Efficient Learning Maps ©: a media studies

Efficient Learning Maps ©: a media studies explanation as to why the education technology is helpful when recent reports say that educational technologies do not work Michael Tang Department of Civil Engineering University of Colorado Denver Denver, CO USA `

Karen Knaus Department of Chemistry University of Colorado Denver Denver, CO USA Tang, M. and Knaus, K. (2013). Efficient Learning Maps ©: a media studies explanation as to why the education technology is helpful when recent reports say that educational technologies do not work. WMSC: 17th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, Proceedings (July 8-11). 2: 273-278. Abstract Researchers at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) are focusing on computer design, constructive learning theory and cognitive linguistics to develop and test a cloud computing learning system to increase achievement among students in the STEM disciplines. This paper describes Efficient Learning Maps (eLms), an education technology designed to enhance logical thinking through the construction of concept maps using seven basic graphic symbols that represent logical operations. After and presenting evidence that the technology may prove effective and a strong need exists for effective education technologies the paper asks the question as to why the Visual Logic Maps technology appears work as intended when recent reports indicate that the efficacy of education technologies have resulted in negative or negligible results. The researchers of this paper suggest that the reason for the effectiveness of one technology versus others can be explained by 1) the design of the software which uses enhancement of mapping skills to enhance reading comprehension and vice versa; and 2) the findings of social scientists and media studies experts associated with Marshall McLuhan and the hypothesis of left and right brain differences. The paper concludes with the observation that before educators and software engineers can develop computer applications to advance knowledge and improve learning, they must first ask the basic question as to what constitutes knowledge in the twenty-first century when new technologies may be changing our very understanding of knowledge itself. [Keywords: concept mapping; science, technology and society; STS; science, technology, engineering mathematics; (STEM); science education; epistemology; cognitive linguistics; constructionist learning theory; right brain/left brain hemispheres. Discussion Investigators at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) are relying on artificial Intelligent software design,i constructive learning theory,ii cognitive linguisticsiii and concept mappingiv to develop and test a cloud computing learning system to increase achievement among underprepared undergraduate students in the STEM

disciplines. This paper briefly describes Visual Logic Maps (vLms), an educational technology designed to enhance logical thinking through the construction of concept maps with seven glyphs or graphic symbols that represent logical operations. The authors then present the preliminary results of experiments that show the vLms learning system appears to have been effective in improving the content knowledge and reading comprehension of undergraduate students in chemistry and science, technology and society (STS) courses at the university where the experiments were performed. These encouraging results run counter to recent reports on education technology and computer use in the classroom by the United States Department of Education and the OECD PISA Test, an exhaustive experiment designed to measure the digital reading performance of students using information and communication technology (ICT). In the study by the Department of Education, investigators at the Institute of Education sciences studied the education research related to the efficacy of commercial education technologies throughout the United States and found their appear to be effective while reports on the impact on other technologies on learning appear to be ineffective.v The purpose of this paper is to give a media studies and a neuropsychological explanation as to why the Visual Logic Maps education system appears to work when other assessment experiments have shown that the effectiveness of new computer technologies in the classroom is mixed, negligible, non-existent or inversely correlated. Visual Logic Maps Visual Logic Maps (vLms) is a set of maps that can be generated by a concept mapping engine, Efficient Learning Maps (eLms) that is part of eTutor©, a suite of software applications designed to increase advanced literacy and cognitive skills among students. The mapping software, written in HTML5, Python, JavaScript and Visual Basic, is a plug-in to Microsoft Excel that limits the student to using seven specific symbols or glyphs to draw seven corresponding concept maps. The Visual Logic Maps protocol is an exegesis educational technology that helps

students 1) make complex reading materials such as their course texts simpler; 2) make simple units of meaning into more complex units; 3) make connections between these units and 4) understand these relations as a greater whole. Furthermore, student use of visual logic maps and the efficient learning maps program promotes logical thinking, conceptual understanding, and connective or systems thinking. Preliminary experiments briefly discussed in this paper show that constructing these maps using a limited set of glyphs appears to improve the academic performance of underprepared college STEM students. A glyph is a pictograph that contributes to the meaning of what is symbolized. Chinese characters as well as mathematical symbols are glyphs. In math, the glyphs + , = , × , ÷ , ∑ , etc. are a specific set of symbols that indicate an operation and as such are very precise and with predefined meanings. Students construct Visual Logic Maps are constructed from seven glyphs called the Seven Sisters with each glyph, mark or symbol answering a specific first-order logic question concerning relationships. In natural language these questions are logical thought expressions such as, “What is a kind of? What is this a part of? and What is this a property of?” In formal logic the glyphs can be translated into more formal and established symbol systems such as set theory and Boolean algebra. For example all of the above questions can be reduced to the general equation, A = {a, b, c d . . .} in set theory. vii Preliminary Experiments The Visual Logic Maps educational system involves teaching students how to construct concept maps through the use of a simple symbolic language where students learn to categorize information as they read and construct knowledge. It is hypothesized that use of the Visual Logic Maps protocol will improve students’ higherorder thinking skills. Data from the preliminary evaluation suggests the Visual Logic Maps educational protocol increases students’ higher-order thinking skills because students obtain a higher level of content knowledge as measured by exams where (1) a positive linear relationship between content knowledge and reading comprehension skills as measured by the College Board’s Accuplacer Test have been found, and (2) research evidence exists that demonstrates a positive linear relationship between student performance on tests of logical thinking and American Chemical Society standardized exams. xxii The Visual logic maps protocol and synergistic educational technologies are unique because they (1) teach a logical process of information categorization; (2) help students learn to reduce the complexity of reading and learning content; (3) utilize a simple symbolic language for constructing meaning and understanding; (4) enhance knowledge construction through both logical and connective thinking. This is achieved through the use of “whole-brain thinking” where students use both right-brain thinking and left-brain thinking. In the preliminary visual logic maps experiments, students were asked to use specific graphic symbols to create interconnected maps of knowledge to demonstrate their understanding of STEM text. This process of building knowledge of reading content is analogous to what the

French called “exposition du texte,” exegesis or the interpretation of textual material. Data analysis from the preliminary experiments revealed that students in the experimental group (visual logic maps protocol group) experienced greater overall chemistry content knowledge gains with an emphasis on gains in quantitative understandings in the areas of (1) molecular geometry/electronic structure; (2) solution chemistry; and (3) atomic and molecular representations. In addition to the empirical study carried out to evaluate content knowledge gains associated with student use of the visual logic map protocol, another research study was conducted to assess reading comprehension gains associated with student use of the protocol in a Technology and Culture STS course. Statistical analysis of pre and post assessment data collected using the College Board’s ACCUPLACER® reading comprehension test revealed a statistically significant improvement in student reading comprehension score (p-sign < 0.05). A positive linear relationship between acquisition of STS knowledge and reading comprehension skills was found. In addition, a greater number of students in the lowest initial ability level made transitions into higher ability levels (mid-range and high) in comparison to students in the control group who were not exposed to the visual logic maps protocol, This is particularly noteworthy as need exists for the development of educational interventions that will close the achievement gap. One way to close this gap could be found in research that suggests that students who are referred for academic concerns have been found to have difficulties in the area of reading.xxiii

Figure 1: instruction page for students to construct Visual Logic Maps from their reading of a chapter in text book used for the course, Chemistry for Engineers, asking students to answer questions such as, 1) What is the language of the periodic table? 2) How is the periodic table organized? And 3) What are the chemical properties of the elements in the periodic table?

correlations. Running the science, reading and math scores through a multiple regression analysis with ANOVA gave results (99% confidence level) suggesting that that science skills, reading skills and math skills are highly correlated and we should be able to improve science skills by improving reading skills and math skills and vice versa. xxxiv-xxxviii

Figure 2: Example computer generated visual logic map demonstrating an understanding of the science behind the Aurora Borealis using chemistry concepts.

The Relationship between higher order thinking, reading and science The conclusion behind these referrals is because it is becoming clearer that reading comprehension, and concept attainment ability and higher-order thinking may be causally interconnected. xxiii-xxviii For example the U.S. Department of Education’s Reading Institute explicitly stated that “reading comprehension is a higher order thinking process” and “comprehending a passage is a form of problem solving”xxviii,xxix. Following up on that thought, research on the Visual Logic Maps indicate that these technologies may be making a considerable impact on learning precisely because the design behind their design s based on the hypothesis that reading and thinking are interdependent and if we can improve thinking we can improve reading comprehension and vice versa. Moreover from the preliminary research it can be further hypothesized that improving thinking skills may in improved science achievement. Whether the three variables or reading, science and cognitive ability are in fact causally linked, the need for higher order thinking, improved science and better reading skills in the U.S. is indisputable. According to the results of the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an educational evaluation program that compares the performance of 15 year olds in 65 memberxxx, xxxi the US ranked average in terms of reading, mathematics and science skills. The failure of traditional secondary education in the United States to prepare students for college is further documented by student scores on standardized tests such as the Standard Achievement Test (SAT), widely used for college admissions. These scores have been decreasing since the 1960’s and results in 2011 showed declines in every aspect with high school senior reading scores being the lowest ever recorded. Seventy-five percent of the class of 2011 did not meet college readiness benchmarks in English composition, introductory social science and the STEM disciplines of college algebra and biologyxxxii. What is suggested in this paper is effective intervention technologies to remedy this decline may lie in software design that integrates these skills in a mutually reinforcing system, rather than tackling each skill individually and separately. Correlation and causation among science, reading and math skills Further examination of the 2009 International PISA test scores reveal some interesting statistical

Figure 3. Output table from regression analysis with 2009 PISA mean scores for science, reading and math (science mean scores (response variable) vs. reading & math mean scores (explanatory variables).

The PISA Report on the impact of ICT in Learning The authors of this paper were particularly pleased with the results of their preliminary experiments testing the efficacy of their education technology to increase reading and thinking among students even though the results of another PISA study ran counter to the Visual Logic Maps research. This study, the PISA/OECD 2011 report, tested the efficacy of the use of information and computer technology as related to reading, science and math among 15 years old throughout the world. Analyzing and interpreting massive volumes of data gathered from 64 countries and regions on tests designed to find correlations between computer use and academic achievement, the PISA researchers found results similar to those found by the U.S. Department of Education only with less equivocation.viii PISA investigators found that in whatever computer activity students engaged, a negative correlation existed between frequency of computer use and reading ability. ix Moreover, because digital reading performance was regarded to have similar characteristics as print reading, a negative effect on that aspect in relation to educational technology use might also have a negative on the other three core subjects, reading (i.e. print), science and math, which indeed was the case. Increase in computer is negatively correlated with reading, science and math performance. x xi These findings of the U.S. Department of Education approved research xii and the International PISA exams raised the question why were the results of testing the Visual Logic Maps positive while the large scale studies of the effectiveness of educational technology in general negative? Could the answer for the negative findings be found in the nature of educational technology itself?

complementary. The technology learning protocol was consciously developed to mediate left and right brain functions instead of acerbating their conflict as other educational technologies appear to be doing based on the US Department of Education and PISA research cited earlier.

Figure 4 (VI.6.10a in the PISA Report) showing a negative correlation between digital reading performance, time spent using a computer and reading, science and reading performance. (PISA 2009 Report, p. 71

According to McLuhan and his followers, today’s educators are blind to the fact that the printed book on which our whole education system is based, carries with it a different “message” than the new media. The different messages of the printed book and the new media resulted in a conflict between a visual and silent dominant machine, the book and the new oral/aural multi-media and multisensory educational technologies currently being fostered on unsuspecting consumers. In the context of neuropsychology and left brain/right brain research, he and his son Eric in McLuhan’s posthumous book, The Laws of Media, argued that the current way of reading, writing, thinking based on literacy in the literal sense of the word is a left brain conditioned bias that is rapidly being replaced by right brain functions because of the impact of the new multi-media technologies. The consequence is a conflict between perceived opposites such as qualitative versus quantitative, emotional versus detached, moral versus cognitive, subjective versus objective, logical versus illogical, holistic versus reductionist, linear versus pattern recognition, abstract versus concrete, mental versus experiential, scientific versus pseudo-science and time bound versus immediate. xvii The purpose of McLuhan’s Tetrads, detailed in the Laws of Media, was to invent a visual, non-linear analytical tool to bridge this conflict between the theoretical left and right brain caused by the conflict of two different technologies with two different messages. The investigators of the Visual Logic Maps developed the Efficient Logic Maps with a similar goal. This paper argues that in addition to a design that took reading and higher thinking skills to be mutually reinforcing variables the reason the Visual Learning Maps appear to be effective is because the software and learning protocols were also designed to use technology to reinforce learning functions which formerly had been seen as conflicting instead of

The Left Brain, Right Brain Metaphor as Hypothesis Traditionally, scientific, analytical, objective, linear, quantitative and factual thinking has been associated with what Thomas Kuhn called normal scientific practice which is mainly taught in the classroom today.xix McLuhan and his followers contend that these functions were conditioned by the message of the book as a print information and communication technology. The messages of the left or typological brain, as McLuhan called it, come in direct conflict with the dominant messages of the right side of the brain amplified and stimulated by the new multimedia, multi-sensory global knowledge machines such as the television, the computer, the World Web, and the iPhone. According to McLuhan and his followers is this conflict that is causing much pain, fear and confusion in the world in general and in education in particular. To remedy this situation, new technologies and new methods of learning are needed that mediate the conflict between the new electronic learning technologies and the old, best represented by the book as machine. The new technology McLuhan and his son came up with was their Tetrads while the authors of this paper developed the Visual Logic Maps protocol for the same purpose. Why concept mapping works Psychologists at first thought the right and left brain conflict was irreconcilablexx until other psychologists looked at the different brain functions as complementary rather than conflicting. One of those psychologists was Ned Herrmann, whose Brain Dominance Model as metaphor and hypothesis can be used to explain how the Efficient Learning Maps and its learning protocol resolve the conflict between the right brain and the left brain. In his brain dominance model, Herrmann identifies four different modes of thinking: upper left = analytical; lower left = sequential thinking; upper right = imaginative and lower right = interpersonal. xxi

design that can be holistic, intuitive, integrating and synthesizing. On the other hand when students use the maps as an exegesis tool to search for meaning when reading and analyzing their textbook, they are using the left brain functions of organizing important concepts sequentially with close attention to the details that make up the concepts. The Efficient Learning Maps drawing machine then is a computer aided learning tool to help find meaning and reinforce detail at the same time. On the other hand, when students do collaborative work by working in small groups to hand draw the maps, they activate their interpersonal, feeling based and even kinesthetic skills. Finally, when they do recitations using the maps as multimedia organizational charts with color, sound, animated gifs, hyperlinks and video that involve audience participation students are using all four quadrants of a their brain as an holistic communication learning experience that results in creative knowledge for both the student and the audience. Figure 5: an Efficient Learning Map on Herrmann’s metaphor of thinking showing how the perceived conflict between left and right brain can be reconciled by combining upper left cerebral with upper right cerebral functions

When the Visual Logic Map researchers saw Hermann’s model it became clear that instead of looking at the two brain hemispheres in conflict they could design a learning technology protocol that combined different theoretical brain functions in a way that would teach a holistic and integrative method of learning but not at the expense of the old traditional reductionist and fragmented but detailed method that is at the heart of scientific thinking. Herrmann’s tetrad model of the brain is significant because the model shows how the right hemispheres and left hemisphere functions could work together in what is called “whole brain thinking” The Visual Logic Maps and the associated learning protocol were developed with a similar whole thinking goal of mitigating the perceived conflict between left and right brain thinking processes by using visual graphs (right brain) to ask the logical (left brain) questions: “What is x a {kind, part, quality, stage, basis or analog = y} of and what are the (y)’s of x? The vLmaps system is therefore right brain, that is visual, non-linear, and synchronous and left brain at the same time. The authors of this paper believe that The Efficient Learning Maps and its protocol, may be media extensions of the corpus collosum, the arched bridge of nervous tissue that connects the two cerebral hemispheres, allowing for communication between the right and left sides of the brain. Visual Logic Maps and its learning protocol work because they bridge the reductionist, left brain thinking functions with constructivist, right brain functions, hence the importance of constructivist learning theory in software, teaching material development, and the classroom teaching of cognitive skills to student. For example when students study and memorize the seven logical glyphs as formal logic operators, they learn a left brain mathematical procedure much as they learned in elementary school that 2 + 2 = 4. However, when they use the glyphs to construct a concept map, they are visually drawing a right brain spatial

Conclusion: Traditionally educators have asked the questions: (2) how is knowledge acquired; (3) what knowledge should be acquired and, (4) what can we do to improve knowledge? With the computer revolution in the twentieth and twentyfirst century, the main question educators and software engineers asked related to knowledge and learning is: “how can we use computers to improve knowledge?” Neither asked the questions: “What is the new technology doing to knowledge?” and “How is this knowledge changing because of the technology?” as they were unaware that computers and the new media technologies may be radically changing the nature of knowledge itself. McLuhan is currently receiving a revival among serious scholars because he was a first to ask epistemological questions in relation to machines and learning such as: “what are the new technologies doing to us; and what are they doing to our way of knowing and thinking?” McLuhan and his followers then asked equally pertinent epistemological questions related to education and learning such as: “What are the new technologies doing to our brain, our students, our teaching, and our educational system?” In this paper we asked the questions: “what are the new technologies doing to student cognition and student learning in the core areas of reading and science; and what impact has the new technologies had on thinking in these core areas?” Without asking and answering such questions in an empirical and experimental way it will be difficult to develop technologies and learning systems that have a positive effect on education as exemplified by negative examples in this paper. The authors, however, are pleased to report that their Visual Learning Maps appear to work because they were developed with an understanding of McLuhan’s epistemology and his theories on the impact of machines on our brains and the causal connection between reading and higher order thinking.

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