Modelling Instruction Workshop, ASU, July 21st 2003

1. Modelling Instruction Workshop, ASU, July 21st 2003 Cognitive Acceleration Getting at Students’ General Intelligence Philip Adey, King’s College, London University

2. Thinking Science activity: Treatments and Effects Carrots With Grocaro Carrots Without Grocaro Does Grocaro make carrots grow bigger?

3. Your Task: • What animal or plant do you have? • What is the treatment given to them? • What effect is it supposed to have? • Do you think the treatment has the supposed effect? • How did you work it out?

4. Notions of intelligence: • Working memory capacity • The number of bits of information one can operate on at one time. • Inhelder and Piaget’s idea of ‘Formal operations’ • Includes abstract modelling and comparing the possible with the real.

5. Working memory Long-term memory Information from outside and from L.T. memory is processed Information is stored by association - ‘neural networks’ Sense Organs Convert external stimuli to neural signals A simple model of the mind

6. In the pendulum, You need to keep Mass, length, and Width of swing in mind at once 3 4 5 ? Scaling up, you need all 3 numbers in mind at once Can you use the kinetic theory to Predict behaviour? Schemata of formal operations • Control of variables • Proportionality • Classification systems • Equilibrium • Probability • Formal models

7. What influences cognitive development? • Genetic make-up • … but environment plays a role from very early after conception, and anyway there is nothing we can do about it • Maturation of the central nervous system • The brain matures in line with the rest of the body • Cognitive stimulation • This is what we have some control over … What does ‘Cognitive Stimulation’ look like…?

8. Dialogue with teacher or more experienced peer Stimulation requires ‘Cognitive Conflict’ … a Somewhat Surprising event Assimilation, but also ... Accommodation of the processing mechanism to the higher level demand … and ‘Social Construction’

9. Lev Vygotskii says: “… learning which is oriented toward developmental levels that have already been reached is ineffective from the viewpoint of a child’s overall development. It does not aim for a new stage of the developmental process, but rather lags behind this process. The only good learning is that which is in advance of development” Mind in Society, 1930 / 1978, p. 82

10. Schema of Formal ops. The mind develops in response to stimulation Control of variables Proportionality Probability Classification etc. Cognitive Conflict Metacognition Reflecting on how we tackled the problem Social Construction Dialogue with others is essential Pillars of Cognitive Acceleration

11. … there is also: • CAME - secondary Mathematics & CATE - secondary Technology • Let’s Think! for Kindergarten - being extended to Grade 1 • Let’s Think through Science! is for Grade 2 - and soon G3 Theory into Practice … since 1984“Original Flavour” CASE: • is aimed at Grades 6 and 7; • consists of 30 x 60 minute lessons, taught once every two weeks instead of regular science (the 3rd Edition of “Thinking Science” was published by Nelson Thornes in 2001); • has a two-year Professional Development programme.

12. Mean GCSE Grade Year 11 7.5 St. Albans A J 6.5 Chatham Girls J B George Abbott J J Sharnbrook E E 5.5 E C E B Downend E J J Downham Market Sion Manning E E 4.5 E J St. Edmunds E J Clapton J E D E E Rokeby South Camden J J E 3.5 E E J CASE Schools E E E Control Schools 2.5 National average B F 20 40 50 60 70 30 Mean Grade 6 School Intake (Percentile) Long term effects: ‘Added value’ 1999 GCSE science • Find levels of cognitive development of all at school entry (grade 6) • Find relationship between non-CASE schools’ entry level and national test grades end of Grade 10 • See by how much CASE schools’ grades exceed these expectations

13. … and the transfer effect Mean Grade 7.5 GCSE English 1999 GCSE Maths 1999 Mean Grade 7.5 St. Albans A St. Albans A J J Chatham Girls J 6.5 6.5 Chatham Girls J B B George Abbott E George Abbott J Sharnbrook J J Sion Manning 5.5 5.5 E J St. Edmunds E E E J H Downend Sharnbrook E E C C Downham Market J J J E E Clapton Downham Market E Clapton E J J B E J E E E 4.5 4.5 E E St. Edmunds Downend Sion Manning J J E J E D D E E Rokeby South Camden E J J E Rokeby 3.5 3.5 Control Schools South Camden E E E J E E J CASE Schools J E E E E National Average B 2.5 2.5 2 0 30 40 60 70 50 20 30 40 50 60 70 Mean Grade 6 School Intake (Percentile) Mean Grade 6 School Intake (percentile)

14. The Professional Development Issue • Teaching for cognitive acceleration may need a radical re-think of one’s view of the nature of learning and teaching … • … and so a radical shift in pedagogy • … thus, it generally requires a long term and supportive programme of Professional Development.

15. The Hedgehog has one big idea….. SummaryWe have good evidence that an intervention based on Piagetian ideas of cognitive conflict and Vygotskyan ideas of social construction leads to long-term gains in academic achievement far beyond the (science) context of the intervention itself. BUT … • It is a slow process • It is dependent on the quality of teaching • There remain questions about the mechanism

16. Contact Professor Philip Adey Centre for the Advancement of Thinking King’s College London University Franklin Wilkins Building Stamford Street, London SE1 9NN philip.adey@kcl.ac.uk Thinking Science is published by Nelson Thornes www.nelsonthornes.com