Media multitaskers pay mental price, Stanford study shows Attention, multitaskers (if you can pay attention, that is): Your brain may be in trouble. People who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time, a group of Stanford researchers has found. High-tech jugglers are everywhere – keeping up several e-mail and instant message conversations at once, text messaging while watching television and jumping from one website to another while plowing through homework assignments. But after putting about 100 students through a series of three tests, the researchers realized those heavy media multitaskers are paying a big mental price. "They're suckers for irrelevancy," said communication Professor Clifford Nass, one of the researchers whose findings are published in the Aug. 24 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The second test proved that theory wrong.
How Do We Get to Know Our Students? Photo by Christine Healey Participatory museum experiences and museum visitor identity seem to be the focus of much attention of late in the museum educator community. It is something I have given a lot of thought to, and I have enjoyed some thought-provoking conversations on Twitter about it. I like to think that students are at the centre of the experiences I create for them at the museum, in the same way that student-centred learning is championed in school-based learning and teaching. But I wonder if student-centred teaching at the museum is something that can actually be claimed as part of our practice. Placing the students at the centre of a learning experience means knowing who the students are and I wonder how many assumptions can be made about this before they become irrelevant or wrong. So how do we get to know our students? My goal is to create an experience that will be meaningful for the students. The ‘truth’ is that I don’t know my students. Like this: Like Loading...
Information Literacy in the Disciplines: Art | Instruction Section Website The ACRL IS Information Literacy in the Disciplines Committee has gathered links and citations to information literacy standards and curricula developed by accrediting agencies, professional associations, and institutions of higher education in Art. 1. Accrediting Agencies & Professional Associations Art Libraries Society of North America Brown, Jeanne M., Paul Glassman, and Janine J. Brown, Jeanne, Jane Carlin, Thomas Caswell, Edith Crowe, Maya Gervits, Susan Lewis, Alan Michelson, Barbara Opar, and Jennifer Parker. 2007. “ Information Competencies for Students in Design Disciplines.” Ball, Heather, Bella Karr Gerlich, Tule Gianni, Paul Glassman, B.J. National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD) National Association of School of Arts and Design Handbook 2015-2016. 2. Atkins, Priscilla. Beaudoin, Joan. Bennett, Hannah. Brown, Jeanne M. 2003. Brown, Jeanne M. Brown, Jeanne M. Dirst, Tara L.
Constructivism: Actively Building Arts Education Overview What is constructivism? In constructivism, learning occurs through experiencing the world. This 20th-century theory is built on the work of psychologist Jean Piaget, who believed that children build their own knowledge through play and their experiences. Arts = constructivism Arts education lends itself very naturally to constructivism, and constructivist learning is described much like arts learning. Curriculum standards are on the forefront of many teachers’ minds. Like good arts classrooms, constructivist classrooms are learner-centered and, often, collaborative among students. Assessment will take on many forms in a constructivist classroom, as in an arts classroom. Putting constructivism to work Constructivism learning requires skills, knowledge, and higher-order understanding. Being a constructivist learner is a skill that students must master.
Resources | ACRL Visual Literacy Standards The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative recently released “7 Things You Should Know About Visual Literacy.” As usual, the brief is a jargon-free overview of the topic as it relates to teaching and learning. It’s worth reading, and provides fodder for conversations with colleagues and faculty. What is it? Amanda H. VLTF members recently contributed to ACRL’s Keeping Up With… series with a brief on Visual Literacy. On October 3, 2013, Nicole E. The presentation shares techniques for using images in libraries, with a focus on pedagogical considerations. A screencast of the full webinar is available here. Here is a new visualization of concepts in the ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Visual Literacy Array based on ACRL’s Visual Literacy Standards by D. Copyright 2013 The Johns Hopkins University Press. A new article on the Visual Literacy Standards is now available in the January 2013 issue of portal: Libraries and the Academy. The Visual Literacy Standards include:
Designing an Art Curriculum Based on Educational Theory | Marginalia Self Portrait Throughout the course of this program, I have been introduced to a variety of educational theories and teaching methods. As this program progresses and gets closer to student teaching, the time to think about which educational theories and teaching methods to actually implement in my future classroom draws near. A few of the theories that have been introduced to me that are in line with my vision of teaching are Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE), Studio Thinking, and Constructivism. On the offset DBAE and Constructivism seemed to be conflicting ideologies to me, because I viewed DBAE as more of a Behaviorist approach to teaching where the teacher was the “gatekeeper” of knowledge, as opposed to the more student-empowering approach of Constructivism. When I tell people I am getting a Masters in Art Education, too often and much to my chagrin, the response is something along the lines of, “Oh that’s adorable. How would DBAE and Studio Thinking fit in? 600 S.
Constructivism and Critical Pedagogy While perusing the Critical Pedagogy on the web site, I came across this discussion of Constructivism and its ties with critical pedagogy. It's worth taking a few moments to read. The red highlighting is done by me. Constructivism "A philosophy that views learning as an active process in which learners construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through action and reflection. Constructivists argue that individuals generate rules and mental models as the result of their experiences with both other human subjects and their environments and in turn use these rules and models to make sense of new experiences. Three important concepts emerge from this definition: Knowledge is socially constructed. In practice, educators use active techniques (experiments, real-world examples, problem solving activities, dialogues) to introduce students to information and issues and then encourage students to reflect on and talk about what they did and how their understanding is changing.
Constructivism Learning Theory | Museum PlanningMuseum Planning Modern interactive learning in science centers and children’s museums is based on Constructivist Learning Theory. Below is an excerpt from Wikepedia: “Formalization of the theory of constructivism is generally attributed to Jean Paiget, who articulated mechanisms by which knowledge is internalized by learners. He suggested that through processes of accommodation and assimilation, individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences. It is important to note that constructivism itself does not suggest one particular pedagogy. The learner as a unique individual Social constructivism views each learner as a unique individual with unique needs and backgrounds. The importance of the background and culture of the learner Social constructivism encourages the learner to arrive at his or her own version of the truth, influenced by his or her background, culture or embedded worldview. The responsibility for learning The motivation for learning The role of the instructor The importance of context
Constructivism and the museum