Learners and knowers 8.13 edition

The morning of 8.13.12 I observed a group (Sarah, Nicole, Jessica, and Akbar) decide they wanted to understand the source of magnetic forces before they attempted to address the energy transfers the occurred in the Gaussian Gun (GG). The group had a variety of physics backgrounds, some of whom had studied magnetism before and some of whom had not.

Co-creating a model for magnetism as a community is not a simple task and is often accomplished using a series of manipulative and organized experiences (such as in PET). Other times the model is provided for students through simulations in which the micro-world has been made visible. Because the teachers lacked these artifacts their work toward creating a shared model of magnetism kept getting stuck.

When the conversation would get stuck on a topic for long enough without noticeable headway, Nicole  would step in and try to bring an artifact into the discussion. There were several different types of artifacts that Nicole tried to introduce to the discussion. She would bring up "facts" she had learned in a previous class, readings she either had with her or online, and online simulations. None of these artifacts allowed the to successfully create and implement an understanding of magnetism and because of time constraints they eventually had to abandon their effort.

Several lenses could be applied to these interactions. First, looking at teachers as either taking the role of creators of knowledge (expert learner) or conveyers of knowledge (expert knowers), this episode was an interesting blend. The teachers acted much as a violin player. The instructor had tuned the teacher's violin such that an environment in which the primary resonance frequency for the teachers appeared to be engaging with eachother as expert learners. In this case, they were working to create a shared understanding of magnetism. However, if the system was not working smoothly, the teachers would become frustrated and draw the bow more forcefully across the string, thereby increasing the energy from the bow and making the string jump from its primary resonance frequency to it's more excited secondary resonance frequency. This metaphorical frustrated drawing of the bow was realized for the teachers by changing from a group of learners into a group of knowers who just needed to produce the knowledge required to complete the task. Like a trained musician however, the teachers wouldn't spend long in this excited state and quickly dropped back down to their primary resonance. While this jump to be knowers occurred many times, each time it quickly converted back to being learners.

In trying to understand why frustration caused the teachers change from learners to knowers, I can imagine several explanations. It could be that teachers were simply reverting to the state that they're most used to taking (especially as teachers), that of either being the authority on knowledge or providing an authoritative source of knowledge. While this could be the case, I prefer to think that like a trained violinist they recognize that there is an appropriate time to jump from one's primary resonance to the secondary resonance.

As a group the teachers did not have enough shared expertise to complete the cognitive task of creating a model of magnetism. As such they started looking for artifacts that could help transform the cognitive process into one that could be completed (see distributed cognition). Each time the group found a mediating artifact (a factoid, online simulation, etc.) they brought it back to the group to see if they could use it to create their completed model. After additional unsuccessful struggling with this artifact they would look for another tool to help them complete the cognitive task.

One could also look at it as the teachers trying to find an expert source to create a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). By working with an expert directly, such as asking Leslie, or indirectly, such as reading a paper, recalling a conversation with an expert, or using a simulation, the teachers hoped to be able to make the task that couldn't previously be accomplished into one that was tractable. Personally I find distributed cognition's views of socio-cognitive systems to be more elegant then the ZPD explanation, but either one highlights the reasons that the teachers actions had the potentially to be highly productive and create opportunities for them to be a success group of expert learners.

It is worth noting that both Leslie and Stamatis noticed that the group did not have the tools they needed to complete the cognitive task they had set out accomplish. Both of the teachers reacted differently to the realization. Stamatis began a common script in physics by grabbing paperclip and setting the teacher up to engage in an experience that might help mediate their understanding of magnetism. Leslie sat down with the group and engaged them in their thought process, thereby becoming the mediating artifact herself. Neither instructor was fully prepared for the direction that the teachers took and did not have enough time to scaffold the teacher's experiences to get to the point they wanted to get to.