Depict: A Tool to Represent Classroom Scenarios

A functional version of Depict can be found at www.lessonsketch.orgThis document describes design features of Depict, a web based software that allows users to represent classroom scenarios using comics. The document provides the conceptual bases of the design and a description of the user interface. The document also sketches out a direction for further development.This work has been done with support from NSF grants ESI-0353285 and DRL- 0918425 to Patricio Herbst.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87949/1/Depict_2011.pdf-

An Instrumental Co-Genesis Approach to Developing an Online Practice-based Environment for Teacher Education

LessonSketch is an online, multimedia-based learning environment that supports practice-based teacher education. A work in progress since the development of its initial components in 2008 and its launch in 2011, LessonSketch has served more than 3,000 users, consisting mainly of teacher educators, in-service teachers, and pre-service teachers. In this paper, we show how we have applied an instrumental co-genesis approach to the design of LessonSketch in order to address its users’ changing needs and their difficulties using LessonSketch. The instrumental co-genesis approach consists of multiple design-utilization cycles, each of which helps us understand how users’ needs develop and how they deal with difficulties using LessonSketch, thus informing how we improve the environment in the following cycle. Through this work, we have developed a number of design principles that can be useful for the development of online learning environments that support practice-based teacher education.The work reported in this paper is supported by NSF grants ESI-0353285 and DRL-0918425 to Patricio Herbst and DRL- 1316241 to Daniel Chazan. Opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110700/1/SITE2015-ChieuBoileauHerbst.pdf-1Description of SITE2015-ChieuBoileauHerbst.pdf : Main Articl

Approximating the Practice of Mathematics Teaching: What Learning Can Web-based, Multimedia Storyboarding Software Enable?

We build on Grossman's notion of approximations of practice as scaled-down representations of practice that enable preservice teachers (PSTs) to learn to teach by doing. We propose the use of media rich, collaborative web-authoring tools for PSTs to create, complete, or edit scenarios in which they practice particular activities of teaching such as explaining a mathematics concept or reviewing students' work. We explain in what way these environments can be used to fit the notion of approximations of practice. We illustrate that contention by describing our experience using the web-based software Depict (in the LessonSketch platform) in the teaching of secondary mathematics methods. This use of multimedia scenarios combines the advantages of visual and video-based approaches to the study of practice with those approaches that ask the PSTs to create scenarios (e.g., lesson plays). We argue the value of integrating this storyboarding web software in a larger environment where scenarios can be created collaboratively, annotated, and commented on in forums.The work reported here has been done with the support of National Science Foundation grants ESI-0353285 and DRL- 0918425 to P. Herbst and D. Chazan.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108386/1/Approximating_Practice_by_Storyboarding_R.pdf-1Description of Approximating_Practice_by_Storyboarding_R.pdf : Main articl

Designing an Intelligent Teaching Simulator for Learning to Teach by Practicing

Learning to teach is difficult for prospective teachers because of the complex nature of the work of teaching. Practicing (Lampert 2010), interacting with the practice of teaching from a first-person perspective, may give them a unique experience in learning to teach. Computer-based simulators in which the apprentice teacher can interact with virtual students may be used to create that kind of experience. In this paper, we show how to apply techniques in artificial intelligence to design an intelligent learning environment. We show how to model the apprentice’s decision-making and resources that can help him or her improve the practice of teaching.Work reported in this article has been done with the support of the U. S. National Science Foundation through grant ESI-0353285 to P. Herbst. All opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation. Both authors contributed equally to this work.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78018/1/Intelligent_tutor-vmcph.pd

Impact of Critical Events in an Animated Classroom Story on Teacher Learners’ Online Comments

We examined the effect of reference to critical events in an animated classroom story on the quality of teachers’ comments in an online learning experience. We analyzed data using systemic functional linguistics and logistic regression. We found statistically significant evidence that participants made more reflective and evaluative comments and proposed more alternative teaching moves when they referenced critical events than when they did not. The study contributes to validating a theoretical distinction between reference point and reference object in the literature on video assisted, online teacher education: While attached reference objects help learners be more focused and productive, those qualities differ depending on reference points included in those reference objects. This study also provides preliminary evidence to support the practice of selecting clips that deviate from instructional norms when designing video-based professional learning opportunities.The work reported in this paper was done with the support of NSF grants ESI-0353285 and DRL-0918425 to Patricio Herbst.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97551/1/Critical_Events_AERA2013_ChieuAaronHerbst.pdf-

Effect of an Animated Classroom Story Embedded in Online Discussion on Helping Mathematics Teachers Learn to Notice

Rich-media representations of teaching using animated cartoons can be effective to stimulate teachers’ discussion about practice, and hence help them learn productively from each other about their profession. Our research aims to design web-based interactive rich-media virtual settings for teachers to learn to do the practice of teaching. For that purpose, we seek a set of operational design principles that could be used to optimally exploit web-based interactive rich-media technologies. By operational design principles, we mean guidelines that facilitate decision-making in the creation of learning conditions. In this paper, we report on a study of the effect of embedded animated clips of instructional practice in online interactive forum/chat to support teachers in learning to notice and interpret critical events of classroom interactions. The study shows that both novice and experienced teachers actively participated in discussion and effectively noticed important events of teaching practice. The main findings include: (a) embedding animated representations of teaching in forum/chat, by serving as a common point of reference, helps both novice and experienced teachers effectively notice and discuss noteworthy events in teaching practice; (b) forum suits novice teachers better than chat, and (c) both forum and chat suit experienced teachers in different ways. This study is a critical step in a design-based research agenda toward the building of more complex virtual settings for teacher education.The work reported in this paper is supported by NSF grant ESI-0353285 to Patricio Herbst. Opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78020/1/Embedded_animation-vmcph&mw.pd

DIRECTING FOCUS AND ENABLING INQUIRY WITH REPRESENTATIONS OF PRACTICE: WRITTEN CASES, STORYBOARDS, AND TEACHER EDUCATION

We discuss affordances and liabilities of using a storyboard to depict a written case of a teacher’s dilemma that involves race, opportunity to learn, and student community. We rely on reflections by the teacher educator who authored the written case and later depicted it as a storyboard to use it with his preservice teachers (PSTs). The analysis involved, first, organizing the signifiers in each of the two representations of practice into what we call concentric spheres of stratification, and secondly, contrasting the various meanings attributed to signifiers by both the author and his PSTs. We suggest that the resources of storyboard allow for more inquiry and alternative narratives than is available from the single modality of text in the written case.Work reported here has been done with the support of NSF grant DRL- 1316241 to D. Chazan and P. Herbst. All opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the foundation.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143005/1/HerbstBoileauClarketalPMENA17.pdfDescription of HerbstBoileauClarketalPMENA17.pdf : Main Articl

Using comics-based representations of teaching, and technology, to bring practice to teacher education courses

This article situates comic-based representations of teaching in the long history of tensions between theory and practice in teacher education. The article argues that comics can be semiotic resources in learning to teach and suggests how information technologies can support experiences with comics in university mathematics methods courses that a) help learners see the mathematical work of teaching in lessons they observe, b) allow candidates to explore tactical decision making in teaching, and c) support pre-service teachers in rehearsing classroom interactions.Work described in this paper has been done with support of NSF grant ESI-0353285 to Herbst and Chazan. All opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Foundation.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78017/4/PHetal-Comics_RoT_share.pd

COFALE: An Authoring System for Creating Web-based Adaptive Learning Environments Supporting Cognitive Flexibility

Abstract—Constructivism is a learning theory that states that people learn by actively constructing their own knowledge, based on prior knowledge. A significant number of ICT-based constructivist learning systems have been proposed in recent years. A critical problem related to the design and use of this kind of systems has been the lack of a practical means to facilitate the instructional design process. Our research aims to help designing truly constructivist and adaptive learning environments. Our approach is based on a set of operational criteria for certain aspects of constructivism: We use these criteria as a useful pedagogical framework to provide tools and guidelines facilitating the instructional design process. One facet often mentioned as being strongly relevant to constructivism is cognitive flexibility. This paper present

Constructivist learning : an operational approach for designing adaptive learning environments supporting cognitive flexibility/

Constructivism is a learning theory that states that people learn by actively constructing their own knowledge, based on prior knowledge. Many different perspectives exist on constructivist pedagogical principles and on how to apply them to instructional design. It is thus not only difficult to evaluate the conformity of existing learning systems with constructivist principles, it is also quite hard to ensure that a new learning system being designed will ultimately facilitate and stimulate constructivist learning. A critical characteristic often mentioned in learning systems is adaptability. That is, the ability to provide a learning experience that is continuously tailored to the needs of the individual learner. The present research aims to help designing truly constructivist and adaptive learning systems. For that purpose, it is necessary to clarify what constructivism entails in an operational manner: I propose a set of criteria for certain aspects of constructivism and use it both as guidelines for designing learning systems and for evaluating the conformity of learning systems with these constructivist principles. One facet often mentioned as being strongly relevant to constructivism is cognitive flexibility, meaning the ability to spontaneously restructure one's knowledge, in many ways, in adaptive response to radically changing situational demands. The claim I make in the present thesis is that the operational approach I proposed makes the design and use of adaptive learning environments supporting cognitive flexibility straightforward and effective. More specifically, the dissertation makes four main contributions to the interdisciplinary field of learning and e-Learning technology. Firstly, the thesis proposes operational criteria for cognitive flexibility and presents both justifications and examples of their use. The set of criteria may be used in different instructional situations for designing and evaluating conditions of learning. Secondly, on the basis of the criteria for cognitive flexibility, the thesis proposes an operational instructional design process and shows an example of its use. The process may also be applied in a variety of instructional situations for the design and use of learning systems fostering cognitive flexibility. Thirdly, the thesis introduces a new, open-source, domain-independent, Web-based adaptive e-Learning platform, named COFALE, and illustrates an example of its use. The platform may be used for designing adaptive learning systems supporting cognitive flexibility in various domains. And fourthly, the thesis reports on a preliminary evaluation of the example handled by COFALE with actual learners. The study provides a certain number of encouraging results for fostering cognitive flexibility by means of ICT-based learning conditions.(FSA 3)--UCL, 200