Word
Definition
Issues
Abstract
A concept which is not fully understood.
All concepts are abstract until you understand them. (Wilensky 1991)
Agent
The individual component level of a system.
Developed by Minsky (1985:23) to describe mental functioning.
Agency
A functional group of agents.
Explained by Minsky (1985:23) using analogies and everyday examples. e.g. a car steering wheel is viewed as agency unless the steering system is malfunctioning where it would then be seen as an agent or part of the steering system.
Animation
Variant graphics.
To "animate" is to give life to something. Animation is normally defined as moving images. I prefer to use the term variant graphics. This is because films are also moving images so I wanted to find a term that is exclusive to animation. The reason for using the word variant or changing rather than moving is to create a definition which can include slide shows. In a slide show, there can be movement within a frame or a complete change from one frame to another. Variant covers both scenarios.
Attributes
A characteristic of a person or object.
Cognitive growth plates
Metaphorical room for growth in conceptual consolidation.
At first this might appear to resemble scaffolding as one of the boundaries is the current understanding of a student. The difference is that scaffolding represents potential learning with assistance but cognitive growth plates are the seeds of further learning already existent in the student’s musings about their topic (i.e. their director’s commentary).
Comprehension
A continuum between abstract and concrete.
Concept
The articulation of a system containing at least one variable.
An "enduring understanding". (Erickson 2002:xii). Concepts require insight or explanation to be understood and are not likely to be forgotten once obtained.
Concrete
Tangible. A concept which is fully understood and therefore able to be grasped.
Complimentary concepts
Concepts which belong together in essence or analysis.
Fact
A true statement
Idea
A thought; profound or otherwise.
Integrated thinking
"Integrated thinking is the ability to insightfully draw patterns and connections between related facts, ideas and examples, and to synthesize information at a conceptual level." (Erickson 2002:8)
Intelligence
"An intelligence is a new kind of construct, one that draws on biological and psychological potential and capacities." (Gardner 1999:82)
"It should not be confused with domains or disciplines, which are socially constructed human endeavors." (Gardner 1999:82)
"The concept of style designates a general approach that an individual can apply equally to an indefinite range of content. In constrast, an intelligence is a capacity, with its component computational processes, that is geared to a specific content in the world." (Gardner 1999:83-4)
Macroconcept
A concept which informs several different learning areas. "Pattern", "measurement" and "grouping" are all examples of macroconcepts.
Erickson’s "Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction" (2002) identifies certain concepts as macroconcepts as they belong to several different learning areas. (2002:55) Such macroconcepts include order, change and pattern. This raises the issue of whether concepts should be further categorised depending on whether they are independent, sequential or relative. The idea of sequential learning (or scope and sequence) has obvious merits in terms of good pedagogy. "Many of Piaget's theories were based on his suspicion that certain concepts had prerequisites. For example, he argued that a child must possess ideas about which operations are reversible before that child can grow good concepts about how quantities are conserved.” (Minsky 1985:179 original emphasis)
It is worth noting how powerful and useful the notion of macroconcepts is for learning and discussions of content. Three of the most ubiquitous macroconcepts are patterns, measurement and groupings. I'll use an example from a musical analysis:
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Patterns. Rather than think of the song as a chronology of time, think of a blank page in your mind and start to notice recurring sections (e.g. verses and choruses).
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Measurement. The intervals between the various notes define the melody, bass line and chord progression. Tempo, time signature and key signature are all determined by measuring these various qualities of the piece in question.
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Groupings. At first groupings might appear to be part of the process of discerning patterns. The main difference is that groupings are not always self evident and grouping is more closely aligned with design as it is a deliberate act. In this musical example the groupings are a deeper analysis of the composer's intentions. When someone is composing or authoring their own work, grouping is how they structure their story, painting, book, film, sculpture, chair, animation etc.
What's even more useful about working within a small framework of macroconcepts is the way that these are pre-existing categories within our minds which allows even very young children to use their prior knowledge.
Metacognition
Thinking about thinking.
Multicontextual media
Media which is a component part of other media.
An example of multicontextual media is an image which is a single frame of an animation.
Multiple intelligences
The theory first proposed by Howard Gardner that intelligence is much broader than just literacy and numeracy.
Howard Gardner's work on multiple intelligences has been widely adopted by many teachers. Once again, a key question for education is "Are children receivers or producers of information?" The traditional view that students are receivers leads teachers to believe that they need to present their lessons in varied formats to cater to the various learning styles represented by the students in any given class. If students are encouraged to produce their own media and present their own learning they will also get to use and develop their various learning styles. It is better for students to present and construct their own learning where the various learning styles can be implemented and exercised, by the students rather than the teacher.
"According to Gardner, each area of intelligence is characterised by an area of brain activity peculiar to it; each area has support from experimental psychological tasks and testing and if children are not encouraged to use their separate intelligences they will lose them, no matter where their natural talents lie". (Edgar 2009:28)
Gardner has also stated that: "I value conceptual learning over accumulation of facts." (Gardner 1999:114)
Principle
"Written in the form of a generalization, but is a truth that holds consistently through time. Principles fall at the conceptual level of generalizations in the structure of knowledge". (Erickson 2002:165).
Process
A sequence of actions, instructions or events.
Recontextualise
Presenting or viewing something in a new context.
Context is normally taken to be fixed for historical events or variable when participating in new events. A common example is the semantic range of language depending on the context. A digital thesis can recontextualise data in two ways:
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Data can be used in multiple contexts. e.g. Animation footage can be seen in the original animation or in a director's commentary.
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The viewer can follow the suggested order as listed in the Table of contents or they can navigate their own path through the various HTML pages. This could present data in a different order. This is like reading the end of novel first and then finding out how the story reached its conclusion.
Reference slide
When the last frame is frozen whilst displaying additional information.
This might be useful if you are presenting an animation to an audience with a view of further discussion and/or questions.
Reflection
To think back on an event, idea or phenomenon.
The retrospective nature of reflection literally "mirrors" the visual meaning of reflection.
Scaffolding
Help from a more competent peer or teacher to assist a student to extend their own learning.
Even though multimedia functionality is before Vygotsky's time (i.e. 1896-1934) Peters makes the connection between the two by describing multimedia as one form of scaffolding (Peters 1996:180) between a student's actual and potential development. This is because a student can navigate their own way through content. "With multimedia, control shifts to the individual. In Vygotsky's developmental theory, this is viewed as an important component in distinguishing between elementary and higher mental functions". (Peters 1996:180).
Aulls (2002:531) defines a scaffold as a support structure that "teaches students strategies to self-regulate complex activities like note making, multiple comparisons, and self-questioning". Kirschner, Sweller & Clark (2006:79) misinterpret Aull's research by suggesting that scaffolding (in the form of direct assistance to individual students) is a remedial activity necessitated by inadequate explanations or instructions on behalf of the teacher.
Holton & Clarke's notion of the "Epistemic self" (2006) takes Holton & Thomas' (2001) "Self scaffolding" idea further by stating that self scaffolding is "essentially equivalent to metacognition". (2006:128). I disagree with this because scaffolding is about the successful assistance and support provided by a more competent peer and metacognition is when you think or reflect on your own thinking. Of course Holton and Clarke are talking about "self scaffolding" but this is an oxymoron, i.e. Support from a more competant peer which is yourself? Scaffolding is a practical catalyst to increase learning whereas metacognition is a cognitive strategy with multiple benefits.
Another distinction relating to scaffolding is that it is temporal in nature. Scaffolding is temporary but the ZPD is permanant. "Further, when the building is finished or the renovation complete, the scaffolding is removed. It is not seen in the final product. This is also the case in cognitive scaffolding. When a piece of knowledge has been learned and understood, the mechanism by which it was constructed is no longer apparent. However, the ‘memory’ of the scaffolding may still remain. Just as a builder knows how to construct the next scaffold for the next building, a teacher will know how to assist the learner to construct more knowledge at a later time". (Holton & Clarke 2006:129).
A final point is necessary to distinguish scaffolding from teaching in general. Scaffolding is generally understood to be anything that bridges the gap between current and potential learning, so in that sense, all teaching or assistance could be seen to be scaffolding. It is therefore better to distinguish scaffolding as being only that which actually makes a difference and actually expands the student's current learning. This contextualises scaffolding into what actually worked in a specific instance. You could also say that scaffolding does not bridge the gap in the ZPD but rather extends the student's learning. Everyone has a ZPD as no one knows everything.
System
A group of related components that function together or inform one another.
Topic
"A category of study that implies a body of related facts to be learned. Study that is focused on topics, without a conceptual lense, results in memorization and surface understanding rather than integrated thinking and deep understanding". (Erickson 2002:166).
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Vygotsky proposed the ZPD as the difference between a learner's actual ability level and their potential achievement in learning when assisted by a more experienced adult or peer.
The notion of the ZPD is widely accepted but I mention it again in this Storyboard project as the whole process is conducted within this zone as each child has chosen a topic which they don't fully understand.
(Figure 5: Zone of Proximal Development)
Most diagrams of the zone of proximal development uses jagged edges to show that cognitive growth is organic and never as neat and orderly as we might hope to assume.
(Figure 6: Extended Zone of Proximal Development)
