TBers,
This is a reminder that we have a Teaching Breakfast outside of Starbucks in Hunt Union tomorrow, December 5, from 8 - 9:30am. Bring your drink or grab something at Starbucks and come on over. We will keep the conversation going till 9:30 so come any time in there that you can.
Here is a part of a conversation from the POD Network about awakening students abilities to be creative and critical thinkers. I like this idea of "awakending" and thought the reflection below does a good job of looking at it. For the full conversation on this you can go here: https://groups.google.com/a/podnetwork.org/forum/#!topic/discussion/J-dhe0QAqK4
[http://www.google.com/images/icons/product/groups-128.png]<https://groups.google.com/a/podnetwork.org/forum/#!topic/discussion/J-dhe0QAqK4>
Awakending<https://groups.google.com/a/podnetwork.org/forum/#!topic/discussion/J-dhe0QAqK4>
groups.google.com
Posted 12/1/18 8:07 AM, 6 messages
The statement is similar to a fixed-mind statement that insists: "People
don't change." If it is true, it's not just the Eastern Kentucky Center
that is in trouble--it's all of us who claim to be able to teach.
The early psychologists' proclamations that people cannot do metacognition
and that affect and emotion get in the way of clear thinking seem similar to
a claim that creativity can't be taught. The statements that "students can't
self assess," are still being pushed as gospel in behavioral science
journals and faculty development workshops. These examples reveal something
we do know about in higher education -- evidence operates at painfully slow
rates to dislodge popular misconceptions.
But "awakening" does happen eventually. We know from brain scan studies that
we can see brains change through learning, and we can explain at the
cellular level some of what is occurring. Bob Leamnson was the first to
really bring this to the attention of higher education faculty and
developers. Now, there's a nice video about this that uses images not
available when Bob was writing in the late 1990s. See
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W81CHn4l4AM>.
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVP.LpqQfU6w37wUi54ac9ABTQEsDh&pid=Api]<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W81CHn4l4AM>
Dr Joe Dispenza- TED Talks with Dr Joe Dispenza<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W81CHn4l4AM>
www.youtube.com
http://tinyurl.com/DrJoeDispenza Dr Joe Dispenza, D.C., studied biochemistry at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. He has a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in Neuroscience and also received his Doctor of Chiropractic Degree at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating magna cum laude. Over the last 10 years, Dr ...
Basically, if a brain can develop neural connections and communication
systems between parts of the brain and retain the connections, it can learn.
We certainly accept that cognitive knowledge & skills and motor skills
develop through instruction and practice. We now know that "emotional
intelligence" isn't fixed either --- a normal brain can also gain emotional
capacity with informed practice.
Regarding creativity, we are starting to get brain images about what's
operating during creativity (<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29656437>)
--- G-rated version is here:
<https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-new-study-suggests-link-creat
ivity-brain-structure<https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-new-study-suggests-link-creativity-brain-structure>> and reveals "... that creativity is the product of
[https://artsy-media-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/B4ZQYwyrdlsDsJiqhE-KXw/Brain-creativity+thumb+630.jpg]<https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-new-study-suggests-link-creativity-brain-structure>
New Study Suggests a Link between Creativity and Brain Structure - Artsy<https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-new-study-suggests-link-creativity-brain-structure>
www.artsy.net
A study found an association between a personality trait linked to creativity and the thickness of an area of the brain responsible for cognitive control.
reduced control over what is happening inside of your mind, leading you to
entertain new ideas and think more fluidly."
The early research thus indicates "openness" as a useful--perhaps
essential-- quality to cultivate for increasing creative capacity. Openness
involves an ability to let go and watch an idea or understanding develop as
opposed to "making it happen" with control from past experience. Openness
seems to be a quality just now getting some attention by bringing practices
rather foreign to higher education into the college classroom, such as
mindfulness. We have some places that emphasize increasing the capacity for
letting go developed in meditation, some forms of yoga, and internal martial
arts, but not much yet ongoing in college classrooms that are focused on
disciplinary content and evaluative thinking.
Probably we need to let go as faculty developers on getting too fixated on
formulaic approaches and pedagogical coaching teaching of content as if
these were the best approaches for teaching everything. Instead, development
of comprehensive teaching philosophies that change as an instructor grows
are probably a lot more valuable. This would recognize that producing an
optimally educated person includes awareness of increasing capacity for
cognitive knowledge and skills, but ALSO increasing affective capacity for
empathy and awareness of others AND awareness about increasing creative
capacity. That doesn't mean that cooperative structures, concept maps,
scratch cards, clickers etc. should be less valued. However we might need to
recognize the necessity to develop very different pedagogies to promote
success in the "ALSO" & "AND" areas.
For this reason, Centers for Creativity are especially valuable now in these
early exploration stages.
Ed Nuhfer
Chilton Reynolds
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center
SUNY Oneonta
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 607-436-2673
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