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Re: [Phys-l] Can Thinking Be Learned?



I have been exploring ways to get scaffold students to develop their critical thinking abilities for some time. I append a few of my papers below. My collaborators and I are currently taking a suite of activities that we had developed since 1995 and are trying to see if they succeed in changing students ways of learning in introductory university courses from "template" learning to a holistic approach. One of the instruments that we are using for measurement is the Lawson test:


I am the principal investigator of a three year SSHRC (Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada) grant with the title.:

Personal epistemologies as barriers and facilitators to learning by Science and Engineering undergraduate students
I have developed a suite of activities that seem to get students to evaluate their understanding in terms of two alternative frameworks; Aristotle, and Galileo, & Newton. Students become aware that the frameworks relate concepts from different parts of the course and learn to evaluate the frameworks. We are developing and deploying instruments that can measure changes in students' learning before and after using the array of activities.
Data is being collected in several post-secondary institutions including Ryerson University (in Toronto),Langara College (in Vancouver, British Columbia) Concordia University (in Montreal)and in China, Vietnam and Portugal. Interviews will be conducted by program research assistants under the supervision of professors on the team. The first year of the program (2010-11) involves development and pilot testing of the instruments to be used to examine changes in student epistemologies.




Enhancing Students' Understanding Of Concepts By Getting Students to

Approach Text in The Manner of a Hermeneutical Circle

Calvin S. Kalman (Published online 5 September 2010).

DOI: 10.1007/s11191-010-9298-z

Science & Education: 20(2), 159–172, 2011.





Toolbox of activities to support students in a physics gateway course.

Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research. 6(2), 020111,1-15, 2010

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020111

Calvin S. Kalman, and Shelley Rohar





Enabling Students to Develop a Scientific Mindset

Calvin S. Kalman

Science & Education: 19(2), 147 -163, 2010

DOI10.1007/s11191-009-9186-6.




Best wishes

Calvin


_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ Dr. Calvin S. Kalman P. Phys. Phone: (514) 848-2424 xt 3284
_/ Professor,Department of Physics Fax: (514) 848-2828
_/ Principal, Science College
_/ Concordia University
_/ Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 Calvin.Kalman@concordia.ca
_/
_/ Also Adjunct Professor Department of Educational
_/ and Counseling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
_/
_/
_/ homepage- http://physics.concordia.ca/faculty/ckalman.php
_/
_/ Editor-in-Chief book series Science & Engineering Education Sources
_/ http://www.infoagepub.com/series/Science-Engineering-Education-Sources
_/
_/ See
_/ Successful Science and Engineering Teaching in Colleges and Universities
_/ at
_/ http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1933371161.html
_/ See review found in the Journal of Chemical Education Oct. 2007:
_/ http://tinyurl.com/2rt7tj
_/
_/ For the research behind this book see:
_/ "Successful Science and Engineering Teaching: Theoretical and Learning
_/ Perspectives (Innovation and Change in Professional Education)"
_/ at
_/ http://tinyurl.com/3qn237
_/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_//_/_/





On Feb 15, 2011, at 1:33 PM, Richard Hake wrote:

Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in two recent posts
that answer "YES" to the question "CAN THINKING BE LEARNED?: "Re:
Cognitive Acceleration" [Hake (2011a)] and "Feuerstein's Instrumental
Enrichment" [Hake (2011b)]. A combined abstract is:

*******************************************
ABSTRACT: Paul Lulai of the PhysLrnR list stated that when he
searched for materials on "Cognitive Acceleration" he found none that
would even provide a glimpse. As of 14 Feb 11:10:00-0800 Lulai's
post had initiated a 18-post thread on PhysLrnR.

In the first post "Re: Cognitive Acceleration" [Hake (2011a)] at
<http://bit.ly/fjoabR>, I give eleven academic references to the work
of Adey & Shayer on "Cognitive Acceleration," a program designed to
promote student's thought processes from "concrete" to "formal"
abstract thinking.

In the second post "Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment" [Hake
(2011b)] at <http://bit.ly/htVa5a>, I list seventeen academic
references related to the work of Reuven Feuerstein on "Instrumental
Enrichment." Feuerstein's work complements and is consistent with
"Cognitive Acceleration" since both work under the premise that
thinking skills can be learned.
*******************************************

To access the complete:

a. 12 kB first post "Re: Cognitive Acceleration" [Hake (2011a)]
please click on <http://bit.ly/fjoabR>;

b. 18 kB second post "Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment" [Hake
(2011b)] please click on <http://bit.ly/htVa5a>.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the
Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>
<http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com>
<http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>

If you try to introduce people to a paradigm shift, they will hear
what you have to say and then interpret your words in terms of their
old paradigm. What does not fit, they will not hear. Therefore, a
change in paradigm cannot be brought about by talking. People have to
experience the change, or at a minimum see other people experiencing
it, before they will begin to understand what you are saying."
Myron Tribus (2001)

"David Langford, illustrates the difference between teaching and
learning in a little story. He says, 'You know, last Wednesday I
taught my dog to whistle. I really did. I taught him to whistle. It
was hard work. I really went at it very hard. But I taught him to
whistle. Of course, he didn't learn, but I taught.' "
Myron Tribus (2001)


Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the
Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>
<http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com>
<http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>


REFERENCES [URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 15 Feb 2011.]
Hake, R.R. 2011a. "Re: Cognitive Acceleration," online on the OPEN!
AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/fjoabR>. Post of 14 Feb 2011
10:18:46-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the
complete post are being transmitted to various discussion lists are
also online on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/fASlF1>
with a provision for comments.

Hake, R.R. 2011b. "Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment," online on
the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/htVa5a>. Post of 14 Feb
2011 16:33:00-0800 to AERA-L and and Net-Gold. The abstract and link
to the complete post are being transmitted to various discussion
lists are also online on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at
<http://bit.ly/fASlF1> with a provision for comments.

Tribus, M. 2001. "Quality in Education According to the Teachings of
Deming and Feuerstein," online as a 78 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/hwcbjn>.
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