Crazy by design : brain research and adolescence : implications for classroom teaching, teacher learning and possibilities of teacher research

This research aims to influence teacher understandings of brain research and its implications for teaching adolescents by addressing the following issues: 1. What are the implications of changes in the adolescent brain for teaching and teachers and the adolescent learning environment? 2. How can teachers better accommodate knowledge of the brain into their understandings and pedagogical practices for adolescents? 3. What can the use of a teacher-as-researcher model contribute to teacher learning in understanding brain research and the adolescent learning environment? To address these questions, this research aimed to: 1. Design, implement and evaluate a teacher learning package that would fill a gap in teacher knowledge by strengthening teacher knowledge of current brain research and deepen teacher understanding of the connection between this research and the adolescent learning environment. 2. Support a team of teachers to use an action research methodology to apply brain-research-informed pedagogical practices, learning tools and ‘essential understandings’ of adolescents in mainstream adolescent educational learning environments to improve educational experience and success. 3. Develop a further teacher learning package that: i) Builds the capacity of teachers outside of my research, and leaders of teachers, to implement action research processes in their own context to improve practice. ii) Describes how teachers at Purple High School (PHS) worked as teacher researchers to use brain research to improve the educational experience and success of adolescent learners, and what they learned about action research as teacher learning. This research addresses these aims and questions by telling the story of three inter-related projects. It engaged with three areas: with neuroscience, with teacher-as-researcher and with the teacher-learning literature and research and built connections to teacher praxis

Developmental Bootstrapping of AIs

Although some current AIs surpass human abilities in closed artificial worlds such as board games, their abilities in the real world are limited. They make strange mistakes and do not notice them. They cannot be instructed easily, fail to use common sense, and lack curiosity. They do not make good collaborators. Mainstream approaches for creating AIs are the traditional manually-constructed symbolic AI approach and generative and deep learning AI approaches including large language models (LLMs). These systems are not well suited for creating robust and trustworthy AIs. Although it is outside of the mainstream, the developmental bootstrapping approach has more potential. In developmental bootstrapping, AIs develop competences like human children do. They start with innate competences. They interact with the environment and learn from their interactions. They incrementally extend their innate competences with self-developed competences. They interact and learn from people and establish perceptual, cognitive, and common grounding. They acquire the competences they need through bootstrapping. However, developmental robotics has not yet produced AIs with robust adult-level competences. Projects have typically stopped at the Toddler Barrier corresponding to human infant development at about two years of age, before their speech is fluent. They also do not bridge the Reading Barrier, to skillfully and skeptically draw on the socially developed information resources that power current LLMs. The next competences in human cognitive development involve intrinsic motivation, imitation learning, imagination, coordination, and communication. This position paper lays out the logic, prospects, gaps, and challenges for extending the practice of developmental bootstrapping to acquire further competences and create robust, resilient, and human-compatible AIs.Comment: 102 pages, 29 figure

The Effect of Metacognitive and Self-Regulatory Strategy Instruction on Impoverished Students\u27 Assessment Achievement in Physics

The purpose of this nonequivalent control group design study was to evaluate the effectiveness of metacognitive and self-regulatory strategy use on the assessment achievement of 215 9th-grade, residential physics students from low socioeconomic status (low-SES) backgrounds. Students from low-SES backgrounds often lack the self-regulatory habits and metacognitive strategies to improve academic performance. In an effort to increase these scores and to increase student self-regulation and metacognition with regard to achievement in physics, this study investigated the use of metacognitive and self-regulatory strategies specifically as they apply to students\u27 use of their own assessment data. Traditionally, student performance data is used by adults to inform instructional and curricular decisions. However, students are rarely given or asked to evaluate their own performance data. Moreover, students are not shown how to use this data to plan for or inform their own learning. It was found that students in the overall and algebra-ready treatment groups performed significantly better than their control group peers. These results are favorable for inclusion of strategies involving self-regulation and metacognition in secondary physics classrooms. Although these results may be applicable across residential, impoverished populations, further research is needed with non-residential populations

The Giving Tree Academy

A proposal for a new preschool based in Pomona, California, targeted towards children from low-income backgrounds. Includes extensive research on preschool nationwide, the state of California, and in Pomona. Within the paper a new preschool curriculum and specific teacher practices are discussed. Intended as a model for a new school. or to be adapted for use in educational policy

A society of mind approach to cognition and metacognition in a cognitive architecture

This thesis investigates the concept of mind as a control system using the "Society of Agents" metaphor. "Society of Agents" describes collective behaviours of simple and intelligent agents. "Society of Mind" is more than a collection of task-oriented and deliberative agents; it is a powerful concept for mind research and can benefit from the use of metacognition. The aim is to develop a self configurable computational model using the concept of metacognition. A six tiered SMCA (Society of Mind Cognitive Architecture) control model is designed that relies on a society of agents operating using metrics associated with the principles of artificial economics in animal cognition. This research investigates the concept of metacognition as a powerful catalyst for control, unify and self-reflection. Metacognition is used on BDI models with respect to planning, reasoning, decision making, self reflection, problem solving, learning and the general process of cognition to improve performance.One perspective on how to develop metacognition in a SMCA model is based on the differentiation between metacognitive strategies and metacomponents or metacognitive aids. Metacognitive strategies denote activities such as metacomphrension (remedial action) and metamanagement (self management) and schema training (meaning full learning over cognitive structures). Metacomponents are aids for the representation of thoughts. To develop an efficient, intelligent and optimal agent through the use of metacognition requires the design of a multiple layered control model which includes simple to complex levels of agent action and behaviours. This SMCA model has designed and implemented for six layers which includes reflexive, reactive, deliberative (BDI), learning (Q-Ieamer), metacontrol and metacognition layers

Perceptions, difficulties and working memory capacity related to mathematics performance

There is a general view that students of not have a positive attitude towards mathematics. In general, mathematics is considered a ‘difficult’ subject and sometimes there is a lack of enjoyment. Mathematics is often portrayed as being abstract and unrelated to life. In the light of the key role mathematics has in the curriculum, the aim of this study is to explore the difficulties and self-perceptions of students aged about 10-12 in Pakistan as they undertake their studies in mathematics. The study uses a survey of student perceptions, working with samples of students drawn from both Urdu and English medium schools (N = 813). In addition, working memory capacity of those in grade 5 (age about 10) was measured and information was gained about their performance in mathematics examinations. The data is analysed to consider how their self-perceptions related to their experiences in learning mathematics which varies with age, language background and gender. Any relationships between these self perceptions, mathematics marks and measured working memory capacity are explored as well. The observed outcomes can be used to inform the agenda for action or further study. It was found that the vast majority (English medium and Urdu medium) appreciate the role and the importance of studies in mathematics although topics like geometry, fractions, topics with life applications, statistics are causing problems. It is almost certain that these topics place demands on working memory which make understanding very difficult. In the Urdu medium schools, the curriculum in grade 6 is clearly causing major problems while, in both systems, pressures for success based on examination performance have generated a complete industry of private tutors. Many of the gender differences can be interpreted in terms of the social roles in Pakistani society. However, girls do seem more positive and more committed in relation to their studies in mathematics. The study has revealed two major issues which need careful consideration. One is the whole issue of memorisation and understanding. The goal of meaningful learning must be stressed more if positive attitudes are to be retained. The whole issue of making the mathematics studied become related in some way to the lifestyle of the learner seems very important but this is not easy without overloading working memory. In considering both of these issues, the critical role of assessment has to be addressed: if assessment offers rewards almost entirely for the recall and correct execution of mathematical procedures, then this will be reflected in textbooks and teaching approaches. Along with curriculum design and teaching approaches which are consistent with the known limitations of working memory, assessment is perhaps the single most important issue to be considered. Very significant correlations were found for grade 5 students when their measured working memory capacity was related to their mathematics examination performance. Indeed, the correlation value for Urdu medium students is the highest such correlation which has been found in any discipline. This suggests major curriculum design problems in the national syllabus for Urdu medium schools as well as assessment problems. The study has pinpointed many areas of success along with specific areas where there are serious problems. In this way, an agenda for future research and action has been described

School Choice, Youth Voice: How Diverse Student Policy Actors Experience High School Choice Policy

School choice research is abundant, but rarely incorporates students’ experiences or perspectives. This study investigates a diverse group of students’ school choice experiences as they applied to, gained admission to and enrolled in high school in Chicago Public Schools, which offers over 130 options. Adapting Ball and colleagues’ (2012) concept of policy actor positionality, we analyzed the role of students’ developmental and social statuses in students’ school choice experiences. Students’ policy encounters were developmentally consistent, but their admissions results and subsequent academic trajectories diverged by their socioeconomic status. We discuss these findings’ developmental and equity implications for school choice policy

Journey to Refuge: Understanding Refugees, Exploring Trauma, and Best Practices for Newcomers and Schools

Pre-K through 12th grade schools within the United States have become much more diverse in recent years. Schools are now commonly not only diverse because of diverse students born in the United States, but also have many immigrant students. A growing number of these immigrant students are resettled children who have refugee status. In schools, these recent immigrants are called newcomers. This book is a culmination of research and anecdotal experiences regarding the refugee issue as it pertains to these students in American schools and schools elsewhere in the world. Scholars, policy makers, educators, those who work in the refugee field, artists, musicians, and others have come together to provide this resource of fifteen chapters that address three areas regarding the refugee student. This information is designed to help educators and volunteers who work with newcomer students and includes a) what it means to be a refugee, b) how the newcomer student may be affected by trauma, and c) best practices for the classroom. Additionally, fifteen spotlight sections highlight valuable resources, ideas, or organizations that may assist schools and educators who work with newcomer students. This book goes alongside a documentary film called Refuge in the Heartland, which the editor co-directed and is available on YouTube, and was produced by the Kansas State University College of Education. The authors and contributors of this book have direct experience in working with refugees, newcomer students, traumatized individuals, or in teacher preparation programs. The work of former students of 40 universities is represented in this text, as well as many other non-profit organizations. The artwork was done by students at Valley Center Middle School in Valley Center, Kansas and by their teacher, Marie Taylor, a graduate of the KSU College of Education Art Education Program. This book is dedicated to the children who leave a refugee camp halfway across the world on a hot summer day dressed in shorts, a T-shirt, and flip flips, and whose airplane lands on a ten-degree day in a snowy, cold place that is unlike anything they have ever experienced.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1026/thumbnail.jp