I love that Einstein quote, Donna. A good one to share with new students. Thanks for it and the
rest of your comments.
On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 19:20:56 -0500
"Russell, Donna L" <russelldl@umkc.edu> wrote:
> hi everyone
>
> the gum chewing research is an excellent example of how people view intelligence as a
>standardized test score- myself, i believe that human children attend to novelty- the gum
>chewing rise in test scores is perhaps the result of a group of kids who were suddenly allowed
>to chew gum at school and perhaps paid a bit more attention to the otherwise routine task of the
>test because of the novelty
>
> it is the complexity and the singularity of the learning process that is the problem with these
>studies- how to describe, define and isolate the important aspects of the learning environment
>and correlate it to a test score- - and it doesn't make for a good news spot-
>
> einstein once said that the study of physics is child's play in comparison to the study of a
>child's play.
>
> donna
>
> Donna L. Russell, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor
> Instructional Technology
> Curriculum and Instructional Leadership
> 309 School of Education
> University of Missouri-Kansas City
> Kansas City, MO 64110
> russelldl@umkc.edu
> (office) 816.235.5871
> (cell) 314.210.6996
>
> ________________________________
>
>From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Tony Whitson
> Sent: Thu 8/11/2005 3:55 PM
> To: 'eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity'
> Subject: [xmca] Does Gum make us Smarter? RE: FREE TOEFLR iBT Practice Test!]
>
>
>
> Phil writes:
>
> I just get hot under the collar when people talk about these tests in the same breath as talking
>about educational programs, especially educational outcomes.
>
>
>
> Begging everyone's indulgence: After reading that, and since it also relates to the 'signs and
>tools' discussion, I felt impelled to share the following from an article I'm writing for Don
>Cunningham's special issue of Semiotica:
>
>
>
> Does Chewing Gum Make Us Smarter?
>
>
>
> KATIE COURIC, co-host: ... a couple of studies [indicate that chewing gum] may actually make you
>more intelligent. ....
>
>
>
> JAMIE GANGEL reporting: .... according to this expert, they are...
>
>
>
> Dr. KENNETH ALLEN (New York University School of Dentistry): Very smart people.
>
>
>
> GANGEL: That's right. Two recent studies show chewing gum may make you smarter.
>
>
>
> Dr. ALLEN: We found that the students who chewed gum did better on a written exam than the
>students who did not chew gum.
>
>
>
> GANGEL: About how much better?
>
>
>
> Dr. ALLEN: The difference between a C+ and a B, which is a significant difference.
>
>
>
> GANGEL: Larger studies still need to be done, but more schools are allowing students to chew
>gum, especially during tests. ... . Even if it does make you smarter, many argue it will never
>look smart. But the gum makers are prepared to try.
>
>
>
> What's interesting for us in this Today Show segment is how unproblematically being 'smarter' is
>equated with getting higher scores on tests. If we think of test scores as indicators, or as
>signs of someone's knowledge, understanding, or ability, we cannot jump to the conclusion that
>the gum-chewers are smarter, without first ruling out the possibility that chewing gum could have
>a direct positive effect on test performance, even without having an effect on the smartness of
>those who chew gum while taking the test. That question is not being asked here, however. This is
>a discourse that does not feature test results as (potentially useful, but also possibly
>questionable) signs of learning or intellectual ability, but simply and directly as smartness
>itself, in its objectively documented form.
>
>
>
> Could this just be a case of overly glib journalism--or infotainment--that does not really
>exemplify serious discourse in and about education? Unfortunately, the problem here, far from
>being the exception, is a pervasive problem in the most serious discourses about education.
>Diverse examples are offered in this paper as exhibits of education discourse based on an
>implicit positivism, which is explained as a lived ideology dependant on blind faith in the
>fundamental positivity of meaning, to the neglect--if not denial--of the central and pervasive
>mediating role of sign activity, or semiosis.
>
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Randi A. Engle, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Education
University of California, Berkeley
4641 Tolman Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-1670
(510) 643-9720
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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