). Definition of Decoding the Disciplines. Retrieved from: http://decodingthedisciplines.org

Middendorf, J., & Pace, D. (Eds.). (2004). Decoding the Disciplines: Helping students learn disciplinary ways of thinking. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 98. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.        (Requested via MEL)