Running head: PROJECT 3: FINAL PROJECT 1

Project 3: Final Project

Jenny M. Chasse

Post University
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Part I: Analysis & Application
Mental Representation Project 1 Example
Logic As an educator, I often use
logic with my students. It is
most common in my Reading
and Short Stories classes. I
am always asking my
students to make inferences
and predictions on character
motivation, plot elements,
and the storyline. Recently,
we read a story in which a
dog was the narrator. Since it
was told from a dog’s point
of view, there were naturally
many gaps in the narration
that the reader was meant to
catch. I asked my students to
use logic to fill in the blanks
and figure out what was
really going on in the story.
Students used logical
reasoning and previous
knowledge to point out that
the “shy man” in the story
was actually a villain. The
dog (Blackie) was confused
why the man would break
into his own home and then
hit Blackie when he barked.
The students realized what
the dog did not; the man was
training Blackie to not bark in
order to pull off a robbery
(Wodehouse, 1917/2015).
Without logic and deductive
reasoning, many students
may not have caught on to the
villain’s plan.
Rules Like any school, Adult
Education has a code of
conduct. On the first day,
students are issued a
handbook that outlines the
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Perkins’ Principles
The principle I would use for
this situation is “uncover the
hidden game.” This principle
allows students to discover
and manage information
through active inquiry
(Perkins, 2009). Although a
lot of the students were able
to catch on to the hidden plan
of the villain, there were
several students who were
extremely confused by the
story. One way I would
improve or alter the
instruction would be to try
and provide a little more
guidance. It could be
beneficial to ask the students
more questions during
discussion to gently lead
them to drawing the correct
conclusions. This story
perfectly embodies a “hidden
game” because the text never
directly reveals the plot to the
reader. The story ends with
the canine narrator as clueless
as ever with no idea as to the
meaning of the events that
have occurred. It is up to the
teacher to gently nudge the
students in the right direction
so they can uncover the
hidden plot. Another way to
improve instruction would be
to identify and address the
foreshadowing events in the
story instead of trying to draw
out the suspense.
“Play the whole game” would
be an appropriate principle in
this example. After all, how
can a student play the game
without learning the rules? It
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discipline policy, dress code,
and other requirements. In
addition, teachers are
required to hand out a
photocopy of the discipline
policy, go over it in class,
then have the students sign
and return it. This is a way of
making sure that the students
know what is expected of
them and what behaviors will
not be tolerated. For example,
if students get into a physical
altercation, then both parties
will be expelled. If a student
is later expelled for fighting,
he or she cannot claim that
they didn’t know the rule.
The principal simply needs to
open their file and show them
the discipline policy they
signed. Having rules like this
in place helps the students
understand what they can and
cannot do, and it takes care of
possible liability issues for
the administration.
Concepts Concepts of events can
change when new
information is introduced.
Even if a student has prior
knowledge of an event,
additional experiences can
add to or alter the original
concept. Recently, my
Reading class read an excerpt
from A Night to Remember
which described what several
passengers and crewmembers
of the R.M.S. Titanic
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is easier to “play the whole
game” when one knows what
is expected of them and what
will not be tolerated. One
way to alter the instruction on
this example would be to
improve the consistency and
follow-through when the
discipline policy is violated.
Although part of the fault lies
with the teachers and part of
the fault lies with the
administration, the bottom
line is that the policy is not
always strictly enforced.
Students have been allowed
to return to school after
getting into a physical
altercation. Students exceed
the minimum number of
allowed absences and still
receive credit for the course.
Students use their phones in
class and are not always
reprimanded. All of these
behaviors directly violate the
policy, and many of the
students know that it is not
always enforced. The
students cannot “play the
whole game” if the faculty
does not keep to the rules of
said game.
One of Perkins’ principles of
learning is to “make the game
worth playing.” This involves
engaging students in the
content and encouraging
personal connections with the
material (Perkins, 2009). This
example fits this principle
because many students feel a
personal connection with the
Titanic disaster because they
love the 1997 movie. Student
interest was higher while we
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experienced at the moment
the ship scraped against the
iceberg (Lord, 1955/2015).
Before reading the excerpt, I
asked the students what they
knew about the tragedy. As I
suspected, most of their
background knowledge came
from the 1997 James
Cameron movie. Most of
them viewed the sinking as a
romantic and beautiful
tragedy. There were more
than a few who believed that
the fictional elements of the
film were real. Once we
started reading and discussing
Lord’s work, their attitudes
towards the event started to
change. Reading the first-
hand accounts of actual
survivors made them realize
that there was nothing
romantic or beautiful about
the sinking. By introducing
new information, the lesson
changed the way the students
viewed and related to this
infamous event that occurred
in the icy North Atlantic in
April of 1912.
Analogies/Cases Analogies are an important
component of my Vocabulary
and Grammar classes. I
usually cover analogies
within the first few weeks of
the trimester. I give the
students different types of
incomplete analogies and
they have to figure out the
missing word. This is done
through both guided practice
and independent work. Many
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were reading this story than it
was during any other
selection. This alone helped
to “make the game worth
playing” for many of them. I
would like to alter instruction
by somehow obtaining more
of the story. The Collections
anthology only contained one
small excerpt, and many
students expressed a desire to
read further and read more
crew/passenger accounts of
the events occurring later in
the night. If time permitted, I
would also consider showing
the class the film A Night to
Remember, which was based
on Lord’s book. This film
portrays the tragedy without
the distraction of a romantic
subplot. Showing a film in
class is not something I
usually do, but in this case, I
feel it could be beneficial for
the students. Seeing and
hearing a reenactment of the
event could definitely help
the students forge a deeper
connection with the lesson
content, and that is one major
purpose of Perkins’ second
principle.
Students often struggle with
analogies. Therefore, they
need to “work on the hard
parts.” Analogies are difficult
because understanding how to
do them is not enough. Most
students are able to
understand how analogies
work fairly easily. The
problem they encounter is
actually figuring out how the
words are related. Every
single analogy they encounter
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of the students say they hate involves both new words and
doing them, but it is an new connections they have to
important skill to cover. If make. I have colleagues who
they are able to look at an still struggle with analogies
analogy and figure out the on occasion. Some of these
relationship between pairs of people have been teaching for
years and hold multiple
words, they can later use that
graduate level degrees. If
proficiency outside of the these people still struggle,
classroom. Looking at pairs then it is understandable that
of words and figuring out my students will struggle.
how the words are related The best way to overcome
may seem boring and this difficulty is to practice.
frustrating, but analogies are Most difficult tasks will
about more than just words. become easier if they are
They are learning to look at repeated and practiced.
potential life situations and Eventually, with enough
figure out how different practice and feedback, the
events are related. analogies will not seem as
hard. One way to improve on
(i.e. left : right :: up : _____) the instruction would be to
This example reflects that life spend more time on
can be full of conflicts and analogies. Providing more
different directions. guided examples as well as
more independent work
(complete with detailed
feedback,) would help the
students increase their
proficiency.
Images I have seen several of my Once again, Perkins’
students succeed when principle of “playing the
information is presented to whole game” is a good fit for
them in a variety of ways. this example. Perkins refers
Sitting and reading a textbook to learning as a puzzle; that
or listening to a lecture may there are bits and pieces that
not be enough to hold a come together to form a
student’s interest. Adding a whole picture (Perkins,
visual component can often 2009). Images are one piece
keep a student’s attention and of a cohesive whole. In this
make the lesson topic clearer. example, images were able to
Images are one way of help students develop a
introducing a visual firmer grasp on abstract
component. Although the information that was hard for
classes I teach are generally them to picture. The two parts
Reading/Language Arts, there of the lesson (i.e. learning
is the occasional trimester why the soil on Mars is red
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where I will be assigned a and actually seeing the rusty

Science or a Health class. color of the planet,) come
Last summer, I taught a together to form a holistic
Space Science class where I view. Just the images alone
focused on our solar system. are not enough, nor is just the
We studied each of the eight information. A good way to
main planets individually. I alter or improve instruction in
would talk about the reasons this case would be to find
the soil on Mars has a red better images and videos.
tinge, and I would tell them Tools like YouTube and
about Jupiter’s Great Red Google Images are very
Spot or about the hot, useful, but there is
poisonous, smothering undoubtedly material of a
atmosphere of Venus. higher quality that can be
Understandably, it was hard obtained through other
for the students to imagine. resources.
Through the use of
satellite/space probe images
and computer-generated
images via photographs
and/or YouTube videos, the
students were able to actually
see what they were learning
about with their own eyes.
Some of the most productive
class sessions that summer
were the ones that involved
showing the students these
images. Pictures can capture
visual and spatial information
in a more practical way than
long verbal or written
descriptions (Thagard, 2014).

Part II; Connect, Synthesize, & Reflect

Using prior knowledge is a very important factor in education, both as a student

and as a teacher. As we grow, we develop ideas and concepts based on our perception of the

world around us. As we learn new information, we adjust those concepts accordingly. I believe

that the material I have learned in this course will help me become a better teacher in the future.

For example, I have always tried to give my students feedback on their classwork because I
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know it is difficult to improve when you do not know what it is that you are doing wrong.

Perkins’ principle of learning “work on the hard parts” includes how detailed feedback can will

help develop students’ ability in a particular skill or subject area (Perkins, 2009). In the future, I

plan to provide even more feedback than I have in the past. Sometimes I forget that my students

are learning all of this for the first time. There are some subjects that I have been teaching for so

long that I become almost perfunctory in my grading. This is an error that I will strive to avoid

because I have learned more about how important it is to “work on the hard parts.”

I have also learned more about transfer. Transfer is the ability to apply a skill or idea to

another subject area or real-life situation. Perkins addresses transfer in his fourth principle, “play

out of town.” (Perkins, 2009). This ability is also known as analogical reasoning. For example,

trying to teach students about atoms and atomic particles can be difficult. When trying to explain

how electrons orbit the atom’s nucleus, the instructor can use the analogy of how planets orbit

the Sun in our own solar system. Once the student can compare the new information on atoms

with their previous knowledge of planetary orbit, the concept becomes much clearer (Vendetti,

Matlen, Richland, & Bunge, 2015). This is just one way that analogies can aid in transferring

knowledge across different topics.

All of this data will have a profound impact on my teaching and learning practice. I have

spotted some areas where I definitely need some improvement. One thing I plan to improve upon

is the amount of collaboration I participate in with my colleagues. There are many instances

where the skills and knowledge they obtain in my class could be useful in one of their other

classes. If my colleagues and I could work as a team, we should be able to coordinate and time

our curriculums appropriately to better facilitate student understanding and give them the

opportunity to practice their new skills across different subjects. Although our students are adult
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learners, it is equally important that elementary school teachers do something similar. Research

shows that by the age of six, children engage the same areas of their brain during analogical

reasoning that adults do (Vendetti et al., 2015). If students are able to transfer their skills at a

young age, it will become easier to do as they grow into adults.

Educators are always looking to the future. Everything I learn, whether in this course or

other courses throughout the program, is valuable for future application in my professional

environment. I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a perfect teacher. There is always

room for improvement no matter how patient, efficient, or experienced a teacher is. Mistakes

will always be made, and I know that I often wonder, “How could I have done better?” I know I

will be asking myself this question throughout the rest of my career, but maybe increasing my

understanding of cognitive science and Perkins’ learning principles will help me ask it less often.
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References

Lord, W. (2015). A Night to Remember. In K. Beers, M. Hougen, C. Jago, W. McBride, E.

Palmer, & L. Stack (Eds.), Collections (pp. 185-192). Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt. (Original work published 1955).

Perkins, D. N., & ebrary, I. (2009). Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principals of Teaching

Can Transform Education. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass

Thagard, P. (2014). Cognitive Science. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved

from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cognitive-science/#Bib

Vendetti, M. S., Matlen, B. J., Richland, L. E., & Bunge, S. A. (2015). Analogical reasoning in

the classroom: Insights from cognitive science. Mind, Brain, And Education, 9(2), 100

106. doi: 10.1111.mbe.12080

Wodehouse, P. (2015). “The Mixer.” In K. Beers, M. Hougen, C. Jago, W. McBride, E. Palmer,

& L. Stack (Eds.), Collections (pp. 73-88). Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

(Original work published 1917).