Nate said:
A few semesters ago as part of a psychology course I was
required to interveiw-assess either children's or adults
cognition within a particular domain for problem solving. I
chose to assess adults and fraction knowledge was pretty much
absent. Adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplying fractions
were very difficult for the respondents. An irony for me was
the respondents that did the worse on the fractions applied the
knowledge to the greatest extent in everyday practice. I am
having a difficult time thinking of everyday situations in which
I would utilize the more scientific way fractions are taught in
schools. The last time I made supper and needed to add 1/3 and
1/4 of a cup of something, I don't remember coming up with a
common demoninater of 12 and pouring in 7/12 of a cup. The last
time I checked there weren't even 12th on a measuring cup.
I replied:
Regarding both comments, Howard Gardner gives several examples of adult
practical knowledge being naive as compared with what they were taught
in school (and apparently mastered since some were in famed institutions
of higher learning (MIT) and had taken AP courses). This is in the
first few chapters of The Unschooled Mind.
Last semester and again this semester I have/will assign a final project
in Psychology of Learning and Motivation (junior senior course at Boston
College) which requires the students to apply problem isomorphs as
described in the Construction Zone- they read this first. They have to
choose one concept they want to teach and then come up with two
different settings- meaning materials and social dynamics- but also
meaning real world versus schooling type interaction - and compare the
results of at least one learner who participates in both setting in
terms of transfer of knowledge of concept. They are identifying the
tracers for the concept but also accounting for what impacts learning
centered around the concept of match-mismatch, such as developmental
understanding, motivation, goals, etc. Students did very well despite
moaning a lot during the teaching of the unit. they found it extremely
challenging but the stretch really captured the spectrum of student
imagination for concepts they wanted to try to teach and range of
student depth of knowledge. Those who were more advanced set off in
researching other theories pertaining to their interests. Those who
needed more practice in applying the theories covered in the course just
picked two other theorists from within the course to apply as a
different lens for understanding the same two settings. Very
integrative. I would be happy to send out the assignment sheet to
anyone interested in looking it over. Just send me an email.
Has anyone else tried contructing a similar assignment?
Ilda Carreiro King