What is Understanding?
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What is Understanding? Understanding is … a mental construct.. An abstraction made by the human mind to make sense of many distinct pieces of knowledge. Understanding is … the result of facts acquiring meaning for the learner To grasp the meaning of a thing or situation is to see it in its relations to other things; causes, consequences, relationships. Understanding … according to Bloom, is the ability to marshall skills and facts appropriately and wisely through effective application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
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Understanding … according to Bloom, is the ability to marshall skills and facts appropriately and wisely through effective application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Understanding is … the result of facts acquiring meaning for the learner. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of What is Understanding?
What is Understanding?Understanding is … a mental construct.. An abstraction made by the human mind to make sense of many distinct pieces of knowledge.
Understanding is … the result of facts acquiring meaning for the learner
To grasp the meaning of a thing or situation is to see it in its relations to other things; causes, consequences, relationships.
Understanding … according to Bloom, is the ability to marshall skills and facts appropriately and wisely through effective application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
The stated goal of the standards is to specify key knowledge and skills in a format that makes it clear what teachers and assessments need to focus on.
Another goal is to raise the achievement bar to a level comparable to those of the best education systems in the world.
What is the goal of Standards?
Standards are not curriculum
…Content is key
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
What is the goal of teaching?
Teaching does not cause learning
Only successful attempts by the learner cause learning
Teachers can’t give understanding; understanding is a “constructivist” exercise.
Uncoverage is not a certain type of teaching or philosophy of education but the way to make an idea accessible and real, regardless of method.
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
Teaching is ‘uncovering’
Uncover students’ potential misunderstandings
Uncover questions, issues, assumptions under the surface
Uncover core ideas at the heart of understanding a subject
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
The challenge of working with textbooks is to better understand what they conceal, not just what they reveal.
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
In the final analysis… Good Teaching Trumps Good Tools
Focus on the instruction and learning and not the digital tools
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
The textbook is a syllabus or course of study.
The text is a resource that supports desired results in Stage 1.
Misunderstandings
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
With standards we can design good curriculum.
Misunderstandings
The Overload problemThe Goldilocks Problem
Some standards lend to individual interpretation
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
The teacher’s crucial role:Designing the right Experiences (stage 3)
A major mistake in teaching for understanding is not the overreliance on a single approach but the failure to ponder the timing in using the approach.
Understanding By Design is about the backwards design of instruction
Stage 1 - Desired results
Stage 2 – What will count as evidence of
Stage 3 – Planning the instruction
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
What are the entry points for your design process? Misconception:
Everyone must go to college. College is the only path to a good job.
Understanding:Getting a good job requires hard work, a desire to learn, careful planning, preparation, and effective communication skills.
Mrs Gavitt’s Reality show
Electronic Career Portfolio
