DRAFT SYLLABUS September 2011 Subject to
revision Instructor Educational Sciences 499 office x0-3443 office hours: Wednesdays Teaching
Assistant: Garrett Smith Office: Educational
Sciences 664A Cell:
608-320-4536 Email: gwsmith@wisc.edu office hours: by
appointment Seminar: Educational Sciences room #1053 Quick Links: Thanksgiving,
no class – Paper: full draft due PDF files for the course
readings are linked from each week's assignment. Learning
takes place all around us -- in chance encounters and in the midst of doing
other things as much as in schools and other institutions. What distinguishes
classrooms and other settings organized for learning is that they are designed.
Educators have made choices about content (what people will learn),
activities (how people might best learn), and organization (when, with whom,
and under what circumstances people will learn). Ideally,
the choices educators make should be guided by an understanding of how people
think and how people learn. This
course is the beginning of a two-semester sequence on the foundations of the
learning sciences as guidelines for the design of learning environments. The
course is open to all students with an interest in the study of learning, but
the syllabus, course work, and class discussions are designed primarily for
students beginning doctoral-level study of education rather than to
practitioners or those pursuing professional degrees. An
alternative perspective on cognition emphasizes thinking as a form of
mediated activity. Mediation is construed quite broadly, including language
and other systems of signs, forms of social practice, and artifacts that aid
thought (like blackboards and computer technologies). This perspective is
often referred to as “sociocultural,” emphasizing
contexts as forums for socially constituted practices. In this view, thinking
is a matter of participation in forms of practice. There
is a tendency to place these two general perspectives in competition; in this
sequence of courses, we will examine them as alternative levels of
description -- just as in biology, where descriptions of populations and of
organisms employ different models and concepts. Organisms participate in
populations and populations are made up of organisms. Both perspectives are
important in understanding the whole system. The
overall structure of the course sequence is a series of readings and
discussions about the “symbolic” and “socio-cultural” views of thinking. Both
views are discussed in each course, although in the fall (this course, 795),
we look in more depth at the socio-cultural view of cognition. In the spring,
the emphasis is on the symbolic view. In
each semester, readings and discussions are anchored by a project where
students conduct a small research study using and thus exploring the
analytical tools (i.e., the theories) under discussion. Thinking
about thinking is never an easy task. This course will require a lot of work,
both in the quantity and quality of the reading. Some of the readings are
quite difficult. Discussions will ask you to grapple with ideas that are not
always intuitively easy to grasp. The project is ambitious, time consuming,
and challenging. In short, this course will be hard work. The
goal of the course is to build a solid understanding of what we know about
how people learn as a foundation for designing places and circumstances where
learning can happen more effectively. How successful we are in reaching that
goal will depend on your willingness to think through these ideas looking for
stimulating connections, insights, and questions. Please
note that building this understanding is not something that will be
accomplished in a single semester of the two-semester EP795 / 796 sequence.
It is expected that students will take both courses, ideally during a single
academic year. The course has 4 components: Each of these is described in more detail
below, with specific due dates and times listed under topics
and readings below. Please also see the note below about
written assignments, which includes information on submission, formatting and
due dates. A general note about written
assignments All written assignments will be turned in
to the course group on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/). The logic behind
this requirement is that reading work of other students is an important
component of the class. Submitting work online makes it easy to distribute
work to the class. There are two weekly written assignments
due for the class. They are due at 9am on Monday before the class and 5pm
on Wednesday after the class. This is to give students a chance to read
each other’s work before class and after class while the discussion and
reading are still fresh in people’s memories. Class
discussions and Facebook group You are responsible for completing the
reading and participating actively in class discussions each week. Your rule
of thumb should be that you have read the articles and thought about them
sufficiently such that you could start and lead a provocative and insightful
discussion about them if asked to. You should be prepared to do so at any
point in the semester. Each week there will be two commentaries
due on the course Facebook group. 1.
Before each week’s seminar, you will be asked to post a
commentary on the readings. This commentary should include (a) a brief
summary of the main points of each text, (b) provide a question that you
think is a relevant and important topic for the class raised by the readings
for the week, and (c) provide your (at this point perhaps tentative) answer
to the question. 2.
After each week’s seminar, you will be asked to post a new commentary that describes whether
and how you would change your old post based on the class discussion. Class Facebook
group FAQ How
long should each of these commentaries be? Ideally, each commentary should be in the
range of 150-250 words for each section. This is just a guideline. You can
write more or less and do not need to count words. What
do you mean by each “section” of a commentary? The commentary before each class meeting
should have a section for each reading (150-250 words each) that summarized
the main points. It should also have a section that describes a question and
that your answer to the question (150-250 words total). What
do you mean by each “reading”. Sometimes more than
one chapter of something is assigned? Is each chapter a reading? Each chapter is not a reading. A collection
of chapters from the same source is one reading. Basically, you should write
one summary for each author that we
read in a given week. Do we
have to use Facebook? Honestly, this is a new experiment for the
class. We have used a more traditional group blog in the past and it was
cumbersome and a little dry. Using a common social media platform is an
attempt to make the postings more integrated into people’s online lives.
There are some downsides, of course, not least of which is that everyone has
to have a Facebook account. Please talk to the TA
if you need help setting one up. What
if I don’t want the whole world to see my commentaries for class? The group will only be visible to members
of the class and instructional staff. What
if I don’t want the rest of the class to see all of my personal Facebook stuff? You have two choices for this. The easiest
is to block members of the class from seeing your personal information. The
class TA can show you how to do that. Alternatively, you can set up a new Facebook account that you use only for the class. Again,
the class TA can give you advice about how to do that. What
if I have more general moral or ethical issues, questions, or concerns about
using Facebook in an academic class? I’d be happy to talk with you about those
concerns, and see if there is a way to address those issues in a satisfactory
way. What
are the criteria for whether a question is “a relevant and important topic
for the class”? There are no fixed criteria. However, in
general your question should not be
a point of clarification (eg, “what does Vygotsky mean by Zone of Proximal Development?”), but
rather an idea that connects readings with each other or with other work in
the class (eg, “does the idea of a Zone of Proximal
Development link Geertz’ concept of culture and
Simon’s view of mind?”). When
I ask my “relevant and important question” in the commentary should I explain
why I think it is important? Yes, definitely. Does
my question literally have to be in the form of a question? What if I have a
reflection that I think is interesting, but I don’t know how to frame it as a
question? No. We’re not playing the game show
Jeopardy. As long as you raise an interesting issue, explain why it is
interesting, and provide your view on it, you don’t have to include a
question mark. Does
it matter that the Vice President is not round and made of rubber? Ask me in class. Readings All
course readings are available as PDF files that can be downloaded from links
on the syllabus. Selected readings are
also available for purchase in the University Bookstore. Please
consult with the course TA if you need more information on obtaining the
readings. The purpose of this assignment is to help
you shift from the position of participant in learning environments (that
is, being a student or a teacher), to the position of an observer
(that is, being a researcher). For this assignment, you will spend 3-4
hours (roughly 1/2 of a typical school day) observing a group of people
learning something. This could be an elementary school class. You could
choose to “shadow” a high school student for part of his or her day and
observe a variety of classes, or come to one class over a series of days. For
instance, you could choose to observe a sports team practicing, an employee
benefits seminar, or a rural agricultural extension worker conducting
training sessions. Basically the requirement is to find a setting where (1)
learning is taking place, (2) in a group of people, (3) over a sufficient
amount of time such that you can observe 3-4 hours of activity. Write up your observations. Describe the
setting and participants. Explain what, if anything, people seem to be
learning, and how they are learning it. Pay particular attention to the
relationship between individual and group activity. Please also reflect
briefly on how your observations relate to Tyack’s discussion of the history
of American schools (the reading assignment for that week). Your report should be NO MORE than 1000
words. Post your observations by 9am on the Monday
before class. The final project for the course asks you
to pick some setting where people are learning in a group and analyze it
using the ideas we are reading and discussing in the course. That is, you are
being asked to put theory into practice and use ideas about learning to
understand with some depth and subtlety how learning takes place in an
environment of your choice, using the readings of the course (where
appropriate!) as models. In general, your paper should include: (1)
an introduction that describes the issue your study is exploring; (2) a
description of the single theory
your study is exploring; (3) a description of the setting where you made your
observations, information about who you observed and for how long, as well as
how you made your observations and how you analyzed them afterwards; (4) a
description of what you observed; (5) a discussion of what that suggests
about the theory you were exploring; (6) a conclusion that describes the
implications of what you found -- that is, what, if anything, someone would
do with this information. We will discuss the results of these
projects in detail as part of the class towards the end of the semester, and
our conversations about how these ideas play out in the real world will be an
important link between theories of cognition and the practice of education. This is a difficult and ambitious project.
To make it more manageable, the assignment is broken up into 4 stages, each
with a separate due date during the semester. If you complete each step of
the assignment on time and get positive feedback from the TA and instructor,
you should be in a position to do a good job on the project overall. However,
managing your time on the project overall remains your responsibility. If you
feel parts of your particular project need to be completed ahead of the
“schedule” in the syllabus you should talk with the TA or instructor. The key steps in the final project are: In some ways, this is the most important and
difficult step of your final project: choosing an appropriate topic. You need
to choose a setting you would like to analyze for your final research
project. This can be -- but does not have to be -- the same setting that you
used for your Fieldwork assignment. You should choose a setting that you can
observe with some ease over a significant period of time, where a group of
people is learning something complex, interesting, and in some depth that
will take them some time to master. You will also, of course, want to make
sure that some significant learning will take place in the time you have
available to observe. You should decide whether you want to choose a setting
that you are familiar with or whether you prefer to come to your observations
with a “fresh pair of eyes.” You will probably want to choose a setting where
you are also at least a little bit familiar with what is being learned. Be
sure to consult with the TA or instructor if you are having difficulty finding
a suitable topic and setting. You may want to use readings from the course as
models for the kind of settings you want to study. Your proposal should describe the setting and
participants. Explain what, if anything, you expect people will be learning
in that setting, and how you hypothesize they are learning it. Focus in
particular on how studying this learning environment will tell you (and thus
the rest of us) something about the relationship between individual and group
activity in learning. The week before we will begin discussing your
papers, a “rough draft” of your research paper is due. There is no specific
requirement as to what constitutes a “rough draft,” other than that it
documents substantial progress on your work, and demonstrates that you will
be able to turn in a “full draft” on time the following week. A rough draft
typically includes an outline of the paper as a whole, examples of text from
some key sections, some analysis of the theory that you have chosen to work
with, as well as graphs, figures and examples from the data. You should not
need to make any special preparations for this rough draft -- if your work
has progressed and you are on track to finish your paper on time, you should
be able to send your work to date in whatever form you have been working
from. However, you should be aware that failure to document substantial
progress on your paper will be reflected in your final grade on the project,
and will also lead to a concerned message from your TA. We will be spending two class periods discussing
your research projects. To make this possible, you will be asked to post a
“full draft” of your paper to the course Facebook
group. A full draft of your paper means a complete paper that would be
acceptable to turn in as a final draft: the text should be complete and
proof-read; figures, graphs, tables, captions, and all references should be
complete and in correct APA format. Basically, a full draft of the paper is a
final draft, except in this case, your will be submitting the full draft for
peer review in class. You will get two forms of feedback on your full
draft: comments in class, and written comments from the teaching staff,
including a “full draft grade.” Based on comments in class and from the
teaching, you will revise your paper into a final draft. Your full draft should be NO MORE than 2000 words,
EXCLUDING title, figures, and references. Final drafts of papers are due (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
by 9am Monday before the last class meeting. Final drafts should incorporate
changes to the full draft of the paper based on discussions of the paper in
class, as well as comments from the instructor and TA. Papers that do not
address these issues will be downgraded one step from the full draft grade.
Papers that are successfully revised based on comments may be (but will not
necessarily be) upgraded by as much as one step. Note that a successful
revision is one that addresses the most significant problems or issues raised
in the critique of the paper. Your final draft should be NO MORE than 2000
words, EXCLUDING title, figures, and references. Along with your final draft, you should include a
cover letter that documents the revisions you have chosen to make. Please
include a description of the relevant critiques you received from the
teaching staff and your peers. For each point of critique, explain how you
chose to address it in the final draft and your rationale for revising in
that way. The course has 4 components that are
weighted as follows for the purposes of grading: 20% 20% 10% Process (includes Topic Proposal, and
Rough Draft) Final Product 50% 10% 40% You will receive letter grades for your
final project and for your fieldwork assignment. You will receive feedback
about your work on the course Facebook group, but
not a specific letter grade. If you have concerns about your performance in
discussions or on the website, please consult with the TA or instructor. The course will not be graded on a curve.
Each student’s work will be evaluated based on expectations of performance in
a graduate-level course. Students are encouraged to discuss work with each
other and to collaborate wherever possible. However, unless specific
arrangements are made in advance, students are expected to turn in written
work that is entirely their own. Please let me know if you require special
accommodations in the curriculum, instruction, or evaluation due to a disability.
I will try to maintain the confidentiality of the information you share. If
you have special needs or if you have questions about campus
disability-related policies and services, please contact the All
course readings are available as PDF files that are linked to from the syllabus.
Selected readings are also available for purchase in the University
Bookstore. Please consult with the
course TA if you need more information on obtaining the readings. Assignments See above under Assignments and Evaluation for more information on
individual assignments, including important information on due dates and extensions. WEEKLY
LISTING OF TOPICS, Introduction & Simulation: Thinking
about Thinking September Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 4:
5: Assignment- Read negotiation
instructions before class 6:
Seminar– class
intro & xenotrans- plantation simulation 7:
Commentary
due 5pm 8:
9: 10: September Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 11: 12: Commentaries
due 9am 13:
Seminar- Dichotomy:
Thought, Symbolic & Social 14:
Commentary
due 5pm 15: 16:
17: Reading Assignment – Due Monday,
September 12 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the Facebook group, come to
class prepared to begin a discussion on the readings. In addition, post answers (to the course Facebook group, http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
to final questions on the game in class: Describe three similarities and
differences between your experience in the negotiation and the experiences of
other player(s) in the same role in the other negotiation(s). How can you
account for those similarities and differences? Also, as soon as possible, please post
about yourself on the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/).
Your post should include the following information: If your reason for
taking the class is to fulfill a course requirement, please try to give some
explanation as to how the topics we are studying will connect with your
intellectual and academic interests. This information will
provide contact information for members of the class. If you have concerns
about sharing this information, please contact the course TA. September Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 18: 19: Commentaries
due 9am 20:
Seminar- Antecedents: Pragmatism 21:
Commentary
due 5pm 22: 23:
24: Reading Assignment – Due Monday,
September 19 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. September Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 25: 26: Fieldwork &
Commentaries due 9am 27:
Seminar- Fieldwork:
Observing a Learning System 28:
Commentary
due 5pm 29: 30:
1:
Assignment – Due Monday,
September 26 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. Your Fieldwork
assignment is also due this week. Post your observations to the Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
by 12 noon Monday before class. Be sure to read the observations posted by
your fellow classmates and come to class prepared to discuss these in the
context of Tyack’s observations about American education at the turn of the
last century. October Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 2:
3:
Commentaries
due 9am 4:
Seminar- Ethnography 5:
Commentary
due 5pm 6:
7:
8: Reading Assignment – Due Monday, October 3 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. October Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 9:
10:
Topic
Proposal
& Commentaries due 9am 11:
Seminar- Case
Studies: Cognition in the Wild 12:
Commentary
due 5pm 13:
14: 15: Assignment – Due Monday,
October 10 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. By 12 noon Monday before class, post your Topic Proposal to the course Facebook
group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/).
Feel free to use Hutchins and Shaffer as models for the kind of study (albeit
at a smaller scale) that you will undertake. October Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 16:
17:
Commentaries
due 9am 18: Seminar- Process:
Scaffolding 19:
Commentary
due 5pm 20: 21: 22: Assignment – Due Monday,
October 17 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. October Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 23: 24: Commentaries
due 9am 25: Seminar- Situated
Cognition 26: Commentary
due 5pm 27: 28: 29: Reading Assignment – Due Monday,
October 24 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. Begin work on your research project. October November Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 30: 31: Commentaries
due 9am 1:
Seminar- Discourse 2:
Commentary
due 5pm 3:
4:
5:
Reading Assignment – Due Monday,
October 31 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. Continue work on your research project. November Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 6:
7:
Commentaries
due 9am 8:
Seminar- Distributed
Cognition 9:
Commentary
due 5pm 10: 11: 12:
Reading Assignment – Due Monday,
November 7 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. Begin writing up your research project. November Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 13: 14: Rough
draft & Commentaries
due 9am 15: Seminar- Structuralism 16:
Commentary
due 5pm 17: 18: 19: Assignment – Due Monday,
November 14 By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on each reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings. By 12 noon Monday before class, post to the
course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
a “rough draft” of your research paper in progress. November Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 20: 21: Full draft of project due 9am 22: NO
CLASS- Happy
Thanksgiving! 23: 24: 25: 26: Assignment – Due Monday,
November 21 By 12 noon on Monday (there will be no
class this Tuesday) post a “full draft” of your paper
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/).
November December Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 27: 28: Read
& comment on group papers 29: Seminar – Reports
of project findings 30:
Commentary
due 5pm 1:
2:
3:
Reading Assignment – Due Monday,
November 28 Come to class prepared to critique papers
from your group members. December Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 4:
5:
Read
& comment on group papers: 6: Seminar– Reports
of project findings 7:
Commentary
due 5pm 8:
9:
10:
Assignment – Due Monday,
December 5 Come to class prepared to critique papers
from your group members. December Sun. Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 11: 12: Final
draft & Commentaries
due 9am 13: Seminar – Conclusion: Levels
of Description 14:
Commentary
due 5pm 15: 16: 17: Assignment – Due Monday,
December 12 Final drafts of
papers due to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
by 12 noon Monday before class. By 12 noon Monday before class, please post
to the course Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/127811897318208/)
your commentary on this week’s reading (see assignment above). After reading
comments posted to the website, come to class prepared to begin a discussion
on the readings.
Introduction to the Learning Sciences
Educational
Psychology 795
David
Williamson Shaffer
by appointment
Fall 2011
Tuesdays,
2:25-5:25
Assignments and readings listed by course meeting
Intro & Simulation: Thinking about Thinking
Dichotomy: Thought, Symbolic and Social
Antecedents: Pragmatism
Fieldwork: Observing a Learning System
Method: Ethnography
Case Studies: Cognition in the Wild
Process: Scaffolding
Theory: Situated Cognition
Theory: Discourse
Theory: Distributed Cognition
Theory: Structuralism – Paper:
rough draft due
Research: Reports of Findings
Research: Reports of Findings
Conclusion: Levels of Description – Paper: final draft due
Course Description
In this two-semester course sequence, we will address the learning sciences
from two distinct perspectives about the nature of mind. One emphasizes
thinking as a variety of “internal” processes, including: perception;
creation, use, and interpretation of symbols of various kinds; analytical and
categorical reasoning; and holistic interpretation of the contexts for
individual action. This “symbolic” view of cognition looks at thinking as an
interaction between an individual and his or her external world shaped by the
propensities and abilities of an individual thinker, particularly (though not
exclusively) the way in which individuals represent the external world in
internal symbols.
Assignments and Evaluation
Assignments
Evaluation
Accommodations for Individuals
with Disabilities
Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism
As indicated
in the
Topics and
Dichotomy: Thought, Symbolic and
Social
Antecedents:
Pragmatism
Fieldwork: Observing a Learning
System
Method:
Ethnography
Case Studies: Cognition in the
Wild
Process:
Scaffolding
Theory:
Situated Cognition
Theory:
Discourse
Theory: Distributed Cognition
Theory:
Structuralism
Full
Drafts Due
NOTE:
Class does not meet this week, but there is an assignment.
Research: Reports of Findings, week 1
Research: Reports of
Findings, week 2
Conclusion: Levels of Description