CUIN 6371 Models of Teaching

1. CUIN 6371Models of Teaching Fall, 2003 Howard L. Jones Day 6 Synectics

2. Information Processing • Inductive - Jerome Bruner/ Hilda Taba • Deductive - David Ausubel • Inquiry - J. J. Schwab/J. Richard Suchman Jean Piaget/ L. Kohlberg • Memory - R. Atkinson/J. Levin/J. Lucas • Creativity - W. J. J. Gordon

3. Together, we analyze a little humor Are these FUNNY, OK, or NOT FUNNY?…

4. Synectics– diverse elements together Learning through making connections

5. “A writer lives in awe of words for they can be cruel or kind, and they can change their meanings right in front of you. They pick up flavors and odors like butter in a refrigerator.” John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

6. Gordon’s Assumptions • Creativity is important in everyday activities • The process of creativity is not mysterious • Creative invention is the same in all fields • Creative thinking, as wells as individual and group invention are very similar

7. Our Role as Teachers… Bringing the creative process to consciousness… Recalling that the emotional component of creativity is often more important that the intellectual, the irrational more important than the rational

8. Finally…. • Assisting students in analyzing certain irrational and emotional processes and, in doing so, increasing creative expression.

9. Blocks to Creativity… • One right answer • That’s not logical • Follow the rules • Be practical • Avoid ambiguity • Play is frivolous • Don’t be foolish • I’m not creative Roger van Oech – “A Whack on the Side of the Head”

10. Synectics Moves Pick a topic, any topic Making the Strange Familiar Making the Familiar Strange

11. Synectics MovesStretching Exercises… • How is a shower bath like a rainy day? • How is a prison like a rainy day? • How is a laugh like a rainy day? • How is a school like a salad? • How is a computer keyboard like Jello? • How are parents like frozen yogurt? • If the ocean were a sea of teachers, what would the foam be?

12. More Stretching Exercises…. • Which smells better, a rotting rose or a sweet skunk? • Is an onion louder than a lie? How come? • Which is more likely, a screaming mouse or a quiet drum? • Which gains more speed, a falling body or a rumor? • Who is more sour, a Tory in Boston in 1776 or a lemon?

13. Synectics Moves • Stretching Exercises • Direct Analogy • How is a bear like a cat? • How is a principal like a dragon? • How is a whisper like a kitten’s fur? • How is a Priest like a doormat? • How are parentheses like a fence?

14. Direct Analogy • How is a volcano like a cut? • What animal makes you think of George Washington in his predicament at Valley Forge • What things around him could have given ancient man his first notion of the wheel? • What animal might the Eskimos have learned how to hunt seals? • What in nature might have led to the invention of the zipper? • How could a caveman have invented the concept of clothes from looking at a bear?

15. Direct Analogy • Which is worse, America in 1812 with no tax base or a tree with no nutrients in its soil? In 1812, all American ships were held in their home ports under an embargo. So such economic damage was caused that finally American ships were allowed to trade with anyone BUT France and England. • How is a fox that is chased into its den like an embargo? • How is enforcing an embargo like Boyle’s Law?

16. Direct Analogy A magnet is made of tiny magnets, all lined up so that their north poles face in one direction and the south poles face in the other. • How is a well-disciplined marching regiment like a magnet? • What would the soldiers of the parading regiment do if a bomb fell in their midst? • If a magnet acts like the soldiers. What do you think would happen if you strike a magnet with a hammer?

17. Synectics Moves • Stretching Exercises • Direct Analogy • Personal Analogies/Metaphors

18. Personal Metaphor You are a weed growing in the middle of a neighbor’s yard…how do you feel? What’s it like living there, especially knowing that you came from another yard? How do you feel when he discovers you? How does the lawn mower feel? How about the herbicide?

19. Synectics Moves • Stretching Exercises • Direct Analogy • Personal Analogies/Metaphors • Compressed Conflicts “words that fight each other,” Oxymorons

20. Compressed Conflicts …aka Oxymorons Know anyone who is an “exquisite irritant”? How is an embargo like “vulnerable protection?” How is Hemmingway’s life and writing exemplary of a “controlled adventure?” Can any part of football be equated with “dance-like violence?”

21. Mnemonics N S N S Synectics N S s N

22. How Synectics Works The Original The Topic Topic Revisited We Explore Elsewhere

23. Synectics Moves • Stretching Exercises • Direct Analogy • Personal Analogies/Metaphors • Compressed Conflicts “words that fight each other,” Oxymorons • Revisit the Original Topic

24. A brief paragraph … TAKS

25. Synectics Moves • Stretching Exercises • Direct Analogy • Personal Analogies/Metaphors • Compressed Conflicts “words that fight each other,” Oxymorons • Revisit the Original Topic

26. Synectics Moves Pick a topic, any topic Making the Strange Familiar Making the Familiar Strange

27. Nurturant Achievement in Subject Domain Group Cohesion and Productivity Instructional General Creative Capacity Creative Capacity in Subject Domain Effects of the Synectics Model

28. So, how does this model work?

29. J. Dominic Crossan (1975)The Dark Interval: Toward a Theology of Story Types of Story Relation- Ship to World Estab- Defends Inves- Attacks Subverts lishes world tigates world world world world Examples “We live in story like fish in a sea…” Dominic Crossan

30. J. Dominic Crossan (1975)The Dark Interval: Toward a Theology of Story Types of Story MYTH Relation- Ship to World Estab- Defends Inves- Attacks Subverts lishes world tigates world world world world Examples You have built a lovely home!

31. J. Dominic Crossan (1975)The Dark Interval: Toward a Theology of Story Types of Story Apologue MYTH Relation- Ship to World Estab- Defends Inves- Attacks Subverts lishes world tigates world world world world Examples The home was built according to the most reasonable plans

32. J. Dominic Crossan (1975)The Dark Interval: Toward a Theology of Story Types of Story Apologue MYTH Action Relation- Ship to World Estab- Defends Inves- Attacks Subverts lishes world tigates world world world world Examples Within the home are people who have many adventures.

33. J. Dominic Crossan (1975)The Dark Interval: Toward a Theology of Story Types of Story Satire Apologue MYTH Action Relation- Ship to World Estab- Defends Inves- Attacks Subverts lishes world tigates world world world world Examples However, the behaviors of the home are a bit weird and unusual.

34. J. Dominic Crossan (1975)The Dark Interval: Toward a Theology of Story Types of Story Satire Parable Apologue MYTH Action Relation- Ship to World Estab- Defends Inves- Attacks Subverts lishes world tigates world world world world Examples Unfortunately, the home is right above a major earthquake fault.

35. How Synectics Works The Original The Topic Topic Revisited We Explore Elsewhere

36. So how about our humor?

37. My point?

38. Next … The Existential Models…