Visual Tools

                                  for

              Constructing Knowledge

                         This page is to support students' review
                         and understanding of David Hyerle's
                         book by this title. It provides an outline
                         and general comments.

    David Hyerle's web site

Based on the ideas of Jerome Bruner concerning
what makes us human
1.    Metacognition --  humans are the only beings
       that are capable of thinking about their own thinking
       processes.  Visual tools are forms of metacognition.

          2.    Constructing Abstractions -- humans have the
                 capacity to synopisize massive amounts of  information
                 and shape raw data into workable patterns.

          3.    Storing Information Outside the Body -- The
                 archives of the mind are limited and the amount of
                 information is increasing, students will need
                 to learn strategies of harvesting, storing, cataloging,
                 retrieving, interpreting,  and communicating vast
                 amounts of information among locations beyond
                 the brain.

         4.    Systems Thinking -- Humans can see parts in relation
                to whole and thus see patterns, congruencies and
                inconsistencies.

         5.    Problem Finding -- As far as we know, humans are
                the only form of life that actually enjoys the search for
                problems to solve.

                However, we also have a passion for doubting the status
                quo, thereby sensing ambiguities and detecting anomalies.
                Humans also are compelled to propose alternative ways
                to solve problems and answer questions.  Processing data,
                looking for sequence, alternative routes or pathways is
                one of the highest forms of learning and a strong base
                for curriculum change.
 

        6.    Reciprocal Learning -- Humans learn best in groups.
               Intelligence is shaped through interaction. Visual tools
               furnish ways for humans to share ideas.

        7.    Inventing --  Human beings are by nature creative.
               Creative people take risks, i.e., they generate novel,
               clever, ingenious solutions to problems.  They need
               ways to illustrate those to others in concise fashion.

        8.    Deriving Meaning from Experience -- Thomas
               Edison said he never made a mistake; he learned from
               experience.  A major outcome of any school wishing
               to prepare autonomous human beings, is to
               develop students' capacity for continuous self-analysis
               and self-modification.

        9.    Altering Response Patterns -- Deliberating
               employing mapping tools causes us to restrain our
               impulsivity, to suspend our judgments, to generate
               and consider alternatives, and to attend empathetically
               to others' perspectives.  Fully functioning humans
               engage in continuous learning.
 
 
 

Introduction:  The Forest and the Trees
 
 

Tools	Explanation
Webbing	1.   Can be used effectively by students         to organize data. 2.   Can be used by teachers to plan        instruction 3.   Facilitates building of concepts and        organizing inquiry. 4.   Facilitate processing brainstorming. 5.   Person developing them gives them        form.
Graphic Organizers	1.  Sometimes called "advanced       organizers" 2.  Graphic tool used by student to       retrieve, absorb new data. 3.  Prepared ahead by teachers using       draw programs or tools like       Inspiration.
Thinking Process Maps	1.  Designed to facilitate thinking       through problems. 2.  Can lead to reconceptualization

 
 

Chapter 1 Why Visual Tools Now?

Gives students tools to accomplish tasks without      teacher direction Manages quantity of data Teachers say learning in a constructivist paradigm visual designs guide the flow of information      in many real-world scenarios student-centered learning is the order of the day Map metaphor maps are primary guides in our lives maps provide connections between ideas and concepts provide a "bird's eye view" of relationships Wandersee's research -- map making challenges one's assumptions facilitates recognizing new patterns facilitates making new connections helps us visualize the unknown

Constructivist - Cognitive Revolution Piaget initiated the term constructivisim cognitive development Other researchers Vygotsky zone of proximal development Bloom taxonomy of cognitive acquisition Taba questioning Gardner cognitive science Dewey student should be interactive learners Based on the idea that we need to see the whole before we can understand the parts, i.e., build concepts, get the big picture

                 Today's students spend more time
           in front of a television or computer screen
                        than in a classroom.
 
 

Why students need to learn to use visual tools-- Students are asked to take a bigger responsibility for their acquisition of knowledge Collaborative strategies support successful group interaction Work becomes collaborative Students will change jobs and need the capacity to organize new information, solve problems in groups and use interpersonal skills.

STUDENTS MUST BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE
THAT THEY CAN CREATE CONCEPTS FROM
DETAILED INFORMATION (THE TREES) AND
RELATE THOSE FACTS IN TO PATTERNS
AND CONTEXT (THE FOREST).
 

University of West Georgia