Cracking Our Own Codes: Designing Instruction for Greater Clarity and Appropriate Control

(will appear in vol 18 of International Journal on Learning, 2012)

Mark Stoner, Department of Communication Studies

Center for Teaching and Learning California State University, Sacramento

Co-authors:Steve Higgins

School of EducationDurham University

Diego BonillaDepartment of Communication StudiesCalifornia State University, Sacramento

Patterned Human BehaviorIn instructional contexts

May function as code People attribute meaning

When you see such a room, what does it mean?

What roles does it imply? What patterns of behavior can we anticipate by those playing the roles?

How do you know?

When you see such a room, what does it mean?

What roles does it imply? What patterns of behavior can we anticipate by those playing the roles?

Let’s consider another kind of “patterned human behavior”

in an instructional context . . .

Follow-a-thread assignment: a short essay (3-4 pages) that explores, in greater depth, a topic from the readings by digesting two or more relevant citation or citations. (5 points) Assignment may be repeated once.

To “follow a thread” is to examine the treatment of a concept or theory across related essays or studies.  Your task is to select and read related essays and explain how the concept they jointly treat is operationalized, applied, modified, or critiqued. Remark on what you learn about the nature of our knowledge about the concept treated by various scholars.

Essays that score all five points will present some insight rather than just reporting the contents of the studies.  Include a bibliography and cite sources in APA (6th ed.) style.

Sample assignment

What patterns of instructional discourse do you see? What do you anticipate being most meaningful to students?

Basil Bernstein defines code as

• “a regulative principle, tacitly acquired,

• which selects and integrates

1. relevant meanings,

2. the form of their realization and

3. evoking contexts.” (p.109)

Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity, rev. ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Let’s go back and see how this applies to our two cases…

This site is a meaningful code precisely because it selects and integrates relevant meanings, the form of their realization and evoking contexts.”

This site is a meaningful code precisely because it selects and integrates relevant meanings, the form of their realization and evoking contexts.”

Follow-a-thread assignment: a short essay (3-4 pages) that explores, in greater depth, a topic from the readings by digesting two or more relevant citation or citations. (5 points) Assignment may be repeated once.

To “follow a thread” is to examine the treatment of a concept or theory across related essays or studies.  Your task is to select and read related essays and explain how the concept they jointly treat is operationalized, applied, modified, or critiqued. Remark on what you learn about the nature of our knowledge about the concept treated by various scholars.

Essays that score all five points will present some insight rather than just reporting the contents of the studies.  Include a bibliography and cite sources in APA (6th ed.) style.

Sample assignment

This is a code precisely because it selects and integratesrelevant meanings, the form of their realization and evoking contexts.”

When instructing, we use at least three message systems. . .

3 Instructional Message Systems

(that vary among disciplines)

Curriculum•Relationship of units of content and time allocated

•Timing of content

•Time on task

Pedagogy•Repertoire of strategies for presenting and processing content

•Allocation of qualification to make knowledge claims

•Allocation of responsibility for learning

Evaluation•Predominant type of evaluation

•Levels of knowledge assessed (à la Bloom)

•Authenticity of evaluation

…which are regulated by two forms of control

These instructional message systems respond to two forms of control:

Classification “refers to the degree of insulation between categories ofdiscourse, agents, practices, contexts, and provides recognition rulesfor both transmitters and acquirers for the degree of specialization of their texts.” (p.214)

Framing “refers to the controls on the selection, sequencing, pacing and criterial rules of the pedagogic communicative relationship between transmitters and acquirers . . . .” (p.214)

Bernstein, B. (1990). The Structuring of Pedagogic Discourse, Vol IV Class, Codes and Control. London: Routledge.

We can relate classification and framing like this:

Framing

Classification

Reproduction

Production

Strong

StrongWeak

Framing

Classification

Reproduction

Production

Communication, Self andSociety @ Time 1 (ComS 163)

Communication, Self andSociety @ Time 2

Strong

StrongWeak

Here’s a case from my experience.

The course needed greater structure (framing) to function as acommunication course (classification)

Some highly classified and framed courses can

benefit by changing the nature of the message systems

to move toward “production” or creativity in outcomes…

Framing

Classification

Reproduction

Production

Longair’s alternative design

National Physics course syllabus

Weak

Strong

Strong

http://hypergraphia.wikispaces.com/Instructional+Design+Tool

Let’s connect the message systems relative to the forms of control by using them to examine a course design:

(a sample of Diego’s programming magic)