Theme :The evaluation of teaching methods

Many of us hear the word assessment and think “test.” However, good assessment involves a variety of techniques.

Formative assessment techniques monitor student learning during the learning process. The feedback gathered is used to identify areas where students are struggling so that instructors can adjust their teaching and students can adjust their studying. These are low-stakes assessments (i.e., they have low point values) that happen early and often in the semester.

Summative assessment techniques evaluate student learning. These are high-stakes assessments (i.e., they have high point values) that occur at the end of an instructional unit or course and measure the extent to which students have achieved the desired learning outcomes.

Formative (Low-Stakes) Assessments

Informal Techniques

· Written reflections. Sometimes referred to as " Minute Papers" or " Muddiest Points, " these popular assessment techniques have students reflect immediately following a learning opportunity (e.g., at the end of a class or after completing an out-of-class activity) to answer one or two basic questions like:

o “What was the most important thing you learned today? ”

o “What was the most confusing topic today? ”

o “What important question remains unanswered? ”

· Polls/Surveys. Data on student opinions, attitudes, behaviors or confidence in understanding can be gathered either during class (e.g., with a classroom response system) or outside of class. This can illustrate student engagement with the material as well as prior knowledge, misconceptions, and comprehension.

· Checks for Understanding. Pausing every few minutes to see whether students are following along with the lesson not only identifies gaps in comprehension, but helps break up lectures or online lessons (e.g., with embedded quiz questions) into more digestible bites.

· Wrappers. " Wrapping" activities, using a set of reflective questions, can help students develop skills to monitor their own learning and adapt as necessary.

o Exam Wrappers include questions about preparation strategies, surprises, remaining questions, study goals for the next unit, and so on. This helps students reflect on their study strategies to identify the best ways to prepare for future exams.

o Homework Wrappers include questions about students' confidence in applying their knowledge and skills both before and after completing an assignment. This gives students immediate feedback concerning the accuracy of their perceptions.

o Lecture Wrappers include questions at the beginning of class about what students anticipate getting out of a lesson and/or questions at the end of class about the key points of the lesson. Having students compare their key points to the instructor's can help students develop skills in active listening and identifying important information.

Formal Techniques

· In-class activities. Having students work in pairs or small groups to solve problems creates space for powerful peer-to-peer learning and rich class discussion. Instructors and TAs can roam the classroom as students work, helping those who get stuck and guiding those who are headed in the wrong direction.

· Quizzes. Gauge students’ prior knowledge, assess progress midway through a unit, create friendly in-class competition, review before the test -- quizzes can be great tools that don't have to count heavily toward students' grades. Using quizzes to begin units is also a fun way to assess what your students already know, clear up misconceptions, and drive home the point of how much they will learn.

· Online assessment. Many online learning modules have built-in assessments where students solve problems or answer questions along the way. This can provide you with analytics on student responses and class performance so you can tailor your instruction to their particular learning needs.

· Class Deliverables. In-class activities are designed so students, usually in groups, are required to submit a product of their work for a grade. Among the variety of techniques that can be used, the most effective will balance individual and group accountability and require students to think about authentic complex issues. Team-Based Learning uses four criteria in the design of collaborative application exercises.

Summative (High-Stakes) Assessments:

· Exams. This includes mid-term exams, final exams, and tests at the end of course units. The best tests include several types of questions – short answer, multiple-choice, true-false, and short essay – to allow students to fully demonstrate what they know.

· Papers, projects, and presentations. These give students the chance to go deeper with the material to put the knowledge they’ve acquired to use or create something new from it. This level of application is an extremely important and often overlooked part of the learning process. These types of projects also give students who do not test well a chance to shine.

· Portfolios. Submitting a portfolio at the end of a course can be a powerful way for students to see the progress they’ve made. More than just a collection of students' work from the semester, good portfolios also include reflections on their learning. Asking students to spell out the concepts or techniques used with each piece, the themes addressed, and hurdles faced also brings a sense of completion to the learning process.

Lecture 9

Theme: Jan Amos Komenský

Jan Amos Komenský, Latinized form Johannes Amos Comenius sometimes also Komenius, (*28 March 1592 in south-eastern Moravia; † 15 November 1670 in Amsterdam) philosopher, theologian and educator.

From 1608 to 1611 Komenský attended the grammar school of the Unity of Brethren in Př erov, where he adopted the byname Amos. From 1611 he studied theology at the Calvinist University of Herborn and the University of Heidelberg. The name Komenský (already used by his father) does not appear in the records until 1623, its Latin form, Comenius, makes its first appearance in 1627.

From 1614 to 1617 Komenský taught as headmaster of the Brethren school in Prerov. In 1616 he was ordained as a pastor of the Unity of Brethren, and between 1618 and 1621 he led the Brethren in Fulnek. When forced to leave the country with his family in 1628, he found a new home, with thousands of other displaced persons, in the Polish town of Leszno. The newcomers established their own district and set up their own education system, too. Over the next few years Komenský scratched a meagre living as a teacher at the municipal grammar school. During this highly productive literary period, Komenský gained a good reputation among philosophers and intellectuals from all over Europe and as far as North America. He travelled to and lived in many European countries before settling down in Amsterdam in 1656 where he remained until his death.
Komenský ’s work was based on a Christian-humanistic approach. A philosophical axiom of his teaching reads “omnes omnia omnino”, or “to teach everything in-depth to everyone” [Didactica Magna, caput XI, Sp.49]. Komenský not only called for a non-coercive teaching environment, he disapproved of coercion of any kind. This is reflected in the motto that he displayed on the front page of his Orbis sensualium pictus: “Omnia sponte fluant, absit violentia rebus”, which means “Everything flows on its own impulse; violence shall be afar from the things”. His teaching principles advocated learning by doing; he chose demonstration over verbal teaching, native tongue over foreign language, example (role model) over mere words.

In his didactic works Komenský advocated a general reform of the school system, providing compulsory schooling for boys and girls of all social classes, with standard school education until the age of 12, after which those who were more skilled with their hands were to embark on an apprenticeship, whereas the others were to continue their education, first at the Latin school and later, between the age of 18 and 24, at the university. Many of his ideas were revolutionary – for example, he believed that education should be available to boys and girls, and that classes should be descriptive and well structured and provide particular reference to practical applications. Many of his principles have remained part of today’s education system.

Komenský is the founder of didactics, which he understood as the opposite of mathetics, a term he coined to mean “the science of learning”.

His best known works include Janua Linguarum Reserata (“The Gate of Tongues Unlocked”), which for the first time linked science lessons to language (Latin) learning and which was translated into twelve European and several Asian languages, and the Orbis sensualium pictus (“The Visible World in Pictures”), the illustrated version of the Janua, the “ancestor of all children’s picture books”. It was not only the first illustrated children’s book but also the first encyclopaedia for children.

His main pedagogical works are the Pampaedia (“Universal Education”), the fourth volume of the seven-part Consultatio catholica, and the Didactica magna (“The Great Didactica”), one of the most important texts in the history of didactics.

Lecture 10

Perception

" When one thinks, then he understands; without having thought, one does not know; it is only after having thought that one understands."

(Chhandogya Upanishad, VII-xxi-1)

" I was absent-minded; I did not hear. I was absent-minded; I did not see. It is thus evident that a person sees with the mind, hears with the mind. Desire, determination, uncertainty, belief, disbelief, steadiness, unsteadiness, shame, intellect, fear-all these are in the mind alone. Therefore, when touched from behind, a person knows by the mind. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, I-v-3)

There are two compartments in the mind, viz., the thinking portion and the perceiving portion. It is easy to stop the thinking portion, but it is extremely difficult to stop the functioning of the perceiving portion.

It is only the individual mind that sees objects outside. If you see the same objects through a telescope, they appear different. If you can see with the mind directly, you will have a different vision altogether. Hiranyagarbha or Karya Brahman has quite a different vision. He sees everything as a vibration or movement within himself as his own Sankalpa, just as you can imagine within your own mind that a big war is going on and many people are dying on either side. You withdraw your imagination at your will.

Theories Of Perception

There is the elastic theory of the mind. This school of thought says that the mind becomes elastic when several objects come in contact with the various senses and thus puts itself simultaneously into touch with various sense-organs or Indriyas of knowledge (Jnana-Indriyas). When the mind comes in contact with one object and one Indriya, it contracts to a point. This theory is exploded and refuted by the Vedantins as unsound.

There is another school of thought that says that there are different compartments or parts in the mind. One part of the mind connects itself with one sense (Indriya), another part with a second sense and so on. This theory is similarly blown up and discarded by the Vedantins as untenable and unsound.

According to the school of thought known by the name of Drishti-Srishti-Vada, the perceiver and the perceived are one. Just as the spider weaves out the web from its own body, even so the mind throws out this physical universe from its own body during waking state and withdraws the world into its womb during sleep. An object is a mental Vritti externalised or objectified.

The Drishya (what you see outside) is due to mental Avidya. There is only light outside. There is only vibration outside. It is the mind that gives colour and shape. It is all mental deception. This is one view. This is one theory of perception.

The interaction between the mind inside and the Tanmatric vibrations outside is the object or the world that you see outside. This is one theory of perception. Mind is formed out of the Sattvic portion of the five Tanmatras. There is light outside. The sun also emits light. The eye is made up of fire or Agni-Tattva. That portion of the mind which perceives is also made up of Agni-Tattva. So fire sees fire. Only that portion of the mind which is made up of Sabda-Tanmatra can hear. Sound comes from Akasa outside. So Akasa of the mind hears Akasa from outside. But, Atman can see, hear, taste and feel everything. Atman only can be seen by Atman. Therefore, whatever you see outside is Atman only. " Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma-Everything is verily Brahman."

The View Of Western Medical Science

According to western medical science, light-vibrations from outside strike the retina and an inverted image is formed there. These vibrations are carried through optic tract and optic thalamus to the centre of vision in the occipital lobe of the brain in the back part of the head. There, a positive image is formed. Then only, you see the object in front of you.

Perception According To Sankhya Philosophy

According to Sankhya philosophy, the real back-ground of perception is the Purusha of whom the western doctors and psychologists have no idea. Fleshy eyes are only external instruments (Karanas) for perception. Eye is not an organ of vision. The organ of vision is a centre situated in the brain; so is the case with all senses. Mind is connected with the Indriyas, the Indriyas with the corresponding centres in brain and the centres, with the physical organs, to the external object. The mind presents the sensation to Buddhi; Buddhi takes it to the Purusha (which is pure Spirit, which is Immaterial). Now, real perception takes place. Purusha gives order to Buddhi. Then, Buddhi, after proper decision and judgment and after taking into consideration the pros and cons of the subject on hand, gives orders back to the mind, for execution through the motor centres (Karma-Indriyas or organs of action). Buddhi is the Prime Minister and Judge who hears the statements of the Advocate, viz., the mind. Mind plays two parts, viz., (i) that of an Advocate and (ii) that of a Commander-in-Chief. After receiving decisive orders from Buddhi, the mind acts the part of a Commander-in-Chief and executes the orders of Buddhi through the five soldiers, the five Karma-Indriyas. This is the theory of perception according to the Sankhya Philosophy. See how very clear matters are in Hindu Philosophy.

First of all, there is the instrument or Karana-for instance, the fleshy eye. It takes the sense-impressions to the centre or Indriya. The mind is then connected with the centre and the external instruments, namely, the physical eye, ear, etc. The mind carries the impressions still further and presents them to the Buddhi, the determinative faculty, which reacts. Then flashes out the idea of egoism or Ahankara, which self-arrogates and identifies with Abhimana. Then the mixture of action and reaction is presented to the Purusha, the real Soul who perceives an object in the mixture.

Knowledge comes through contact with objects (Indriyartha-Sannikarsha). To know a Prapancha Vishaya, Indriya, Antahkarana and Jiva are required. Indriya will see the Vishaya. Mind will make it appear. Buddhi, with the help of Abhasa Chaitanya, will understand it. Mind, senses and the Karanas (external instruments) such as the physical eye, ear, etc., should all be joined together. Then only perception of an object is possible. The object comes in contact with the senses. The senses are linked to the mind. The mind is connected to the Atman. The Atman illumines. This is with reference to the physical plane.

The Vedantic Theory

According to the Advaitic theory of perception, it is the Chaitanya within us that makes perception possible. The Chetana within us unites with the Chetana in the object and the result is perception. It does not follow from this that the mind and the senses are useless. The senses are necessary for the adaptation of perception to their approximate things. From the soul's essential nature being intelligence, it does not follow that the senses are useless, for they serve the purpose of determining the special object of each sense.

The Vedantic theory of perception is that the mind comes out through the eye and assumes the shape of the object outside. The Antahkarana-Vritti enters through the opening of the Indriya (eye), removes Vishaya Ajnana, assumes Vishayakara (the shape and form of the object it envelops), presents the objects to your view. The function of Vritti is to cause Avarana-Bhanga (removal of the veil or layer of Sthula Avidya that envelops all objects).

A ray of the mind actually goes out, assumes the shape and form of the object and envelops it. Then only perception takes place. The perception of a book is possible only when the mind has assumed the actual shape of the book. Mental image plus external something is the object. Whatever objects you see outside, have got their own images in the mind.

When you pass through a mango garden, a ray of the mind comes out through the eye and envelops a mango. It assumes the shape of the mango. The ray is termed Vritti. The enveloping process is called Vritti-Vyapti. The function of a Vritti is to remove the Avarana (veil) that envelops the object and the Upahita Chaitanya. The veil that envelops the mango is removed by the Vritti or the mental ray. There is Chaitanya associated with the Vritti (Vritti Sahita Chaitanya). This Chaitanya illuminates the object 'mango'. This is termed Phala-Vyapti. Just as a torchlight illumines an object in a flash, this Vritti-Chaitanya illumines the object. Then only does perception of the mango take place. Mind makes Sankalpa-Vikalpa: Is this a mango or not? Buddhi comes to help the mind and determines (this is a mango) through previous experience. Chitta makes Anusandhana (enquiry): " How can I get the mango? May I ask the gardener or the proprietor? " Ahankara asserts: " I must get the mango anyhow. I want it." Then the command is given by the mind to the Karma-Indriyas for execution.

When you see a mango tree, it is external to you. There is externality. The mango tree is a mental percept. It is a mental concept also. There is no mango tree apart from the mind. You know the existence of the tree through the mind only. There is a mental image in the mind. The image in the mind plus the external something is the mango tree. Even if you close your eyes, you can get at the image through memory. The green colour of the leaves is due to a certain rate of light vibrations (say, 10 millions of vibrations). These light vibrations strike at the retina and are taken to the vision centre at the back of the brain. The mango-leaves have the power to split the white rays and absorb the green colour only. So says science.

Your body also is as much external to you as that yonder mango tree. It is also a mental percept or mental concept. The mango tree is external to you with reference to your body only. The mango tree itself is a mere appearance that floats in the Absolute or the One Reality. As the mango tree is external to you from the standpoint of your body, and as the body itself is external to you, the idea of externality of the mango tree or this external universe is blown up now. The term internality also has a false existence only. There is internality only with reference to the externality. If the externality goes away, where is the internality? Both the terms internality and externality are mere illusions, creations of the mind. There is only the solid existence, the One Reality or Absolute behind the so-called internality and externality. That is the Real, Infinite 'I'. That is your own Self.

Mind Alone Creates Differences

The eyes present before the mind some forms or images. It is the mind that creates good and bad forms. It says, " This is good. This is ugly. This is beautiful." Here comes bondage and trouble. Good and bad, ugly and beautiful are pure mental creations. If mind can create, it can destroy also. Similarly, the ears bring some sound vibrations before the mind. It is the mind that says: " This is praise. This is censure." Eyes and ears are not to be blamed at all. They are innocent. Mind causes the mischief.

Mental Cognition Takes Place Serially

Mind can think of only limited things. Mind cannot think of greenness without thinking of a green object.

Mind is Niravayava (without parts, divisions, compartments). It can have only one idea at a time. This is the Siddhanta of Naiyayikas. Even those Vedantins who say that mind is Savayava (with compartments) on the analogy of Chora-Nari (the prostitute whose mind is on the paramour even while she works in her house) admit that the mind can have Visesha Vritti of the lover only and Samanya Vritti of the work on hand at the time.

The human mind has the power of attending to only one object at a time, although it is able to pass from one object to another with a marvellous degree of speed, so rapidly in fact, that some have held that it could grasp several things at a time. Mind is a gate-keeper or guard who can allow only one person, one kind of sense-vibration at a time into the mental factory. You cannot hear and see at the same time. The mind can have only one idea at a time. But it moves with such tremendous lightning speed that an ordinary man thinks that he can have several ideas at a time.

Perception through the finite mind or cognition or experience takes place serially and not simultaneousely. Simultaneous knowledge can only be had in Nirvikalpa Samadhi where past and future merge in the present. Only a Yogin will have simultaneous knowledge. A man of the world with a finite mind can have only a knowledge in succession. Two thoughts, however closely related to each other, cannot exist at the same time. The nature of the internal organism (Antahkarana or Manas) prevents our having more than one aspect of an object at each instant presented to consciousness. Though several objects may come in contact simultaneously with the different sense-organs, yet the mind acts like a gatekeeper who can admit only one person at a time through the gate. The mind can send only one kind of sensation at a time into the mental factory inside for the manufacture of a decent percept and a nice concept.

When the mind gives attention and is attached to the sense of sight, it can only see. It cannot hear. It cannot hear and see at the same time. It is everybody's daily experience. When your mind is wholly absorbed in deep study of some interesting book, you cannot hear even if a man shouts, because the mind was not there (with the sense of hearing). " My mind was elsewhere, I did not see; my mind was elsewhere, I did not hear, for man sees with his mind and hears with his mind." Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, I-v-3). When you seriously think of a problem, you can neither see nor hear nor feel. All the Indriyas are detached from the mind. There is only the process of Anusandhana (enquiry or investigation) by the Chitta (the mental substance).

The best philosophers and seers, Rishis and sages, the best authorities, Eastern and Western, hold to the " Single Idea" theory as being correct. They are unanimously agreed that the mind cannot actually attend to more than one thing at a time, but when it appears to be doing so, it is only moving with prodigious rapidity backward and forward, from one end to the other. Illiterate people say that they can see and hear at the same time. The mind moves with a tremendous velocity backward and forward and people imagine that mind can do two things at a time. It is a sad mistake. A spark of light presents the appearance of a continuous circle of light if it is made to rotate rapidly. Even so, though the mind can attend to only one thing at a time-either hearing or seeing or smelling- though it can admit only one kind of sensation at a time, yet we are led to believe that it does several actions simultaneously, because it moves from one object to another with tremendous velocity, so rapidly that its successive attention and perception appear as a simultaneous activity.

Compensatory Advantage In Sense Perception

In some persons, the sense of hearing is more developed than the sense of sight. Judges have acute hearing. Commanders-in-chief have acute sight. The profession itself forces them to develop the particular sense. Blind people have acute sense of hearing. If one Indriya is defective, nature compensates by developing more another Indriya. One of my friends knows of a blind man who can feel the nature of the colour by mere touch.

Speech is even the sight of the Purusha. Speech means here sound, the object of the sense of hearing. When this sense is enlightened, reflection is produced in the mind. By the mind effort to obtain external thing is made; for by the mind one sees, one hears. When one, at a time at night in the dark, cannot distinguish where sound arises (be it the neighing of horses or the braying of donkeys or the barking of dogs), he resorts there whence speech proceeds.

Supersensory Perception

It is the mind that really sees, tastes, smells, hears and feels. When you begin to think of the picture of Lord Krishna with closed eyes, it is through the mind's eye that you see the picture.

An occultist can dispense with his physical, fleshy eyes and can see directly with his mind. A Bhakta (devotee), being one with Isvara (Lord), sees directly with the eye of Isvara (with the eye of Karana-Sarira, seed-body). A Jnanin sees with the eye of Knowledge of Atman (Divya Drishti or Jnana-Chakshus).

How Brahman Perceives

In the mind, will and sight are separate. In pure Chit, will and seeing are one; will and sight are combined and no longer, as in the case of mind, separated from each other.

Brahman does not need Antahkarana to sense, think and reason. Brahman does not need eyes to see. He is self-luminous. He gives light to everything. He imparts light to Antahkarana. He gives light and power to the Indriyas. He is Chit-Svarupa. He is Chidghana. He is a mass of knowledge. He knows everything through Self-knowledge. He sees within Himself through Self-knowledge the whole universe as His own Sankalpa, as Vivarta.

Lecture 11

Johann Friedrich Herbart

Herbart as a philosopher Johann Friedrich Herbart was born on 4 May 1776 in the North German town of Oldenburg and died on 11 August 1841 in the university city of Gö ttingen. Between 1794 and 1797, he was a pupil of the philosopher, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) at Jena University. However, the young Herbart soon distanced himself from the ‘scientific theory’ and practical philosophy of his mentor. He used the contradictions inherent in idealistic philosophy as a fruitful point of departure for the development of his own realistic philosophy. Nevertheless, Herbart remained true throughout his life to the rigorous style of thinking of his teacher Fichte. He too attempted to present the main elements of his philosophical writings as ‘deductions’. Herbart’s principal philosophical works are Hauptpunkte der Metaphysik (Main Points of Metaphysics) written in 1806; Allgemeine Praktische Philosophie (General Practical Philosophy) dating from 1808; Psychologie als Wissenschaft: neugegrü ndet auf Erfahrung, Metaphysik und Mathematik (Psychology as a Science: on the New Foundations of Experience, Metaphysics and Mathematics) from the years 1824-25; and his Allgemeine Metaphysik nebst den Anfä ngen der Philosophischen Naturlehre (General Metaphysics, together with the First Principles of a Philosophical Theory of Nature), written in 1828-29. In his metaphysic, Herbart draws heavily on the theory of monads of Leibniz. Taking account of the problems raised by Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason, Herbart attempts to grasp reality 2 through concepts in his metaphysical deductions. Herbart’s metaphysic comprises, in particular, a carefully thought-out psychology that is a milestone in the history of this branch of knowledge. Herbart was the first to use, with rigorous logic, the methods of modern infinitesimal calculus to solve problems of psychological research. In his view, psychology is rooted in experience, metaphysics and mathematics. His intention was to rival, in the new discipline of psychology, the discoveries made by Isaac Newton in physics. Admittedly, nineteenth century empirical psychological research did not follow in his footsteps. Herbart’s psychology did have an unmistakable influence, however, on the empirical psychology of Wilhelm Wundt and on the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud. Herbart’s practical philosophy is characterized by the fact that moral judgements are interpreted as a special form of aesthetic judgement. Moral judgements adopt an approving or reproving position on states of volition. Ethical ideas are nothing other than aesthetic judgements on elementary states of volition. The moral judgements of daily life can be corrected in the light of the ethical ideas of perfection, inner freedom, goodwill, justice and equity. Herbart’s working carreer began in the canton of Bern, Switzerland, between 1797 and 1800, and continued at Bremen from 1800 to 1802, at Gö ttingen from 1802 to 1809, at Kö nigsberg from 1809 to 1833, and finally at Gö ttingen again from 1833 to 1841. In Switzerland he worked as a private tutor, in Bremen as an independent scholar and unofficial tutor, and in Gö ttingen and Kö nigsberg as a professor of philosophy and pedagogics. In early 1809, he was appointed to take over the Chair of Philosophy at Kö nigsberg University from Immanuel Kant’s immediate successor. The authorities in Kö nigsberg were looking for a philosopher with a high scientific ranking who also had an understanding of education. In that spirit, the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III, approved Herbart’s nomination to Kö nigsberg in the following terms: I [...] approve the appointment of Professor Herbart from Gö ttingen to teach philosophy at our university here, and I do so all the more readily as Herbart can play a particularly useful role in the improvement of our education system following the principles of Pestalozzi (Kehrbach, 1897-1912 (K 14), p. 13). The concept of educational teaching In the years between 1802 and 1809, Herbart already succeeded in making a name for himself not only as a philosopher, but also as a pedagogical specialist through his many publications. His work entitled Pestalozzis Idee eines ABC der Anschauung (Pestalozzi’s Idea of an ABC of Perception) was published in 1802. This was followed by Ü ber die ä sthetische Darstellung der Welt als das Hauptgeschä ft der Erziehung (On the Aesthetic Representation of the World as the Principal Function of Education, 1804), and Allgemeine Pä dagogik aus dem Zweck der Erziehung abgeleitet (General Pedagogics Derived from the Purpose of Education, 1806). The idea of educational teaching is central to Herbart’s theory of education which is founded on experience and on philosophical reflection. Like practical and theoretical educationalists before him, Herbart also makes a distinction between education (Latin: educatio) and teaching (Latin: instructio). ‘Education’ means shaping the development of character with a view to the improvement of man. ‘Teaching’ represents the world, conveys fresh knowledge, develops existing aptitudes and imparts useful skills. Herbart’s reforming pedagogics revolutionized the relationship between education and teaching. A new paradigm of pedagogical thinking and pedagogical action was thus created. Before Herbart, it was unusual to combine the concepts of ‘education’ and ‘teaching’. Consequently, questions pertaining to education and teaching were initially pursued independently. 3 Only at a second stage was an attempt made to determine how teaching could be supported by education and education could be supported by teaching. Herbart, on the contrary, took the bold step of ‘subordinating’ the concept of ‘teaching’ to that of ‘education’ in his educational theory. As he saw it, external influences, such as the punishment or shaming of pupils, were not the most important instruments of education. On the contrary, appropriate teaching was the only sure means of promoting education that was bound to prove successful. In Herbart’s own words, teaching is the ‘central activity of education’. His own thinking, personal experience and experimentation convinced Herbart of the astonishing effects of educational teaching: the individual who acquires a ‘versatile range of interests’ through teaching will ‘be capable’ of doing with inner ease everything that he ‘wishes’ to do after ‘mature reflection’. He will always keep his ethical ideal clearly in mind and, in his progress towards the attainment of that ideal, he will be able to rely on his own pleasure in further learning and on the dependable ‘strength of his own character’. Herbart’s activity as a private tutor in Bern, an educational adviser in Bremen, professor of philosophy and pedagogics at the Universities of Gö ttingen and Kö nigsberg, and as the head of an experimental pedagogical institute attached to the University of Kö nigsberg, was guided at all times by the concept of educational teaching. We shall now examine the process by which Herbart gradually developed the notion of educational teaching and see how this central concept of his educational philosophy has survived to the present day. The different biographical, theoretical and practical/pedagogical aspects which we shall be following up will gradually fuse together into a ‘profile’ which will reveal Herbart’s contribution to the progress of pedagogical thinking and to the reform of pedagogical action. Herbart’s concept of pedagogical science A Swiss student friend from Herbart’s Jena study days found him a post as a private tutor in Switzerland in the year 1797. Here, Herbart joined up with a circle of like-minded friends for whom Pestalozzi’s educational ideas met with an enthusiastic audience. Personal contacts with Pestalozzi were also established. In a publication dating from 1802, Herbart recalls his personal experience of Pestalozzi for the benefit of his readers: A dozen children between the ages of 5 and 8 were summoned to school at an unusual hour in the evening. I was afraid that I might find them ill-disposed and so witness the failure of the experiment which I wanted to observe. But the children came with no trace of reluctance and lively activity continued unabated to the end (Herbart, 1982a, p. 65). Herbart goes on to describe how Pestalozzi encouraged the children to occupy their mouths and their hands simultaneously; how he used repetition as a technique of speech training and, at the same time, gave the children materials to hold which were intended to make it easier for them to learn the skill of writing. The experience which the young private tutor brought back with him from Switzerland was not the only root of his educational theory. He was also stimulated by the pedagogical ideas of Fichte and Pestalozzi, which were soon to assume an original personal character in a thinker of Herbart’s stature. Herbart described two contrasting routes of pedagogical reflection. The first—that of analytical-pedagogical thought—begins with his own experience and experimentation. It leads initially to empirical pedagogics and then on to a philosophical theory of education. This route enables the concepts which dominate the range of experience of the person who starts out as a layman to be ‘explained’ in increasing depth and to be ‘made clear’ through an on-going process of philosophical 4 reflection. This route of pedagogical thinking makes philosophy dependent, if only partially, on pedagogics. The second route, that of speculative thinking establishing a synthesis, starts out from the principles of a philosophical system which already exists and develops a theoretical and practical doctrine of education from them. In this way, pedagogics became dependent on philosophy, and, in particular, on psychology and ethics. In his educational publications, the young Herbart preferred, with few exceptions, the analytical-pedagogical mode of thought. However, once he had developed his philosophical system in the middle years of his life and given it comprehensive expression, he allowed the speculative mode of thought that establishes syntheses to take priority. However, Herbart was thereafter unable to present an overall and conclusive view of his educational philosophy. In the two routes of pedagogical thinking, the ‘ends’ and the ‘means’ of education are both discussed. The investigation of the ends is co-ordinated with ethics, while the study of the means has a psychological slant. In his ‘General Pedagogics’, his central pedagogical work published in 1806, Herbart described this duplication of content that is encountered in both modes of thought, in the following terms: The intention with which the educator is to approach his work, this practical reflection, provisionally detailed down to the measures which our present state of knowledge suggests we should choose, is to my mind the first half of pedagogics. But there must be a second in which the possibility of education is theoretically explained and presented with its limitations in the light of changing circumstances (Herbart, 1982b, p. 22). Herbart’s complete pedagogical system would accordingly seem to consist of two sections, linked with ethics and psychology respectively. Both sections can be investigated analytically (starting out from teaching experience) and by synthesis (based on philosophical principles). The analytical and synthetic modes are contrasting types of thinking.

Lecture 12

Memory

Human memory, like memory in a computer, allows us to store information for later use. In order to do this, however, both the computer and we need to master three processes involved in memory. The first is called encoding; the process we use to transform information so that it can be stores. For a computer this means transferring data into 1’s and 0’s. For us, it means transforming the data into a meaningful form such as an association with an existing memory, an image, or a sound.

Next is the actual storage, which simply means holding onto the information. For this to take place, the computer must physically write the 1’ and 0’s onto the hard drive. It is very similar for us because it means that a physiological change must occur for the memory to be stored. The final process is called retrieval, which is bringing the memory out of storage and reversing the process of encoding. In other words, return the information to a form similar to what we stored.

The major difference between humans and computers in terms of memory has to do with how the information is stored. For the most part, computers have only two types; permanent storage and permanent deletion. Humans, on the other hand are more complex in that we have three distinct memory storage capabilities (not including permanent deletion). The first is Sensory memory, referring to the information we receive through the senses. This memory is very brief lasting only as much as a few seconds.

Short Term Memory(STM) takes over when the information in our sensory memory is transferred to our consciousness or our awareness (Engle, Cantor, & Carullo, 1993; Laming, 1992). This is the information that is currently active such as reading this page, talking to a friend, or writing a paper. Short term memory can definitely last longer than sensory memory (up to 30 seconds or so), but it still has a very limited capacity. According to research, we can remember approximately 5 to 9 (7 +/- 2) bits of information in our short term memory at any given time (Miller, 1956)

If STM lasts only up to 30 seconds, how do we ever get any work done? Wouldn’t we start to lose focus or concentrate about twice every minute? This argument prompted researchers to look at a second phase of STM that is now referred to as Working Memory. Working Memory is the process that takes place when we continually focus on material for longer than STM alone will allow (Baddeley, 1992).

What happens when our short term memory is full and another bit of information enters? Displacement means that the new information will push out part of the old information. Suddenly some one says the area code for that phone number and almost instantly you forget the last two digits of the number. We can further sharpen our short term memory skills, however, by mastering chunking and using rehearsal (which allows us to visualize, hear, say, or even see the information repeatedly and through different senses).Finally, there is long term memory (LTM), which is most similar to the permanent storage of a computer. Unlike the other two types, LTM is relatively permanent and practically unlimited in terms of its storage capacity. Its been argued that we have enough space in our LTM to memorize every phone number in the U.S. and still function normally in terms of remembering what we do now. Obviously we don’t use even a fraction of this storage space.There are several subcategories of LTM. First, memories for facts, life events, and information about our environment are stored in declarative memory. This includes semantic memory, factual knowledge like the meaning of words, concepts, and our ability to do math (Lesch & Pollatsek, 1993, Rohrer et al., 1995) and episodic memory, memories for events and situations (Goldringer, 1996; Kliegel & Lindberger, 1993). The second subcategory is often not thought of as memory because it refers to internal, rather than external information. When you brush your teeth, write your name, or scratch your eye, you do this with ease because you previously stored these movements and can recall them with ease. This is referred to as nondeclarative (or implicit) memory. These are memories we have stored due to extensive practice, conditioning, or habits.

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