Building Knowledge with Visual Tools
- I. Needs Assessment:
As more information comes at us at an alarming rate, it is necessary that we devise ways to handle this information. Building constructions or visual representations of our knowledge is learning. It is the making sense of our experiences. I want to present some information on the constructivist theory of learning and give you some examples of how this might impact learning in our classrooms. Writing is an important strategy that can be used at different junctures during the construction of knowledge. It can be used in the beginning to formulate a question or hypothesis, which may be the result of a collaborative you brainstorming activity. Writing is also used as a tool for reflection. What is it that you think you learned from that activity? You can determine if it met with your expectations, or did it surprise you by presenting an unbalanced outcome? You can write about your experience and this will serve as a tool that will allow you to decide where to put this in your intellectual schemata. Writing also allows the learner to move in and out or back and forth in the thought process. Each learner comes with their own unique prior knowledge. What we learn is in direct correlation to what our prior knowledge consists of. When we interact with the world this prior knowledge acts as a lens through which we see. Sometimes there are errors in the prior knowledge therefore making the learning outcome incorrect, according to the agreed upon correctness of the answer. From the constructivist point of view, it is up to the teacher (facilitator) to guide the learner in the direction of a new tool or strategy so that he may refine his answer.
- II. Learner Analysis: This wide range of uses for task-specific organizers in various content areas confirms that visual representations are not confined to just one discipline. It is the versatility of visual tools that makes this area so exciting for interdisciplinary applications (Clarke 1991). It can be applied across the curriculum and was actually first used in the areas of science and math. Math and Science are subjects that we look at as ones that we build upon. We first learn rules for this and then we learn rules for this and then we can put them together. Structures put together are called a construction. Lessons containing graphic tools will be excellent for use with Differentiated Instruction. This theory allows us to meet the learner where he is and guide him to where he can find the answer. There is a lot of room for scaffolding with this approach to learning. If the problem is too complex the facilitator may employ the use of a web or a chart in order to generate the material needed by the learner. If one tool is too complex, the facilitator can help the student choose one that is simpler. Once the simpler design is used, a more complex model can be incorporated. A discussion may also be warranted at this time to help the learner link to his prior knowledge; however no answer should be supplied. Writing may also be used to define or redefine what is needed or wanted from the material in question. Remember, even though the teacher is not as visible, she is always there to provide what is needed, just in time. Visual tools or graphic organizers, as we have come to know them, supply the needed building material for constructing our knowledge. How many times have you used a particular shape, design, or image in order to recall something? How many times have you used a similar technique to help you think of things that you might need for a certain task? Visual tools help us to organize, store, retrieve and manipulate information. Learners who are initially unable to start a story when given a prompt will be able to do so once they brainstorm with their classroom and teacher. It is just an activity that helps to loosen up the information that is stored or is out there running around in some other form.
There was a time when information was not so plentiful and timely. We could read it, ponder on it for an unspecified time, and act on it if we so desired. We could use our own short-term memory and recall the information that we needed most of the time. In this information age, too much information comes at us too quickly. It is impossible to sort, store, retrieve and apply this information to our lives effectively, without some extra support mechanisms. The thinking tools that I mentioned earlier (brainstorming webs, fishbone) are helpful up to a point. There comes a time when we must store the knowledge outside of our bodies, for use at a later time. This appears in the form of microfiche, CD’s, and on the computers. Humans are the only organism that can store information for use later on.
Learners are also guided by the use of visual tools. When they are presented with a sample of these and a brief discussion with the teacher, the learner is then able to follow up on the task. If there is a problem, the teacher (facilitator) will intervene and model thinking procedures that entertain another possible way to look at the problem. When the learner successfully completes the graphic, he is automatically reinforced for success.
During my research the question of using visual tools in a consistent manner came up. What if learners were exposed to visual tools that represented knowledge structures in the very beginning of their academic careers? Not just once when they were in kindergarten, but on a regular basis. Then when they entered first grade they would use the one they used in kindergarten, plus two more and this pattern would continue throughout their educational careers. How much better equipped would they be, to process the information from the rest of their lives? This would have to be a decision arrived at by the entire staff at a school.
•III. Instructional Objectives:
- To arm you with some information about the constructivist theory and how you might support your students as they work to find the answers they need to make sense of their world.
- To provide you with the opportunity to take part in a collaborative writing lesson using recently introduced technology tools.
- To provide some examples of visual tools that you may use with your students in different content areas.
- Students will be better prepared to become life-long learners if they get the opportunity to be exposed to constructivist learning classrooms, where they will be taught how to use the necessary tools.
- IV. Strategies, Practices, and Theories:
All learning involves knowledge construction therefore it is constructivist in nature. It is how well we use the tool s of construction that determines how well we learn. There are three main types of visual tools used to construct meaning. These are the brainstorming webs, task-specific organizers, and the thinking-process maps. Murray says that brainstorming is one of the best ways to discover what you already know. He also talks about making maps or putting the names of things on tree-shaped graphics to show how they are connected. It is the things that we connect to our prior knowledge that we remember. Of course there are lots of variations of these in print. Constructivists view the learner as a unique combination of his prior experiences, and how these experiences impact his view of his interactions with the world. The teacher is seen as a facilitator who gently guides the learner toward the necessary tools that he will need to arrive at the agreed upon truths. The teacher is also part of the interactive process of learning and ongoing assessment. She learns as he learns. This might be a difficult transition for many of us who have taught in traditional classrooms where the teacher was the disseminator of knowledge.
Vygotsky with his “zone of proximal development” laid the foundation for constructivism. This idea explained that a person would be more likely to learn something that was just above his developmental level. This means that the learner is equipped with the appropriate level of prior knowledge to come up with the preferred outcome or answer. If a learner’s prior knowledge is lacking or incorrect and he embarks upon a study, even with the proper tools and guidance, his conclusion will not match his hypothesis. He will have to go back and refine his thinking, or restate his question/hypothesis and perhaps use a different tool. The facilitator will be monitoring as this process unfolds and she will guide the learner toward a tool or practice that will act as a scaffold until the higher level can be attained. Of course Piaget came along with his theory of stages, which equates to the same thing, meaning that the child is ready to learn certain things at certain developmental times in their life.
•V. Materials for Activities:
- Computer access to our Weblog Page
- Concrete examples of building materials
- Copies of (graphic organizers) to play with
- My fellows from Summer Institute
- Pen and Paper (always)
- VI. Implementation/Activity:
- 1. To start with, I would like for each group to construct a model of a house using the concrete building materials at your table (big Lego’s). Spend about five minutes or so on this. Think about what you know about house construction. Do you have enough prior knowledge to build a house?
- 2. Next, I would like for you to use one of the graphic organizers to brainstorm some ideas that might help your staff become more productive and cohesive. Spend ten minutes brainstorming and fifteen minutes writing it up.
- 3. Each participant will go to the computer and go to our Weblog space and get onto my blog space. Please read the story prompt and finish the story using your prior knowledge from your academic training, as well as your lifelong experiences.
•VII. Assessment:
This demonstration activity can be assessed with a rubric, a checklist, or self-assessment. When using the visual tools, the learning -assessing process is ongoing, with revisions as needed. The teacher/facilitator can easily glance over the student’s shoulder and see how he is coming along and if he needs re-directing or not. In this type of learning environment the teacher learns right alongside her students, so it is very easy to be in position to always be monitoring.
•VIII. Conclusion/Evaluation/Reflection:
There was lots of information out there dealing with the constructivist theory. Of course it was much easier to find information after our imbedded librarian gave us some training in this area. At this point in our educational lives it seemed a little redundant to mention the great minds of Vygotsky, Piaget, Ausubel, Bloom, Dewey and Gardner, although these constitute only a few of the great minds that have researched learning theories. Thanks to the hard work of these and others we have a deeper understanding of thinking and learning. This allows us to become better instructors and to be better prepared to meet the challenges of a changing new information society.
It is my hope that all teachers realize that students need us now and they will continue to need us, always. When I make mention of learners teaching themselves, it is not without our help that they learn to do this. Our job is something like that of a traffic cop. We need to make sure they are going in the right direction, making sure to pay attention to the directions along the way, and that they ultimately end up where they intended to be. That may not be the exact place that we had in mind for them, but if it is in the ball park area, it will work for right now. If they have made the appropriate connections and relationships that exact answer will come.
This is a good lesson to present to the Fellows at Writing Project. It is good because it lends itself very nicely to the writing process. It is especially good for reflection and for writing to learn. There are so many different types of visual tools that one can be found for almost any process or subject. All teachers need to really consider the fact that most children do the best that they can.
Annotated Bibliography
Hyerle, David. 1996. Visual Tools for constructing knowledge. United States: by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
This book was a very easy read and was arranged in such a way that the examples of the graphic tools were very accessible. The author talked about how the learner can use these visual tools, such as brainstorming webs, concept maps, tree diagrams and others, to represent cognitive structures. This allows us to handle a lot more information than our short term memory alone. Using these tools we can gather, organize, store, retrieve and manipulate information.
Moats, Louisa Cook. 2000. Speech to Print language essentials for teachers. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks Publishing.
This book is a very professional book that requires intense reading to get a full understanding of the material. It addresses methods for teaching the learner how to take a sound and make a graphic representation for that sound. First it may be one consonant, then two or three and then maybe a vowel. The book is very prescriptive in nature. Some information about how the brain works is also included in this text. The author included a section where she gave constructivism some thought. The idea of waiting until the learner is ready, with the appropriate prior knowledge was a common thread.
Strong, William. 2006. Write For Insight: Empowering Content Area Learning Grades 6-12. United States: Argosy Publishing.
I really like this book. It is just like talking to a great teacher who has just the answer that you need. Strong makes you realize how important it is to be the teacher of these young people and how one should be proud to have that link to them. I especially liked the part about the “hidden curriculum”. I see it at work every day at school. We send the wrong messages about writing to students through direct and indirect means. At times we even assign writing as punishment. And on the other side of that coin, we don’t praise them when they take the initiative to write or write something particularly well. Strong tells us that we better get our act together and help our students learn how to express themselves through writing. They need to write in order to, organize , apply, synthesize, and evaluate their thinking.
