Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

Historian and philosopher Theodore Roszak (1994) minimizes the role of information in human cognition, and he even observes “humans think with ideas, not with information” [emphasis in the original] and affords ideas a central place in the human cognition by continuing, “Information may helpfully illustrate or decorate an idea; it may, where it works under the guidance of a contrasting idea, help to call other ideas into question” (p. 88). For Roszak, the concepts that will organize the curriculum are more important than the examples that may illustrate them. He even suggests “a culture survives by the power, plasticity, and fertility of its ideas. Ideas come first because ideas define, contain, and eventually produce information” (p. 88).

Reference

Roszak, T. (1994). The cult of information: A neo-Luddite treatise on high tech, artificial intelligence, and the true art of thinking (2nd ed). University of California Press.

John Dewey wrote “education is not preparation for life, it is life itself.” While this may be true, many students enroll in higher education to be better prepared for the profession they will enter after they graduate. It seems reasonable, then, that educators should take steps to ensure their students can use what they learn in the classroom in other settings as well.

I have several assignments in my course this term in which students must only tell me they completed it... colleagues are astounded that I am trusting my students.

I have several assignments in my course this term in which students must only tell me they completed it... colleagues are astounded that I am trusting my students.

I used to include “Always state the opinions upon which you state your facts” in my email signature. I deleted it because so many people were pointing out I had it wrong.

In science, each discovery unlocks doors leading to new mysteries. And the greatest progress comes from the unexpected—the discovery that overthrows previous notions.

-Isaac Asimov

Man’s greatest weapons in his conquest of knowledge are his understanding mind and the inexorable curiosity that drives it on.

-Isaac Asimov

Education is a field characterized by gaps: Teachers and school administrators view scholars with suspicion as they believe scholars are disconnected from the realities of the classroom. Scholars are suspicious of teachers and school administrators as they believe educators are unsystematic in their work. Educational theorists advocate for reform of schooling so that students are prepared for the complex problems of the modern world, but the policy makers insist on using tests to measure learning.

Education is a field characterized by gaps: Teachers and school administrators view scholars with suspicion as they believe scholars are disconnected from the realities of the classroom. Scholars are suspicious of teachers and school administrators as they believe educators are unsystematic in their work. Educational theorists advocate for reform of schooling so that students are prepared for the complex problems of the modern world, but the policy makers insist on using tests to measure learning.

Answers are boring. How you got them… that’s interesting.

It is so difficult for data-driven leaders when it is made clear their narrative is clearly not supported by the data.

Asimov begins his Guide to Science by suggesting mobile organisms must be curious about their surroundings. “As early as that, curiosity concerning the environment was enforced as the price of survival.”

How can I make students do x?

If this focuses your planning, you don't understand learning.

"Just don't hurt yourself or others" is the primary goal of many science education activities.

Can we agree to stop drawing unlabeled arrows between clumps of words and calling it a graphic?

In reality, lesson planning is one of the least certain tasks an educator undertakes. The lesson planner can be sure of what they intend to teach; it may even be articulated in measurable learning outcomes (the value of which is dubious). The teacher also believes they know how to present the material so that students achieve those outcomes. Further, they believe they know how students can best demonstrate what they learn. Other than the intended outcomes, planning is grounded in predicting (I think “guessing” is a more accurate verb) how students will be learning from the intended lessons and the degree to which the assessments will capture the intended learning.

I’ve always found those who truly “understand” concepts are not bothered by ambiguous definitions at any level. They know we make some progress, reach our limit, then dig in again.