Neurological Foundationof Reading Strategies

DAN KESTERSON

What is a Theropod?

INTRODUCTION

Co-Requisite Reading: Dinosaurs (GLY 130) and College

Reading (RDG 185)

Why Co-Requisite Reading?

Kentucky has defined college readiness as the level of prepara-tion a first-time student needs in order to succeed in a credit-bearing course at a postsecondary institution. “Success” is de-fined as completing entry-level courses at a level of under-standing and proficiency that prepares the student for subse-quent courses.

Kentucky - College Readiness

For reading, the destination is clear. To reach that destination of success in credit-bearing courses, reading skill preparation must focus, not on sets of isolated skills or every core common standard the learner did not fully develop, but rather on cogni-tive strategies and habits of ming that specifically prepare the student for success credit-bearing courses at a level of under-stand and proficiency that prepares the student for subse-quent courses. The same is true for career readiness as de-fined below.

What is Kentucky’s definition of career readiness?

Career readiness is the level of preparation a high school graduate needs in order to proceed to the next step in a cho-

sen career path, whether that is postsecondary coursework, in-dustry certification, or entry into the workforce. These include core academic, critical thinking, and technical skills required in the workplace.

Co-Requisite: Dinosaurs (GLY 130) and Co-requisite College Reading (RDG 185)

Dinosaurs (GLY 130) and College Reading (RDG 185) are paired courses; this pairing is referred to as co-requisite courses. GLY 130 is a science course that satisfies a science re-quirement in an AA degree or counts as an elective toward an AS degree. RDG 185 is a reading course that satisfies a devel-opmental reading requirement based on the COMPASS read-ing test score.

Reading (RDG 185) Instruction

In the College Reading Course, you will learn many thinking strategies that will help you learn in ways that ensure deeper learning, better and more useful memory of facts and ideas you will learn in the dinosaur course.The course will organize these thinking strategies around what we now know about how humans learn. The organization of thinking strategies will be around the following:

1. Developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge.

2.Understanding facts and ideas in the context of a concep-tual framework.

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3.Organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and ap-plication.

To make the learning strategies more meaningful, each strat-egy will be explained within how the brain learns in ways that make that learned more useful.

Reading instruction will focus on developing conceptual un-derstanding of paleontology (study of dinosaur fossils) in which the learner will apply core-learning strategies for deal-ing with the content they will encounter in their reading as-signments. The reading course will help the learner learn thinking strategies that help the learner go beyond mere com-prehension. Comprehension will no longer be the main goal, but rather developing competence in the study of paleontol-ogy (the study of dinosaur fossils) will be the focus of the pale-ontology course on dinosaurs.

The conceptual understanding approach to reading and learn-ing places more emphasis on helping the learner reflect and think about their thinking as they read; thereby giving them more control over the learning process. Conceptual under-standing also here refers to grasping the meanings of concepts presented in the reading in GLY 130) and systematically organ-izing those ideas so that they are more easily retrieved when needed later by the learner. Competence here means that the learner will be able to develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge, understand facts and ideas in the context of a con-ceptual framework, and organize knowledge in ways that facili-tate retrieval and application. This is the foundation of all

transfer learning (application) and makes learning of future related concepts easier, as well making that learned applicable in new situations.

“A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that organizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related in-formation more quickly…. Transfer is affected by the degree to which people learn with understanding rather than merely memorize sets of facts or follow a fixed set of proce-dures; the research also shows clearly that “usable knowl-edge” is not the same as a mere list of disconnected facts.” Also transfer not only requires organizing information into a conceptual framework, but also understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework. (Bransford, 2002)

The Dinosaur (GLY 130) Textbook And Reading to Learn

One approach to reading the dinosaur textbook is to merely focus on learning a lot of facts about dinosaurs; however, that approach is very limited and results in most information be-ing unusable in future situations. Facts about dinosaurs al-most can never be considered hard and fast truths that is not questionable. If the learner learns to question everything they read about dinosaurs, learning about dinosaurs becomes an exploratory adventure in which curiosity increases and learn-ing becomes more meaningful.

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Learning about dinosaurs is about developing a deep founda-tion of factual knowledge (related facts); however, all that knowledge is subject to being questioned. If this is the (the reader’s) first time learning about dinosaurs as an area of study, most of what they think they know about dinosaurs is not accurate; therefore, an open and questioning mind is called for as inaccurate assumptions are often hard to change. For example, dinosaurs and humans did not live at the same time. It is hard to get all the movies, TV shows, and books that have humans and dinosaurs interacting out of your mind. The author of your dinosaur textbook encourages you to question what you are learning.

Everything you learn about dinosaurs is influenced by what you think you know and believe about dinosaurs. It is impor-tant to organize the knowledge you are learning about dino-saurs to build a conceptual framework about dinosaurs. Learn-ing isolated facts about dinosaurs without understanding how the facts and ideas are related results in those ideas being less usable in the future. For example, are dinosaurs more like rep-tiles, mammals or birds? All of these possible assumptions were believed at one time or another. Paleontology is about gathering evidence and trying to make sense out of the evi-dence. Most ideas about dinosaurs have changed over time as new evidence is found and even those changes are subject to change as more evidence is found. The best approach to study-ing dinosaurs is to approach learning like a detective trying to make sense of the evidence because that is what a paleontolo-gist does. You want to develop competence in the study of di-

nosaurs (not just memorize a bunch of facts). The more you see how the facts are related and organize that knowledge the better you will be at retrieving that knowledge later and apply-ing it to new learning and application in decision making and solving problems in the future. The College Reading Course will help you learn how to do this while studying about dino-saurs in the dinosaurs class (GLY 130).

In the first chapter (p. 1) of your dinosaur textbook, you will learning about some of the first paleontologists and the ideas about dinosaurs they developed as the evidence began to accu-mulate over the past couple of hundred years. It becomes very obvious that they were trying to construct an explanation for the evidence (fossils) they were finding and as more evidence came in, the ideas about dinosaurs changed; that process con-tinues today and every year ideas change, so keep questioning everything you learn about dinosaurs as you learn reading strategies for deeper learning in these two co-requisite courses.

A comment in the forward (p. XVI) in the Dinosaur Textbook made by John Horner reveals a very important observation “Dr Lucas , although indicating his own views, allows students the opportunity to think for themselves.” You (the reader, stu-dent, learner, amateur paleontologist) are being encouraged to come up with your own ideas about dinosaurs and to pro-vide rationales or justifications for why you think what you think.

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In Chapter one (p. 1), Lucas states, “Today’s concept of dino-saurs stems form the analysis of much more information than did earlier concepts, so it seems closer to the truth than the older concepts. But what will our concepts of dinosaurs be in the twenty-first century?” Don’t treat what you read about di-nosaurs in the dinosaur course or the textbook as truth, but as a foundation of knowledge with which to think and reason about what our ideas about dinosaurs may evolve into. The study of dinosaurs is one of the most open-ended areas of study and it will certainly lead to unexpected new insights.

Remember, reading is a reconstruction and reorganization of meaning and paleontology is an ongoing reconstruction and reorganization of our ideas of dinosaurs - that is the definition of education and learning.

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To the Reading Instructor and Student

This reading course is about “igniting curiosity” in the learn-ing process while reading.

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." -- Albert Einstein

This course will focus on developing curiosity by learning how to step back in one’s mind and reflect on the meaning of that being read. Reflection is the key to developing curiosity. Re-flection is the stepping back in the mind and and making meaning by mentally interconnecting what is being read with what is already known by the reader that moves a reader from one idea into the next with deeper understanding of its rela-tionships with and connections to other ideas. “It is the thread that makes “continuity” of learning possible.” (Dewey)

“A source of motivation is curiosity, without which there is lit-tle energy for the hard work of reflection: “until we under-stand, we are, if we have curiosity, troubled, baffled, and hence moved to inquire” (Dewey, 1933).) The trick is once sty-mied, caring or wanting to take the time to explore why one is stymied. “Curiosity, in contrast, bespeaks of a positive, wide-eyed attitude toward both one’s own learning and other’s learning” (Rodgers).

For many readers, the recognizing, and caring or wanting to take the time to explore why one is stymied is not built into their learning while reading mental processes. That is the fo-cus of this reading course, learning mental strategies and hab-its of mind that shifts uncaring or not wanting to take the time to explore why one is stuck to one of mental arousal to want to know.

Think of reflection this way; stop and mentally ask yourself, “What did I just read?”; “Do I understand what I just read?”; “What do I already know about what I just read?”; “Have I done anything to help ensure that I will remember what I have read?” It is in those moments of mentally stepping back and observing one’s thinking (reflection) that builds curiosity. To the extent that the reader feels a twinge of conflict and is aroused to end the unease of not knowing by finding meaning is the beginning of curiosity, which begins with reflection. In this reading course, reflection (inquiry) will move to deeper questions the reader will want to ask and to learning mental strategies for answering those questions.

This reading course is an ongoing series of reflections while reading and mental strategies for dealing with the conflict that emerges during these moments of reflection in an effort to build curiosity for wanting to resolve the conflict that move meaninglessness to meaningfulness.

“As Dewey defines it, reflection is a particular way of thinking and cannot be equated with mere haphazard “mulling over” something. Such thinking in contrast to reflection, is, in a

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word, undisciplined” It is the bridge of meaning that connects one experience to the next that gives direction and impetus to growth. The process of refection, Dewey claims, moves the learner from a disturbing state of perplexity (also referred by him as disequilibrium) to a harmonious state of settledness (equilibrium). Perplexity is created when an individual en-counters a situation whose “whole character is not yet deter-mined.) That is the meaning is not yet established. The inter-nal experience for the learner is one of disequilibrium an un-settledness. It is the yearning for balance that in turn drives the learner to something to resolve it - namely, to start the process of inquiry, or reflection” (Rodgers).

Education and competence learning are the same thing. To-day we define learning as growing new dendrites when the learner’s new information interconnects with the learner’s prior knowledge. Let’s take a look at John Dewey’s definition of “education”, “that reconstruction and reorganization of ex-perience which adds to the meaning of experience, and which increases [one’s] ability to direct the course of subsequent ex-perience.” Dewey’s definition of education is no different than the modern work of John Bransford’s on developing compe-tence in an area of inquiry.

Dewey goes past passive learning when he insists that that learned is a “reconstruction or reorganization of  experience which adds to the meaning of experience.” Dewey anticipated the conformation of the physical nature of leaning in the brain a hundred years before MRIs - an external reflection of an in-ternal process. What make his definition of education (learn-

ing) even more prophetic is the anticipation of the works of re-searchers such as John Bransford on human learning. The sec-ond part of Dewey’s definition of education (learning), “and which increases [one’s] ability to direct the course of subse-quent experience”, even predates Flavell’s insights into meta-cognition and is actually a definition of metacognition.

John Bransford’s research on human learning concluded in “On Human Learning” that in order to develop competence in an area of inquiry, the learner needs to (parenthesis below show parallel with Dewey’s definition of education):

• Develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge (the need for a vast and deep reservoir of factual knowledge in which “reconstruction and reorganization of experience adds meaning to experience”)

• Understand facts and ideas in the context of a con-ceptual framework ( this “increases on’s ability to direct the course of subsequent experience”)

• Organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application (“that reorganization of experience which in-creases [one’s] ability to direct the course of subsequent expe-rience”)

Today, the learner needs more than to be able to memorize or stop at mere procedural learning. Today the learner needs to be able to develop competence in an area of inquiry as they pursue programs of study. The learner must develop the skills that allow for “increasing their ability to direct the course of

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subsequent experience” by learning reflection strategies and mental strategies for developing competence in the content of their program of study. Reflection is the core of deeper learn-ing and is the foundation and springboard for the mental strategies and habits of mind that will be learned in this read-ing course.

Carol Rodgers in “Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective Thinking” looks at four distinct criteria that characterize Dewey’s view of reflective thought (a mode of thought which can be equated with inquiry) and offers them as a starting place for talking about reflection so that it might be taught, learned, assessed, discussed, and researched. We will look at the first of these four criteria is the following:

Reflection is a meaning-making process that moves a learner from one experience into the next with deeper under-standing og its relationships with and connections to other ex-periences and ideas. It is the thread that makes “continuity” of learning possible.

Continuity: “What [an individual] has learned in the way of knowledge and skill in one situation becomes an instrument of understanding and dealing effectively with the situation which follow. The process goes on as long as life and learning continue.

“Without continuity learning is random and disconnected, building toward nothing within the learner or in the world” (Rodgers).

The ability to ‘transfer” from one situation to another (continu-ity) is the essence of John Bransford’s research and will under-lie all reflection (inquiry) while reading to learn.

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Table of ContentsIntroduction 1

To the Reading Instructor and Student 5

Neurological Overview 9

Chapter 1 - Organization and Conceptual Framework 13

Section 1 - Conceptual Framework: The Foundation of Rigorous Learning 14

Section 2 - Overview of Thinking Skills for Deep Learn-ing about Table of Contents Strategies 17

Section 3 - The Big Questions 27

Chapter 2 - Neurological Foundationof Reading Strategies 30

Section 1 - The Three Physiological Changes in the Brain When Deep Learning Occurs 31

Chapter 3 - Internal Dialogue 36

Chapter 4 - Developing Competence 43

Section 1 - Why Deep Learning Matters 44

Section 2 - Developing a Deep Foundation of Factual Knowledge 47

Section 3 - Understanding Facts and Ideas in the Con-text of a Conceptual Framework 49

Section 4 - Organizing Knowledge in Ways that Facili-tate Retrieval and Application 50

Chapter 5 - Reflection: Mindfulness 52

Section 1 - Reflection 53

Chapter 6 - Dinosaur Terminology 67

Section 1 - Terminology 68

Chapter 7 - Reflection is Key 72

Section 1 - Additional Notes 73

Chapter 8 - Willingness to Stay on Task 75

Section 1 - Getting Unstuck: Yearning for Balance 76

Section 2 - Other Factors affecting Learning 78

Chapter 9 - Visualization 83

Section 1 - Using mental Imagery to Learn 84

Chapter 10 - Mind mapping 89

Section 1 - Mind Mapping: What You Need to Know 90

Chapter 11 - Remember and Use dinosaur Concepts 93

Section 1 - Rules of Consolidation 94

Chapter 12 - Writing to Learn 98

Section 1 - Writing to learn 99

Co-Requisite Reading Center or Bridging Program 103

APPENDIX A - Multitasking 1068

SECTION 4

Neurological Overview

Overview of Co-Requisite Reading Course Neurologi-cal Processes

This co-requisite reading course can be thought of as learning cognitive strategies and habits of mind that the student in the reading class will be learning about and practicing while re-flecting during the reading process with the dinosaur content course textbook.

Reflection in this context is mentally stepping back while read-ing and thinking about what is being read in which the reader connects what is being read with their prior knowledge and also organizing the facts and ideas being read into a larger con-ceptual framework (neural network).

First, the reader must interconnect what they are learning with their prior knowledge. Construction of meaning and learning does not happened unless the brain interconnects with the reader’s prior knowledge and new dendrites grow on the reader’s prior knowledge dendrites. For example, a cogni-tive strategy the learner always needs to use while reflecting is mentally asking questions about what is being read, such as “What do I already know about what I am reading?” or “”Are there examples or illustrations that help me link what I am learning to what I already know?”

Second, the reader needs to understand what they are reading in the context of previously organized concepts (organized

prior knowledge), as well as organizing the knowledge they are learning. This is essential for transfer learning - thinking and reasoning with what is learned, as well as decision-making, problem-solving, and applying what is learned in new situations. Transfer is the goal of education.

In a Nutshell: The learner will have many opportunities to makes connections before, during, and after reading and they all start with mentally stopping and reflecting on the content to be read, being read, or after being read. During those mo-ments of refection (a habit of mind to be developed) the reader will be practicing applying cognitive strategies that not only help the reader connect with prior knowledge so that un-derstanding is constructed, but also strengthen that under-standing so that it is not forgotten. During those moments of reflection the learner will also reflection on how what they are reading interconnects and is related to any conceptual frame-work (organized prior knowledge), as well as organizing thew knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

Neurologically and Physically

Neurologically, learning during reflection looks like the draw-ing below, except the learning process involves hundreds of thousands of brain cells, not just one. In Figure 1. (below) new information into the brain cell on the left through the den-drites, travels through the cell body as an electrical signal, on to the end buds, where the electrical signal release chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the space (synapse) between itself and other bran cells (the path of the electrical signal is called a neu-ral pathway). These neurotransmitters look for dendrites of prior learning on other brain cells and if it finds related infor-mation on any of the dendrites, a new dendrite will grow. A new dendrite is literally new learning in the brain. It is physi-cal.

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If the end buds find other dendrites of related knowledge, a new dendrite grows. That new dendrite is learning.

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Rule 1: New dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what is already there.

Video Link on Growing New Dendrities (Learning)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6_7_JFkuBYIf the new dendrite is not strengthened, it will be reabsorbed and that is forgetting. Many of the cognitive strategies that will be learned in the co-requisite reading course will focus de-veloping a deep foundation of facts and ideas about dinosaurs that are strengthened so that they are not forgotten. It is the first step of making what is understood useful in the future.

Neurologically and Physically

A this point in the neurological learning process, the the learner will learn how to apply cognitive strategies that help ensure that the newly grown dendrite (learning) is not reab-sorbed (forgetting). The axons in the neural pathways leading

to the newly grown dendrites are covered with a layer of fat (myelin sheath) (Figure 2) that insulates the axon to keep the electrical signal in the neural pathway. The myelin sheath is thin at first and the electrical signal can partially escape mak-ing the signal weak and slow. Every time an electrical signal travels down the neural pathway,, the myelin sheath wraps an-other layer of fat around the axon providing more insulation and the speed and transmission gets faster (up to 3,000 time faster). The primary cognitive strategies to ensure this happen-ing is re-exposure to what was learned. The dendrite of new learning is strengthened, as well as potential retrieval and ap-plication of the new information.

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Myelin Sheath

“Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. When we fire our circuits in the right way – when we practice cognitive strategies when reading– our myelin responds by wrapping layers around the that neural circuit, each new layer adding a bit more skill and speed. The thicker the myelin gets, the better it insulates, and the faster and more accurate our movements and thoughts become.” (Coyle, 2010)

Video Link on The Role of the Myelin Sheathhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON7_g_y0-1Y

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In order to increase the potential for retrieval and application of new learning, many of the cognitive strategies learned in the co-requisite reading course focuses on ensuring that the learner is understanding what they are learning in the context of pre-viously learned organized concepts or on organizing new learn-ing to create conceptual frameworks around the new learning.

Working Memory

The prefrontal cortex in the brain is often referred to as the ex-ecutive director as it is where planning, problem-solving, decision-making and reasoning occur.

One way to think of working memory is everything you can hold in your awareness (attention) at a given moment and ma-nipulate. The amount turns out to be four unrelated pieces of information and for only about 20 to 30 seconds before forget-ting occurs (no longer in our awareness). When the learner steps back and reflects using specific cognitive strategies, the learner increases the amount of time they have for manipulat-ing the information (consciously organizing and strengthen-ing the information and/or understanding what they are learning in the context of a conceptual framework).

When the learner learns using cognitive strategies that for or-ganizing what is being learned in ways that facilitate retrieval and organization, they can bring hundreds and thousands of related concepts to the 20 to 30 second interval they have for storing and manipulating new information, thereby making it easier to later learn related concepts they encounter.On the next page are internet video links to a metaphor for working memory (THE STAGE) that incorporates the neuro-logical underpinnings of reading to learn.

The Stage Metaphor Video Links The Stage Metaphor: Part 1 (8 ½ minutes)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SMwwmAympY(Explanation of The Stage Metaphor – what does the learner need to do between new information coming into the brain and growing and strengthening den-drites of new learning. These four videos construct the overarching goals (conceptual framework) of CMS 185. The Stage Metaphor: Part 2 (9 minutes)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrv4Pv78fpc(Continuation of explanation of The Stage Metaphor – what does the learner need to do between new infor-mation coming into the brain and growing and strengthening dendrites of new learning.) Thinking The Stage Strategies: Part 3 (7 ½ minutes)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-bA8Opvr-8(Examples of how The Stage Metaphor can be used to learn to think metacognitively to apply learning strategies) Thinking The Stage Strategies: Part 4 (8 minutes)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwtd8N3bD90(Continuation of examples of how The Stage Meta-phor can be used to learn to think metacognitively to apply learning strategies)

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“The depth of our intelligence hinges on our ability to transfer information from working memory, the scratch pad of consciousness, to long-term memory, the mind’s filing system. When facts and experiences enter our long-term memory, we are able to weave them into complex ideas that give richness to our thought. But the passage from working memory to long-term memory also forms a bottleneck in our brain. Whereas long-term memory has an almost unlimited capacity, working memory can hold only a relatively small amount of information at at time. And that short-term memory is fragile: A break in our attention can sweep its contents from our mind.” (Nicholas Carr, 2010)

See APPENDIX A on Multitasking

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CHAPTER 1

Organization and Conceptual Framework

“A key finding in the learning and trans-fer literature is that organizing informa-tion into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related infor-mation more quickly.” (Bransford, 2002)

SECTION 1

Conceptual Framework: The Foundation of Rigorous Learning

Contrary to popular belief, John Bransford, learning basic facts is not a prerequisite for creative thinking and problem solving -- it's the other way around. Once you grasp the big concepts around a subject, good thinking will lead you to the important facts. (John Bransford)

Developing competence in Paleontology is straight for-ward, but challenging. Students need to be able to do the following:

•develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge,•understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and•organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. (Bransford)

In this co-requisite reading course, you will be mentally danc-ing between two powerful uses of systematically organizing what you are learning.

First, you will organizing information (what you are learning into a conceptual framework) of related facts, ideas and concepts.

Second, you will endeavoring to understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework.

Conceptual Framework

Let’s first define a conceptual framework, then we will explore how we will use them to learn while reading.

Definition of a Conceptual Framework: A conceptual framework is a group of concepts that are broadly defined and systematically organized to provide a focus, a rationale, and a tool for integrating and interpretation of information. This provides the big picture for learning, making associations, and making interconnections between new information and prior knowledge, which is the foundation of constructing meaning.

Conceptual Framework and the Organization of Your Dinosaur Textbook

In the preface of your textbook (p.XVII) the author (Lucas) ex-plains the organization of the textbook and doing so provides an explanation of the two powerful uses of systematic organi-zation in learning. First, the author has set up the first three chapters to provide the big picture (conceptual framework) so

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that the information learned in the following chapters can be understood in the context of the organized concepts (concep-tual framework) of the first three chapters. When you get to chapters four through nine, you will have a conceptual frame-work for as the author says “meeting the dinosaurs.” Chapters 10-16 will cover a variety of thought-provoking topics.

In other words, chapters one through three will provide the a systematically organized conceptual framework for under-standing the facts and ideas you will encounter in the remain-ing chapters. That is why it is very important to grasp and really learn the information in the first three chapters. We will encounter opportunities for learning the thinking strategies taught in the College Reading course and will have opportuni-ties to practice these thinking strategies in the remaining chap-ters. Yo u will be learning the facts and ideas in the reaming chapters in the context of the conceptual framework you learned in the first three chapters.

Pay Attention To the Following Organization Clues

Each chapter provides you with an outline:

For example, in Chapter 2

OutlineEvolution 17Phylogeny 18Classification 23Dinosaurs and Evolution 25

At the end of each chapter are a:

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

which should be read before reading the chapter as each contributes to getting a feel for the main concepts that you will want to focus on and you will want to see how each fact, key work or question are related to one an-other as you start reading the chapter.

“An expert in a particular field does not just have more knowledge, but the knowledge he has is connected in a logical and meaningful manner. This is important because when individual facts are recalled it is as if a whole set of interconnected further concepts are accessed at the same time and whole sets of (neural) networks become activated. An expert does not just have a better overview of the field, but he sees all the connections between the various concepts.” (Zirbel, Teaching to Promote Deep Understanding and Instigate Conceptual Change)

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A Quick Conceptual Framework of Dinosaurs for Later Understanding Facts and Ideas in the Context of a Conceptual Framework form Encyclopieida - Di-nosaurs

Dinosaurs are vertebrate animals that range from reptile-like to bird-like.[1] Dinosaurs dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing around 230 million years ago. 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, all non-avian dinosaurs became extinct. Dinosaurs still exist today in the line of birds (avian dinosaurs).

Dinosaur - What is a dinosaur?

• Dinosaur - Definition

• Dinosaur - Size

• Dinosaur - Behavior

• Dinosaur - Study of dinosaurs

Dinosaur - Classification

• Dinosaur - Order Saurischia

• Dinosaur - †Order Ornithischia

• Dinosaur - Evolution

Dinosaur - Areas of debate

• Dinosaur - Warm-blooded?

• Dinosaur - Feathered dinosaurs and the bird connection

• Dinosaur - Evidence for Cenozoic dinosaurs

• Dinosaur - Bringing dinosaurs back to life

• Dinosaur - Discovery of probable soft tissue from dinosaur fossils

Dinosaur - Extinction theories

• Dinosaur - Asteroid collision

• Dinosaur - The Oort cloud

• Dinosaur - Environment changes

Dinosaur - History of discovery

Dinosaur - In popular culture

Dinosaur - Notes

Now Read More to Fill in Gaps in Your Understand-ing as You are Mentally Building Your Conceptual Framework - Read at the following link:

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Dinosaur/id/1894831

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SECTION 2

Overview of Thinking Skills for Deep Learning about Paleontology

In this section, paleontology will be the area of inquiry used to explain most of the activities that facilitate the kinds of think-ing that enable the reader to understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework. These activities are trans-ferrable to other related areas of inquiry such as biology, his-tory, and psychology.

The Big Questions or Conceptual Framework

Writers of college textbooks tend to systematically organize the concepts of the discipline. That organization is referred to as a conceptual framework. The organizational pattern of disci-pline textbooks can vary based on the purpose of the disci-pline. In the co-requisite) Dinosaur and College Reading Courses, among of the first things a learner needs to know is

1. What is the big question(s) that the discipline being read about is trying to answer or observe?

2. How is the content organized around that big ques-tion?

The answer to these two question provide the rationale for the activities that help a reader “understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework.”

Examples of the Big Questions from Different Disci-plines

For the reader, a conceptual framework is a group of concepts they will be learning that has been systematically organized to help the reader interpret and integrate the new information they are reading. The reader needs to learn how to identify or create the big picture question(s) (conceptual framework) of the given discipline in order to use cognitive strategies and habits of mind that lead to important facts. In the dinosaur textbook we will look at how conceptual frameworks are cre-ated and the answers to those questions for paleontology. This is key for building activities for understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework.

Paleontology. Thinking Like a Paleontologist

To become competent in Paleontology, the learner must learn to think like a paleontologist. What is paleontology. In gen-eral, paleontology is a “scientist who studies fossils, base their understanding of the history of life on the fossil record, which

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compromises all the fossils discovered as well as those waiting to be discovered” (Lucas).

Wait, There Is More About Where paleontologists get their information beside from fossils

“Information on dinosaurs is obtained from a widely varying fields of study which include Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and the Earth Sciences (which also includes Paleontology). Activi-ties include the discovery, reconstruction and conservation of dinosaur fossils and the interpretation of those fossils which enables us to better understand the evolution, classification and behavior of dinosaurs. http://www.experiencefestival.com/dinosaur_-_study_of_dinosaurs

How Conceptual Frameworks are Developed in Paleontology

When a paleontologist observes that there is a pattern in the fossils, they give the pattern a name or label. Paleontologists look for patterns in the fossils. “The skeletons of small thero-pods from Mongolia suggested very active and agile animals, quite different from the ponderous, dim-witted brutes of the dinosaur-as-reptile image” (Ch. 1, p. 12). “Current concepts of dinosaurs emerged and dinosaurs today are seen as fast-, ac-tive, agile, bird-like animals. The concept is based on new dis-coveries of bird-like theropods, on a new understanding of the biology of living animals, and on the recognition of dinosaurs as the ancestors of birds” (Lucas, Ch 1. p. 13). Note that chap-ter one is providing you with the background knowledge that

you will need when you start learning more facts and ideas about theropods.) Why is this background information impor-tant and why is it important to learn this background informa-tion deeply?

For example, a lot of chapter 5 is devoted to theropods. A few paragraphs back I told you some things about theropods. Can you tell me what I wrote? If not go back and look.

One of the most important things you will need to learn to do when encounter new information is decide if it is important to learn and do not proceed until you can explain it to yourself. This is just one way of helping the brain store the information so that it can be used later. If strategies like this are not used, then when you reach chapter 5, which developed the concept of theropods, you will not be prepared with prior knowledge.

A Quick Lesson on How the Brain Learns

If you know what is going on in the brain while you are learn-ing, you are more likely to take the time to develop learning skills and strategies that make deep and competent learning possible.

The first thing you should know and why we will be building a conceptual framework about dinosaurs is that the brain learns virtually nothing if the learner is not tying what they are learn-

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ing to prior knowledge (what they already know). Here is a quick explanation:

Dendrites are LearningThe neurons (brain cell) is the first of two illustrations you will learn about that will help you understand how learning oc-curs in the brain. In later chapters when you see the illustra-tion on the following page; it will remind you about how the brain learns and that you have control over what is happening when you read to learn.

The first drawing on the opposite page is of a neuron (brain cell). Looking from left to right at the first drawing, the filament-like structures are dendrites. New information enter the brain cell through these dendrites and travel through the cell body and down the axon to the end buds. If the signal finds information in other brain cells (their dendrites are prior learning) that is related to the new information, then a dendrite grows (learning) on the dendrite of related informa-tion (prior knowledge).

No learning occurs unless new information being learned in-terconnects with the learner’s prior knowledge. This fact will be the foundation for understanding how learning occurs when one uses learning strategies to learn when reading. We will go in much more detail later.

When%the%message% (new% informa1on%the%reader% is% reading)% reaches%the%neuron%ends%(end%buds),%the%end%buds%look%for%other%dendrites%on%other%neurons%that%have%related%informa1on% (prior% knowledge).% Remember,% learning% only% occurs% when% the% reader%interconnects%new%informa1on%with%what%they%already%knows%(prior%knowledge).%

End Buds – dendrite-like fibers that connect to other neuron dendrites (looking for related information)

Cell Body

axon

neurotransmitters

receptors

synapse

dendrite

If the end buds find other dendrites of related knowledge, a new dendrite grows. That new dendrite is learning.

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Rule 1: New dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what is already there.

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Another strategy that builds on organizing knowledge in ways to facilitate retrieval and application is the use of visual graph-ics. One very popular form of visual graphic that is very power-ful is mind mapping. Lets take what we already know about theropods and organize that information using a mind map.

“The skeletons of small theropods from Mongolia sug-gested very active and agile animals, quite different from the ponderous, dim-witted brutes of the dinosaur-as-reptile image” (Ch. 1, p. 12). “Current concepts of dino-saurs emerged and dinosaurs today are seen as fast-, ac-tive, agile, bird-like animals. The concept is based on new discoveries of bird-like theropods, on a new under-standing of the biology of living animals, and on the rec-ognition of dinosaurs as the ancestors of birds” (Lucas, Ch 1. p. 13).

Mind Maps

You will learn later that the most effective mind maps have the following characteristics and among them is drawing a pic-ture of the concepts you are learning. (More in a later chapter on visualization and imaging it learn either mentally or on pa-per.)

To make a mind map more effective the follow these 10 basic components:

1 .A map will begin with a subject at its center.

2. The use of color(s) is very helpful.

3. Branch off the center with key words or images

4.Use lower case print key word, and to make an idea stand out, use UPPER CASE PRINT

5. Important: each key word should have its own branch (line). 6. All branches must be connected.

7. The length of a branch should be the same length as the key word.

8. The use of color for different branches is very helpful to recall of the information.

9. Use a visualization, such as a picture or drawing.

10. Map is neat. All printing right side up.

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Theropods

Bird-like animal

Fast, active, agile

Some Quick Notes on Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is important whether you do it mentally on or paper as it represents the conceptual framework you are devel-oping about dinosaurs. For most learners, it is best to learn and practice making mind map of the concepts being devel-oped about dinosaurs and then later learn to mind map men-tally.

Some quick DOs and DON’Ts When Constructing a Mind Map to Maximize Learning

DO: If something is important enough to learn, learn it using the Rules of Consolidation, the Core Cognitive Strategies, and The Internal Dia-logue Inquiry questions immediately – always be-fore mapping it.

DO NOT: Never put anything on a mind map un-til you can explain the concept being learned in your own words (reciting).

Note: One of the biggest mistakes students make while mind mapping text selections is identifying what is important to learn and then copying it to their maps before they have used the learning strategies to learn the information. Understand-ing is not learning.

Do: Always, before moving on to construct the next major branch off the center of the mind map, make sure you can:

See the mind map you have constructed in your mind’s eye without looking at the map, and

Can explain in your own words what the in-formation on the mind map means.

ACTIVITY:

Take time before every beginning to read the chapters in the textbook and read any preface, introduction or those parts of the first chapter that indicate that the purpose of the disci-pline might be explained. This is like detective work that gets easier the more it is practiced. Instructor modeling and col-laborative exploration for the propose of the discipline.

For deep and useable learning to occur the reader needs to re-flect and have opportunities to explore their own minds about what they know about dinosaurs.

Note: Keep in mind that it takes effort and repeated exposure to new ideas before the neural networks for those ideas are de-veloped and strengthened in the brain. Finding the disci-pline’s purpose is the first of many opportunities for readers to learn to use the rules for moving new information from working memory to long-term memory for which the bottom

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line is re-exposure with elaboration (connection to prior knowledge.)

Using Text Clues to Further Develop the Conceptual Framework

Text clues in content textbooks are like maps that when the or-ganization is recognized help the readers to create the chap-ter’s conceptual framework. The title, forward, introduction, chapter outlines, the heading and subheading, and summary all provide an opportunity to further expand and prepare the brain for grasping the big concepts around a subject, as well as prepare the reader for using cognitive strategies for incorpo-rating important concepts and facts.

The Big Three Questions of Internal Dialogue

Whether getting an overview of the chapter or reading the chapter, the reader should always have three question they are asking:

1. {What Do I Know} What do I already know? (Dendrites of Prior Knowledge)

2. {Are There Explanations or Examples} Are there explana-tions or examples in the book and do I know any examples of the concept being considered? (Connection to Dendrites of Prior Knowledge)

3. {Prediction} Can I predict where this is going? (Anticipate what is next)

Those Three Questions Can Expand Into:

• Why am I reading this selection? (Dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what is already there.)

• What do I already know about what I am Reading? (Den-drites, synapse, and neural networks grow

only from what is already there.)

• Anticipating where is this heading going/what is coming next? (Dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what is already there. The brain learns by predicting) (at every level of the six levels of the neocortext the same heuris-tic is repeated—“matching sensory input to stored patterns and predicting what will happen next”)

• How can I use this information? (Dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what is already there. The brain learns by predicting) (at every level of the six levels of the neocortex the same heuristic is repeated—“matching sen-sory input to stored patterns and predicting what will happen next”)

• What cognitive strategies do I have for strengthening new learning. (Dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow for what is actively, personally, and specifically experienced and practiced. Dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow from stimulating experiences. Use it or lose it.)

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• How does this apply to my own life? (“Dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow for what is actively, personally, and specifically experienced and practiced.” Smilkstein)

ACTIVITY:

It takes a lot of effort to build these questions into the learner’s neural networks of cognitive processes and become so strongly developed that they become automatic.

Note: Once cognitive strategies become automatic, they no longer are crowding the learner’s working memory and then working memory can be devoted to further manipulation and especially elaboration (connecting to the learner's prior knowl-edge.) More on working memory in later chapters.

These questions and the questions to follow are not questions to be superficially learned, but must be over-learned to the point of being automatic. Neural networks need to be devel-oped through repeated exposure to these questions in order to build myelin in neural pathways for these questions when reading that enable instantaneous application of these ques-tions in the reading and learning processes. These questions then become part of the students mental processes for think-ing about their thinking.

Note: Keep in mind that if the metacognitive processes do not become automatic (repeated exposure with elaboration), then working memory will not have the space to both store and manipulate the information (use cognitive strategies) be-ing learned.

Reflection and Metacognition

The questions above drive metacognition (the reader thinking about their thinking). Metacognition has to be learned and mental activities that help the learner to automatically try to build a conceptual framework for what they are about to read and to expand that conceptual framework as they read is key to transfer learning (deep learning).

Again, “Contrary to popular belief, learning basic facts is not a prerequisite for creative thinking and problem solving -- it's the other way around. Once you grasp the big concepts around a subject, good thinking will lead you to the important facts.” (John Bransford)

The Physiology of Practice

“The question neurologist and educators have been asking is “why does it take so long for people to learn complex skills that result in application, decision-making, and problem-solving. The answer turns out to be both physiological and psy-chological. The physiological answer turns out to be myelina-tion, the process of building a fatty insulation around neu-rons. “The brain senses nerve firing and responds by wrap-ping more myelin (fat) around the brain cell that fires. The more the brain cell fires the more myelin wraps around it. The more myelin wraps around it, the faster the signals travel, in-creasing velocities up to one hundred times over signals sent through an uninsulated brain cells. It is at this point that pro-viding instruction becomes interesting. Mere repetition is not the key for accelerated learning of skills; it is here that scien-

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tist have discovered a twist – struggle is not optional – it is neurologically required; we tend to try to reduce struggle in learning; we try to make learning smooth, especially at the point of “assessment for learning.” This does not produce opti-mal learning of skills. However, it is a combination of the fol-lowing that accelerates deeper learning: “In order to get ones skill circuits to fire optimally, one must by definition fire the circuit suboptimally, one must make mistakes and pay atten-tion to those mistakes; one must slowly teach their circuits. Myelination is the physiological manifestation of metacogni-tion.” (Coyle, 2009)

Metacognition and Internal Observation

For rigor in learning to be successful, the learner has to be able to mentally step back and observe the learning process as it is occurring in the brain - this is the foundation of metacog-nition and it has to be taught. In order to take the most effec-tive control of instruction and learning (rigor), the instructor and learner needs to understand what is occurring in the brain during instruction and learning that can transform both into rigorous learning.

“In the 1990s a committee of the National Research Council, led by John Bransford, Ann Brown, and Rodney Cocking con-cluded that metacognition is a key factor in learning that should be deliberately cultivated. They emphasized the par-ticularly important role that metacognition plays in promot-ing transfer learning. That is, students can more readily apply knowledge acquired in one context to another context if they

have more awareness of themselves as learners, if they moni-tor their strategies and resources, and if they assess their readi-ness for tests and other performances” (Linda Baker).

Internal Dialogue Questions Can Drive All Cognitive Strategies

Bransford enjoins us to resist substituting strategies for think-ing. Learning strategies can be basically mindless unless the learner can step back and observe their thinking. This ability to step back while learning and observe oneown thinking David Rock calls “The Director.” Research is indicating “the director” (metaphor for the observing ones thinking about thinking ability of the brain) sits “above” our other working memory functions, monitoring our thinking and choosing how best to allocate resources (cognitivie strategies)” (Rock). “It gives us the space of mind in which we can consider vari-ous options and then choose the most appropriate ones” (Siegel). Mindful internal dialogue questions activate this ex-ecutive function by providing space for directing thinking. We have learned about how the brain learns and are now learning about awareness of what the brain is actually doing moment by moment. “Knowledge of your brain is very helpful, but one also needs to be aware of what ones brain is doing at any mo-ment for knowledge to be useful” (Rock).

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The good news is that “Mindfulness is a habit, it’s something the more one does, the more likely one is to be in that mode with less and less effort” (Rock). That is why the whole read-ing course is learning and practicing how to become aware of what the brain is doing moment by moment using cognitive strategies driven by internal dialogue. “One of the best ways of having our director handy is practicing using your director regularly (internal dialogue questions). A number of studies now show that people who practice activating their director do change the structure of their brain. They thicken specific re-gions of the cortex involved in cognitive control and switching attention.” (Rock).

Internal Dialogue (Comparing and Contrasting)

One thing the brain tries to do automatically is to compare and contrast new information with what it already knows. The learner can take advantage of this fact by introducing further questions that if over learned helps the brain do more deeply what it tries to do naturally.

Six internal dialogue questions that readers need to learn to use as part of their internal dialogue for establishing a meta-cognitive approach to learning while reading are:

1. What do I already know about what I am reading? (learn-ing – constructing meaning)

2. How does what I am reading reinforce or contradict what I already know (compare and contrast)?

3. What do the concepts (terminology) introduced in the reading have in common? (analyzing)

4. How are concepts (terminology) introduced in the text different; how do they contrast? (analyzing)

5. Are the new concepts (terminology) part of a larger con-cept (ex. folkways and mores are types of norms)? (classifying – inductive reasoning)

6. How are all the concepts in a reading related? (mind map-ping – systematically organizing – deductive reasoning - syn-thesizing)

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The Power of Comparing and Contrasting

“When students encounter something new, they try to match it or compare it with something that is already in their mem-ory. Schank puts it this way: "When you learn new things, as you are all the time, the new knowledge must perturb the sys-tem in order to find its place in memory in relation to what is already there. Does it amplify old knowledge, or contradict it? The mind needs to resolve these questions as new knowledge appears, getting reminded of what it already knows or be-lieves each time some new experience occurs. This process of reminding and comparison is a critical part of learning.” (Bain, How We Learn)

How Comparing and Contrasting May Show Up in Working Memory

Comparing and contrasting new information can show up in (1) the writer’s organization of information – facilitates catego-rization, (2) as a way the experts in the discipline have catego-rized information – ex. what is a sociologist trying to learn – “the reader must keep the author’s overall purpose in mind while classifying, in order to group information by useful crite-ria.” (Zwiers), (3) in the reader’s head as a natural reminder of what the reader already knows – putting new information into categories, or as (4) an internal dialogue question (cognitive strategy – decision making) in which the reader is trying to take control of their thinking (metacognition) to construct meaning.

ACTIVITY:

Again, re-exposure and practice are key to over learning these questions.

Note: Again, instructor modeling and collaborative explora-tion of answers to these questions are very helpful.

Reflection Activity: Taking the short reading selection be-low on anxiety disorders and general anxiety, stop and ob-serve your thinking about what you are learning when you en-counter the double orange parentheses ()

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SECTION 3

The Big Questions

Contrary to popular belief, John Bransford, learning basic facts is not a prerequisite for creative thinking and problem solving -- it's the other way around. Once you grasp the big concepts around a subject, good thinking will lead you to the important facts. (John Bransford)

The Big Questions

Questions make the difference

We construct knowledge by asking questions. Questions serve several functions: they point to holes in our knowledge and memory structures and are critical for indexing the information that we attain when we develop an answer for that question. Some cognitive scientists think that questions are so important that the information and skills we learn in developing an answer cannot be learned until the right question has been asked, because without having asked the question, memory will not know where to index the answer. For example, when a student faces an expectation failure, she will begin to ask herself questions to explain why

her theory was incorrect. Again from Schank: Such failures force us to ask ourselves questions like 'What caused the failure?' and 'How can I prevent the failure from occurring again?' But expectation failures are not the only times when we sit back and ask ourselves questions. Sometimes, we are faced with a new problem and need to develop a new plan. In such cases, we might proceed by asking ourselves 'What old problems is this new problem like?' or 'How can I break down this problem into simpler problems?' Other times, we puzzle over our experiences, asking questions such as, 'What would have happened if I had behaved differently?' and 'Why did X act as he did?'" The more questions we ask, the more ways we can index a thought in memory. Better indexing produces greater flexibility, easier recall, and richer understanding. If we ask many questions, we build detailed indices that enable us to use k n o w l e d g e g a i n e d i n o n e c o n t e x t i n o t h e r situations. (Bain, How We Learn)

Today new evidence from many sources about dinosaurs is turning up almost daily, spurring great debates. Information is being added faster that college textbooks can be published and therefore the textbooks often lag behind. Today’s student will find themselves going to many sources to find current in-formation, especially the internet. For almost every idea about

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dinosaurs, there is an opposing idea and it can become very confusing. Again, the student must play detective.

Evaluating a Website When Using the Internet

Duke University has a set of question that a learner would want to ask when seeking information on the internet. See:

http://library.duke.edu/services/instruction/libraryguide/evalwebpages.html

Evaluating Web Pages

Before using information found on a web page for your research project, consider the following criteria to evaluate its credibility. Click links below:

Authority

Purpose/Intended Audience

Currency

Objectivity

Support

Below are a couple questions that paleontologist are debating. Read about the question and then read the links and ask yourself the questions that Duke Univer-sity (above) recommends:

Question 1: Are Birds Dinosaurs?

Below are three internet sources tracing the history of paleon-tologist trying to answer that question. Read the three sources and then we will look at criteria for evaluating the sources for reliability. Keep in mind that at any one time there are usually conflicting and legitimate interpretations of the evidence on almost any idea about dinosaurs. Open-mindedness become crucial. Evaluation when reading to learn is not about whether the interpretations are accurate, but but are the sources reli-able.

The Three Sources on Are Birds Dinosaurs:

To get a quick overview and history of the thinking that went into trying to find out if the grandparents of birds were dino-saurs, let’s first take a look at an article by Paul Harris.,

D i n o s a u r s a n d B i r d : http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/dinobird/story.htm

Then let’s look at the kind of work that is going on now in the ongoing story of paleontologist’s efforts to solve the question about whether dinosaurs are the grandparents of birds. It is starting to get exciting.

Birds are baby dinosaurs, say Harvard scientists http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20120429201742data_trunc_sys.shtml

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T i m e t o S h i f t f r o m D i n o s a u r s t o B i r d s http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/4787/time-to-shift-from-dinosaurs-to-birds

Question 2: What Caused the Extinction of the Dino-saurs During the Cretaceous-Tertiary, or K/T Bound-ary?

Three Sources on Dinosaur Extinction:

The Top 10 Myths About Dinosaur Extinction http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/dinosaurextinction/a/extinctionmyths.htm

W h a t K i l l e d t h e D i n o s a u r s ? http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/extinctheory.html

Volcanoes, Not Meteorite, Killed Dinosaurs, New Study Suggests

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/08/volcanoes-killed-dinosaurs-india_n_2258395.html

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CHAPTER 2

Neurological Foundation for All RDG 185 and 30 Reading Strategies

Learning occurs in the brain, therefore all the cognitive reading strategies taught in the reading course are built upon a neurological foundation.

SECTION 1

The Three Physiological Changes in the Brain when Deep Learning Occurs

Learning is Physiological

T h e f i r s t p h y s i o l o g i c a l c h a n g e necessary for learning is the growing of new dendrites.

When learning occurs new dendrites grow off brain cell dendrites of prior knowledge.

If the end buds find other dendrites of related knowledge, a new dendrite grows. That new dendrite is learning.

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Rule 1: New dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what is already there.

Learning is physiological

New structures grow in the learner’s brain during learning, and learning is the growing of new brain structures (dendrites and neural networks). In other words, learning and growing new brain structures are the same ting. (Smilkstein, 2003)

How the Brain LearnsThe brain has two billion brain cells (neurons), which are all trying to communicate with one another and make connec-tions. Neurons carry electrical charges and make chemical con-nections to other neurons. A neuron has a cell body and at-tached to the cell body are dendrites (short fibers) that receive messages. When you, see, hear, feel exter- nal information, that information is received by the den- drites.

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The message goes to the cell body and on down the a x o n (long fibers) that transmit messages to the neuron ends (end buds)

If the end buds find other dendrites of related knowledge, a new dendrite grows. That new dendrite is learning.

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Rule 1: New dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what is already there.

When the message (new information the reader is reading) reaches the neuron ends (end buds), the end buds look for other dendrites on other neurons that have related infor-mation (prior knowledge). Remember, learning only occurs when the reader interconnects new information with what they already knows (prior knowledge).

If the brain finds other dendrites of related knowledge, a new dendrite grows. That new dendrite is learning.

Every time we learn something new, brain cells grow new dendrites. In order for brain cells to grow new

dendrite, new information being learned must find older dendrites with related information (prior knowledge)

Developing Cognitive Strategies Around How the Brain Forgets

Most forgetting occurs within the first twenty-four hours if newly grown dendrites (learning) are not strengthened and this continues for what was read until the average college stu-dent forgets eighty percent of what was read after only two weeks. The more often the neural pathways of new learning are activated, the stronger and faster the those pathways be-comes and the more resistant to being pruned (reabsorbed by the brain) they are.

Knowing this, the reader can use mental processes to strengthen newly grown dendrites. Anything the reader does to tie new information to old information not only helps con-struct meaning but also used following learning strengthens dendrites. For example, saying what was learned in the reader’s own words (reciting) ties new information to the reader’s prior knowledge. How do we strengthen new dendrites (new learning?

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Prior knowledge

Other dendrites

The second physiological change for deep learning requires the re-exposure of newly learned information.

Every time the learner is re-exposed to newly learned information the myelin sheath (fatty insulation) on the brain cell’s axon wraps another layer of fat around the axon with a resulting increase of speed in transmission and processing down that neural pathway of learning. This increase the speed of transmission and processing up to 3oo times down that neural pathway to the new dendrite of learning and protects the new dendrite from being pruned,

Learning strategies will be built on re-exposure to the new learning and on building thicker myelin layers along the axon of the neural pathway to the brain cells related to the new learning by re-exposure with elaboration (internal dialogue, writing to learn, etc.).

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Myelin Sheath

“Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. When we fire our circuits in the right way – when we practice cognitive strategies when reading– our myelin responds by wrapping layers around the that neural circuit, each new layer adding a bit more skill and speed. The thicker the myelin gets, the better it insulates, and the faster and more accurate our movements and thoughts become.” (Coyle, 2010)

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The third physiological change requires the interconnectedness of lots of related information which results in vast of neural networks as concepts are systematically organized.

The more dendrites of prior knowledge that new information encounter the brain looks for related knowledge in the brain upon which to grow new dendrites of learning, the more neural pathways the learner has for retrieving that information in the future.

The learning strategies will build on strengthening all the interconnections (new dendrites) on other brain cells that also grew new dendrites. Think about it this way: if you saw a new kind of car, your brain would find brain cells among the 200 billion you have all over the brain where information about cars is stored and grow new dendrites al those locations. For example, you know about kinds of cars (new dendrites grow), your first car (new dendrites grow) and so on among all the thousands of pieces of information you know about cars.

Recap of Neurological Learning that Form the Basis of the Thinking Skills Taught in RDG 185

First, no learning occurs until the brain finds dendrites of prior knowledge in the brain upon which the new information can anchor by growing new dendrites of new learning. The first level of thinking strategies to be learned in RDG 185 focus on ensuring that the learner activates prior knowledge that is related to what is being learned.

Second, once learning has occurred, the major function of the thinking strategies taught is to strengthen new learning. The first level of strengthening learning is re-exposure to the information newly learned. The second level of strengthening learning is re-exposure to the information newly learned with elaboration. The build the myelin sheath coating the brain cells axons in the neural pathway to the new information, thereby speeding up the transmission and processing of that information and providing protection from pruning (reabsorbing the dendrites of newly learned information by the brain and forgetting).

Third. the brain doesn’t just create a single new dendrite for newly learned information. The brain has 200 billion brain cells and the brain will grow new dendrites on dendrites of prior knowledge on any of them they can find. For example, if I read that I should eat oatmeal for breakfast, I already have hundreds upon hundreds of dendrites on all kind of prior knowledge about breakfast foods, cereals, brands, etc. The more the brain makes interconnections with all these

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dendrites of prior knowledge about food and breakfast foods, the more new dendrites that are grown creating neural networks of interrelated information thereby creating many pathways to new information. The first level of thinking skills taught in RDG 185 for creating neural networks is helpig the learner ask the right questions for activating neural networks of prior knowledge. The second level is deliberately organizing new information within the organized knowledge the learner already has or helping the learner create conceptual frameworks of prior knowledge for understand new information.

Quick Videos on How the Brain Learns (click on red or go to website)

Growing New Dendrites - 6 ½ minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6_7_JFkuBY

Description: an illustrated explanation of how the growing of new dendrites is learning

Remembering and Forgetting – 9 ½ minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON7_g_y0-1Y

Description: a continuation of the above video with an explanation of how to strengthen new dendrites and pruning.

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CHAPTER 3

Internal Dialogue

The Power of QuestionsExcerpt from How We Learn:“We construct knowledge by asking ques-tions. Questions serve several functions: they point to holes in our knowledge and memory structures and are critical for indexing the in-formation that we attain when we develop an answer for that question.” (Bain, How We Learn)

SECTION 1

Internal Dialogue

One of the most powerful c o g n i t i v e s t r a t e g i e s t h e r e a d e r c a n a p p l y w h e n stepping back and reflecting before, during, and after r e a d i n g i s r e - e x p o s i n g themselves what is being learned with elaboration.

Rules of Consolidation

Rule Two: “Re-expose yourself to the information being learned with elaboration” You are elaborating any time you are having an internal dialogue (creating mental images or having a mental conversation with yourself. You are using one of the most powerful elaboration strategies for storing infor-mation in long-term memory – Saying what you have just learned in your own words. (Anything you do to interconnect what you are learning to what you already know is an elabora-tion.) Writing to learn (see below) is very powerful for helping clarify, organize and construct meaning as one surveys.

Elaboration refers to any method of "thinking about new ideas and prior knowledge together" so the two become more deeply interconnected.

Learning takes place when the new information becomes a part of the existing knowledge network.

When elaborated and richly integrated, the new knowledge be-comes meaningful and useful.

Knowledge can be called "meaningful" only after it is richly in-terconnected with related knowledge. Knowledge can be called "useful" only if you can access it under appropriate cir-cumstances. Meaningful knowledge is filed and cross refer-enced with other knowledge to which it is connected. Useful knowledge is filed and cross-referenced in the brain when you use elaboration strategies, so that you can find it when you need it.

Internal Dialogue

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Stuff to know about Internal Dialogue

Bringing Prior Knowledge Into Consciousness Through Internal Dialogue

How to Start?

The most elementary steps are (1) to learn when and where to use questions and deeper inquiry, (2) initially learn sets of questions to ask to force the seeking of prior experiences, and (3) most important, initially write down the internal dialogue to learn how to get in touch with and strengthen internal dia-logue.

(1) Questions and (2) Deeper Inquiry Questions

1. Questions:

Change headings, subheadings, 1st sentences in paragraphs, and new concepts into questions.

2. Deeper Inquiry Questions That Should Be Built Into moments of Reflection:

•What do I already know about what I am reading?

•Are there examples and can I think of examples?

•How is this like or different that what I know?

•Where is this going?

•Can I visualize what I just learned?

•Can I change this to another form, a song, poem, painting. Etc.

To learn how to get in touch with prior knowledge and de-velop internal dialogue, the reader must externally express their internal conversation. There are many ways of doing this, but the most straight forward ways are talking about their internal dialogue or writing about their internal dia-logue. Writing down their internal dialogue forces the reader to slow down and get in touch with the mental process (think-ing about thinking – make thinking visible) while refining those processes at a much deeper level.

Internal Dialogue and Organizing Information into Conceptual Frameworks

Writing down internal dialogue is a “writing to learn” activity which with practice helps the learner refine their thinking and prepares them for much more meaningful and deeper mind maps. “Writing to learn” is a very important “writing across the curriculum” activity. Practicing writing down their inter-nal dialogue prepares the reader for reading discipline text-books and, very important, it prepares them for analyzing to use key words for mind mapping and synthesizing to see the relationships necessary to develop a conceptual framework us-ing mind mapping.

Notes to the Instructor that More Mature Students May FInd Interesting:

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Metacognition (thinking about ones thinking) is not an instinc-tive process; therefore deliberate efforts must be made by teachers and students to call attention to it when it is occur-ring. Doing so can be difficult because the process often oc-curs as an internal dialogue, meaning there are no tangible or verbal cues to aid in awareness (Bransford et al., 2000; Wolfe & Brush, 2000). Second, the most successful strategies for teaching metacognition require the complete reorganization of a student’s thinking process, which involves much more than simply pointing out when metacognition is occurring (Perkins & Grotzer, 1997).

Handelsman etal (2006) refers to metacognition as "the inter-nal dialogue about what is being learned", and state that it in-cludes "the process of setting challenging goals, identifying strategies to meet them, and monitoring progress toward them". The latter two aspects, in addition to addressing stu-dent's beliefs about learning, are also the focus of Lovett's ap-proaches to teaching metacognition (Lovett, 2008). (Appala-chia Educational Laboratory, 2005)

Bransford et al. (2000), warned that educators often make the misguided assumption that because metacognition takes the form of self-imposed internal conversation that students will develop this internal dialogue on their own. They emphati-cally state that this is not true. The point is that the better un-derstood the entire concept of metacognition becomes, the more sophisticated the thinking process becomes. When given metacognitive training the degree to which transfer occurs in different settings has been shown to increase (Bransford et al.

2000). However, significant discussion and practice with me-tacognition are required before students are able to suffi-ciently comprehend and accommodate the concept. In a highly recommended book by Bain (2004) that discusses the practices of the best college teachers, the concept of metacog-nition is mentioned and strongly implied throughout. To get students thinking about their thinking is an essential first step to their mental processes of learning and synthesis that are critical harbingers of transfer. (Ramocki, 2007)

Donovan, Bransford, and Pellegrino (1999) describe metacog-nition as an internal dialogue that in- dividuals develop in or-der to build skills for predicting learning outcomes and moni-toring comprehension. (Gorsky, 2004)

Because metacognition often takes the form of an internal dia-logue, many students may be unaware of its importance un-less the processes are explicitly emphasized by teachers. (Bransford, 1999)

Developing Internal Dialogue – SLOW DOWN

Metacognition is about helping the reader tae control of their reading – think about their thinking or make their thinking visible.

As we have just read, it is a mistake to think that readers will necessarily develop internal dialogue on their own or will learn how to engage in internal dialogue if the processes are not explicitly emphasized by instructors. It is very important that in developing internal dialogue driven by inquiry that the

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reader slows down and consciously engages in carefully de-signed inquiry and has an internal conversation with them-selves and the text. This is the most difficult part of helping readers develop internal dialogue. Telling the reader to slow down and ask questions and engage in internal conversation with themselves and the text will not work.

Instructional Strategies

This module will focus on two instructional strategies that slow the reader down and has them begin to drop their rush to finish reading – a common unproductive reading habit of mind. The first instructional reading strategy is collaborative modeling and scaffolding of a specific set of inquiry questions while reading. The second instructional strategy will focus on a writing to learn strategy – Writing to Learn: Monitoring In-ternal Dialogue with a specific set of inquiry questions for in-ternal dialogue. The weaker the reader’s internal dialogue, the more valuable the Monitoring Internal Dialogue strategy (sec-ond) becomes.

Inquiry Questions for Internal Dialogue

Here are the core Inquiry Internal Dialogue questions that is the focus for moving surface learning to deep learning:

Internal Dialogue:

1. What do I already know?

2. Are there examples in the book and do I know any exam-ples of the concept being considered?

3. How is what I am reading like or different than what I al-ready know?

4. Can I predict where this is going?

5. How has the author organized the information in this read-ing selection and how does it relate to prior readings?

Instructional Strategy 1: Modeling and Scaffolding In-quiry Internal Dialogue

Any time a cognitive strategy is used, Inquiry Internal Dia-logue questions should be used with it. For example, if the first sentence of a paragraph is changed to a question, the fol-lowing inquiry questions should be asked.

1. What do I already know?

2. Are there examples in the book and do I know any exam-ples of the concept being considered?

3. How is what I am reading like or different than what I al-ready know?

4. Can I predict where this is going?

5. How has the author organized the information in this read-ing selection and how does it relate to prior readings?

Instructional Strategy 2: Writing to Learn: Monitor-ing Internal Dialogue (VERY POWERFUL – this is a core activity for slowing down and developing meta-cognition)

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In instructional strategy 2, it is important to slow the student down and focus on the information at hand. Instructional Strategy 2 is a writing to learn strategy.

* When the reader uses a cognitive strategy such as question or recite, slow down and take the time to answer the inquiry questions before moving on. It take time for this activity to be-come automatic (build neural networks for the process)

Actively promote the development of students’ metacognitive skills

“Metacognition refers to thinking about thinking in general, and reflecting on and regulating one’s own thinking and learn-ing in particular. It is a kind of internal dialogue in which the learner monitors his or her own developing skills, understand-ing of concepts and mental approaches to the learning as it oc-curs.” (ACT Government: 2004) (School Excellence Initiative, 2004)

Provide opportunities for students to have an internal dia-logue that mental verbalizes their thinking, which can then be shared with others.

Self-Assessment and Reflection

Encouraging reflection and self-assessment helps students de-velop important metacognitive skills that help them monitor their own thinking and learning. Students learn to think about learning as well as think about thinking. The distinction here is that self-assessment helps students think about how they

make sense of the content. Students’ self-assessments and re-flections provide valuable feedback to the teacher to inform how students’ ideas have changed or deepened over the course of instruction, how well students are aware of their learning, and the need to further differentiate instruction for individual students. (Keekey, 2008)

Metacognition is often an internal dialogue, but the teacher must model this thinking. This is what we do when we say that we are developing independent learners. (roos)

Studies of the learning process have found that students are more able to learn complex skills when they can think “meta-cognitively,” that is, when they think about their own thinking and performance so they can consciously monitor and change it. In fact, studies have found that successful writers engage in an internal dialogue in which they talk to themselves — some-times even muttering aloud — about audience, purpose, form, and content. They ask and answer for themselves certain ques-tions: Who are they writing for? Why? What do they know and what do they need to find out? They maintain this ongo-ing internal dialogue as they organize ideas, plan, draft, edit, and revise. Successful writers guide their thinking with meta-cognitive strategies that help them write purposefully. (Darling-Hammond)

Because metacognition often takes the form of an internal dia-logue, many students may be unaware of its importance un-less the processes are explicitly emphasized by teachers. (Bransford, 1999)

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Internal dialogue, a form of elaboration, causes the myelin sheath of fat to wrap additional layers of fat around the axon of the neural pathway being entertained making the speed of transmission and processing much faster. Elaboration taps many more dendrites of prior knowledge on other brain cells resulting in elaborate neural networks, which make retrieval faster and expands the amount of information working mem-ory can manipulate when recalled later. This results in deeper learning and greater competence.

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Myelin Sheath

“Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. When we fire our circuits in the right way – when we practice cognitive strategies when reading– our myelin responds by wrapping layers around the that neural circuit, each new layer adding a bit more skill and speed. The thicker the myelin gets, the better it insulates, and the faster and more accurate our movements and thoughts become.” (Coyle, 2010)

Deep learning involves evaluating new ideas, connecting those ideas to knowledge the reader already knows, and re-sults in understanding and long-term retention of concepts so that the ideas are useful - problem solving in unfamiliar con-texts. In contrast, surface learning is the unquestioning accep-tance of information and memorization of facts without mak-ing any connections with prior knowledge. This most often does not result in long-term understanding or retention of the concepts being learned. (Deep and Surface Learning, 2009). By having an internal dialogues about what is being learned (reflection), the learner has the opportunity to evaluate new ideas, connect those ideas to knowledge the reader already knows, and results in understanding and long-term retention of concepts so that the ideas become useful.

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CHAPTER 4

Developing CompetenceDeep learning involves evaluating new ideas, connecting those ideas to knowl-edge the reader already knows, and re-sults in understanding and long-term re-tention of concepts so that the ideas are useful - problem solving in unfamiliar contexts. In contrast, surface learning is the unquestioning acceptance of informa-tion and memorization of facts without making any connections with prior knowl-edge. This most often does not result in long-term understanding or retention of the concepts being learned. (Deep and Surface Learning, 2009)

SECTION 1

Why Deep Learning Matters

This chapter will provide an overview of the thinking strate-gies and habits of mind for deep learning that are necessary to develop competence in the study of dinosaurs. The following chapters will go into more depth on the application of these thinking strategies and habits of mind.

The next three sections will be organized around the thinking strategies and habits of mind for

• Developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge.

• Understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework.

• Organizing knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

These processes are the foundation of developing competence in the study of dinosaurs.

A Quick History of Reading Instruction

Many reading instruction programs, among them computer-based reading programs emphasize learning isolated reading skills and then testing for those isolated reading skills and declaring success if the student can successfully use those isolated reading skills. For example, MyReadingLab, emphasizes learning isolated skills such as main idea,

supporting detail, patterns of organization, inference, and purpose and tone. Many studies have found that the teaching of these isolated skills did little to foster transfer of learning. For examples, Complex processes appear to be more than the sum of heir parts, and skills do not seem to transfer automatically from one domain to another. Learning seems to take place best in the context of complex experiences and problem solving” (Starko. 2001); “Many critics have observed that instructional approaches to finding the main idea often involved sophisticated conventions that became ends in themselves and were too time consuming” (Carnegie, 2010).; and “For many years, reading comprehension instruction was based on a concept of reading as the application of a set of isolated skills such as finding main ideas, identifying cause and effect relationships, comparing and contrasting, and sequencing.” Durkin found that this type of instruction did little to help students learn how or when to use the skills, and these skills were not shown to enable comprehension” (Keys to Literacy).

Why the Need to Develop Competence?

As you just read, teaching isolated skills did little to foster transfer learning. In this college reading course, the key is transfer learning. Transfer learning means that what you learn about dinosaurs must be learned in a way that it can be easily retrieved from memory and can be used in new contexts to make decisions or solve problems.

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Resent research (Bransford, 2001) has found that in order to develop competence in an area of inquiry, the learner needs to:

• develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge,

• understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and

• organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. (Bransford, 2002)

Thinking Like an Expert Paleontologist

“Experts (those who have developed competence in their area of inquiry, here it will be dinosaurs) have acquired a great deal of content knowledge that is organized in ways that reflect a deep understanding of their subject matter. We turn now to the question of how experts’ knowledge is organized and how this affects their abilities to understand and represent problems. Their knowledge is not simply a list of facts and formulas that are relevant to their domain; instead, their knowledge is organized around core concepts or “big ideas” that guide their thinking about their domains. Experts’ thinking seems to be organized around big ideas in in their discipline (area of inquiry), such as Newton’s second law and how it would apply, while novices tend to perceive problem solving in in the discipline as memorizing, recalling, and manipulating equations to get answers” (Bransford, 2001).

What Do We Know about College Students and Transfer Learning?

The research on transfer learning has consistently found that college students are generally not successful in developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge, learning facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, or organizing knowledge in ways that are easily retrievable, which can be applied to new situations (problem-solving and decision making). “Educators and educational psychologists recognize transfer of learning as perhaps the most significant issue in all fields of instruction. Transfer of learning cuts across all educational domains, curricula, and methods. Despite its importance, research and experience clearly show that significant transfer of learning in either the classroom or in everyday life seldom occurs” (Haskell). Resent research has found that there are cognitive strategies and habits of mind that result in higher levels of transfer in learning (rigor). This paper will focus on the foundation of those findings – “understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework”, “developing a deep foundation for factual knowledge” (Bransford, 2001). The paper will also introduce the findings on the role of mylenation in deliberate practice that make deep learning and developing competence in an area of inquiry possible (Coyle, 2009). and introduce the concept of “habits of mind” (Conley, 2009).

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Transfer learning is the goal of education.

Paraphrasing David Conley, developing rigor in a discipline content course such as the study of dinosaurs would involve helping learners be aware that a given discipline content course consists of certain “big ideas” (theories and concepts) that are used in order to structure all of the detail that often overwhelms them and can help build mental scaffolds (conceptual frameworks) that lead to thinking like a scientist in the discipline content course. Short of this, learning becomes fragmented and isolated which interferes with transfer.

What Conley and Bransford are saying is that regardless of the discipline under consideration, in order to meet the rigor to become competent in any area of inquiry, the learner (preparing for college readiness or taking a credit-bearing general education course or technical course) needs to and the course needs to demand rigor. To develop competence in an area of inquiry, the learner needs to:

• develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge,

• understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and

• organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. (Bransford)

“A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that organizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly” (John Bransford).

Note: We will be looking at (1) developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (2) understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (3) organizing knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application as though they do not overlap in order to grasp the concepts; however, we they actually work together and will be in actual practice reinforcing one another.

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SECTION 2

Developing a Deep Foundation of Factual Knowledge

Developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge is about learning the concepts about dinosaurs in ways in which the learner recognizes not only how what they are learning is re-lated to what they already know, but also about how the facts and ideas are related to one another.

Reflection

First, the reader must be attending to what they are reading and mentally stepping back in their minds to evaluate and re-flect on the facts and ideas they are reading. Little happens of any depth unless these two aspects of reflection are not hap-pening as the reader is reading to learn.

When reading, the reader must stop as they read and reflect on what they are learning or they not store the information in the prefrontal cortex, which is the seat of planning, problem-solving, decision-making,, and application. Reflection enables the learner to take control learning when thinking strategies are applied during reflection.

Note: See chapter ???? on Reflection

Note: See Chapter ???????? on the Stage Metaphor ( the role of attention in working memory)

Note: See Appendix A - Multitasking

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Myelin Sheath

“Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. When we fire our circuits in the right way – when we practice cognitive strategies when reading– our myelin responds by wrapping layers around the that neural circuit, each new layer adding a bit more skill and speed. The thicker the myelin gets, the better it insulates, and the faster and more accurate our movements and thoughts become.” (Coyle, 2010)

Thinking Strategies

During those moments of reflection is when the most advan-tage of thinking strategies can take place. For developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge, it is important that strategies be use that move what is bing learned to long-term memory and the Rules of Consolidation are essential. The rules of consolidation tell you how and when to apply the rules. They are mental strategies that the learner initiates when there is something important to learn and forgetting needs to be minimized.

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Note:Read in Chapter ????? about the role of myelination. A process for speeding up the transmission and processing of in-formation, and for strengthening memory, which help ensure that a deep foundation of factual knowledge is achieved.

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Myelin Sheath

“Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. When we fire our circuits in the right way – when we practice cognitive strategies when reading– our myelin responds by wrapping layers around the that neural circuit, each new layer adding a bit more skill and speed. The thicker the myelin gets, the better it insulates, and the faster and more accurate our movements and thoughts become.” (Coyle, 2010)

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SECTION 3

Understanding Facts and Ideas in the Context of a Conceptual Framework

Understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework is the key to transfer learning and the goal of edu-cation.

The Learner Needs a Conceptual Framework or Big Picture

It is essential that the learner either brings a conceptual frame-work of prior knowledge, or that they build one with the help of the textbooks’s author, or with help from the instructor or all the preceding to the learning experience; otherwise learn-ing is shallow. For example, the dinosaur textbook states in the introduction that the first three chapters provide the back-ground that can provide the context to learning facts and ideas presented in later chapters. This provides you as the learner the opportunity to broadly define overarching con-cepts about dinosaurs and systematically organize them so that later learning can be deeper and transferable.

You will learn how to use graphic organizers to visually de-velop a conceptual framework within which all new facts and ideas relate.

It is the conceptual framework that breathes excitement, curi-osity, and adventure in the learning process. Without a concep-tual framework within which to understand, words are just so much noise; however, with the “big questions” there are no limits to the creativity of the human mind.

John Bransford in his book on human learning summed it up best; “A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that organizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly.” (Bransford)

And again when he wrote, Contrary to popular belief, learning basic facts is not a prerequisite for creative thinking and problem solving -- it's the other way around. Once you grasp the big concepts around a subject, good thinking will lead you to the important facts. (John Bransford)

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SECTION 4Organizing Kowledge in Ways that Facilitate Retrieval and Application

It is the organizing of knowledge that expands its potential meanings. The brain seeks to interconnect all new experience with prior knowledge and everything the learner can do to help organize information for the brain makes it easier to re-trieve and more applicable in new situation.

Dinosaurs are Bird-like Animals

It was the organizing brain that organized one clue after an-other from fossils and the biology of living animals that opened the door to the insight that dinosaurs are bird-like ani-mals. The power of the human brain to organize and build on others organization while studying fossils that solved one of the greatest mysteries in dinosaur study history.

It is when the brain begins to organize that it truly begins to see, increase the retrieval of what is being learned, and apply what is being learned to new situations. That is what then makes learning exciting; until then, information is just a lot of noise to be memorized and regurgitated and forgotten.

Mind Maps

Mind mapping is a learning tool for graphically organ-izing information to show connections and relation-ships.

Chunking - The brain learns complex routines by automatically grouping information into chunks. Chunking enables learners to compare two chunks easily instead of having to compare dozens items. “Becoming an expert in any field seems to involve creating large numbers of chunks, which enables you to

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Triassic

Period

Upper

MiddleLower

Theropods - bird-like animalsAlberti - sandstone, limestone, slate

Between Permian and Jurassic Periods

make faster and better decisions. “Having an explicit understanding of this process rather than just doing it implicitly will help you chunk more often and more efficiently” (Rock).

a

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CHAPTER 5

Reflection: Mindfulness

In accelerated learning courses, there is no time for isolated units of reading in-struction. It is important that cognitive strategies and habits of mind are taught in the context of the content of the of the paired content course. A form of metacog-nition, reflection, is seldom actually taught, but is the essence of active learn-ing. In this chapter the skill of reflecting and applying cognitive strategies is dis-cussed. The very foundation of develop-ing competence in an area of inquiry rests on the ability to observe ones own thinking and apply learning strategies that consolidate that being learned.

SECTION 1

Reflection

At the 2012 Kentucky Association of Developmental Educa-tion Conference, Joe Cuseo projected onto the screen an im-age of the brain. He explained that just understanding some-thing did not move that information into long term memory. He pointed out that MRIs have now shown that reflection on that which was understood moved the information to long-term memory.

This chapter is about what learners can do during those mo-ments of reflection when the brain is focused on what the reader needs to do while reading to consolidate newly learned information into long-term memory - reflection. John Medina has pulled the findings on the most important mental proc-esses that a learner should engage in during moments of reflec-tion. Daniel Coyle has illustrated how the brain increases men-tal processing and transmission, as well as recall when core mental processes are applied during those moments of reflec-tion. David Rock has created a metaphor that illustrates mind-fulness (metacognition or thinking about thinking) in working memory. This chapter will offer practical strategies and habits of mind that readers have to learn - they have to be learned. Ken Bain has discovered what successful college students do in those moments of reflection while learning. All of these con-tributions help us move closer to understanding the strategies (decision-making processes) that are essential to deep learn-ing in those temporal spaces between understanding and mak-ing new learning useful.

It is the stepping back and observing one thinking (reflection) that is the foundation upon which deep learning builds.

Stepping back and reflecting is about taking control of learn-ing while reading. Reflection gives us the space of mind in which we can consider various options for learning and then choose the most appropriate ones. This process of awareness is referred to by many names - metacognition, reflection, mindfulness; however, they all refer to actively taking control of ones thinking while learning.

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The rest of this paper focuses on why students need to reflect and what they need to do mentally while re-flecting.

Dendrites are LearningThe neuron (brain cell) is the first of two illustrations you will learn that will help you understand how learning occurs in the brain. In later chapters when you see the illustration that on the following page; it will remind you about how the brain learns and that you have control over what is happening when you read to learn.

The first drawing on the opposite page is of a neuron (brain cell). Looking from left to right at the first drawing, the filament-like structures are dendrites. New information enter the brain cell through these dendrites and travel through the cell body and down the axon to the end buds. If the signal finds information in other brain cells (their dendrites are prior learning) that is related to the new information, then a dendrite grows (learning) on the dendrite of related informa-tion (prior knowledge). See second drawing at the bottom of the opposite page.

No learning occurs unless new information being learned in-terconnects with the learner’s prior knowledge. This fact will be the foundation for understanding how learning occurs when one uses learning strategies to learn when reading.

If the end buds find other dendrites of related knowledge, a new dendrite grows. That new dendrite is learning.

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Rule 1: New dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what is already there.

However, understanding is not enough. Dendrites begin to be reabsorbed in the brain almost immediately. During the read-ing process, the reader has to be able to step back and think about what they are learning as they are learning. This is called reflection, mindfulness, or metacognition. It is an inter-nal dialogue (mental conversation) about the meaning being constructed as the brain looks for prior knowledge (previously constructed dendrites). There are a number of cognitive strate-gies that the reader can employ during reflection to move newly learned information to long-term memory. If the learner deliberately practices these cognitive strategies, the strategies themselves move to long-term memory and become automatic. When this happens, the strategies are referred to as metacognitive strategies. The ultimate goal is learn how to

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use cognitive strategies during reflection (those moments of reflection during reading when the reader momentarily ob-serves their own thinking) often enough for these strategies to become automatic. If they do not become automatic, working memory does not have enough capacity to store and manipu-late what the reader is learning and it is forgotten or not stored deeply enough to be recalled easily.

Reflection

Let’s take a look at an example of using a cognitive strategy while reflecting while reading. (Words in parentheses and ital-ics) are the internal dialogue that is occurring during this ex-ample of reading about a type of business in an introduction to dinosaur textbook. A passage from a later chapter (Ch. 11, p. 169) was deliberately chosen to illustrate how important learning deeply concepts in earlier chapters is.

The reader is reading the following sentence:

Dinosaur Footprints

Dinosaur footprints have been discovered in Up-per Triassic, through Upper Cretaceous rocks and on all the continents except Antarctica. In deed, in many regions dinosaur footprints are of-ten the only dinosaur fossils known.

The heading (Dinosaur Footprints) indicates that it is impor-tant. At this point, the reader should be stepping back in their minds and reflecting on what they know about dinosaur foot-

prints. STOP: Reflect/Internal Dialogue:(I have read about dinosaur footprints before. Some were found in the rocks of a dry riverbed (prior knowledge). I do not know what the refer-ence to Upper Triassic and Upper Cretaceous rocks are. I as-sume they refer to a period in time when there were dino-saurs. I didn’t know that dinosaur footprint are fossils. I need to broaden how I think about fossils.) The reflection in which the reader attempts to consciously make connections with what they already know is the use of a cognitive strategy the reader is applying deliberately to make numerous intercon-nection with prior knowledge, thus creating a neural network for the concept of sole proprietorships. The reader is also re-exposing themselves to the concept and having an internal dia-logue. This internal ideologue the reader is having is referred to as elaboration, a deliberate attempt by the reader to men-tally make connections between what is being learned and prior knowledge.

Let’s take a minute to pull up in chapter three (Ch. 3, p. 38) the passages that define and describe Triassic rock. I f the learner had learned deeply the information of Triassic rock when they read chapter 3, they would have been able to read the passage on dinosaur footprints. Because he (I) didn’t, I am not able to completely understand dinosaur footprints within an understanding that rock layers represent a time period. Now let’s read the passage on Triassic rock in chapter 3. The italicized sentences within and after to passage will be the thoughts and strategies the reader is using to learn deeply.

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The Triassic Period (What do I know about the Triassic pe-riod? Nothing. I can assume that it is a period of time when some of the dinosaurs lived.)

German geologist Friedrich August von Alberti coined the term Triassic in 1834. (I have a friend named Albert and I will try and associate with mental images my friend associ-ated with what I learn about the.Triassic period.) I studying the salt deposits in Germany, Alberti found three different rock separations, an older one dominated by sandstone, an in-termediate one mostly of limestone, and a younger one mostly of shale. (I will picture my friend Albert paving a road using limestone. Limestone rock is the rock most used to pave roads. I am familiar with sandstone, so I will picture Albert rollig the pavement smooth using a big sandstone rock.) All three sequences were younger than rocks identified as Per-mian and Jurassic (Apparently there are two other rock peri-ods I should know or learn about. I looked in the index and explanation of the Jurassic Period will follow the explanation for Triassic rocks. Permian rocks are not in the index, so i will just store them as earlier than Triassic rocks. As I look at the drawing of the rock periods on page 41,, I find that the shale rock is between the limestone and sandstone rock. This seems not right based on what I read, so I will either ask my instructor or research it on the internet.)

Note: When the learner in the reading class gets to chapter 11 in the reading text, they will learn how to incorporate the Rules of Consolidation in their reflection and this will greatly deepen learning.

As the mature reader continues to read, they will step back and reflect on what they are learning - what they already know about what they are reading and/or how they might be able to use this information. Reflection is an ongoing process while reading; it is not just reflecting after reading; that is key to me-tacognition - thinking about ones own thinking as one are learning.

What is the Key Cognitive Strategy?

The key cognitive strategy around which all other cognitive strategies are built is re-exposure to the new informa-tion with elaboration. This is what the reader above was doing in a moment of reflection about sole proprietorships. The learner must re-expose themselves to the new informa-tion frequently and with internal dialogue on what they are learning. (Medina)

Six internal dialogue questions that readers need to learn to use as part of their internal dialogue for establishing a metacognitive approach to learning while reading are:

1.     What do I already know about what I am reading? (learn-ing – constructing meaning)

2.        How is what I am reading reinforce or contradict what I already know (compare and contrast)?

3.     What do concepts (terminology) introduced in textbooks have in common? (analyzing)

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4.     How are concepts (terminology) introduced in the text dif-ferent? (analyzing)

5.        Are the new concepts (terminology) part of a larger con-cept (ex. folkways and mores are types of norms)? (classifying – inductive reasoning)

6.     How are all the concepts in a reading related? (mind map-ping – systematically organizing – deductive reasoning - syn-thesizing)

What Has Happened in the Brain?

Before we continue lets’ take a look at what is happening in the brain in order to have a deeper understanding about why the reader needs to be reflecting and applying cognitive strate-gies when reading.

The reader must be paying attention to what is being read as paying attention to what is being read is what is in the reader’s working memory. Working memory is those areas of the brain that stores and manipulates new information that the reader is holding in awareness at any moment. It is where cognitive strategies are applied to move new information to long-term memory where it can be later retrieved to be used in new situations. David Rock uses the Stage Metaphor to help one visually grasp what is happening.

Let’s look at what the Stage Metaphor represents (see picture on opposite page). First the Stage Metaphor has a stage and the stage represents working memory. Working memory is

where information you are reading is stored temporarily (20 to 30 seconds) before it is forgotten. Even more limiting, working memory can only hold about 4 unrelated items of in-formation before new information starts to replace those items.

In the stage metaphor there are actors, who represent new information the reader is encountering. Also in the Stage Metaphor is the audience, which represents prior knowl-edge. The Stage Metaphor also has stage hands, who repre-sent learning strategies that the reader will need to manipu-late the actors and audience once they are on the stage.

THE$STAGE$Working$Memory$

Actor:$New$informa,on$

Stage:$Prefrontal$Cortex$–$where$

decisions$are$made$

Audience:$Prior$Knowledge$C$dendrites$

The$Stage:$metaphor$for$prefrontal$cortex$

ReCexpose$

Learning$StrategiesThe$

Stage$Metaphor$

Elaborate$ Time$Interval$

QuesJon$ Recite$Internal$Dialogue$

Prior$Knowledge$

20<30$seconds$to$do$something:$think$about$thinking$

We$learned$in$SecJon$1$is$that$no$learning$occurs$unless$new$informaJon$is$Jed$to$what$the$reader$already$knows.$What$the$reader$already$knows$is$referred$to$as$prior%knowledge.$

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THE STAGE METAPHOR Videos (Working Memory)

The Stage Metaphor: Part 1 (8 ½ minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SMwwmAympY

(Explanation of The Stage Metaphor – what does the learner need to do between new information coming into the brain and growing and strengthening dendrites of new learning. These four videos construct the overarching goals (conceptual framework) of CMS 185.

The Stage Metaphor: Part 2 (9 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrv4Pv78fpc

(Continuation of explanation of The Stage Metaphor – what does the learner need to do between new information coming into the brain and growing and strengthening dendrites of new learning.)

Thinking The Stage Strategies: Part 3 (7 ½ minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-bA8Opvr-8

(Examples of how The Stage Metaphor can be used to learn to think metacognitively to apply learning strategies)

Thinking The Stage Strategies: Part 4 (8 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwtd8N3bD90

The Point

The point of the Stage Metaphor is to remind the reader when they are reading to learn that they have very little time to store and manipulate new information you are reading before it dis-appears. It reminds them that reading just hoping to remem-ber what they are reading just because it was read just doesn’t work. It reminds them that they must try and connect new in-formation to prior knowledge before learning occurs. It re-minds them that they must do something mentally if they want learn in a way that makes the information useful to them later. For example, asking oneself what you already know about what you are learning.

The Observer in Metacognition

“In the stage metaphor, the actors represent conscious infor-mation. The audience members represent information in your brain just below conscious awareness, such as memories and habits (prior knowledge). Then there is the director. The direc-tor is a metaphor for the part of your awareness that stands outside of experience. This director can watch the show that is your life, make decisions about how your brain will respond, and even sometimes alter the script.

This self-awareness is our ability to pause before we react, Sei-gel explains. “It gives us the space of mind in which we can consider various options and then choose the most appropri-ate ones.”

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Knowledge of your brain is one thing, but you also need to be aware of what your brain is doing at any moment for any knowledge to be useful. People who score high on a mindful-ness scale are more aware of their unconscious processes. Ad-ditionally these people have more cognitive control, and a greater ability to shape what they do and what they say than do people lower on the mindfulness scale. 

Activating your director (the part of ones mind that observes what ones brain is doing) is hard to do when there is a lot go-ing on or when you feel under pressure. Teasdale explains, “Mindfulness is a habit, it’s something the more one does the more likely one is to be in that mode with less and less ef-fort…. It’s a skill that can be learned. It’s assessing something we already have. Mindfulness isn’t difficult. What’s difficult is to remember to be mindful”

How do you remember to be mindful easily? It should be primed in your brain, something that’s at the top of your mind because it was a recent experience. One of the best ways of having your director handy is practicing using your director regularly. A number of studies now show that people who prac-tice activating their director do change the structure of their brains. They thicken specific regions of the cortex involved in cognitive control and switching attention.” (Rock)

“You need to keep the director right on the front of the audi-ence, so he can jump right on stage fast when needed. Having a director close to the stage helps keep your actors in line. A your director notices your brain’s quirks in real time, you get

better at putting words to experiences, which makes you faster at identifying subtle patterns as they occur. This skill in-creases your ability to make subtle changes.  Ax your mind makes changes in brain functioning in real time, you become more adaptive, responding in the most helpful way to every challenge that comes along” (Rock).

“About the Director – we’ve learned that being able to step out-side your experience and observe your mental function, which comes from an ability to focus attention in the moment, openly. It is clear that the ability to notice your own mental process in this way has a dramatic impact on your capacity to stop and separate yourself from an automatic train of thought. In other words, you discovered that being able to notice your own thinking process itself was central to knowing and chang-ing your brain” (Rock).

Awareness and control occur in working memory where new information being learned is temporarily stored and manipu-lated. The learner must bring to their conscious awareness (fo-cus on) the new information being learned and at the same time the learner must bring into conscious awareness relevant background information and then deploy cognitive strategies to manipulate what is being learned. Until that happens, new information being learned is quickly forgotten. If the learner is successful in holding new information in conscious aware-ness and at the same time bringing to that awareness relevant prior knowledge, and deploys cognitive strategies to manipu-late what is being learned, then new learning will move to long-term memory.

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Note, that to succeed the learner has to be able to mentally step back and observe the learning process as it is occurring in the brain. This is metacognition and it has to be taught.

The mature reader seeking sole proprietorships in bold print would mentally step back and reflect on what t know about sole proprietorships immediately; as they continued reading, they would step back and reflect on what they now about peo-ple who own their own businesses or business that have own owner; as they continued reading they would mentally step back and reflect on what main types of businesses are in other countries. Learning how to do this takes deliberate practice be-fore it becomes automatic and there are a number of mental activities that the readier can use during reflection, which we will look at later.

Let’s look at why in any reading course most of the time should be spent learning how to reflect and deliberately prac-tice reflecting to become efficient at reflecting and applying cognitive strategies when learning.

The Myelin Sheath

Recall that the key cognitive strategy around which all other cognitive strategies are built is re-exposure to the new infor-mation with elaboration. This is what the reader above was do-ing in a moment of reflection about sole proprietorships. The learner must re-expose themselves to the new information fre-quently and with internal dialogue on what they are learning. (Medina)

Here is what happens in the brain when the learner re-exposes themselves to the new information, especially with elaboration (ex. internal dialogue). See drawing below to fol-low the explanation to follow:

Axon

Neuron Ends

Cell Body

Dendrites

Myelin Sheath

“Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. When we fire our circuits in the right way – when we practice cognitive strategies when reading– our myelin responds by wrapping layers around the that neural circuit, each new layer adding a bit more skill and speed. The thicker the myelin gets, the better it insulates, and the faster and more accurate our movements and thoughts become.” (Coyle, 2010)

The Myelin Sheath

The Myelin Sheath of a neuron consists of fat-containing cells that insulate the axon from electrical activity. This insulation acts to increase the rate of transmission of signals.

Think of the myelin sheath as an insulator, which promotes electrical transmission and as a result strengthens neural path-way.

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The more myelin the circuit attracts, the stronger and faster its signal strength becomes. It turns out that myelin, not the nerves, is what builds the speed, precision and timing that cre-ates great learners.

The Point

1. All strong learning strategies help the learner interconnect new information to the learner’s prior knowledge, which re-sults in growing new dendrites (learning).

2. New dendrites formed by new learning start to be reab-sorbed by the brain (forgetting) if they are not strength-ened. The most powerful learning strategies increase the size of the myelin sheath (by re-exposure with elaboration) around the axons in the neural pathways leading to the new learning (dendrites). These strategies always involve re-exposing the learner to the newly learned information with elaboration. Elaboration means that the learner attempts with every re-exposure to the new learning to in some way have an dialogue about what they are learning that ties what they are learning to what they already know. For exam-ple, saying what is being learned in the learner’s own words.

The Reflection Strategies

The following is going to rely heavily on the strategies that Ken Bain found when researching what the best college stu-dents do.

In order to set the stage for what these students do and how reading instruction must step away from teaching isolated skill units, let’s look at how learning works in the real world.

Ken observed that “Our best students engage in all the cogni-tive strategies at the same time, They remember, understand, apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate as they read. many col-lege professors; however, organize their courses as if that list of mental activities has to be conquered in order rather than in an integrated fashion. They insist that students memorize large bodies of information before thinking about the data. But the human brain doesn’t work that way” (Bain, 2012). Reading instruction is often taught as if these mental activities are isolated separate; they are not and readers need to learn to engage in all the cognitive strategies at the same time as they are needed.

Bain’s research support john Medina, Daniel Coyle, David Rocks finding about learning that we have just explored. and he put it in a nutshell as follows: “What does the research tell us about how best to review material? Elaborate, elaborate, elaborate, Associate, associate, associate. Make connections, Ask questions, Evaluate. Play with words (new concepts) in your own mind. Have fun.

Develop an understanding before trying to remember.

Understanding requires a deep network of associations, and it is those intricate strands of connection that make recall even possible” (Bain, 2012).

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While reading, “Repeat, repeat, repeat” (Bain, 2012).

“Consider how the brain works. When you encounter some-thing new - let’s say a new work - you will begin to forget it im-mediately, and a day later you might not recall it at all. but a second exposure will extend the time you can remember” (Bain, 2012). Think of reflection while reading as enhancing the chances of recalling what is being learned as you are read-ing by reflecting and applying cognitive strategies. “Repetition will pay the greatest rewards if done in the midst of meaning-ful and elaborated work” (Bain, 2012).

“Testing is better than rehearsing.” (Bain, 2012). A cognitive strategy during reflection is asking yourself if you really under-stood the information and can say explain the information in your own words. Self-testing understanding while reading and immediately following the introduction of a new concept is very powerful and necessary. This needs to be practiced until it is automatic.

Guessing and Predicting

Guessing and predicting before and as one is reading during moments of reflection is a powerful strategy. It is counter-intuitive, but effective. Let’s look at some research Ken Bain reported, “Suppose you begin by just guessing and getting something wrong. Will that help as much as trying to recall the correct answers? Shouldn’t you at least study first before attempting to remember something? If you just guess wildly before someone tells you the right answer (or read the right answer), you will undoubtedly get it wring, and wouldn’t that

practice of incorrect information diminish your learning? Quite the contrary, argues some recent research. IN experi-ments at the University of California at LosAngeles. Students were asked guess at a response first before seeing the correct one. The others studies first. THose who had generated possi-ble answers, even though they were all wrong, scored signifi-cantly higher than those who had spent their time reviewing the material first.

Other studies got the same results, even when those who read first had “copies of the article that highlighted and italicized all the material that would be on the exam.. Those who specu-lated first didn’t get the paper and they did significantly better on the final exam” (Bain, 2012).

Guessing and predicting before reading and while reading prime those neural pathways of related information makes the construction of meaning more likely.

Being wrong and making mistakes alerts the brain to pay at-tention and that attention is shifted to the correct answer. Bain recommends, “Speculate, sometimes wildly, about possi-ble solutions and connections

Related to this ideas is contrast.

Contrasts: Comparing and Contrasting During Reflection

Contrast - the brain sends signals down well worn pathways when learning; however, the brain learns by contrast -

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Brain, Comparing/Contrasting, and Learning

The Brain is a Natural Pattern Recognizer

When one looks at what the brain does with new information and prior knowledge, it becomes apparent that the brain is al-ways comparing new and prior knowledge. A metacognitive approach to reading to learn would take advantage of that fact.

“When students encounter something new, they try to match it or compare it with something that is already in their memory. Schank puts it this way: "When you learn new things, as you are all the time, the new knowledge must perturb the system in order to find its place in mem-ory in relation to what is already there. Does it amplify old knowledge, or contradict it? The mind needs to re-solve these questions as new knowledge appears, getting reminded of what it already knows or believes each time some new experience occurs. This process of reminding and comparison is a critical part of learning.” (Bain, How We Learn).

In the 1990s a committee of the National Research Council, led by John Bransford, Ann Brown, and Rodney Cocking con-cluded that metacognition is a key factor in learning that should be deliberately cultivated. They emphasized the par-ticularly important role that metacognition plays in promot-ing transfer learning. That is, students can more readily apply

knowledge acquired in one context to another context if they have more awareness of themselves as learners, if they moni-tor their strategies and resources, and if they assess their readi-ness for tests and other performances” (Linda Baker).

Think about what the following processes have in common: Consider the following processes that are often taught in isolation; however, following the pattern seeking na-ture of the brain, understanding and then using the the power of seeking contrasts as a cognitive strategy during reflection while reading can amp up learning.

Categorizing – commonality under a category title

Classifying – defining boundaries – comparison/contrast

Analyzing – separating wholes into parts by distinguishing boundaries

Synthesizing – combining new ideas into a complex whole

Prediction – matches between sensory input and prior knowledge

Figurative Language - comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity.

Analogy - comparison of two or more objects

Metaphor – implied comparison between two unlike things

Simile - comparison of two unlike things that are alike in one way

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They all compare and contrast.

Then think about what elaborative strategies have in common when reflecting; here are a few:

Reciting – comparing and contrasting new information with prior knowledge expressing new learning in the language of new and prior knowledge.

Writing to Learn -(clarifying and organizing) by compari-son

Questioning (Inquiry) -  triggers prior knowledge in prepa-ration for comparing new and prior knowledge

Metacognition and Developing Internal Dialogue& Compare and Contrast

Handelsman etal (2006) refers to metacognition as "the internal dialogue about what is being learned", and state that it includes "the process of setting challenging goals, identifying strategies to meet them, and monitor-ing progress toward them". (Lovett, 2008). (Appala-chia Educational Laboratory, 2005)

Donovan, Bransford, and Pellegrino (1999) describe me-tacognition as an internal dialogue that individuals de-velop in order to build skills for predicting learning out-comes and monitoring comprehension. (Gorsky, 2004)

Internal Dialogue (Comparing and Contrasting)

Below are six internal compare and contrast dialogue ques-tions that readers need to learn to use as part of their internal dialogue for establishing a metacognitive approach to learning while reading.

1.     What do I already know about what I am reading? (learn-ing – constructing meaning)

2.        How is what I am reading reinforce or contradict what I already know (compare and contrast)?

3.     What do concepts (terminology) introduced in textbooks have in common? (analyzing)

4.     How are concepts (terminology) introduced in the text dif-ferent? (analyzing)

5.        Are the new concepts (terminology) part of a larger con-cept (ex. folkways and mores are types of norms)? (classifying – inductive reasoning)

6.        How are all the concepts in a reading related? (mentally mind mapping – systematically organizing – deductive reason-ing - synthesizing)

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Helping Novice learners to Take Actively Control of Their Thinking - Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal teaching can take many forms but at its essence it refers to an instructional activity that takes place in the form of a dialogue between teachers and students regarding segments of text. In its initial form the purpose of reciprocal teaching is to facilitate a group effort between teacher and stu-dents as well as among students in the task of bringing mean-ing to the text. Within the context of developing in an area of inquiry, the purpose goes beyond constructing meaning to also to including incorporating mental processes within those moments of reflection that foster developing a deep founda-tion of factual knowledge, understanding facts and ideas i the context of a conceptual framework, while organizing knowl-edge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

Effective reciprocal teaching lessons include scaffolding, in which the instructor models reflection while reading aloud (ex-plaining the thinking about thinking that is going on as the in-structor reads and then gradually increasing having the stu-dent model reflective thinking aloud until the instructor is out of the process.

Many students are unaware or are only vaguely aware that they can observe their own thinking and that old habits of reading through sentence after sentence through a reading se-lection are very inefficient. Reflection has to be taught and de-liberately practiced until the neural networks are fully devel-oped and the myelin sheath on neuron axons make the proc-

ess automatic at which time the cognitive strategies become metacognitive strategies.

Scaffolding Process

In the scaffolding process, the instructor points out aloud all the reflective thinking going on while reading; however, the instructor can focus specifically on (draw attention to) any one of the cognitive strategies he or she is employing in the reading process to emphasize and have the student model.

For example, if the focus is on inquiry such as how is what I am reading like or different than what I already know the in-structor will pay particular attention to passages that compare and contrast. For example if the reading passages are compar-ing normal and abnormal behavior in a psychology text, the instructor will model the active reflection of noting the com-parison. The instructor will note any of the following compari-son pattern of organization as he or she model reflecting.

Categorizing – commonality under a category title

Classifying – defining boundaries – comparison/contrast

Analyzing – separating wholes into parts by distinguishing boundaries

Synthesizing – combining new ideas into a complex whole

Prediction – matches between sensory input and prior knowledge

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Figurative Language - comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity.

Analogy - comparison of two or more objects

Metaphor – implied comparison between two unlike things

Simile - comparison of two unlike things that are alike in one way

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CHAPTER 6

Dinosaur Terminology

The reader will run into lots of unfamiliar terminology when reading about dino-saurs and pronunciation may at first be difficult. Your Dinosaur textbook has a Dinosaur Dictionary with all the dinosaur generic names that appear in the text with a guide to pronunciation (p. XXI)

SECTION 1

Terminology

Sometimes readers have difficulty pronouncing and/or learning dinosaur names. Below are a couple sources of help:

Dinosaur Name Pronunciation

If you would like to hear the pronunciation of the dino-saur names, you can go to the following web link and look for the little speaker next to the name and pronun-ciation. Click on the pronunciation ( have speaker turned on).

http://dinodictionary.com

Dinosaur Name Word Parts (Prefixes and Suffixes)

Learning word parts that have been put together to create dinosaurs names can be helpful in remember-ing dinosaur names.

http://www.cape.k12.mo.us/blanchard/hicks/Dinosaurs/Name%20Meanings.pdf

Imitation

When the instructor says the name, repeat it to yourself.

Rules of Consolidation

You will read about how to store new information in long-term memory using many mental strategies, but for now let’s get a little introduction so that you can be using the rules for remembering long-term.

Rule 1: Re-expose yourself to the names as often as possi-ble.

Rule 2: Always try to connect the dinosaur name to a pic-ture of the dinosaur.

Rule 3: Re-exposing yourself to the dinosaur name with elaboration is very powerful. Elaboration is doing any-thing to connect what is being learned to prior knowl-edge and an excellent strategy is to have a conversation with yourself about the dinosaur while using and pro-nouncing the name as often as possible.

Rule 4: Be sure to do this when you first encounter the word and again between 90 minutes and two hour and the next day.

Vocabulary and reading comprehension are closely linked because of the relationship between words and conceptual knowledge (Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982). Concept knowledge is an understanding of ideas, whereas words are labels for these ideas. (Education.Com)

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Adaptive Reading Concept Development

Before we begin exploring developing college-level vocabulary in the dinosaur class, we need to make a decision about the goal of reading in the dinosaur class. From an adaptive read-ing point of view, the goal of exit-level college reading courses is to develop cognitive skills and habits of mind within a field of inquiry (paleontology) that result in developing compe-tence in the given area. Research on brain learning tells us that it is essential to understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework if competence is to be developed in an area of inquiry. This provides us with significant clues for expanding vocabulary. When learning terminology related to understanding ideas about dinosaurs, it is essential that men-tal connections be made with what you already know abut di-nosaurs.

Contributing to the Construction of Meaning

Because construction of meaning in textbook reading is more than memorizing isolated vocabulary, meaning construction and learning demand interconnections to prior knowledge, which is dependent on (1) developing a deep foundation of fac-tual knowledge to draw upon, that must be (2) understood in the context of a conceptual framework, and (3) organized in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

Reading to Learn Conceptual Framework

All reading strategies will fall into the following three catego-ries of developing competence in paleontology.

Concept: Develop a Deep Foundation of Factual Knowledge

To develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge, readers have to have strategies for moving new information from working memory to long-term memory – Rules of Consolida-tion.

Concept: Understand Facts and Ideas in a the Context of a Conceptual Framework

A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that or-ganizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly. The reader must be able to recognize, and where needed, construct the conceptual framework for the content being learned – cognitive strategies, inquiry, and inter-nal dialogue – Rules of Consolidation.

Concept: Organize Knowledge in Ways that Facilitate Retrieval and Application

Developing competence in an area of inquiry depends on de-veloping neural networks of interconnections that facilitate re-trieval and application – writing to elaborate by organizing and clarifying (reading journals, etc.), creating graphic repre-

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sentations of the organization of content – Rules of Consolida-tion.

Distinguishing Between Concepts, Terminology and Vocabulary

What is a Concept?

A general idea derived or inferred from specific instances or occurrences.

For example, the concept that dinosaurs are bird-like ani-mals developed form many observations by paleontolo-gist from many sources - fossils, biology of birds. etc.

What is Terminology?

A specialized vocabulary of a field, the nomenclature. Terms in terminology have specific definitions within the field, which is not necessarily the same as their meaning in common use.

“College textbooks have organization that reflects the logic of the discipline represented or patterns that domi-nate thinking in the field.” (Caverly, 1999)

What is Vocabulary?

1. All the words of a language.

2. The sum of words used by, understood by, or at the command of a particular person or group.

Dinosaur Terminology Needs to be Understood in the context of a Conceptual Framework: What We Know about the Clues Authors Provide for Developing a Conceptual Framework:

Conceptual Framework and Text Clues

Authors provide lots of clues for finding the conceptual frame-work in texts and articles - all of which should be used but not taught as discrete skills. The main learning efforts should be directed toward the thinking involved within the context of authentic texts within the larger conceptual framework, not on discrete skills. We will look at reading to learn and writing to learn strategies later.

Each text clue is very important; however, from an adaptive reading point of view, the clues would not be taught as dis-crete skills (exercises that have the reader read a short pas-sage and for example find the main idea and supporting de-tails), but as clues to the conceptual framework of the text and how the clues contribute to the larger understanding and in-clusion in the text’s conceptual framework. The shift in adap-tive reading from traditional reading instruction (discrete skills) is a focus on constructing meaning and integrating that meaning within a conceptual framework in order to make later learning of related information easier to learn and to make concepts learned more transferable. In textbooks, the clues for the text’s conceptual framework are everywhere. The use of examples, statistics, and other details signals a main idea is being clarified, proved, or developed. The main idea is

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not an end in itself in adaptive reading, but rather information that helps the reader not only connect with their prior knowl-edge, but to help the reader figure out how new information is systematically organized within the a conceptual framework. With supporting details, emphasis is not on details, but on the use of details to understand the concept being learned and more importantly to understand the facts and ideas within a conceptual framework. Clues to the text’s conceptual frame-work can be found in titles, heads, subheads purpose sen-tences, preoutline, objectives, topic sentence, italics repletion, questions, numbering, visuals, details, organizational pat-terns, and summary.

College Textbooks are Organized Around Conceptual Frameworks

College textbooks are organized around conceptual frame-works within which writers select topics (subject(s) they want to write about) and support them with details. Finding the main idea by reading a paragraph and identifying the topic and supporting details alone is not sufficient for understand-ing the topics and supporting details within the context of a conceptual framework. In fact, it can isolate topics and details and fail to make connections within a conceptual framework. Textbooks are organized within a conceptual framework - group of concepts that are defined and systematically organ-ized to provide a focus, a rationale, and a tool for integrating and interpreting information. See conceptual framework for The Family (pp. 267-271 in College Reading).

Conceptual Framework and Prior Knowledge

Among the more solid research on learning is the fact that to learn, the learner must connect what they are learning to what they already know.

Note: New information only becomes “useful” once it has been interconnected to prior knowledge; it is the further inter-connection with conceptual frameworks that make the infor-mation “useful” (transferrable to new situations).

Note: Learners often read for meaning, but too often do not read to make the content useful. To make what is read “mean-ingful” the reader must interconnect what is read with their prior knowledge; however, to make what is read “useful”, the reader must understand the information in the context of a conceptual framework. That is, “it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related infor-mation more quickly” (Bransford, How People learn).

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CHAPTER 7

Reflection is Key

It is about Reflection

“Reflection is a meaning-making process that moves a learner from one experience (in this case reading) into the next with deeper understanding of its relationships with and connections to other experi-ences and ideas. It is the thread that makes continuity of learning possible” (Carol on Dewey, 2012).

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Additional Notes

Other Information You Need to Know About This Reading Course

The Goals

The goal of the course is about more than understanding what you read. The overarching goals are to be able to (1) use men-tal processes that enable you to use what you read in later rea-soning in new situations and to (2) make later related learning easier.

Mental Processes

The primary mental processes used in this course will be re-flection - slowing down while reading, thinking about what you are reading, and applying mental processes in those mo-ments of reflection that enable you to reach the goal stated above.

The course is about those moments of reflection while reading in which you will be asked inquire (ask questions) about your understanding of what you have just read and apply mental processes that enable you to reach the goal above. The goal of “being able (1) to use mental processes that enable you to use what you read in later reasoning in new situations and (2) to make later related learning easier” will call upon you to learn mental processes (thinking about your thinking) that fall un-der three categories.

- Developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge.

- Understanding facts and ideas in the context of a con-ceptual framework.

- Organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

A Few Notes About Reflection

“Reflection is a meaning-making process that moves a learner from one experience (in this case reading) into the next with deeper understanding of its rela-tionships with and connections to other experiences and ideas. It is the thread that makes continuity of learning possible” (Carol on Dewey, 2012).

Reflecting on what you are reading is the core mental process of this reading course.

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The first thing you should know is that stopping and reflecting as you read is essential for the information you are learning while reading to move to that part of your brain which enables you to meet the overarching goals of this course, that is the goals of “being able (1) to use what you read in later reasoning in new situations and (2) to make later related learning eas-ier.” That part of the brain is called the prefrontal cortex and it is where you make decisions. The prefrontal cortex, the part of the frontal lobes lying just behind the forehead, is often re-ferred to as the “CEO of the brain.”

• Focusing attention

• Organizing thoughts and problem solving

• Foreseeing and weighing possible consequences of behavior

• Considering the future and making predictions

• Forming strategies and planning

• Ability to balance short-term rewards with long term goals

• Shifting/adjusting behavior when situations change

• Impulse control and delaying gratification

• Modulation of intense emotions

• Inhibiting inappropriate behavior and initiating appropriate behavior

• Simultaneously considering multiple streams of information when faced with complex and challenging information (Wikipedia)

You can see why this is so important. Memorizing definitions, for instance, does not move that being memorized to the pre-frontal cortex unless the learner understands the meaning of the definition; that is where reflection or reflecting on that be-ing learned comes in.

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CHAPTER 8Willingness to Stay on Task

Perplexity is created when an individual encounters a situation whose “whole char-acter is not yet determined.) That is the meaning is not yet established. The inter-nal experience for the learner is one of disequilibrium an unsettledness. It is the yearning for balance that in turn drives the learner to something to resolve it - namely, to start the process of inquiry, or reflection” (Rodgers).

SECTION 1

Getting Unstuck: Yearning for Balance

Key: Recognizing When We are Stuck and Sticking with it Until We are Unstuck

Stuck

“Perplexity is created when an individual encounters a situa-tion whose “whole (understanding) is not yet determined.That is the meaning is not yet established. The internal experience for the learner is one of disequilibrium an unsettledness. It is the yearning for balance that in turn drives the learner to something to resolve it - namely, to start the process of in-quiry, or reflection” (Rodgers).

Getting Unstuck: Caring and Wanting to Take the Time to Explore Why One is Stuck

“A source of motivation is curiosity, without which there is lit-tle energy for the hard work of reflection: “until we under-stand, we are, if we have curiosity, troubled, baffled, and hence moved to inquire” (Dewey, 1933).) The trick is once sty-mied, caring or wanting to take the time to explore why one is stymied. “Curiosity, in contrast, bespeaks of a positive, wide-eyed attitude toward both one’s own learning and other’s learning” (Rodgers).

One of the major part of this reading course is (1) simply learn-ing to stop, mentally step back, and think about ones level of understanding of what is being read (reflection), and (2) being willing to learning in those moments how to become curious.

Curiosity

Curiosity-drive model

The curiosity-drive model states that experiences (reading) that are novel and complex create a sensation of uncertainty in the brain, a sensation perceived to be unpleasant. Curiosity acts as a means in which to dispel this uncertainty. By exhibit-ing curious and exploratory behavior, (learners) are able to learn more about the novel stimulus and thus reduce the state of uncertainty in the brain.

Optimal arousal model

The optimal-arousal model of curiosity posits that the brain aims to maintain an optimal level of arousal. If the stimulus is too intensely arousing, a “back-away” type behavior is en-gaged. In contrast, if the environment is boring and lacks excit-ing stimuli, exploratory behavior will be engaged until some-thing optimally arousing is encountered. In essence, the brain is searching for the perfect balance of arousal states.

Back-away Behavior and Exploratory Behavior

It is not unusual to find that some of us have developed “back-away” behaviors when we are reading and find ourselves not understanding. It has become a habit of mind. In this course,

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we will replace this habit of mind to back-away and replace it with with reflection behaviors, which drive curiosity. We will learn mental strategies that make “exploratory behaviors” more likely and more productive. We will be learning to care and wanting to construct meaning where just moments before we recognized we were stuck.

Beyond Being Stuck

An essential part of this course is how to learn (what to do mentally) that ensures that what we are learning is useful in the future. What we do mentally when learning affects where what we are learning is stored in the brain and where what we are learning is stored affects dramatically our ability to use the information being learned in the future. This is called “compe-tence learning” (transfer learning - useful in new situations).

“A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that or-ganizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly.” (Bransford)

We will learn how to :

• Develop a deef foundation of factual knowledge.

• Understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework.

• Organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

Important: In order to learn how to do these things, we have to be willing to first, stop and reflect on what we have just read and train our minds to become curious enough to stick with those moments when we are stuck about any place we have become stuck. Curiosity has to be relearned.

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SECTION 2

Other Factors Affecting Learning

In order to read to learn most efficiently, the reader must keep the physical brain in good condition. There are many things that impact the functioning of the brain while reading to learn.

How Does Exercise Affect Our Learning?

Dr. Ratey: Exercise Affects Learning In 3 Major Ways.

• Exercise improves the learner. Their senses are heightened, their focus and mood are improved, they’re less fidgety and tense, and they feel more motivated and invigorated.

• In addition to priming your state of mind, exercise influences learning directly, at the cellular level, improving your brain’s potential to log in and process new information. Exercise creates the environment for

our brain cells to wire together, which is the basic building block of learning. One of the key ingredients that exercise increases is BDNF, Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor, or what I call Miracle Gro for the brain -- as it truly is fertilizer.

• Exercise is also perhaps the best way to increase neurogenesis, which is the making of new neurons that happens on its own daily. The process is pumped up greatly after we exercise, by releasing factors to encourage the process of our innate stem cells to divide and then provide a healthier internal environment for them to grow up to be functioning nerve cells on their own.

How Does Sleep Affect Our Learning?

An interesting finding is how sleep after learning something helps cement the learning.   During sleep the brain turns recently acquired memories into long term memories. Sleep helps lock in the learning. This appears to be one of the main biological functions of sleep.

Sleep is particularly important in learning higher-order abstract concepts.   Research has found a significant correlation between the level of improvement in tests of learning and the amount of slow-wave sleep obtained.  People consolidate the new learning much better after a period of sleep than during a waking day.  Even an afternoon nap helps.

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Evidence now suggests that sleep is important in the processing of newly acquired information and for the long-term storage of memory. This has become known as “sleep-dependent memory processing.” Memories can be initially formed or “encoded” when the brain engages in an idea, image, thought, experience, or action, leading to the formation of a representation of this information in the brain. However, following encoding, this memory then appears to require “consolidation,” which refers to the process of memory stabilization over time, making it more resistant to interference or disruption. Memories can also be reconsolidated should they become destabilized, deteriorate, or require enhancement. Sleep has been implicated in all of these processes. (Walker, 2009)

Studies indicate that sleep is most helpful to memory when it happens soon after learning new things. Sleep seems to have a stabilizing effect on newly learned information, rooting it into memories that last and clearing the way for new information to be processed. (WebMD)

Dr. Krag: Anyone with longstanding problems with ADHD knows that when they are rested and calm they have fewer ADHD symptoms than when they are tired and anxious. Since TM helps create a calm and stable state, it clearly can help reduce the problems of ADHD.

How Does Food Affect Learning?

Throughout the brain, biochemical messengers called neurotransmitters help the brain make the right connections.

Food influences how these neurotransmitters operate. The more balanced the breakfast, the more balanced the brain function. There are two types of proteins that affect neurotransmitters: 1) neurostimulants, such as proteins containing tyrosine, affecting the alertness transmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, and 2) calming proteins that contain tryptophan, which relaxes the brain. A breakfast with the right balance of both stimulating and calming foods starts the clearner off with a brain that is primed to learn and emotions prepared to behave. Eating complex carbohydrates along with proteins helps to usher the amino acids from these proteins into the brain, so that the neurotransmitters can work better.

Complex carbohydrates and proteins act like biochemical partners for enhancing learning and behavior. This biochemical principle is called "synergy,"meaning that the combination of two nutrients works better than each one singly, sort of like 1 + 1 = 3.

Breakfast research. If your hectic household has a morning rush hour like the one in our home, you may feel that you don't have time for a healthy breakfast. But consider what studies have shown:

• Breakfast eaters are likely to achieve higher grades, pay closer attention, participate more in class discussions, and manage more complex academic problems than breakfast skippers.

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• Breakfast skippers are more likely to be inattentive, sluggish, and make lower grades.

• Breakfast skippers are more likely to show erratic eating patterns throughout the day, eat less nutritious foods, and give into junk-food cravings. They may crave a mid- morning sugar fix because they can't make it all the way to lunchtime on an empty fuel tank.

• Some learners are more vulnerable to the effects of missing breakfast than others. The effects on behavior and learning as a result of missing breakfast or eating a breakfast that is not very nutritious vary from learner to learner.

• Whether or not learning eat breakfast affects their learning, but so does what they eat. Learners who eat a breakfast containing both complex carbohydrates and proteins in equivalent amounts of calories tend to show better learning and performance than learners who eat primarily a high protein or a high carbohydrate breakfast. Breakfasts high in carbohydrates with little protein seem to sedate learners rather than stimulate their brain to learn.

• Learners eating high calcium foods for breakfast (e.g., dairy products) showed enhanced behavior and learning.

• Morning stress increases the levels of stress hormones in the bloodstream. This can affect behavior and learning in two ways. First, stress hormones themselves can bother the brain. Secondly, stress hormones such as cortisol increase carbohydrate craving throughout the day. The food choices

that result may affect behavior and learning in children who are sensitive to the ups and downs of blood sugar levels. Try to send your child off to school with a calm attitude, as well as a good breakfast.

• Breakfast sets the pattern for nutritious eating throughout the rest of the day. When learners miss breakfast to save time or to cut calories, they set themselves up for erratic binging and possibly overeating the rest of the day.

How Does Meditation affect Learning?

How to Meditate

S t e p 1Choose a word to use as a meditation focus, a mantra. You can use a name of God, a nonsense syllable, or a neutral word. Dr. Herbert Benson (see below) suggests the word "one." You want a word with no attached energy, a word that will let your mind float freely.

S t e p 2 Sit in a comfortable upright position in a chair that won't distract you by being too uncomfortable or too relaxing. The room can be dimly lighted as an aid to relaxation. Sit with legs uncrossed, feet flat on the floor if this is comfortable. Arms should be relaxed and resting at your sides. Palms up is traditional, but not required.

S t e p 3Close your eyes and allow your mind to settle itself. This may

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take a few minutes; just be patient. It is normal for the mind to keep chattering. This process isn't about stopping the mind's chatter; it's about not paying it any attention. The focus here is on the soul of the person that also has a mind.

S t e p 4 Using no effort, introduce you’re the word “one” into your thoughts. Let it do what it wants, bouncing around your brain, silently taking the place of your thoughts, even disappearing and reappearing. The important thing is to avoid effort. You don't need to work at this process. Be at peace with however it goes.

S t e p 5 Check the clock occasionally, again with no effort. Your goal is to spend 20 minutes with the word “one”. When the 20 minutes is up, keep your eyes closed. Say a silent thank you and let go of your mantra. Sit quietly for another minute or two, until you feel ready to face the world. Gradually open your eyes and go about your day.

This procedure ideally is practiced twice a day.

There is no wrong way to do this, other than to work at it. Quiet, uninterrupted conditions are best, but you can also do this in the middle of a busy airport terminal.

Always remember, it isn't about meditating perfectly, it's about meditating.

If you are interrupted, deal with the interruption, then just settle back in. Allow a few extra minutes in addition to your original 20.

Avoid having children or pets or any other distractions around you, if possible.

Make sure you sit upright to prevent accidentally falling asleep.

Don't use a timer; avoid having an alarm go off.

Other Affects of Meditation

Reduced Blood Pressure (Current Hypertension Reports, December 2007) This meta-analysis of 17 published studies from the medical literature (selected from over 100 published studies for their careful experimental design utilizing randomized controlled trials) reported on the effects of stress reduction techniques on elevated blood pressure in about 1000 subjects total.  The treatments employed included simple biofeedback, relaxation-assisted biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, stress management training, and the Transcendental Meditation program.  The results of statistical analyses showed that none of the first 4 treatment approaches demonstrated statistically significant reductions in elevated blood pressure, while the Transcendental Meditation program showed both significant clinical and statistical reductions in blood pressure.

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Enhanced Longevity (American Journal of Cardiology, May 2005) This study was a first-of-its-kind, long-term, randomized trial. It evaluated the death rates of 202 men and women, average age 71, who had mildly elevated blood pressure. Subjects in the study participated in the Transcendental Meditation program; behavioral techniques, such as mindfulness or progressive muscle relaxation; or health education. The study tracked subjects for up to 18 years. The study found that the TM program reduced death rates by 23%.

Reduced Blood Pressure and Use of Hypertensive Medication (American Journal of Hypertension, January 2005)This long-term, clinical trial evaluated 150 men and women, average age 49, with stage I hypertension (average blood pressure 142/95 mm Hg). Blood pressure in the Transcendental Meditation group reduced by nearly 6 mm diastolic pressure and by 3 mm systolic pressure. In contrast, blood pressure in the progressive muscle relaxation group and conventional health education classes reduced by 3 mm diastolic pressure, with no change in systolic pressure. Use of hypertensive medication was also found to significantly decrease in the TM group in comparison with controls.

Reduced Blood Pressure in At-risk Teens (American Journal of Hypertension, April, 2004) This $1.5 million, four-year, randomized, controlled study found that adolescents at risk for heart disease experienced decreased blood pressure as a result of the daily practice of Transcendental Meditation.

Relaxation of Blood Vessels (Psychosomatic Medicine, July 1999 and January 1999)A study of middle-aged adults reported that the Transcendental Meditation technique reduced blood pressure by reducing constriction of the blood vessels (vasoconstriction), thereby decreasing the risk of heart disease. A separately published study on adolescents with high normal blood pressure found that randomly assigned subjects who practiced the TM technique exhibited greater decreases in resting blood pressure, vascular resistance, and stress reactivity from pre-to post-treatment, compared to controls.

Relaxation of Blood Vessels (Psychosomatic Medicine, July 1999 and January 1999)A study of middle-aged adults reported that the Transcendental Meditation technique reduced blood pressure by reducing constriction of the blood vessels (vasoconstriction), thereby decreasing the risk of heart disease. A separately published study on adolescents with high normal blood pressure found that randomly assigned subjects who practiced the TM technique exhibited greater decreases in resting blood pressure, vascular resistance, and stress reactivity from pre-to post-treatment, compared to controls.

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CHAPTER 9

VisualizingIn the sciences, it is important to be able to visualize the concepts being learned. For some concepts in the sciences to be deeply understood, the learner must cre-ate a mental image that stands for the concept. A major part of being a paleon-tologist is begin able to take evidence, which start with fossils and make connec-tions between and among the fossils and come up with explanations that can be justified with the evidence, and that evi-dence (fossils) requires making mental imagery comparisons and contractions among the evidence. Just learning about dinosaurs requires the learner to con-struct and retain mental images of the in-formation being learned.

SECTION 1

Using Mental Imagery to Learn

Why use visual imagery?Creating an image while reading requires the reader to con-tinually be stepping bak mentally and reflecting on what they are reading. Creating mental images while reading can im-prove comprehension. It is one thing to see a picture of a dino-saur while reading and quite another to reconstruct and build that image into your neural network in the brain in ways that facilitate retrieval so that you can most effectively use the in-formation later.

It is in those moments of reflection (stepping back mentally and thinking about your thinking) while reading that the deep-est learning occurs.

Visualizing or Mentally Imaging What You are Learn-ing

Like all reading in the sciences, understanding, deep learning and developing competence in the subject being studies, the concepts in the Dinosaur course require developing the ability to reflect (step back in your mind and think about what you are learning) as as you reflect while reading create mental im-ages of the concepts you are learning. For example, different kinds of dinosaurs have distinguishing characteristics and all dinosaurs with those characteristics will be lumped together under a specific name category. The ability to visualize (taking

advantages of pictures in the textbook is critical for deep learn-ing.

How to use visual imageryFollow these few simple steps to provide practice developing mental images:

Begin reading. As you encounter pictures or descriptive pas-sages, pause and mentally reconstruct the picture or the im-age being described (a form of reflection). This practice also helps build myelin in the brain of the neural networks being fired and speeds up the retrieval of the information and image later.

One of the ways that is most effective for incorporating images into the conceptual framework of related information being learned is to use elaboration. Have an internal dialogue with yourself in which you describe the imagery and/or discuss with yourself or others how the images contribute to what is being learned. This helps ensure deep learning.

Other Visualization to Learn Techniques

Mental Action Imagery – mentally creating an image which has three components (1) the new information, (2) something you associate with the new information, (3) your-self, and (4) you doing something with the new information.

Drawing and Labeling – some information (ex. in the sci-ences) need an image in order to be understood.

Organizing information in a mind map – mind maps can show the relationship between new concepts, and new con-cepts and prior knowledge.

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Drawing pictures, especially on a mind map – images free working memory to hold additional items.

SOME NOTES ON VISUALIZATION AND IMAGERY

Visualization (Imaging Concepts)

What is Visualization or imagery?

Visualization Definition• To form a mental visual image of• A mental image that is similar to a visual picture• Visualization is converting a thought in to a visual

image.

Imagery Definition• A set of mental pictures or images.• The formation of mental images, figures, or like-

nesses of things, or of such images collectively.

In this course, we are going to look at how imagery can impact reading to learn. Around four processes:

1. Imaging concepts and examples while reading (new ter-minology paired with visual examples)

2. Creating images to represent a concept (pulling from prior knowledge and creating mental images using prior knowledge)

3. Using imagery to organize information (Mind mapping)4. Using imagery to create metaphors for learning concept

(she is a rose)

Images are internal sensory representations that are also used in the creation of memory. They can bring words to mind, which can arouse other images or pictures. The forma-tion of images helps in learning and remembering what has

been learned or experienced in the past.

More than you want to know, but I will tell you any-way:

“For meaningful learning to occur in a multimedia environ-ment (when we use words and images to learn, we are creat-ing a multimedia environment), the learner must engage in five cognitive processes: (1) selecting relevant words for proc-essing in verbal working memory, (2) selecting relevant im-ages for processing in visual working memory, (3) organizing selected words into a verbal model (mind map – conceptual framework), (4) organizing selected images into a pictorial model, (5) integrating the verbal and pictorial representations with each other and with prior knowledge. Although these cog-nitive processes in list a list, they do not necessarily occur in a linear order.” (Mayer)

Using Mental Imagery – Moving Past MemorizingStrong concept imagery improves the ability to process, organ-ize, verbalize, and write information, independent of rote learning. Imagery is also very important for higher order thinking, which includes the ability to critically analyze, infer, predict and evaluate. (Langsford Learning Center)

The mind map that the introductory paragraph provides lacks details; however, as we can see from the mind map of the para-graph, it is providing us a great conceptual framework for add-ing details later. As we continue to read the chapter, we will be analyzing to see what commonalities in the details are shared with the mind map we have created above. We should expect to find examples an explanations that we can use to create im-ages or mental pictures.

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Adding Pictures to Mind Maps: Show and explain how an image (picture) with a mind map can be an information-efficient construct holding a lot of conceptual information. And through mental action imagery can be a powerful vocabu-lary and terminology learning strategy interconnecting com-plex relationships.

Mental practice or rehearsal. Mental practice or mental rehearsal is complementary to real practice.

Visualization is converting a thought in to a visual image.

Imagery DefinitionA set of mental pictures or images.The formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively

Visuword Online Graphic Dictionaryhttp://www.visuwords.com/

VIVID ASSOCIATIONS. We have already discussed the idea of associations: aiding storage and retrieval of new infor-mation by intentionally pairing it with something familiar. When learning something new and unfamiliar, try pairing it with something you know very well, such as images, puns, mu-sic, whatever. The association does not have to make logical sense. Often times it is associations that are particularly vivid humorous, or silly that stay in your mind. (Intelegen)

Visualization and ImaginationImages are internal sensory representations that are also used in the creation of memory. They can bring words to mind, which can arouse other images or pictures. The forma-tion of images appears to help in learning and remembering what has been learned or experienced in the past.

Images and words can help you in remembering things by bringing pictures in your head instead of just words or figures. Let’s say, in learning the process of cell mitosis or cell divi-sion, most of the books that contain concepts or scientific ideas have pictures to describe scenarios that are sometimes difficult to be seen by the human eye. Another example would be the structure of a bacteria or a virus. Graphic elements and visual tools, therefore, may become guiding principles in learn-ing conceptual or precisely scientific ideas.

Another example would be in memorizing the lyrics of the songs or in remembering stories that you might have read be-fore. In these two examples, the memorization process be-comes easier if you imagine the images conjured by the lyrics of the song or if you create vivid images in your mind as you read or recall a narrative or tale. Picture the actual scenario de-scribed by the sentences or paragraphs.

To further intensify your imagination, you have to actually feel what the character is feeling. If you’re reading a story about a knight in shining armor fighting a dragon, then feel your strength, the power of your sword, the heat of the fire from the dragon’s mouth, and even the kiss of the princess af-ter saving her from the monster.

Images and the formation of which, in the process of learning or remembering, can therefore help you in improving your memory. Here are some of the valuable methods which you can use in achieving an imaginative memory:

1.Learn to think with both words and figures. For exam-ple, in reading a book, it would be helpful to stop for a while and reconstruct the suggested scenario inside your head. This way, you are also increasing the chances of not only recording linguistic data but also some of the es-

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sential cognitive aspect of remembering, like the recon-struction of perceived or imagined senses in your brain. The smell and taste of ice cream, the redness of a straw-berry, or the thickness or thinness of blood described in a crime novel that not only gives chill or excitement in reading but also makes your reading experience more memorable.

b. In learning new ideas, associate these concepts with a very particular image or picture that is very personal or relevant to you. Put some premium on what you already know or on what is easily conjured by your brain in expe-riencing these words (like in learning a new language or subject). Put some personal relationship with these words like knowing the origin of their meanings (etymol-ogy) or by giving them a concrete symbol in your head.

c.3. If you’re reading a very technical manual or theory pamphlet, what you can do is imagine yourself doing the scenario suggested by the book. This is also what we call as vivid reading. Words and sentences become alive not with their meaningful connections but with their correla-tive value with reality. In fact, writing prose or poetry in-volves a highly developed skill in imagery and mental mapping. Poets and creative writers are said to be good not only in remembering details or facts, but also in the creation of worlds or situations found within the mind. (PSI TEK)

Five Processes in the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia "In One Ear and Out the Other"

The Langsford Learning Center, Louisville, Kentucky: Why do good readers, ones who have learned to read words with

ease and fluency, sometimes have difficulty understanding what they read?

People often wonder if this difficulty is due to not trying hard enough or a lack of attentiveness. While attention can some-times be involved, often the difficulty is due to an under-developed learning process important to understanding what we read: concept imagery. The ability to develop concept im-agery from words is an important underlying process that all readers need in order to develop into life-long independent learners.

Research conducted by cognitive psychologist Allan Paivio has shown that children and adults with good comprehension have the ability to "dual code." This is the process of turning words read or heard into images, pictures and/or movies in the mind and then turning those images back into words. This interplay between verbal and visual information within the brain is important for true understanding and learning to hap-pen. As the thinker Thomas Aquinas said, "Man's mind can-not understand thoughts without images of them."

Falling Through the Cracks

In the early grades most schools have a "learn-to-read" focus and teachers are primarily concerned that the actual mechan-ics of reading and spelling are in place. Then a gradual shift occurs and schools move toward "reading-to-learn." We can see this shift by simply looking at books. Books for young chil-dren have lots of pictures and images, but as the reading level

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increases, the words on the page increase and pictures gradu-ally decrease.

The basic idea is that with continual practice and increased flu-ency, imaging and understanding will progress naturally. How-ever, this is not always the case. Some students have to work much harder than their peers to get good grades, or can't pro-gress at the same rate as their peers. They seem to read the text just fine, yet can't understand it, or they only understand parts rather than the whole. This can happen despite good vo-cabulary and good fluency.

Readers who do not process the information through dual cod-ing often find other ways to compensate, such as relying on memorization. Memorization may help these readers do well on tests, but eventually they hit a wall where this just doesn't seem to work anymore, usually because the content required is simply too much information to memorize. This might hap-pen in 5th grade, high school, college, or maybe not until do-ing graduate work. It all depends upon the individual's ability to compensate.

Memorization can be very helpful if the underlying ability to generate concept imagery is in place, but when that founda-tional piece is missing, other strategies are not nearly as effec-tive. Relying on memory to study and learn puts the focus on the facts. In addition, good memorizers often don't do well on tests that require them to think about the material in a differ-ent manner from how they memorized it. Strong concept im-agery improves the ability to process, organize, verbalize, and

write information, independent of rote learning. Imagery is also very important for higher order thinking, which includes the ability to critically analyze, infer, predict and evaluate.

They're Just Words

The reason to read is to get meaning from the printed word. Learners who are not efficient at generating concept imagery and also struggle with memorization are just reading the words. These words seem to go in one ear and out the other if there is no picture or image created to anchor the meaning in the brain. Such readers often find themselves reading and re-reading information in order to recall even basic facts. Until an image is created, critical and analytical thinking cannot even begin to happen. A person can't read between the lines when they are only focused on the lines.

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CHAPTER 10

Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping is a very powerful visual graphic way of organizing information.

SECTION 1

Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping

Key Strategies for Organizing Knowledge in ways that facilitate Retrieval and Application

Directing Information to the Hippocampus - Give the brain a chance to do a lot of the organizing on its own by re-ducing or eliminating all distractions and multitasking.

Chunking - The brain learns complex routines by automati-cally grouping information into chunks. Chunking enables learners to compare two chunks easily instead of having to compare dozens items. “Becoming an expert in any field seems to involve creating large numbers of chunks, which en-ables you to make faster and better decisions. “Having an ex-plicit understanding of this process rather than just doing it implicitly will help you chunk more often and more effi-ciently” (Rock).

Mind Mapping - Mind Mapping is a very powerful visual graphic way of organizing information.

Mind mapping is a visual thinking tool that helps the learner organize information within the context of a conceptual frame-work. Mind mapping uses almost everything we know about how the brain learns, stores and retrieves information. Mind mapping is a powerful tool for preparing the learner for analyz-ing, comprehending, synthesizing, recalling and generating new ideas.

Mind maps literally reflect how the brain organizes new infor-mation. When the reader uses the “rules of consolidation” for converting working memory into long-term memory, and the core cognitive strategies for understanding and retention of information in conjunction with mind mapping to visually rep-resent relationships among concepts, thoughts, and ideas, in-formation becomes much more useful in future applications. Using the internal dialogue inquiry questions along with mind mapping enables the reader clarify their understanding and move beyond surface learning to deep learn.

Why Mind Mapping over Outlining for Understand-ing Within A Conceptual Framework:

1. The learner is not trapped by the limited linear format of 1, 2, and 3.

2. A mind-map is open-ended and open-minded, so mis-takes are accommodated easily.

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3. When you get new "ahas" or ideas, you can just add a new branch with new key words.

4.Make abstract ideas visible and concrete

5. Connect prior knowledge and new concepts

Think of a conceptual framework as a mind map that over-views the concepts being learned in a textbook reading selec-tion within which related facts and ideas can be organized. This mind map would have grouped (organized) the chapter’s conceptual framework.

Several mapping strategies were introduced during the 1970s and 1980s to help secondary students acquire vocabulary and concept knowledge. These strategies were an alternative to the ineffective practice of testing students on word definitions. Through a graphic depiction of ideas, these strategies build upon what students know to help them see relationships with newly introduced vocabulary. Students develop related rather than isolated word knowledge and develop skill in differentiat-ing concepts as well as defining words. Each can be used be-fore, during, and after reading. (Southwest Educational Devel-opment Laboratory)

Positive Outcomes of Deep Surveying:

• greater organization of information

• better comprehension when reading begins

Mind mapping is a learning tool for graphically organizing in-formation to show connections and relationships. As a learn-ing tool it has certain basic components, which make it more effective.

To make a mind map more effective the follow these 10 basic components:

1 .A map will begin with a subject at its center.

2. The use of color(s) is very helpful.

3. Branch off the center with key words or images

4.Use lower case print key word, and to make an idea stand out, use UPPER CASE PRINT

5. Important: each key word should have its own branch (line). (1pt)

6. All branches must be connected.

7. The length of a branch should be the same length as the key word.

8. The use of color for different branches is very helpful to recall of the information.

9. Use a visualization, such as a picture or drawing.

10. Map is neat. All printing right side up.

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As a tool for reading to learn, especially transfer learning, it should not be learned in isolation in which information in a textbook is moved from the textbook page to a sheet of paper with little more thought than ensuring that the 10 basic com-ponents above are used in a mind map. When mind mapping is learned in isolation, it often becomes that goal of reading for the learner rather than a learning tool for deeper learning. It should be learned in concert with the mental processes (cog-nitive strategies and habits of mind) that are the goals of RDG 185:

develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge (ex. rules of consolidation to move new information from working mem-ory to long-term memory before, while, and after mind map-ping)

understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, (ex. what is the big picture in which facts and ideas are understood when reading)

organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and appli-cation. (ex. inquiry questioning before mind mapping such as 1. What do I already know?; 2. Are there examples in the book and do I know any examples of the concept being consid-ered?; 3. Can I predict where this is going?; and 4. How has the author organized the information in this reading selec-tion?

RDG 185 is not about merely organizing information, but rather about using organization along with mental processes to help develop knowledge, that is understood within the con-

text of a conceptual framework, and can easily be retrieved and applied later in thinking and reasoning processes. Mind mapping is a learning tool for not only organizing and show-ing relationships, but for organizing the use of cognitive strate-gies and habits of mind.

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CHAPTER 11

Want to be Able to Remember and Use Dinosaur Concepts

Rules of ConsolidationThere are basic rules for remembering what you read. These rules are calls Rules of Consolidation. They are essential if the learner wants to be able to store new di-nosaur concepts for future use; other-wise, forgetting occurs rapidly.

SECTION 1

Rules of Consolidation

Rules  of  Con-­‐solidation

(from   working  

1.  Re-­‐

2.  Re-­‐expose  

3.  Re-­‐expose  with  

Recite

Next  Day

Reading   Write  to  

Immediately  after  Encoun-­‐

Deliberately  re-­‐expose  yourself  to  

Within  90  

Say  in  own  

Internal  Dialogue  

Summaries

Annotations

Response  

Synthesis  

Learning  

Read  to  

Ex.  in  class  –  minute  pa-­‐pers,  muddi-­‐est  point,  one  

The Rules of Consolidation

Rule One: Re-expose yourself to the information.

Rule Two: You are elaborating when you redraw the pictures by using one of the most powerful elaboration strategies for storing information in long-term memory – Saying what you have just learned in your own words. (Anything you do to in-terconnect what you are learning to what you already know is an elaboration.) Writing to learn (see below) is very powerful for helping clarify, organize and construct meaning as one sur-veys.

Rule Three: Re-expose oneself to the conceptual framework using fixed timed intervals. Fixed intervals for surveying are:

Time Intervals

Immediately re-expose yourself to the information you encounter surveying. Ask the internal dialogue questions above.

Mind map the conceptual framework as you encounter the new concepts; this helps to systematically organize the information.

As you complete the survey of each reading section, men-tally reconstruct he mind map or summarize what you know at this point.

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Looking at the Rules of Consolidation One at a Time.

Here we are going to look at the “rules of consolidation” one at a time; however, to be most effective we will later look at putting these rules together to increase their effectiveness. We will be learning many mental strategies and habits of mind in the chapters that follow that will enable to the reader to move from surface learning to deep learning that will make the infor-mation they learn while reading textbook information with which we can think, reason and apply to new situations.

The First Rule: Deliberately re-expose yourself to the information if you want to retrieve it later.

It is a simple fact, the more exposure a learner has to new in-formation they want to learn the greater the likelihood that the new information will move from short term memory (working memory) to long-term memory.

From the Research

“The typical human brain can hold about 4 pieces of informa-tion for less than 30 seconds. If something does not happen in that short stretch of time, the information becomes lost. If you want to extend the 30 seconds to, say, a few minutes, or even an hour or two, you will need to consistently re-expose your-self to the information. This type of repetition is sometimes called maintenance rehearsal. We know that “maintenance rehearsal” is mostly good for keeping things in working mem-ory – that is for short periods of time” (Medina, 2008).

If the reader wants to hold on to the new information long enough for the brain to store and manipulate that information the reader needs to do something to give the working memory time to do its job. Deliberately re-expose yourself to the information if you want to retrieve it later is the first “rule of consolidation.” Highlighting the information in the textbook in order to come back to learn it later is just sim-ply a mistaken strategy for learning. It is an example of trying to hold the information outside the brain – the trick is to re-expose yourself to the information in order for your own brain to store and manipulate the information if you want to learn most effectively.

The Second Rule: Deliberately re-expose yourself to the information more elaborately if you want the re-trieval to be of higher quality.

“More elaborately” means thinking, talking or writing about what was just read. Any mental activity in which the reader slows down and mentally tries to connect what they are reading to what they already know is elaboration.

This means for the reader that he or she must slow down and have a conversation (reading, writing or talking) about what they are reading and wanting to learn in order for that infor-mation to be of a high quality. “High quality” means the infor-mation will be useable in the future for thinking reasoning or apply to new situations

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From the Research

“We know that there is a better way to push information into long-term memory. That way is called “elaborative rehearsal” and it’s the type of repetition shown to be most effective for the most robust retrieval. A great deal of research shows that “thinking or talking” about an event immediately after it has occurred enhances memory for the event.” (Medina, 2008). The same is true for the information you are reading in a textbook.

The Third Rule: Deliberately re-expose yourself to the information more elaborately, and in fixed inter-vals, if you want the retrieval to be the most vivid it can be.

Forgetting occurs very rapidly if something is not done to strengthen new dendrites (learning). Research show us that a learner (reader) must not only re-expose themselves to new information they want to learn, but hat they also must think or talk about that information if they want to remember the information. Research further shows that there are specific times for re-exposing ourselves to the information and elabo-rating on the information. We will go over the most important ones now:

Fixed Time Intervals for Re-exposing and Elaborat-ing

As the reader identifies what is important while read-ing, stop re-expose yourself to the information and

elaborate on the it (have an internal dialogue, what do you already know about what you are reading, write about it (take notes in your own words), ex-plain it to yourself out loud.

Note: This time interval is specifically for holding and expanding the time new information has in work-ing memory, which gives you and your brain more time to manipulate the information before it can be forgot-ten.

When you have read a new topic or paragraph, ex-plain to yourself what you have just read; this is re-exposure to the information.

Note: This time interval and the remaining time inter-vals take advantage of the opportunity to strengthen newly grown dendrites.

When you finish studying, take a few minutes to re-expose yourself to the information and elaborate.

Within 90 minutes to 2 hours, re-expose yourself to the information and elaborate.

Review again the next day as soon as you can.

From the Research

“When a reader reads nonstop, new information is subject to being confused with other information. “The probability of confusion is increased when content is delivered in unstoppa-

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ble, unrepeated waves. This causes newly encoded informa-tion to reshape (interference) and wear away previously exist-ing traces. Such interference does not occur if the information is delivered in deliberately spaced repetition cycles. (This is where the reader can take control of learning.) Repeated expo-sure to information in specifically timed intervals provides the most powerful way to fix memory into the brain. When the electrical representations of information to be learned are built up slowly over many repetitions, the neural networks re-cruited for storage gradually remodel the overall representa-tion and do not interfere with neural networks previously re-cruited to store similarly learned information. This idea sug-gests that continuous repetition cycles create experiences capa-ble of adding to the knowledge base, rather then interfer-ing with existing knowledge base” (Medina, 2008).

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CHAPTER 12

Writing to LearnAs a student in a course on dinosaurs, you will be learning a lot of information that needs to be more than memorized. Memorizing ensures the most forgetting. However, writing to learn is among the most important clarifying, organizing and constructing new meaning strategies that man has created. It will be a very im-portant strategy for organizing dinosaur knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval

SECTION 1

Writing to LearnWriting to Learn

Don’t miss this point: Writing to learn activities are among the most powerful elaboration strategies. First a note on some boundaries for writing to learn: “Writing to learn empha-sizes what is said (new ideas and concepts) rather than how it is said (correct spelling, grammar, and us-age). Often, less structured and more informal writing to learn can take forms such as journals, summaries, responses to oral or written questions, free writing, and notes.” (Literacy Matters). Focus on meaning, not correct spelling, grammar, and usage in writing to learn strategies.

“All too often in education, instructors and students are focused only on final products: the final exam, the grade, the perfect research paper, mastery of a subject. But how do we as learners get from here to there? What are the intermediate stages that help us develop the skills and habits of master learners in our disciplines? What kinds of scaffolding enable us to move forward, step-by-step? How do we, as educators and students, recognize and support the slow process of progressively deepening our abilities to think like historians and

scholars? (Bass and Eynon, Capturing the Visible Evidence of Invisible Learning, 2009).

In this reading course, we will use writing as a tool for organiz-ing information as a way of helping discover connections, dis-cern processes, raise questions and discover solutions. In this way, writing to learn helps to not only acquire content infor-mation but also to transform knowledge and to generate new knowledge. Writing to learn is a powerful tool for clarifying thinking in preparation for organizing knowledge in ways that facilitate application (inquiry-based inquiry and problem solv-ing).

Writing to Learn

Writing to learn should take advantage of what is known about learning, especially re-exposure to ideas to build a deep foundation of factual knowledge, the use of elaboration to make interconnections with prior knowledge, clarification of ideas, and organization of facts and ideas in a conceptual framework.

Writing to Learn and Internal Dialogue Questions

Learners can always use “writing to learn” activities to men-tally respond to internal dialogue questions.

“Reflecting on what was just read helps clarify thinking and focus understanding. Full understanding cannot be achieved until students reflect in a meaningful way about their reading.

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Reflecting has a couple of very important by-products. First, it helps students think critically about what they have learned and have yet to learn about what they have read. A second by-product of reflective thinking is that it helps students retain material they have read” (Richardson, 2009). Writing to learn is a very useful reflecting activity and help us clarify and reor-ganize what we are reading.

Writing to Learn as Elaboration

Elaboration refers to any method of "thinking about new ideas and prior knowledge together" so the two be-come more deeply interconnected.

Learning takes place when the new information be-comes a part of the existing knowledge network.

When elaborated and richly integrated, the new knowl-edge becomes meaningful and useful.

Knowledge can be called "meaningful" only after it is richly in-terconnected with related knowledge. Knowledge can be called "useful" only if you can access it under appropriate cir-cumstances. Meaningful knowledge is filed and cross refer-enced with other knowledge to which it is connected. Useful knowledge is filed and cross-referenced so that you can find it when you need it. Some of these points may seem obvious, but studies strongly suggest that this kind of mental housekeeping makes the dif-ference between good and poor readers.

Writing to learn should take advantage of what is known about learning, especially re-exposure to ideas to build a deep foundation of factual knowledge, the use of elaboration to make interconnections with prior knowledge, clarification of ideas, and organization of facts and ideas in a conceptual framework.

Writing to Learn Activities

Writing to Learn: “Summarizing is how we take larger selections of text and reduce them to their bare essentials: the gist, the key ideas, the main points that are worth noting and remembering” (Boushey). The brain stores meaning. (build a reciprocal relationship with mind map, which was built using the Rules of Consolidation, Core Cognitive Strategies, and In-ternal Dialogue Inquiry questions)

Examples of Writing to Learn (WTL) Activities from the WAC Clearinghouse:

Writing to learn activities can happen frequently or infre-quently in your class; some can extend over the entire semes-ter; some can be extended to include a wide variety of writing tasks in different formats and to different audiences.

The Reading Journal

First, students use the left half of the page or the left sheet of an opened notebook for recording what the reading is about. Teachers can ask for quite a lot of detail in this half of the read-ing journal so that students get practice in summarizing entire

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articles or summarizing particular arguments, identifying main ideas, noting key details, and choosing pertinent quota-tions, among other crucial reading skills.

On the right half of the page (or right page of the notebook), students jot down any questions they have or any connections they can make between readings or between readings and class discussions. At the beginning of the semester, the right half of the journal is dotted with questions, most of which can be answered quickly at the beginning of a discussion session in class. By the end of the semester, students will sometimes fill two right-hand columns for every reading. At this point, the questions are far richer (rarely about content) and the con-nections point out that students are integrating the readings and class work on their own.

Generic and focused summaries

Depending on the level of detail that might be useful for each assignment, have students write out a paragraph or a page of summary for each assigned reading.

Annotations

Unlike the summary that attempts an objective rendering of the key points in a reading, an annotation typically asks stu-dents to note key ideas and briefly evaluate strengths and weaknesses in an article.

Response papers

Still another type of writing to learn that builds on assigned readings is the response paper. Unlike the summary, the re-sponse paper specifically asks students to react to assigned readings. Students might write responses that analyze speci-fied features of a reading (is the information believable). Or they might write counter-arguments.

Synthesis papers

A more complex response to assigned readings is the synthe-sis paper. Rather than summarizing or responding to a single reading assignment, the synthesis paper asks students to work with several readings and to draw commonalities out of those readings. Particularly when individual readings over-simplify a topic or perspectives on a question in your course, the syn-thesis paper guarantees that students grapple with the com-plexity of issues and ideas.

Like other writing-to-learn tasks, the synthesis paper can be shorter and less formal, or you can assign it at or near the end of a sequence leading to a more formal paper.

The discussion starter

Sometimes students feel baffled by a reading assignment and express that frustration in class, but they often understand more about the reading than they believe they do. When this situation arises, having students write about the reading can be especially valuable, both for clarifying what students do

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and don't understand and for focusing students' attention on key points in the reading.

The learning log

The learning log serves many of the functions of an ongoing laboratory notebook. Students note key point from the read-ing. Sometimes, students write for just one or two minutes both at the beginning and end of a class session. At the begin-ning, they might summarize the key points from a reading At the end of class students might write briefly about a question such as:

What one idea that they read about today most inter-ested you and why?

What was the clearest point we made today? What was the foggiest point?

What do you still not understand about the concept we've been discussing?

If you had to restate the concept in your own terms, how would you do that?

How does today's reading build on yesterday's?

Such questions can provide continuity from class to class, but they can also give teachers a quick glimpse into how well the reading content is getting across.

Problem statement

Teachers usually set up the problems and ask students to pro-vide solutions. This gives students practice with both framing and solving problems:

After you introduce a new concept in your course, ask stu-dents to write out a practical problem that the concept might help to solve. Students can exchange these problems and write out solutions, thus ensuring that they understand the concept clearly and fully.

Believing and doubting game

First espoused by Peter Elbow, this writing activity simply calls for students to write briefly first, in support of an idea, concept, methodology, thesis; second, in opposition to it.

As students complete this writing activity based on a course reading or controversy in the field, they become more adept at understanding the complexity of issues and arguments.

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SECTION 2

Co-Requisite Reading Center

Setting Up a Co-Requisite College Reading Center

Learners come to reading centers seeking solutions to their learning problems in content courses. Some need tutoring be-cause they are having a hard time with the concepts they are reading and very often is the result of a lack of prior knowl-edge, and some need instruction and practice on reading to learn. The purpose of this writing is to develop a set of learn-ing outcomes for reading to learn. but first a distinction must be made about the differences between tutoring and reading to learn instruction, so that the boundaries are clear. This is important for assignment of the type of support the learner needs when they show up at the reading center. In some cases the learner may need both types of support.

Tutoring

The goal of tutoring is to guide students to independent learning.  This is accomplished by providing tutees with the opportunity to be actively engaged in the discussion and ma-nipulation of course material.  As an active learner, the tutee accepts responsibility for their own learning, which results in

increased self-confidence and steady progression towards edu-cational and personal goals.

Reading to Learn

The goal of reading to learn is to help learners develop the cog-nitive strategies and habits of mind that enable them to be able to read to learn in ways that facilitate transfer. The pri-mary conceptual framework for transfer learning involves learning cognitive strategies and habits of mind that enable the learner to (1) develop a deep foundation of factual knowl-edge, (2) understand facts and ideas in the context of a concep-tual framework, and (3) organize knowledge in ways that facili-tate retrieval and application.

Assessment of Cognitive Strategies

Skill: Does the learner recognize chapter text clues?

Learning Outcome: given a textbook chapter, can the learner identify the chapter’s text clues.

Skill: Does the learner recognize the organization of the chap-ter using the chapter’s text clues?

Learning Outcome: given a textbook chapter, can the learner recognize the chapter’s organization.

Skill: Does the reader stops and steps back mentally to reflect on what they have read?

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Learning Outcome: Given a reading selection, the reader stops to reflect on what they have read.

Skill: Does reader during reflection re-exposure strategies for moving the information from working memory to long-term memory.

Learning Outcome: Given a reading selection, the reader while reflecting uses re-exposure strategies for moving the information from working memory to long-term memory.

Skill: Does reader during reflection elaboration strategies for moving the information from working memory to long-term memory.

Learning Outcome: Given a reading selection, the reader while reflecting uses elaboration strategies for moving the information from working memory to long-term memory.

Skill: Does the learner ask the following type questions when they come to text clues (title, headings, pictures):

1. What do I already know?

2. Are there examples in the book and do I know any ex-amples of the concept being considered?

3. Can I predict where this is going?

Learning Outcome: Given a reading selection with text clues, the reader ask questions about what they read.

Skill: Does the learner have strategies for organizing the con-cepts in a content reading selection?

Learning Outcome: Given a content reading selection, the reader can organize the concepts around relation-ships.

Skill: Does the learner have strategies for creating a concep-tual framework for helping understand facts and ideas?

Learning Outcome: Give an organized introduction to the textbook or a chapter, the reader can create a concep-tual framework (organized overview of the textbook or chapter content).

Skill: Does the learner visualize or create mental images of concepts being learned?

Learning Outcome: Given a reading passage in which the concepts are descriptive or has accompa-nying illustrations or pictures, the reader can create mental images of the concepts.

Skill: Does the learner have strategies for developing deep un-derstanding of new concepts (terminology)?

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Learning Outcome: Given a textbook chapter, can the learner strategies for developing deep understanding of new concepts (terminology)

A Reading Bridging Program

The above cognitive strategies and learning outcomes can be the foundation for summer and other bridging program in-struction.

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APPENDIX A

Multitasking

ScienceDaily (July 26, 2006) — Multi-tasking affects the brain's learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted, UCLA psychologists report this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Acad-emy of Sciences.

"Multi-tasking adversely affects how you learn," said Russell Poldrack, UCLA associate professor of psychology and co-author of the study. "Even if you learn while multi-tasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you can-not retrieve the information as easily. Our study shows that to the degree you can learn while multi-tasking, you will use dif-ferent brain systems.

"The best thing you can do to improve your memory is to pay attention to the things you want to remember," Poldrack added. "Our data support that. When distractions force you to pay less attention to what you are doing, you don't learn as well as if you had paid full attention."

Tasks that require more attention, such as learning calculus or reading Shakespeare, will be particularly adversely affected by multi-tasking, Poldrack said.

"Our results suggest that learning facts and concepts will be worse if you learn them while you're distracted," Poldrack said.

Different forms of memory are processed by separate systems in the brain, he noted. When you recall what you did last week-end or try to remember someone's name or your driver's li-cense number, you are using a type of memory retrieval called declarative memory. (Patients with Alzheimer disease have damage in these brain areas.) When you remember how to ride a bicycle or how to play tennis, you are using what is called procedural memory; this requires a different set of brain areas than those used for learning facts and concepts, which rely on the declarative memory system. The beeps in the study disrupted declarative memory, said Poldrack, who also studies how the types of memory are related.

The brain's hippocampus -- a sea-horse-shaped structure that plays critical roles in processing, storing and recalling informa-tion -- is necessary for declarative memory, Poldrack said. For the task learned without distraction, the hippocampus was in-volved. However, for the task learned with the distraction of the beeps, the hippocampus was not involved; but the stria-tum was, which is the brain system that underlies our ability to learn new skills.

The striatum is the brain system damaged in patients with Parkinson disease, Poldrack noted. Patients with Parkinson's have trouble learning new motor skills but do not have trouble remembering the past.

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"We have shown that multi-tasking makes it more likely you will rely on the striatum to learn," Poldrack said. "Our study indicates that multi-tasking changes the way people learn."

ScienceDaily (Aug. 8, 2009) — "That blasted siren. I can't fo-cus." That reaction to undesired distraction may signal a per-son's low working-memory capacity, according to a new study.

"Our attention is the continual interplay between what our goals are and what the environment is trying to dictate to us," Vogel said. "Often, to be able to complete complex and impor-tant goal-directed behavior, we need to be able to ignore sali-ent but irrelevant things, such as advertisements flashing around an article you are trying to read on a computer screen. We found that some people are really good at overriding atten-tion capture, and other people have a difficult time unhooking from it and are really susceptible to irrelevant stimuli."

Vogel theorizes that people who are good at staying on focus have a good gatekeeper, much like a bouncer or ticket-taker hired to allow only approved people into a nightclub or con-cert.

Metacognition and Attention

A large part of thinking about thinking when learning (meta-cognition) is controlling what one lets on the stage of working memory. Working memory involves what is in ones attention or what one is consciously aware of at a given moment. Learn-ers have the ability to control what comes on the stage of their attention and what they will not permit into working memory.

For example, distractions are one more piece of information that gets in working memory, which holds only about four items and for only 20-30 seconds. One of the most productive mental skills you can learn to improve reading to learn is learning how to control your attention when reading and that involves for most of us learning (1) how to eliminate distrac-tions and (2) how to unlearn multitasking while reading to learn.

Distraction: When a distraction (cell phone rings, text mes-sage vibrates, other people are talking, what will I have for din-ner, etc.) gets in working memory, it replaces one or more of the four items that the learner was trying to think through and if the information being stored and manipulated is new infor-mation, these items of information get lost altogether. Studies show that a person who is interrupted takes 50 percent longer to accomplish a task. Not only that, he or she makes up to 50 percent more errors. College students have enough trouble finding to time to do their reading to tolerate distractions. Con-trolling most distractions is something learners can control.

Multitasking: We call trying to do more than one thing men-tally at a time multitasking, which requires the brain to con-stantly be switching between the various things it is trying to work on mentally. Why do we care; let’s look at a quick over-view of the research on what happens when we try to multi-task while reading or trying to learn:

Multitasking, when it comes to paying attention, is a myth. The brain naturally focuses on concepts sequentially, one at a

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time. At first that might sound confusing; at one level the brain does multitask. You can walk and talk at the same time. Your brain controls your heartbeat while you read a book. Pi-anists can play a piece with left hand and right hand simulta-neously. Surely this is multitasking. But I am talking about the brain’s ability to pay attention. It is the resource you forcibly deploy while trying to listen to a boring lecture at school. It is the activity that collapses as your brain wanders during a tedi-ous presentation at work. This attentional ability is not capa-b l e o f m u l t i t a s k i n g . Studies show that a person who is interrupted takes 50 per-cent longer to accomplish a task. Not only that, he or she makes up to 50 percent more errors.

The brain is a sequential processor, unable to pay attention to two things at the same time. Businesses and schools praise multitasking, but research clearly shows that it reduces pro-ductivity and increases mistakes. (Medina).

“the facts about how our brains are wired to work remain con-stant:

- We can focus on only one conscious task at a time

- Switching between tasks uses energy; when we do this a lot we are prone to making mistakes

- Doing multiple conscious tasks at the same time will lead to decreased accuracy and/or performance

- The only way to do two mental tasks quickly and maintain a high accuracy level is to do them one at a time (David Rock)

The more time young people spend multi-tasking, the harder they find concentrating on single intellectual tasks, such as reading a textbook, according to a report by American scien-tists in the journal Cyberpsychology and Behaviour.

Trying to learn while doing something else - such as doing homework while watching TV - sends information to an inap-propriate part of the brain, explains Professor Russell Pol-drack, a psychologist at the University of California.

Using brain-scans he’s found that if we multi-task while study-ing, the information goes into the striatum, a region of the brain involved in learning new skills, from where it is difficult to retrieve facts and ideas. If we are not distracted, it heads to the hippocampus, a region involved in storing and recalling information.

'There is a cost to the way that our society is changing. Hu-mans are not built to work this way,' Professor Poldrack says. 'We're really built to focus.'

Multi-tasking denies us essential pauses in our men-tal space. We need this time to develop our inner re-sources and grow neural connections, says Daniel Siegel, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA Medi-cal School in America.

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‘When you do several things at once, you tend to do them on autopilot. (Naish)

Researchers show that even when you do learn things through multi-tasking, you compromise the quality of that learning. Fo-erde et al. (2006) showed that while people can and do learn things while multitasking, the learning is less flexible and more specialized. What that means is that when you go to re-call something you learned while multitasking, chances are you won’t do so quite as easily or readily.

Results showed that students who used laptops in class spent considerable time multitasking and that the laptop use posed a significant distraction to both users and fellow students. Most importantly, the level of laptop use was negatively re-lated to several measures of student learning, including self-reported understanding of course material and overall course performance.

In addition, the more the task requires attention and concen-tration (which reading college textbooks does), such as learn-ing a new subject, the more your learning will be negatively af-fected by multi-tasking.

The deal is simply that we are building roles and teaching our students how to learn less, in less time, with a result that while potentially similar to a result not done while multitask-ing, will be more difficult to recall and will likely be of lesser quality. You seemingly “get more done,” but at a cost to the quality of — not necessarily the work or studying — but the worker or student. For instance, Mark et al. (2008) found that

while one’s work may be similar in quality while multitasking, the worker is stressed out, expends more effort and feels more frustrated by doing so. (Grohol)

(Don't multi-task while you are trying to learn something new that you hope to remember. (Walpert)

Researchers have used brain imaging to see what is happening when young people multitask. Their studies have shown that the ability to do more than just mindless tasks at the same time is a myth. Learners cannot focus on their schoolwork and text message at the same time. Their brains shift between these tasks. And the more difficult the tasks are, the longer it takes to readjust between them.

While students can learn while multitasking, their learning is far less efficient and less long-lasting. They would do better to study for 20 to 30 minutes and then take an electronic break. This is especially true if they are working with difficult mate-rial that they wish to remember for a long time. (Gisler)

In his book "Your Brain at Work," David Rock finds that multi-tasking causes "cognitive capacity to drop from that of a Har-vard MBA to that of an 8-year-old." This is a sobering observa-tion for today's workplace, which reveres the ability to do many things at once. Rather than saving time, "workers took an average of 25 minutes to recover from interruptions, such as phone calls or answering e-mail and return to their original task," according to a study at the University of California at Ir-vine.

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Multitasking can have long term effects, "heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrele-vant information...and they experience more stress" scientists reported in the Seattle Times. It gets worse, Yvonne Walus states, “prolonged multitasking will lead to loss of efficiency and quality, and eventually to burnout.” (Bregman)

A study showed that people distracted by incoming email and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQs. What's the impact of a 10-point drop? The same as losing a night of sleep. More than twice the effect of smoking marijuana.

Doing several things at once is a trick we play on ourselves, thinking we're getting more done. In reality, our productivity goes down by as much as 40%. We don't actually multitask. We switch-task, rapidly shifting from one thing to another, in-terrupting ourselves unproductively, and losing time in the process.

You might think you're different, that you've done it so much you've become good at it. Practice makes perfect and all that.

But you'd be wrong. Research shows that heavy multitaskers are less competent at doing several things at once than light multitaskers. In other words, in contrast to almost everything else in your life, the more you multitask, the worse you are at it. Practice, in this case, works against you.

If multitasking doesn't work, how can you maximize your work time? Author David Rock suggests the fol-lowing:

Focus on one important task, project or idea at a time.

Do brain-intensive projects first thing in the morning.

Stay focused by checking e-mail and voicemail after complet-ing brain-intensive tasks.(Santiesteban)

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CHAPTER 13

Habits of Mind“The success of a well-prepared college student is built upon a foundation of key habits of mind that enable stu-dents to learn content from a range of disciplines. A Habit of Mind is knowing how to behave intelligently when you do not know the answer. Hab-its of Mind are dispositions that are skill-fully and mindfully employed by charac-teristically intelligent, successful people when they are confronted with prob-lems, the solutions to which are not im-mediately apparent” (Costa).

SECTION 1

Habits of MindCo-Requisite Reading and Habits of Mind

Standing along side of the cognitive strategies that constitute the learning outcomes of co-requisite reading instruction are habits of mind, which support the employment of mental strategies for developing competence in an area of inquiry through reading. While the main focus of instruction is on cog-nitive strategies for decision-making while reading to learn, a failure to bring along habits of mind reduces the potential for maximum learning. Below is a definition of habits of mind and a list of those habits that must play a key role in reading instruction when the goal is transfer learning. Again, transfer is the goal of education

“The term “habits of mind” was selected for this model to de-scribe the intelligent behaviors necessary for college readi-ness and to emphasize that these behaviors need to be devel-oped over a period of time such that they become ways of thinking, habits in how intellectual activities are pursued. In other words, habits of mind are patterns of intellec-tual behavior that lead to the development of cogni-tive strategies and capabilities necessary for college-level work. The term habits of mind invoke a more disciplined approach to thinking than terms such as “disposi-tions” or “thinking skills.” The term indicates intentional and

practiced behaviors that become a habitual way of working toward more thoughtful and intelligent action (Costa & Kal-lick, 2000).

Once again, habits of mind indicates intentional and prac-ticed behaviors that become a habitual way of working to-ward more thoughtful and intelligent action.

Habits of Mind and Co-Requisite Reading

The goal of co-requisite reading instruction is ensuring that the learner develops cognitive strategies and habits of mind in order to succeed in a credit-bearing course at a postsecondary institution. “Success” is defined as completing entry-level courses at a level of understanding and proficiency that pre-pares the student for subsequent courses.

Habits of Mind

All the Habits of Mind are a collection of 16 thinking disposi-tions identified by Professor Art Costa. Costa defined the Hab-its of Mind as the dispositions skillfully and mindfully dis-played by characteristically intelligent people when con-fronted with problems the solutions to which are not immedi-ately apparent. The Habits of Mind are not thinking tools, rather they are dispositions that inclines one to adopt think-ing tools and strategies. (Arthur L. Costa}

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The 16 Habits of Mind (Costa)

1.Persisting – Stick to it.

2.Communicating with clarity and precision – Be clear.

3.Managing impulsivity – Take your time.

4.Gathering data through all senses – Use your natural path-ways.

5.Listening with understanding and empathy – Understand others.

6.Creating, imagining, innovating – Try a different way.

7.Thinking flexibly – Look at it another way.

8.Responding with wonderment and awe – have fun figuring it out.

9.Thinking about your thinking (metacognition) – Know your knowing.

10.Taking responsible risks – Venture out.

11.Striving for accuracy and precision – Find the best possible solution.

12.Finding humor – Laugh a little.

13.Questioning and problem posing – How do you know?

14.Thinking interdependently – Learning with others.

15.Applying past knowledge to new situations – Use what you learn.

16.Remaining open to continuous learning – Learning from experiences.

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