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Multiple variable reasoning (Was: Appropriate for Gen Phys? was: comprehending electric/magneticinteractions)



Please notice that along with my comment I gave a specific example. The
particular lesson is one where they are given a specific statement and
then are asked to apply it to a variety of situations. One of the
difficulties they have is that they use other information instead of the
given information.

Essentially many students have never been asked to take the first step
in formal reasoning. Once they can apply one simple principle, the next
step is of course to get them to apply two principles to a variety of
situations. The MOP curriculum does exactly that. I have not made any
implications about an N variable system. Such a situation would be more
the province of the specialist in the particular field.

Most lessons in school tend to involve throwing more the one, and often
a large number of ideas at students and then expecting them to use the
appropriate ones. This of course can not be done if the students can
not consistently apply just one idea.

One variable reasoning and then 2 variable reasoning are never really
taught to students in school. However the "Thinking Science" curriculum
of Shayer and Adey does this and MOP nibbles at this also.

Then of course once they have skill in comprehending 2 variable
situations, students need to have situations presented where they have
to decide which principles need to be selected. Again, this sort of
thing is seldom recognized or treated as a problem. The general
curriculum material is essentially a scatter gun and as such it blows
away many students. A well designed program would use the Piagetian
principle that students need to to encounter slightly complicated
surprising situations where they can accommodate their thinking.
Usually the Piagetian surprise is lacking, or the situation is so
complex that students can not go to a higher level of thinking skill.

Now the Morse code situation is actually a much simpler training
problem. Assuming you can comprehend the alphabet and have no hearing
or manual dexterity, it may be possible to learn it. Skinnerian
training techniques can be used for this type of situation. This is not
usually a very high cognitive skill, and should eventually become an
automatic skill. I say usually because there are people who can not use
certain normal pathways in the brain for learning certain skills. For
example there are people for whom listening is a cognitive task, and
they can not do anything else while listening. Such students are
usually incapable of taking notes, or if they manage to take notes,
there is absolutely no processing power left to comprehend what is being
said at the time of the lecture. However, there is recent evidence that
there are training methods that can be used to activate the normally
active portions of the brain. Dyslexics do not use certain portions of
the brain that are normally used in reading. With training these
students can begin to use the unused portions of the brain, and then
their reading skill improves. A good example of better training methods
is the method used to teach dyslexics how to type. It involves teaching
them how to type the whole alphabet in about 2 easy lessons. They then
type only the alphabet and recite a jingle with clues about where the
fingers go. After a while this is varied by putting things in between
letters such as A space B space .... Then finally they learn to type
simple sight words. This method is dynamite, and also works very well
with normal students. Notice the lesson starts with something the
students know, the alphabet, and then goes on to other routines in a
familiar progression with multisensory feedback.

It is always possible that you have a particular perception difficulty
which can prevent learning Morse code. In the same way there are
certainly students who may be totally incapable of learning one and two
variable reasoning, but I doubt that this number is as large as the
number in HS who lack these skills. The tragedy is that these skills
can be taught and learned as Shayer and Adey have demonstrated, but it
is not being done in the standard school programs.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


John Clement wrote:
One difficulty that students have to overcome is the problem that
they won't consistently use the information they have been given.
You can give them a simple statement ... [snip]

Are you implying that you have reached a point where you are able to
consistently and infallibly use all information that is given to you,
even in areas where you have little experience and no expertise and
limited interest?

I have a new perspective on comments about students' failure to make
use
of information they have been "given". When I retired from teaching,
I
decided I needed alternate employment to enhance the quality of my
life
and my pocketbook. I've had a career, now I just want a job. This
meant learning a new trade and once again becoming a student of new
subject matter. I have rediscovered first-hand some truths that it is
easy for teachers to lose track of once they have become subject
matter
experts:

(1) The student is constantly being given new information on a wide
variety of topics in a diverse variety of fields. While one is trying
to master yesterday's new information, the flood of today's new
information keeps coming.

(2) Having been given information is not the same thing as having been
given the training that enables one to use the information. To
paraphrase the old saw about real estate, the 3 most important factors
relating to a student's ability to apply information are (a)
experience,
(b) experience, and (c) experience.

(3) Not everyone who has the responsibility of providing information
is
good at it.

(4) Some people are just never going to master certain knowledges and
skills. After 50 years of periodic attempts to learn, I am reconciled
to never being able to communicate using Morse code. I am a dit-dah
dyslexic. The inability to do everything that people would like you
to
do does not portend the end of the world.

Best wishes,

Larry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larry Cartwright Retired Physics Teacher
<exit60@cablespeed.com> Charlotte MI 48813 USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Good judgment comes from experience,
and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
- If you're leadin' the herd, take a look back
now and then to make sure it's still there.
- A good time to keep your mouth shut is when
you're in deep water.
- If you're lookin' for permanent employment,
scratch a dog.
- Learn from the mistakes of others. You ain't gonna live
long enough to make 'em all yourself.
-- The Cowboys' Guide To Life
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~