A number of students have asked me for suggestions about how to go about reading more effectively (faster, with more understanding). I prepared the above presentation as a way to illustrate a number of key ideas while also linking them to the theoretical frameworks that we have been covering in p544: Applied Cognition and Learning Strategies. There are certainly different ways this could be analyzed, and we will cover a number of them throughout the semester. As with the majority of my presentations, this was the backdrop and spark for intense and productive discussion and debate. Therefore, read it individually at your own peril.

This final 2009 dtg is intended to wrap up #p544 with a general commentary on some of our major themes while also addressing one of the specific papers that we debated in the final week of class.  Enjoy!

[Update]

For those of you who are wondering, one of the readings that we debated in class that this post references was:

Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4-13.

This was a particularly fun and challenging DTG to do, and I actually went through several iterations before I settled on this design.  There are still some subtle and key nuances I’m not convinced I captured, but I leave those either to the comments, or next year’s drawing!

Before anyone asks:

1. No, I’m not obsessed with bees, but since I have worked with a lot of children drawing bees lately, well, you’ll forgive a bit of a focus on them.
2. If you aren’t entirely clear how aspects of this differ from what we will see in the representations week, well, that is by design.

1. The cartoon, which can be seen here.
2. Start here.
3. Truly, people say this kind of thing.  Often.
4. PPPPP refers to a method for helping undergraduates look at historical evidence (borrowed from Craig & Vrana, 2009).
5. This event will have been well known to have been attended by a historian, a goofy younger sibling who was still in high school, a learning scientist, a graphic designer, and a new media scholar.  Not necessarily in that order.

It seemed fitting to throw a history drawing up a little bit before the actual class.

It seems like I can’t stop myself from combining the different theoretical perspectives each week.  A question to ask, though, is whether this combination actually makes sense?  Or does it leave out something key?

[Update]

This representation was originally created for p544. However, in preparing for p574 and thinking about some useful dtg images, I’ve decided to add several tags to this representation so that it fits with both classes.

This time around I didn’t try to get all of the theoretical ideas we are covering into one single drawing.  If you look closely, though, there are more there than you might first guess.