We often hear claims about what is or isn’t “scientific.” Science holds a distinctive place in modern society; we trust its pronouncements on everything from building bridges to who counts as an expert. Yet, history is full of scientific theories that turned out to be wrong. This leads us to a fundamental question: what exactly Read More
Category: Theory
Theory and Practice in Education
46: Bridging the Gap: Educational Theory and Practice Education is one of several soft technologies that share an interesting trait: The scholars who discover the science behind the natural phenomena that are the basis of the technology and the practitioners who apply that science to the human purpose are different people. Other examples of human Read More
Elevator Pitch on Zone of Proxial Development
Like all Vygotskian ideas, the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a complex theory, but it can be reduced to a few simple principles that are quite easy to understand. First, within any domain of human knowledge, there are problems that an individual can solve easily and there are others that are too complex to Read More
An Example of Data
Data can become evidence only if it is reliable. Reliability is based on the degree to which the same observations can be made under similar circumstances but at different times, and also one the degree to which different measures of the same effect agree. Theory allows managers and leaders to make predictions about what they Read More
Tacit Knoweldge
Philosopher and scientist Michael Polanyi used the term tacit knowledge to describe understanding that is implicit and difficult to state with precision. For this reason, tacit knowledge cannot be stated as an algorithm, so it cannot be downloaded to digital devices. According to Polanyi, tacit knowledge is necessary to frame a problem, to develop a Read More
Cognitive Load Theory: Brief Definition
Cognitive load theorists recognize three types of cognitive load: Intrinsic cognitive load is associated with the learner thinking about the information and the task. Intrinsic load does increase as the task becomes more complex, but steps to break the task down into parts and the use graphic organizers (for example) to help store and organize Read More
Are They Learning? How Do We Know?
I posted a tweet recently that seemed to motivate folks to engage. I posted: What if students learn, but can't perform on assessments? — Dr. Gary Ackerman (@GaryAckermanPhD) November 23, 2023 The responses to my tweet suggest there are some educators have not yet abandoned the platform, and those who remain are thoughtful about the Read More
Three Types of Societies
Scholars have recently rediscovered the significant and active influence that information technology exerts on the nature of societies. They generally differentiate three types of societies and have documented different types of interaction and cognition in each. Cultures with Primary Orality Cultures without writing are referred to as demonstrating primary orality, and communication in those cultures Read More
Is Speech a Technology?
I recently made a seemingly obvious observation in a tweet: “Every technological innovation become obsolete.” (Yup, that is what I tweeted… I’m the worst copy editor of social media posts.) A follower (whom I also follow and with whom I occasionally interact) replied “Is speech a technology?” Realizing the response was to be too long Read More
It Is Time for Metamodernism
Over my career, I have been a natural scientist; my undergraduate preparation was in science education. I spent many delightful hours in science labs gathering and interpreting data, and I was fortunate that my professors (in botany) included original research. As a science and math teacher, my thinking and teaching was dominated by modernist Read More