Web Pedagogies March 4, 2009

Literature Reviews

and

Teaching for Understanding

The Literature Review

• Narrative presentation of relevant ideas in the literature– Relevant for your project but: not too

broad yet not so narrow that it undermines your project

• Has a point of view but stylistically, not ‘author-centric’

Stand-Alone or Part of a Study• Stand-alone

– Provide overview of field or service to field– Often, specific aim of synthesizing the findings of

studies– Annual review type articles have more in common with

research articles

• Part of Scholarly Study– Literature review is part of the study– Study is often partly a response to and an addition to

the literature– May anticipate the study’s findings

Stand-Alone

• http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring81/maguire81

Part of a Study

• Way of introducing the whys and wherefores of the current study– i.e Deadbeat dads

Web PedagogiesWeek 5: Teaching for

Understanding

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Literature review

Introduction to TfU

• What is the problem?• When do people learn for non-

understanding?

What do I understand well?

• Describe something you understand well.• How do you know you understand it well?

Summarize examples of the board

Preview of the key elements of the TfU framework

• Through-lines• Generative topics• Understanding goals• Understanding performances• Ongoing assessment

TfU from Harvard Graduate School of Education

• http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tfu/info.cfm

Some Basic Questions

• How do I decide what is important for my students to learn?

• Can I convince others - and my own students - that what we are studying is important?

• What are my students really getting out of this class?

• Why can't my students seem to remember anything from the previous unit once we move on to the next one?

Some Basic Questions (cont)

• Am I really reaching all my students?• How can I make my class mean more to students

than just another grade on their report card?• How can I help students see that their grades

aren't arbitrary?• Will my students be able to use anything they

learn in this class in the future? How will I know?• How can I have a conversation with my

colleagues about what we're teaching and what our students are learning?

The TfU framework represents five years of collaborative thought and work

by teachers and researchers. They:  

• talked together,

• developed curricula,

• tried out the curricula in classrooms,

• watched students and talked to them,

• wrote case studies, and

• eventually solidified a framework that identifies the central aspects of planning and teaching for understanding.

TfU Readings: Overview

On the board

What is Understanding? (D. Perkins)

• When someone attains understanding, what have they attained?

• A performance criterion for understanding• A performance view of understanding• The representational view of understanding

What is Understanding? (cont)

• Why prefer a performance view over mental models?

• Why prefer a performance view over action schemas?

• A performance view of learning and teaching

• A kind of constructivism

What is Teaching for Understanding?

(M. S. Wiske)

Generative Topic

Students’ Interests

“Big Ideas”

GenerativeTopic

GenerativeTopic

Teacher’s Interests

Generativity

• Central to a domain or discipline • Interesting to the teacher• Connectable

Understanding Goals

• Explicit and public• Nested• Central to the subject matter

Understanding Performances (UPs): Three kinds

• Messing About • Guided Inquiry• Culminating Performances

Effective Performances of Understanding

• Relate directly to understanding goals• Develop and apply understanding through practice• Engage multiple learning styles and forms of

expression• Promote reflective engagement in challenging,

approachable tasks• Demonstrate understanding

Ongoing Assessment

• Relevant, explicit, and public criteria• Frequent assessments• Multiple sources• Gauge progress and inform planning

Teaching with Ongoing Assessment

Interaction of the TfU Elements

The Nature and Role of the TfU Framework

Hawkin’s Triangle

II

ThouThou It It

Teaching for Understanding Guides

• Tina Blythe and Associates, (1998). Jossey-Bass, San Fransisco.

• Teaching for Understanding with new technologies

S. Wiske et al Wiley Press 2005

Next Week’s Pre-view

• Teaching for Understanding (part 2) – Readings- go to website– Websites to visit

• Lab

Search CCDT projectsFrom Course website

• Kaufman

• Breit

• Wiske

Minute Papers

What “aha” did you gain for your project?

What open question do you still have?