Evaluations using CATS

http://www.siue.edu/~deder/assess/catmain.html
http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/assess.htm
http://www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed99/Martin.htm
Using Powerpoint to facilitate CATS
Internet Resources for Classroom Assessment Techniques Compiled by Mary Connolly

http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/assessment/cats/cats.html

Pazmino's evaluation of outcomes

Have you noticed that when Pazmino writes his chapter on outcomes, all of his emphasis is about evaluating appropriation of values, not information?

Triggers for and Barriers of transformation

Triggers
Disquilibrating experiences

Cognitive Dissonance

Triggering event

Prophesy, dream, vision, quest, simulations, alternative metaphors, meaning making, sense of transcendance

Crisis,

Barriers to transformation
Blind spots
History and habits
sacred cows
emotitonal/financial/professional investment

But I don't need to be transformed!

A beautiful young lady went to a doctor for a slight headache and, after the doctor had finished examining her, she confessed to the doctor shyly, “Doctor, actually I also have this problem with gas. But it really doesn’t bother me too much. They never smell and are always silent. As a matter of fact I’ve farted at least 20 times since I’ve been here in your office. You didn’t even know I was farting because they didn’t smell and are silent.”

The doctor kept quiet for a moment and said, “I see. Take these pills and come back to see me next week.”

The next week the lady went back to the doctor, “Doctor,” she said, “What have you done! I don’t know what you gave me, but now my farts…although still silent they stink terribly!”

“Good,” said the doctor, “now that I’ve cleared up your sinuses, let’s work on your hearing.”

(From Tan, Ken. 2001. Utter Ken-fusion. Graham Brash: Singapore. p 85)

The point of this? The fish is least able to objectively describe the water it lives in.

Transformative learning literature

Transformational learning Web Literature
1. "Transformative Learning in Adulthood" by Susan Imel (1998 ERIC Digest no. 200)

2. "The Theory and Practice of Transformative Learning: A Critical Review"

3. "Transformative Learning and the Journey of Individuation" by John M. Dirkx (2001 ERIC Digest No. 223).

4. "Transformative learning" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

5. Here is an article about transformational learning which is written in the context of a discussion about application to complementary and alternative medicine. The discussion of the literature is interesting, especially the discussion of Prof Bache's "subtle energeteic resonance." That really is an entry point into a discussion about God's Spirit and its work in transforming hearts and minds within a group.

One of the most provocative discussions of environment, subject matter, and learning activities relating to transformational learning was proposed by Youngstown State University professor Bache (n.d.). He described a “subtle energetic resonance” that spontaneously rises in learning circles. He identified this psychic field that surrounds and saturates the learning environment as inclusive of the teacher's personal energy field and the energy field created by all the participants. He stated that the stronger and more focused this mental field, the more likely that change would be induced among participants. Bache also believed that certain types of subject matter were particularly conducive to transformational learning, for example, inquiries into the origins and destinies of individual existence, mind exploration, the mysteries of human suffering and purpose, and other universal questions.

Beyond an informational model of education

Many teaching-learning processes are directed at informational ends. That is to say, they are aimed at filling the mind with information. What you do with the information doesn't seem at all to matter - hence the theory-practice divide.

Some have talked about a more formative, or even transformative purpose in education. That would be the case when teaching-learning processes used form sustained habits and dispositions or have a very powerful transformational effect on your life.

In Christian education, merely aiming at educating for informing falls short of its purpose. While many such transformative and formative processes must take place outside the classroom, how can one help to design teachng-learning processes which foster formational/transformational outcomes?

Try these "mini" simulations

1. This exercise is to help us to see how much we could be captive to a worldivew shaped by the Enlightenment, rather than to a worldview shaped by the Bible:


2. Making paper aeroplanes: Finding organizational fit

Picture from http://www.bestpaperairplanes.com



3. How does your tea taste? or Let's Shake to it (The Rapid Spread of HIV in society)

4. How many squares do you see? (Appreciating multiple perspectives, defining reality and to appreciate the relationship between systems)

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality...." (Max DuPree in Leadership is an Art)

5. Animals in Community
(this is a short version of Bafa Bafa, a cultural prejudice awareness educational simulation or Barnga, which is another educational simulation about cultural clashes.

6. Hungry Decisionsby Charles R. Kishpaugh & Pauline E. Goodfellow

7. The Near Beer Game - an adaptation of the famous MIT simulation game popularized by Peter Senge in his book The Fifth Discipline

Games and learning

There is a movement called game based learning which is quite popular. There are a couple of big name advocates for the idea.

One is Marc Prensky who has written a book called Digital Game based learning. Marc is also quite famous for coining the term digital native and digital immigrant with an immigrant accent.

The other big name is Thiagi. I have an old classmate who studied at U of Indiana for an MSc in Instructional Design listened to Thiagi give a talk and was quite impressed. He has a website where he has made game ideas available for free.

How many squares do you see?

Perspectives on life

Simulations

Simulation games try to reproduce some aspect of reality - poverty situations, power struggles in government, ecological problems, etc - so the people participating will be better able to understand that one life area, and perhaps through understanding they will make better, wiser decisions with that area

-Marlene LeFever, Creative Teaching Methods, p 149

EXPERIENCES THAT CREATE A THIRST FOR LEARNING...When you put simulations into your curriculum, you establish a new contract with your students. You are saying it is no longer sufficient to just memorize and recall facts, you must learn to deal with values, feelings, and use higher order cognitive skills to solve problems and make judgments.
Learning Through Experience Simulation Training Systems

ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL EDUCATIONAL SIMULATION
http://www.creativeteachingsite.com/simconcept.htm

Simulations: An Overview By Paula Christopher

Clark Aldrich’s Six Criteria of an Educational Simulation


Hungry Decisions hosted by churchworldservice

Literature
Using Simulations to Promote Learning in Higher Education: An Introduction (John Paul Hertel , Barbara Millis)

A common thread: The power of the question

What is interesting about innovative educational strategies is that often have a driving question behind them. If research questions and quests are framed skillfully, they require a good driving question or sets of questions.

This reminds me of the 2004 article written by Peter Jarvis in the British Journal of Theological Education where he advocates that in the information age, it is a pedagogy of question rather than the ability to provide answers that is critical in educational practice.

Library resources Webquest

Introduction:

Research purpose:

To visit and evaluate online resources which are suppose to support teaching and learning of the Bible

Problem scenario:
The SBC library is seeking to develop a section in its website which contains web resources which may be useful for members of the SBC community. However, because of the vastness and the permissive nature of the Internet, these resources need to be vetted, evaluated, classified and have brief accompanying descriptive write up about the site. Only then can they find their place in the SBC website.

The Library staff have thus requested students in the CE 501 class to help with building a set of trustworthy and helpful resources. The following links have been provided by them:


http://www.thebricktestament.com/

http://www.bibleplaces.com/

http://www.holylandphotos.org/

http://quizstar.4teachers.org/

http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/

http://www.atla.com/digitalresources/browsecoll.asp

http://ebibletools.bigbible.org/

http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=2055

http://www.churchworldservice.org/decisions/

http://www.wels.net/wmc/html/clip_art_graphics.html

http://www.ebibleteacher.com/images.html

http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/


http://www.easytestmaker.com/

http://www.shipoffools.com/church/

http://www.xxxchurch.com/

http://www.gutenberg.org/

http://www.anova.org/

http://www.audiotreasure.com/


http://cfdl.auckland.ac.nz/hebrew/

http://www.digbible.org/tour/index.html

http://www.internetseminary.org/

Software

http://www.e-sword.net/

http://www.activestories.com/index.html

http://www.openoffice.org/

http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/


http://www.ntgateway.com/maps.htm

http://www.bibleresourcecenter.org/Learning/multimedia/maps/


http://www.pohick.org/sts/

http://www.biblegateway.org

http://www.anova.org/sev/atlas/htm/



http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/refmaps.html

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?topic=all&collection=HebrewIlluminatedMan&col_id=172


Task:
The Library staff have given our task group an initial list of 30 Internet links which have been shortlisted from 100 submitted sites. This is the first stage of the Library Internet Resource Development project which aims at serving the Christian public drawing attention to helpful, free resources from the Internet.

Inspite of having been shortlisted, these links require a second round of screening and evaluation for suitability. If there are no reasons why they need to be weeded out, the sites need to be categorized. In addition, short accompanying annotations describing what they are and how they can be useful for members of the SBC constituency need to be written up.

You will be divided into 4 groups: A, B, C, and D. Groups A and B will focus on links 1-15 while Groups C and D will focus on links 16-30.

For each group, please visit all the 15 links you are researching, and suggest categories which the library could use to classify them by.

Present your findings for each of the sites



If there are any problematic sites, please

, and list which ones you would weed out. Discuss in your groups the value Give reasons why you would include or exclude the links in your list from the SBC resources websites.

For links you would recommend for the SBC website, please note that they will need to be classified. Decide on the different categories which you can use. In addition, write

From your approved list, decide as a group which ones qualify as your top three sites. Share reasons why your group has come to the conclusion.

Process:

Evaluation:

Conclusion:

Community Blogging/Wiki

To add a community dimension to Webquests, you can use community blogs or even wikis.

Here is some useful information about the differences between blogs and wikis, and how wikis in particular "seem tailor-made for WebQuests."

Need a free wiki hosting site? Try Seedwiki or Bloki

Topics: Is downloading "free" Christian mp3 music legal?

Online Webquest Generators

Here are a couple of sites which allow you to generate your own webquests online. Some will create pages for you to save in your computer, some will actually host the webquest for you in their databases:

1. Webquest toolkit [Beta Version] of the Adult and Community Learning [ACL] resource site

2. teAchnology: the web portal for educators

3. http://www.aula21.net/Wqfacil/intro.htm

4. Internet4Classrooms

To help you with designing good webquests, here is a rubric to let you know what to look out for

Webquests for class experience (ii)

Webquests on the use of rubrics in educational evaluation

What are rubrics? (I'll get to the answer soon...)

In the meantime, here are some online articles from Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation: A peer-reviewed electronic journal which explain and discuss issues surrounding the use of rubrics in education:

Moskal, Barbara M. (2000). Scoring rubrics: what, when and how?. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(3). Retrieved April 8, 2005 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=3

Mertler, Craig A. (2001). Designing scoring rubrics for your classroom. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(25). Retrieved April 8, 2005 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=25

Moskal, Barbara M. (2003). Recommendations for developing classroom performance assessments and scoring rubrics. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 8(14). Retrieved April 8, 2005 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=14

Tierney, Robin & Marielle Simon (2004). What's still wrong with rubrics: focusing on the consistency of performance criteria across scale levels. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 9(2). Retrieved April 8, 2005 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=9&n=2

The urls below are links to rubrics generators:
RubiStar's Rubric Generator
RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics but does not have the time to develop them from scratch.

While many teachers want to use rubrics or are experimenting with writing rubrics, they can be quite time-consuming to develop. RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics but does not have the time to develop them from scratch. RubiStar provides generic rubrics that can simply be printed and used for many typical projects and research assignments. The unique thing about RubiStar, however, is that it provides these generic rubrics in a format that can be customized. The teacher can change almost all suggested text in the rubric to make it fit their own project.

teAchnology's General Rubric Generator

Chicago Public Schools' Rubric Bank
In The Rubric Bank, you will find a wide variety of performance assessment scoring rubrics. These rubrics are examples of scoring rubrics that have been used by schools, districts and state departments of education throughout the country.

LandMark Project's Rubric Builder: As teachers increasingly design online learning experiences for their students, evaluation of those activities remains a challenge. The Rubric Builder enables teachers to build effective assessment rubrics and to make them available over the World Wide Web.

Fairfax County Public Schools' Performance Assessment for Language Students (PALS)

Webquests for class experience (i)

Do a Webquest about the learning environment

There is much more to space and place than meets the eye. Winston Churchill is reported to have observed that “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.” Elaborating on this theme, a practising architect remarks that architecture:

is a social practice and as much cannot avoid being part of a complex network of power relationships. The fact that it impacts upon the production of . . . the built environment clearly indicates the political implications of aesthetic control. Space is neither innocent nor neutral: it is an instrument of the political; it has a performative aspect for whoever inhabits it; it works on its occupants. At the micro level, space prohibits, decides what may occur, lays down the law, implies a certain order, commands and locates bodies. (Pouler, cited in Scheer and Preiser, 1994, p. 175) 221-222

A. VISUAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT:

Schools and Colleges
• Boston College has a nice page which visually describes different types of classroom arrangements offered in the school. This can help provide some ideas about how to arrange furniture in an educational space.

• Huntington College likewise has a site which shows possible seating arrangements found in classrooms. The page which the link leads to illustrates 4 types of possible classroom arrangements and provides description and comments about the arrangements. There is some animation in the site which can be a little confusing. If you observe that the animator was trying to do, the intention is to transform arrangement one to arrangement two to arrangement three to arrangement four.

Hotels
• The Ramada Prince George has a great page which illustrate many different types of arrangement which can be configured for meetings.

• The Grove Hotel in Chandler's Cross, Hertfordshire uses a software calls Active Matrix to help you plan, visualize and even download your seating arrangement floor plan.

• Runnymeade Hotel likewise uses Active Matrix to help clients create 'to scale' diagrams of our meeting rooms in a variety of set ups.

Commercial furniture design companies
• A company called Smart Desks has a Classroom Design Archives Page which "contains typical classroom, training room, computer lab and conference room plans © SMARTdesks Design Studio. Feel free to use these designs for requisitions, grant proposals, etc."

Non-Profit Organizations
UNICEF has some nice information in their website, one of them relates to Centers of Learning, while the other relates to Arranging space in the classroom.

LITERATURE
Rodney Fulton has a great article entitled A Conceptual Model for Understanding the Physical Attributes of Learning Environments. This article proposes the SPATIAL model which is suppose to help educators maximize usage and design of the physical environment for learning purposes.

There is a chapter from Linda Shalaway's Learning to Teach...not just for beginners which provides some interesting information about Classroom Organization and the physical environment which is found in Scholastic Press's website. The site provides succinct information about arranging space, desk placement, environmental preferences, and designing classroom space.

Every object, color, texture, and spatial configuration, as well as their selection and placement, has educational significance. The designer of such spaces must, therefore, ask him or herself: "What educational implication does this or that design decision have for the occupant (learner or teacher)?" In order to do that, the designer must work closely with the educator to articulate what those goals for children are, and the educator must articulate more than square footage per child as the conceptual base for education.

Architecture Can Teach...and the lessons are rather fundamental by Anne Taylor, Robert A. Aldrich, and George Vlastos.


Learning Spaces: More than Meets the Eye by Malcolm B. Brown and Joan K. Lippincott http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0312.pdf

Here is a handout from a training session on classroom management

(Include all of Roger Hiemstra's stuff, http://www-distance.syr.edu/leindex.html, Cornell, etc on educational architecture - space is not innocent)

Webquests and the Learning Ecology

Given the reality of a larger ecosystem where learning does take place, we visit the question:
In what ways do Webquests incorporate the learning resources distributed in the larger ecosystem? (Note that the Webquest literature does not only confine learning resources to the web!)

How can they be attempts at learning which moves outside the small boxes (space time constraints) of your sunday school class? Your bible study class? Your development as a church leader?

My personal reflection:
In a certain way, Webquesting is an attempt to structure and direct learning using resources in the Web. Because it is structured, it allows for efficiency and curbs those unnecessary, fruitless searches. The trick is to set up a situation which lead you not just to collect resources, but to allow processing of these resources and their meaning. After all, we want to aim at deep learning, not just surface learning.

The learning ecology

What is the learning ecology?

Four articles stand out when considering the learning ecology.

The first is "Learning, Working & Playing in the Digital Age."The author of this article is John Seely Brown, the guy who (I think) first coined the term "learning ecology." Here we have a serious attempt to account for learning beyond our little boxes and to see space time connections in the real world.

The second article is "Little Boxes, Glocalization, and Networked Individualism". (Barry Wellman - very established in his field). This article is a description of the changing world which from little box communities, have been transformed into glocalized (globalized local) communities and now to digital point-to-point/peer-to-peer networked communities. Given these conditions and the existing mechanisms put in place already, it makes a case for expanding your ecology beyond just your small little worlds.

A third article on the learning ecology is "Learning Ecology, Communities, and Networks Extending the classroom"
by George Siemens (2003). This is a short article and builds on the work of Brown

Siemen's article opens this way:

Opening summary
Learner-centered, lifelong learning has been the cry of knowledge society visionaries for the last decade. Yet learning continues to be delivered with teacher-centric tools in a twelve week format. Society is changing. Learners needs are changing. The course, as a model for learning, is being challenged by communities and networks, which are better able to attend to the varied characteristics of the learning process by using multiple approaches, orchestrated within a learning ecology.

Learner-centered, lifelong learning has been the cry of knowledge society visionaries for the last decade. Yet learning continues to be delivered with teacher-centric tools in a twelve week format. Society is changing. Learners needs are changing. The course, as a model for learning, is being challenged by communities and networks, which are better able to attend to the varied characteristics of the learning process by using multiple approaches, orchestrated within a learning ecology.

This is how he concludes:

Conclusion
Variety is a central requirement for learning. There are certainly times where formal, structured courses are required. Some times the knowledge requirements are such that the course model is best - if learning needs have a start and an end. In other cases, learning needs are complex...and difficult to anticipate. The more complex the learning needs, and the more quickly the field of knowledge evolves, the more valuable a learning community and network becomes.

The task of managers, administrators, and Instructors is to create the ecology, shape the communities, and release learners into this environment. Segments of the community can bring in other members (potential employers, graduates) allowing them to grow and learn with existing learners. Through the process, each learner is connected to a network allowing for life-long learning and the ability to care for their own learning needs in the future.

Finally, one short article which is critical for helping us understand educational options is "Blended learning: Let's get beyond the hype" (Margaret Driscoll) Driscoll provides different definitions of what blended learning could be and then concludes that the possible blends are many. That is good - that really extends our repertoire of strategies which we can apply for setting up teaching-learning processes.

(Note: I tested out that link and it is not accurate although it was the url I went to several months ago to get the article. Click here to get it. What does it say about the nature of the ecosystem?

Some final reflections:
1. Ask yourselves this question: Where is the information featured in this entry coming from from? Would it have been possible if the Internet is not a pervasive presence in our present world? Would be possible if the Internet is not already an irrevocable reality and an established, vital part of this learning ecology?

2. How does this idea of the learning ecology relate to the education of leaders of churches like you? Isn't it true that being the peculiar people of God who are holy, chosen, called, there is a call to conserve and preserve the values of the church rather than allow the larger ecosystem to "taint' it?

On the other hand, not being aware of, withdrawing yourselves from the larger ecosystem leads to institutional and personal self containment, isolation, disengagement from life issues, loss of credibility, the inability to be incarnational.

How does the learning ecology idea apply to the life long learning for the church/seminary?

Good site to visit

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/w8-resources.html#sites

A webquest about webquests

This is a great site which teaches about Webquests using a webquest.Click here to get there

Webquest in Singapore

This is an entry from http://webquest.org/ which reports on the ICET 2004 conference held at NIE.

Web Quests

What is a Web Quest?

WebQuests are activities, using Internet resources, which encourage students to use higher order thinking skills. WebQuests are effectively higher order learning tools. - http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/whatis_awq.asp

The best way to find out is to explore the free workshop tutorial provided by Concept to Classroom. This site provides a truly comprehensive tutorial about the concept of Webquest and then moves on to demonstrate how it works, explore issues and support strategies, and key principles for implementing Webquests in classrooms.

OK, a bit of memory work here: There are six critical components which are found in Webquests:

1. Introduction
2. Task
3. Process
4. Resources (Key thoughts: Because resources are preselected by the teacher, students spend their time USING information, not LOOKING for it.
5. Evaluation and
6. Conclusion

Another site which provides brief summary of what webquests are and what their component parts comprise of is Kathy Shrock's Guide for Educators (Teacher Helpers: Slide Shows) . There is a slide show somewhere in the site about Webquests which is quite helpful.

Yet another site - a very excellent site - gives a great introduction of what Webquests are:
http://www.thematzats.com/webquests/page1.html
Of course, nothing beats the writings of the original designers of Webquests Bernie Dodge and Tom March. For articles about Webquests by them, go to Some Thoughts About WebQuests by Bernie Dodge. This is Dr. Bernie Dodge's original paper on WebQuests, which defines WebQuests and some of their characteristics. The other piece of literature is entitled WebQuests for Learning and is an introductory article about WebQuests written by Tom March, one of the first developers of WebQuests.

Learning Through Discussion

Why bother with something as structured as William Fawcett Hill's Learning Through Discussion and its group process plan???

Well, for one, dialogical education, for all its value, can sometimes degenerate into mere sharing of ignorance which then becomes very frustrating for participants. LTD is structured in such a way as to pay attention to some very key components in education:

i) It is very text centered (the yellow squares). This is to say, it ensures that readers construct meaning out of what is found in the text. Readers are therefore not just interacting with themselves but with the text.

ii) It aims to find application of ideas found in the text (the green squares). a conversation of the text with other texts as well as with self (and presumably with other participants)

iii) It affirms the place of evaluation of both the author's presentation of ideas as well as the learner's understanding of ideas. (the pink bits)

My favourite books on dialogical education

Education for Judgement by David A. Garvin, Ann Sweet, C. Roland Christensen

Instructional Conversations. ERIC Digest.

Instructional Conversations. ERIC Digest.

Discussion pedagogy/dialogical education

What is dialogical education?

Smith, M. K. (2001) 'Dialogue and conversation', the encyclopaedia of informal education, www.infed.org/bibio/b-dialog.htm.

Making Megilloth kits

You can create map kits (scrolls in different fonts, font size (large print edition in A3), scroll holder (like what your scrolls come in when you graduate), try it in multiple languages* You just need to provide pens and markers to accompany scrolls

* That could be interesting. When I was in London studying for my MTh at King's, my HK colleague read the English bible from left to right, the Hebrew Bible from right to left, and the Chinese Bible from top to bottom)

Megilloth Mappers

Start a Sunday School movement called Megilloth Mappers using Text mapping to teaching/learn the Bible. Possible???

Here's the vision. A group of you have been invited to teach about innovative learning strategies amongst the Sunday schools of 10 churches from a major denomination. You decide on text mapping and now need to prepare to introduce the idea to those churches.

You have 6 months to prepare for the venture. How would you train a group of 10 text mapping trainers on how to do text mapping as well as prepare resources for introducing this innovation in those churches? How would you persuade leaders in the church that this is a workable teaching-learning strategy for developing Bible literacy? What are the natural atttractions as well as negative reactions to this approach to studying Bible (and other) texts?

Text mapping exercises (v)

Text map the gospel of John.

In the gospel of John, the big epistemological question revolving around Jesus is raised by the author:
Who is Jesus? What evidence do we have that he is who he claimed to be?

That question must be answered because assent of the mind often precedes assent of the heart. The removal of the barrier of ignorance and certainty moves the believer into the realm of commitment and devotion.

One of the themes in John relates to authority and power. Power enables, it compells, it enchants, it liberates, it restrains, it prevents. it hinders.

As you explore and map your way through John's gospel, highlight characters and incidences involving power. They could be displays of power, claims to power, clashes between powers, etc.

How does the author's development of the power theme eventually lead his readers to faith in Jesus?

(Note: When you are mapping a lengthy text, you don't have to complete the tasks all in one 60 minute session. You can stage the activity over more than one session.)

Text mapping exercises (iv)

6. Text map Rodney Fulton's article entitled A Conceptual Model for Understanding the Physical Attributes of Learning Environments. Critical questions include:

1. What problem about the learning environment is he trying to address?
   
   
2. What elements does he propose we give attention to in addressing the problem? In what way does he integrate the elements?
   
   
3. Give details about each of the elements he highlights in his model.
   
   
4. What addition important ideas does he raise which are not highlighted by the questions above?
   
   
5. How can we apply his proposed model to an educational situation within a) church b) missions training c) seminary education?
   

Text mapping exercises (iii)

5. For the chiasmatics amongst us (ie the David Langite tribe), text map Psalm 9-10, etc.

Text mapping exercises (ii)

2. Text map Gen 1-11, exploring the creation-uncreation-recreation theme and the progressive development of sin theme found in those chapters.
(After the exercise, you can reflect on your work in the light of a) The Theme of the Pentateuch by David Clines (1978) and b) Handbook on the Pentateuch by Victor Hamilton (1982 - note the 2nd ed is due sometime later this year).

---

3. Text map the patriarchal narratives from Gen 11:28-Gen 50:26, paying particular attention to four themes:
a) Fulfilment of the promise of posterity, b) Fulfilment of the promise of land, c) Fulfilment of the invitation to relationship between God and His people, and d) fulfilment of the call to be a blessing to the nations.
(Likewise, after this exercise, you can reflect on your work in the light of a) The Theme of the Pentateuch by David Clines (1978).

---

4. Text map the Hebrew text of Gen 1:1-2:3/4

Text mapping exercises (i)

1. Text map a) Susanna and b) Bel and the Dragon, the group of stories which are found in the Apocrypha. The texts are accessible at the Apocrypha section of The Net Bible

2. I have prepared the text for you. (Click here to download it.). Print the sheets out and make scrolls out of the sheets. As you map out the text, you want to be answering the following questions:

a) What is the setting of the stories?

b) Who are the characters in the story and in what ways are they characterized?

c) What are the crisis/conflict points in the stories? How are these crises resolved?

d) Stories often are written to shape community values and to engender hope. What values are affirmed in this text? What hope is inspired in these texts?

What textual evidence is there to support your answers?

Actually, if you wish, you could use the "WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW, WHY" concept map in tandem with text mapping to try to summarize your ideas, or to allow different groups to develop their understanding of particular characters, etc.

What is textmapping all about????

Here is an overview of text mapping from the Text Mapping Project Site:

1. Textmapping is a graphic organizer technique that can be used to teach reading comprehension and writing skills, study skills, and course content. It is practiced on scrolls, which are an alternative environment to books. Textmapping and scrolls can be used strategically, but they are not strategies. They are enabling technologies - simple, basic tools which can be used for reading and classroom instruction. The same strategies that can be taught in books can be taught more clearly and explicitly by using scrolls and mapping.
   
   • Textmapping involves long paper scrolls, colored markers, and a spatially-descriptive form of marking called mapping.
   • It has seven key instructional benefits.
   • It is easy to learn and easy to implement in the classroom.
   • Implementation costs are very low.
   • It has been used with mainstream, ESL, and special needs classes at all levels, from elementary through college.
   
   
2. Textmapping enables teachers to clearly and explicitly model reading comprehension, writing and study skills in the course of regular classroom instruction.
   
   
3. Textmapping shines a light on the pre-reading process. It focuses more attention on, and spends more time with, the text itself - lingering on the page, delaying abstraction, forcing readers to engage in a more careful in-context comprehension of both the big picture and the details, and enabling teachers to explicitly and systematically model comprehension processes.
   
   
4. It is low-tech, easy to learn, easy to teach, requires no special equipment, and can be adapted easily and inexpensively for use in the classroom. All you need is access to a copier, tape or glue-stick, and colored pencils, markers, or crayons.
   
   
5. People commonly confuse Textmapping with Semantic Mapping, Concept Mapping, Story Mapping, and other so-called mapping techniques - all of which are actually diagramming techniques. For more on this, see a comparison of Textmapping to other graphic organizers.
   
   
6. Perhaps the best way to understand Textmapping is to make a scroll and map it yourself.
   
   
7. The Textmapping Project seeks to contribute to the improvement of reading comprehension skills instruction.
   

Note: Text mapping can be developed in conjunction with the Wheels for Literature Advanced Organizer which can be found at http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/teaching_techniques/wheelsli.html

Here is an excerpt from their site:

Wheels for Literature create an advance organizer that will support memory, attention and processing when reading short stories, novels, essays, plays and long poems. The wheels always have main ideas inside the wheel and specific information spiked around the outside of the appropriate wheel. Establishing the demands of the task in advance helps focus attention, support working memory and produce a review system. While reading, the basic information is recorded on the appropriate wheel as soon as encountered. The basic demands such as characters,setting and plot are always tracked but any other requirements such as examples of man versus nature can also be tracked by adding additional wheels.

The Wheels for Literature strategy is an adapted use of the wheel to meet the needs for literature assignments. The wheels provide a concise summary of the details and main ideas to remember. The wheel set-up depends on the type of literature that is being read.

Text mapping

Here is an interesting innovation which is called Textmapping. Textmapping is a graphic organizer technique that can be used to teach reading comprehension and writing skills, study skills, and course content.

This will be very useful for the study of the Bible since what we really want to do is to aim at seeing the big picture while studying Bible books which at the same time engaging in active learning processes.

Tranmission or conservation?

Evaluating student created Graphic Organizers

After all that has been said and done, graphic organizers which have been produced to students need to be evaluated for quality.

Here is a rubric which has been designed for evaluating graphic organizers produced using Inspiration/Kidspiration. The strength of Inspiration/Kidspiration lies in their ability to integrate graphics as well as URLs into the concept map. Obviously, this rubric can be adapted for use with maps which have less use of imported graphics.

Free Concept Mapping Software

My favourite concept mapping software which I have been using for about a year and a half is Inspiration.

A simple concept map of basic aspects of blogging you might want to explore done on Inspiration 7.6

I feel Inspiration 7.6 is the most flexible and powerful, plus there is a pocket size version for handheld computers/PDAs. They all cost money however, and it is for that reason, I am only featuring open source software here:

1. Freemind

FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click "fold / unfold" and "follow link" operations.

Check out their website to download the software, but more importantly, to find out how you can use this free tool to engage in a more visual approach to learning.

2. View your Mind (vym)

VYM (View Your Mind) is a tool to generate and manipulate maps which show your thoughts. Such maps can help you to improve your creativity and effectivity. You can use them for time management, to organize tasks, to get an overview over complex contexts, to sort your ideas etc.

Maps can be drawn by hand on paper or a flip chart and help to structure your thoughs. While a tree like structure like shown on this page can be drawn by hand or any drawing software vym offers much more features to work with such maps.

vym is not another drawing software, but a tool to store and modify information in an intuitive way. For example you can reorder parts of the map by pressing a key or add various information like a complete email by a simple mouse click.

3. Kdissert

Kdissert is a mindmapping-like tool to help students to produce complicated documents very quickly and efficiently : presentations, dissertations, thesis, reports ... The concept is innovative : mindmaps produced using kdissert are processed to output near-ready-to-use documents. While targetted mostly at students, kdissert can also help teachers, decision maker, engineers and businessmen.

4. CMap Tools (My favourite FREE concept mapping software)

This site is maintained by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), an interdisciplinary research unit of the University of West Florida. The IHMC Cmap Tools software empowers users to construct, navigate, share and criticize knowledge models represented as concept maps.


This map was done using C-Map tools , which I am very fond of because of i) its free and ii) because it is really quite a powerful tool. It can also be used on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.

This is another map done is CMap:
This map was created to help students see how the narrow focus of our syllabus relates to the big picture.

The write ups for the next three software are from http://www.audiencedialogue.org/soft-visu.html

5. Compendium

Compendium has three key elements: a shared visual space where ideas can be generated and analyzed, a methodology that allows the exploration of different points of view, and a set of tools for quickly and easily sharing data both within and beyond the boundaries of the group. The process enables people to negotiate collective understanding "on the fly," capture the discussions, and share representations of their knowledge digitally across communities of practice -- an approach crucial in keeping collaborative efforts on track and on time. More...

6. Claimaker: The Internet Argument Mapping tool

ClaiMaker is a web-based system for individuals or distributed communities to publish and contest ideas and arguments, as is required in contested domains such as research literatures, intelligence analysis, or public debate. It provides tools for constructing argument maps, and a server on which they can then be published, navigated, filtered and visualized using the ClaimFinder semantic search+navigation tools.

7. Spider Map - unfortunately the URL is a dead link
Spider Map is similar to Inspiration, but is more tied to a particular way of thinking. It's not as smooth to use, but makes up for that by being free. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of trouble printing maps that extend over more than one page. That was with the PC version - but as Spidermap looks as if it was designed for a Mac, perhaps it's more reliable on that platform.

What are some uses of concept maps?

The Univeristy of Wisconsin School of Education has an interesting site which lists 50 uses of concept maps. While they have in mind the use of Inspiration and Kidspiration, many of the uses can be applied to the other free software. Additionally, I strongly believe that you don't even need software to do deploy the idea of mapping out your ideas on a piece of paper.

1. Assist students in organizing information
2. Assist teachers in planning lessons/units/themes
3. Illustrate school's goals or plan for Parent-Teacher Organization
4. Illustrate instructional goal links to testing expectations
5. To show what each grade will be teaching and how units fit into the larger picture of curriculum for the whole school
6. Assess student learning
.
.
.
Read on...

My prof asked me a question about concept mapping and how it contributes to critical thinking:
problematization - good and bad - compare

Seven Types of Concept Maps

University of Illinois Urbana Campus has produced a very nice introduction to seven different types of concept maps. This is a really useful site which gives you a good idea of how to organize your thinking.

The systems concept map organizes information in a format which is similar to a flowchart with the addition of 'INPUTS' and 'OUTPUTS'.

These maps present information in a landscape format.

What is concept mapping?

1. Graphic.org has a nice brief definition and links to other explanations, including by Joseph Novak, concept mapping's pioneer

A concept map is a special form of a web diagram for exploring knowledge and gathering and sharing information. Concept mapping is the strategy employed to develop a concept map. A concept map consists of nodes or cells that contain a concept, item or question and links. The links are labeled and denote direction with an arrow symbol. The labeled links explain the relationship between the nodes. The arrow describes the direction of the relationship and reads like a sentence.

2. Wikipedia too provides a nice definition:

Concept mapping is a technique for visualizing the relations between concepts. Its purpose is to form or assess a person's cognitive map. A concept map is a diagram showing the relationships between concepts. Concepts, like "tree" or "plant", are connected with labelled arrows, for example ("is-a", "related-to" or "part of"). The addition of labeled and flexible links (attached during or after construction) has been found to significantly improve the level of meaningful learning and communication of the concept mapper.

A good resource site

http://www.graphic.org/

http://www.memory-key.com/StudyHall/study_research.htm (return to this site to revise the research findings about graphic organizers, outlines, advanced organizers to assist memory)

Structure or no structure???

I do realize that Graphic Organizers (GOs) are often associated with younger kids, and some would argue that they are too rigid as knowledge organizers. There may be some truth in that, but then please recognize their value in helping to provide structure to a learning experience.

Especially as we explore the use of concept mapping and mind mapping in education, I note that one of the weaknesses in the use of concept mapping or mind mapping is the lack of structure and lack of trained ability to organize thoughts. That in itself is a major contributor to failure and frustration in the deploymnt of concept/mind mapping -- which is why when I have used Inspiration 7.6 as a concept mapping tool, I have always appreciated the templates which can be found there. They provide the structure upon which knowledge and information can be fitted, and often help define the relationships between the different parts of the whole.

Graphic Organizers and Knowledge Management

It is interesting to me how some of the cutting edge developments in computer and other electronic devices are adopting the idea of using concept maps to organize ideas.

One example is found in the Zodiac 2, really sexy PDA using Palm OS 5.2 which has adopted this concept for organizing content.



Kartoo is a UK based search engine which searches for your key words but presents the information in a relational, graphical way.

Visual thesaurus likewise is a thesaurus which presents findings in a relational, mapped out way. To put it in their words, "Looking up a word creates an interactive visual map with your word in the center of the display, connected to related words and meanings."

If you use Flickr as a photo hosting site, you might want to visit FlickrGraph. Flickr Graph is an application that visualizes the social relationships inside flickr.com. It makes use of the classic attraction-repulsion algorithm for graphs. Start exploring your contacts by entering your flickr username or the email address you used to register there.

Other uses for the Spider Graph

Try the following Spider Graph exercises:


1. There are 27 books in the New Testament, but to try to do a spider graph to evaluate your own knowledge of the NT is very daunting. What you can do is to divide the NT up into its different components - eg Pauline epistles, Johannine epistles, Pastorals, Gospels, etc.

If you were doing say the Gospels, you could plot a spider graph with 5 spokes (mark 0-10 on each spoke). At the end of each spoke, write the name of a gospel: eg Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Thomas. How much do you know about each of them? What concrete plans will you take to find out more? (OK, I included a non-canonical gospel inside to stir the waters and to help you think about its relationship to the 4 canonical gospels). O incidentally, if you do enough spider graphs of bible books, you might reduce the 90% rating that the church below has given itself to a much lower percentage!!!)


2. What are the qualities necessary for a pastor who is serving in urban Singapore/urban Indonesia/urban Thailand/urban Myanmar/urban India/urban Philippines (pick one)? On a scale of 1-10, how do Singaporean seminaries prepare them for their ministries? What can seminaries do to prepare them better?


3. What are the perils of the Internet for children growing up in networked global cities? On a scale of 1-10, rate your perception of the danger involved? What strategies can you deploy to help children deal with these dangers?

Spider Graph

One of my favourite tools which I have used for creating awareness of espoused values and real values in an organization is the SPIDER GRAPH. This is a really simple tool to use and helps participants (organizational insiders, rather than the consultant) to honestly evaluate and visualize where they are with respect to what they claim themselves to be.

Take for example a church which claims that its has four core expressions of its mission: Warmth, Witness, Worship and Word.


Spider Graph of 4 core expressions of mission in a church
What you want to do is draw 4 lines radiating from the center. At the center of the graph you want to mark "O", and at outer ends, you want to mark "10." So the question is on a scale of 1-10, where do you rate your church in terms of its warmth, witness, worship and word? In this case, participants have given themselves a "7" for Warmth, "3" for Witness, "8" for Worship and "9" for Word.

What you then need to do its to triangulate the opinions (ie make sure that the perception is correct by cross checking both insider as well as outsider perceptions) and then to ask what else you can do to improve your rating and how to implement change and growth. The other thing you could do is to ask if there are other "W"s (or some other important component in your church life beyond the 4 Ws) that you need to give attention to.

The Barrel Analysis

The fact that we give attention to all four Ws and not just one reminds me of a simple yet profound illustration a Russian colleague once shared with me. He had studied in a Russian agricultural school and shared a simple model his professors used to help students understand how crucial it is to pay attention to all parts of the system to generate development.

The barrel analysis, as it is called, invites one to look at a barrel which is comprised of different staves of unequal lengths. The amount of water that the barrel can hold is determined by its shortest stave, not its longest.


Therefore, pay attention to the length of all the staves especially your shortest or weakest one! Lengthening your longest stave does little to help the barrel hold more water.

What has this got to do with GOs? Actually, this is a 3-D version of the Spider graph. I normally just use a paper cup instead of a barrel. It's a lot easier to get hold of, and it is wonderful tool for group collaboration which lead to personal involvement and ownership of ideas, visions, and missions.

Sites you can find Printable Graphic Organizers

Some websites from which you can download graphic organizer templates include:

1. http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/ does a very good set of printable GOs.

2. The Pomperaug Regional School District 15 Board of Education in Connecticut has a wonderful site where you can download very nice GOs which can be downloaded either in PDF files or Word files.

3. Teacher Vision has a nice, collection of very professionally done GOs which are available to their members. You can sign up for a seven day trial membership for free and download some of their graphic organizers.

4. EverythingESL has a good collection of high quality GOs.

5. Amanda Keller has made available Reproducible Graphic
Organizers complete with directions for Use and examples.

6. Greece Central School District has a set of printable pdf files which can be used.

What are Graphic Organizers?

What are graphic organizers?

In the traditional teacher centered classroom, the person whose thinking is most visible is the teacher. While making his/her thinking visible is a very valuable contribution of the teacher in the teaching-learning process, it often often encourages passive learning and prevents student learning from becoming visible.

But as a good educator, you really want to i) know what is in the head of your students, ii) encourage active learning in the class (to alleviate boredom in class), iii) ensure a grasp of the relationship between the parts and the whole, iv) facilitate collaborative learning, v) allow for differences in learning styles, vi) ________.

(O, here is another site on active learning which you might find helpful)

Using graphic organizers would represent ONE way of encouraging active, collaborative learning and making student learning visible. (ok, admittedly, it doesn't have to be a collaborative process, but it readily lends itself to group tasks)

Here are a couple of descriptions/definitions of what graphic organizers are and what they do:

1. WriteDesignOnline give a nice explanation:

Graphic organizers are valuable instructional tools. Unlike many tools that just have one purpose, graphic organizers are flexible and endless in application. One common trait found among graphic organizers is that they show the order and completeness of a student's thought process - strengths and weaknesses of understanding become clearly evident. Many graphic organizers show different aspects of an issue/problem - in close and also the big picture. Since many graphic organizers use short words or phrases, they are ideal for many types of learners, including English Language Learners with intermediate proficiency.

WriteDesignOnline maintain that that there are 5 main types of graphic organizers

• Star/web: Use to show definitions, attributes, examples, and brainstorming
• Chart/Matrix: Use to show attributes, comparing and contrasting, and evaluating.
• Tree/Map: Use to show classifications, pedigrees, analysis, structures, attributes, examples, and brainstorming.
• Chain: Use to show processes, sequences, causes and effects, and chronology.
• Sketch: Use to show physical structures, descriptions of places, spatial relationships, concrete objects, and visual images.

Best of all, they have examples and explanations for all the different types of graphic organizers which can be used to serve a range of learning needs.

Example of a Spider Map from WriteDesignOnline.com

Q: What are Spider Maps useful for?
A: "Analyzing Used to describe a central idea: a thing (a geographic region), process (meiosis), concept (altruism), or proposition with support (experimental drugs should be available to AIDS victims).

Key frame questions: What is the central idea? What are its attributes? What are its functions? "

2. EnchantedLearning.com also provides a nice description of graphic organizers:

Graphic organizers (some of which are also called concept maps, entity relationship charts, and mind maps) are a pictorial way of constructing knowledge and organizing information. They help the student convert and compress a lot of seemingly disjointed information into a structured, simple-to-read, graphic display. The resulting visual display conveys complex information in a simple-to-understand manner.

The process of converting a mass of data/information/ideas into a graphic map gives the student an increased understanding and insight into the topic at hand. To create the map, the student must concentrate on the relationships between the items and examine the meanings attached to each of them. While creating a map, the student must also prioritize the information, determining which parts of the material are the most important and should be focused upon, and where each item should be placed in the map.

The creation of graphic organizers also helps the student generate ideas as they develop and note their thoughts visually. The possibilities associated with a topic become clearer as the student's ideas are classified visually.

Like WriteDesignOnline, Enchanted Learning has wonderful illustrations and explanations of how to use the organizers.

A PMI (Plusses-Minuses-Interesting) chart which is useful for decision making from http://www.emsb.qc.ca/recit/wq/pmi.htm

3. The Schools of California Online Resources for Education (SCORE) have nice graphics organizer site in their Teacher Activity Bank. Here you can illustrations/explanations for the following types of graphic organizers: Chain of Events, Clustering, Compare/Contrast, Continuum, Cycle, Family Tree, Fishbone, Interaction Outline, Problem/Solution, Spider Map, Storyboard, Venn Diagram, Graphic Organizers, KWHL Technique, Anticipation/Reaction Guide. They have a parallel webpage for a student equivalent to the teacher's GO.


A What I Know-What I Want to Know-What I have Learnt (KWL) chart from http://www.mvrhs.org/eel/caruthers/linkforallteachers/reviewlist.html

4. The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory too has nice explanations/illustrations of GOs.

Here is a research article entitle Graphic Organizers are Superior to Outlines in Improving Learning from Texts

But I still do like the lecture!!!

OK, we need to return to Bligh's point that the lecture can be effective or at least is not necessarily inferior as a means of transmitting knowledge.

There is a nice site hosted by the University of Minnesota which gives some useful tips on active lecturing using Powerpoint. The ideas there are great -- here we have a model of a repertoire of teaching-learning strategies being combined.

Moving on beyond a diet of lecture-notetaking-quiz

OK, as much as the lecture is a really good instructional tool, it remains the default teaching-learning process which we are captive to.

This is what people have said about the lecture:

In most college classrooms, the professor lectures and the students listen and take notes. The professor is the central figure, the "sage on the stage," the one who has the knowledge and transmits that knowledge to the students, who simply memorize the information and later reproduce it on an exam--often without even thinking about it. This model of the teaching-learning process, called the transmittal model, assumes that the student's brain is like an empty container into which the professor pours knowledge. In this view of teaching and learning, students are passive learners rather than active ones. Such a view is outdated and will not be effective for the twenty-first century, when individuals will be expected to think for themselves, pose and solve complex problems, and generally produce knowledge rather than reproduce it. (Karen King, "From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side" College Teaching Winter 93, Vol. 41, Issue 1

Consider the lecture - that venerable relic of the information-starved middle ages. If students back then could have photocopied or electronically transmitted information with the ease with which we can do so today, I doubt whether the lecture would even have survived as an educational medium. Yet it is one of the most emulated models in modern distance learning programs. (Raymond Albrektson “Mentored Onliine Seminar: A model for graduate-level Distance Learning” in On the Web, Oct 1995, pp 102)

After a few decades of taking and giving lecture courses, most teachers internalize one basic ground rule: teachers do the work. In the lecture mode, the students participate actively after they leave the teacher's presence, when they study, do research, and write papers. Lecture classes provide more exercise for student's finger muscles than their brains. -Abby J. Hanson "Establishing a Teaching/Learning Contract" in Education for Judgment , p.125

Here is an article which suggests active learning strageties and more engaging teaching-learning processes by intentionally changing your primary role as the "sage on the stage" to "guide by the side." The article, "From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side" was written by Karen King in 1993. You hear the phrase used alot but many don't know who or where it originated from. YOU DO NOW!!!

Another great article, which applies more to our younger people is Knowlton and Schaeffer's "Shifting toward a constructivist philosophy for teaching Biblical principles in K-12 Christian schools" Christian Education Journal Series 3, vol 1 2004, pp. 116-129

These articles transition us from the more traditional, default, standard educational offering to a range of alternative teaching-learning processes. Hope they will help increase your repertoire of creative teaching-learning processes which you can apply to teaching in seminary, Sunday School, training situations, church camps, etc.

The Value of Lectures

In his book What's the use of Lectures?, Donald Bligh writes:

The lecture is as effective as other methods of transmitting information. Most lectures are not as effective as discussion for promoting thought. Changing attitudes should not normally be the major objective of a lecture.
1. Lectures are relatively ineffective for teaching values associated with subject matter.

2. Lectures are relatively ineffective for inspiring interest in a subject.

3. Lectures are relatively ineffective for personal and social adjustment.

Lectures are relatively ineffective for for teaching behavioral skills.

What are some strength of the lecture mode? List them out.
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.



What are some weaknesses of the lecture mode? List them out.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


Web literature on lectures

1. Discussion Point: What's the use of lectures? (Peter Goodhew) http://www.materials.ac.uk/discuss/lectures.asp

2. Preparing to Teach the Large Lecture Course http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/largelecture.html

3. Book reviews of Donald Bligh's What's the use of lectures?
http://www.exchangesjournal.org/reviews/review_1080.html

http://www.exchangesjournal.org/print/Print_1048.html

The lecture and double cultural captivity

Alien Anthropologist

I saw a space ship land on the basketball court at SBC this morning. It was not very large - the size of a compact sized car at most - with large portholes and a flashing red light on its top.Thoughts of what might happen next ran wildly across my mind when suddenly the door of the spacecraft opened. A solitary alien walked out of the ship toward me and said:
Take me to your leader!

"My leader is away," I replied, sizing up the little green creature. "What is the purpose of your visit?"

"I have been sent from the Planet EdhukateWel and we want to find out how earthlings learn. We want to discover how earthlings transmit knowledge of the head, heart, and hands. Take me to your leader!!!" he insisted.

"My leader is away," I repeated. "but I can help you. I will take you to different places where you can observe what happens in our learning spaces."

"I have learned your ways of observing educational spaces" said the alien. "An old Earthling told me about your observation sciences. He said to observe the material lore, the verbal lore and the customary or ritual lore in your educational spaces."

"What that lore stuff again?" I inquired.

"Material lore, verbal lore and ritual law. The old earthling told me these are terms from the study of human culture and anthropology" he responded, pleased that he seemed to know more than an earthling. "The material lore in your educational spaces would comprise of the architecture of your learning space and all the artifacts found within that space. The verbal lore is what is said within and about the educational space, and the customary or ritual lore would be the ritual behavior found there."

"I see. I was confused for a moment. I thought you were speaking Singlish. I thought you said you wanted to observe material lor, verbal lor, and customary lor. It didn't make sense at first, but now I understand lor."

(Thinking in his mind) "Singlish is very confusing!"

"Hey, can you explain ritual lore and ritual behavior again?" I asked

"These are the regular rituals and fixed behaviors performed either consciously or unconsciously by the participants in learning spaces." he replied" In our planet, all the participants including the leader walk in circles when we learn. That is just the expected customary behavior.""But enough talk. We will go now" the alien insisted impatiently.

"Where shall we go?" I asked

"Take me to your leader!" he insisted strongly.

"I cannot, but I will take you to observe three spaces: 1.___________, 2. _____________, 3.____________"

"I am keen to observe you earthlings. We have many problems in our planet, and we need to learn from others to educate our people well."

Questions for your consideration:

1. What teaching-learning processe do you think the alien will observe in Christian educational settings?
   
2. Will it be very monolithic?
3. What educational innovations and best practices will he observe?
4. Where?

Question: Hey for those of you from surrounding Asian cultures, would any part of this imagenary story be culturally insensitive? Let me know!

Road Map of the Teaching-Learning Process class (CE 501)

Here is roadmap of the teaching learning class. What you will notice about it is that it has two parts running parallel with each other.

The first map (the yellow section) establishes the pervasive, default teaching-learning process which we find in most learning encounters. That is what some have called the default setting which we are double cultural captives of (Asian as well as British legacies!) In order to transform the default teaching-learning process which inevitably most people will perpetuate, I will be introducing several alternative educational experiences. These are not meant to replace the default teaching-learning process, for that would be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Instead, I am seeking to widen your repertoire of teaching-learning processes which you can employ in the different settings. Some of them involve the use of computers and the Internet, others will not, but all are attempts at encourage active learning.


The second map (the green section) involves reading, understanding and discussing the literature available which give you labels, concepts, theories, imaginative ideas. I will be requiring you to read sections from the literature, and to discuss them as a class.

These two maps are not intended to be independent of each other. All through the course, I want you to be asking how the literature informs practice/experience, and how the practice/experience confirms or challenges the literature.