S.T.E.A.M Punks and Cyber Punks

Da Vinci, the Bauhaus Movement, Technology and the 21st-Century Educator

Morgan P. AppelDirector, Education Department

Wisdom from the Ancients

In ancient Egypt, when humans were preserved through mummification, the brain was discarded--viewed as a superfluous organ. It was believed that the heart was the center of all emotion and learning.

A Place for Us--Somewhere

Disaggregating and making sense of the cognitive and socio-affective characteristics of gifted and talented individuals (ongoing)

Developing a practical understanding of the neuroscience of learning and teaching and the reciprocal integrated nature of all disciplines (STEAM)

Creating integrated opportunities for ‘flow,’ driven by choice, interest and learning style

Understanding the changing balance between formal and informal learning as driven by everyday technologiesWorking collaboratively

with gifted and talented to become critical producers and consumers of information

Providing increasingly sophisticated opportunities for engagement that extend beyond the core

STEA

M

CC

SS

Moving beyonddifferentiation and toward PERSONALIZATIONusing technology and strategies beyond ability grouping

In Service of High Achievers Remembers answers and

needs about 6-8 repetitions to master

Alert and observant; attentive and interested

Pleased with own learning and gets high marks

Works hard to achieve, learns with ease

Is a technician with expertise in his/her field, responds with interest and opinions

Perf0rms at the top of the group and absorbs information

Is accurate and complete, memorizes well

Understands complex humor

Enjoys company of age peers

Completes assignments on time, answers questions in detail

Source: B. Kingore, 2003. High Achiever, Gifted Learner, Creative Learner. Understanding Our Gifted

In Service of Gifted

Poses unforeseen questions and is curious

Knows without working hard and is beyond the group

Needs 1-3 repetitions for mastery

Prefers company of intellectual peers

Ponders with depth and multiple perspectives

Is intellectual and anticipates/relates observations

Infers and connects concepts

Creates complex/abstract humor and is intense

Initiates projects and extensions of assignments

Enjoys self-directed learning and is original/continually developing

Is an expert who abstracts beyond the field; guesses and infers well

Is self critical and may not be motivated by grades

Source: B. Kingore, 2003. High Achiever, Gifted Learner, Creative Learner. Understanding Our Gifted

In Service of Creatives

Sees exceptions and wonders

Plays with ideas and concepts

Relishes wild, off-the-wall humor

Comprehends in-depth and complex ideas

Enjoys improvisation and creating

Is his/her own group

Questions the need for mastery

Brainstorms Intuitive Inventor Enjoys working

alone, but the company of creative peers

Shares bizarre and often conflicting opinionsSource: B. Kingore, 2003. High Achiever, Gifted Learner, Creative Learner. Understanding Our Gifted

The Original Renaissance Man

As every divided kingdom falls,so every mind divided betweenmany studies confounds and saps itself.

Everything is connected to everything else.

Leonardo da Vinci

Practical Neuroscience

The brain learns through multiple senses and modalitiesThe brain thrives on process and making sense of new informationThe brain works in context when processing new informationThe brain uses patterns to make sense of informationThe brain uses scaffolding to process new informationNeuroplasticity: the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiencesPhysiologically, like a coin making an impression in clay—the clay must change to hold the impression of the coinConsider the old saw ‘Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a week’The brain works in a very similar way: it thrives on making sense of process!Process reinvigorates the brain through re-establishing neural networks

Practical Neuroscience1. The brain is a complex adaptive system. 2. The brain is a social brain. 3. The search for meaning is innate. 4. The search for meaning occurs through patterning. 5. Emotions are critical to patterning. 6. Every brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and

wholes. 7. Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral

attention. 8. Learning always involves conscious and unconscious

processes. 9. We have at least two ways of organizing memory. 10.Learning is developmental. 11.Complex learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by

threat. 12.Every brain is uniquely organized.

Source: Caine and Caine (1997)

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRIs) show ‘brain on fire’ in gifted individualsGifted individuals are multimodal thinkersGreat integrators and organizers of multiple senses and modalities “Hypersensitive” brains

Source: newhorizons.org

Beyond Practical Neuroscience

Enhanced sensory awareness that can be further cultivated through experience and trainingBoth initial impressions and later recollections are unusually vividIncreased memory efficiency and capacityMultimodality: making connections that others do not

Source: newhorizons.org

Beyond Practical Neuroscience

• Associational thinking; organizational skills; analytical thinking

However:Sensory, emotional and memory overload

Personal disorganization

Distractibility

Mental fatigue

“Analysis Paralysis”

Source: newhorizons.org

Beyond Practical Neuroscience

Gifted pupils learn with less repetition and fewer explanations (may be modality specific)Enhanced sensitivity may lead to distractibility and to incorrect assumptions about ADHDDistractibility should be balanced with a degree of task persistence (otherwise evaluate and diagnose)

Source: newhorizons.org

Beyond Practical Neuroscience

Incidental learning“Cognitive Flypaper”Information wealthy—need resources to facilitate thinking processes (the brain thrives on process) – not an abundance of informationMetacognitive training, rumination and reflectionPractical application

Source: newhorizons.org

Beyond Practical Neuroscience

Portending an Integrated Future What does it really mean to

S.T.E.A.M? What is not the big idea

(perchance, to dream)? See both forest and trees Understand the porous nature

that is the interconnectivity within and across disciplines

Metacognition, collaboration and leadership versus pure content knowledge

Celebrate mistakes Production is tangible, tacit

and meaningful—where hard science meets and is interpreted through the arts

Thinking like a multi-disciplinarian/ Language of the multi-disciplinarian

JITL: Not knowing everything, but where to get it and when to use it (metacognitive contingencies of knowledge use)

Using multiple perspectives and lenses to address and make sense of challenges, opportunities and circumstances

The brain is an aesthetic organ—creativity and problem solving should produce enjoyment

STOP and Consider

Importance of patterns and integration

Solving complex problems using multiple data and strategies

Interpreting through a variety of lenses and moving beyond the ‘sum of parts’

Engaging the ‘gifted brain’ and working with socio-affective characteristics of giftedness and talent

Need motivation

Toward a State of ‘Flow’

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1990)/positive psychology

A Zen-like, intensive state in which an individual becomes completely emerged in an experience

“In the groove,” OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE, “In the zone”

Time stops (almost a meditative state) or flies “Seeing the seams of the baseball” or

“seeing the Matrix” Losing oneself so that one is so focused, s/he is

unaware of distractions, even bodily needs A universal and cross-cultural experience Connectivity between emotion, motivation

and internalization

Toward a State of ‘Flow’

Balance between individual’s ability and level of difficulty in the challenge (cannot be too easy or difficult or flow cannot occur).

Goals should be clear. Expectations are foreseen and goals are attainable.

High degree of concentration in a limited field of attention—person should be able to focus and become deeply engaged in the activity.

A loss of self-consciousness is experienced (unaware of self and what the self is doing).

Sense of time transcendence (subjective experience of time is altered—passes quickly/slowly/slow motion)

Toward a State of ‘Flow’

Direct and immediate feedback should be available so behavior can be adjusted (merging action and awareness)

Empowerment/sense of personal control over the situation or activity

Effortless of action brought about by absorption in the activity

Lack of awareness of bodily needs (hunger/fatigue)

In education, ‘feeling’ the lesson and using smaller, highly engaging holistic assignments that counteract boredom and feelings of being overwhelmed

Toward a State of ‘Flow’

Clear set of goals related to the activity, adding direction and structure (ambiguity threatens Flow)

Balance between ability and challenge Enjoying something in the long term requires

that tasks increase in complexity Some tasks must have immediate

results/feedback (success breeds success/making corrections)

Flow cannot be environmentally manipulated or forced (but can be encouraged)

From the Bauhaus Movement

Only work which is the product of inner compulsion can have spiritual meaning.

A modern, harmonic and lively architecture is the visible sign of an authentic democracy.

Walter Gropius

The Bauhaus

“House of Construction” – Germany, early 20th century

Intellectual and practical harmony, with form following function

Innovation, emphasizing freedom, process, fun and flow

Professed unity among the arts and the sciences, emphasizing the importance of aesthetics

Importance of design and mass production with ‘spirit’

Multisensory, multidimensional, multimodal

STOP and Consider

Process should be enjoyable and transcend boundaries

Challenge begats flow which begats engagement

Solving complex problems requires moving beyond differentiation (does not exclude group work, however)

Personalization=more intensive connections and acuity—bridging to true experiential learning/self discovery

Technology Makes

it Happen

Soliloquy From Blade Runner (1982)

I've... seen things you people wouldn't believe... [laughs] Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those... moments... will be lost in time, like [coughs] tears... in... rain. Time... to die...

Replicant Roy Batty

Personalization Using Practical Technologies

Internet searches, metacognition and neuroplasticity (exercising the brain)

Enhanced learning capacity; higher processing rates; automaticity; improved memory and recall; enhanced ability to pay/sustain attention; reduction in impulsive responses; among others [Critical Consumer]

Promotes opportunities for novelty and personalization, as well as infusion of choice for advanced learners

Moving beyond formal learning resources and organizing to fit the needs of a more self-guided learning experience [Personalization]

Engagement, empowerment and interest Opportunities to ‘live’ the curriculum in an active, involved and

communal way [STEAM] LITTLE THINGS go a very long way—they hold your attention! Long story short, when used correctly, technology promotes

Flow.

Where do we Acquire Information? Formal Resources: Courses; textbooks;

trainings; literature and other media; official websites; television; radio; among others

Informal Resources: Networks; YouTube; Facebook; LinkedIn; Flickr; Google; Itunes; Netflix; Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Balance is Tantamount —based on your resource preferences and learning styles. What technology tools do you use? For what purposes? How do you organize learning? How do you map it out?

‘Buffets for the Brain’

Dreaming Personalized Learning Environments

Customizing sets of online/offline resources (content; presentation; navigation support; and educational services) to address the unique learning styles, profiles and interests of the individual user

Benefits: Engages students as creators (versus strict consumers) of

education and information Promotes ownership of knowledge and participation in assessment Offers choice and autonomy, values dimensions beyond cognitive Real-life connections and creativity Promotes critical thinking and sound habits of mind Opportunities to share ideas and processes in an integrated way Interdependence and mutual respect between teacher and student Enhances tiering, grouping and scaffolding

A Diagrammed PLE: Thinking Map

EXAMPLES

A Diagrammed PLE: Thinking Map

MOREEXAMPLE

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Thus…

From daVinci, we learn that all things are integrated and that we must challenge the way education has been undertaken since the dawn of the industrial age—lest we sap our creative energies

From the Bauhaus, we learn that these undertakings can benefit from a free-spirited collaboration and that the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts. We must transcend traditional ways of teaching and learning to move forward

STEAM offers a unique opportunity to engage in multidisciplinary problem solving that challenges and engages the cognitive and affective

Thus…

Personalization, choice and use of technologies stimulate ‘flow’ and offer multiple opportunities for creatives and gifted to become critical consumers and producers of information

Personalization, choice and use of technologies offer occasion for creatives and gifted to hone metacognitive processing and organizational skills, as well as to work collaboratively in a variety of contexts

Comments and Questions

Contact Information

Morgan Appel, DirectorEducation DepartmentUC San Diego Extension9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0170-NLa Jolla, California 92093-0170

mappel@ucsd.edu858-534-9273extension.ucsd.edu/education