Knowledge worth Knowing and Student Centered Learning:

Who will win Jeopardy?

by Troy C. Hopkins

“Hey Siri!” “Take me home!” Why look at a paper map when Siri can find the way before I can find the map in my glove compartment, if I even still have one? “Hey Siri!” What is the state that borders Connecticut on the east side?” “Rhode Island”. Hey Siri!” What is the capital of Rhode Island? “Providence”. Siri knows a lot! And she can tell me quickly as long as I can think of the questions to ask. But there is a bigger question that must be answered and Siri cannot help. It is not a quick, easy answer.

My youngest daughter spent two weeks at a summer camp where she disconnected with technology and connected with real people. What a novel experience! We should all try it. Other than having a fax machine, the camp has remained relatively unchanged for decades. We received several hand printed letters from her through snail mail and we wrote back by hand. While I can print, my default writing mode is cursive. Upon returning from camp, my daughter expressed the challenge in reading my correspondence, and it was not because of messiness. She lacked well-developed knowledge in the identification of cursive letters. Is that knowledge worth knowing? Maybe she could have asked her counselor for help, but I am not sure that would have helped, as many schools have deemphasized that skill for many years.

With the value of certain sets of knowledge changing and knowledge so accessible through our devices, what knowledge is worth knowing? And reversely, what knowledge is better to just look up when needed? Before we discuss what that knowledge is, let’s first list why knowledge is worth knowing.

Why know anything? Here are some proposed answers:

• To be informed citizens

• To be able to carry on an informed conversation

• To be able to function without technology

• To have confidence that you actually know stuff

• To support current and future learning

• To have content you understand, can apply, evaluate, and build upon

• To have knowledge to enrich your life

How much can we know?

Some might argue that the brain, like a computer, has limited capacity to store knowledge and therefore we should be selective about what we collect in there or risk running out of room. However, I wonder how many of us even come close to that capacity, even though we might know a lot.

What is this knowledge worth knowing?

Here are just a few ideas to get the conversation started:

Numbers and Letters

U.S States and Capitals

Connecticut towns near Ashford

World Countries

Multiplication Tables

Sight words

Parts of Speech

Major Events in the History of the World

Steps in science investigations

Photosynthesis

Biomes of the World

How to address an envelope

Social Security Number

Your Mother’s Birthday

Please keep brainstorming! Once many ideas are on the table, we can debate what’s worth knowing. During our discussions we should continually weigh the value of knowing factual knowledge.

Does it support learning and future employment?

Does it make one an educated citizen?

Does it increase confidence?

Does it enrich one’s life?

When filling out job application, does remembering your social security number support your employment when the human resource person is waiting for you to finish?

Does knowing the U.S. States make one an educated citizen?

Does knowing multiplication tables increase one’s confidence?

Does knowing that carbon dioxide molecules combine to form sugar during photosynthesis enrich one’s life when taking a nature walk through the forest?

What is the value to knowing your mother’s birthday? Ask her!

Some of the knowledge worth knowing may be based on local culture, history, and environment. For example, Thomas Knowlton and Nathan Hale are two well known Revolutionary War heroes from our local area. And the Ashford Academy is where residents attended school until 1949. Do these facts represent some of the local knowledge worth knowing because it makes for educated citizens?

Is the knowledge worth knowing the same for everyone? Possibly in addition to a common set of knowledge that everyone should know, students choose to add on a unique chunk of knowledge based on interests and backgrounds. For example, one student may choose to link all the NFL locations and teams to her knowledge of the U.S. States. Schools should ensure that students acquire both the identified common knowledge and the personally chosen knowledge.

Discussion and agreement needs to occur in our schools in order to identify the knowledge worth knowing and then it needs to be known. Schools need to share it as part of a well developed curriculum.

Can it just be memorized?

In recent times, the skill of memorization has taken a backseat to the acquisition of transferable skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, etc. These skills are extremely important, and there is value in the skill of memorization to acquire new knowledge. And there are many memory strategies that can be used such as acronyms like HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior), for the Great Lakes. Is knowing the names of the Great Lakes knowledge worth knowing?

Even though knowledge can be memorized without context, schools should design ways, and allow students to design ways, to acquire knowledge in meaningful, connected ways, in which students see the purpose in knowing the knowledge. Students will remember it better!

So in addition to memorizing the Great Lakes using the HOMES, students could also learn them as they study glaciation in science or transportation in social studies. Or as stated by just one standard in the Connecticut Social Studies Frameworks for fourth grade:

“Midwest Region

Students examine the relationship between people of the Midwest and the Great Lakes and major rivers of the region.”

As you can see from these social studies frameworks, students are expected to understand the relationships between knowledge. And while the learning standard does not explicitly mention specific names of the Great Lakes, you could argue that it is implied. Or, at least that an order for students to thoroughly master the standard, they should know the names of the Great Lakes.

Should kids develop the ability to memorize? Who will earn a part in the drama production?

Who will be able to respond correctly on Jeopardy to the prompt:

Alex Trebek says “The cell part that uses oxygen to release energy from food”

The informed, confident, technology-free competitor says “What is mitochondria?”

Was this answer sitting in isolation at some remote location in the brain? More likely, “mitochondria” was connected to the contestant’s understanding of energy conversions in the body. The prompt stimulated the memory of energy conversions and then other connected information could be recalled.

The Best Learning Experiences - One Size Does Not Fit All

Students need to learn how to read, write, and calculate well! They also should know basic facts and concepts from social studies, sciences, and all the humanities and arts. And yes, they need to have knowledge of technology to succeed in the 21st century world. While acquiring all of this knowledge, students must develop and exercise several transferable skills like collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking.

How can students learn all this?

Lecture? Some lecture is Ok, but students only retain about 10% of what is presented through lecture. Even so, students should have some practice as they are likely to find themselves in lecture situations in which they need to succeed. That stated, teachers should spend the majority of the time teaching students in ways in which they learn best. In fact, high schools and colleges are also making this transition to student centered learning.

Even though people have different learning styles, we should make sure that everyone attains the skills necessary to learn in the situations in which they find themselves. Therefore we should challenge all of our students to learn in a variety of situations. In addition, the level of challenge needs to be appropriate for each learner so everyone makes as much progress as possible and no one is bored. Is this difficult? Yes, it is. That is why schools need to focus on developing the knowledge and skills of our staff.

Student centered learning is the answer! Students are more motivated and remember more of what they learned compared to traditional lecture style, in which learners are relatively passive and often doing the same thing as everyone else. Remember, our goal is to make sure that all learners are appropriately challenged so they make progress and are not bored. After a lecture based lesson, a teacher must decide on what to do the next day. Move forward with the next lesson - leaving behind those who were confused from the previous day’s lesson, or repeat the previous day’s lesson - boring those who quickly grasped the content. Neither of those choices optimizes learning for anyone. A solution is student centered instructional practices such as project based learning, differentiated centers and workshop model instruction.

So what is project based learning? It can take many forms and result in a wide range of products, which ideally will have a public audience. When well planned, each project includes some content knowledge and skills from reading, writing, calculating, social studies,science, technology, humanities, and the arts. By making connections between several skills and subjects, students see how their learning applies to the real world, we call this authenticity. In addition to content knowledge and skill, students learn and practice transferable skills (Habits of Mind) - otherwise known as 21st century skills. Products may include a research paper, a commercial video, a historical skit, a farmer’s market, etc, however the learning occurs during the process of creating the product, which is the culmination of all the learning. In high quality PBL, there are personal goals for each student, whether the project is an individual one or a group effort, which allow us and the student to measure progress in acquiring knowledge and skill at several points during the unit of study.

Another way to engage students in learning is through carefully developed centers in classrooms. We can really focus on individuals and groups of students who have different learning styles, readiness, and interest as we create classroom centers. Centers can work in every subject and work particularly well in math. For example, math centers could be organized by manipulatives, video, create a problem, writing/talking about math, drill and practice, etc. Students often spend different amounts of time at each center depending on their needs.

Yet, another student centered instructional situation is workshop model of instruction, which often starts with a teacher directed mini-lesson and quickly transitions to students practicing their skills, possibly at differentiated centers, either independently or in groups. Stations can also work in concert with workshop model as all students rotate to practice certain related knowledge and skills in different ways. Usually groups of students will travel through stations together, spending an equal amount of time at each.

Regardless of the specific instructional strategies, educators must ensure that students are learning the knowledge worth knowing in connected, authentic ways. In order to accomplish this, educators need to examine how best to use both time and space in their classroom. When this is done well, they will optimize the learning for each of their students. And it is worth saying again - the work of teachers is hard! The most important work on the planet is hard - that makes sense.

When Siri responds in seconds, what is the value of knowing a fact on the top of your head? Priceless! The four C’s (critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration) are clearly very important. And yes, we can also know a lot!

The STEAM Machine

at Ashford School

Troy Hopkins

Introduction

Motivation for learning is embedded into learning experiences at Ashford School. Research and experience tells us that people have increased motivation levels when they have control over what they are doing, are aware of the progress they are making, and understand the reasons of their efforts. Daniel Pink, author of DRIVE, names these factors autonomy, mastery, and purpose. When teachers plan their instruction to include these factors, student motivation for learning increases.

Students sometimes ask, “Why do we have to learn this?” The answer is obvious when teachers teach in interdisciplinary ways while connecting the lesson to real issues. We strive to consistently do that, but go even further. We have a STEAM Machine. Actually, we are the “machine”! STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. The Arts include visual, musical, and movement arts, as well as the liberal arts, such as literature, writing, languages, and social studies.

Here is our simplified definition. STEAM is how we empower students to use all of their learning to think about the world, solve problems and show what they know.

Through collaboration among staff, we are creating processes (how our STEAM Machine functions) that will provide opportunities for students to make choices about their purposeful learning, develop 21^st century skills, and create projects (the product of our STEAM machine). The lasting products of our STEAM Machine are motivated students equipped with essential skills and knowledge to tackle future challenges with confidence.

Building the Machine

The steps of the design process, commonly used in engineering, can be applied to many different subjects including the creation on our STEAM Machine. Starting with a clear goal or problem that we want to solve, we are able to design our machine in order to best accomplish the goal or solve the problem. Here is the goal: Students create projects in which they have choice, see purpose, make connections, and develop transferable skills and confidence. As you might realize, our machine must be thoughtfully designed.

Parts of the machine

1. STEAM planning template – What is the curriculum for each subject at each grade level?

2. Themes - Teachers examine the different content areas and determine a theme that would fit well with the existing curriculum. At times, decisions are made to reorder curriculum in certain subjects to better fit the theme. In addition, curriculum support materials are selected in all subjects to align to the theme. For example, a different novel may be used then what was previously planned to study characters and stories elements.

3. Teachers - Different teachers play different roles.

All faculty are encouraged to share ideas and resources with each other in supporting student learning under the identified theme. However, faculty members do play more specific roles (parts) in our STEAM Machine.

Homeroom teachers, who spend more time with their students, determine the theme for the trimester with input from specials teachers, special educators, and intervention teachers. Homeroom teachers provide frequent references to the theme, STEAM theme-based instruction, and guidance for students as they complete their projects. These teachers also facilitate a grade-level STEAM event at the end of the trimester.

Specials teachers are involved in planning and implementing the theme-based trimester with various grade levels. However, the role is mostly consultative to both teachers and students. Specials teachers are constantly aware of the topics of learning in the classes so that they can help students make interdisciplinary connections. In addition, specials teachers facilitate STEAM events that center around their specific areas, but include the integration of skills and knowledge from other disciplines. Generally, there are a fewer number of STEAM lessons in specials classes than in classrooms where students spend more time.

Special Educators and Intervention Teachers are involved heavily in supporting their students in developing the skills needed to complete and communicate their projects. This involves collaboration with teachers to provide personalized learning for each student, including what is learned, how it is learned, and how the student demonstrates learning.

School psychologists and speech pathologists are involved in helping students develop skills needed to complete and communicate their projects. These specific skills include autonomy, perseverance, collaboration, and motivation to learn. They are also involved in STEAM events that are related to overall wellness.

4. Students

The students take ownership of their learning but making choices about specific content, how they will learn, and how they will show their learning.

Students plan their work and monitor their progress as appropriate to the grade level. Older students fill out a STEAM Project Planning Template and update it throughout the trimester. They also keep a journal to track their progress.

Students use technology and/or the arts to communicate their learning.

Students seek out assistance from students, staff members, and/or community members.

Students display, perform, or present their project during a STEAM event.

Making STEAM

Vital to the success of our STEAM initiative is time. How is time planned by teachers? What are students doing with their time during the trimester?

Early in the semester, the STEAM theme is introduced to students at each grade level, however students spend a large portion of their time learning the essential content and skills of their specific classes. Teachers make frequent reference to the STEAM theme as fitting to the lesson. As the semester progresses, students spend more and more time on STEAM projects. However, subject-specific learning continues simultaneously as every essential facet of each subject may not neatly fit under the theme. Toward the end of the trimester, a STEAM Event will be held at each grade level.

Levels of theme integration:

1. Referencing the theme as relevant to discipline-specific content

2. Redesigning discipline-specific lessons to align directly with the theme

3. Designing lessons that are completely STEAM in which students use all of their learning to think about the world, solve problems and show what they know.