The STEM Hologram:
Several Disciplines – One Interdependent Picture
Kenneth Wesson
Educational Consultant: Neuroscience
San Jose, CA
kenawesson@aol.com
The STEM Hologram:
Several Disciplines – One Interdependent Picture
1. Why we need to change how we teach in
the U.S.? (next-day implementation)
2. How can we use some of the latest
research from the cognitive sciences in
planning C & I?
3. 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?
Hologram
It is your job to prepare our students for
new occupations that
1. have yet to be created
2. for a future that we have neither
encountered nor envisioned in
detail
3. demanding the mastery of skills that
we cannot even imagine.
Creative Thinkers-Learners
• Agricultural Age
→ Industrial Age
→ Information Age
• Moving from the Information Age
→ The Innovation Age
Modern Commercial Airline Cockpit
2012: Boeing 787
Testing testing
Our Schools
Students no longer need to go to school
to “go to school.”
We
A student in New Hampshire dissects a pig on the Web.
(Her school does not offer zoology→ an online course).
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
We don't need more information; we
need more effective strategies for
1. retrieving just what we want
(memory or technology)
2. understanding it
3. managing information
The S.T.2R.E.A.M. Hologram
Interconnected content for depth
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)
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).
• 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”.)
…a vast ensembles of neural circuits numbering in the
hundred of millions, intricate wide-area networks
crisscross the brain in search of connections…
We “see” with our eyes?
We see with our brain. Blind individuals read,
learn, recognize objects, etc. without their eyes.
Math - tube
The STEM Initiative is not NEW
• Human beings were engaged in STEM
experiences before we called them STEM.
• Our human advances have nearly always
been dependent on an improved
understanding of science (“knowing”)
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.
The Reading Brain
We were never “born to read.”
We Were Born to Learn
Successful Adaptation Strategies:
What Tools Do Scientists Use
When They Are Working?
1.
Observing (identifying/describing attributes, characteristics,
systems and “big ideas”)
2.
Predicting (hypothesizing)
3.
Classifying/categorizing (groups)
4.
Reasoning (inductive and deductive)
5.
Organizing information (order)
6.
Comparing traits and systems (next-step decision-making) and
quantifying (more, less, how many, difference/change, etc.)
7.
Relating (examining relationships and connections)
8. Testing hypotheses (experimentation) – Applying knowledge
9. Communicating information/interacting (Talking/interacting with
“knowledgeable others” are essentials to learning; Open
discourse; Accountable talk; expressive language - drawing)
10. Recording data information (“When found, make note of.” –
Dickens)
11. Sharing and evaluating data (community of learners; examining/
analyzing for error)
12. Utilizing multi-sensory methods (and sensory extensions, e.g.,
telescopes, microscopes, etc.)
13. Summarizing and revising one’s own thinking
14. Arriving at and sharing conclusions (as well as interpreting data;
modifications to the original experiment possibly leading to
cycles of investigation) and inferring
15. Writing (preparing arguments that support one’s conclusions)
and learning from reading without “the experience”
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.
Our ancestors’ survival was determined by…
•Discovering patterns to understand/predict the everchanging world around them
• We became the planet’s only animal that looks for
problems/invents problems to solve. We even
practice solving 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
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
N.C.L.B.
Non-educators Consumed by
Legislation and Bureaucracy
No Considerations
for human
Testing testing
Learning and Behavior
Neuroscience, Cognition,
Learning and the human Brain
…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
Where Did the Idea That
“We Need More Tests” Come From?
1.No high-achieving nation spends as much time, money
or organized efforts on standardized testing as we do.
2.If excessive testing → ↑ scores in math and science,
why aren’t the leading nations (whose scores we are
trying to emulate) testing more?
3.Why are we alone in advocating a “test-and-they-willlearn-more” strategy, which has not been proven
successful anywhere in the entire world?
Instead….
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.
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.
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 with colleagues (“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.
Obstacles to
Successful S.T2.R.E.A.M. Learning
1.A weak foundation in concrete learning and working
memory formation – prerequisites for complex and
abstract thinking
2.Reading, writing, discourse, argumentation and
mathematics are taught as subjects rather than as
tools we use in the pursuit of knowledge (in science).
3.↑ time memorizing facts (and testing) instead of on
viable curricular connections - S.T2.R.E.A.M.
Hologram
Multiple layers of a 3-D hologram
Good thinking is a matter of
making connections,
and knowing what kinds of
connections to make.
---David Perkins
Critical Cognitive Connections
• If thinking engages 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.
Technology
Math
Reading/LA
Thematic
Instruction
Engineering
Art
Science
Critical Cognitive Connections
• Real world problem solving requires integrated
solutions, where language, mathematics, logic,
visualization, physics/engineering, scientific
reasoning, technology, may come into play
o in varying combinations
o in different proportions
o where each is used in a different sequence
depending upon the nature of the problem
o to a different degree of usage
o in varying durations
o at varying times and possibly multiple times
Science
Technology
Thematic
Instruction
Reading/LA
Engineering
Art
Math
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.
3-D Hologram
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
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 and where other
connections are likely to be found.
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?
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
“A Hole in the Concept” - Instructions
1.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.
“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.
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)
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.
Making Connections
Now can you make meaningful
connections?
• Does every sentence support what you
now know? (Sense-making: meaning
derived from making neural
connections)
About Learning
• Learning is a complex multi-directional
process of (1) interpretation, (2) thinking,
and (3) revision - not a linear process
• Knowledge is socially constructed
(importance of peer-to-peer interaction)
• Learners create meaning
National Research Council. Knowing What Students Know, 2001.
S.T2.R.E.A.M.
Science
Reading/Language Arts
(Standards)
Reading, writing, discourse,
argumentation, vocabulary development,
comprehension, journals, note-booking,
lab reports, summaries, oral
presentations, recording interpreting and
critiquing data and information
Technology
Visual Literacy
Engineering
Mathematics
Art
Drawing/diagramming, visual spatial
thinking, imagery, inferential
thinking, 2/3-dimensional modeling,
symbolic models, interpreting visual
evidence, visual representations illustrations, charts, etc.
Education:
Caught in a Web of False Choices
Reading/Language arts
or
Math or Science?
Binary arguments that limit the scope and
quality of our subsequent discussions.
The Achievement Gap
• Vocabulary = proxy for knowledge. Achievement
gaps are knowledge gaps primarily sponsored
by ever-expanding vocabulary gaps.
• A highly developed vocabulary facilitates precision,
not just in speaking, but in thinking.
• Lack of vocabulary can be a crucial factor
underlying the school failure of disadvantaged
students (Becker, 1977; Biemiller, 1999).
Science Should be at the Center of
Language Development
Of the most common language interactions used, 400
to 600 high frequency words are used most out
of the 86,741 most widely-used English words:
1. children's books → 627 of the ↑ utility words
2. primetime children's TV shows → 543 words
3. Conversations among non-college graduates
→ 496 of the ↑ utility words
4. Scientific articles → 4389 of the ↑ utility words
making science the richest academic source for
vocabulary development
Question:
How do you teach vocabulary best?
Answer: In context
Full answer: In the context of doing
(not in the context of reading).
The Language of Science?
Instead of saying:
Use MINDFUL LANGUAGE by saying:
“Let’s look at these two pictures.”
“Let’s COMPARE these two pictures.”
“What do you think will happen when…?” “What do you PREDICT will happen when…?”
“How can you put those into groups?”
“How can you CLASSIFY…?”
“Let’s work this problem.”
“Let’s ANALYZE this problem.”
“What do you think would have happened “What do you SPECULATE would have happened if…?”
if…?
“What did you think of this story?”
“What CONCLUSIONS can you draw about this story?”
“How can you explain……?”
“What HYPOTHESES do you have that might explain...?”
“How do you know that’s true?”
“What EVIDENCE do you have to support…….?”
“How else could you use this…..?
“How could you APPLY this ……..?”
Cognitive Rehearsals
When playing with objects, learners are
simultaneously manipulating and playing
with ideas (using internal dialogues to attach
words and meaning to actions)
Exploring and experimenting involve examining
relationships, interactions and systems,
where learners formulate their own
personal “theories” (mental constructs)
Thinking is a rehearsal for discourse
Discourse is a rehearsal for writing
Cognitive Rehearsals
“You can't make the words or ideas
come out of your pencil,
until you can get them
to come out of your mouth.”
-- CO Master Teacher Eileen Patrick
Cognitive Rehearsals
Playing with objects and ideas, exploring and
experimenting, thinking, talking, and writing
become rehearsals (background knowledge)
for reading.
Writing and reading clarify one’s thoughts,
generate coherent thinking, and cultivate
precision in expressing one’s inner
thoughts
Discourse and writing become rehearsals for
assessment
Source: Kenneth Wesson (2011). Education for the Real World: six great ideas for parents and teachers.
Brain World, Issue 2, Volume 2.
“STREAM-posium” (PLC):
Share Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Lists
• Prepare a list of the key vocabulary words for the
week/month from each subject area/discipline
• Exchange those lists with colleagues and look for
polysemous words that also are germane to your
discipline, your lessons plans for the year.
• Word appearing in multiple academic areas, warrant
attention
• Weave these interdisciplinary (bonus) words into
your lectures, discussions, writing assignments,
and assessments (bonus for multiple meanings).
“STREAM-posium” (PLC):
Sharing Your Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Lists
• Introduce words along with their (1) associated definitions in
context, and (2) connections to contexts in other subject
areas. (Use Word webs and Venn diagrams)
• “Last year, you heard this word used when you learned about
______ in your ______ class”
• “In your social studies class this year, you will see this word
again. However, its alternative meaning of ______
will be emphasized.”
• “What do you think this word mean, when you hear it used in
mathematics?”
• “In 6th grade literature, you will hear more about this word,
but guess what? In literature, this word is used to
describe…However, in science it means…”
“STREAM-posium” (PLC):
Content Knowledge: “Resident Expert”
• Have the Science teacher “guest lecture” in the
Reading/LA class on how we read differently in
science than we do in literature. How is it different
and why?
• Have the Art teacher “guest lecture” in the
Engineering and English class to show how we take
visual images in the mind → paper
• Have the Science teacher “guest lecture” in P.E.
(games, baseball, amusement rides, etc., all depend
on principles from physical science)
When planning your instruction,
be sure to use the appropriate
context for teaching the target
concept.
The problem is not always just what
we teach, but it is
how, when and where (context)
we teach important content.
Time is often taught as a random abstract concept
Shared Learning Experiences: Time, Earth, and Space
At this time of day, I…
Wake up ______ a.m.
leave home ______ a.m.
eat lunch______
leave school ______p.m.
eat dinner ______ p.m.
do homework ______ p.m.
go to bed ______ p.m.
The sun rises in the East at ______ a.m.
Measure and Insert Data Points (Graph) of Changes
in the Position of the Sun Throughout the Day:
Data from your own “obelisk”
Making connections
Time is most effectively taught in a
Science context, not as a Math skill
Time reflects the regular degrees of consistent changes
in the earth-sun relationship. We calibrate those
degrees of change in “seconds, minutes, hours, days,
etc.,”-- applying math to the science content.
S.T2.R.E.A.M. :
Multiple Contexts For Connected Learning
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Science
Math
Art
Social studies
History
Vocabulary/L.A.
Critical thinking
Spatial relations
Home-school
connection
Transfer
• Transfer is facilitated by knowing the multiple
contexts under which an idea applies (i.e.,
effective transfer is inextricably linked to
the conditions for applicability; rote
learning rarely transfers.)
• New learning depends on prior learning and
previous learning can often interfere with
new content that is being taught.
Balance
Balance and Engineering:
The Cantilever Bridge Challenge
= 12 inch ruler
How far?
1 inch
Table
2 inches
Physics/systems
Bridges
Balance
The geometric shape used
most in construction?
Toys, playground equipment, amusement parks =
balance and motion (physical science)
History of toys; different toys used by
children around the world = S.S.
skills/knowledge
Hologram:
Learning on the Diagonal
Content
9 Most Effective Strategies for Achievement
Marzano, et. al.
"CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION THAT WORKS“
CATEGORY
PERCENTILE
GAIN
NUMBER
of STUDIES
Identifying Similarities and Differences
45%
31
Summarizing and Note-taking
34%
21
Reinforcing Effort/Providing Recognition 29%
21
Homework and Practice
28%
134
Nonlinguistic Representation
27%
246
Cooperative Learning
27%
122
Setting Objectives/Providing Feedback
23%
63
Generating and Testing Hypotheses
23%
63
Questions/Cues/Advance Organizers
22%
1,251
We incorporate each of these in S.T2.R.E.A.M.
The S.T2.R.E.A.M. Hologram
Uses 8 of Gardner’s
9 Multiple Intelligences
The President’s Council of Advisors
on Science and Technology (PCAST)
"Since the beginning of the 20th century, the
average per capita income in the United
States has grown more than sevenfold,
and science and technology account for
more than half of this growth."
Reflect and Connect
At some point within the next 24 hours, write:
• What did you learn today?
• How did our conversation change your
thinking?
• Write down two “I will” statements from today’s
experience.
Contact information:
Kenneth Wesson
Educational Consultant: Neuroscience
San Jose, CA
(408) 323-1498 (office)
kenawesson@aol.com