9. Conclusion

9.1 Insights into conceptual consolidation

9.2 Conceptual consolidation theory

9.3 Explanatory animation creation can be a powerful diagnostic tool

9.4 Explanatory animation design and conceptual consolidation are parallel processes

9.5 Diagnosis and prognosis as metaphors for assessment

9.6 Commentaries can help demystify metacognition

9.1 Insights into conceptual consolidation

The Storyboard students did in fact develop a much deeper understanding of their chosen topics. This is because the creation of an explanatory animation requires the author to represent their topic, thus concretizing their mental images. The conceptual consolidation of each student is most apparent when contrasting their prior knowledge videos with their completed explanatory animations. The students learnt to look at their topics from several different angles which informed the conceptual paraphrasing and vector-based learning metaphors which discussed multiple perspectives on the same phenomena.

A pattern emerged through my analysis of data and my assessments using the conceptual consolidation rubric. This rubric was revisited each week. An example of the shading on the rubric is as follows:

What emerged as a consistent pattern is that progress along the rubric started with the same categories stated in the first three rows. Each child first displayed growth in their use of correct terminology. This precision of descriptive language eventually led to the articulation of relevant variables and ultimately to an understanding of the relationships between the variables.

9.2 Conceptual consolidation theory

These findings are simple and yet practical enough to warrant restatement into what I would call a "conceptual consolidation theory." Although they are based on evidence from the Storyboard case study, they are open to dispute and critique. This theory can be summarised as follows:

1. Conceptual consolidation is best understood using the definition of a concept being "a system containing at least one variable."
2. Initial research for each topic begins by first identifying and then using correct terminology.
3. An outcome of investigating correct terminology is the identification of relevant variables.
4. The final process for conceptual consolidation is the understanding of the dynamic relationships which exist between the different variables.
5. Multimodal texts in general and explanatory animation creation in particular are ideal vehicles and contexts for conceptual consolidation. This is because they help make initially abstract ideas concrete through the core process of representation.
6. Commentaries of any sort but particularly director's commentaries offer insight into the author's metacognitive reasoning and thus invite multiple levels of analysis.
7. The previous statements generalise the process of conceptual consolidation but conceptual consolidation itself must be understood on a case-by-case basis because, regardless of any similarities, every concept is different.

9.3 Explanatory animation creation can be a powerful diagnostic tool

As discussed in section "5.8 Issues of validation and trustworthiness" my co authorship with the students placed limits on the extent to which their content knowledge could be objectivity measured. My involvement however did not taint the clear examples of what the children didn't know. The most insightful data generated throughout this project related to areas where the children's knowledge about their concepts was incomplete or incorrect. A good example of this was the Grade 5 girl who chose to work on Sol Feige. As discussed in the data analysis section under Sol Feige review, much of her difficulty in the early stages of creating her animation resulted from not knowing that the 7 letters in the musical system are actually alphabetical. I had the same difficulty at her age having been taught the usual mnemonic devices of "Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit" and "FACE in the space" for remembering the names of the lines and the spaces. See an early version of her grid as follows revealed how I could help her clarify this misunderstanding:

Her final director's commentary confirms the importance of this event: "With the grid it made me understand a lot more ‘cause I didn’t realise there was alphabetical (order) at all.  So I learnt a lot during…um, making that grid."

9.4 Explanatory animation design and conceptual consolidation are parallel processes

The process of designing an explanatory animation involves representation, learning by teaching, putting logic in order, using correct terminology, identifying relevant variables and understanding the relationship between those variables. Conceptual consolidation has many of these same processes such as identifying relevant variables. The process of visualising and creating appropriate representations assists the author in making previously abstract ideas tangible and concrete. I could then conclude that explanatory animation design and conceptual consolidation are complimentary processes but I am confident to take this further and say that they are parallel processes. The only difference is that someone could achieve conceptual consolidation without designing or making an explanatory animation. Anyone who successfully designs an explanatory animation will either achieve conceptual consolidation or show significant progress in their conceptual consolidation.

9.5 Diagnosis and prognosis as metaphors for assessment

The major revision between the 2010 Storyboard trial and the 2011 Storyboard project related to the importance placed on the creation of the explanatory animation. The 2010 trail was all about creating the animations but the 2011 project was equally concerned with documenting the process. Much has been made of the three dimensions of assessment which relate to assessment being for learning, as learning and of learning. I see these attributes of assessment in a similar way to the medical terms prognosis and diagnosis. Diagnosis relates to the condition of a patient whereas prognosis takes the diagnosis further by suggesting the future dimension of treatment. In this way prognosis can be a metaphor for assessment where feedback helps shape the design process.

The following diagram suggests that good teaching is diagnostic. Research is also diagnostic in that it attempts to address areas of need. In this sense I am suggesting that learning and teaching is more like a pendulum than a continuum as educational initiatives and recommendations tend to relate to either content (curriculum) or methods (pedagogy).

(Figure 4: Educational recommendations and initiatives)

The old dichotomy of breadth versus depth in curriculum is best seen leaning towards depth. "The only way to condense the breadth of the curriculum effectively and yet preserve the integrity of the disciplines is to ensure that the key concepts, principles, and generalizations become the focus for the selected topics of critical content." (Erickson 2002:33)

9.6 Commentaries can help demystify metacognition

Metacognition was a key issue as the children provided insight into their own thinking when they created their director’s commentaries.  Director’s commentaries are a unique genre of research data which reveal the author’s metacognitive reasoning.  Metacognition needs to be demystified.  Much of the literature on metacognition stops short of equating metacognition with reflection.  I have no such problem making this connection.  "The process of reflection is valued more highly by students if their reflections, such as their self-assessments, are included as part of the assessment process." (Wilson & Johnson 2000:19) The director's commentaries in the Storyboard methodology are an explicit inclusion of the student's reflections.

Metacognition as captured through the use of director’s commentaries literally embeds the children’s voices into the data.  “From a psychological and pedagogical perspective, there is persuasive evidence that voice and dialogue support both learning and metacognition, enabling children to become independent and reflective learners.” (Alexander 2010:155)  My use of “voice” is more about hearing from the children directly in the literal sense rather than the broader notion of student voice as an agent of influence and change. 

"Metacognition becomes essential when tasks are more challenging." (Wilson & Clarke 2004:39) Explanatory animation creation is such a challenge which also gave the children the opportunity to discuss, demonstrate and refine their own learning. If we want to encourage our students to apply metacognitive strategies, we need to give them tangible metacognitive tasks. Harel spoke of children constructing knowledge using computers as an authoring tool: "They became software designers, and were representing knowledge, building models, and teaching concepts on their computer screens. They were thinking about their own thinking and other people's thinking - simultaneously - to facilitate their own learning.” (Harel and Papert 1991:45)

My analogy for metacognition is breathing.  We don’t normally think about the involuntary action of breathing but when we do we are able to consciously control it.  "In general, we're least aware of what our minds do best.” (Minsky 1985:20 original emphasis)   "When we recognize that we're confused, we begin to reflect on how our minds solve problems and engage the little we know about our strategies of thought.” (Minsky 1985:69)  The children’s commentaries provide insight into their metacognition.  The task of creating an explanatory animation or indeed any design activity is intrinsically a metacognitive task. 

Main menu