Rubric Edu 542 Book Review 1 1
Rubric Edu 542 Book Review 1 1
Rubric Edu 542 Book Review 1 1
Select/read a book) that meets the criteria of a professional level research-based book related to teaching and learning and
brain research and/or toxic stress.
You must include the key ideas in the texts and articles posted in BB in your discussion (Big Ideas, learning Sciences, P21
etc.)
The key is to synthesize the information and encourage others to read the book. Link the information to the Big Idea of
increasing student learning and the Science of Learning as well as to the theories we are revisiting in this course.
Do not recreate or try to teach the entire book. Others can read the book if they are interested.
Your job is to synthesize the information and present it in a compelling and professional manner.
Use the notions of Depth and Complexity in your review.
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activities and openness to interact with more peers and other adults on a teamwork basis –
such as via collective effort projects – could help forge such a relationship between student
and adult.
Point 3 – ACE has epigenetic consequences and “stress” can be toxic to the neurobiology
of the patient, this is especially true of young people or children, who are still undergoing
growth processes and bodily change, both physically and mentally
In a classroom setting, this can only be equated to the need to create a manageable
stress-level for young students, especially those who have been assessed as perhaps
being at higher risk of domestic issues leaking into the classroom. This may be exercised in
several ways, but perhaps the most salient is in creating a homework assignment process
that allows the student to feel freer with timing and less reliant on developing bad habits
through stress – late-nighters, cramming, etc.
Essential Idea 1:
Question: How Dr. Burke Harris first makes her conclusions regarding ACE when she notices a pattern
does learning forming with her patients. She gathers evidence through observational data, suggesting
happen? that her learning process in influenced through experiential learning, accumulating
How does the
knowledge through the various experiences that guide her via a body of observational data.
book content
support long Idea 2: Dr. Burke Harris notices correlations between the social/environmental stressors
term learning? her patients have endured – particularly psychological trauma from youth –indicate an
Include the empirical learning model as well – guided through experimentation and feedback-
Learning adjustment.
Sciences/other
articles.
Evaluate the A Christian worldview aligns in some respects with Dr. Burke Harris’ findings insofar that it
content in grants egalitarianism to the entire process. Dr. Burke Harris argues that there is nothing
relationship to a specific about either CLASS nor RACE that factors into her assessment of a patient’s
Christian potentiality to have trauma affect their biological reaction. The trauma faced by her early
worldview.
Describe and
patient, whose stunted growth she attributed to childhood and domestic issues, indicating a
explain areas of sort of epigenetic influence that social/domestic/psychological environment issues have on
compatibility and gene expression – is irrespective to the individual’s Latino heritage, nor to his lower-class
areas of socioeconomic status.
differences?
Link the book Dr. Burke Harris also pledges to keep updating her ACE theory, adjusting it as new
content to information comes to her. This suggests a long-term learning process that changes with the
one/several of patients she has. In such a case, there is an aspect of social cognitive learning, by which
the four knowledge is constructed and continually reconstructed through a group dynamic. A
theories we are
studying in this
trauma by one patient may not have the exact empirical effect that’s identical when
course. Provide experienced by a different patient. Via the patient’s perspective, the solutions may not be
a baked in and may have to be socially situated.
comprehensive
overview of how Additionally, however, the research into ACE shows that the classical conditioning model
the content of theory is extremely powerful and many of these patients that Burke Harris is encountering
this book falls have been “conditioned” to behave/act/ and express themselves in certain ways through
into the category having been conditioned by their pasts. It is extremely difficult to break this type of
of one or more conditioning, though her research seems to indicate it is necessary for good health
of these four
theories.
outcomes of her patients, especially the younger ones. Burke Harris does, unfortunately,
write in her book that for older adults, especially those having been conditioned a long time
ago, that this “unlearning” is far more tedious, strenuous, and less likely to result in
changed behaviors than for individuals whose conditioning was more recent or closer to
their childhoods.
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their traumas and a methodology from which to tackle it.
Describe1-3 Big Idea #1 – Learners do not passively absorb information through their environment.
Big Ideas (see This perspective holds true to the constructivist notion of knowledge that indicate an
articles) that elaboration needed between the experience and the digestion of the information. Burke
seem to link to / Harris may likely agree with this principle, as she finds that many of her patients are
support your
book content.
patently unaware of how their childhood traumas are actively affecting their daily
Explain in full inhabitations – how it changes their behaviors, and thereby their physical healths and
detailed manner biological expressions of health. That is to say that there is a lack of awareness which
with specific demands and elaboration for “learning” to take control. If they learn to address these
examples. psychosocial issues, then perhaps they can learn to take control of the trauma that is
affecting them and guiding their behaviors unconsciously or unaware to them.
Your critical
thinking should Big Idea #2 - Learners are more effective when they relate new information to prior
come through knowledge. Burke Harris would definitely agree with this principle as well in her book. She
your report.
suggests a process of “resilience research” – which shows how pediatricians and
educators can help children and their families heal themselves. Part of that is bringing
situational awareness to the forefront and having them relate their knowledge of the past to
what they know now.
Big Idea #3 – Learners future learnings are influenced by the consequences that follow
their behaviors. Perhaps most salient in Burke Harris’ “healing process” is the idea that
awareness of the consequences of new behaviors with influence learning in the future – or
more specifically, the idea that once a change is instituted, this will affect all future
behaviors in such a way that it will not need to be “relearned.” This is a hopeful ideation,
though, as sometimes history tends to repeat itself and “breaking a cycle” is a difficult part
of the human condition.
Which Definitely the most important learning strategy that is coming through is elaboration.
strategies of Elaboration involves connecting information to pre-existing knowledge and describing
the Six things in detail, presenting situational awareness. Elaboration adds to existing memory and
effective the learning strategy of elaborative interrogation (a sort of Socratic method approach) has
learning
strategies (on
students (patients) questioning the material knowledge they have. This type off learning
brain and process would be essential for Burke Harris’ patients as it might be for my students – as it
learning involves all 3 of the big ideas presented above.
research) do
you see coming Another learning principle explored in Burke Harris book is the idea that learning happens
through your when people accepts challenging but doable goals. Clearly, the idea that a past childhood
book’s content? event can shape one’s current behavior and ability to function is a difficult, even
monumental idea to accept, but once accepted the ability to “learn” new behaviors and new
ways of coping and dealing with life going forward, is actually achievable.
How has this This reading has helped double-down on my belief that learning should involve a journey
reading helped from micro-localized small-group learning up to larger scale ‘classroom-wide’ learning,
you develop a where more connections are gradually drawn that help elaborate on the overall greater
deeper meanings of a lesson/text/principle by tying it into set knowledge bases and expanding
conceptual
knowledge of
them to ‘things we don’t know we know.’
this content?
Refer to deeper In a typical lesson plan for me, when it comes to surface learning, I typically expect
learning in students to take notes on what they are reading and what is being read in a classroom.
Learning These notes can be just used as an aid at first, to help students get a greater
Sciences article. understanding of what is being read. An example might be an excerpt of Shakespeare, in
which most of the language requires some sort of “annotative” or marginal note-taking that
will help explain the forms of language, “translating” them into something more palatable to
students. The next stage of learning, or deeper learning, is engaged with doing a self-
questioning session in which the students come up with “questions” they have about the
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text, and write those down. Finally, there is the transfer learning, in which the students are
placed into small groups and ask one another their questions. At the end, those students
then present the question that they find is the most difficult to answer to the instruction, and
bigger “classroom wide” discussion is engaged. This helps the students build from self-
learning, to small-group-learning, towards classroom-wide learning.
Worldview: I came into the study of education with a bias regarding the nature of epistemology. I had
Explain how maintained a very perennialist view of education, believing that perhaps the best way of
your personal relaying information. I held a belief that there are objective truths in the world and the job of
worldview is the teacher was to merely find a channel by which to neutrally deliver those truths. How the
supported or
changed after
student themselves ultimately dealt with that information was their choice and my job was
doing this study. done. However, since reading about the various methodologies and instructional
Provide explicit frameworks developed in the last half century to help teach students who are not “on the
evidence. same level” as others – whether that be because of a learning disability, English language
issues, or a lack of student preparation – I have begun to address my biases concerning
the nature of objective learning content. I see that my perspective may very much be
ingrained in a Western standpoint, and that a more comprehensive, or cumulative, look at
pedagogy is needed given the idea that there is much more affecting how people develop
(psychologically, and physically), as suggested by the reading.
The very idea central to Nadine Burke Harris’ book is the idea that young people need to
How does this become aware of their past traumas and adversities in order to functional as able-bodied
information help health individuals in the future, and that the “core” science of biological pediatriacal care is
students not even to really “heal” these students.
develop a
positive growth
mindset for Out of the 10 key principles of learning, these two are the most important for both patients
learning? and students to imbibe: the need to acquire and apply “habits of mind,” and continue to
How does it help develop these habits of mind in a positive emotional climate, because only then can
students “deeper learning” begin to take hold, in a way – a conditioning of the good kind. The
develop GRIT? positive emotional climate is what needs to be “constructed” via a collaborative and holistic
process of pupil and teacher, much like Burke Harris attempt to forge a collaborate and
holistic process with doctor and patient.
Indeed, such a process intrinsically helps students develop grit, as they are forced to do
serious self-analysis, sometimes even of a life altering (and perspective altering) variety.
Achieving this will ease the path for more ingrained learning in the future.
Explain how this This research has expanded by limited and more empirical view of the learning process, as
research has it has suggested that there are many factors that play into the development of a young
helped move adult’s retention and awareness of what they are learning. The Burke Harris book was at
you from novice times somewhat disheartening however, as it left some negativity as to the ability for
to expert
professional
people to change that are long conditioned into a certain way of thinking. However, it has
educator. produced some positive values in my approach – such as the idea that teaching needs to
constantly “curl back” to the fundamentals and have students reassess what they know and
why they know it through both the teacher’s effort and a growing awareness within
themselves. This more comprehensive look at the learning process, as well as the belief
that a purely perennialist, objectivist teaching approach may not be perfectly suitable, I
believe, has led me to move from a novice to a more worldly and aware professional
educator, at least in mindset for now.
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Articles attached are here for your convenience. See others posted in BB
1. Learners do not passively absorb information from the environment; rather, they actively work to make sense of
their environment and construct their own, unique understandings of the world. This perspective pervades much of
cognitive theory; for instance, we see it in constructivists’ notion of knowledge construction and in information processing
theorists’ concept of elaboration. But it is also shared by the active information seeking that some behaviorist describe.
2. Learning is more likely to occur when learners pay attention to the information to be learned. We see this idea in
information processing theorists’ dual-store model of memory, in social cognitive theorist’s four essential conditions for
modeling to occur, and in behaviorists’ concept of an orienting response.
3. Learners learn more effectively when they relate new information to prior knowledge. Such learning may take the
form of chaining two or more previously acquired S-R associations (a Piagetian perspective), or drawing on an existing
script to interpret a new situation (an idea from schema theory).
4. The close contiguity of events increases the likelihood that learners will associate those events with one another.
The concept of contiguity has historically been associated with behaviorist views of both classical and operant conditioning.
But it also plays a prominent role in contemporary views of information processing: Two pieces of information are most
likely to be associated in long-term memory if they have been in working memory at the same time.
5. Learners’ future learning and performance are influenced by the consequences that follow their behaviors. In
some cases, these consequences may be external (e.g., concrete reinforcers, teacher feedback); in other cases, they may
be internal (e.g., feelings of satisfaction, causal attributions).
6. Hints about how to think or behave often facilitate performance. Hints take difference guises in different Isms; for
instance, they may be retrieval cues (information processing theory), scaffolding (the sociocultural perspective), or
discriminative stimuli (behaviorism).
7. Learning and development are fostered when learners are challenged to perform increasingly more difficult tasks
or to think in increasingly more sophisticated ways. We see this idea in concepts from many theories; for example, we
find it in Piaget’s disequilibrium. Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, Kohlberg’s moral dilemmas, and behaviorists’
shaping. We see it, too, in information processing theorists’ belief that learners develop more complex cognitive strategies
only when environmental events challenge them to do so, as well as in social cognitivists’ belief that self-efficacy is better
enhanced when learners succeed at challenging rather than easy tasks.
8. Learners benefit from hearing or reading the ideas of others. As noted earlier, many people conceptualize information
processing theory as being based on the notion that information is transmitted from the outside world rather than
constructed by the learner. This premise underlies much of behaviorism as well; we see it not only in programmed
instruction but also in the view that organisms are conditioned by environmental circumstances. Yet this Big Idea is hardly
unique to objectivist perspectives. Even social constructivists acknowledge that group-constructed knowledge does not
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occur all at one sitting; for instance, the physical, life, and social sciences have evolved over the years (in some cases, over
the centuries) through a process of studying, testing, modifying, and sometimes rejecting the ideas of those who have gone
before.
9. Learning is enhanced when learners engage in self-evaluation. We see this principle in behaviorists’ programmed
instruction, in information processing theory’s concept of comprehension monitoring, and in social cognitive theory’s view of
self-regulation.
10. Learning is best assessed by using an assessment instrument that reflects the goals of instruction (i.e., an
instrument that has content validity). In some cases, this instrument may be a traditional paper-pencil test (a strategy
often attributed to behaviorist and/or information processing perspectives). In other cases, a teacher can assure greater
content validity by using authentic assessment (a strategy often attributed to the constructivist and perspectives).
A focus on Big Ideas has at least three advantages over a focus on Isms. First, Big Ideas are far less controversial than
Isms; most theorists agree with them to some extent. (As an example, when I changed the title of the “Constructivism” chapter
in my educational psychology textbook to “Knowledge Construction” --thus changing it from an Ism to a Big Idea--I received
more consistently positive comments from reviewers.) Second, Big Ideas typically describe general principles of learning and/or
instruction that lend themselves readily to concrete classroom applications; in contrast, experts do not always agree regarding
the specific applications of various Isms (e.g., see Anderson et al. [1997], or contrast the analyses of Spivey [1997] and Greeno
et al. [1996]).
Finally, a focus on Big Ideas allows us to draw from two or more Isms simultaneously when developing classroom
applications—perhaps to analyze the effectiveness of authentic activities (a notion for which both constructivism and situated
perspectives take credit) from the perspective of generalization (as behaviorists describe it), or to talk about teacher scaffolding
(a sociocultural concept) when discussing ways to promote effective study strategies (strategies derived largely from information
processing theory)
1. Learning is an activity carried out by the learner. Teachers can’t just deliver curriculum and hope it sinks in. The trick is how to get
learners to want to learn, to know how to learn, and to be mentally active. Then when teachers introduce new concepts and processes, the
learners are ready to tackle it. Strategies to build make connections, student agency, motivation and engagement are all important. Teachers
need to have content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge based on how students learn.
2. Optimal learning takes prior knowledge into account. Every educator knows this. However, it’s very hard to address if there is a push to
cover the curriculum in preparation for tests. One big step of “meeting students where they are” is knowing where students are in terms of prior
knowledge and helping them to move from there to the next step. Mistakes are important to help identify prior knowledge (and prior
misconceptions). We have to ask ourselves, if we know this is important, why are we pushing so hard to cover the curriculum?
3. Learning requires the integration of knowledge structures. Children are getting information and ideas from all over the place, not just
the classroom. They may be making sense of it in their own way, or it may just feel like a cluttered closet. One of the jobs of educators is to
help them organize knowledge within domains and across domains. There are lots of implications for educational practice, but two jump out at
me. First, competencies can be used to organize domain structures to have meaning. That’s what New Hampshire tried to do with their
graduation competencies. Standards are just too small to be organizing structures. Second, interdisciplinary learning is important and schools
need to be organized to support it. It’s likely that our domain silos, which often get more rigid in high school, are constraining learning.
4. Optimally, learning balances the acquisition of concepts, skills, and meta-cognitive competence. Next time someone argues that
facts are all they care about and we shouldn’t be teaching concepts and meta-cognitive skills, it’s worth reminding them that if facts matter, we
should turn to the facts of cognitive research. Understanding one of these without the others leaves students vulnerable when dealing with real
problems in the real world. If you don’t have deep understanding of the concept, how do you know which process to use? If you can’t take a
step back and see how you are dealing with a problem, how do you figure out what you need to change your behavior or build your knowledge
to learn it? Being competent to take on the challenges of college and careers means having all three: concepts, skills, and meta-cognitive
skills.
5. Learning optimally builds up complex knowledge structures by organizing more basic pieces of knowledge in a hierarchical
way. Individuals have different knowledge structures based on individual preference and previous experiences. This is another thing educators
will have to bear in mind in understanding the learner and their progression. This finding is particularly important for how students learn
procedures and apply them to complex problems. We cluster what we know and need to be able to pull out the sections we need for problem-
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solving. I have to say, Idid wonder about this one — Is it always hierarchical? Does this finding hold true for every culture? Might culture shape
how information is organized with webs, circles or other constructs possibly in place?
6. Optimally, learning can utilize structures in the external world for organizing knowledge structures in the mind. It all starts with
explicit learning goals. The job of educators is to organize the learning activities and the learning environment to help students create
structures to organize their learning. This is a huge topic and relates as much to school design (are schedules developed to support strong
project- or problem-learning?) as it does to design of curriculum and how the classroom is organized. Remember, it’s not just content.
Knowledge structures need to supporting concepts, skills, and meta-cognition.
7. Learning is constrained by capacity limitations of the human information-processing architecture. This finding is about working
memory and how knowledge moves into long-term memory. Essentially, “working memory is a bottleneck” and we need to understand that
and consider it in any design of schools, curriculum, and classroom practices. Getting knowledge firmly into long-term memory is critically
important so that the working memory can be open to dealing with concepts and interdisciplinary learning when students go deeper. This
finding is about equitably ensuring that all students have access to deeper learning. (FYI, chapter two in Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital
Age by Hess and Saxberg has great information on this that could be helpful as a discussion tool.)
There are a number of practices that can help, including chunking, spacing over time so there is repetition, and simplifying learning materials.
There are also a number of strategies based on students’ emotional learning that can help reduce the working memory bottleneck. Students
feeling safe, warm relationships, the ability to have some control over their actions – these can help too.
8. Learning results from a dynamic interplay of emotion, motivation, and cognition. Students simply can’t be broken up into silos the
way we can in organizations and domains of knowledge. Whenever we attempt to do so, we are going to be frustrated with the outcome. The
problem is that researchers focus on specific areas, often pretty narrow in scope. Their professional environment demands this of them.
Therefore, the demand for integrating the research and truly understanding the dynamics of emotion, motivation, and cognition is going to rest
firmly in the world of educators and educator organizations.
9. Optimal learning builds up transferrable knowledge structures. I don’t think there has been much discussion in the world of
competency education about what the learning sciences tell us about transferring knowledge. We want students to have flexible expertise in
using what they know to solve real-world problems. The authors in the paper suggest that we can teach in ways to prepare students for
transferring knowledge. For example, they state that a precondition for transfer of knowledge is that students understand “the common deep-
structure underlying two problem situations rather than the superficial differences.” I don’t know enough about this to have any opinions about
how we go forward. I do think we should spend more time on this cornerstone finding.
10. Learning requires time and effort. Jeff Howard explained to me a long, long time ago that efficacy is the ability to determine how much
time and effort is needed to be successful and the willpower to apply it. It has stayed with me because students simply have to apply more time
and effort to learn things in different domains. Students with gaps or places where knowledge never worked its way into long-term memory and
can be accessed as routine are going to have to apply more time and effort. This is obviously rooted in what we now short-hand as the “growth
mindset.” It’s one of the keys, along with other character traits, that we need to cultivate in students for them to be successful.
In the next article on learning sciences, I’ll highlight more from the paper The Nature of Learning.
There are, however, key principles that emerge when reviewing the literature on relevancy, engagement, and contemporary
theory about intelligence and learning. While not comprehensive, the following list can can help educators take a research-
backed approach to supporting learners:
1. Learning is developmental. Based on the physical development of the brain, there’s a logical progression
to how people develop skills and learning habits.
2. Individuals learn differently. People learn at their own pace, with different methods and strategies for
acquiring and processing information.
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3. People learn what is personally meaningful to them. Motivation increases when people can see how
new knowledge and skills can be applied to their personal life and work.
4. New knowledge is built on current knowledge. Accurate prior knowledge provides a strong foundation for
learning; however, inaccurate or insufficient prior knowledge can make learning more difficult. People learn
by connecting newly acquired information with prior knowledge. If those connections are well organized,
knowledge can be retrieved and applied more readily.
5. Learning occurs through social interaction. When learning offers opportunities for active response and
exchange among peers and experts, it is more effective than passive listening, reading, or watching media in
isolation.
6. People learn when they accept challenging but achievable goals. Within this “zone of proximal
development,” learners are often able to exceed the limitations of their prior knowledge and skill levels
through collaborative work with more knowledgeable peers and experts.
7. Learners master basic and component skills through practice. The skills necessary to complete a more
complex tasks are mastered when practice is routine and applied in various contexts. Timely and accurate
feedback is essential to this process.
9. Learning is stronger and more permanent in a positive emotional climate. When students feel safe,
connected to their peers and leaders, and in touch with goals, they are in supportive emotional climates.
10. Learning is influenced by the total environment. Air quality, light, room color, furnishings – all of these
things affect learners. They are also affected by their interactions with others, physiological needs, the
nature of their personal goals, and the organizational goals set by schools and employers. Each
learning environment – classrooms, schools, neighborhoods, cities, nations – influences learners’
perspectives about their lives and their hopes.