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Beyond Teaching Methods: A Complexity Approach
Abstract
A complexivist perspective to teaching critiques the commonplace teaching "methods" and illuminates alternative approaches to teaching and teacher preparation. Focusing on system growth, the mutual influence of systems on one another, and nonlinear connectedness of systems, this paper defines four important components to teaching: A need for mutual influence among teachers, students, the content being taught and the curriculum; enculturation into a scholarly community; reflection on the part of teachers and students; and a need for teacher improvisation. The implication of these components for teacher preparation is then examined.
... For example, how a preservice teacher approaches their practicum depends in part on the values and policies of their school division and teacher education program. Likewise, the learning that students and teachers do in their classrooms shapes the culture and climate of their school systems (Burns & Knox, 2011;Ricca, 2012). This multidirectional impact aligns with the extant literature on professional learning: teachers do not engage in these processes in isolation. ...
... At times, bioecological systems theory and similar models of nested systems have been criticized for seeming to arbitrarily isolate discrete 'chunks' of society (Manning, 2017). Critically, therefore, we did not create artificial separations between the various system levels: the levels articulated by Bronfenbrenner (1979) are interconnected and interpenetrating (Fenwick et al., 2011;Ricca, 2012). We adopted a systems theory lens to analyze teachers' experiences and how those impacts interacted with each other throughout the system strata to form teachers' overall approach to education within the PLC. ...
... Likewise, we observed connections between participants' willingness and their perception of system-level support: teachers may engage because design has system-level value, or attune to whether various levels support their individual professional learning goals. As Ricca (2012) observed, 'it is true that individuals make up classrooms, which make up schools, which make up society; and so the individual can be found within society. However, it is also true that society can be found within the individual ' (p. ...
... The mutuality of teacher, students, environment and knowledge are highlighted through teaching and learning approaches based in the PHT, contrasting with 'adding' complexity concepts within the transfer model of learning (Ricca, 2012). Morin calls for educational practice to move beyond current ideas of linear skill development as the basis of learning, to a complexitybased understanding of learning as the perpetual and iterative becoming of learners in relationship with-in phenomena (1999). ...
... Davis (2008) uses ellipses to similarly represent spatial and discursive arenas with corresponding temporalities. The use of nested concentricity has been critiqued as limited with regard to the complexity of phenomena (Barad, 2007;Bateson, 2019;Ricca, 2012), a view that considers it problematic as a fixed and essentialised representation. I argue that the use of spherical concentricity here is dynamic and adaptive, through patterning the arenas, categories and conceptualisations of place, matter and meaning that are negotiated, configured and reconfigured through our relationality with-in phenomena. ...
... It was evident that many of the students could be considered to be 'complexity natives', with cognitive/conative/affective capacities already calibrating with multidimensionality, fluidity and change. In addition, many were motivated towards a more integrated, less disjunctive and reductionist approach to their education (Ricca, 2012). In response to these observations, I introduced the PHT and Complexity Patterning approach as a meta-curricular knowledge. ...
A Patterning Approach to Complexity Thinking and Understanding for
Students: A Case Study
Shae L. Brown
Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia
Abstract
Complexity thinking and understanding are vital skills for young people in these times of uncertainty and change. Such skills contribute to resilience and capacities for adaptivity and innovation. Within my teaching practice I have found students to be aware of complex dynamics, uncertainty and change, both in their lives and in the world. However, the current curriculum lacks language and process to conceptualise, articulate and develop complexity understanding. To address this problem, I developed and introduced a patterns-based design and process to a cohort of Australian secondary students. Comprising flowform patterning together with ecological metaphors, the design forms a conceptual language and practical process for thinking about, understanding and engaging with complex phenomena and change. Together these capacities are described here as complexity competence. Implemented initially to engage with time as a complex phenomenon, the design is described as the Patterns of Humantime (PHT), and the process of implementation as Complexity Patterning. Implementation during the development phase demonstrated the design’s capacity as a way to understand time as a complex phenomenon, as well as facilitating a relational and identity development approach to learning. In more recent research workshops with American undergraduate Liberal Studies students, the PHT design showed to be effective for understanding complexity and indicated the design’s capacity as a patterning process for engaging in collaborative projects in complex situations of diversity, change and uncertainty. Avenues to develop curriculum and evaluation materials, as well as professional development workshops, are being explored.
... Because of this ambiguity of boundaries and expanding on Ricca's (2008) definition, an inquiry's enframing generally blends itself, the researcher, the research, and the complex system(s) being studied into an inquiry as seen in Figure 2. The inquiry's design was left out of the diagram since the enframing process, itself being complex, implies the possibility of the inquiry's design emerging rather than being completed prior to doing the research. Complexity Theory, Agency, Risk---taking, and Practice As part of Ricca's (2012) work examining complexity theory and its implications for commonplace educational practice, he offered three critiques; (1) planning and execution of lessons are unsupportable, (2) traditional methods of content delivery are insufficient, and (3) the complex interactions needed for learning between the student, the teacher, and the discipline are often missing. Additionally, Jonas--- Simpson, Mitchell, and Cross (2015) used a complexity theory lens to express their concern with learning experiences. ...
... If Ricca's (2012) critiques were inverted three actionable principles would be generated: (1) creation and execution of pre---planned lessons should be avoided or at least questioned, (2) non---commonplace content delivery must be achieved, and (3) the teacher, students, and the discipline must continually interact with each other-where continually is defined by Vaill (1996): "recurring at short intervals" and "never comes (or is regarded as never coming) to an end" (p.5). These three principles describe complex learning environments where the students are agents of independent action contributing to how learning objectives, content delivery, and learning interactions are achieved rather than organisms primarily reacting to external forces. ...
... Also, a non---commonplace (Ricca, 2012) course design can cause anxiety in some students. These students viewed the design of the class as being dramatically different from any other course they had experienced. ...
Students learn best when teachers get out of the way. Unfortunately, university classrooms continue to be intensely teacher-centric, are driven by the teacher’s agenda and calendar, and embrace simple models rather complex alternatives. These simple types of learning environments frustrate students’ development of the risk-taking and choice making confidence they need in the workplace. Bain (2004) makes the point that environments embracing choice as a priority, welcoming risk taking, and nurturing students who make mistakes, are better at preparing students for professional success. In this paper, we intend to provide context to the conversation about how learning-risks and agency impact and promote the individual growth of the student when the teacher gets out of the way.Combining a Rapid Assessment Process (RAP) (Beebe, 2001) informed by Action Research (AR) (Stringer, 2007; Schön, 1983; Argyris, 1993) we devised an experiment to determine if a university course would invite more student growth when the environment changed from being teacher-centric with highly structured assignments and critical assessments, to one that embraces the tenets of complexity theory. The purpose of this approach was an attempt to challenge the status quo; to show how complex interactions between risk-taking, agency, learning culture, teacher-facilitator-mentors, peers, coursework, and outcomes are important to students’ preparation for successful professional work. To accomplish this we experimented within a software development course at a large university in the northwestern United States and found students appeared more prepared to move on to the professional workplace when they had experienced risk taking and agency in a learning environment based on complexity theory precepts.
... Although availability of higher education is clearly present via the Internet, what is not as clear are the pedagogical approaches offered to students in these rapidly developing courses and programs. Current educational experiences for many students and teachers have been informed by a content driven, teacher as expert pedagogy that has created generations of learners who look to experts to tell them what they need to know and how they should learn what is needed [3] [4] [5]. Informed by Tyler [6] and advanced by behaviourist thinking, the content driven approach typically predefines learning objectives, preselects learning material, and arranges content in linear sequences for standardized delivery. ...
... Curriculum informed by complexity thinking may foster provocative and divergent thinking, deep understanding, and innovative insights that emerge in community discussions [28] [29] [30] . Complexity teaching requires an active , learner-centered approach where students and teachers influence each other's emerging understandings [5] [13]. According to Bonk [31], participatory learning is a central concept in the second global transformation—the shift from education that is content based, behaviorally evaluated, and hierarchical to complexity inspired education that is concept-based, emergent, and participatory— where all people share in each other's learning. ...
... We are all coming together from a different place to spend time together in a shared quest for insights and emergent learning. Complexity Pedagogy: Terms and Definitions Here are some definitions of ideas (informed by the authors [5] [14] [28] [30] [34]) that describe learners' experiences as part of a collaborative community of inquiry. Reflection: A process of contemplation about one's thinking and actions in specific situations in order to better understand the pros and cons of different ways of thinking and acting. ...
This paper describes the kind of engagement and emergent learning that happened in three different sections of a graduate nursing course. Three nursing educators used an e-learning platform called Daagu that was developed by faculty guided by complexity pedagogy. A total of 43 students were enrolled in the full credit foundations course in theory and philosophy. Authors describe two specific instances of emergent learning: one was expressed by students in relation to a particular resource (article, TedTalk, YouTube, Poem) or discussion, and the second is in relation to specific “aha moments” or shifts in understanding that changed student attitudes and actions. Quotes of emergent learning provide a source of narrative data for conversing about and developing quality e-learning platforms for students and educators.
... Learners are not incomplete beings, but cognitive agents whose universes are always and already seamless even if they are never fixed or finished" (Davis, 2004, p. 130). When acting as a guide on the side, the teacher's role is to nurture a learning organization (Senge, 2006), "to facilitate students' interaction with the material and with each other in their knowledge-producing endeavor" (King, 1993), to focus students' intellectual energy on the active investigation of structures and relationships instead of passively accepting someone else's story (Postman & Weingartner, 1969), and to allow complex properties to emerge as the result of members' interaction and synergies (Ricca, 2012). In such an approach, "teaching tends to be conceived in terms of chains of perturbation and construal in which the teacher attempts to interpret the learner's actual interpretations to decide on the next prompt, and so on" (Davis, 2004, p. 133). ...
... A central challenge for tutors in teaching research methods is to enable students to act as researchers themselves: by performing background literature review, conducting experiments, and engaging in informed debate (Sharples et al., 2014). A noncommonplace course design can drive some students out of their comfort zones (Barney & Maughan, 2015;Ricca, 2012). Our approach to experiential learning was not a complete replacement of traditional approaches, but it did offer students the authentic experience of being researchers themselves, which goes to the very core of what research is all about, and why one might find it a fascinating field of study. ...
... The design of this course was based on the epistemological belief that student groups are complex living systems, learning organisms with emergent properties (Davis & Sumara, 2006;Osberg, 2005;Ricca, 2012). An effective way to nurture a learning organization of this type is to provide a facilitator who prioritizes relationship development and sustaining connectedness among group members (Hutchings, 2015). ...
In this paper, we describe a case study of an undergraduate course on research methodology, in which lecture was reduced to a minimum and replaced with experiential learning activities. The course design was project-based and spiraled through four phases: a mini-lecture on a given research method, an “early practice” activity, and “reflection on practice” tutor-guided small group collaborations which led to deeper understanding of the given research method. This particular course design constitutes a paradigm shift in comparison to the predominant in Greek higher education didactic pedagogical model. How this paradigm shift was received and experienced by the participating students? In order to get rich insights into the lived experiences of the participants (N=15), we adopted a blended qualitative research approach: thematic analysis combined with students’ critical reflections on their experience, aiming to produce a thick description of our intervention. The course design and implementation positioned students and their tutors as knowledgeable actors able to contribute research insights through their transactions.
... Although shifting somewhat, our typical educational approaches, especially in North America, are still largely informed by assumptions that teachers have knowledge that they dispense to learners in carefully constructed learning activities and sequenced content modules aimed at moving students toward teacher-defined outcomes, albeit defined as learning outcomes (Doll, 1993(Doll, , 2008(Doll, , 2012Ricca, 2012;Williams, Karousou, & Mackness, 2011). Learners, in traditional educational programs, are evaluated according to how well they master the teacher-defined outcomes, and in our experience, students have become excellent consumers of teacher-defined content. ...
... The traditional approach in teaching has been analyzed and critiqued by numerous educators and scholars (see for example, Doll, 2008;Doll, Fleener, Trueit, & St. Julien, 2008;Kalantzis & Cope, 2010;Ricca, 2012). The importance of the critiques are relevant in this paper because many e-learning courses and mobile apps are still modeled on prescribed outcomes, and teacher-defined content/curricula that assume students will learn what they are told and that the learning will make a difference in their life and work experiences. ...
... Amid the growth of e-learning options there are strident calls for change in the pedagogy informing educators (Doll at al., 2008;Gueldenzoph & Chiarelott, 2002;Fullan & Langworthy, 2014;Hung, 2014;Ricca, 2012). Many students and educators want a different way of teaching-learning-a way that is more engaged, active, distributed, equitable, meaningful, and creative. ...
Educators are being challenged to develop new pedagogies and e-learning platforms for engaging students, especially in higher education. Traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS), such as Moodle and Webct, have not, we suggest, offered sufficient innovation consistent with the new pedagogies required for education in the 21 st century. Current authors collaborated on a project to develop a new teaching-learning platform inspired by complexity pedagogy. Authors present the story of Daagu (original spelling is Dagu) to situate the e-learning platform within complexity thinking and extant curricular theory. Complexity pedagogy is placed in relationship with androgogy and heutogogy, as well as constructivism and connectivism. We briefly describe the complexity e-learning platform that disrupts traditional e-learning approaches by focusing on patterns of relating, diversity, conversation, reflection, and emergence among groups of learners.
... There are numerous complexity scholars and educational theorists who have influenced our thinking and teaching. [1,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] Complexity thinking fosters provocative and divergent thinking, deep understanding, and innovative insights that co-emerge in community discussions. [35][36][37] Difference is valued and leveraged in complexity arenas such that questions and different understandings come forth in unexpected ways. ...
... Complexity teaching requires an active, learner-centered approach where students and teachers influence each other's emerging understandings. [27,40] There are numerous resources for pursuing a deeper understanding of how complexity thinking can inform education. [28,40] Fundamental principles from these complexity theorists/educators that influenced our actions as educators include the following: ...
... [27,40] There are numerous resources for pursuing a deeper understanding of how complexity thinking can inform education. [28,40] Fundamental principles from these complexity theorists/educators that influenced our actions as educators include the following: ...
Objective: Nine nursing faculty explored the effectiveness of teaching undergraduate and graduate nursing courses using a complexity-based pedagogy with an e-learning platform. Complexity pedagogy requires a commitment by educators to reside within a networked community of teachers-learners where all participants contribute to an organically growing curriculum over the course of study. Methods: The approach is non-linear and student-centered. Faculty co-developed course outlines, resources for teaching learning, and regularly connected over a two-year time frame to mentor each other, strategize, and share resources. Individual faculty first wrote about their experiences of e-learning with complexity pedagogy and then collaborated to generate this descriptive report. Results: Faculty reported enhanced student-student engagement and higher quality critical thinking than experienced previously with traditional e-learning platforms. Conclusions: This article suggests complexity pedagogy offers quality education and merits further exploration.LEARNING As a group of nurse educators we collaborated in order to describe and discern insights about our shared experiences of using complexity pedagogy [1] with an e-learning platform. Our teaching with complexity pedagogy happened in undergraduate and graduate nursing courses, and in project work with health professionals over a two-year period. All nine of us used an e-learning platform called Daagu that was developed by educators at York University, Canada in order to support faculty who wanted a non-linear, networked platform for engaged teaching-learning activities. The purpose of this paper is to describe our experiences with complexity pedagogy and to offer insights about possibilities for meaningful change in nursing education.
... Dewey uses the biological metaphor of growth to demonstrate learning and increasing complexity of the system -of the learner [13] . The growth or learning arises from the continual integration and mutual influence between persons and environment, as the learners bring forth the meanings of their experience [14] . ...
... Complexity science is described as an ontology informing a multitude of disciplines in the sciences, arts, and humanities [32] . There are many excellent sources that contribute to the expanding awareness of this science of relationships and possibility [14,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39] . In general, complexity science involves several key ideas that have wide appeal and applicability across disciplines. ...
... Specific concepts affiliated with complexity are: self-organization/autopoietic, emergence, unpredictability/non-linearity, and recursiveness [32,39] . Ricca [14] proposes that "complex systems have three inter-related hallmarks: growth, mutual influence, and non-linearity" (p.32). Self-organization is described differently by different authors. ...
This paper addresses innovations in nursing education that build on ideas from various educational theorists as well as principles of conceptual and narrative pedagogy. Authors inter-relate principles and theory from complexity science within a planned and actual nursing program to demonstrate how narrative, conceptual learning, reflection, and complexity science can come to life in nursing education. Specific processes informing the new nursing pedagogy are described: emergence with diversity, recursion/patterning, and transformative insights. Examples from a planned undergraduate curriculum and a graduate qualitative research course are provided. The complexity-inspired curriculum supports a teaching-learning environment that is student-centred, critical, generative, and inclusive.
... For example, complexity curriculum concepts such as Doll's 4 Rs (richness, recursion, relations, and rigor) [3,4] and the notion of perturbation [5] can open students to the edge of their abilities rather than facilitating or making easy their experience; it is through perturbation that students' thinking grows [6, p. 33]. Diversity, emergence, curiosity, creativity, perturbation, richness, recursion, relations, rigor, and passion all align with a complexity thinking approach to teaching and learning [3,[7][8][9][10]. ...
... The idea of creating spaces of possibility for learning together surfaced and resurfaced at our planning meetings and continued to emerge during our online communications about how we believed the workshop might unfold. Oriented by complexity thinking we are comfortable with nonlinear processes, ambiguity of learning outcomes, and distributed control and decisionmaking [8][9][10]. We are also inspired by the belief that a successful collectivity is not just more intelligent than the smartest of its members, but that it presents occasions for all its members to be smarter-that is, to be capable of actions, interpretations, and conclusions that none would achieve on her or his own [7, p. 136]. ...
... In contrast to andragogy (self-directed learning) and heutagogy (self-determined learning), complexity pedagogy (relational learning) supports emergent learning in a collective [10,23,25]. We purposely set up the activities for our workshop to facilitate emergent learning, that is, new learning that emerges from the collective conversations and activities. ...
Many educators are looking for new ways to engage students and each other in order to enrich curriculum and the teaching-learning process. We describe an example of how we enacted teaching-learning approaches through the insights of complexity thinking, an approach that supports the emergence of new possibilities for teaching-learning in the classroom and online. Our story begins with an occasion to meet with 10 nursing colleagues in a three-hour workshop using four activities that engaged learning about complexity thinking and pedagogy. Guiding concepts for the collaborative workshop were nonlinearity, distributed decision-making, divergent thinking, self-organization, emergence, and creative exploration. The workshop approach considered critical questions to spark our collective inquiry. We asked, "What is emergent learning?" and "How do we, as educators and learners, engage a community so that new learning surfaces?" We integrated the arts, creative play, and perturbations within a complexity approach.
... As Gell-Mann (1994, p.17) pointed out 'Even the term CAS has different meanings for different researchers', partly explaining this with the light-hearted observation that 'a scientist would rather use someone else's toothbrush than another scientist's terminology'. Ricca (2012) also rightly notes that in any list of CAS properties, the individual properties themselves are mutually influential, so understanding them as atomised, distinct descriptors is not possible. Some higher resolution CAS definitions include long lists of properties which can be difficult to reconcile with other similar lists. ...
... He explains the distinction between these two interpretations positing that merely containing agents which adapt is no guarantee that a system will adapt. Davis & Sumara, (2006), Mason (2008), Morrison, (2008), Newell (2008, Radford (2008), Ricca (2012) and Sullivan (2009), among others, have drawn on CAS framings from complexity sciences to describe and discuss CAS features in the field of education. Though no agreed definition has emerged from these syntheses, similarities in their depictions indicate some coalescence around a number of underlying attributes which I posit are captured usefully by Davis and Sumara's (2006) list of necessary qualities for complex phenomenon: 1. Self-organisation: Complex systems/unities spontaneously arise as the actions of autonomous agents come to be interlinked and co-dependent. ...
This paper discusses the legitimacy of framing school classrooms as complex adaptive systems (CASs) with the aim of advancing discourse about the extent to which systems within education can be usefully designated as complex. Perspectives differ on criteria for applying a complexity framing to human systems, a consequence of the lack of any single definition of complexity theory, or agreement on the framing of CAS in human networks. However, the literature on complexity and education appears to both open (ajar) and close the door on descriptions and theoretical treatment of classrooms as CASs, and as a site for complexity-sensitive empirical research. The paper begins by presenting an overview of complexity discourse with respect to education, articulates conceptual framings for CAS and classrooms then moves on to advance the principal arguments in opposition to a conception of classrooms as CASs. Arguments from those in the field who are receptive, albeit tentatively, to applying a CAS lens to classroom systems are then explained. The paper concludes that whilst these arguments have merit, the legitimacy or otherwise of framing classrooms as CASs hinges to some extent on how both classrooms and CASs are framed. Finally, a primer is presented for an empirical complexity-sensitive classroom study undertaken in July 2020, findings from which will be published later this year.
... The same trend has also appeared in education literature, where complexity-informed analyses supported alternative approaches to research, teaching or curriculum development (e.g. Fleener, 2000;Hetherington, 2013;Ricca, 2012). However, descriptions and the use of NDS concepts have stayed at the metaphorical level. ...
... The research took place almost one year after the time they had been taught the relevant matter. For the depended measures two tests were implemented, which have been developed and used in the related literature (Tsitsipis, et al., 2010;2012). Test 1 (Time 1) was an instrument that assessed the students' understanding of the particulate nature of matter. ...
This paper addresses some methodological issues concerning traditional linear approaches and shows the need for a paradigm shift in education research towards the Complexity and Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (NDS) framework. It presents a quantitative piece of research aiming to test the nonlinear dynamical hypothesis in education. It applies catastrophe theory and demonstrates that students’ achievements in science education could be described by a cusp model, where two cognitive variables are implemented as controls - the logical thinking as the asymmetry and the field dependence/independence as the bifurcation respectively. The results support the nonlinear hypothesis by providing the empirical evidence for bifurcation and hysteresis effects in students’ performance. Interpretation of the model is provided and implications and fundamental epistemological issues are discussed.
... When students encounter this culture for the first time, it may feel strange and unfamiliar, and could raise doubts and concerns. An uncommon course design can cause extreme reactions among students, ranging from stress to panic (Barney & Maughan, 2015;Ricca, 2012). However, the introductory lecture component should gradually be shortened, and eventually dismissed. ...
... These in-group relational synergies finally become embodied actions (Gergen, 2009) that are manifested in the individuals' blog posts. It is important for the teacher-facilitator to participate in this reflection process (Ricca, 2012) with her own blog post. Subsequently, these narratives are automatically aggregated (using a predefined hashtag) on the group's predefined web hub which acts as the group's "post-it" wall. ...
This paper focuses on the conceptual model of an academic course inspired by complexity theory. In the proposed conceptual model, the aim of teaching is to form a learning organization: a knowledge community with emergent properties that cannot be reduced to any linear combination of the properties of its parts. In this approach, the learning of the participants depends not so much on their individual action, as on being the coevolving parts of a self-organized whole. In this design, the role of the educator is to catalyze emergence and to facilitate bottom-up knowledge production. To achieve this, we present a systematic way to orchestrate in-class face-to-face activities in small groups while utilizing common web technologies to facilitate online collective action.
... When students encounter this culture for the first time, it may feel strange and unfamiliar, and could raise doubts and concerns. An uncommon course design can cause extreme reactions among students, ranging from stress to panic (Barney & Maughan, 2015;Ricca, 2012). However, the introductory lecture component should gradually be shortened, and eventually dismissed. ...
... These in-group relational synergies finally become embodied actions (Gergen, 2009) that are manifested in the individuals' blog posts. It is important for the teacher-facilitator to participate in this reflection process (Ricca, 2012) with her own blog post. Subsequently, these narratives are automatically aggregated (using a predefined hashtag) on the group's predefined web hub which acts as the group's "post-it" wall. ...
This paper focuses on the conceptual model of an academic course inspired by complexity theory. In the proposed conceptual model, the aim of teaching is to form a learning organization: a knowledge community with emergent properties that cannot be reduced to any linear combination of the properties of its parts. In this approach, the learning of the participants depends not so much on their individual action, as on being the coevolving parts of a self-organized whole. In this design, the role of the educator is to catalyze emergence and to facilitate bottom-up knowledge production. To achieve this, we present a systematic way to orchestrate in-class face-to-face activities in small groups while utilizing common web technologies to facilitate online collective action.
... Todo ello puede expresar la necesidad de introducir el paradigma de la complejidad en el contexto educativo, como aprecian diversos autores (Jörg, 2010;Larsson y Dahlin, 2012;López, 2012;Marion, 2012;Mason, 2008;Ricca, 2012;Richardson, 2010;Trombly, 2014) para estudiar fenómenos que no han sido tratados actualmente. Ello no quiere decir que el proceso docente educativo sea un proceso caótico, como se concibe en la ciencia normal (Kuhn, 1984), sino un proceso en el cual se sucede el orden y el desorden como expresiones del desarrollo en espiral y para lo cual el sistema educativo debe estar preparado. ...
... El proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje escolarizado expresa la continuidad de la relación entre estudiantes integrantes de un grupo y el profesor en un curso y los estudiantes como grupos en el trabajo de un profesor a lo largo de los años. Este proceso forma parte de su experiencia profesoral como un continuo de procesos que se dan con un alto grado de diferenciabilidad, equilibrio entre la experiencia y la problemática en un proceso no lineal (nuevos problemas en el tratamiento al grupo, trabajo grupal, en fin proceso educativo con el grupo y los estudiantes) lo cual se caracteriza en la literatura a los procesos complejos (Jörg, 2010;Larsson y Dahlin, 2012;Mason, 2008;Ricca, 2012). ...
Se realiza un análisis de la formación de las ciencias y de la didáctica, así como su categoría fundamental. Se hace un análisis de las leyes de la didáctica y su carácter parcial en la explicación de los fenómenos de la realidad escolarizada, cuestión esta que lleva a definir dos nuevas leyes de esta ciencia.
... Importantly, CDST is a systems theory. To help us understand a bit more what this means, here is my selective summary of an example from Mary Catherine Bateson in her role supervising a counselor offered by Seltzer-Kelly et al. (as cited by Ricca, 2012). ...
... Then, of course, a richly contextual ethnography is especially useful in studying complex systems, where it is assumed that the observer is part of the system being observed. As Ricca (2012) remarks, "reflexivity in complex systems requires a different approach to study than the usual separation of observer and observed" (p. 37). ...
Bringing a complex systems perspective to bear on classroom-oriented research challenges researchers to think differently, seeing the classroom ecology as one dynamic system nested in a hierarchy of such systems at different levels of scale, all of which are spatially and temporally situated. This article begins with an introduction to complex dynamic systems theory, in which challenges to traditional ways of conducting classroom research are interwoven. It concludes with suggestions for research methods that are more consistent with the theory. Research does not become easier when approached from a complex systems perspective, but it has the virtue of reflecting the way the world works.
... With regard to the university setting, transformative learning (and we would add, transdisciplinary research that includes transformative learning) is akin to what Ricca calls "a complexity approach" to teaching/learning [26], which parallels descriptions of complex systems-non-linear, non-static, open and recursive [27]. Like complex mathematical systems, which are not given to predictability [28], transformative learning is also outside "fixed assumptions and expectations" [29]. ...
... Because complex systems require a sufficient diversity for strong emergence of novel states, their metaphors promote the inclusion of differing views, a foundational premise of transdisciplinarity. Figure 6 illustrates some of the lenses we have used to interpret and find meaning in our transdisciplinary research activities: holism [4,43]; complexity theory [28,52,53]; linguistics [36]; scientific/social revolution [45,60,61]; learning theory [62][63][64]; systems thinking [65][66][67]; neurobiology [68]; complexity education [26,27]; organizational and change theory [46,59,69,70]; biological systems [71,72]; transformative education [29,[73][74][75]; philosophy [76]. Complex systems metaphors support the validity of interpretations that transgress disciplinary boundaries, rather than consider these interpretations invalid because they are transgressive by socially-constructed disciplinary standards. ...
How can academicians who desire a sustainable future successfully participate in transdisciplinary projects? Transcending our hidden thought patterns is required. Paradoxically, the disciplinary specialization that enabled the industrial era and its metaphors now function to undermine our ability to recognize and participate in the transformational learning that is needed. In this paper, we offer a post-industrial era metaphor for transdisciplinarity—that of complex dynamic system—that has helped us to work through the unexpected experiences encountered in the process of transformative learning. These insights are based on an ongoing transdisciplinary research collaboration (2008–present) using action research methods; we focus on the faculty experience. Accepting the metaphors of complex systems, we describe the systemic conditions that seem to repeatedly reproduce the emergence of transformative learning for participants, as well as what one might expect to experience in the process. These experiences include: conflict, existential crisis, transformation and renewed vitality within the necessary context of a safe and caring community. Without the adoption of complexity metaphors, these elements would have been overlooked or interpreted as a hindrance to the work. These insights are intended to serve as socially robust knowledge to support the effective participation of faculty members in sustainability projects of a transdisciplinary nature.
... learning processes cannot be wholly predictive of the future events. Therefore, the generalizability of the findings to other cases in other contexts should be made with caution (Ricca, 2012). ...
Language learning is an emotional and dynamic process, which is marked by fluctuations in language learners’ positive and negative emotional variables (e.g., boredom, enjoyment, anxiety). Presumably, evidence can be found for an ecological view of the patterns and variations involved in language learners’ emotions under the influence of the interactive individual and contextual elements of classroom learning. The present study contends that an ecological momentary assessment (EMA), which is compatible with the complex dynamic system theory (CDST) can help to explore the dynamics of language learners’ emotional variables as they develop out of the process of classroom language learning. EMA is capable of tracing the moment-by-moment changes in a certain emotional trait in language learners as they are learning a foreign or second language. This innovative approach to research compensates for the shortcomings of retrospective studies (the delay of recalls) and also single-shot research designs (for data collection). It is fit for the assessment of the emergent patterns of L2 emotional variables. The distinctive features and pedagogical implications will be further discussed here.
... We are reluctant to assert a list of "best practices" for community-engaged research, which assume that what worked (or did not work) in the context of our partnership will transfer seamlessly to others' contexts (Davis & Sumara, 2006;Ricca, 2012;Wood & Butt, 2014). Instead, we will reiterate five lessons we have learned from our experiences participating in and reflecting on this researchpractice partnership: ...
Community-engaged research calls on us to rethink ourselves as researchers and to address lopsided researcher-researched relationships. As a group of university researchers, we participated in a research-practice partnership that included a research-intensive university, an internationally recognized professional learning network, a ministry of education funder, and a school district in Alberta, Canada. Despite the long-standing, collaborative relationships between these organizations, a spin-off research partnership slid into traditional research practices that limited the project's potential. To critically reflect on these events, we engaged in eight cogenerative dialogues and three semistructured interviews to examine key moments in the partnership more closely. Our findings highlight how limitations in our fields of view as well as significant changes at crucial points in the partnership affected our ability to engage in sustained community-engaged research. We discuss critical learnings about this partnership in particular and offer recommendations that will help future research-practice partnerships assess and sustain their collaborations in meaningful ways.
... Some have attempted to consolidate divergent definitions into more generalisable specifications for complex systems (Carmichael and Hadzikadic, 2019;Preiser et al., 2018;Wilson, 2016;Sullivan, 2009;Holland, 2006Holland, , 1995, however, even in synthesised forms there is considerable divergence from one framing to the next. Davis and Sumara, (2006), Mason (2008), Morrison, (2008), Radford (2008), Sullivan (2009), Newell (2008, Hardman (2015Hardman ( , 2010 and Ricca (2012) Table 3.1. These formed the core complexity thinking (CT) framework for the analysis. ...
Depictions of classroom teaching and learning in politics, policy and media tend to be over simplified and mechanistic. Insights from research on classroom learning draw largely on the ‘what works’ paradigm, which presents learning as directly caused by teaching. ‘What works’ approaches dominate education discourse, despite their failure to capture the complex, interactive dynamics and ‘messy’ topography of classrooms. This study sought to generate novel insights about small group and classroom learning by acknowledging, rather than ignoring, their complexity.
Using complexity thinking (a heuristic drawn from complexity theory) as a conceptual frame, this thesis presents findings from original classroom-based research exploring the emergence of learning in small group activity. Mixed method data, including social network analysis, pupil self-reporting, interviews and observation, were collected during one week in a year four classroom of a UK primary school. Data integration revealed interesting and otherwise tacit insights about antecedents of group and individual learning. Findings suggest that learning has emergent qualities and that individuals exert influence on collective learning due to emergent system dynamics, including social status, personality and knowledge states. Contributions to knowledge include insights about the interplay of top-down and bottom-up organising principles in small group and classroom systems. The thesis also evaluated the usefulness of complexity thinking as an analytical frame for understanding group learning, with mixed conclusions.
The study has the potential to offer novel contemporary interpretations of classroom teaching and learning from a systems perspective.
... Some have attempted to consolidate divergent definitions into more generalizable interpretations for CAS [53][54][55][56][57][58], however, even in synthesized forms, there is a considerable divergence from one framing to the next. Some theorists [1,29,33,40,44,46,53,59,60] have drawn on framings from complexity sciences to describe and discuss features of CAS in the field of education, though here too, no consensus exists about how to frame CAS. The question of whether a school classroom is a CAS has been studied and discussed by some [29,53,59] including me [61] with mixed, but indefinite, conclusions, which depend largely on the CAS definition used and the organizing principles at work in the classroom. ...
Complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory is offering new perspectives on the nature of learning in school classrooms. In CAS such as social networks, city traffic systems and insect colonies, innovation, and change are occasioned through non-linear, bottom-up emergence rather than linear, top-down control. There is a growing body of evidence and discourse suggesting that learning in school classrooms, particularly in the early years and primary phases, has non-linear, emergent qualities and that teachers, school leaders, and educational researchers can gain valuable insights about the nature of interactive group learning by analyzing classrooms through a CAS lens. This chapter discusses the usefulness of a CAS framing for conceptualizing learning in primary school classrooms. It will explore key arguments, discuss relevant objections and draw on my own research to make the case for a measured application of CAS theory to primary classroom teaching and learning, explaining how it can support the development of innovative pedagogies.
... The need to comprehend and research the different components that constitute elte (initial and ongoing) is increasing as highlighted by different scholars (Davis & Sumara, 2006;Ell et al., 2017;Gray & Colucci-Gray, 2010;Ludlow et al., 2017;Ricca, 2012;Smitherman Pratt, 2011). However, there is a long way to go in that direction. ...
Current conceptualizations of foreign language teacher education fail to represent the complexity of such education. This reflection highlights the need to embrace English language teacher education from a complex perspective. To explain this position, we define complex systems and complexity principles through examples of interconnected components of teacher education. Then, we trace emergent conceptualizations from theory and governmental documents that resonate with a complexity perspective. We suggest that efforts in this direction may better prepare prospective English teachers to face challenging realities in educational settings and will eventually improve students' learning, an outcome every stakeholder is aiming at. Las conceptualizaciones actuales de la formación de docentes de lenguas extranjeras no representan la complejidad de dicha formación. Esta reflexión destaca la necesidad de abordar la formación de profesores de inglés desde una perspectiva compleja. Para explicar esta posición, definimos los sistemas complejos y los principios de complejidad a través de ejemplos de componentes interconectados de la formación del profesorado. A continuación, rastreamos las conceptualizaciones emergentes de la teoría y los documentos gubernamentales que resuenan con una perspectiva de complejidad. Los esfuerzos en esta dirección pueden preparar mejor a los futuros profesores de inglés para enfrentarse a las desafiantes realidades de los entornos educativos y, en última instancia, mejorarán el aprendizaje de los estudiantes, un resultado al que aspiran todas las partes interesadas. Palabras clave: formación de docentes de inglés, perspectiva de complejidad, principios de complejidad, sistema complejo
... The emerging dynamics undoubtedly indicates that we are facing a system made up of individuals who influence each other, and the result of such interaction cannot be explained as the sum of the isolated behavior of individuals. Thus, when talking about systems in the context of human behavior, as occurs within a classroom, the link with complex systems naturally emerges (Guastello & Gregson, 2011;Lemke & Sabelli, 2008;Quezada & Canessa, 2008;Ricca, 2012). This new understanding of phenomena in nature is a promising field of multidisciplinary research that has attracted the attention of a growing number of scientists, especially in recent decades. ...
In this work we study the knowledge acquisition process in a teaching-learning scenario that takes place within the classroom. We explore two complementary approaches, which include classroom observations and student surveys, and the formulation of theoretical models through the use of Statistical Physics tools. We develop an analytical model and a set of dynamics agent-based models that allow us to understand global behaviors, as well as to follow individual trajectories in the knowledge acquisition process. As a proxy of the final achievements of the students we use their final grade, allowing us to assess the validity of our approach. Our models, supported by observations and surveys, reproduce fairly well the process of acquiring knowledge of the students. This work sheds light on the internal dynamics of the classroom and allows us to understand some global aspects of the teaching-learning process.
... There is no single method of teaching better than others, as there have been many teaching methods, and there is no consensus among educators as to which method is the best optimal. However, the method of teaching is considered to be the most effective element of the curriculum in achieving educational objectives as it defines the role of both the teacher and the learner in the educational process, and it also specifies the techniques to be followed, the required educational means of communication and the appropriate activities supposed to be undertaken in order to achieve the desired teaching objectives [2,4]. Teachers should choose the method that is consistent with the topic of their lesson. ...
Most students learn in different ways and have different strengths and challenges. Turkish students suffer from some kinds of difficulty in learning chemistry taught in English, whether in school or university.The language of instruction can affect aspects of a student’s ability to learn. In this study, the difficulties that Turkish students face in studying chemistry in English are evaluated through a survey of students’ opinions at the Department of Nutrition in the University of Gelisim. The results showed that a 52.6% of students suffer from learning difficulties in the English language, which was reflected in their participation in discussions during the lecture, so a large percentage of them (48.6%) resorted to taking notes during the lecture in Turkish and a large proportion of them (45.6%) also believed that the situation would be better if English terms were used alongside Turkish in textbooks. The study claims there is a possibilityof improving students’ level in the English language thus improving students’ abilities to comprehend chemistry through the applicability of various teaching methods. The study draws heavily on both the Communicative and Natural Approach to deal with communication difficulties in chemistry classes.
... The emerging dynamics undoubtedly indicates that we are facing a system made up of individuals who influence each other, and the result of such interaction cannot be explained as the sum of the isolated behavior of individuals. Thus, when talking about systems in the context of human behavior, as occurs within a classroom, the link with complex systems naturally emerges (Guastello & Gregson, 2011;Lemke & Sabelli, 2008;Quezada & Canessa, 2008;Ricca, 2012). This new understanding of phenomena in nature is a promising field of multidisciplinary research that has attracted the attention of a growing number of scientists, especially in recent decades. ...
We study the knowledge acquisition process in a teaching-learning scenario that takes place within the classroom. We explore two complementary approaches, which include classroom observations and student surveys, and the formulation of theoretical models through the use of statistical physics tools. We develop an analytical model and a set of dynamics agent-based models that allow us to understand global behaviors, as well as to follow individual trajec-tories in the knowledge acquisition process. As a proxy of the final achievements of the students we use their final grade, allowing us to assess the validity of our approach. Our models, supported by observations and surveys, reproduce fairly well the process of acquiring knowledge of the students. This work sheds light on the internal dynamics of the classroom and allows us to understand some global aspects of the teaching-learning process.
... In addition to calls for more attention to the temporal aspects of collaborative problem solving, scholars argue for a complex-systems perspective. Complex-systems theory represents an interdisciplinary agenda spanning a range of interests in social dynamics (see Byrne & Callaghan, 2014), including scholarship on education and learning (e.g., Cochran-Smith, Ell, Ludlow, Grudnoff, & Aitken, 2014;Osberg, 2015;Ricca, 2012). Among the many characteristics of complex systems, Jacobson, Kapur, and Reimann (2016) claim that the cornerstone of understanding learning through a complex-systems framework is the construct of emergence. ...
Research around problem solving in collaborative groups has made progress, but several conceptual and methodological issues remain. These issues include the appropriate choices of units of analysis; the ability of current theoretical sets of macrocognition codes to capture group dynamics; detection and identification of potentially emergent phenomena within groups; and the extent to which multiple dynamics are integral to understanding groups. Using data from a complex engineering challenge, we applied methods drawn from complex-systems analysis to offer insight into each of these issues, showing the need for multiple dimensions when studying group dynamics and highlighting methodological difficulties when dealing with emergent phenomena. We suggest future research to improve the understanding of the complex dynamics of collaborative groups.
... These features of complex learning systems (Davis & Sumara, 2006;Ricca, 2012;Patterson, Holladay, & Eoyang, 2013) reflect the characteristics of Reading Recovery implementations. Reading Recovery sites are open to information and influence; diverse in terms of learners and contexts, connected and interdependent; with particular responses of individual teachers and students essentially unique and unpredictable. ...
This article reports on research by the authors and teacher leaders of successful implementations of Reading Recovery in four sites across four states using a complex adaptive systems lens.
... Teaching practices that can lead to learning of language and practices that contribute to learners' achieving greater agency can only succeed if there is an openness to transformation on the part of both teachers and learners. Complexity theorist Ricca (2012) makes this very clear: All [interactions] involve mutual influence. It has been said that teachers must know their students, but usually what is meant is not that the teacher is to be transformed, but rather that the teacher can, by knowing her or his students, more efficiently move the students to a desired understanding. ...
Agency has attracted considerable attention, especially of late. Nevertheless, perceptions of language learners as nonagentive persist. In this article the Douglas Fir Group's call for a transdisciplinary perspective is heeded in a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory's (CDST) conceptualization of agency. It is suggested that CDST maintains the structure–agency complementarity while bringing to the fore the relational and emergent nature of agency. Coordination dynamics is identified as a possible mechanism for the phylogenetic and ontogenetic emergence of agency. CDST further characterizes agency as spatially–temporally situated. It can be achieved and changed through iteration and co‐adaptation. It is also multidimensional and heterarchical. In this era of posthumanism, an issue that is also taken up is whether it is only humans who have agency. The article then discusses educational practices that could support learner agency. Finally, the article closes with a discussion of agency and ethical action.
... Reconfiguring the courses in this way is consistent with Biesta's (2006) complexivist idea of 'interruption,' in which students are challenged to work with new ideas and difference rather than focussing on achieving particular pre-set goals. It is also opens up the possibility for improvisation (Ricca, 2012) in the sense that students are encouraged to explore, create, and work with and embody their learning, while still being mindful of the standards against which their achievements will be assessed. The use of negotiated grading contracts (Brubaker 2009(Brubaker , 2012 provides a good example of the way orthodox practices of assessment were interrupted in the desire to exploit difference and improvisation in potentially creative ways for students' professional learning. ...
... However, regarding the findings, it is worth noting that due to the ecological nature of this study, the explored emerging patterns of the participants' writing anxiety within the interaction of their congnitive, affective, and linguistic factors and the contextual parameters of the teaching/learning/performance processes cannot be put out into universe. In other words, they cannot be fully predictive of the future cases and are of limited nature in terms of the generalisability of the findings to other cases in other contexts (Ricca, 2012). ...
Foreign language writing anxiety is an affective response to the dynamicity within the process of foreign language acquisition which made learners brave winds of change sweeping through their emotional state as a result of what they may experience a trance-like state of flux. This investigation reports on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing anxiety based on an ecological perspective within the framework of nested ecosystem model. Current study was conducted on four upper-intermediate EFL learners, aged14-18. Semi-structured stimulated recall interviews, teacher observation, student journal, and task-motometer were all instrumented over ten classroom sessions to provide information regarding learners’ writing anxiety which were analyzed qualitatively. Along the lines of nested ecosystem model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; 1993), emerging patterns of learners’ writing anxiety were analyzed under four categories of micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystems. Findings of the present study offered adequate decisive evidence supporting the fluctuating trajectories and variables concerning learners’ writing anxiety within the interaction of the individual and environmental factors.
... This collectively produced digital artifact was then used to initiate the next face-to-face course meeting, leading to a spiral practice of group work and collaborative artifact development. We think that this spiral course deployment, enhanced by students' interacting reflections, is closer to the conception of the whole classroom as a complex living system (Davis & Sumara, 2006;Ricca, 2012). In our design, the final digital artifact took the form of a collectively edited volume (see the cover in Figure 6) containing the weekly produced reflective chapters. ...
The objective of this paper is to describe the design case of a
web-based system that aims to facilitate the collective reflec-
tive practice of a learning group in an academic setting. The
technical infrastructure of the system is fully implemented
using free web services, which requires minimum technical
knowledge or expertise. A key technical component of the
proposed system is a web mash-up hub node that filters and
aggregates the relevant posts coming from the participating
members’ blogs. The overall design process, including the
theoretical inspiration, the context, and the implementation,
is presented in full detail. This design case can be utilized to
inform and inspire other educators or reflective practitioners
to design similar systems.
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/ijdl/article/view/18864
... Fourth, the belief that entities like curriculum, learning, students, and schools are always the outcome of component interactions opens the possibility to new understandings and descriptions of system behaviour (Doll, 2012 ;Ricca, 2012 ). For example, the concept of nestedness draws attention to the way each system is itself composed of smaller subsystems while also contributing to other, larger systems (Davis & Sumara, 2006 ). ...
... That is, individuals interact "with" their evolving environment, simultaneously changing and being changed by it (Lemke, 2000;Mitchell, 2009). Thus, learning processes interconnect individual learners and environments that, together, mutually constitute larger systems (e.g., a group, class, or school) in which and from which they learn (Osberg, 2015;Ricca, 2012). In effect, both individuals and environments learn in that they attune in upward or downward responsiveness as the psychological and the social co-evolve (Bateson, 1972;Bronfenbrenner, 1979; see also Hutchins, 1995 for a description of the system-level cognitive processes of a distributed socio-technical system). ...
This final chapter of this book summarises what each chapter has done and indicates how they fit it into the overall picture that has been developed. Key implications are discussed from the practical and theoretical perspectives. Limitations of this book are presented and recommendations for policy making, academic research and teacher education are discussed.
This book presents a novel framework, Thinking the Unthinkable, aimed at cultivating teacher assessment capacity. The framework includes four fundamental capacities: epistemic, embodied, ethical, and experiential. In this chapter, the epistemic capacity is explored through literature, preservice teacher reflections and narratives, and interpretive analysis. At its core, the epistemic capacity is about reflecting on and challenging the knowledge systems that shape teaching, learning, and assessment in classrooms and schools. Guiding this capacity are the reflective questions: What do learning and knowing mean to me, and how are they reflected in my assessments? And, what knowledge systems underpin my approach to assessment? The chapter concludes with guidance for developing epistemic capacity in initial teacher education.
Reflective practice is an essential aspect of the professional development of all health professions educators, with the intention to enhance both learning and teaching. This Guide presents an overview of reflective practice for educators and provides a practical and developmental reflective practice approach for health professions educators. The importance of structured thinking frameworks to stimulate greater understanding of both learning and teaching situations is highlighted. Medical Educator Reflective Practice Sets (MERPS) is an innovative approach for enhancing learning and teaching in health professions education that integrates lesson study and action learning. The key features of the approach are participation in three collaborative sessions, the use of structured thinking frameworks, and solution-focussed teaching in response to the identified problem. The MERPS approach is flexible and can be adapted for implementation across the continuum of health professions education, from undergraduate to postgraduate and continuing professional development.
As an emotionally dynamic process, language learning is marked by fluctuations in students' affective constructs (e.g., enjoyment, playfulness, boredom). Thus, clues supporting an ecological perspective on behavioral trends and changes in language learners' emotional constructs driven by relational person and contextual components may be discovered. Therefore, an ecological approach enriched with the nested ecosystems model and complex dynamic system theory (CDST) can facilitate the investigation of dynamics of language students' affective constructs. These are first categorized and analyzed on the microsystem scale concerning students' motivation, beliefs, linguistic factors, cognitive factors, affective factors, and classroom context. Then, they are analyzed in 3 ecosystems including meso-, exo-, and macrosystems, each revealing an invaluable dimension of the reality of the emergent dynamicity of the variables. The present paper first draws attention to the dynamic nature of L2 learners’ emotional factors and raises awareness of the ecological dynamic system theory. Then, it reviews the existing ecological studies of L2 affective variables and summarizes the findings. It ends with several conclusive remarks and suggestions for the future line of research.
As critical friends, we participated in a longitudinal collaborative self-study to explore and
challenge our assumptions and beliefs for purposes of improving our understanding and practice (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). During this process, we became critical friends as co-authors-- that is, dynamic meaning-makers whose critical friendship surpassed our expectation to act as “a sounding board” (Schuck & Russell, 2005 p. 107), challenge one another, support the reframing of events, and join in the professional learning experience (Loughran & Northfield, 1996). As co-authors, we pushed the boundaries of what we expected of a critical friend through dialogue and collaborative meaning-making. Valuing our whole selves in pursuit of our self-study, we crossed the borders of professional practices to include the silent and unspoken stories from our complex individual identities (Hostetler, Mills, & Hawley, 2014) beyond that of teacher educator researchers. We also invited the knowledge, experience, tensions, and life narratives stemming from our identities as mothers, wives, women of faith, and as minorities in our institutions. In this paper, we describe the process of being and becoming critical friends as co-authors by answering the following questions: How do these recursive processes--meaning-making transactions/ dialogic interactions-- generate our critical friendship? How do these processes evoke and/or sustain critical friends as co-authors? Our discoveries make visible how self-study guided us to: (1) disarm the boundaries of our individual selves by disrupting our existing understanding of self in relationship to our past lived experiences; (2) cross into a collaborative space where we are able to co-author our narrative lives through a collaborative conference protocol; and (3) push the boundaries of our present work as teacher educator researchers by transforming our professional inquiries through co-authoring.
The data‐rich articles in this special issue invite readers to consider how grammar and multimodality enact social practices. In particular, they propose a reconceptualization of grammar, moving beyond an autonomous system of items and combinatorial rules to demonstrate how grammar is an embodied resource for social interaction. In this discussion, I build on this important reconceptualization of grammar in order to identify cross‐cutting themes—themes that result from combining research methodologies and connecting the research reported on here with that originating from other disciplines, especially that inspired by complex dynamic systems theory. My intention is to urge all researchers not only to pursue their own research agendas but also to build on existing common ground, in order to overcome fractionalization and to contribute to our mutual understanding.
Today´s biology curriculum at levels ISCED 2 and 3 consists of many topics like genetics, evolution, and ecology that are
on the one hand very important and help students to understand complex processes that shape the environment around
them, but on the other hand, are also difficult to comprehend. The main problem with these topics is that processes within
their scope occur on multiple levels of biological organization that also interact among themselves in diverse ways. The
biology curriculum and textbooks introduce levels of organization (molecules, cells, tissues, organisms, populations, etc.)
and describe the characteristics and functions of entities at each level (like cells and their organelles). Unfortunately, in
the case of the Czech Republic and other European countries, they do not sufficiently promote the connections among the
levels of biological organization and concepts and processes on, and across, the levels, and therefore, they lack coherence
in the presented information. This lack of coherence then easily results in misunderstandings by students of scientific
concepts (like respiration or heredity). To cope with these problems, there are currently many strategies that help to promote students’ coherent understanding of biological phenomena. One of them is the Yo-Yo Strategy, that helps students
to define, connect and navigate among the levels of biological organization. In the paper, we discuss how to start using
this teaching and learning method successfully in class in order to influence positively students’ understanding of even
very abstract biological topics.
This chapter looks into one of the most important concepts in the context of experiential learning: reflection. Reflection constitutes the bridge that spans experiences and meaning; it serves as an indispensable tool for understanding the learning experiences of our student teachers, who participate in community-based EL (CBEL). In this chapter, we analyse the reflective process through the use of different models and share different types of approaches that help to facilitate students reflection based on the literature in the field as well as our own personal experiences as course instructors for different CBEL programmes. We also discuss the pros and cons of each approach so that potential course instructors and practitioners might have a more informed choice when they are making decisions on selecting different reflective tools to scaffold their own students’ learning process. We also aim to help readers differentiate the various stages of the reflective process. Some sample reflections will also be disseminated so as to help readers contextualize the reflective process and better understand qualitative differences.
This book examines the role of interlocutors and their individual differences (IDs) in second language (L2) development from four theoretical lenses: the cognitive-interactionist approach, sociocultural theory, the variationist approach, and complex dynamic systems theory. A theoretical overview to each approach is written by a preeminent scholar in the framework, and each overview is followed by an empirical study that demonstrates how interlocutor IDs can be fruitfully researched within that framework. To maximize readability and impact, the chapters follow common organizing questions, inviting the engagement of L2 researchers, students, and teachers alike.
Collectively, the chapters in the current volume initiate a cohesive discussion of the theoretical roles of the interlocutor within these four popular approaches to SLA; illustrate how interlocutor IDs influence L2 opportunities and/or development; present innovative, original empirical research on interlocutors and their IDs within each approach; and provide theoretical, empirical, and methodological guidance for future research on interlocutors and their IDs. A powerful contribution of this volume, highlighted in the concluding chapter’s synthesis, is the common call across all four approaches for the irrefutable role and need for research on interlocutors and their IDs. The volume also demonstrates how, despite theoretical and methodological differences, the four approaches are advancing congruently toward a more robust understanding of the multifaceted and dynamic nature of all interlocutors and their IDs, and thus toward a more complete and accurate picture of their influence on L2 development.
The purpose of the present study was to assess to what extent moments of experiencing enjoyment in communicating in English as a foreign language is transparent to the teacher and the peers within the ecology of the classroom using an idiodynamic approach. To do this, we explored four university students’ self, teacher and peers reading of nonverbal language enjoyment cues in terms of their face, gesture, gaze, vocalics and posture in a course of general English. The participants prepared for a short presentation on a favourable subject and were video recorded to self-rate themselves immediately after the presentation using Anion Variable Tester V2 software. Two peers, one among the participants’ inner circle friends and the other an outer-circle classmate, and the teacher rated the videos of the presentations. The ratings were compared to find points of convergence indicating the extent of transparency of enjoyment in communication. The findings of the study indicate mixed and dynamic outcomes which, confirming the unstable and complex nature of enjoyment, show that transparency of enjoyment in foreign language communication seems to be an illusion.
This volume is both a state-of-the-art display of current thinking on second language development as a complex system. It is also a tribute to Diane Larsen-Freeman for her decades of intellectual leadership in the academic disciplines of applied linguistics and second language acquisition. The chapters therein range from theoretical expositions to methodological analyses, pedagogical proposals, and conceptual frameworks for future research. In a balanced and in-depth manner, the authors provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of second language development, with a wealth of insights that promise to break the status-quo of current research and take it to exciting new territory. The book will appeal to both seasoned and novice researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, bilingualism, cognitive psychology, and education, as well as to practitioners in second or foreign language teaching of any language.
Teaching and learning are infinitely complex enterprises, particularly in classrooms where adolescent English learners strive for academic success. This article offers ethnographic accounts in two settings in the United States, both of which involved similar instructional experiences and resources to support literacy learning among high school English learners. We apply principles from complexity science to the analysis of these two ethnographic accounts, each grounded in multiple data sources. The accounts highlight predominant patterns emerging from each setting. The subsequent analysis explores underlying conditions for self-organizing dynamics in these settings: shared identity; shared focus; relevant distinctions or differences; and shared practices). These underlying dynamics varied dramatically in the two settings, generating patterns we label as “playing school” and “authentic engagement.” Each setting manifested behaviors consistent with a short set of “simple rules” for behavior. Implications for future research suggest that a deep understanding of complex adaptive systems, emergent patterns, and implied simple rules can inform the work of teacher action researchers in complex school environments.
The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the engagement, social connectivity, and motivation to learn observed in two classes of students, one a grade 9/10 information technology class, the other a grade 3 class of learners classified with learning disabilities. The common factor in the two classes was the way the teachers were rethinking literacy for the 21st century learning by simultaneously engaging students in an event of creating computer programing to address a competition task whilst also addressing curriculum demands. The chapter explores the way the teachers were learning to develop the conditions for emergent learning systems in their classrooms as the first steps to reform the current education system. Drawing on complexity theory, the authors suggest that these students are offering two microcosmic examples of where global systems are heading. The goal of the chapter is to help shift school teaching from its present disconnect between the real world outside students' classrooms and the contrived, dated world of typical school-based curriculum practices.
She was across from me, beautifully made up, encircled in a light cloud of tea rose perfume—my very first client, Ms. DuBois. I had read her file, learned of her current situation with Stella and her brother-in-law Stanley and gleaned a bit about her colorful past including a not-so-clear reference to a late husband and a suicide. “Dear, would you be so kind as to dim those lights-they’re just so…harsh,” she asked, “And while you’re at it, you wouldn’t mind moving that chair, would you? It’s just so close to where you are, and well, a lady needs to keep some sense of mystery.” Her command of the space and its impact on me was palpable and immediate. I was anxious-well, who wouldn’t be? It was my responsibility to diagnose her, to develop a treatment plan and to work throughout the semester to improve her quality of life, no small task for a first year drama therapy student.
The content, structure, and outcomes of educational experiences depend greatly on the models through which individuals and groups of individuals view the world. The structure and content of many school curricula and standards are based on intuitions, beliefs, and assumptions about systems and learning founded on the models of 18th century scientists and philosophers such as Descartes, Newton, and Laplace. These scholars believed in scientific determinism; given accurate and complete information about the present we would be able to predict the future. Based on these assumptions, a fundamental purpose of schooling has often been to prepare children to participate in a finished and stable world. The purpose of this chapter is to suggest that a fundamental purpose of schooling is to help children prepare for life in a complex dynamic world. Educators' responsibility is to help children navigate a world that is fundamentally unknowable in many of its aspects and to relate to others in a world where interdependencies are key to creative structure and organization.
This article examines how student learning is a product of the experiential interaction between person and environment. We draw from the theoretical perspective of complexity to shed light on the emergent, adaptive, and unpredictable nature of students’ learning experiences. To understand the relationship between the environment and the student learning experience, we followed undergraduate college students while they conducted independent, original research during an 8-week U.S. National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates. As we examined the scholars’ actions and interactions—through their daily journals and regular face-to-face interviews—we utilized the theoretical lens of complexity to understand their experiences. The students’ frustrations, challenges, failures, and successes revealed that their learning was an unpredictable and emergent experience rather than one that could be described as step-by-step and mechanistic.
This paper explores the classroom-level implications of complex ecologies, especially regarding the interactions among the cognitive and social/relational aspects of learning. Our focus is upon the ways teacher preparation must be re-imagined if educators are to be ready to facilitate genuinely educative and democratic learning in our country’s increasingly diverse classrooms. We explore the works of John Dewey, Gregory Bateson, James Hillman and others to consider the ways in which teacher educators must be explicitly prepared to understand pathology as a product of the interactions among the elements of the complex ecologies of classrooms and social systems, rather than as an individual quality of students who struggle in the classroom.
The theory of cognition of Varela and Maturana differs in specific aspects from constructivist theories and so should not be seen or interpreted as another form of constructivism. To encourage the emergence of a discussion on important differences between both theories, this paper aims at highlighting three of these specific aspects, namely the biological roots of cognition, its phylogenic and ontogenic basis, and the nature of reality and knowledge. In many regards, it is possible that the first two points were seen as extensions of constructivism, and had not been theorized previously as distinctions, as is done in the paper. The third point concerning the ideas of “bringing forth a world” represents a clear conceptual shift from the visions inherent in constructivism, and should not be neglected in discussions on epistemology and the nature of knowledge and reality. This third fundamental point brings us to see Varela and Maturana as being different than constructivists, rather seeing them as “bring forthists.”
The first [goal of this book] is to provide a sourcebook that will serve to further disseminate knowledge that is available about dynamic assessment, which will provide a foundation for and increased awareness of this approach to assessment. Second, it is agreed that dynamic assessment is in an early, formative stage, and therefore is not ready for full acceptance. This text strives to move the formulations about dynamic assessment further along, attempting to expand the theoretical bases and to present existing validity data. Third, readers will have a survey of work currently in progress in the United States and Canada. Fourth [to] stimulate readers to conduct further research and develop their own thinking about the usefulness and relevance of dynamic assessment procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A Response to Ton Jörg’s Programmatic View
The contemporary use of the term ‘complexity’ frequently indicates that it is considered a unified concept. This may lead to a neglect of the range of different theories that deal with the implications related to the notion of complexity. This paper, integrating both the English and the Latin traditions of research associated with this notion, suggests a more nuanced use of the term, thereby avoiding simplification of the concept to some of its dominant expressions only. The paper further explores the etymology of ‘complexity’ and offers a chronological presentation of three generations of theories that have shaped its uses; the epistemic and socio-cultural roots of these theories are also introduced. From an epistemological point of view, this reflection sheds light on the competing interpretations underlying the definition of what is considered as complex. Also, from an anthropological perspective it considers both the emancipatory as well as the alienating dimensions of complexity. Based on the highlighted ambiguities, the paper suggests in conclusion that contributions grounded in contemporary theories related to complexity, as well as critical appraisals of their epistemological and ethical legitimacy, need to follow the recursive feedback loops and dynamics that they constitute. In doing so, researchers and practitioners in education should consider their own practice as a learning process that does not require the reduction of the antagonisms and the complementarities that shape its own complexity.
This book explores the contributions, actual and potential, of complexity thinking to educational research and practice. While its focus is on the theoretical premises and the methodology, not specific applications, the aim is pragmatic--to present complexity thinking as an important and appropriate attitude for educators and educational researchers. Part I is concerned with global issues around complexity thinking, as read through an educational lens. Part II cites a diversity of practices and studies that are either explicitly informed by or that might be aligned with complexity research, and offers focused and practiced advice for structuring projects in ways that are consistent with complexity thinking. Complexity thinking offers a powerful alternative to the linear, reductionist approaches to inquiry that have dominated the sciences for hundreds of years and educational research for more than a century. It has captured the attention of many researchers whose studies reach across traditional disciplinary boundaries to investigate phenomena such as: How does the brain work? What is consciousness? What is intelligence? What is the role of emergent technologies in shaping personalities and possibilities? How do social collectives work? What is knowledge? Complexity research posits that a deep similarity among these phenomena is that each points toward some sort of system that learns. The authors’ intent is not to offer a complete account of the relevance of complexity thinking to education, not to prescribe and delimit, but to challenge readers to examine their own assumptions and theoretical commitments--whether anchored by commonsense, classical thought or any of the posts (such as postmodernism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, postpositivism, postformalism, postepistemology) that mark the edges of current discursive possibility. Complexity and Education is THE introduction to the emerging field of complexity thinking for the education community. It is specifically relevant for educational researchers, graduate students, and inquiry-oriented teacher practitioners. © 2006 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
A new edition of a classic work that originated the “embodied cognition” movement and was one of the first to link science and Buddhist practices.
This classic book, first published in 1991, was one of the first to propose the “embodied cognition” approach in cognitive science. It pioneered the connections between phenomenology and science and between Buddhist practices and science—claims that have since become highly influential. Through this cross-fertilization of disparate fields of study, The Embodied Mind introduced a new form of cognitive science called “enaction,” in which both the environment and first person experience are aspects of embodiment. However, enactive embodiment is not the grasping of an independent, outside world by a brain, a mind, or a self; rather it is the bringing forth of an interdependent world in and through embodied action. Although enacted cognition lacks an absolute foundation, the book shows how that does not lead to either experiential or philosophical nihilism. Above all, the book's arguments were powered by the conviction that the sciences of mind must encompass lived human experience and the possibilities for transformation inherent in human experience.
This revised edition includes substantive introductions by Evan Thompson and Eleanor Rosch that clarify central arguments of the work and discuss and evaluate subsequent research that has expanded on the themes of the book, including the renewed theoretical and practical interest in Buddhism and mindfulness. A preface by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the originator of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program, contextualizes the book and describes its influence on his life and work.
We believe that punctuational change dominates the history of life: evolution is concentrated in very rapid events of speciation (geologically instantaneous, even if tolerably continuous in ecological time). Most species, during their geological history, either do not change in any appreciable way, or else they fluctuate mildly in morphology, with no apparent direction. Phyletic gradualism is very rare and too slow, in any case, to produce the major events of evolution. Evolutionary trends are not the product of slow, directional transformation within lineages; they represent the differential success of certain species within a clade—speciation may be random with respect to the direction of a trend (Wright's rule).
As an a priori bias, phyletic gradualism has precluded any fair assessment of evolutionary tempos and modes. It could not be refuted by empirical catalogues constructed in its light because it excluded contrary information as the artificial result of an imperfect fossil record. With the model of punctuated equilibria, an unbiased distribution of evolutionary tempos can be established by treating stasis as data and by recording the pattern of change for all species in an assemblage. This distribution of tempos can lead to strong inferences about modes. If, as we predict, the punctuational tempo is prevalent, then speciation—not phyletic evolution—must be the dominant mode of evolution.
We argue that virtually none of the examples brought forward to refute our model can stand as support for phyletic gradualism; many are so weak and ambiguous that they only reflect the persistent bias for gradualism still deeply embedded in paleontological thought. Of the few stronger cases, we concentrate on Gingerich's data for
Hyopsodus
and argue that it provides an excellent example of species selection under our model. We then review the data of several studies that have supported our model since we published it five years ago. The record of human evolution seems to provide a particularly good example: no gradualism has been detected within any hominid taxon, and many are long-ranging; the trend to larger brains arises from differential success of essentially static taxa. The data of molecular genetics support our assumption that large genetic changes often accompany the process of speciation.
Phyletic gradualism was an a priori assertion from the start—it was never “seen” in the rocks; it expressed the cultural and political biases of 19th century liberalism. Huxley advised Darwin to eschew it as an “unnecessary difficulty.” We think that it has now become an empirical fallacy. A punctuational view of change may have wide validity at all levels of evolutionary processes. At the very least, it deserves consideration as an alternate way of interpreting the history of life.
This paper has two main foci: (1) the history of curriculum design, and (2) implications from the new sciences of chaos and complexity for the development of new forms of curriculum design and teaching implementation. Regarding the first focus, the paper posits that there exist—to use Wittgenstein's phrase—‘family resemblances’ between Peter Ramus’ 16th century curriculum design and that of Ralph Tyler in the 20th century. While this 400-year linkage is by no means linear, there are overlapping strands from Ramus to Comenius to the Puritans to colonial New England to Horace Mann to Ralph Tyler. What unites these strands, all belonging to the Protestant Methodization movement that swept across northern Europe into colonial America and the USA, is the concept of Method. Taylor's ‘time and motion’ studies set the stage for Tyler's Basic Principles of curriculum design—those starting with set goals and concluding with measured assessment.
The second focus draws on the new sciences of chaos and complexity to develop a different sense of curriculum and instruction—open, dynamic, relational, creative, and systems oriented. The paper concludes with an integration of the rational/scientific with the aesthetic/spiritual into a view of education and curriculum informed by complexity.
In this article we offer a theoretical discussion of teachers' mathematics-for-teaching, using complexity science as a framework
for interpretation. We illustrate the discussion with some teachers' interactions around mathematics that arose in the context
of an in-service session. We use the events from that session to illustrate four intertwining aspects of teachers' mathematics-for-teaching.
We label these aspects “mathematical objects,” “curriculum structures,” “classroom collectivity,” and “subjective understanding”.
Drawing on complexity science, we argue that these phenomena are nested in one another and that they obey similar dynamics,
albeit on very different time scales. We conjecture (1) that a particular fluency with these four aspects is important for
mathematics teaching and (2) that these aspects might serve as appropriate emphases for courses in mathematics intended for
teachers.
How we think about phenomena of interest is a function of the cultural and historical position of the field in which the phenomenon
of interest appears—in science education phenomena of interest include learning concepts, teaching concepts, teacher and student
identities, and motivation. Take the following excerpt from an interview between a graduate student of science education,
interested in conceptions and discourses about natural phenomena, and another student at her university. The two have come
together, as part of a largely tacit social contract, to produce an interview that has as its content the way in which the
interviewee (Mary) thinks about diurnal and seasonal changes. The interviewer utters what Mary clearly hears as a question,
but the specific nature, as indicated in her own turn, is not clear to her (turn 02). The question concerns the specific position
of the sun in the sky at the moment of the interview. Mary offers a possible hearing of the question, which we might gloss
as, “So you are asking me ‘Why is the sun in the sky?’”; the interviewer affirms this hearing (turn 03). After a brief pause,
Mary offers an answer, where the position in the sky is explained by the facts that it is daytime and that the sun is moving.
Defining structure and detecting the emergence of complexity in nature are inherently subjective, though essential, scientific activities. Despite the difficulties, these problems can be analyzed in terms of how model-building observers infer from measurements the computational capabilities embedded in nonlinear processes. An observer's notion of what is ordered, what is random, and what is complex in its environment depends directly on its computational resources: the amount of raw measurement data, of memory, and of time available for estimation and inference. The discovery of structure in an environment depends more critically and subtlely though on how those resources are organized. The descriptive power of the observer's chosen (or implicit) computational model class, for example, can be an overwhelming determinant in finding regularity in data.This paper presents an overview of an inductive framework-hierarchical ϵ-machine reconstruction—in which the emergence of complexity is associated with the innovation of new computational model classes. Complexity metrics for detecting structure and quantifying emergence, along with an analysis of the constraints on the dynamics of innovation, are outlined. Illustrative examples are drawn from the onset of unpredictability in nonlinear systems, finitary nondeterministic processes, and cellular automata pattern recognition. They demonstrate how finite inference resources drive the innovation of new structures and so lead to the emergence of complexity.
381 p., ref. bib. : 2 p.1/2 In a rented convent in Santa Fe, a revolution has been brewing. The activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics such as Murray Gell-Mann and Kenneth Arrow, and pony-tailed graduate students, mathematicians, and computer scientists down from Los Alamos. They've formed an iconoclastic think tank called the Santa Fe Institute, and their radical idea is to create a new science called complexity. These mavericks from academe share a deep impatience with the kind of linear, reductionist thinking that has dominated science since the time of Newton. Instead, they are gathering novel ideas about interconnectedness, coevolution, chaos, structure, and order―and they're forging them into an entirely new, unified way of thinking about nature, human social behavior, life, and the universe itself. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell-and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today. They want to know why ancient ecosystems often remained stable for millions of years, only to vanish in a geological instant―and what such events have to do with the sudden collapse of Soviet communism in the late 1980s. They want to know why the economy can behave in unpredictable ways that economists can't explain-and how the random process of Darwinian natural selection managed to produce such wonderfully intricate structures as the eye and the kidney. Above all, they want to know how the universe manages to bring forth complex structures such as galaxies, stars, planets, bacteria, plants, animals, and brains. There are common threads in all of these queries, and these Santa Fe scientists seek to understand them. Complexity is their story: the messy, funny, human story of how science really happens. Here is the tale of Brian Arthur, the Belfast-born economist who stubbornly pushed his theories of economic change in the face of hostile orthodoxy. Here, too, are the stories of Stuart Kauffman, the physician-turned-theorist whose most passionate desire has been to find the principles of evolutionary order and organization that Darwin never knew about; John Holland, the affable computer scientist who developed profoundly original theories of evolution and learning as he labored in obscurity for thirty years; Chris Langton, the one-time hippie whose close brush with death in a hang-glider accident inspired him to create the new field of artificial life; and Santa Fe Institute founder George Cowan, who worked a lifetime in the Los Alamos bomb laboratory, until-at age sixty―three―he set out to start a scientific revolution. Most of all, however, Complexity is the story of how these scientists and their colleagues have tried to forge what they like to call "the sciences of the twenty-first century.".
Considerable effort has been made over the past decade to address the needs of learners in large urban districts through scaleable reform initiatives. We examine the effects of a multifaceted scaling reform that focuses on supporting standards based science teaching in urban middle schools. The effort was one component of a systemic reform effort in the Detroit Public Schools, and was centered on highly specified and developed project-based inquiry science units supported by aligned professional development and learning technologies. Two cohorts of 7th and 8th graders that participated in the project units are compared with the remainder of the district population, using results from the high-stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts show increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly higher pass rates on the statewide test. The relative gains occur up to a year and a half after participation in the curriculum, and show little attenuation with in the second cohort when scaling occurred and the number of teachers involved increased. The effect of participation in units at different grade levels is independent and cumulative, with higher levels of participation associated with similarly higher achievement scores. Examination of results by gender reveals that the curriculum effort succeeds in reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African-American boys. These findings demonstrate that standards-based, inquiry science curriculum can lead to standardized achievement test gains in historically underserved urban students, when the curriculum is highly specified, developed, and aligned with professional development and administrative support. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 922–939, 2008 Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61206/1/20248_ftp.pdf
Biochemistry studies the way in which life emerges from the interaction of inanimate molecules. In this paper we look into the possibility that life could emerge from the interaction of inanimate artificial molecules. Cellular automata provide us with the logical universes within which we can embed artificial molecules in the form of propagating, virtual automata. We suggest that since virtual automata have the computational capacity to fill many of the functional roles played by the primary biomolecules, there is a strong possibility that the `molecular logic' of life can be embedded within cellular automata and that, therefore, artificial life is a distinct possibility within these highly parallel computer structures. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26022/1/0000093.pdf
On the immergence of norms: A normative agent architecture
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Sonare and Videre: A story, three echoes and a lingering note
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Aoki, T. (2005). Sonare and Videre: A story, three echoes and a lingering note. In W. Pinar, & R. Irwin
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Lawrence Erlbaum.
Nonlinearity, chaos & complexity
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Block, A. (2004). Talmud, curriculum, and the practical: Joseph Schwab and the Rabbis. New York:
Peter Lang.
Repeating the Textbook" and "Problem Solving": Teacher candidates talk about learning to teach physics
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about learning to teach physics. Paper presented at the 2010 Annual Conference of the National
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Passion and pedagogy: Relation, creation, and transformation in teaching
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Preamble I: From scarcity to improverishment
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Inside versus outside: Endo-and exo-concepts of observation and knowledge in physics, philosophy and cognitive science
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Framing science in a new context: What students take away from a community of practice
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Gould promotes the entity theory of evolution
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Whole class inquiry: Creating student-centered science communities
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Dynamic testing: The nature and measurement of learning potential
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A dynamics systems approach to learning and cognition
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Re/structuring science education: ReUniting sociological and psychological perspectives
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