Misc

Why Cooks Spice Up Their Foods

2005-06-24T02:27:00.000-07:00

Why Cooks Spice Up Their Foods

Home (Dave's Pepper Pages)

Why Cooks Spice Up Their Foods

by Dave DeWitt

There are a number of explanations for why we have added spices such as chile peppers to our foods over the tens or hundreds of thousands of years that we have been cooking. They are:

1.

Spices make foods taste better.
2.

The "eat-to-sweat hypothesis"–eating spicy foods makes us cool down during hot weather.
3.

To disguise the taste of spoiled food.
4.

Spices add nutritional value to food.
5.

The antimicrobial hypothesis: spices kill harmful bacteria in food and aid in food preservation.

Which of these explanations are correct?

The First Cornell University Study

In 1998, Jennifer Billing and Paul W. Sherman published a study in The Quarterly Review of Biology that examined the reasons why humans might use spices. They studied 4,578 recipes from 93 cookbooks on traditional, meat-based cuisines of 36 countries; the temperature and precipitation levels of each country; the horticultural ranges of 43 spice plants; and the antibacterial properties of each spice.

The first thing they discovered was that many spices were incredibly antibacterial. For example, garlic, onion, allspice, and oregano were the best all-around microbe killers, killing almost everything. Next were thyme, cinnamon, tarragon, and cumin, which kill about 80 percent of all bacteria. Chile peppers were in the next group, with about a 75 percent kill rate. In the lower ranges of 25 percent were black pepper, ginger, and lime juice.

Next, they learned that "Countries with hotter climates used spices more frequently than countries with cooler climates. Indeed, in hot countries nearly every meat-based recipe calls for at least one spice, and most include many spices, especially the potent spices, whereas in cooler counties substantial fractions of dishes are prepared without spices, or with just a few." Thus the estimated fraction of food-spoilage bacteria inhibited by the spices in each recipe is greater in hot than in cold climates, which makes sense since bacteria grow faster and better in warmer areas.

The researchers addressed the various theories. First, obviously spices make food taste better, "But why do spices taste good? Traits that are beneficial are transmitted both culturally and genetically, and that includes taste receptors in our mouths and our taste for certain flavors. People who enjoyed food with antibacterial spices probably were healthier, especially in hot climates. They lived longer and left more offspring."

Billing and Sherman discounted the "eat-to-sweat" theory, noting that not all spices make people sweat and that there are easier ways to cool down, like moving into the shade. Regarding the theory that spices mask the odor of spoiled food, they noted that it "ignores the health dangers of ingesting spoiled food." And since spices, except for chiles and citrus, add minimal nutritional value to food, that theory goes nowhere.

That leaves just two theories: that spices make foods taste good, and that they kill harmful bacteria–and those two theories are inseparable. "I believe that recipes are a record of the history of the coevolutionary race between us and our parasites. The microbes are competing with us for the same food," Sherman says. "Everything we do with food--drying, cooking, smoking, salting or adding spices--is an attempt to keep from being poisoned by our microscopic competitors. They're constantly mutating and evolving to stay ahead of us. One way we reduce food-borne illnesses is to add another spice to the recipe. Of course that makes the food taste different, and the people who learn to like the new taste are healthier for it. We believe the ultimate reason for using spices is to kill food-borne bacteria and fungi."

The Second Cornell University Study

In 2001, Paul W. Sherman and Geoffrey A. Hash continued the examination of spices in human diet with a study entitled "Why Vegetable Recipes Are Not Very Spicy," published in Evolution and Human Behavior. They compiled information from 2,129 vegetable-only recipes from 107 traditional cookbooks of 36 countries. Then they examined the history of the spice trade and discovered that for thousands of years spices have been traded all over the world, resulting in their availability in most world cuisines. The most traded spices are black pepper and chile pepper, in that order.

Many studies have proven the antibacterial properties of spices, the fact that spices are more prevalent in warm climates than cool climates, and that the concentrations of spices in recipes are sufficient to kill bacteria. It is true that cooking eliminates the antimicrobial properties of some spices, such as cumin, but has no effect on others, such as chiles.

The researchers compared the vegetable-only recipes to the previous study of meat recipes according to the spices found in the recipes and discovered that vegetable recipes used far fewer spices than meat recipes. They attributed this to the fact that bacteria "do not survive or proliferate as well in vegetables, so adding spices is not as necessary." Interestingly, the four most common spices in both the meat and vegetable recipes were onion, black pepper, garlic, and chile peppers. Onion appeared in more than 60 percent of both types of recipes; black pepper in about 60 percent of the meat recipes and 48 percent of the vegetable recipes; garlic in 35 percent of the meat recipes and 20 percent of the vegetable recipes; and chile peppers in 22 percent of the meat recipes and 18 percent of the vegetable recipes.

Within countries, vegetable-based recipes called for fewer spices than meat recipes in all 36 countries. The countries using the most spices in both vegetable and meat recipes were, in order from the most used: India, Vietnam, Kenya, Morocco, Mexico, Korea, and The Philippines. Following were France, Israel, and South Africa.

In their second study, the researchers concluded: "By every measure, vegetable-based recipes were significant less spicy than meat-based recipes. Results thus strongly support the antimicrobial hypothesis."

Top 30 Spices with Antimicrobial Properties

(Listed from greatest to least inhibition of food-spoilage bacteria)

Source: "Antimicrobial Functions of Spices: Why Some Like It Hot," by Jennifer Billing and Paul W. Sherman, "The Quarterly Review of Biology," Vol. 73, No.1, March 1998.

1. Garlic

2. Onion

3. Allspice

4. Oregano

5. Thyme

6. Cinnamon

7. Tarragon

8. Cumin

9. Cloves

10. Lemon grass

11. Bay leaf

12. Chile peppers

13. Rosemary

14. Marjoram

15. Mustard

16. Caraway

17. Mint

18. Sage

19. Fennel

20. Coriander

21. Dill

22. Nutmeg

23. Basil

24. Parsley

25. Cardamom

26. Pepper (white/black)

27. Ginger

28. Anise seed

29. Celery seed

30. Lemon/lime

Top of Page

See also: Herbs and Spices keep BBQers healthy

Study: Antibacterial spices in food

2005-06-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

Study: Antibacterial spices in food

Study: Antibacterial spices explain why some like it hot

Paul Sherman, professor of neurobiology and behavior, displays two of the most potent bacteria killers -- scallions and garlic -- in the Statler Hotel kitchen. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

By Roger Segelken

Fans of hot, spicy cuisine can thank nasty bacteria and other food-borne pathogens for the recipes that come -- not so coincidentally -- from countries with hot climates. Humans' use of antimicrobial spices developed in parallel with food-spoilage microorganisms, Cornell biologists have demonstrated in a international survey of spice use in cooking.

The same chemical compounds that protect the spiciest spice plants from their natural enemies are at work today in foods from parts of the world where -- before refrigeration -- food-spoilage microbes were an even more serious threat to human health and survival than they are today, Jennifer Billing and Paul W. Sherman report in the March 1998 issue of the journal Quarterly Review of Biology.

"The proximate reason for spice use obviously is to enhance food palatability," said Sherman, an evolutionary biologist and professor of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell. "But why do spices taste good? Traits that are beneficial are transmitted both culturally and genetically, and that includes taste receptors in our mouths and our taste for certain flavors. People who enjoyed food with antibacterial spices probably were healthier, especially in hot climates. They lived longer and left more offspring. And they taught their offspring and others: 'This is how to cook a mastodon.' We believe the ultimate reason for using spices is to kill food-borne bacteria and fungi."

Sherman credits Billing, a Cornell undergraduate student of biology at the time of the research, with compiling many of the data required to make the microbe-spice connection: More than 4,570 recipes from 93 cookbooks representing traditional, meat-based cuisines of 36 countries; the temperature and precipitation levels of each country; the horticultural ranges of 43 spice plants; and the antibacterial properties of each spice.

Garlic, onion, allspice and oregano, for example, were found to be the best all-around bacteria killers (they kill everything), followed by thyme, cinnamon, tarragon and cumin (any of which kill up to 80 percent of bacteria). Capsicums, including chilies and other hot peppers, are in the middle of the antimicrobial pack (killing or inhibiting up to 75 percent of bacteria), while pepper of the white or black variety inhibits 25 percent of bacteria, as do ginger, anise seed, celery seed and the juices of lemons and limes.

The Cornell researchers reported in the article, "Countries with hotter climates used spices more frequently than countries with cooler climates. Indeed, in hot countries nearly every meat-based recipe calls for at least one spice, and most include many spices, especially the potent spices, whereas in cooler counties substantial fractions of dishes are prepared without spices, or with just a few." As a result, the estimated fraction of food-spoilage bacteria inhibited by the spices in each recipe is greater in hot than in cold climates.

Accordingly, countries like Thailand, the Philippines, India and Malaysia are at the top of the hot climate-hot food list, while Sweden, Finland and Norway are at the bottom. The United States and China are somewhere in the middle, although the Cornell researchers studied these two countries' cuisines by region and found significant latitude-related correlations. Which helps explain why crawfish etoufée is spicier than New England clam chowder.

The biologists did consider several alternative explanations for spice use and discounted all but one. The problem with the "eat-to-sweat" hypothesis -- that people in steamy places eat spicy food to cool down with perspiration -- is that not all spices make people sweat, Sherman said, "and there are better ways to cool down -- like moving into the shade." The idea that people use spices to disguise the taste of spoiled food, he said, "ignores the health dangers of ingesting spoiled food." And people probably aren't eating spices for their nutritive value, the biologist said, because the same macronutrients are available in similar amounts in common vegetables, which are eaten in much greater quantities.

However the micronutrient hypothesis -- that spices provide trace amounts of anti-oxidants or other chemicals to aid digestion -- could be true and still not exclude the antimicrobial explanation, Sherman said. However, this hypothesis does not explain why people in hot climates need more micro-nutrients, he added. The antimicrobial hypothesis does explain this.

The study of Darwinian gastronomy is a bit of a stretch for an evolutionary biologist like Sherman, who normally focuses his research on the role of natural selection in animal social behavior and is best known for his studies of one of nature's most social (and unusual-looking) creatures, the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) of Africa. But eating is definitely one of the more social behaviors of Homo sapiens, he maintains, and it's a good way to see the interaction between cultural evolution and biological function. "I believe that recipes are a record of the history of the coevolutionary race between us and our parasites. The microbes are competing with us for the same food," Sherman said. "Everything we do with food -- drying, cooking, smoking, salting or adding spices -- is an attempt to keep from being poisoned by our microscopic competitors. They're constantly mutating and evolving to stay ahead of us. One way we reduce food-borne illnesses is to add another spice to the recipe. Of course that makes the food taste different, and the people who learn to like the new taste are healthier for it."

For biology student Billing, the spice research for a senior honors thesis took her to an unfamiliar field, food science, and to Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, where the library contains one of the world's largest collections of cookbooks. Now that the bacteria-spice connection is revealed, librarians everywhere may want to cross-index cookbooks under "food safety." And spice racks may start appearing in pharmacies.

March 5, 1998

Education - Experiential Learning - David A. Kolb - Erudium

2005-06-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

Education - Experiential Learning - David A. Kolb - Erudium

Experiential Learning - David A. Kolb

In 1984, David A. Kolb, published a ground breaking book entitled Experiential Learning. This book essentially exposed the principle that a person would learn through discovery and experience. In addition, Kolb demonstrated that there was more than one style of learning. According to Kolb, learning styles may be seen through two continuums going from concrete to abstract and active and reflective. Table 1 provides definition for each learning style. Processing information and perceiving information represent the two continuums identified by Kolb. According to Kolb, a learner will evolve on these continuums because of his or her apprehension and also of preferences in processing or perceiving information. Moreover Kolb considered that it was preferable for a student to learn through this cycle, allowing him or her to experiment with four learning styles in order to have a better understanding of a subject. (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Learning Style Cycle
Figure 1 Learning Style Cycle

Kolb's model may also be applied to learning environments such as a web course site. It appears that certain technologies or educational activities would be more appropriate to a specific learning style.
Style

Definition

Educational implications
Innovator

* Wishes to know Why of a situation
* Seeks to reason on concrete information
* Explores what the course or the subject has to offer
* Prefers a detailed, systematic, reasonned presentation of information

* Presentation of practical applications of novel educational content
* Online virtual labs with instructions
* Posting detailed solutions to problems
* PowerPoint slides of lecture material
* Course requirements (e.g. detailed rubrics for papers or other assignments)

Analytical

* Wishes to answer the question - What is there to know?
* Prefers accurate information and a structured presentation
* Respects the knowledge of experts

* Research results
* Logical presentation of new information
* Reference links for further study/complex learning
* Online course glossaries
* Notepad for assembling course notes and online resources for study

Practical

* Wishes to know How of a situation
* Prefers useful the presentation of useful information and application

* Practical assignments
* Work allowing to measure his or her progress
* Hot links (links that, when clicked, take the learner to other places on the course website or the Internet)
* Chat rooms
* Newsgroups or bulletin board systems
* Course listservs (e-mail discussion groups)

Dynamic

* Wishes to know - What would happen, if I did this?
* Researches relevant information when learning
* Prefers presentations where he is able to see What he is able to do and What others have done
* Likes complex subjects and makes relationships between several aspects of a subject

* Simulation
* Exploration of websites
* Video case studies
* Independent study ideas with online resources links
* Links to students' previous work

Table 1 Learning Styles and educational implications

list of learning websites

2005-06-22T22:28:00.002-07:00

Learning-Style Inventory

2005-06-22T22:28:00.001-07:00

Learning-Style Inventory

LEARNING-STYLE INVENTORY
LEARNING STYLES: A MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES APPROACH
LEARNING-STYLE INVENTORY

David A. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory describes the way you learn and how you deal with ideas and day-to-day situations in your life. As this instrument is copyrighted please contact Ginny Flynn at 1-800-729-8074 for licensing information.

David Kolb's learning cycle model (Experiential Learning. 1984), the learning style inventory, and associated terminology are based on the work of John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, and J. P. Guilford. For more information see the following materials:

Kolb, David A. 1984. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Smith, Donna M., and David A. Kolb. 1986. The User's Guide for the Learning-Style Inventory: A Manual for Teachers and Trainers. McBer & Company. Boston, MA.

LEARNING STYLES: A MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES APPROACH

Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory states that there are at least seven different ways of learning anything, and therefore there are "seven intelligences": body/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intra-personal, logical/mathematical, musical/rhythmic, verbal/linguistic and visual/spatial. In addition most all people have the ability to develop skills in each of the intelligences, and to learn through them. However, in education we have tended to emphasize two of "the ways of learning": logical/mathematical and verbal/linguistic.

Attached here are several sheets that describe the "seven intelligences". At the end is an inventory that can help you to see where you apply each of the intelligences, and to what extent. In addition to filling out this inventory, on a separate piece of paper, please describe the forms of learning/intelligence that you tend to utilize and/or enjoy most, as well as the forms which you feel you rarely utilize or have not spent much time developing. Please also comment specifically on your strengths and weaknesses relating to "interpersonal learning''.
______________________
Much of this material is from: Seven Ways of Knowing: Teaching for Multiple Intelligences by David Lazear. 1991. IRI/Skylight Publishing, Inc. Palatine, IL.

Body/Kinesthetic Intelligence
This intelligence is related to physical movement and the knowing/wisdom of the body. Including the brain's motor cortex, which control bodily motion. Body/kinesthetic intelligence is awakened through physical movement such as in various sports, dance, and physical exercises as well as by the expression of oneself through the body, such as inventing, drama, body language, and creative/interpretive dance.
Capacities involved: --control of "voluntary" movements

--control of "preprogrammed" movements

--expanding awareness through the body

--the mind and body connection

--mimetic abilities

--improved body functioning
Interpersonal Intelligence
This intelligence operates primarily through person-to-person relationships and communication. Interpersonal intelligence is activated by person-to-person encounters in which such things as effective communication, working together with others for a common goal, and noticing distinctions among persons are necessary and important.
Capacities involved: --effective verbal/non-verbal communication

--sensitivity to other's moods, temperaments, motivations, and feelings

--working cooperatively in a group

--ability to discern other's underlying intentions and behavior

--"passing over" into the perspective of another

--creating and maintaining synergy
Intra-personal Intelligence
This intelligence relates to inner states of being, self-reflection, metacognition (i.e. thinking about thinking), and awareness of spiritual realities. Intra-personal intelligence is awakened when we are in situations that cause introspection and require knowledge of the internal aspects of the self, such as awareness of our feelings, thinking processes, self-reflection, and spirituality.
Capacities involved: --concentration of the mind

--mindfulness

--metacognition

--awareness and expression of different feelings

--transpersonal sense of the self

--higher-order thinking and reasoning
Logical/Mathematical lntelligence
Often called "scientific thinking," this intelligence deals with inductive and deductive thinking/reasoning, numbers, and the recognition of abstract patterns. Logical mathematical intelligence is activated in situations requiring problem solving or meeting a new challenge as well as situations requiring pattern discernment and recognition.
Capacities involved: --abstract pattern recognition

--inductive reasoning

--deductive reasoning

--discerning relationships & connections

--performing complex calculations

--scientific reasoning

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence
This intelligence is based on the recognition is based on the recognition of tonal patterns, including various environmental sounds, and on a sensitivity to rhythm and beats. Musical/rhythmic intelligence is turned on by the resonance or vibrational effect of music and rhythm on the brain, including such things as the human voice, sounds from nature, musical instruments, percussion instruments, and other humanly produced sounds.
Capacities involved: --appreciation for the structure of music

--schemes or frames in the mind for hearing music

--sensitivity to sounds

--recognition, creation, and reproduction of melody/rhythm

--sensing characteristic qualities of tone

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence
This intelligence, which is related to words and language both written and spoken, dominates most Western educational systems. Verbal linguistic intelligence is awakened by the spoken word, by reading someone's ideas thoughts, or poetry, or by writing one's own ideas, thoughts, or poetry, as well as by various kinds of humor such as "plays on words," jokes, and "twists" of the language.
Capacities involved: --understanding order & meaning of words

--convincing someone of a course of action

--explaining, teaching, and learning

--humor

--memory & recall

--"meta-linguistic" analysis
Visual/Spatial Intelligence
This intelligence, which relies on the sense of sight and being able to visualize an object, includes the ability to create internal mental images/pictures. Visual/spatial intelligence is triggered by presenting the mind with and/or creating unusual, delightful, and colorful designs, patterns, shapes, and pictures, and engaging in active imagination through such things as visualization guided imagery, and pretending exercises.
Capacities involved: --active imagination

--forming mental images

--finding your way in space

--image manipulations

--graphic representation

--recognizing relationships of objects in space

--accurate perception from different angles
An MI Inventory for Adults
Check those statements that apply in each intelligence category. Use these intelligence categories to help you understand the types of intelligence you possess and your strengths and weaknesses. Space at the end of each intelligence allow you to write additional information not specifically referred to in the inventory.

Body/Kinesthetic Intelligence
__I engage in at least one sport or physical activity on a regular basis.
__I find it difficult to sit still for long periods of time.
__I like working with my hands at concrete activities such as sewing, weaving, carving, carpentry, or model building.
__My best ideas often come to me when I'm out for a long walk or a jog, or when I'm engaged in some other kind of physical activity.
__I often like to spend my free time outdoors.
__I frequently use hand gestures or other forms of body language when conversing with someone.
__I need to touch things in order to learn more about them.
__I enjoy daredevil amusement rides or similar thrilling physical experiences.
__I would describe myself as well coordinated.
__I need to practice a new skill rather than simply reading about it or seeing a video that describes it.

Other Body/Kinesthetic Strengths:

Interpersonal Intelligence
__I'm the sort of person that people come to for advice and counsel at work or in my neighborhood.
__I prefer group sports like badminton, volleyball, or softball to solo sports such as swimming and jogging.
__When I have a problem, I'm more likely to seek out another person for help than attempt to work it out on my own.
__I have at least three close friends.
__I favor social pastimes such as Monopoly or bridge over individual recreations such as video games and solitaire.
__I enjoy the challenge of teaching another person, or groups of people, what I know how to do.
__I consider myself a leader (or others have called me that).
__I feel comfortable in the midst of a crowd.
__I like to get involved in social activities connected with my work, church, or community.
__I would rather spend my evenings at a lively party than stay at home alone.

Other Interpersonal Strengths:

Intra-personal Intelligence
__I regularly spend time alone meditating, reflecting, or thinking about important life questions.
__I have attended counseling sessions or personal growth seminars to learn more about myself.
__I am able to respond to setbacks with resilience.
__I have a special hobby or interest that I keep pretty much to myself.
__I have some important goals for my life that I think about on a regular basis.
__I have a realistic view of my strengths and weaknesses (borne out by feedback from other sources).
__I would prefer to spend a weekend alone in a cabin in the woods rather than at a fancy resort with lots of people around.
__I consider myself to be strong willed or independent minded.
__I keep a personal diary or journal to record the events of my inner life.
__I am self-employed or have at least thought seriously about starting my own business.

Other Intra-personal Strengths:

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence
__I can easily compute numbers in my head.
__Math and/or science were among my favorite subjects in school.
__I enjoy playing games or solving brainteasers that require logical thinking.
__I like to set up little "what if" experiments (i.e. "What if I double the amount of water I give my rosebush each week?")
__My mind searches for patterns, regularities, or logical sequences in things.
__I'm interested in new developments in science.
__I believe that almost everything has a rational explanation.
__I sometimes think in clear abstract, wordless, imageless concepts.
__I like finding logical flaws in thing that people say and do at home and work.
__I feel more comfortable when something has been measured, categorized, analyzed, or quantified in some way.

Other Logical/Mathematical Strengths:

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence
__ have a pleasant singing voice.
__I can tell when a musical note is off-key.
__I frequently listen to music on the radio, cassette tapes or compact discs.
__I play a musical instrument.
__My life would be poorer if there were no music in it.
__I sometimes catch myself walking around with a jingle or other tune running through my mind.
__I can easily keep time to a piece of music with a simple percussion instrument.
__I know the tunes to many different songs or music pieces.
__If I hear a musical selection once or twice, I am usually able to sing it back fairly accurately.
__I often make tapping sounds or sing little melodies while working, studying, or learning something new.

Other Musical/Rhythmic Strengths:

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence
__Books are very important to me.
__I can hear words in my head before I read, speak, or write them down.
__I get more out of listening to the radio or a spoken-word cassette than I do from television or films.
__I enjoy word games like Scrabble, Boggle, Anagrams, or Password.
__I enjoy entertaining myself or others with tongue twisters, nonsense rhymes, or puns.
__Other people sometimes have to stop and ask me to explain the meaning of the words I use in my writing and speaking.
__English, social studies, and history were easier for me in school than math and science.
__When I drive down a freeway, I pay more attention to the words written on signs than to the scenery.
__My conversation includes frequent references to things that I've read or heard.
__I've written something recently that I was particularly proud of or that earned me recognition from others.

Other Verbal/Linguistic Strengths:

Visual/Spatial Intelligence
__I often see clear visual images when I close my eyes.
__I'm sensitive to color.
__I frequently use a camera or camcorder to record what I see around me.
__I enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles, mazes, and other visual puzzles.
_I have vivid dreams at night.
__I can generally find my way around unfamiliar territory.
__I like to draw or doodle.
__Geometry was easier for me than algebra in school.
__I can comfortably imagine how something might appear if it were looked down upon from directly above in a bird's-eye view.
__I prefer looking at reading material that is heavily illustrated.

Other Visual/Spatial Strengths:

Kolb Learning Style Inventory

2005-06-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Kolb Learning Style Inventory

Kolb Learning Style Inventory
The following is copied from (Zanich, 1991)

"The Learning Style Inventory (LSI) is a simple self-description test, based on experiential learning theory, that is designed to measure your strengths and weaknesses as a learner. Experiential learning is conceived as a four stage cycle:
(1) immediate concrete experience is the basis for
(2) observation and reflection;
(3) these observations are assimilated into a "theory" from which new implications for action can be deduced;
(4) these implications or hypotheses then serve as guides in acting to create new experiences.
The effective learner relies on four different learning modes: Concrete Experience (CE), Reflective Observation (RO), Abstract Conceptualization (AC), and Active Experimentation (AE). That is, he must be able to involve himself fully, openly, and without bias in new experiences (CE), he must be able to reflect on and observe these experiences from many perspectives (RO), he must be able to create concepts that integrate his observations into logically sound theories (AC), and he must be able to use these theories to make decisions and solve problems (AE).

A high score on Concrete Experience represents a receptive, experience-based approach to learning that relies heavily on feeling-based judgments. High CE individuals tend to be empathetic and "people-oriented." They generally find theoretical approaches to be unhelpful and prefer to treat each situation as a unique case. They learn best from specific examples in which they can become involved. Individuals who emphasize Concrete Experience tend to be oriented more towards peers and less toward authority in their approach to learning, and benefit most from feedback and discussion with fellow CE learners.

A high score on Abstract Conceptualization indicates an analytical, conceptual approach to learning that relies heavily on logical thinking and rational evaluation. High AC individuals tend to be oriented more towards things and symbols and less towards other people. They learn best in authority-directed, impersonal learning situations that emphasize theory and systematic analysis. They are frustrated by and benefit little form unstructured "discovery" learning approaches like exercises and simulations.

A high score on Active Experimentation indicates an active, "doing" orientation to learning that relies heavily on experimentation. High AE individuals learn best when they can engage in such things as projects, homework, or small group discussions. They dislike passive learning situation such as lectures. These individuals tend to be extroverts.

A high score on Reflective Observation indicates a tentative, impartial and reflective approach to learning. High RO individuals rely heavily on careful observation in making judgments, and prefer learning situations such as lectures that allow them to take the role of impartial objective observers. These individuals tend to be introverts.

The following summary of the four basic learning style types is based on both research and clinical observation of these patterns of LSI scores.

The CONVERGER's dominant learning abilities are Abstract Conceptualization (AC) and Active Experimentation (AE). This person's greatest strength lies in the practical application of ideas. A person with this style seems to do best in those situations like conventional intelligence tests where there is a single correct answer or solution to a question or problem. This person's knowledge is organized in such a way that through hypothetical-deductive reasoning this person can focus it on specific problems. Research on this style of learning shows that Converger's are relatively unemotional, preferring to deal with things rather than people. They tend to have narrow technical interests, and choose to specialize in the physical sciences. This learning style is characteristic of many engineers.

The DIVERGER has the opposite learning strengths of the converger. This person is best at Concrete Experience (CE) and Reflective Observation (RO). This person's greatest strength lies in imaginative ability. This person excels in the ability to view concrete situations from many perspectives. We have labled this style Diverger because a person with this style performs better in situations that call for generation of ideas such as a "brainstorming" idea session. Research shows that Divergers are interested in people and tend to be imaginative and emotional. They have broad cultural interests and tend to specialize in the arts. This style is characteristic of individuals from humanities and liberal arts backgrounds. Counselors, organization development specialists and personnel managers tend to be characterized by this learning style.

The ASSIMILATOR's dominant learning abilities are Abstract Conceptualization (AC) and Reflective Observation (RO). This person's greatest strength lies in the ability to create theoretical models. This person excels in inductive reasoning and in assimilating disparate observations into an integrated explanation. This person, like the converger, is less interested in people and more concerned with abstract concepts, but is less concerned with the practical use of theories. For this person it is more important that the theory be logically sound and precise; in a situation where a theory or plan does not fit the "facts," the Assimilator would be likely to disregard or re-examine the facts. As a result, this learning style is more characteristic of the basic sciences and mathematics rather than the applied sciences. In organizations this learning style is found most often in the research and planning departments.

The ACCOMMODATOR has the opposite learning strengths of the Asssimilator. This person is best at Concrete Experience (CE) and Active Experimentation (AE). This person's greatest strength lies in doing things in carrying out plans and experiments and involving oneself in new experiences. This person tends to be more of a risk-taker than people with the other three learning styles. We have labeled this person "Accomodator" because this person tends to excel in those situations where one must adapt oneself to specific immediate circumstances. In situations where a theory or plan does not fit the "facts," this person will most likely discard the plan or theory. This person tends to solve problems in an intuitive trial and error manner, relying heavily on other people for information rather than on one's own analytic ability. The Accomodator is at ease with people but is sometimes seen as impatient and "pushy." This person's educational background is often in technical or practical fields such as business. In organizations people with this learning style are found in "action-oriented" jobs often in marketing or sales."

References

Kolb, D. (1985). Learning style inventory. Boston, MA: McBer and Company.

Zanich, M. L. (1991). Learning styles / teaching styles. Unpublished Manuscript, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Teaching Excellence Center, Indiana, PA.

Creative Learning Company - Learning Style Products

2005-06-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

Creative Learning Company - Learning Style Products

CDTL's Ideas of Teaching: Students Learn Well by Doing

2005-06-02T02:59:00.000-07:00

CDTL's Ideas of Teaching: Students Learn Well by Doing

Students Learn Well by Doing
Professor Y.K. Ip

Department of Biological Sciences
Associate Director, CDTL

Many things cannot simply be learned by reading and thinking. To learn, we have to do as well. Therefore, teachers often design courses that attempt to involve both theory and practice (c.f. Issue No. 14: ‘Students are Not Tape Recorders’ of this series). For example, science courses commonly alternate lectures, which deal with theory, with laboratory work, which involves practice. Hence, lectures are followed by laboratory sessions which are in turn followed by other lectures. However, alternating theory and practice does not guarantee that they will be linked in a way that will enhance learning. Often, students carry out laboratory work by mindlessly following a set of instructions without being involved in the experimental design that links the lecture to the practical work. Afterwards, they may go straight on to the next lecture into more theory without thinking about the experimental results and what they mean in terms of the theory.

Kolb (1983) has argued that when we undertake to learn something for ourselves, there is a natural learning cycle with four stages. The starting point is concrete experience. We then make observations and reflections on that experience. The third step involves using abstract concepts and generalisations to make sense of the reflections, which leads to testing the implications derived from the abstraction in new situations. The cycle is completed through linking the outcomes of the experimental phase back to the original concrete experience, as shown in the diagram below:

As this model is developmental, it is often shown as a spiral rather than a circle, implying that the result of the complete cycle is at a higher level than its starting point. Hence, following an experience or information, there should be a consolidation which draws students into active work to explore that information and relate it to previous knowledge, before moving on to new topics.

Wherever you start on this cycle, it is important not to miss out any stage. Learning opportunities will be wasted if

1. students have no theoretical basis with which to make sense of their experience or to devise action plans;
2. students are not involved in setting up their own action plans, but simply carry out the directions of others;
3. students carry out activities without being aware of what is going on; and
4. students do not reflect upon their experiences.

To develop suitable activities and curricula for our students (c.f.: ‘Active Learning’ of this series), we should include students’ abilities to do such things as:

1. defining problems and troubleshooting solutions;
2. tolerating ambiguity;
3. making and specifying one’s assumptions;
4. considering alternatives and being open to new ideas;
5. seeing issues from different perspectives;
6. developing a line of argument and marshalling support for it;
7. valuing evidence;
8. collecting, aggregating, analysing and portraying data;
9. producing and generating solutions;
10. synthesising knowledge from a variety of sources;
11. taking responsibility to complete sustained problems;
12. persisting in the face of failure;
13. being reflective;
14. assessing one’s own progress and making corrections; and
15. recognising that knowledge is tentative.

Further Reading
Baron, J.B. ‘Using Learner-Centered Assessment on a Large Scale’. in Lamber, N. M. and McCombs, B L. (Eds.). How Students Learn: Reforming Schools Through Learner-Centered Education. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1995.

Gibbs, G. Learning by Doing. London: FEU Longmans, 1988.

Kolb, D.A. Experimental Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1983.

Science Connection - Oobleck and Glurch

2005-03-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

Science Connection - Oobleck and Glurch

Oobleck and Glurch --Learning about Solids and Liquids

A great way to teach early grade schoolers about solids and liquids is with Oobleck and Glurch. Oobleck is a non-Neutonian fluid. This means that when a small amount of force is used, it acts like a liquid, but when more force is applied, it acts like a solid. For instance, one can slowly put a spoon in Oobleck, but it is impossible to stir it quickly. Another fun activity (though potentially messy!) is to pour a little Oobleck in the palm of your hand and watch it puddle like a liquid. Now make a fist and quickly open your hand. The Oobleck will have formed a hard ball from the pressure of your fist; but when the pressure is release, it will seem to "melt" into a liquid again.

Glurch is a polymer that the children can actually watch polymerize. By mixing two liquids together and stirring, a sticky, gooey ball will form; this is Glurch. Because the newly formed Glurch has water trapped in its polymer matrix, it also exhibits a lot of the characteristics of solids and liquids. Though it seems solid, it will actually "pour" very slowly and it will take the shape of its container. Yet it sticks together and can all be picked up at once.

The following is a lesson plan that lets students make there own assumptions about solids and liquids and then test those assumptions -- just like real scientists! The recipies for Oobleck and Glurch are also included.

I. Describe solids and liquids.

Though most students can name a dozen solids or liquids, they usually don't know about the molecular differences. I find that it is easy to explain with a model. Cheerios work great for liquids -- they roll around, take the shape of the container and aren't bound to one another. Several Legos stuck together are the perfect solid -- they alway keep their shape, are hard to the touch, and stick together. I try to use the models only after a student has named a bunch of solids and liquids. Problems you might encounter include sand and pillows. It is difficult to explain why these are solids and not liquids, so be creative!

What can we do to tell them apart?
Ask the students what is something that is different in every solid and every liquid and how they could test that. They should come up with the following for tests.
1. push test -- can you push into it?
2. pick up test -- if you pick some up, does it all come up?
3. pour test -- does it pour out smoothly, or does it just fall out in a clump?
4. shape test -- does it keep the same shape?
Either on the board, or on their own, have the students make a chart of these rules so that they can test any new materials by seeing if they match.

II. Distribute oobleck.
You will definetly need to leave time for the students to play with it.

Make observations. This is when the students can run the four test on it and see how it reacts. Older students could write a more detailed description.

Is it a solid or a liquid? Actually, it is both in a way. Oobleck is a non-neutonian liquid. All that means is that it is a liquid that doesn't follow Newton's equations for liquids under pressure. I haven't found a good model for this, but some students might have seen glass in very old buildings that is thin at the top and thick at the bottom. That is because glass is also a non-neutonian fluid and is slowly flowing out of the pane.

III. Distribute two pre-Glurch solutions and mixing stick.

Make observations. Just like above, students should review the chart they made and decide whether they have a solid or a liquid.

What will happen if we mix two liquids? I like to use the example of milk and apple juice. It is also good to go back to the cheerios model and add another pseudo-liquid, maybe M and M's.

IV. Mix solutions.
You will definitely need to leave a lot of time for the kids to fool around with this stuff -- they love it!

Make observations.

Is it a solid or a liquid? Again, it has properties of both. This is because there is still water stuck in the polymer matrix; dried Glurch acts very differently. The best model for Gluch I have found is one of those magnet-art toys that have a magnetic base and numerous small metal pieces that can be shaped any which way.

V. What did we learn?

I like to make sure that the students understand that in science, things aren't always what you expect (mix two liquids and get a polymer) and that not everything falls into neat categories (non-neutonian fluid). Often there is a child that wants to know what will happen if they mix Oobleck and Glurch. Though this results in a compound that is not as interesting as either alone, that type of inquistivness is wonderful!

Recipies

Oobleck:
I would recommend making about a quart for 25-30 students, but the amount really doesn't matter.

1/2 quart water
about 2 boxes cornstarch
food coloring

Put the water and food coloring in a large bowl and begin adding the corn starch and mixing. Eventually the mixture will get thicker; keep adding and stirring. You will know when you have Oobleck!

Glurch:
water
white glue
sodium borate
food coloring

There are actually two solutions for Glurch. The first is 50% water, 50% white glue and food coloring. The second is a nearly saturated solution of sodium borate (I would experiment to see how much you actually need. I usually just dump a couple tablespoons in a half quart and shake.) Give the students equal volumes of the two solutions to mix.

Lesson Plan developed by Science Connector Becky Mosher

TALS Lessons: how to teach life science effectively

2005-03-27T23:51:00.000-08:00

Lessons

Learning Students Names

2005-03-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

Learning Students Names

Learning Students' Names

Do you consider yourself "name-learning challenged?" Do you find it difficult to think of a student's name when the two of you meet? Or is it harder for you to match faces with the names of students on your class roster?
Despite the feelings of anxiety associated with learning students' names each semester, many instructors believe that knowing exactly who each student is helps to improve the classroom climate. But many instructors find learning students' names difficult and frustrating. If the classes are large lecture classes, the problem may seem insurmountable.

Take heart! There are ways to achieve what seems impossible.

When it comes to new students, there are numerous tools you can use to "jog your memory." Some methods work better for smaller groups, while others may be used with large classes. Finding which works best for you will take some trial and error. You'll need to experiment to find "the one" which helps you the most. Here are some suggestions:

1. Have students sit in the same seats for the first few weeks until you are able to match names with faces.
2. Have students give their name each time before they speak. This can be continued until everyone (instructor and the students) feels they know the people in the room.
3. Use students' names as often as possible. 4. Have a short quiz at the beginning of class over students' names. 5. Have students make name tags on the first day of class. 5" x 8" cards work well for this. Students use heavy black or blue markers to write their names on the bottom half of the card and then fold the card in half, creating a tent name tag. Students keep the name tags with them and can then place the tag in front of their seat during the following class periods.

Variations:
--Have instructors collect name tags at the end of the class. Instructors hand out name tags at the beginning of the next few classes. As nametags are handed out, the instructors try to match the name with the student, and then check to see if their guess is correct.
--Have students wear name tags for the first two weeks of class. 6. Spend some time during the first day of class taking snapshots of all of your students (a work study student could also take the photos). These photos can be glued to the class roster next to the proper names. Or a collage of pictures and names can be assembled on the door of the instructor's office to help memorize names.

Variations:
--Xeroxed photos can accompany the students name at the top of all assignments that are handed in.
--Some schools have web pages where students' pictures can be posted. This is a quick access way for instructors to test themselves. 7. Have students prepare a "Passport" for your class. Students glue a snapshot on a notecard for the instructor. Instructors may want to encourage students to use photos which showcase other personal items of the student (i.e. a picture of the student with his/her pet). Additional subjects in the photos help make the person memorable.

Beside their snapshot students are asked to write a variety of information to help the instructor get to know the student. Information about the students' likes and dislikes, background, and goals are especially helpful memory hints. 8. Some instructors draw their students to help them remember who is who. The sketches can be quick, 20 second scribbles capturing the most prominent features of the student. These sketches can be placed in the class roster next to the student's name for quick identification. 9. Strive to memorize a row of students per day. In the few minutes before class begins, review what you've already memorized and then add another row of students to that list. 10. Students with the same name as another person the instructor knows can be associated with that person in the instructor's memory. This association is a good memory-jogging tool. 11. Some students "look" the way instructors picture a person with that name to look. (For example: "Jim" looks athletic, "Frank" seems very honest and forthright, etc.) Be careful of stereotyping, though. 12. Have a few students introduce themselves. Then stop the introductions and ask another student to name all the students who have been introduced. Once the first few names have been recalled move on to a few more, and so on until everyone has been introduced. 13. Have students sit in a circle. Each student must say his/her name and give one identifiable characteristic. The next person has to give his/her name and characteristic and repeat what the person before him/her said. And so on around the circle until the person "unfortunate" enough to be last (perhaps the instructor) must introduced recall all of those before him/her. 14. On a notecard students write the name they prefer to be called in class. Below their name they are asked to write one sentence which will make them memorable. The sentence could be used in a variety of ways: to share a favorite quote, to describe a hobby, to tell about where they grew up, or to let the instructor know something about their classroom "style." 15. Have students sit in the seats of their choice. Then, in order, ask the students to go around the room introducing themselves by adding a descriptive adjective to the front of their names which begins with the first letter of their name. (i.e. Gross Greg, Awesome Alicia, etc.) The next person must give his/her expanded name and then repeat all the names given before him. 16. Work your way around the students and have the students introduce themselves. After a student has given his/her name, ask him/her to give one "outstanding physical feature" that distinguishes him/her from the rest of the group. Restrictions: the features must be consistent over time and visible from the front of the room. Students may give examples like "big feet" from a person who likes to stretch out in the front row or "I smile a lot" from a very self-assured person. 17. Have students pair up and introduce themselves. After a fair amount of time, the partners are asked to introduce each other to the class. Special points to address in the interview could be: the partner's name, major, background, future goals, etc.

After 1/3 of the people have been introduced, ask the class to do a quick recap of the people who have been introduced and then continue with introductions.

Variation:
--Each student introduces his/her partner by giving the partner's name and identifying one trait of the partner's that "no one can forget." 18. Students interview each other using questions such as unique traits, unusual hobbies, proudest moment, most prized possession, most unusual accomplishment, etc. Students then introduce their partner to the class.

After everyone has been introduced, it's time for a little memory test. The instructor begins by stating his/her name as he/she holds on to the end of a string from a ball of yarn. The instructor tosses the ball to someone and says something like, "I'm tossing the ball to Greg because I remember that Greg wrestles alligators in his spare time." The pattern continues until everyone in the class is connected.

The class members then do the same thing in reverse as they untangle themselves and talk about the person immediately before them.

(Option: While all class members are connected, the instructor may want to use the connected students as a model to explain how the class will grow from a collection of individuals to a network of educated students over the course of the semester.) 19. Make up a sheet of fairly off-the-wall traits with blanks lines beside them. Such as "Is wearing shoes that don't require laces," "Likes spaghetti with clam sauce," or "Was born west of the Mississippi." This sheet is handed to every student. Students are asked to wander around the room, find a person with that trait, meet them and record their name. The one rule is that a student can use a person only once to complete his/her sheet. 20. Put students in groups of four. Then challenge the group to come up with five things they all have in common. Five is a nice odd number that will require some discussion to achieve (if you require four things in common, each member may just choose one and present it on behalf of the group). The one restriction is that the students can't use school- or work-related items. Personal items such as favorite music, books they've read, where they've traveled to, etc. work best. 21. Ask students to get into groups of 2 or more. Each student must find something in his/her wallet that would help the group understand who they are. Although pictures are a satisfactory option, encourage the students to search for the most creative things they can find. 22. A tip for large classes: dividing the entire group into smaller "working groups" will help facilitate name recall. Classroom time can be used to give small projects for each group to work on. Only having to remember 8-9 people in a small group is much easier than looking at 250 faces. Work on visualizing which faces sit in which seats. Then work on memorizing every name from a particular group.

All 250 names may not be memorized during the semester, but this method may help you to learn more than you normally would. 23. On the other side of the argument, some instructors believe personalizing the atmosphere by learning everyone's name is not required for a positive classroom climate.

In large lecture classes, where students may feel overwhelmed by speaking in front of the huge number of people in the room, anonymity may help. The instructor may tell the students from the beginning, "I don't know any of your names, and I couldn't possibly learn them. So I don't want anyone to feel any inhibition about asking a question." This helps to assure students that their remarks will not be permanently held above their heads because others don't know who they are. Name learning exercises not only helps instructors and students learn about each other, but some of them can end up being extremely lighthearted and funny. Try some of these suggestions for learning students' names. It's also a good way to break the ice on the first day. If, after struggling to learn your students' names, you find yourself forgetting your own, remember:

* It's OK to not know everything! Instructors are human too, and they can make mistakes just like anyone else.
* Roll up your sleeves and dive in! Learning a large number of names and the faces that go with those names is a tough assignment. Be willing to put extra effort into this one.
* Think positively! A good attitude will help anyone. Most of us can remember 5-6 names at a time. Keep reminding yourself that you CAN learn a few names at a time, and work to build on this skill.
* Be honest with your students! Let them know that you may have trouble remembering who they are. Ask them to be patient. Most students will be happy to help you learn if you are up front with them from the beginning.

.

Teaching Tips Menu
Planning a College Course
What did you put in your Syllabus
The First Day of class
Learning Students' Names
101 Things you can do
Questions for lesson Planning
Recitations and Labs
Question Types
Chalkboard Skills
Teaching Students to take better notes
Classroom Dicipline & Links
Grading Practices
Group Discussions
Educational Links Grants and Finances Teaching Tips

Questions Types

2005-03-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

Questions Types

The major types of questions fall into four categories:

* Managerial: questions which keep the classroom operations moving;
* Rhetorical: questions used to emphasize a point or to reinforce an idea or statement;
* Closed: questions used to check retention or to focus thinking on a particular point; and
* Open: questions used to promote discussion or student interaction.

(Source: P. E. Blosser. (1975). How to Ask the Right Questions. National Science Teachers Association)

Following is a list of question types you can use to analyze your questioning strategies and develop a variety of questions to help students think.

Question Types

Probing Questions
Factual Questions
Divergent Questions
Higher Order Questions
Affective Questions
Structuring Questions

I. Probing Questions

Series of questions which require students to go beyond the first response. Subsequent teacher questions are formed on the basis of the student's response.
Types:

1. Clarifying

Ex: "What, exactly do you mean?"
"Will you please rephrase your statement?"
"Could you elaborate on that point?"
"What did you mean by the term. . .?"

2. Increasing Critical Awareness

Ex: "What are you assuming?"
"What are your reasons for thinking that is so?"
"Is that all there is to it?"
"How many questions are we trying to answer here?"
"How would an opponent of this point of view respond?"

3. Refocusing

Ex: "If this is true, what are the implications for . . . ?"
"How does John's answer relate to . . . ?"
"Can you relate this to . . . ?"
"Lets analyze that answer."

4. Prompting

Ex: Teacher: "John, what's the square root of 94?"
John: "I don't know." Teacher: "Well, what's the square root of 100?"
John: "Ten." Teacher: "And the square root of 81?" John: "Nine."
Teacher: "Then what do we know about the square root of 94?"
John: "It's between nine and ten."

5. Redirecting to Another Student

Ex: Teacher: "What is the theme of Hemmingway's 'Old Man and the Sea'?"
Sam: "It's about an old man's courage in catching a fish."
Teacher: "Mary, do you agree?"
or: "Mary, do you think it's that simple?"
or: "Mary, can you elaborate on Sam's answer?"

II. Factual Questions

Questions which require the student to recall specific information s(he) has previously learned. Often these use who, what, when, where, etc.
Types:

1. Simple Bits of Information

Ex. "Who was the leader of the Free French forces during W.W.II?"
"Who is the main character in Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone With The Wind?"
"During which century did Shakespeare live?"
"What is the Spanish verb meaning to run?"

2. Facts Organized into a Logical Order (Sequence of Events)

Ex. "What are the steps a bill goes through before it becomes a law?"
"How were the American and French forces able to bottle up Cornwall and the British at Yorktown?"
"How did Robinson Crusoe react when he discovered footprints in the sand?"
"What is the commercial method for producing hydrochloric acid?"

III. Divergent Questions

Questions with no right or wrong answers, but which encourage exploration of possibilities. Requires both concrete and abstract thinking to arrive at an appropriate response

Ex. "What might happen if Congress passes a law preventing the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States?"
"How would the story have been different if John had been a tall, strong boy instead of disabled?"
"If you were stuck on a desert island and the only tool you had was a screwdriver, what use might you make of it?"
"In what ways would history have been changed had the Spanish Armada defeated the English in 1588?"

IV. Higher Order Questions

Questions which require students to figure out answers rather than remember them. Requires generalizations related to facts in meaningful patterns.
Types:

1. Evaluation: Requires judgment, value or choice based upon comparing of ideas or objects to established standards.

Ex: "Which of the two books do you believe contributed most to an understanding of the Victorian era? Why?"
"Assuming equal resources, who would you rate as the most skillful general, Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant? Why?

2. Inference: Requires inductive or deductive reasoning

Inductive: Discovery of a general principle from a collection of specific facts.
Deductive: Logical operation in which the worth of a generalization is tested with specific issues.
Ex: "We have examined the qualities these world leaders have in common. What might we conclude, in general, about qualities necessary for leadership? Why?" (Inductive)
"If the temperature of the gas remains the same, but gas is taken to an altitude of 4000 feet higher, what happens to the pressure of the gas? Why?" (Deductive)

3. Comparison: Requires student to determine if ideas/objects are similar, dissimilar, unrelated, or contradictory.

Ex: "Is a mussel the same thing as a clam?"
"What similarities and differences exist between Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Pericles' Funeral Oration?"
"What is the connection between Social Darwinism and the Supreme Court actions of the late nineteenth century?"

4. Application: Requires student to use a concept or principle in a context different from that in which she/he learned it.

Concept = Classification of events/objects that have common characteristics.
Principle = A relationship between two or more concepts.
Ex: "How was Gresham's Law demonstrated in the Weimer Republic of Germany?"
"Can you think of an example to fit this definition?"

5. Problem-solving: Requires a student to use previously learned knowledge to solve a problem. Students must see relationships between knowledge and the problem, diagnose materials, situations, and environments, separate problems into components parts, and relate parts to one another and the whole. This question may generate answers the teacher hasn't anticipated.

Ex: "Suppose you grow up with the idea that dogs were bad. Out of the many dogs you came into contact with, none bit you when you were quite young. How would you react towards dogs now? Would the type, size, etc., of the dog make any difference as to how you react? Explain the notion of prejudices using this example."

V. Affective Questions

Questions which elicit expressions of attitude, values, or feelings of the student.

Ex: "How do you feel about that?"
"Is that important to you?"
"Would you like to . . . ?"

VI. Structuring Questions

Questions related to the setting in which learning is occurring.

Ex: "Are there any questions?
"Any further comments?"
"Is the assignment clear?"
"Would you repeat that?"
"Are we ready to continue?"

HOTS_templates

2005-03-27T23:17:00.000-08:00

HOTS_templates.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Higher Order Thinking Skills Question Templates
Recall
Note: Any question becomes a recall
question if the answer has already
been explicitly provided to the student
in class or in the text.
When did ________ take place?
List the ________ .
Define the term ________.
What is a ________?
Who did ________?
Name ________.
Analysis
How does ________ work?
Sort these ________ .
Use the table to determine ________ .
Use the graph to determine ________ .
Graph ________ .
What caused ________ ?
What is another possible cause of ________ ?
Outline the ________ .
Based on the written description, draw a
diagram.
Draw your own map of ________ without
tracing or copying.
Use the map to determine ________ .
In what sequence did ________ happen?
Break ________ down into its component
parts.
Give an example of ________ .
What literary form is being used?
What technique is being used?
What information is needed?
Is the information relevant?
Into what groups can you organize these?
Draw a picture that illustrates what's described
in the story ________ .
What does ________ symbolize?
Find examples of [a literary device] in your
readings.
Analyze the ________ in ________ .
Classify these ________ according to
________ .
Separate the ________ from the ________ .
Translate ________ .
Analyze how ________ .
Explain how ________ works.
What was the author's point of view?
How did the author convey ________ ?
What words does the author use to paint an
image of ________ in your mind?
How were ________ used to ________ ?
What kind of a ________ is this?
Which one doesn't belong in this group?
What is the function of ________ ?
What is the purpose of ________ ?
What is the relationship between ________
and ________ ?
What is the pattern?
Use manipulatives to illustrate a concept.
Build a model of ________ .
Measure ________ .
Comparison
How is ________ like ________ ?
How are ________ and ________ different?
Compare the ________ before and after
________ .
Compare the character ________ at the
beginning of the story and at the end.
Distinguish between ________ and
________ .
Compare ________ with ________ .
On what dimensions might you compare
________ and ________ ?
Which one is the biggest/oldest/tallest?
Inference
Hypothesize what will happen if ________ .
Predict what will happen if ________ .
Apply the rule to ________ .
Solve the problem ________ .
Predict how the story ________ will end.
What is the main idea of the story ________ ?
What is the overall theme of ________ ?
What is the moral of the story?
Develop of plan to ________ .
Propose and describe an invention that fills
some need.
Write a research paper on ________ .
Based on your readings, what can you
conclude about ________ ?
What was the author's point of view?
Solve a logic puzzle.
What if ________ ?
What rule applies here?
What generalization can you make from this
information?
Create a ________ .
Design a ________ .
Propose a solution to the problem of _______
.
Evaluation
Was ________ worth the costs? Explain your
answer.
Was the argument convincing? What makes
you think so?
Did ________ behave appropriately? Why?
What would you have done in this situation?
Why?
Write a critique of ________ .
Was this experiment well designed? Defend
your answer.
Judge which is the best solution to the
problem of ________ ? Why do you think so?
How well are the conclusions supported by the
data/ facts/evidence? Explain.
Did ________ choose a wise course of
action? Give reasons.
Apply a scoring rubric to this piece of work.
Explain why you are assigning each score.
What would you have done in this situation?
Why?
Review a book, performance, or exhibit.
Justify your evaluation.
Which ________ is the best? Why do you
think so?
Whose arguments/evidence was more
convincing? Why?
If you were the judge, what would your
decision be? Why?
Give and justify your opinion on ________ .

What is Higher Order Thinking?

2005-03-24T01:50:00.000-08:00

What is Higher Order Thinking?

I. What is higher order thinking?

"Every day thinking, like ordinary walking, is a natural performance we all pick up. But good thinking, like running the l00-yard dash, is a technical performance... Sprinters have to be taught how to run the 100-yard dash; good thinking is the result of good teaching, which includes much practice."

David Perkins, Howard University

The Griney Grollers Thinking Skills Test

1. What kind of grollers were they?

2. What did the grollers do?

3. Where did they do it?

4. In what kind of gak did they grangle?

5. Place one line under the subject and two lines under the verb.

6. In one sentence, explain why-the grollers were grangling in the granchy gak. Be prepared to justify your answer with facts.

7. If you had to grangle in a granchy gak, what one item would you choose to have with you and why?

Moral:
Students can answer low-level
questions without thinking.

Students enter/exit classrooms
with no more understanding of
what they've learned than
"The Griney Groller"
taught you!

Thinking Words to Use in Assignments

Evaluation

appraise, choose, compare, conclude, decide, defend,evaluate, give your opinion, judge, justify, prioritize, rank,rate, select, support, value

Synthesis

change, combine, compose, construct, create, design, find an unusual way, formulate, generate, invent, originate, plan, predict, pretend, produce, rearrange, reconstruct, reorganize, revise, suggest, suppose, visualize, write

Analysis

analyze, categorize, classify, compare, contrast, debate, deduct, determine the factors, diagnose, diagram, differentiate, dissect, distinguish, examine, infer, specify

Application

apply, compute, conclude, construct, demonstrate determine, draw, find out, give an example, illustrate, make, operate, show, solve, state a rule or principle, use

Comprehension

convert, describe, explain, interpret, paraphrase, put in order, restate, retell in your own words, rewrite, summarize, trace, translate

Knowledge

define, fill in the blank, identify, label, list, locate, match, memorize, name, recall, spell, state, tell, underline
LOUISIANA TEACHER ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENTS

OBSERVATION RECORD

DOMAIN 111: INSTRUCTION

COMPONENT IIIC: PROVIDES FOR STUDENT INVOLVEMENT
ATTRIBUTE IIIC3: ENCOURAGES HIGHER ORDER THINKING

Assessor"Look Fors"

Teacher uses a variety of probing questions with provision of time for student responses. Use of higher order activities (i.e., cooperative learning; critique of other's process, products, activities, or ideas; laboratory activities). Higher order is not restricted to older learner
A Taxonomy of Socratic Questioning

It is helpful to recognize, in light of the universal features in the logic of human thought that there are identifiable categories of questions for the adept Socratic questioner to dip into: Questions of clarification, questions that probe assumptions, questions that probe reasons and evidence, questions about viewpoints or perspectives, questions that probe implications and consequences, and questions about the question. Here are some examples of generic questions in each of these categories:

QUESTIONS OF CLARIFICATION

What do you mean by? Could you give me an example?

What is your main point? Would this be an example?

How does_________relate________to? Could you explain this further?

Could you put that another way? Would you say more about that?

Is your basic point______or_____? Why do you say that?

What do you think is the main issue here?

Let me see if I understand you; do you mean_______or______? How does this relate to our discussion (problem, issue)?

What do you think John meant by his remark? What did you take John to mean?

Jane, would you summarize in your own words what Richard has said? ...Richard, is that what you meant?

QUESTIONS THAT PROBE ASSUMPTIONS

What are you assuming? What is Karen assuming?

What could we assume instead?

You seem to be assuming________. Do I understand you correctly?

All of your reasoning depends on the idea that . Why have you based your reasoning on

rather than ?

You seem to be assuming _______. How would you justify taking this for granted?

Is it always the case? Why do you think the assumption holds here?

Why would someone make this assumption?

Examples of reading questions related to various types.
With which type would you place them?

1. Give your opinion as to the validity of the step-sisters' claims against Cinderella in That Awful Cinderella (Stack-Vaughn).

2. After reading Cinder Edna (E. Jackson), compare/contrast the two main characters. How are these characters the same? How are they different? Which character do you most identify with and why?

3. After reading The Rough-Face Girl (Martin), meet with students who have read Yeh-Shen (Louie).Through discussion, draw a unified conclusion about the main idea shared by both of these books.

4. After reading The Irish Cinderlad (Climo), discuss within your group the differences between this book and traditional Cinderella stories. Outline your own version of Cinderella by incorporating new characters, setting, problems, etc.

5. All of the Cinderella stories we have discussed in class so far appear to address the idea that good things will happen to good people. After reading Cindy Ellie (Smith), locate and discuss some examples from the book which also support this idea.

6. Below are details included in The Egyptian Cinderella (Climo). After reading the book, generalize the main ideas this story and other Cinderella stories seem to have in common. In one or two sentences, state what you believe these stories are really all about.

II. Why is it important to develop higher order thinking skills?

1. In our increasingly complex and specialized society, it is becoming even more imperative that individuals are capable of thinking divergently and creatively. It is also important that individuals see the relationships between seemingly diverse concepts.

2. Current brain research indicates that there are neurological differences account for learning and thinking differences among individuals. Some of the most creative and influential thinkers of our time (Einstein, Churchill, Rockefeller, DaVinci, etc.) have had characteristics of learning differences, including difficulty in completing simple, repetitive activities.

3. The ability to construct lessons which include higher order questioning is part of the Louisiana Teacher Assesment under Doman III: Instruction. Component IIIC assesses a new teacher's skill in providing for student involvement by encouraging higher order thinking.

Different types of thinking:

1. Critical thinking - This is convergent thinking. It assesses the worth and validity of something existent. It involves precise, persistent, objective analysis. When teachers try to get several learners to think convergently, they try to help them develop common understanding.

2. Creative thinking - This is divergent thinking. It generates something new or different. It involves having a different idea that works as well or better than previous ideas.

3. Convergent thinking - This type of thinking is cognitive processing of information around a common point, an attempt to bring thoughts from different directions into a union or common conclusion.

4. Divergent thinking - This type of thinking starts from a common point and moves outward into a variety of perspectives. When fosering divergent thinking, teachers use the content as a vehicle to prompt diverse or unique thinking among students rather than a common view.

5. Inductive thinking - This is the process of reasoning from parts to the whole, from examples to generalizations.

6. Deductive thinking - This type of reasoning moves from the whole to its parts, from generalizations to underlying concepts to examples.

7. Closed questions - These are questions asked by teachers that have predictable responses. Closed questions almost always require factual recall rather than higher levels of thinking.

8. Open questions - These are questions that do not have predictable answers. Open questions almost always require higher order thinking.

III. How do I foster higher-order thinking in my classroom?

1. Set up a classroom environment which is conducive to high-level thinking.

A. Multi-level materials
B. Flexible grouping
C. Accept and celebrate diversity
D. Print-rich environment
E. High expectations
F. Teacher as co-learner
G. Nurture risk-taking

2. Engage students in activities which foster high-level thinking.

A. Collaborative group activities in which students can communicate with others in a variety of ways.
B. Problem-solving activities that require more than routine calculations.
C. Open-ended activities with more than one "right" answer.
D. Activities which acommodate multiple intelligences.
E. Activities in which both genders participate freely.

3. Construct questions that call for high-level thinking.

A. Ask yourself, "Do I always know the answer to my questions?"
B. Use a variety of assessment methods that match teaching strategies. For example, use a project for assessment instead of an end-of-unit test.

QUESTIONS THAT PROBE REASONS AND EVIDENCE

What would be an example?

How do you know?

Why do you think that is true?

Do you have any evidence for that?

What difference does that make?

What are your reasons for saying that?

Could you explain your reasons to us?

Is there reason to doubt that evidence?

What would you say to someone who said________?

Can someone else give evidence to support that response?

By what reasoning did you come to that conclusion?

How could we find out whether that is true?

Are these reasons adequate?

Why did you say that?

What led you to that belief?

How does that apply to this case?

What would change your mind?

What other information do we need?

But is that good evidence to believe that?

Who is in a position to know if that is so?

QUESTIONS ABOUT VIEWPOINTS OR PERSPECTIVES

You seem to be approaching this issue from________ perspective.

Why have you chosen this rather than that perspective?

How would other groups/types of people respond? Why? What would influence them?

How could you answer the objection that________would make?

What might someone who believed________ think?

Can/did anyone see this another way?

What would someone who disagrees say?

What is an alternative?

How are Ken's and Roxanne's ideas alike? Different?

QUESTIONS THAT PROBE IMPLICATIONS AND CONSEQUENCES

What are you implying by that?

But if that happened, what else would happen as a result? Why?

What effect would that have?

Would that necessarily happen or only probably happen?

What is an altenative?

If this and this are the case, then what else must also be true?

If we say that this is unethical; how about that?

When you say________you are implying?

The Scientific Method diagram

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The Scientific Method

Science Process Skills Source

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Science Process Skills Source

Science Process Skills
Source: The American Association for the Advancement of Science

BASIC SKILLS

Observing

Using the 5 senses (see, hear, touch, smell, taste) to find out about objects and events, their characteristics, properties, differences, similarities, and changes

* Observations are recorded.

Classifying

Grouping or ordering objects or events according to similarities or differences in properties

* Lists, tables, or charts are generated.

Measuring

Comparing an unknown quantity with a known (metric units, time, student- generated frames of reference) - Observations are quantified using proper measuring devices and techniques

* Measurements are to be recorded in an orderly and systematic fashion with labeled units of measure. Charts, graphs, or tables can be generated manually or with computer software.

Inferring

Interpreting or explaining observations

* More than one inference may be presented to explain an observation.

Predicting

Forming an idea of an expected result - not a guess - but a belief of what will occur based upon present knowledge and understandings, observations and inferences

* A prediction should be followed by a written or oral explanation to clarify ideas and reveal any misconceptions or missing information.

Communicating

Using the written and spoken work, graphs, demonstrations, drawings, diagrams, or tables to transmit information and ideas to others

* To reflect the true nature of science, ideas must be shared
.

Using Number Relationships

Applying numbers and their mathematical relationships to make decisions

* Numbers are basic to science - mathematical knowledge is applied.

INTEGRATED SKILLS

Making Models

Constructing mental, verbal, or physical representations of ideas, objects, or events to clarify explanations or demonstrate relationships.

* Constructing models helps clarify ideas.

Defining Operationally

Creating a definition by describing what is done and observed

* It is in the language of the
* students. Definitions are in context of students' experiences - not from the glossary, not to be memorized.

Collecting Data

Gathering and recording information about observations and measurements in a systematic way

Interpreting Data

Organizing, analyzing, and synthesizing data using tables, graphs, and diagrams to locate patterns that lead to the construction of inferences, predictions, or hypotheses.

Identifying and Controlling Variables

Manipulating one factor to investigate the outcome of an event while other factors are held constant.

* Young children become confused with multiple variables.
* Students need practice in identifying variables that affect outcomes.

Formulating Hypotheses (Hypothesizing)

Making educated guesses based on evidence that can be tested through experimentation.

Experimenting

Designing one's own experiment to test a hypothesis using procedures to obtain reliable data

* All basic and integrated skills to formulate a problem, collect data, and pose a solution
* are used. Doing a teacher-orchestrated science activity is NOT experimenting.
* Student demonstrates understanding and application of scientific method though inquiry, research and self-design of experiment to test a hypothesis.

Return to SCIENCE LESSON PLAN FORMAT.

Science Process Skills

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Science Process Skills

Science Process Skills

Science is more than a mere collection of facts or ideas; it is a unique way of knowing that implies a particular manner of thinking and acting on the world. Process skills are the tools scientists use to "know" about our world.

Observing: using the senses to determine the properties of an object or event; this can be done directly or through the use of instruments.

Comparing: identifying common and distinguishing characteristics of objects or events.

Classifying/Ordering: grouping objects or events according to their properties.

Measuring: skills include describing quantitatively using appropriate units of measurement; estimating; recording quantitative data; and making space or time relationships.

Communicating: using written and spoken words, graphs, tables, diagrams, and technology presentations to explain and relate ideas and information.

Inferring: drawing a conclusion about a specific event based on observations and data; may include cause and effect relationships.

Recognizing Time/Space Relationships: estimating and/or describing the relationship of moving and/or nonmoving objects or of events to one another.

Predicting: anticipating outcomes of a new or changed situation using past experiences and observation.

Collecting, Recording, and Interpreting Data: gathering and organizing data in order to make it meaningful and to find patterns that lead to inferences, predictions, and hypotheses.

Identifying and Controlling Variables: identifying and/or controlling factors that might be expected to affect the outcome of an experiment; selecting variables to be manipulated and held constant.

Defining Operationally: defining terms within the context of one's own experiences; stating a definition in terms of "what you do" and "what you observe."

Making Hypotheses: proposing an explanation (that can be tested) for observations or events and stating it as the expected outcome of an experiment.

Experimenting: investigating, manipulating materials, and testing hypotheses to determine a result.

Making and Using Models: representing the "real world" using a physical or mental model in order to understand how systems work and how they are constructed.

Science Process Skills

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Science Process Skills

Science Process Skills

Process of Science

Competency Indicators

Question #

Observing

* observe objects or events in a variety of ways using one or more of the senses
* identify properties of an object, i.e. shape, color, size, and texture.
* use indirect methods, i.e. hand lenses, microscopes, thermometers, to observe objects and events.
* observe objects or events by counting, comparing, estimating and measuring.

---

Classifying

* identify properties useful for classifying objects
* group objects by their properties or similarities and differences
* construct and use classification systems

---

Inferring

* suggest explanations for events based on observations
* distinguish between an observation and an inference

---

Predicting

* forecast a future event based on prior experience, i.e. observations, inferences or experiments.

---

Measuring

* compare and order objects by length, area, weight, volume, etc.
* measure properties of objects or events by using standardized units of measure.
* measure volume, mass, weight, temperature, area, length, and time using appropriate units and appropriate measuring instruments.

---

Communicating

* construct and use written reports, drawings, diagrams, graphs, or charts to transmit information learned from science experiments
* verbally ask questions about, discuss, explain, or report observations.
* after an investigation, report the question tested, the experimental design used, results, and conclusions drawn, using tables and graphs where appropriate.

---

Using Space/Time Relations

* describe an object's position, i.e., above, below, beside, etc. in relation to other objects
* describe the motion, direction, spatial arrangement, symmetry, and shape of an object compared to another object.

---

Defining Operationally

* state definitions of objects or events in terms of what the object is doing or what is occurring in the event
* state definitions of objects or events based on observable characteristics

---

Formulating Hypotheses

* identify questions or statements which can and cannot be tested
* design statements, i.e., questions, inferences, predictions, which can be tested by an experiment.

---

Experimenting

* design an investigation to test a hypothesis
* conduct simple experiments
* recognize limitations of methods and tools used in experiments, i.e., experimental error
* utilize safe procedures while conducting investigations.

---

Recognizing Variables

* identify the manipulated (independent) variable, responding (dependent) variable, and variables-held-constant in an experiment.
* control the variables in an investigation

---

Interpreting Data

* organize and state in his/her own words information derived from a science investigation.
* revise interpretations of data based on new information or revised data.

---

Formulating Models

* create a mental, physical, or mental verbal representation of an idea, object or event.
* use models to describe and explain interrelationships of ideas, objects, or events

good link: The Scientific Method

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The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method

The following steps make up the Scientific Method. These steps make up a method which may be used to logically solve problems in many other areas of life. Françesco Redi and Louis Pasteur used the scientific method to disprove the idea of spontaneous generation.

First, though, do you see any animals in this picture? (if so, click on them)
who's here?
If you were really in that place and trying to figure out what you were seeing, you could use the scientific method to study the “problem.”
(There is a link to an explanation of the photograph near the bottom of this page.)

Observation:
A good scientist is observant and notices thing in the world around him/herself. (S)he sees, hears, or in some other way notices what’s going on in the world and becomes curious about what’s happening. This can and does include reading and studying what others have done in the past because scientific knowledge is cumulative. In physics, when Newton came up with his Theory of Motion, he based his hypothesis on the work of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo as well as his own, newer observations. Darwin not only observed and took notes during his voyage, but he also studied the practice of artificial selection and read the works of other naturalists to form his Theory of Evolution.

For centuries, people based their beliefs on their interpretations of what they saw going on in the world around them without testing their ideas to determine the validity of these theories — in other words, they didn’t use the scientific method to arrive at answers to their questions. Rather, their conclusions were based on untested observations.

Among these ideas, since at least the time of Aristotle (4th Century BC), people (including scientists) believed that simple living organisms could come into being by spontaneous generation. This was the idea that non-living objects can give rise to living organisms. It was common “knowledge” that simple organisms like worms, beetles, frogs, amd salamanders could come from dust, mud, etc., and food left out, quickly “swarmed” with life. For example:
Frog

Observation: Every year in the spring, the Nile River flooded areas of Egypt along the river, leaving behind nutrient-rich mud that enabled the people to grow that year’s crop of food. However, along with the muddy soil, large numbers of frogs appeared that weren’t around in drier times.
“Conclusion”: It was perfectly obvious to people back then that muddy soil gave rise to the frogs.

Mouse

Observation: In many parts of Europe, medieval farmers stored grain in barns with thatched roofs (like Shakespeare’s house). As a roof aged, it was not uncommon for it to start leaking. This could lead to spoiled or moldy grain, and of course there were lots of mice around.
“Conclusion”: It was obvious to them that the mice came from the moldy grain.

Observation: In the cities, there were no sewers nor garbage trucks. Sewage flowed in the gutters along the streets, and the sidewalks were raised above the streets to give people a place to walk. In the intersections, raised stepping stones were strategically placed to allow pedestrians to cross the intersection, yet were spaced such that carriage wheels could pass between them. In the morning, the contents of the chamber pots were tossed out the nearest window. When people were done eating a meal, the bones were tossed out the window, too. A chivalrous gentleman always walked closest to the street when escorting a woman, so if a horse and carriage came by and splashed up this filth, it would land on him, and not the lady’s expensive silk gown. Most of these cities also had major rat problems which contributed to the spread of Bubonic Plague (Black Death) — hence the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Germany.
“Conclusion”: Obviously, all the sewage and garbage turned into the rats.

Fly

Observation: Since there were no refrigerators, the mandatory, daily trip to the butcher shop, especially in summer, meant battling the flies around the carcasses. Typically, carcasses were “hung by their heels,” and customers selected which chunk the butcher would carve off for them.
“Conclusion”: Obviously, the rotting meat that had been hanging in the sun all day was the source of the flies.

From this came a number of interesting recipes, such as:
Bee

Recipe for bees:
Kill a young bull, and bury it in an upright position so that its horns protrude from the ground. After a month, a swarm of bees will fly out of the corpse.

Jan Baptista van Helmont’s recipe for mice:
Place a dirty shirt or some rags in an open pot or barrel containing a few grains of wheat or some wheat bran, and in 21 days, mice will appear. There will be adult males and females present, and they will be capable of mating and reproducing more mice.

Bacteria

With the development and refinement of the microscope in the 1600s, people began seeing all sorts of new life forms such as yeast and other fungi, bacteria, and various protists. No one knew from where these organisms came, but people figured out they were associated with things like spoiled broth. This seemed to add new evidence to the idea of spontaneous generation — it seemed perfectly logical that these minute organisms should arise spontaneously. When Jean Baptiste Lamarck proposed his theory of evolution, to reconcile his ideas with Aristotle’s Scala naturae, he proposed that as creatures strive for greater perfection, thus move up the “ladder,” new organisms arise by spontaneous generation to fill the vacated places on the lower rungs.

Observations: It was known that soup that was exposed to the air spoiled — bacteria grew in it. Some people claimed that there was a “life force” present in the molecules of all inorganic matter, including air and the oxygen in it, that could cause spontaneous generation to occur, thus accounting for the presence of bacteria in spoiled soups. Even when briefly-boiled soup was poured into “clean” flasks with cork lids, microorganisms still grew there. Containers of soup that had been boiled for one hour, and then were sealed, remained sterile. Boiling for only a few minutes was not enough to sterilize the soup.

Question:
The scientist then raises a question about what (s)he sees going on. The question raised must have a “simple,” concrete answer that can be obtained by performing an experiment. For example, “How many students came to school today?” could be answered by counting the students present on campus, but “Why did you come to school today?” couldn’t really be answered by doing an experiment.

* Question: Where do the flies at the butcher shop really come from? Does rotting meat turn into or produce the flies?
* Question: Is there indeed a “life force” present in air (or oxygen) that can cause bacteria to develop by spontaneous generation? Is there a means of allowing air to enter a container, thus any life force, if such does exist, but not the bacteria that are present in that air?

Hypothesis:
This is a tentative answer to the question: a testable explanation for what was observed. The scientist tries to explain what caused what was observed.

* Hypothesis: Rotten meat does not turn into flies. Only flies can make more flies.
* Hypothesis: There is no such life force in air, and a container of sterilized broth will remain sterile, even if exposed to the air, as long as bacteria cannot enter the flask.

* In a cause and effect relationship, what you observe is the effect, and hypotheses are possible causes. A generalization based on inductive reasoning is not a hypothesis. An hypothesis is not an observation, rather, a tentative explanation for the observation. For example, I might observe the effect that my throat is sore. Then I might form hypotheses as to the cause of that sore throat, including a bacterial infection, a viral infection, or screaming too much at a ball game.
* Hypotheses reflect past experience with similar questions (“educated propositions” about cause) and the work of others. Hypotheses are based on previous knowledge, facts, and general principles. Your answer to the question of what caused the observed effect will be based on your previous knowledge of what causes similar effects in similar situations. For example, I know that colds are contagious, I don’t know anyone with a cold, I was at the ball game yesterday, and I was doing a lot of yelling while I was there, so I think that caused my sore throat.
* Multiple hypotheses should be proposed whenever possible. One should think of alternative causes that could explain the observation (the correct one may not even be one that was thought of!) For example, maybe somebody sitting near me at the ball game had a sore throat and passed it on to me.
* Hypotheses should be testable by experimentation and deductive reasoning. For example, throat culture and other tests yielded no signs of a bacterial or viral infection, I have no fever or other signs/symptoms, and the doctor says my vocal cords are “swollen” in a way that would indicate overuse.
* Hypotheses can be proven wrong/incorrect, but can never be proven or confirmed with absolute certainty. It is impossible to test all given conditions, and someone with more knowledge, sometime in the future, may find a condition under which the hypothesis does not hold true.

Prediction:
Next, the experimenter uses deductive reasoning to test the hypothesis.

* Prediction: If meat cannot turn into flies, rotting meat in a sealed (fly-proof) container should not produce flies or maggots.
* Prediction: If there is no life force, broth in swan-neck flasks should remain sterile, even if exposed to air, because any bacteria in the air will settle on the walls of the initial portion of the neck. Broth in flasks plugged with cotton should remain sterile because the cotton is able to filter bacteria out of the air.

* Inductive reasoning goes from a set of specific observations to general conclusions: I observed cells in x, y, and z organisms, therefore all animals have cells.
* Deductive reasoning flows from general to specific. From general premises, a scientist would extrapolate to specific results: if all organisms have cells and humans are organisms, then humans should have cells. This is a prediction about a specific case based on the general premises.
* Generally, in the scientific method, if a particular hypothesis/premise is true and “X” experiment is done, then one should expect (prediction) a certain result. This involves the use of “if-then” logic. For example, if my hypothesis that my throat is sore because I did too much screaming at the ball game is true and if a doctor examines my vocal cords, then (s)he should be able to observe that they are inflamed, and as the inflammation heals, the sore throat should go away.
* A prediction is the expected results if the hypothesis and other underlying assumptions and principles are true and an experiment is done to test that hypothesis. For example, in physics if Newton’s Theory of Motion is true and certain “unexplained” measurements and calculations pointing to the possibility of another planet are correct, then if I point my telescope to the specific position that I can calculate mathematically, I should be able to discover/observe that new planet. Indeed, that is the way in which Neptune was discovered in 1846.

Testing:
Then, the scientist performs the experiment to see if the predicted results are obtained. If the expected results are obtained, that supports (but does not prove) the hypothesis.

In science when testing, when doing the experiment, it must be a controlled experiment. The scientist must contrast an “experimental group” with a “control group”. The two groups are treated EXACTLY alike except for the ONE variable being tested. Sometimes several experimental groups may be used. For example, in an experiment to test the effects of day length on plant flowering, one could compare normal, natural day length (the control group) to several variations (the experimental groups).

When doing an experiment, replication is important. Everything should be tried several times on several subjects. For example, in the experiment just mentioned, a student scientist would have at least three plants in the control group and each of the experimental groups, while a “real” researcher would probably have several dozen. If a scientist had only one plant in each group, and one of the plants died, there probably would be no way of determining if the cause of death was related to the experiment being conducted.

The experimenter gathers actual, quantitative data from the subjects. For example, it’s not enough to say, “I’m going to see how the dog reacts in this situation.” Rather, in that experiment, the scientist might have a list of certain behaviors, and record how often each of the dogs tested exhibits each of those pre-defined behavior patterns. Data for each of the groups are then averaged and compared statistically. It’s not enough to say that the average for group “X” was one thing and the average for group “Y” was another, so they were different or not. The scientist must also calculate the standard deviation or some other statistical analysis to document that any difference is statistically significant.

* Testing: Wide-mouth jars each containing a piece of meat were subjected to several variations of “openness” while all other variables were kept the same.
control group — These jars of meat were set out without lids so the meat would be exposed to whatever it might be in the butcher shop.
experimental group(s) — One group of jars were sealed with lids, and another group of jars had gauze placed over them.
replication — Several jars were included in each group.
* Data: Presence or absence of flies and maggots seen in each jar was recorded. In the control group of jars, flies were seen entering the jars. Later, maggots, then more flies were seen on the meat. In the gauze-covered jars, no flies were seen in the jars, but were observed around and on the gauze, and later a few maggots were seen on the meat. In the sealed jars, no maggots or flies were ever seen on the meat.
* Conclusion(s): Only flies can make more flies. In the uncovered jars, flies entered and laid eggs on the meat. Maggots hatched from these eggs and grew into more adult flies. Adult flies laid eggs on the gauze on the gauze-covered jars. These eggs or the maggots from them dropped through the gauze onto the meat. In the sealed jars, no flies, maggots, nor eggs could enter, thus none were seen in those jars. Maggots arose only where flies were able to lay eggs. This experiment disproved the idea of spontaneous generation for larger organisms.

Fly Experiment

* Testing: Broth was boiled in various-shaped flasks to sterilize it. As the broth and air in the containers cooled, fresh room air was drawn into the containers. None of the flasks were sealed — all were exposed to the outside air in one way or another.
control group — Some flasks opened straight up, so not only air, but any bacteria present in that air, could get into them.
experimental group(s) — Some flasks had long, S-shaped necks (swan-neck flasks) and others were “closed” with cotton plugs. This allowed air to enter these flasks, but the long, swan neck or the cotton balls filtered out any bacteria present in that air. The long necks were subsequently broken off some of the swan-neck flasks.
replication — Several flasks were used in each of the groups.
* Data: Broth in flasks with necks opening straight up spoiled (as evidenced by a bad odor, cloudiness in previously clear broth, and microscopic examination of the broth confirming the presence of bacteria), while broth in swan-neck flasks did not, even though fresh air could get it. Broth in flasks with cotton plugs did not spoil, even though air could get through the cotton. If the neck of a swan-neck flask was broken off short, allowing bacteria to enter, then the broth became contaminated.
* Conclusion(s): There is no such life force in air, and organisms do not arise by spontaneous generation in this manner. To quote Louis Pasteur, “Life is a germ, and a germ is Life. Never will the doctrine of spontaneous generation recover from the mortal blow of this simple experiment.”

Soup Experiment

Research is cumulative and progressive. Scientists build on the work of previous researchers, and one important part of any good research is to first do a literature review to find out what previous research has already been done in the field. Science is a process — new things are being discovered and old, long-held theories are modified or replaced with better ones as more data/knowledge is accumulated. For example, the idea that the sun is at the center of our solar system replaced the idea that the earth was at the center of the universe, and the idea that ulcers are caused by stress has been replaced by the idea that ulcers are caused by bacterial infection. Scientists are human, too, and so these major changes are often controversial and accompanied by violent debate!

A theory is a generalization based on many observations and experiments; a well-tested, verified hypothesis that fits existing data and explains how processes or events are thought to occur. It is a basis for predicting future events or discoveries. Theories may be modified as new information is gained. This definition of a theory is in sharp contrast to colloquial usage, where people say something is “just a theory,” thereby intending to imply a great deal of uncertainty.

Plant and Window Observation: Have you ever noticed if you place a plant near a window, that after a while, the plant grows or leans toward the window?

Question: Have you ever wondered why the plant grows toward the window?

Hypothesis: What reasons or factors can you list that might cause a plant to lean or grow toward a window? For example, do you think that
plants like Microsoft products
plants catch a virus from the window, and that makes them lean toward the window
plants respond to the glass from which they absorb some needed nutrient
plants respond to the light which they need to make their food
plants respond to fresh air leaking in the window
plants are attracted to the plants outside the window

Prediction: If it is true that and I
grow a plant in front of my computer
grow a plant in front of a PC and one in front of a Mac
grow three plants in front of a PC and three in front of a Mac
grow a plant under a light
grow three plants under a light
grow a plant under a regular light and one under a red light
grow one plant with no added fertilizer and another with 1 T of fertilizer added
grow a plant in the dark
grow a plant in a glass cube in the dark
grow three plants under a light and three plants in the dark
grow three plants with a light to the left of them and three plants with a light to the right of them
grow three plants with a light to the left of them and a piece of glass to the right
grow three plants with light to the left and glass to the right and three more with light to the right and glass to the left
grow three plants with glass on the left and a fan on the right
grow three plants with a light to the left and glass to the right and three plants in the dark with glass on the right
grow three plants with a light to the left and a fan on the right
grow three plants with light to the left and glass to the right and three more with a fan to the left and other plants to the right
grow three plants with other plants on the left and glass on the right and three others with plants on the right and glass on the left
grow three plants outdoors in fresh air and three plants indoors
grow three plants with glass on the left and three with glass on the right
grow 100 plants in 20° C air and 100 plants in 37° C air, and 50 of each have light to the left while the other 50 of each have glass to the left
grow three plants in glass cubes in the light and three plants in glass cubes in the dark
grow three plants on motorized turntables with a light to one side and three plants that are stationary with a light to one side
grow three plants on motorized turntables with glass on one side and three plants that are stationary with glass on one side
grow ten plants in one greenhouse and ten more plants, each in an individual greenhouse
then I should see a difference or change in the
soil nutrients
leaf color
number of leaves
length of the stem
number of blossoms
direction the plant is growing/leaning

Review the steps in the Scientific Method
Click Here

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(2.2 MB) Click the picture to start. Press [ESC] to stop the presentation or click on the presentation to re-start it. You may also “write” on the presentation. Unfortunately, Corel only has a Plug-In for Win 95/NT, so this won’t work with Win 3.1 or Mac.

Sometimes, it doesn’t go this way. Sometimes serendipity (Serendib = former name for Ceylon) happens. The Persian fairy-tale The Three Princes of Serendip illustrates the principle known as serendipity. In this story, three princes make discoveries by insight into accidents pertaining to things they were not seeking. Serendipity is not discovery just by accident alone, but includes the idea that the investigator has intuition, or knowledge, which enables him/her to recognize and take advantage of unexpected events unrelated to his/her original quest. The discovery of aspartame is a good example of serendipity, but also an example of very bad lab technique. A chemist at Searle Chemical Company had his coffee cup sitting on the benchtop in the chemistry lab next to his experiment. Somehow in the process of doing his experiment and drinking coffee all at the same time (not a good idea if you value your life), he stuck his fingers in his experiment, then into his mouth. The serendipity comes in when he realized that this sweet-tasting accident could make his company and him rich.

To give you an idea of how the scientific method works, your study group is asked to go through the steps we just discussed as though you were real biologists getting ready to do real research. You will be doing all of the background work and designing the experiment, but not actually doing it since this is not a lab course. However, you are asked to do a write-up of the experiment as though you had done it. For more information on this, refer to the Assignment on Scientific Method that was handed out along with your syllabus.

What is the Scientific Method?

2005-03-21T01:32:00.001-08:00

What is the Scientific Method?

What is the Scientific Method?

The Scientific Method is the organized way of figuring something out. There are six parts to it.

1. Purpose- What do you want to learn?

2. Research- Find out as much as you can.

3. Hypothesis- Try to predict the answer to the problem. Another term for hypothesis is 'educated guess'. This is usually stated like " If I...(do something) then...(this will occur)

4. Experiment- The fun part! Design a test or procedure to confirm or disprove your hypothesis.

5. Analysis- Record what happened during the experiment. Also known as 'data'.

6. Conclusion- Review the data and check to see if your hypothesis was correct.

The scientific method is used al over the world every day to make new discoveries.

What is the ``scientific method''?

2005-03-21T01:32:00.000-08:00

What is the ``scientific method''?

next up previous contents
Next: What is the difference Up: The scientific method Previous: The scientific method

What is the ``scientific method''?

The scientific method is the best way yet discovered for winnowing the truth from lies and delusion. The simple version looks something like this:

* 1. Observe some aspect of the universe.
* 2. Invent a tentative description, called a hypothesis, that is consistent with what you have observed.
* 3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions.
* 4. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results.
* 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation.

When consistency is obtained the hypothesis becomes a theory and provides a coherent set of propositions which explain a class of phenomena. A theory is then a framework within which observations are explained and predictions are made.

Figure 1.1: Flow diagram describing the scientific method. \begin{figure} \centerline{\vbox to 3.5in{\epsfxsize=3 in\epsfbox[0 -50 612 742]{1.intro/sci_meth.ps}} \box2 }\end{figure}

The great advantage of the scientific method is that it is unprejudiced: one does not have to believe a given researcher, one can redo the experiment and determine whether his/her results are true or false. The conclusions will hold irrespective of the state of mind, or the religious persuasion, or the state of consciousness of the investigator and/or the subject of the investigation. Faith, defined as [*] belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence, does not determine whether a scientific theory is adopted or discarded.

A theory is accepted not based on the prestige or convincing powers of the proponent, but on the results obtained through observations and/or experiments which anyone can reproduce: the results obtained using the scientific method are repeatable. In fact, most experiments and observations are repeated many times (certain experiments are not repeated independently but are repeated as parts of other experiments). If the original claims are not verified the origin of such discrepancies is hunted down and exhaustively studied.

When studying the cosmos we cannot perform experiments; all information is obtained from observations and measurements. Theories are then devised by extracting some regularity in the observations and coding this into physical laws.

There is a very important characteristic of a scientific theory or hypothesis which differentiates it from, for example, an act of faith: a theory must be ``falsifiable''. This means that there must be some experiment or possible discovery that could prove the theory untrue. For example, Einstein's theory of Relativity made predictions about the results of experiments. These experiments could have produced results that contradicted Einstein, so the theory was (and still is) falsifiable.

In contrast, the theory that ``the moon is populated by little green men who can read our minds and will hide whenever anyone on Earth looks for them, and will flee into deep space whenever a spacecraft comes near'' is not falsifiable: these green men are designed so that no one can ever see them. On the other hand, the theory that there are no little green men on the moon is scientific: you can disprove it by catching one. Similar arguments apply to abominable snow-persons, UFOs and the Loch Ness Monster(s?).

A frequent criticism made of the scientific method is that it cannot accommodate anything that has not been proved. The argument then points out that many things thought to be impossible in the past are now everyday realities. This criticism is based on a misinterpretation of the scientific method. When a hypothesis passes the test it is adopted as a theory it correctly explains a range of phenomena it can, at any time, be falsified by new experimental evidence. When exploring a new set or phenomena scientists do use existing theories but, since this is a new area of investigation, it is always kept in mind that the old theories might fail to explain the new experiments and observations. In this case new hypotheses are devised and tested until a new theory emerges.

There are many types of ``pseudo-scientific'' theories which wrap themselves in a mantle of apparent experimental evidence but that, when examined closely, are nothing but statements of faith. The argument [*], cited by some creationists, that science is just another kind of faith is a philosophic stance which ignores the trans-cultural nature of science. Science's theory of gravity explains why both creationists and scientists don't float off the earth. All you have to do is jump to verify this theory - no leap of faith required.

next up previous contents
Next: What is the difference Up: The scientific method Previous: The scientific method
Jose Wudka
9/24/1998

What is the Scientific Method? Teaching Tip

2005-03-21T01:27:00.000-08:00

What is the Scientific Method? Teaching Tip: "What is the Scientific Method?

Probably you've at least heard about the scientific method, but how well do you know it? It can take on almost a 'secret code'-like importance: 'Well, I followed the scientific method.' But the scientific method is actually a lot more down-to-earth than it might sound! It's used as a tool to discover, to gain knowledge, and to help us come up with sound scientific information.

The scientific method can be broken into five simplified steps:

# Define the Problem. Decide what you want to find out. You might need to use preliminary research to narrow down or clearly define your problem.

# Observing/Gathering Data. This is the step of gathering information related to the problem. You might do this by checking out science books and magazines on a certain topic or by doing research on the internet. You could also talk to people who work in a related field and would be knowledgeable about your topic.

# Thinking About It/Predicting. The special name for this is hypothesizing. In this step you predict an answer to your problem, based on the information you gathered. Look for patterns in the data that might lead you to a reasonable prediction.

# Experimenting. This is the step where you design, perform, and analyze experiments to test your hypothesis. By repeating an experiment, you'll have more results to compare and to draw conclusions from, so it's a good idea to plan on doing an experiment more than once.

# Forming Conclusions. This is the final step. If your experiments turn out as you forecasted, then your predictions were probably based on sound principles. If your predictions were off target, evaluate your data and start again with a refined hypothesis!

After a good conclusion has been tested often enough, with the same results each time, it becomes a theory--a model or explanation of a scientific concept. A theory that has been tested often enough with the same results becomes a scientific law. However, this does not mean the law absolutely certain; it just has a lot of evidence to support it.

The mathematician and natural philosopher Roger Bacon used something like the scientific method back in the 1200s. He emphasized the importance of experimentation to verify a hypothesis. As the scientific method gained followers, the way people went about science began to change. They used inductive rather than deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning looks at something general and then moves to conclusions about a specific example, whereas inductive reasoning looks at specific ideas or situations and from there draws conclusions about a whole. Basically, inductive reasoning applies specific evidence to a much broader related idea."

HOW DOES A SCIENTIST THINK AND Behave

2005-03-21T01:09:00.000-08:00

HOW DOES A SCIENTIST THINK AND B

HOW DOES A SCIENTIST THINK AND BEHAVE WHEN CONDUCTING INVESTIGATIONS?

written by Karen Goh

Scientists are like detectives when it comes to solving problems. They don't have all the information at hand and what is available often makes little logical or sequential sense. Yet they have the challenging task of having to come up with a solution that can make a difference in someone's life or death. While there is no magic formula for solving a riddle, there is a certain methodology and mindset that scientists adopt when carrying out their scientific investigations.

Hypothesis-making and testing are fundamental to any scientific inquiry. When confronting problems that do not have clear solutions and parameters, it is necessary to start by making intelligent guesses based on what we can observe and what existing data is available. This allows us a preliminary entry point into the fuzzy problem at hand. From there we make predictions based on what we deduce and observe, and carry out tests to check if our hypothesis can be further confirmed or rejected. Consider this diagram:

Any hypothesis that is tested has a certain outcome. Its value lies in how it helps us manage the problem better, by isolating causes, eliminating irrelevant factors or supporting our investigative slant. Hypotheses that are debunked can be revised or go into a store of knowledge that we have built in relation to the problem. Coming up with different hypotheses allows us to approach the problem from various angles, thus opening up possibilities in finding the cause and adding credibility to our research methods.

Hypotheses are not meant to be proven; there is no conclusive proof that any test result will not be debunked later when new contrary evidence appears. At best, we gain further validation of what we initially hypothesised. This is why a good scientist relies on empirical evidence, not biases or a conviction in "proving one's case", when looking to support his hypothesis. In addition, he also needs to maintain a certain level of open-mindedness so that all plausible scenarios are taken into account when approaching the problem. This explains why inductive methods of reasoning have limitations in scientific inquiry - they look at probabilities and make extrapolations based on part-whole predictions/ conjectures (i.e. if it works in this situation, it is likely to work in other similar situations). Deductive reasoning, on the other hand, looks at finding exceptions to the case, so that scientists are always on the alert to find contrary evidence and ways to falsify their hypothesis (i.e. this cannot be the case because there is a contradictory result here), rather than prove the "truthfulness" of it .

A good test of any hypothesis then involves moving beyond the immediate scope of the problem so that we can check if the same anticipated predictions hold true in other similar situations. For example, testing the effect of a certain enzyme on a food product needs to be done for a variety of food groups and not simply the target food group, so that the scientist can compare the range of results and be in a better position to argue his case. This also involves setting up control experiments when test subjects function as control groups for scientists to compare results prior to and after testing.

Therein lies the empirical methodology of science, which is supported by a scientific mindset of openness. Many scientific discoveries and breakthroughs occur because of a willingness to consider other new alternatives when they appear and also an ability to assimilate incidences of luck and coincidence into the existing body of knowledge, so that they enhance one's understanding of the problem scope. Scientists do not just receive knowledge but are continually making sense of an ever evolving and often unpredictable climate of change.

Graphic Organizer to organise your thoughts

2005-03-21T01:07:00.001-08:00

Graphic Organizer Index

Six Thinking Hats - Decision Making Techniques from Mind tools - 6 Thinking Hats

2005-03-21T01:07:00.000-08:00

Six Thinking Hats - Decision Making Techniques from Mind tools - 6 Thinking Hats

Six Thinking Hats - Looking at a Decision From All Points of View

'Six Thinking Hats' is an important and powerful technique. It is used to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives. This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a situation.

This tool was created by Edward de Bono in his book '6 Thinking Hats'.

Many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint. This can mean that they underestimate resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps and do not make essential contingency plans.

Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive. Emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally.

If you look at a problem with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning.

How to Use the Tool:
You can use Six Thinking Hats in meetings or on your own. In meetings it has the benefit of blocking the confrontations that happen when people with different thinking styles discuss the same problem.

Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:

* White Hat:
With this thinking hat you focus on the data available. Look at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them.

This is where you analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data.

* Red Hat:
'Wearing' the red hat, you look at problems using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react emotionally. Try to understand the responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.

* Black Hat:
Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the decision. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them.

Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans 'tougher' and more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique, as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance. This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties.

*

Yellow Hat:
The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.

* Green Hat:
The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. A whole range of creativity tools can help you here.

* Blue Hat:
The Blue Hat stands for process control. This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for Black Hat thinking, etc.

A variant of this technique is to look at problems from the point of view of different professionals (e.g. doctors, architects, sales directors, etc.) or different customers.

Example:

The directors of a property company are looking at whether they should construct a new office building. The economy is doing well, and the amount of vacant office space is reducing sharply. As part of their decision they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats technique during a planning meeting.

Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data they have. They examine the trend in vacant office space, which shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate that by the time the office block would be completed, that there will be a severe shortage of office space. Current government projections show steady economic growth for at least the construction period.

With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed building looks quite ugly. While it would be highly cost-effective, they worry that people would not like to work in it.

When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government projections may be wrong. The economy may be about to enter a 'cyclical downturn', in which case the office building may be empty for a long time. If the building is not attractive, then companies will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same rent.

With the Yellow Hat, however, if the economy holds up and their projections are correct, the company stands to make a great deal of money. If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will last through any recession.

With Green Hat thinking they consider whether they should change the design to make the building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build prestige offices that people would want to rent in any economic climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the short term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes.

The Blue Hat has been used by the meeting's Chair to move between the different thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep other members of the team from switching styles, or from criticizing other peoples' points.

It is well worth reading Edward de Bono's book 6 Thinking Hats for more information on this technique.

Key points:

Six Thinking Hats is a good technique for looking at the effects of a decision from a number of different points of view.

It allows necessary emotion and skepticism to be brought into what would otherwise be purely rational decisions. It opens up the opportunity for creativity within Decision Making. The technique also helps, for example, persistently pessimistic people to be positive and creative.

Plans developed using the '6 Thinking Hats' technique will be sounder and more resilient than would otherwise be the case. It may also help you to avoid public relations mistakes, and spot good reasons not to follow a course of action before you have committed to it.

Student's Guide to PBL

2005-03-21T01:02:00.000-08:00

Student's Guide to PBL

HOW A STUDENT AT RP MIGHT COMMUNICATE WITH HIS FACILITATOR

written by Glen O'Grady

Don’t be surprised if your facilitator is unwilling to give you a straight answer to any question you ask. It's not because he doesn't want to help; it is just that he may want you to think about the question and encourage you to put forward your own possible answer before offering his own opinion. In this way, he may help you to learn more effectively. Facilitators at RP believe that whenever a student asks a question, that same student, along with the help of others and available resources, has the capacity to answer the question for himself, perhaps not completely, but at the very least be able to offer a tentative answer or a guess.

Let's look at an example of how a facilitator might interact with students at RP:

Student 1: I am not sure I understand what sampling error means?

Facilitator: What do you think it might mean?

Student 1: Is it when we make mistakes in the way we set up a sample to be surveyed?

Facilitator: What do others think?

Student 2: Sampling error is the chance the survey results of our sample are not representative of the

population.

Student 3: I think I agree with 2 and would add that using probability theory we can estimate the likelihood of

that error.

Facilitator: Okay, if 2 & 3 are true how does this relate to your idea 1, that sampling error is somehow

related

to the way we set up a sample?

Student 1: I’m not sure.

Facilitator: If we use non-random sampling techniques what is the effect on determining sampling error?

Student 2: We can’t do that can we?

Facilitator: Why not?

Student 2: Because as 3 said the error is calculated using probability theory and non-probability sampling

would not allow you to use statistical inferences.

Facilitator: Yes, but could there be other ways in which you could affect the sampling error when setting up

a sample to survey?

Student 1: [No Response]

Facilitator: What about sample size? What happens if we could survey everyone in the population would we

be confident the results were accurate reflection of the population?

Student 1: Yes

Facilitator: So what happens when the group being sampled is smaller?

Student 1: So the bigger the sample size the more likely the results will be an accurate reflection of what

the population thinks and the smaller the sample we would be less confident…oh so this lack of

confidence is what we mean by sampling error the chance of error.

Facilitator: Right! So how you sample does affect sampling error as you said earlier, but more specifically

sampling error is the chance to which the results are due to the particular sample rather than the

population you wish to make some inference about.

In this example we can see students with the help of the facilitator making some connections about what they think is sampling error with what is the generally accepted view of sampling error. Student 1's ideas were not too far wrong and by listening to other students and carefully considering these ideas this helped the student to come to a better understanding.

At RP you can expect facilitators to encourage you to ask questions, but at the same time they will expect you to try and answer your own questions either through research, talking with others and or by answering a series of smaller questions that the facilitator might pose in a discussion. A lot of class time at RP will be devoted to you generating questions and then allowing you time to seek and present your own solutions. Your facilitator will assist you by helping you to help yourself! What all this means is that by the time you graduate from RP, you will have the capacity to think for yourself. This will be a valuable skill that will enable you to succeed in your life!

critical pedagogy

2005-02-27T20:05:00.001-08:00

critical pedagogy

From Start to Finish - Writing the Right Way

2005-02-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

From Start to Finish - Writing the Right Way

Re-Writing & the Six Traits

2005-02-27T20:04:00.001-08:00

Re-Writing & the Six Traits

From Start to Finish
Module Eight
Re-Writing & the Six Traits
of Effective Writing

In this final stage we consider how we can add to the impact of our writing by reviewing each of the following:

* Ideas and Content
* Organization
* Voice
* Word Choice
* Sentence Fluency
* Conventions

We have come to the stage where we refine and compress. We can now safely apply critical judgment to our efforts, having moved well beyond the idea generation stage.

Take a new look at your writing with the following questions as your guide . . .

Questions to Ask about the Six Traits

Ideas and Content

How can I . . .

* Change the way I write my sentences so that the main ideas stand out more clearly?
* Add evidence or examples so that my ideas stand with enough support?
* Add details, testimony or information which will make my paper more convincing?
* Explain my reasons for not agreeing with opposing ideas and possibilities?
* Improve the logic of my argument?
* Strengthen the connections between ideas, examples and illustrations?

Organization

How can I . . .

* Rearrange the order of the ideas and their supporting evidence to provide a stronger foundation for the argument I am making?
* Make sure each section of the paper does what it is meant to do? Is the introduction inviting? Does it state the issue clearly? Does the conclusion pull together the whole piece? Does it end with some power?
* Pace the flow of the paper so that it slows down and speeds up at the right times?
* Build smoother and clearer transitions and bridges between sections of the paper as well as between the ideas being explored?

Voice

How can I . . .

* Strengthen my own personal identity in these words and sentences so the reader will hear my strong feelings and beliefs?
* Modify the words so that my passion and caring both shine through with conviction and strength?
* Change the piece so that I anticipate the questions, needs and concerns a reader might have?
* Write with fresh and original insights which I have built and discovered myself without simply borrowing the ideas of others?

Word Choice

How can I . . .

* Substitute stronger words where they are needed?
* Tone down words where they are too strong?
* Replace words which are "overdone" or "over-ripe" or "inflated" with language which is just right?
* Change tired and worn expressions into something new, fresh and original?
* Insert language which appeals, awakens the senses and strikes the fancy of the reader?
* Deepen and sharpen meaning by checking the thesaurus or dictionary for just the right word?
* Eliminate needless repetitions and the flabby use of words?

Sentence Fluency

How can I . . .

* Re-write sentences to improve their flow from one to another so that my writing has cadence much like a piece of music?
* Introduce variety to the length and type of sentence in ways which seem natural and pleasing rather than forced and awkward? Can I combine some short sentences? Can I replace clauses with phrases?
* Insert bridging words such as adverbs both at the beginning and also within the body of my sentences to avoid stringing overly simple clauses together in a choppy manner?
* Change the words within sentences to eliminate "deadwood" and clarify meaning?

Conventions

How can I . . .

* Place paragraph breaks where they will help to put my message across?
* Employ punctuation that helps the reader know where to pause and how to read my material?
* Check to make sure all rules for grammar, spelling and capitalization have been followed?

Please do not move ahead to the next activity until asked to do so by your workshop leader.

Six-Trait Assessment for Beginning Writers

2005-02-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

ToolKit98

Six-Trait Assessment for Beginning Writers

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

* Introduction
* Primary Continuum
* Writing Criteria for Ideas
* Writing Criteria for Organization
Writing Criteria for Voice Writing Criteria for Word Choice Writing Criteria for Sentence Fluency Writing Criteria for Conventions

Too often, in analyzing the writing of young children, it is tempting to look at what they cannot yet do: punctuation is arbitrary, words are omitted, spelling is phonetic, it's too short, it doesn't say a lot, it's hard to read. In our eagerness to have them succeed, we anxiously list and record all the things they cannot yet do—sometimes overlooking the many strengths that show themselves a little differently at primary level. NWREL's primary version of the 6-Trait Writing Assessment Model is designed to help users see early writing with new eyes—instead of looking for what a student can't yet do, we look for and build on what they can do.

Strengths in the traits show up right from the earliest writings. We just have to know what to look for. They do look a little different among young writers! But we can train our eyes to see the beginnings of writing skill.

For instance, suppose a child scribbles intense, dark lines in all directions on the page. We may not be able to read it in the traditional sense, but we can still find a way to connect it to the traits: 'Just look at all the feeling you put into this picture! Your work has a lot of voice.'

…Think of the traits as a vehicle for helping your young writers discover their strengths, and learn to build on what is already there.

Seeing With New Eyes, 1996
Vicki Spandel
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
101 SW Main, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 275-9500

Developed by Vicki Spandel, Senior Associate, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, for Seeing with New Eyes, 1997 edition. My deepest appreciation to primary teachers from many schools and districts— including Bethel, AK, Homer, AK, Juneau, AK, Soldotna, AK; Blue Valley, KS, Lawrence, KS, Olathe, KS, Shawnee Mission, KS, Wichita, KS; Bellevue, NE, Blair (NE) Community Schools, Elkhorn, NE, Millard, NE, Papillion/LaVista, NE, Ralston, NE, Valley, NE, Westside (NE) Community Schools; Carbon-LeHigh, PA; Beaverton, OR, Grants Pass, OR, Hillsboro, OR, Lake Grove, PR, Lake Oswego, OR, Silverton, OR; Issaquah, WA, Mt. Vernon, WA, Vancouver, WA, and Wenatchee, WA—for the creative thinking and ideas that contributed to development of this continuum. Thank you, everyone!

Six-Trait Menu

Primary Coninuum

Primary Continuum
for
beginning writers

* exploring
* emerging
* developing
* fluent/experienced

Six-Trait Menu

Writing Criteria for Ideas

The Exploring Writer

_____Uses pictures to express ideas.
_____Uses scribbles to express ideas.
_____Creates shapes that imitate print or cursive text.
_____Dictates story, message, or label for picture.
_____Writes random "letters."
_____Reader needs help to interpret pictures or "text."

The Emerging Writer

_____Creates pictures and text reader can interpret with inferences and good guesses.
_____Combines pictures with imitative text, letters, or "just readable" words.
_____Uses labels to expand meaning.
_____Pictures carry more meaning than text.

The Developing Writer
_____Creates easily recognizable pictures and text.
_____Creates stand-alone text that expresses a clear message.
_____Attends to detail in pictures and/or text (more than a quick scribble or sketch).
_____Text carries as much meaning as pictures—or slightly more.

The Fluent/Experienced Writer

_____Creates pictures and/or stand-alone text that makes a point or tells a simple story.
_____Elaborates on message or story.
_____Incorporates the kinds of significant, less-than-obvious details that give both text and pictures interest, depth, and meaning.
_____Presents ideas that catch a reader’s attention.
_____Shows knowledge of topic.
_____Text carries most or all of the meaning (though pictures may be used to enhance meaning).

Six-Trait Menu

Writing Criteria for Organization

The Exploring Writer

_____Places letters, shapes, scribbles, or pictures randomly on the page.
_____May fill one corner of the page or the whole page.

The Emerging Writer

_____Shows a growing sense of balance in placement of scribbles, text, or pictures.
_____Shows clear sense of coordination between text and pictures: e.g., a reader can readily see that they go together.
_____Begins to "center" work on the page.

The Developing Writer

_____Shows a beginning sense of sequencing or patterning (e.g., chronological order, main point and support) in written text.
_____Shows skill with story boarding (creating pictures in sequence to make a point or tell a story).
_____Writes multiple sentences in an order that supports a main point or story.
_____Shows a sense of beginning: This is a story of... One day... My favorite food...
_____Uses conventions such as title, indentation, numbers (1, 2 or first, second), and "The End" to help structure written text.
_____Presents work in a visually balanced way on the page.

The Fluent/Experienced Writer

_____Uses definite beginning and concluding statements (other than simply "The End") in text.
_____Uses transitional words and phrases (next, then, so, but, while, after that, because, etc.) to connect ideas.
_____Shows skill in sequencing a simple story chronologically.
_____In informational writing, shows skill in

* grouping "like" bits of information together
* sticking with one main topic
* moving from one support point to another (from where sea turtles live to what sea turtles eat)

_____Skillfully uses conventions such as title, indentation, or statement of purpose to structure text.
_____Creates a "complete" text. Doesn’t just stop at the end of the page.
_____Presents work in a visually appealing way on the page.

Six-Trait Menu

Writing Criteria for Voice

The Exploring Writer

_____Copies words or letter shapes from environmental print.
_____Creates shapes or scribbles that represent words, even though a reader cannot yet translate them without help.
_____Writes in letter strings (all "letters" may not be recognizable).

The Emerging Writer

_____Writes recognizable words.
_____Uses labeling to enhance or "dress up" pictures.
_____Chooses words or labels or short phrases that clearly go with picture text.
_____Uses various parts of speech: e.g., naming words (nouns), describing words (adjectives), and action words (verbs).

The Developing Writer

_____Enjoys combining pictures with more extended text.
_____Uses expressive or descriptive phrases and short sentences, not just one- or two-word labels.
_____"Stretches" to use new words, even if she/he cannot spell them yet: e.g., The lage harabel ants are planing to get the jucsy red appel from the bird.
_____Creates text that conveys a clear general meaning: e.g., My dog runs fast.

The Fluent/Experienced Writer
_____Chooses words that make meaning clear and also create a particular mood or build a picture in the reader’s mind: e.g., Dad and the ball collided.
_____Uses individual phrasing that enhances personal voice, e.g., My dog’s ears were flourishing with thick fur.
_____Experiments with language in a variety of ways: imitating, inventing new words, rhyming, and/or looking for a particular "just right" word.
_____Relies only minimally on general words (nice, great, fun, wonderful, special).
_____Uses a variety of words, with little redundancy.

Six-Trait Menu

Writing Criteria for Sentence Fluency

The Exploring Writer

_____May use scribbles or imitative letter strings: LIEKPTLSSINKT.
_____Does not yet write in sentences or word strings.

The Emerging Writer

_____Writes in word strings or simple sentence patterns (some sentences may not be complete).
_____Writes one sentence or an "almost" sentence: e.g.,
I LIK TO PLAY WITH MY BLOKS.
ME BIK AN THE SUN.
_____May use repetitive sentence patterns: e.g., I am a ball. I like be a ball. I lik Jim.

The Developing Writer

_____Writes in sentences; often includes more than one sentence in given text.
_____May imitate sentence patterns he/she has heard.
_____Begins sentences in different ways.
_____Creates text that another person can readily read aloud: e.g., I have a toy. The toy I have is my favrit toy and this toy is my bear.

The Fluent/Experienced Writer

_____Written text begins to imitate oral fluency.
_____Shows variety in sentence lengths and beginnings.
_____Writes as many sentences as he/she needs to complete the text.
_____Creates text that is easy for another to read aloud with expression.
_____Experiments with sentence fluency through some of the following:
____varied beginnings
____longer sentences
____more complex sentences
____use of dialogue
____poetry
____rhythmic patterns
_____Creates text with a natural, "easy flow" kind of sound: e.g., My name is Watcher because I am an eye tooth. Just today I was cleaned. It sort of hurts but I’ve gotten to like it.

Six-Trait Menu

Writing Criteria for Conventions

The Exploring Writer

_____Experiments with print by
____ creating scribbles to represent text
____ creating scribbles that represent individual letters
_____May write with letter strings, usually pre-phonetic: e.g., SAMSAAUATT.
_____Can put own name (or a version thereof) on paper.
_____May create some recognizable letters or numbers: e.g., NAT02.

The Emerging Writer

_____Imitates many features of environmental print:
____ shapes that resemble letters
____ letters or letter shapes that face the right direction
____ left-to-right orientation on the page, up-to-down orientation on the page
____ blending of text with illustrations
_____Distinguishes between upper and lower case letters; begins to associate capitals with "important" words (may not always place capitals correctly).
_____Experiments with punctuation, especially periods, which may be randomly placed: e.g., I Luv. My Dog.
_____Writes own name on personal work.
_____Uses beginning (pre-phonetic) spelling with a few sounds—mostly consonants, few vowels: e.g.,
I lik t d nts
(I like to draw knights).
_____Continues to write with letter strings and short word strings, expanding to multiple words and simple sentences: e.g., I rn fast.
_____Often uses labels, titles, or both.

The Developing Writer

_____Incorporates more conventions from environmental print into own text:
____ spacing between words
____ spacing between lines
____ appropriate directional placement of letters—E, not
____ consistent left-right and up-down orientation
____ use of a title
____ margins
_____Uses both upper and lower case letters, (some of which may be randomly placed); often capitalizes "I," own name, names of others, and words of significance: e.g., I luv my Dog.
_____Experiments with other forms of punctuation: question marks, ellipses, commas, quotation marks, etc.
_____Expands to basic phonetic spelling with more consonant sounds and more vowels: e.g., I lik tu dru nits (I like to draw knights).
_____Writes own name and other significant words. Guesses at many words.
_____Uses inventive spelling well enough to create readable text: e.g., My dinosaur cam bak. He ets fish. He is my frnd.
_____Usually places periods at the ends of sentences: e.g., I luv my dog.

The Fluent/Experienced Writer

_____Consistently incorporates conventions of spacing and directional placement of letters into own text.
_____Regularly uses both upper and lower case letters, and usually places them correctly: e.g., caps on names, caps at beginnings of sentences, capitalizing pronoun "I." May also capitalize words which are simply important to him/her: e.g., My Dog is my Frend.
_____Usually places periods and question marks correctly.
_____Continues to experiment with other punctuation: dashes, commas, quotation marks, ellipses, colons, semicolons, parentheses, and such. Places punctuation correctly, or makes a good guess.
_____Uses readable spelling for most words. Conventionally correct spelling of simple, familiar words:
e.g., I like to draw nites (I like to draw knights). Good guesses on difficult words: e.g., The bright yellow sun reflects off the trueds (tremendous) airplane.
_____Writes more than one paragraph if needed.
_____Uses title if needed.
_____Uses margins.

*Many behaviors relating to reading, speaking, and listening skills also reflect students’ ever-growing understanding of the traits. Behavioral criteria for all six traits are listed in Appendix 2, pp. 301ff.

Writing in the Right Way

2005-02-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

Writing in the Right Way

Writing
in the Right Way

by Jamie McKenzie

(about author)
© 2003, Jamie McKenzie, all rights reserved.

After twenty years of using computers with students, some schools do not use these tools in ways that might enhance writing performance.
Writing in Schools Is Found Both Dismal and Neglected
New York Times (04/26/03)
Most fourth graders spend less than three hours a week writing, which is about 15 percent of the time they spend watching television. Seventy-five percent of high school seniors never get a writing assignment from their history or social studies teachers.

Few districts have provided the robust professional development to give teachers an adequate understanding of how to use these tools. A well designed course would introduce three key strategies for effective writing with computers:

* Writing as Process
* Idea Generation and Mapping with Inspiration™
* The Six Traits Approach to Enhancing Writing

Here we see teachers in Mississippi working on powerful writing strategies using a combination of Inspiration™ with writing as process and the Six Traits approach. The Writing from Start to Finish workshop materials are available at http://fnopress.com/start.html
Writing as Process

Simple words. Powerful strategy.

The new technologies may radically change writing, mostly for the better, but the improvement is not automatic by any means.

In smokestack schools, writing was often confused with the process of putting words down on paper in the same structure as an outline prepared in advance with appropriate Roman numerals and capital letters representing the major ideas arranged in some logical fashion. Once a first draft was completed, the focus was often upon the correction of mechanical and grammatical errors.

During the 1970s, writing as process - first appearing as the Bay Area Writing Project - pointed to a different view of writing, one which permitted a far longer period for incubation of ideas and thoughts, one which emphasized multiple versions, flexibility, audience, non-linear thinking and peer review. A basic tenet of this approach was the possibility that the best route to a good paper was not a straight line. In this approach, a writer was more like a gardener than a railroad engineer.

Combined with the word processor and a program such as Inspiration™, writing as process offers the prospect of idea processing. The software programs provide greater fluidity and flexibility than other writing technologies. They support greater word play and association. The writer can try out dozens, even hundreds of variations until the resulting product is just right. The software actually makes thinking more powerful, as long as students are taught how to use it in that way.

Unfortunately, the technology works little magic by itself. If the mechanics-driven approach to writing still dominates a school and department, the word processor will do little more than improve the appearance and mechanics of student writing.

In the adult world, many professional writers found that electronic text permitted rapid, risk free early expression that could easily be cleaned up and modified later on. Writing, it soon became apparent, was not just what happened when you started moving a pen or began typing on a keyboard. Writing was also the development and refinement of ideas in one's mind.

When someone ponders a writing challenge while showering, jogging or driving, that reflection is part of the writing process. If the same person sits down, types a word on the monitor and asks for synonyms, that is writing. If the person starts stringing words together into sentences, either mentally, on paper or on screen, all three are writing.

In writing as process, fragments are collected as beautiful beads that might later be strung in some ordered sequences. There should be no early pressure for order and logic. The emphasis should be upon richness. The goal is to gather as many impressions, thoughts and insights as possible without feeling constrained by critical and analytical judgments. Electronic text, because of its fluidity and malleability, is a wonderful medium for writers and thinkers.

What are the basic elements of such a strategy and how can a computer help?
1. Pre-Writing

This is a wide open spaces, blue sky phase.The goal is to generate and collect as many ideas, words and fragments as possible. Better to avoid sentences and paragraphs. Good time to sketch and play and scribble. No performance pressures. It is helpful to think of filling up a bead tray. We hold off stringing the beads until much later.

The teacher may provide stimulating activities to "warm up" the students, or the students may take responsibility for this stage, collecting ideas in an electronic writing journal over time, for example.

During this stage students may make use of a program such as Inspiration™ to collect and play with words and ideas. The January 2003 issue of FNO outlined in some detail how cluster diagramming can support school research - "Inspired Investigations."

Generally speaking, this is a good time to stay nonlinear. As the word processor may push too hard, too early for an orderly progression of ideas, the focus on logic and coherence can actually contribute to "writer's block" and other problems.

Go to teacher workshop activity.
2. Enrichment & Incubation

Once students have made their first word sketches and started filling up their bead trays, they begin ranging a bit further afield, seeking additions. They may go on a beach walk . . . or a flight of fancy . . . or a fancy flight. They seek experiences to deepen and enrich their first efforts.

Some folks call these journeys of the imagination excursions. We allow our playful selves to explore and wander like children crossing a vast meadow. We open our selves to the many colors in the evening sky. We stir the soup pot of our subconscious so the best parts do not stick to the bottom. We cultivate a sense of wonder.

Go to teacher workshop activity.
3. First Writings

At this stage students begin stringing the beads they have collected. They start moving the bits and pieces around.

Not afraid to mix metaphors, we hop, skip and jump about to see which words fit with which others. This is a time to move towards collections of phrases and an occasional sentence, but we continue to keep the fragments in a "state of flux."

We begin to lay the pieces out in what starts to look like some order, but we are not bound by the sequence. We add to those ideas that invite our attention. We lose little time worrying over others. We do not sit and stare. We keep moving. We make every effort to suspend critical judgment here, waiting for a later stage to refine our language and our expression.

In some ways this expansion is like the swelling of an accordion as it is pulled apart and filled with air (in this case words and ideas). Later we shall compress and refine.

Go to teacher workshop activity.
4. Peer Review

Once students have pulled their ideas into some semblance of order, they begin to share what they are building with a group of peers who have been taught how to offer supportive and constructive audience reactions. This stage is useful only if the peers avoid strong handed advice and criticism.

Go to teacher workshop activity.
5. Additions & Alterations

Now students apply synthesis skills to modifying the elements of what they have collected. They are especially interested in adding ingredients to complete the picture they are drawing or the argument they are making. In some ways this stage is akin to finishing up a jigsaw puzzle. They have put enough together to see the outlines of the finished product, but there are still missing pieces and work to be done. This is the time to add richness, flavor, depth and color.

Go to teacher workshop activity.
6. Re-Writing:

The Six Traits of Effective Writing*

In this final stage we consider how we can add to the impact of our writing by reviewing each of the following:

* Ideas and Content
* Organization
* Voice
* Word Choice
* Sentence Fluency
* Conventions

Go to teacher workshop activity.

*Ruth Culham and Vicki Spandel, The Student Friendly Guide to Working with Traits at http://www.nwrel.org/assessment/
toolkit98/six.html

Assessment

Most states now ask students to demonstrate strong writing performance by responding to writing prompts that require imagination, logic and style.
North Carolina Standards for 8th Grade Language Arts

Eighth grade students use oral language, written language, and other media and technology for expressive, informational, argumentative, critical, and literary purposes. They continue to refine their study of language and grammar in order to speak and write effectively. Although emphasis in eighth grade is placed on using information for a specific task, students also:

* Express individual perspectives through analysis and personal response.
* Refine understanding and use of argument.
* Critically analyze print and non-print communication.
* Use effective sentence construction and edit for improvements in sentence formation, usage, mechanics, and spelling.
* Interpret and evaluate a wide range of literature.

If schools expect to growth in these skills, they must invest time and money in professional development that will build teacher capacity. Whether they stress new technologies or old ones, the key intervention is effective teaching.

How are schools doing? Consider the results from NAEP - the National Assessment of Educational Progress at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/writing/

Quoting from the Executive Summary of the 1998 Writing Assessment:

At grades 4, 8, and 12, the percentages of students performing at or above the Basic level of writing achievement were 84, 84, and 78 percent, respectively; the percentages who performed at or above the Proficient level were 23, 27, and 22 percent respectively. One percent of students each at grades 4, 8, and 12 performed at the highest achievement level, Advanced.

Back to June Cover

Credits: The photographs were shot by Jamie McKenzie .

Copyright Policy: Materials published in From Now On may be duplicated in hard copy format if unchanged in format and content for educational, nonprofit school district and university use only and may also be sent from person to person by e-mail. This copyright statement must be included. All other uses, transmissions and duplications are prohibited unless permission is granted expressly. Showing these pages remotely through frames is not permitted.

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Pedagogy Does Matter!

2005-02-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

Pedagogy Does Matter!

Pedagogy Does Matter!

By Jamie McKenzie

(about author)
© 2003, Jamie McKenzie, all rights reserved.

These are dangerous times for American schools as powerful outside forces impose changes poorly grounded in theory, research and practice.

In one speech, the Secretary of Education pretty much dismissed the importance of pedagogy.

A San Diego teacher works side by side with an individual student as he struggles for words to answer her challenging WebQuest questions.

Her personalized approach is pedagogy at its finest - acting for now as a guide on the side. She selects strategies to match student needs.

Education Week reported on June 19, 2002 that the Secretary of Education had questioned the importance of teachers learning pedagogy:

Paige Uses Report As a Rallying Cry
To Fix Teacher Ed.
Many schools of education have continued business as usual, focusing heavily on pedagogy, how to be a teacher, when the evidence cries out that what future teachers need most is a deeper understanding of the subject they'll be teaching, of how to monitor student progress, and how to help students who are falling behind," Mr. Paige told hundreds of state, school district, and higher education officials gathered here for a Department of Education conference on teacher-quality evaluation.

The implications of this statement are chilling, especially since a lack of attention to pedagogy (how teachers orchestrate classroom learning) explains why many children bog down in schools or drop out entirely. A lack of devotion to pedagogy also explains why new technologies have failed to realize their potential in many classrooms across the land.

The Secretary incorrectly defines pedagogy as "how to be a teacher." In other statements he has dismissed the "art" of teaching and argued for a scientific approach.

Roget's defines pedagogy as "The act, process, or art of imparting knowledge and skill."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language defines pedagogy as "The art or profession of teaching."

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards defines pedagogy as follows:

Content pedagogy refers to the pedagogical (teaching) skills teachers use to impart the specialized knowledge/content of their subject area(s). Effective teachers display a wide range of skills and abilities that lead to creating a learning environment where all students feel comfortable and are sure that they can succeed both academically and personally. This complex combination of skills and abilities is integrated in the professional teaching standards that also include essential knowledge, dispositions, and commitments that allow educators to practice at a high level. (See http://www.nbpts.org/)

It is because we failed to fund professional development and pretty much ignored pedagogy that many schools have suffered from the screensaver's disease and found little return on their technology investments.

A series of reports have identified a severe lack of professional development as a major cause of disappointing results, but even these reports define the task in terms of technology and software training rather than pedagogy.

Although state funding for technology-related staff development remains low, teachers across the country are saying that is exactly what they need. Fewer than half, 42 percent, of novice teachers report feeling well or very well prepared to use computers for instruction in their first year of teaching, according to the U.S. Department of Education's 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey, or SASS. And MDR data show that in 23 percent of schools across the country, at least half the teaching force was identified as "beginners" in using educational technology.

Quoted from Education Week, May 8, 2003, "Tracking Tech Trends." By Susan E. Ansell & Jennifer Park (Click for full report.)

Too often technology training has shown teachers how to spreadsheet or Powerpoint while failing to demonstrate how these tools might impact learning in their fifth grade classroom, their biology classroom or their art classroom. Schools have offered few courses that focus on classroom management issues or ways to customize learning to match the interests, skills and needs of the learners. We have seen too little focus on curriculum rich strategies.

We have too often shown teachers word processing without demonstrating how writing might improve with strategies like those outlined by FNO in a June, 2003 article, "Writing the Right Way" at http://fno.org/jun03/writing.html.

* Writing as Process
* Mind Mapping
* The Six Traits Approach

Even though a program like Inspiration™ makes a great companion to a word processor to support writing and thinking, because we tend to teach them to teachers separately, we miss out on much of the learning potential.

In contrast with the Secretary's demotion of pedagogy to lesser status, FNO takes the position that we need informed pedagogy now more than ever and that knowledge of content must be balanced with a solid grounding in effective teaching strategies, especially when we hope that teachers will dramatically shift the performance of students who have been failing or struggling.

Children are Not Hamburgers and Schools are Not Factories!

For several decades schools have been told by outsiders that we could turn around student performance by standardizing instruction and applying business (factory) concepts to schools. This notion is central to many of the strategies for reform imposed on schools by NCLB.

Fast food schooling is unhealthy for children.

Uniform, regimented teaching of carefully scripted lessons is heralded as the silver bullet to turn around the performance of disadvantaged children, even though we have mounting evidence that much of the data to support so-called "miracles" is doubtful. (See "Cooking the Education Books? Enron Accounting?" at http://www.nochildleft.com/2003/sum03wmd.html and "Fuzzy Math, Fuzzy Reading and Fuzzy Science" at http://www.nochildleft.com/2003/apr03fuzzy.html).

Fast food schooling is unhealthy for children.
This mechanistic approach to schooling is limited, simplistic and likely to damage millions of students since children are not hamburgers or widgets. Schools do not achieve impressive results by acting like factories or fast food restaurants.

Proponents of fast food schooling claim that poor children respond best to this approach, but the data they advance as proof is unconvincing.

Even though some large urban districts in California using this factory strategy have shown good results on standardized tests that are closely related to their commercial textbook programs, startling results achieved by teaching narrowly to these tests curiously did not reappear on the California results for NAEP (The National Assessment of Educational Progress) - a more difficult, more secure test. This failure hints of virtual rather than real gains.

Aspects of Pedagogy Worth Considering
Here we see the same San Diego teacher sitting in the middle of the classroom, surrounded by students.

Why does she do this?

When does she do this?

How does she manage?

An effective teachers must spend much time on strategic questions - pedagogy - how to manage and manage well, how to reach child individually and give her or him the lesson needed.

In a single class period, this teacher reached every student at least once.

The cluster diagram below offers a few dozen strategic questions as examples of pedagogy. A failure to address such questions reduces the likelihood that children will make impressive progress.

Click on the diagram to view a much larger version in a new window.

The above questions may be grouped into several major categories that help to show the importance and scope of pedagogy. Click on any category for an explanation.

* Needs Assessment - What learning is needed?
* Professional Growth - How can I improve my teaching?
* Classroom Culture - How do I cultivate the class culture for learning?
* Strategy - How do I teach to maximize results?
* Resource Management - How do I make do with what we have?
* Problem Solving - What could go wrong and how do I cope?
* Orchestration - How do I orchestrate all the different aspects of pedagogy?

Relating Pedagogy
to Smart Use of Technologies
and to Professional Development

For much of the past two decades we have mistakenly focused our energies on the learning of new software and the functions of new tools with too little attention to pedagogy - how to use those new tools effectively to maximize student learning while orchestrating all of the other aspects of daily classroom practice.

In this new century and new decade, many teachers and school leaders are awakening to the pre-eminent role pedagogy should play when designing programs and preparing teachers to deliver those programs effectively.

Those who design adult learning with the purpose of encouraging appropriate and robust use of new technologies should start their instructional design process by asking how they might help teachers learn strategic classroom practice.

Some would argue against this route, dusting off the discredited, insulting and simplistic idea of "teacher proof lessons" that are so highly scripted that "any old fool can get results."

In my own thirty-six years of teaching, I have never seen robotic teaching work to the benefit of students, but here we are once again in 2003 hearing false promises of reform based on such simplistic, factory models of schooling.

There are few short-cuts that lead to impressive student gains, unless one fudges numbers, teaches to narrowly-defined, insecure tests and ignores the lack of progress on secure tests. Another short-cut unworthy of educators is a system-wide failure to report dropout rates in an honest and accurate fashion or to make sure those students are not left behind or pushed into the street.

In the past decade schools were promised that the networking of schools combined with frequent use of new technologies would revolutionize classrooms and bring about a Renaissance of learning. We were led to believe that the purchase of good equipment would allow us to bypass the challenging demands of improving pedagogy. In some respects, technology was advanced as a short-cut, a packaged program, a silver bullet.

Three years ago, after attending a national conference promoting laptops for all students, I published an article in FNO, "The New New School Thing," critiquing the exaggerated claims of technology cheerleaders. The following table was included. (See http://fno.org/apr2000/newnew.html)

The Laptop Promise

If you buy a laptop for each student . . .

* Better writing
* Expanded knowledge
* Increased achievement - higher scores
* Improved skills for the modern workplace
* Enhanced learning & teaching efficiency
* Heightened motivation for all involved
* Enriched preparation for global citizenry
* Elevated problem-solving & decision-making
* Intensified student-centered learning
* Augmented teaming and cooperation

It is time for schools to recognize such promises as inflated marketing claims. If we want to see the outcomes listed in the table above, we must invest heavily in pedagogy and restrain our fondness for short-cuts, toys and silver bullets.

If we hope to see laptops, PDAs, printed books, calculators, questions or any other technologies used effectively, we must put pedagogy ahead of the technology cart.

Needs Assessment - What learning is needed?

We change student performance by figuring out what each student needs and which strategies will work to unlock patterns that have not been working. Good teachers are very good at diagnosis and the customization of instruction. They keep checking for understanding and they keep searching for the intervention that will enable each student to succeed. They do everything possible to give students good reasons to stay in school and they view each and every dropout as a personal failure. They don't shrug off dropouts as a minor issue. .

Back to the list.

Professional Growth - How can I improve my teaching?

Effective teachers cannot afford to rest or coast for very long because the children have a way of bringing a remarkable new set of challenges into the classroom each day. What worked with some students last year may fail this year. A teacher who stops adding to her or his repertoire of effective strategies is too much like a knife grown dull for lack of sharpening.

Back to the list.

Classroom Culture - How do I cultivate the class culture for learning?

While the importance of emotions and the social aspects of learning are rarely addressed by factory-style reformers, these aspects of classroom life are crucial. If a teacher does not create a culture that is safe, comfortable, encouraging and supportive, learning may not occur. The art of teaching includes the nurturing of group norms that allow learning to thrive. The science of teaching is less effective at reducing fears, freeing dreams and inspiring even disadvantaged students to reach for stars.

Back to the list.

Strategy - How do I teach to maximize results?

Effective teachers possess rich repertoires of instructional moves and techniques. They devote time to matching strategy to situation. But they also understand the trial-and-error aspects of helping students untangle patterns of failure and frustration. It is not a purely scientific process, as even great scientists like Marie Curie sometimes made great discoveries partially by accident (serendipity) and partially by perseverance over thousands of trials and tries. Strong teachers make sure their efforts to match technique to student are guided by intuition, empathy and some of the softer aspects of human knowing.

Back to the list.

Resource Management - How do I make do with what we have?

Shortages of resources are endemic in many classrooms and are often worse in poorly performing schools. Time is always in short supply. But there are many other important resources that can frustrate a teacher's good intentions. These may range from decent, current texts to paper, chalk, adequate heat and insulation from noise. The school may be short on leadership. Morale may be low because of outside threats, the flight of parents and children from the school and bad local press coverage. But good teachers learn to close their classroom doors and make good things happen for children despite these shortages, distractions or threats.

Back to the list.

Problem Solving - What could go wrong and how do I cope?

Life in classrooms is ripe with surprises, but not all of these surprises need to stall forward progress. Smart teachers try to anticipate what might go wrong and have backup plans ready just in case. If the computer network suddenly freezes and a lesson requiring Internet access is suddenly blocked, the teacher immediately asks students to open their class journals (print) and brainstorm questions to pursue once the network recovers. No problem.

Back to the list.

Orchestration - How do I orchestrate all the different aspects of pedagogy?

Some classrooms actually hum with a purposeful, productive energy. The teacher of such classes knows how to combine all of the elements of pedagogy mentioned here so that harmony, resonance and synergy result. Sports psychologists write of the ZONE champion athletes enter that makes remarkable performance possible. The same happens in classrooms when teachers are well schooled in pedagogy. They create a classroom ZONE that makes remarkable performance likely.

Writing, Technology, Pedagogy: What's Poetry Got To Do With It?

2005-02-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

Writing, Technology, Pedagogy: What's Poetry Got To Do With It?

tempeh

2005-01-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

Dom's Culture-Food of Asia in-site

Tempeh

Fresh Tempeh cultured for 24 hours at 30° C [80% humidity]

Tempeh [tem-pay] in the west, and Tempe [tèm-phè] in Indonesia.

Tempeh is a staple food in Indonesia, where it is traditionally prepared with soy beans or a certain variety of peanut fermented with mold, Rhizopus oligosporus. The cultured soybeans or nuts are bound together by a thick white mycelium of new mold-growth, to form a cake. Although in some western countries, a variety of legumes and cereal grains are sometimes used to prepare tempeh, soy bean is the common legume used in the preparation of tempeh.

Fresh tempeh has an earthy aroma, resembling a cross between mushrooms and fresh yeast. Deep-fat-fried tempeh [tempeh goreng] fried in coconut oil, is widely consumed in Indonesia. Tempeh goreng has a delicious slightly nutty flavour with subtle mushroom-like overtones. The texture of tempeh goreng has a desirable mouth feel. In Indonesia, tempeh based dishes are prepared in a variety of ways to create many wonderful nutritious meals. Tempeh is also used in a variety of dry food products. One product in particular, Tempeh Krupuk [kroo-pook], is similar to prawn chips, which include small pieces of tempeh distributed throughout each fluffy crisp-chip.

Traditional tempeh is said to be rich in Vitamin B-12, and natural antioxidants. One antioxidant in particular bio synthesized by organisms, is referred to as factor 2, which is said to be 600 times more potent than Vit. E. Some three natural occurring antibiotics produced by the mold have been discovered in tempeh. Some of the B group vitamins increase in comparison to unfermented soybeans. Tempeh also contains enzymes and free amino acids. Vit. B-12 found in Indonesian tempeh is believed to be bio synthesized by a non pathogenic strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae and quite possibly, there are other strains of organisms which produce Vit B-12 in symbiosis with molds and other bacteria of the tempeh ferment. Research suggests that the Vitamin B-12 of tempeh is the bio-active form[1], while other research suggests that it is the analogue [non bio-active form]. The biosynthesis of the particular form of Vit B-12, may depend on the culture and culture-conditions e.g., traditional procedure Vs commercial methods.

Traditionally, tempeh is prepared by initially boiling whole dry soybeans in fresh water. The heat source is removed and the beans are left to stand for approximately 16 hours. A natural fermentation process acidifies the beans. The soy beans are taken to a local river and the beans are placed in large woven bamboo basket. The baskets are submerged in shallow waters. The soy beans are then stomped under the feet, similar to squashing grapes in traditional wine making of former days. However, in this case, the procedure is performed to de-hull the beans, and the water current simultaneously takes away the floating hulls. The de-hulled soybeans remaining in the basket, are boiled for approx. 60 minutes in fresh water to partially cook the soybeans. The beans are strained, cooled and excess moisture is removed by spreading the beans over a table. Biang ragi [mother-culture], consisting of mold spores mainly from the Rhizopus oligosporus species, is mixed well with the beans to inoculate. Fresh banana leaves, which are pierced with long needles, to from small holes throughout the leaves, are first laid down on the surface of a table, rendered from lengths of bamboo strips. The inoculated soy beans are spread over the banana leaves to form approx. 10 cm [4 inch] layer. More pierced banana leaves are laid over the beans to seal the bed of inoculated soybeans and then weights are placed over the leaves, ensuring that the leaves are in direct contact with the inoculated beans.

After a 24 hour fermentation at room temperature at approx. 30° to 32° C [86° to 90° F], the soybeans become covered with a rich white mycelium, due to vigorous mold growth. The mold binds the beans together, forming a large bed of beans as a cake of fresh tempeh. The tempeh is cut into small workable pieces, which are ready for consumption, or sold at a local market. Heat is naturally generated during the maturation process, making tempeh a unique culture-food product. So when a fresh piece of tempeh is held, it feels warm with evidence of life.

Through modern intervention, today, perforated plastic bags are used to ferment tempeh replacing the banana-leaf technique of former days. Although, smaller tempeh producers may still use the lauru contact-leaf method, to inoculate partially cooked soy beans or peanuts, modern starter-cultures are often employed instead.

IMSA 21st Century Information Fluency Portal - how to do project work

2005-01-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

IMSA 21st Century Information Fluency Portal - Welcome to 21cif.imsa.edu

Hospitals in Singapore

2004-11-02T21:35:00.000-08:00

SNA - Helpful Links Hospitals in Singapore

Bad Ingredients -

2004-10-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Bad Ingredients

ProTeacher! Science Experiments

2004-09-24T03:13:00.000-07:00

ProTeacher! Science Experiments lesson plans for elementary school teachers in grades K-5 including Egg, energy activities, programs and thematic units, curriculum, classroom and teaching ideas

eGuide Singapore

2004-09-23T18:42:00.001-07:00

eGuide Singapore

Teacher parent store

2004-09-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

Class Results

The Teacher Parent Store
Address 1 Pasir Panjang Road #10-03 ALEXANDRA DISTRIPARK
Phone 62769830
Fax 62769832

Parent Teacher Store

2004-09-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

CDU BRIEFS Volume 1 Issue 3: "The Teacher Parent Store at Alexandra Distripark has lots of great ideas for bulletin boards, classroom decorations and activity charts. Catalogues were provided to each school. Can also call: 6276 9830"

Temasek Junior College Online Forums

2004-09-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

Temasek Junior College Online Forums

Royal Navy: Sea Diseases - scurvy

2004-09-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

Royal Navy: Sea Diseases

Scurvy
This was the scourge of sailors, right up to the end of the eighteenth century. It was so prevalent that it can be considered as one of the occupational diseases of seamen in those times. The incidence was largely dependent on the length of sea voyages and the long periods of blockades in wartime. It affected the men more than the officers, as the latter were able to supplement the meagre diet. On Vasco da Gama's voyage to discover a passage by the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies in 1497, 100 out of 160 men were lost from the disease. In Anson's voyages round the world, the Centurion in 1741 buried 292 men and had only 214 of her complement remaining; and in the Gloucester two thirds of the crew died. The great debt owed to the naval surgeon James Lind for his pioneer work in the prevention of scurvy is well known. Lind entered the Navy in 1739, and during his years at sea engaged upon a series of critical observations and experiments on the causation, prevention and treatment of the disease. Scurvy had of course been recognized for a long time before, and the value of fresh fruit, including oranges and lemons, and fresh vegetables as a cure had been recognized by various captains of ships as well as naval doctors. For instance, Sir Richard Hawkins at the close of the sixteenth century, and Captain Lancaster, employed by the East India Company in 1601, used lemon juice as a preventive; and Richard Woodall, a surgeon to the same company, in his book Surgeon's Mate advised the use of lemon juice as a preventive and cure. There was, however, no universal agreement on the cause or the means of prevention of scurvy, and agents such as humidity, polluted air and cold were all considered to be potent factors and as important as inadequate diet. The forms of treatment were also various. It was not until 1747 that Lind, while serving as a surgeon in the 74-gun ship Salisbury, carried out a controlled experiment - a model of its kind - that demonstrated once and for all that orange and lemon juices were specific in the treatment of scurvy. This work he elaborated, and recommended the means of prevention, and advised methods of preserving the juices of fruits and other foods for use at sea. In spite of this clear demonstration of the cause of scurvy, however, it was not until much later that Lind's recommendations were generally adopted. His handbook 'A Treatise on Scurvy' was published in 1754, but not until 40 years after were administrative measures taken by the Admiralty to put his recommendations into effect.

Photoalbum BW

2004-09-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

readme Photoalbum BW

SPGM photo album script

2004-09-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

SPGM (Simple Picture Gallery Manager), a free PHP picture gallery/photo album generator
Simple Picture Gallery Manager

SPGM is a PHP script that displays picture galleries on the web. It is intended to provide a very simple way to set up online photo albums: creating directories, filling them with pictures and uploading to your website... That is what it's all about !

It is massively configurable though, and you can tune the layout just as much as you want to match your exact website's design. Several cool features are also included, while keeping in mind that the program aims to be as lightweight, simple and portable as possible. Don't expect automatic thumbnail generation, advanced search functions, nor per-gallery full statistics then.

SPGM generates XHTML 1.0 Strict compliant code and makes extensive use of CSS stylesheets to render galleries. It only requires PHP version 4 or higher and does not rely on image manipulation libraries (like GD), or any database system whatsoever.

A few features:

* gallery/picture captioning
* unlimited sub-galleries
* per gallery complete configuration (inheritance supported)
* several sort options for both pictures and galleries
* random/fixed thumbnails used for gallery previews
* new pictures highlighting
* slideshow mode
* easy integration into websites
* multi-language support (25 languages are currently provided)
* flavors (themes) available for use

SPGM is free for use (distributed under the GPL license), very easy to set up and manage... It makes you just a few clicks away from getting your photo album on the web.

Inside Track Media - Right before your eyes

2004-09-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Inside Track Media - Right before your eyes
View-IT! - Product Information

View-IT! is an easy-to-use program that helps you create your own Internet-ready immersive 3D photogallery website - in minutes.

It's amazing how short a time it takes to display your photographs, scanned images or other designs, customise the decor and create links to other websites and for email. And just how quickly you can publish and upload a 3D website of your own.

File sizes are small and, unlike most 3D systems for the Web, View-IT! photogalleries are quick to download and perfectly suited for full screen display.

Choose from eight distinct construction styles in various sizes.

Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail

* Edit all eight 3D environments from the same interface.
* No coding required.
* Automatic resizing and conversion of imported JPEG, GIF and BMP images.
* Zoom in close to select the best position for your pictures.
* Zoom out to help you structure the story you're telling.
* Use the starter library of background textures.
* Preview your work - it's seeing the environment just as your visitors will see it, moving around as you do in a computer game.
* Extend your 3D photogallery or link to others and to 2D web pages online.
* Undemanding hardware requirements - runs on most PCs.

Intelliscript.net - BLOG script

2004-09-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Intelliscript.net - CGI Script Descriptions: "Blog - $6.95 Add to Cart

Screen shot of Blog

The BLOG script makes use of Blosxom, a free Perl script which reads text files and displays them as weblogs. The shortcoming of Blosxom is that there is no way to post new blogs to a web server via a browser. That's where this BLOG script comes in. It intelligently 'guesses' where to save the blog and keeps tracks of edits. Delete posts, move posts, edit posts from any browser. When edits are made, blogs are renamed, not deleted so you can view the history of your edits any time.

This script is an inexpensive way to start your blogging. You'll love Blosxom for it's versatility and the many plugins that are already available.

NEW: Post to this Blog script using a simple email message. If you can't connect to the web to post, but have email access, just send a quick note to your blog and it will post it. Password protected so your blogs are safe."

Intelliscript.net - VirtualTourVirtualTour

2004-09-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Intelliscript.net - CGI Script Descriptions

VirtualTourVirtualTour - $0.00 Add to Cart

Screen shot of VirtualTour

Ever want to show your place to the world? This is a fun and easy way to make a tour. Just take some pictures around your house with your digital camera. Stand in your front hall, take a picture, turn 90 degrees, take another picture, turn 90 degrees, take a third picture, and so on-- all through your house. Upload them to your web server, and your tour is almost ready.

The actual process of assembling the tour together can be a little confusing... I need to improve the process so it's more intuitive. The directions are laid out in the script, so when you download it, take a look... if you're still confused then email me and I'll try to get you started.

Each room can have a description, as well as five exits. The exits are displayed as buttons: North, South, East, West, and Door. Each room can also have a hyperlink which points to anywhere on the internet.

This script can keep track of visitors, allowing you to 'hide' objects in rooms that can be picked up; it remembers what room returning visitors were in, what they had in their posession, and more. The potential is good for making interactive games.

Link EngineLink Engine

2004-09-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Intelliscript.net - CGI Script Descriptions
Link EngineLink Engine - $7.99 Add to Cart

Everyone likes to exchange links, but keeping track of links isn't always the easiest thing to do.

It's easy now!

From any browser login to the admin screen and add as many links as you want to as many categories as you want. The script will let you search the links list, or display it in a simple one page format. You can also display a "Link of the Day" on any page with a server side include.

To try the admin screen, login with username admin and password password.

Photo Album - Free download of CGI and Perl scripts

2004-09-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

Photo Album - Free download of CGI and Perl scripts