Week 1 (Aug. 29,06)

1. Week 1 (Aug. 29,06) Agenda for today Learning community building Course overview Intro to research: ways of knowing - epistemology & science

2. Shufang Shi

3. Know you, know me • Name/Nickname • Where are you from? • Are you are teaching, what grade? • If not teaching what are you working on at the time being? • What other obligations do you have in addition to taking this course? • Find out five things you share in common. One person reports for the group to the class.

4. Know me more • In 10 words or less, tell us something about yourself that no one could guess by looking at you.

5. Your VIP Card • Name/Nickname • Where are you from? • Are you are teaching or doing substitute teaching, what grade? • If not teaching what are you working on at the time being? • Write a sentence about yourself that you believe is different from anyone else in the class such as • I once climbed Mount Everest. • I own a dog with three legs. • I tried to throw the gum out of the driver’s window and the gum happened to land on a guy’s nose and that guy became my husband.

6. Wish List • Top 5 reasons why you take this course • Wish list from taking this course

7. Picture Taking (during class break) • Any volunteer to help?

8. Developing a Goose Sense of Community • The Goose Story

9. This springwhen you see geeseheading north for the summerflying along in a "V" formation, youmight be interested in knowing what sciencehas discovered about why they fly that way. Ithas been learned that as each bird flaps itswings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediatelyfollowing. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.

10. People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

11. Whenevera goose falls outof formation, it suddenlyfeels the drag and resistanceof trying to go it alone, and quicklygets into formation to take advantage of thelifting power of the bird immediately in front. (Ifwe have as much sense as a goose, we will stayin formation with those who are headed thesame way we are going.) When the lead goosegets tired, she rotates back in the wing andanother goose flies point. (It pays to take turnsdoing hard jobs - with people or with geeseflying north.) The geese honk from behind toencourage those up front to keep up theirspeed. (What do we say when we honk frombehind?)

12. Finally(Now I wantyou to get this),when a goose gets sick,or is wounded by gun shotsand falls out, two geese fall out offormation and follow him down to help andprotect him. They stay with him until he is eitherable to fly or until he is dead, and then theylaunch out on their own or with anotherformation to catch up with the group. (If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that.)

13. Shufang Shi Homepage http://web.cortland.edu/shis EDU651 Course Websitehttp://web.cortland.edu/shis/651

14. My Teaching Philosophy • I strongly believe the social-cultural perspectives of learning. Instruction is more effective when it takes form in discussions or dialogues in small groups wherein learners interact with peers and teachers who challenge, support, and scaffold their learning. • I expect you participate in both small group discussion and whole class discussion.

15. My Teaching Philosophy (cont.) • I measure the value of a student not by aptitude, but by a desire and motivation for learning. • I measure my success not by popularity, but by the progress of my serious students. I will consider myself a successful teacher if these students know that they are more knowledgeable and better thinkers because they have taken my course.

16. Classroom Guidelines and Expectations • Bring with you a positive attitude and enthusiasm to the class every Tuesday evening. • Be punctual (3 points bonus). • Refrain from side-conversation. • Communicate with me the instructors openly.

17. “Research” • What does “research” mean to you? Search again and again, search for what? For truth, for knowing, to know – ways of knowing – epistemology

18. How do we know?Ways to make informed decisions? e.g. • adopt a new method of teaching reading, • modify the behavior of a depressed adolescent • use a new/better teacher evaluation form that will result in improved instruction, etc. What could we base this decision on? Elicitation – pair work

19. Ways of Knowing • Personal experience • Communicated experiences of others • Accepted authority • Logical reasoning

20. Personal Experience • Ways of personal experience? • What are the problems?

21. Personal Experience • Can be biased by personal feelings, • May not have knowledge- decision is beyond scope of experience,

22. Communicated Experience of Others • Ways of communicated experience? • What are the problems?

23. Communicated Experience • Second-hand knowledge • Written descriptions of experience • Discussions • Media reports • Photos, video tapes, audio tapes • Leads to expanded world view • Validation of personal experience

24. Problems with Communicated Experience • Problems of personal experience • Problems of communication • Consensus does not imply truth

25. Authority • Expert opinion • Religion

26. Problems with Authority • Expert opinion can be wrong • Experts often disagree • Authority necessitates the communication of others • Authority can lead to diverse interpretations of common revelations • Experts and authorities must be chosen

27. Logical Reasoning • New information from known information • Deductive reasoning • Accepted facts (axioms) • Strict formal rules • Inductive reasoning • Repeated observations • Emerging patterns • Common sense

28. Problems with Logical Reasoning • Improper application of rules of logic • Problems with accepted facts • Failure to recognize patterns • Acceptance of “patterns” on scant evidence • Observed patterns may change

29. The Scientific Methods • Brainstorming: • All of the above? • Goal? • How? • Theory? • Nature?

30. How do we know? • Prioritize methods of knowing • Develop a consistent system for acquiring knowledge that is based on these priorities • Use this system to search for truth

31. The Scientific Methods • Personal experience and reasoning take priority • Observations result in pattern detection • Models are developed to explain observations • Critical observations are made to test models • Goal: is to explain and predict • How: empirical and verifiable observations • Theory: theoretical and refutable models • Nature: public

32. The Scientific Methods:Introduction to Research in Education • Introduction to Research: What does “research” mean to you? • What do we typically do when we ‘do a piece of research’? • NEXT WEEK!