Katherine S. Cennamo

5. VIDEOCASES IN ELEMENTARY SCIENCE TEACHER PREPARATION

This chapter details our story of developing and using a series of videocases in elementary science teacher preparation. The Reflecting on Elementary Science videocases provide models of best practices in reform-based elementary science teaching. They reduce the complexity of teaching into a manageable story situated in a specific context, so that preservice teachers can uncover and reflect upon their theories about science learning and teaching. Through an accompanying research program, we have found that the videocases perturb student thinking and catalyze them to think like a teacher as they refine their science education theories.

Managing the Complexity of Design Problems through Studio-based Learning

Abstract The ill-structured nature of design problems makes them particularly challenging for problem-based learning. Studio-based learning (SBL), however, has much in common with problem-based learning and indeed has a long history of use in teaching students to solve design problems. The purpose of this ethnographic study of an industrial design class, an architecture class, and three human-computer-interaction classes was to develop a cross-disciplinary understanding of the goals and expectations for students in a SBL environment and the ways in which experienced facilitators assist students in solving complex design problems. The expectations that students are to iteratively generate and refine design solutions, communicate effectively, and collaborate with others establishes the studio as a dynamic place where students learn to experiment on their own, to teach and to use all studio members as resources in that search. Instructors support students as they grapple with complexity of design problem-solving through pedagogical practices that include assignments, associated meta-discussions, explicit prompts, reminders, modeling, and coaching. Using sample illustrations from our cross-case analysis, we present the studio method as a legitimate constituent of problem-based learning methods.

Promoting creativity in the computer science design studio

Revolutionary advances in technologies will require computer science professionals who are able to develop innovative software solutions. In order to identify techniques that can lead students to creative insights in their work, we have conducted an ethnographic study of the studio method as enacted in architecture, industrial design (ID), and human-computer interaction (HCI) classes. Our analysis of the activities conducted during studio critiques revealed that while the ID and architecture studios had a primary focus on experimentation, the primary emphasis of the HCI studios was on idea refinement. In this paper, we describe four barriers to creative thought observed in the HCI classrooms and identify ways that the architecture and ID instructors helped students to overcome similar challenges.

Emergent themes in a UI design hybrid-studio course

The goal of our research and teaching collaboration has been to learn more about how key aspects of pedagogy commonly incorporated in architecture and industrial design classes might positively impact the teaching of user interface (UI) design within a standard computer science curriculum. Toward that end, we studied a number of studio design courses, developed a set of curriculum guidelines, and analyzed the effectiveness of these guidelines as implemented in a UI design course. We discovered three emergent themes: 1) students need early and constant reminders that design is an iterative process involving user feedback and testing; 2) instructor modeling is critical; and 3) technology needs to be carefully managed at critical junctures throughout the class.

In Education We All Want to Be Nice: Lessons Learned from a Multidisciplinary Design Studio

The purpose of this investigation was to identify factors that might foster and sustain innovative design thinking through a qualitative examination of a multidisciplinary student team charged with the design of an immersive museum experience. Survey, focus group, and observational data were collected from students of industrial design, architecture, computer science, mechanical engineering, and education. Using the factors identified in the literature on group creativity as a guide to data analysis, the analyses revealed how multidisciplinary design projects can foster innovation. In addition, the data revealed differences in the cultures through which the various design disciplines are educated. Whether the goal is to develop an aesthetically pleasing product or to solve a challenging problem, the development of creative design solutions is an iterative process, involving idea refinement as well as idea generation. The results suggest ways to create a classroom culture that supports both the creativity needed to generate innovative ideas and the resilience that is needed to refine them.

Survivors Guide to Graduate Research.

ConclusionAs you conduct your research, you will undoubtedly suffer from the perennial condition of all graduate students—constant, paralyzing guilt. When you are not working on your research, you are agonizing because you should be.Unfortunately, guilt also keeps you from doing many other things, like cleaning house or simply relaxing. The good news is that guilt usually disappears within a year after you take that final walk across the stage and shake the dean’s hand. The cure is painful, but worth it.We have presented some ideas that worked for us, in hopes that they will work for you. Perhaps these ideas will cause you to consider a factor that you may not have considered before. Perhaps some small suggestion will provide you with a solution to a nagging problem, or simply remind you that some of your frustrations are a natural part of the dissertation or thesis process.For additional information on this topic seeHow to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertaion, by David Stemberg. The chapters on “The Unfolding Dissertation: Diplomatic Relations with your Committee” and “Down in the Dissertation Dumps: How to Get Out” may be especially useful.

Conclusion and Future Direction

Situated learning, reflection-in-action, and mindfulness are three distinct fields that are brought together in this monograph to illustrate how learners in a situated learning environment can engage in mindful practice to enhance their ability to reflect-in-action and overall reflective practice. Expanding on theorists’ work in experiential learning and sociocultural theory, the theory of situated cognition and situated learning evolved, grounded in the idea that learning and cognition are dependent upon the context in which they are embedded (Herrington and Oliver 2000; Brown et al. 1989). In a situated learning environment, learners participate in authentic tasks, often through means of apprenticeships, anchored instruction, or computer-mediated simulations. Designing instruction for situated learning can be difficult as authentic environments are often unpredictable and vary greatly across situations and disciplines (Winn 1993). To support situated learners in facing these ill-structured problems and unique environments, it has been suggested that it is essential to develop skills that transfer across environments (Winn 1993). By integrating strategies to promote reflective practice and mindfulness in the design of situated learning environments, instructional designers can use this model to address many of the challenges faced in the variable and uncertain environments that arise within situated learning.

Strategies for Reflection-in-Action in Situated Learning

Reflective learning comes in many forms and is executed differently in various instructional settings. In situated learning, learners not only fill the role of students, but they are expected to function similar to practitioners within the environment. As a practitioner, it is not enough to only engage in reflection after the experience has occurred, known as reflection-on-action. Reflective practitioners must also develop the ability to reflect-in-action which will allow them to solve problems more effectively when facing uncertainty and novel situations. Although most of the recommendations for promoting reflection in situated learning focus on reflection-on-action, the literature includes several strategies that can support reflection-in-action: build a context and environment that promotes reflection-in-action, incorporate social interaction with others, develop learners’ level of personal awareness, incorporate multiple forms of reflection, and incorporate feedback throughout the experience This chapter elaborates on each of these strategies and provides methods to incorporate them within a situated learning environment.

A Conceptual Model Incorporating Mindfulness to Enhance Reflection in a Situated Learning Environment

In order to identify elements essential to integrating mindfulness as an instructional strategy to enhance reflection-in-action within situated learning, a conceptual model was developed using Type 2 design and development research methods for model development and model validation. The model brings together the literature on situated learning, reflection-in-action, and mindfulness to derive strategies to improve reflective practice within situated learning by incorporating reflection-in-action and mindfulness. Key elements for promoting reflection before, during, and after the situated learning experience, along with complimentary mindfulness strategies, are included throughout the model, as supported within the literature. The model was designed to aid instructional designers in addressing difficulties faced with designing for situated learning particularly in promoting reflection within the environment. The following chapter presents the conceptual model developed in this study along with examples of ways to incorporate each strategy to aid in the application and usability of the model.

Strategies for Reflection in Situated Learning

Based on a review of literature, it can be concluded that providing learners with opportunities for reflection within a situated learning environment helps them form abstract conceptualizations and transfer knowledge to future situations. Reflection also helps learners critically analyze their own performance in order to make improvements in strategies applied in the future. Yet currently, there is little guidance within the literature on how to best incorporate reflection to support learners within a situated learning environment. However, there are strategies described within the literature, which, when included in situated learning, have been found to promote reflection. These strategies include building a context and environment that promotes reflection, incorporating social interaction, considering duration and timing of reflection, providing feedback, providing nonlinear navigation, and promoting spontaneous reflection. This chapter will elaborate on each of these strategies and provide methods to support incorporating them into situated learning environments.