The STEM Hologram: One Interdependent Picture

1. The STEM Hologram: Several Disciplines – One Interdependent Picture Kenneth WessonEducational Consultant: NeuroscienceSan Jose, CA kenawesson@aol.com

2. The STEM Hologram: Several Disciplines – One Interdependent Picture • Why we need to change how we teach in the U.S.? (next-day implementation) • How can we use some of the latest research from the cognitive sciences in planning C & I? • What are the benefits of the S.T.2R.E.A.M. model, where we layer the curriculum to mimic a hologram rather than a quilted patchwork of unconnected learning?

3. Hologram It is your jobto prepare our students for new occupations that 1. have yet to be created 2. for a future that we have neither encounterednor envisioned in detail 3. demanding the mastery of skills that we cannot even imagine.

4. Creative Thinkers-Learners • Agricultural Age → Industrial Age → Information Age • Moving from the Information Age → The InnovationAge

5. Modern Commercial Airline Cockpit

6. Testing testing 2012: Boeing 787

7. Our Schools

8. We Students no longer need to go to school to “go to school.” A student in New Hampshire dissects a pig on the Web. (Her school does not offer zoology→ an online course).

9. New Information: The Knowledge Explosion “The sum total of humankind’s knowledge doubled between 1750 and 1900. It doubled again between 1900 and 1950, again from 1950 to 1960, again from 1960 to 1965. It’s been estimated that the sum total of humankind’s knowledge has doubled at least every five years since then. It’s been further projected that by the year 2020, knowledge or information will double every 73 days.” Dr. James Appleberry - President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities

10. We don't need more information; we need more effective strategies for 1. retrievingjust what we want (memory or technology) 2. understanding it 3. managing information

11. The S.T.2R.E.A.M. Hologram Interconnected content for depth

12. S.T.2R.E.A.M. Schools Science Technology (and Thematic-interdisciplinary instruction for student learning) Reading and Language Arts Engineering Art Mathematics (One Goal: Maximizing connections)

13. Evolutionary biologists - the physiological transitions of a brain that has changed dramatically over the past 4 million years. Developmental psychologists - the information-processing software (preloaded during the early stages of “brain building.”) Experimental psychologists -dig deeper into “the roots” of human behavior. Until the 1980s, brain research centered on diseases, abnormalities and dysfunction. Now neuroscientists are examining the brains of healthy individuals to understand average "normal" brains (cognitive enhancement).

14. The human brain is the most sophisticated information-processing system on earth with over 40,000 miles of "wiring" connecting over 100 billion neurons and nearly 1 trillion other support cells. • As brain cells develop into networks, the brain does makes no distinction between the academic discipline (there is no evolutionary basis for this “need”.)

15. …a vast ensembles of neural circuits numbering in the hundred of millions, intricate wide-area networks crisscross the brain in search of connections…

16. We “see” with our eyes? We see with our brain. Blind individuals read, learn, recognize objects, etc. without their eyes. Math - tube

17. The STEM Initiative is not NEW • Human beings were engaged in STEM experiences beforewe called them STEM. • Our human advances have nearly always been dependent on an improved understanding of science (“knowing”)

18. The Heritage of the • Human Brain • Human beings have always been • naturally explorers/scientists and • have been so inclined for the last • 4.5 to 5M years. • In their quest to respond to danger and • opportunities,and the most important • of all cognitive tasks -- survival.

19. The Reading Brain • We were never“born to read.” We Were Born to Learn

20. Successful Adaptation Strategies: What Tools Do Scientists Use When They Are Working? • Observing (identifying/describing attributes, characteristics, systems and “big ideas”) • Predicting (hypothesizing) • Classifying/categorizing(groups) • Reasoning (inductive and deductive) • Organizing information (order) • Comparing traits and systems (next-step decision-making) andquantifying (more, less, how many, difference/change, etc.) • Relating (examining relationships and connections)

21. Testing hypotheses (experimentation) – Applying knowledge • Communicating information/interacting (Talking/interacting with “knowledgeable others” are essentials to learning; Open discourse; Accountable talk; expressive language - drawing) • Recording data information (“When found, make note of.” – Dickens) • Sharing and evaluating data (community of learners; examining/ analyzing for error) • Utilizing multi-sensory methods (and sensory extensions, e.g., telescopes, microscopes, etc.) • Summarizing and revising one’s own thinking • Arriving at and sharing conclusions (as well as interpreting data; modifications to the original experiment possibly leading to cycles of investigation) and inferring • Writing (preparing arguments that support one’s conclusions) and learning from reading without “the experience”

22. Meaning Is Derived From Connections Our academic curriculum should reflect the beauty of patterns that blend together, rather than resembling a patchwork of unrelated content and experiences. Patterns are easy to process, comprehend, and remember because of the blended relationships.

23. Our ancestors’ survival was determined by… • Discovering patterns to understand/predict the ever- changing world around them • We became the planet’s only animal that looks for problems/invents problems to solve. We even practicesolving imaginary problems in places called “school” -- preparation for adulthood. • Scientists estimate that 99.99% of all species that have ever lived on earth are extinct today. Practicing for real and imagined problems has played a vital role in our long term survival

24. What does a scientist look like when he is working? Relevant questions, imagination, predictions, inferences, patterns, hunches, experimenting (trial/error) skepticism, thinking, memory, curiosity, minimize errors, sense-making, a quest for knowledge → Survival

25. Testing testing N.C.L.B. Non-educators Consumed by Legislation and Bureaucracy No Considerations for human Learning and Behavior Neuroscience, Cognition, Learning and the human Brain

26. …more High-stakes Testing? Kenneth Wesson, a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists wrote brilliantly, “Let’s be honest. If inner-city children consistently outscored children from wealthy suburban homes on standardized tests, is anyone naïve enough to believe that we would still insist on using these tests as indicators of success?” “The Big Picture” by Dennis Littky Good spreadsheets do not make us immune to bad decisions

27. Where Did the Idea That “We Need More Tests”Come From? No high-achieving nation spends as much time, money or organized efforts on standardized testing as we do. If excessive testing → ↑ scores in math and science, why aren’t the leading nations (whose scores we are trying to emulate) testing more? Why are we alone in advocating a “test-and-they-will-learn-more” strategy, which has not been proven successful anywhere in the entire world? Instead….

28. High-achieving Nations: Highly Respected Professionals (“Experts”) • Finland, Singapore and South Korea • Teaching is the most popular career choice for HS graduates in Finland (choose just 1/10 applicants from the top quarter of their classes). • The ↑ performing countries have rigorous recruitment for teachers with strong academic qualifications and they are paid well for their important contribution to their countries’ long-term economic security.

29. High-achieving Nations: Highly Respected Professionals (“Experts”) • Economists recognize the correlation between a strongly supported ed.’l system and a strong economy. • KW proposal – “No state should be allowed to pay an actor or professional athlete $1 more than the lowest paid teacher in the state.” - AD directors • The NY-based McKinsey & Co. report: teachers’ salaries should begin at $65,000 (↑$150,000) annually. (↑ ROI on teachers not tests) • Chile raised teacher salaries by more than 150% in a decade → one of the fastest growing economies in the OECD countries/fastest improving countries participating in the PISA exam.

30. High-achieving Nations: Highly Respected Professionals (“Experts”) • Educators and South Korea and Finland spend 600 hours a year engaged in face-to-face instruction with their students. • Many school days are spent in PD, planning and refining lessons withcolleagues (“STREAM-posium”). • Contrast: Teachers in the US average 1100 hours/yr. face-to-face with students and with annually decreasing numbers of hours set aside for PD.

31. Obstacles to • Successful S.T2.R.E.A.M. Learning • A weak foundation in concrete learning and working memory formation – prerequisites for complex and abstract thinking • Reading, writing, discourse, argumentation and mathematics are taught as subjects rather than as tools we use in the pursuit of knowledge (in science). • ↑ time memorizing facts (and testing) instead of on viable curricular connections - S.T2.R.E.A.M.

32. Hologram

33. Multiple layers of a 3-D hologram

34. Good thinking is a matter of making connections, and knowing what kinds of connections to make. ---David Perkins

35. Critical Cognitive Connections • If thinkingengages multiple areas of the cerebral cortex simultaneously, why shouldn’t classroom instruction? • Our academic silos impose a structure that often becomes an obstruction to learning and creative thinking.

36. Technology Reading/LA Math Thematic Instruction Engineering Art Science

37. Critical Cognitive Connections • Real world problem solving requires integrated solutions, where language, mathematics, logic, visualization, physics/engineering, scientific reasoning, technology, may come into play • in varying combinations • in different proportions • where each is used in a different sequence depending upon the nature of the problem • to a different degree of usage • in varying durations • at varying times and possibly multiple times

38. Science Technology Thematic Instruction Reading/LA Engineering Art Math

39. Learners Create Meaning via Connections The brain naturally organizes information based on complex connections that are established over time, not based on the subject heading that the initial instruction took place.

41. 3-D Hologram

42. We “hook” students on learning by “hooking” together our curriculum (PBL) and by integrating ideas across the disciplines (ideas, concepts and content are seen as relevant in multiple contexts). Doing so prepares students for 1. The real-world (relevant to my life beyond the lesson, the classroom, and the school) 2. Increasingly complex and abstract concepts that require background knowledge from multiple fields of study (relevant and connected to each other) 3. Higher education, graduate work, and careers in the 21st century workplace

43. Obstacle: Conceptual “holes” in a student’s thinking caused by a lack of connections and reinforcement (practice and extensions) → robust neural networks → knowing what the connection is andwhereother connectionsare likely to be found.

44. The Hole Illusion • Roll a sheet of paper lengthwise into a tube shape approximately 2 inches in diameter. • Hold the tube up to your left eye with your left hand. • Focus on an object 12-15 feet away with both eyes, with the left eye still looking through the tube. • Hold right hand 8-10 inches in front of right eye -- with right hand open/palm facing towards you. • Move your right hand towards side of the paper tube until your little finger touches the edge • With both eyes open you should see a strange sight. • What happened?

45. A Hole in Your Hand Illusion Both of your eyes see the same thing, but from two slightly different visual fields. Your brain must combine two slightly different viewpoints in order to see depth, 3 dimensions and to judge distances. We have interfered with that process. X

46. “A Hole in the Concept”- Instructions • Read the excerpt on the next slide at normal speed. • 2. Do not skim or give up halfway (read through to the end.) • 3. Once you've finished, ask yourself how do you feel about reading the paragraph.

47. “A Hole in the Concept” A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is better place than the street. At first it is better to run than to walk. You may have to try several times. It takes some skill, but it is easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain, however soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause problems. One needs lots of room. If there are no complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose from it, however, you will not get a second chance. On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not Robert A. Burton, M.D.

48. Making Connections Was this paragraph comprehensible or is it meaningless to you? • Note what happens in your mind when a title is added. • Re-read the excerpt (knowing the title, now with no change to the contents)

49. Flying a Kite A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is better place than the street. At first it is better to run than to walk. You may have to try several times. It takes some skill, but it is easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain, however soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause problems. One needs lots of room. If there are no complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose from it, however, you will not get a second chance.

50. Making Connections • Now can you make meaningful connections? • Does every sentence support what you now know? (Sense-making: meaning derived from making neural connections)