using lego® to aid reflection on practice through metaphors
DESCRIPTION
14, 15 Nov 2013 Annual SEDA ConferenceTRANSCRIPT
Using LEGO® to aid reflection on practice through metaphors
Chrissi Nerantzi
Academic Developer, certified LSP facilitator [email protected] / @chrissinerantzi
18th Annual SEDA Conference Creativity in Educational Development
“Play isn’t the enemy of learning, it’s learning’s partner. Play is like fertilizer for brain growth. It’s crazy not to use it.” (Brown, 2010)
ILOs
By the end of this workshop, delegates will be able to:
• Explore the benefits and challenges of learning
through making within Academic Development • Discuss the LEGO® model making approach used
within the LTHE module of the PGCAP Programme
• Identify opportunities for learning through forms for creative play and art in academic programmes and professional development provision
Learning through making
Thinking and creating with our hands • Making is connecting (Gauntlett)
• Playing/Reflecting/Learning with
LEGO? – from replication to uniqueness – from literal models to metaphorical
models
• Connectionism (Papert) > learning through making mental/real models
• X is Y = metaphor (Aristotle) mixing up the unexpected, finding similarities in the unfamiliar
• “new understanding through metaphors” (Schön) image created using http://www.tagxedo.com/
Let’s explore learning through making together
“Taking time to make something, using the hands, gave people the opportunity to clarify thoughts or feelings, and to see the subject-matter in a new light. And having an image or physical object to present and discuss enabled them to communicate and connect with other people more directly.”
Gauntlett (2011, 4)
you the learner
Q: Who are you as a learner? Task 1 (individually):Create a model using LEGO® Task2 (in small groups): Share with others and discuss
Using model making in the context of a summative assessment
Postgraduate Certificate in Academic
Practice (@PGCAP)
• active experimentation • Lego in the context of the Learning and
Teaching in Higher Education module • Assessment as learning > social media
portfolios • Professional discussion > Lego model
making activity
“When we walk into our workplace, the classroom, we close the door on our colleagues. When we emerge, we rarely talk about what happened or what needs to happen next, for we have no shared experience to talk about. Then, instead of calling this the isolationism it is and trying to overcome it, we claim it as a virtue called ‘academic freedom’: my classroom is my castle, and the sovereigns of other fiefdoms are not welcome here.” Palmer (2007, 147)
So what happens?
before
• guidelines shared
• LEGO models (30 mins)
during (30 mins)
• share learning journey using the LEGO model
• engage in a conversation
• reflection
• assessment
after
• feedback provided in minutes
• further reflection through social media
• sharing
4C LEGO® Learning Framework
Connect: reflecting on experiences and learning
Construct: constructing of a model linked to this
Contemplate: verbalising and analysing the model
Continue: extending engagement through sharing and commenting on models made by others (through social media).
“This model shows my movement from black and white, linear teaching towards a broader understanding of good teaching and a greater sense of adventure and experimentation in my own practice- moving into colour !!” Dr Sian Etherington http://pgcapsianetherington.wordpress.com/professional-discussion/
findings Results
•relaxed
•more reflective •articulate with more ease •metaphors richness of
learning and impact of module on practice
•deeper conversations •unconscious learning •assessment: “informal”
discussion with peers
data over 1 academic year students participated 35 (2 cohorts) panel members 10 interview with students and panel members reflective accounts
Let’s connect
Dr Sian Etherington, PGCAP student
Extending opportunities
from empirical LEGO® use
to an evidence-based LEGO® approach
to LEGO® Serious Play®
my curiosity driven journey of discovery
theoretical underpinning
“learning by making” Constructionism
(Papert)
“In flow”
(Csikszentmihalyi)
“hard fun”
(Papert)
“new understanding through metaphors”
(Schön)
LSP
• The builder owns the model
• Metaphors belong to the builder
• We talk about the model
We trust our hands!
We trust the process!
We all build!
We all participate!
Remember!
LSP Method, steps
1. Ask a question
2. Build
3. Share
4. Reflect
transformation of experiences
• from passive to active
• from the individual to the group
• from domination to pan-participation
• from construction to de-construction to re-construction
• from replication to uniqueness
Why? To increase... • Insight
• Confidence
• Commitment
•Goal (A->B) •Complex process •Sharing for a purpose •Community feel, safe place
When?
Collective intelligence
It is not about the bricks but what the bricks enable!
you the designer(s)
Ideal spaces for learning... (contextualise first) Task 1 (2 mins): create an area of this space (individual) Task2 (2 mins): Bring your areas together to create the learning space (groups of 4-6) Group Task 3 (2 mins): Share your ideas with another group (groups of 10-15)
What other tools could we use to
provide alternative opportunities for
expression, engagement, reflection and
learning?
useful links • LEGO in education scoop it http://www.scoop.it/t/lego-in-education • LEGO links on diigo http://www.diigo.com/user/chrissinerantzi/lego • PGCAP YouTube Channel: Professional Discussion videos
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9AA3BD8E7263D435 • LEGO in Education http://education.lego.com • LEGO(R) Serious Play® http://www.seriousplay.com/ • LEGO® Serious Play® an introduction
http://seriousplaypro.com/docs/LSP_Open_Source_Brochure.pdf • PGCAP Flickr collection: Lego models
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgcap/sets/72157632104255891/ • Visual metaphors Google + Community
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104137189590344479665
References Brown, S. (2010) Play. How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul, London: Avery, Penguin.
Gauntlett, D. (2011) Making is connecting. The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web2.0, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Geary, J. (2012) I is an other, The secret life of metaphor and how it shapes the way we see the world, New York: Harper Perennial.
Hallgrimsson, B. (2012) Prototyping and Modelmaking for Product Design, London: Laurence King Publishing.
Marton, F. (1994) Phenomenography as a Research Approach, in: Husen, T. And Postlethwaite, N, (2nd ed) The International Encyclopedia of Education, Vol. 8, Pergamon, pp. 4424-4429, available athttp://www.ped.gu.se/biorn/phgraph/civil/main/1res.appr.html [accessed 72 December 2012].
Moon, J. (2010) Using Story In Higher Education and Professional Development, Oxon: Routledge.
Nerantzi, C. and Despard, C. (submitted) Lego models to aid reflection. Enhancing the summative assessment experience in the context of Professional Discussions within accredited Academic Development provision, Innovations in Education and Teaching International.
Owens, T. (2012) Hitting the nail on the head: the importance of specific staff development for effective blended learning, in: Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Vol. 49, No. 4, November 2012, 389-400.
Palmer, P. J. (2007) The Courage to teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Papert, S. and Harel, I. (1991) Situating Constructionism, in: Constructionism, Norwood: Ablex Publishing, Available from: http://www.papert.org/articles/SituatingConstructionism.html [accessed 1 January 2013]
Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Using LEGO® to aid reflection on practice through metaphors
Chrissi Nerantzi
Academic Developer, certified LSP facilitator
[email protected] / @chrissinerantzi
18th Annual SEDA Conference Creativity in Educational Development