Post on 22-Dec-2015
The Literature Review
• Narrative presentation of relevant ideas in the literature– Relevant for your project but: not too
broad yet not so narrow that it undermines your project
• Has a point of view but stylistically, not ‘author-centric’
Stand-Alone or Part of a Study• Stand-alone
– Provide overview of field or service to field– Often, specific aim of synthesizing the findings of
studies– Annual review type articles have more in common with
research articles
• Part of Scholarly Study– Literature review is part of the study– Study is often partly a response to and an addition to
the literature– May anticipate the study’s findings
Stand-Alone
• http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring81/maguire81
Part of a Study
• Way of introducing the whys and wherefores of the current study– i.e Deadbeat dads
What do I understand well?
• Describe something you understand well.• How do you know you understand it well?
Preview of the key elements of the TfU framework
• Through-lines• Generative topics• Understanding goals• Understanding performances• Ongoing assessment
TfU from Harvard Graduate School of Education
• http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tfu/info.cfm
Some Basic Questions
• How do I decide what is important for my students to learn?
• Can I convince others - and my own students - that what we are studying is important?
• What are my students really getting out of this class?
• Why can't my students seem to remember anything from the previous unit once we move on to the next one?
Some Basic Questions (cont)
• Am I really reaching all my students?• How can I make my class mean more to students
than just another grade on their report card?• How can I help students see that their grades
aren't arbitrary?• Will my students be able to use anything they
learn in this class in the future? How will I know?• How can I have a conversation with my
colleagues about what we're teaching and what our students are learning?
The TfU framework represents five years of collaborative thought and work
by teachers and researchers. They:
• talked together,
• developed curricula,
• tried out the curricula in classrooms,
• watched students and talked to them,
• wrote case studies, and
• eventually solidified a framework that identifies the central aspects of planning and teaching for understanding.
What is Understanding? (D. Perkins)
• When someone attains understanding, what have they attained?
• A performance criterion for understanding• A performance view of understanding• The representational view of understanding
What is Understanding? (cont)
• Why prefer a performance view over mental models?
• Why prefer a performance view over action schemas?
• A performance view of learning and teaching
• A kind of constructivism
Generative Topic
Students’ Interests
“Big Ideas”
GenerativeTopic
GenerativeTopic
Teacher’s Interests
Understanding Performances (UPs): Three kinds
• Messing About • Guided Inquiry• Culminating Performances
Effective Performances of Understanding
• Relate directly to understanding goals• Develop and apply understanding through practice• Engage multiple learning styles and forms of
expression• Promote reflective engagement in challenging,
approachable tasks• Demonstrate understanding
Ongoing Assessment
• Relevant, explicit, and public criteria• Frequent assessments• Multiple sources• Gauge progress and inform planning
Teaching for Understanding Guides
• Tina Blythe and Associates, (1998). Jossey-Bass, San Fransisco.
• Teaching for Understanding with new technologies
S. Wiske et al Wiley Press 2005
Next Week’s Pre-view
• Teaching for Understanding (part 2) – Readings- go to website– Websites to visit
• Lab