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Exploring Ancient World Cultures on 2008-07-26
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Why study
ancient cultures?
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You might feel that the question is moot: students
do study and will study ancient cultures; such study is an
expected part of a tradition of intellectual development.
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How you approach ancient
cultures (or any other culture, for that matter) and how you
conceive of the people of such distant worlds are of paramount importance.
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Do
we study these cultures because, to some extent, all cultures share
certain characteristics? Does our own culture reflect aspects of these
other cultures?
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You might well ask how the battle that Arjuna holds off while frozen on
his chariot relates, for example, to contemporary battles in World War II.
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Convinced that his relatives will die in this life only to be reborn in
another, Arjuna can reluctantly permit the carnage to begin. No such
choice is left to Schindler (featured in Spielberg's film Schindler's
List), on the other hand, whose intervention on behalf of Jews saved
many people in this life.
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We must always guard against the assumption that other people think
as we do
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Arjuna speaks within the context of one
culture; Schindler acts within the confines of another.
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ow can we
today understand the psychology of the thousands of Egyptian workers who,
apparently unquestioningly, spent their lives dragging great blocks of
stone across burning sands in the construction of staggering pyramidal
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What
is a culture after all?
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Yet the criteria of quality are scarcely
international or inter-cultural: a revered "classical" work on the sitar
resists comparison to a Mozart symphony beyond the statement that both are
considered great cultural achievements in the context of their home
cultures.
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r are its
constituent parts more sweeping and pervasive than what can be learned
from books or lectures?
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culture something that can be taught
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Many people would like to conceive of history as a succession of
movements or stages in an on-going (and, generally) ever-improving
cultural novel of human life. For these people, the Romantic period is
definable, its gifts to the human spirit are calculable. Yet, how can any
culture speak for all its practitioners? Do all people share equally in
the culture of which they are a part?
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Instead, try for a moment to see the
glittering battle scene with Arjuna's eyes.
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v11n1_8garrison.pdf (application/pdf Object) on 2008-07-25
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East Asia in World History: A Resource for Teachers on 2008-07-20
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The climate of East Asia is both similar to and different
from that of Europe and the United States.
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The climate of East Asia is both similar to and different
from that of Europe and the United States
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Qin Shi Huangdi (Ch'in Shih Huang-ti), or the First Emperor of Qin,
rules for a very short time (221-206 BCE) but lays the foundation for
China's imperial structure and begins construction of the Great Wall
for defense to the north. At his death, an army of life-sized terra
cotta warriors is buried near his tomb. (These terra cotta warriors
were first discovered in 1974 and have been the subject of exhibitions,
magazine articles, and books since that time.
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Rice, the primary cereal crop grown in East Asia,
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- Warring States Period (475-221 BCE). Confucius
was alive at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and argued for
a restoration of the social and political order of the earlier Western
Zhou period. - Essential components of Chinese civilization that are evident in the
Zhou period include the Chinese notion of the ruler as the "Son
of Heaven" who rules with the Mandate of Heaven.
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Since
rice produces a much higher yield per acre than does a
crop such as wheat, it can support a much greater
population per acre than does wheat. Climate,
agriculture, and population size are closely related in
East Asia where large population densities have existed
throughout history.*
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The Qin follows the Legalist proposals for state order and establishes
a centralized bureaucracy and a finely detailed law code with specified
punishments for each crime.
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- China's writing system (referred to as Chinese "characters")
first appears in the Shang dynasty on tortoise shells and cattle bones
(called "oracle bones") used for divination. Written language
is a central determinant of the development of civilization; the Chinese
writing system was the first developed in East Asia. - Although there are many mutually unintelligible dialects in China, there is only one
system of writing — a major unifying factor in Chinese history. (Chinese characters have
no set pronunciation; the sound attached to each can vary depending on the dialect.)
Therefore, all literate Chinese could communicate through writing.
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Chinese civilization
(written script, Confucian thought, and Buddhism that had
come to China from India) spread northward to the Korean
peninsula and then to the islands of Japan, and southward
to what is today northern Vietnam
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Chinese characters have
no set pronunciation; the sound attached to each can vary depending on the dialect.)
Therefore, all literate Chinese could communicate through writing.
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The Chinese and Roman empires trade through intermediates on the
overland route through Central Asia, the "Silk Road." Chinese silk was an
especially prized commodity in Rome, as silk production (sericulture) was known only to
the Chinese.
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Chinese civilization
(written script, Confucian thought, and Buddhism that had
come to China from India) spread northward to the Korean
peninsula and then to the islands of Japan, and southward
to what is today northern Vietnam -- engendering dialogue
and exchange among the four countries of the East Asian
cultural sphere
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Chinese civilization first developed along the major river systems of
the Yellow River (Huang He) and then the Yangzi (Chang Jiang) in eastern
China.
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It is during this period that
Buddhism is introduced into China from India, following trade routes.
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Over the course of Chinese history, nomadic
peoples from China's border regions have often intruded upon the settled,
agricultural civilization of "core" China
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- Several
of these philosophic schools have had lasting impact on Chinese civilization
and political order, among them, Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism.
Leading philosophers in the early history of each school, and the texts
associated with them, include:
Confucianism
- Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE) Analects
- Mencius (371-289 BCE) Mencius
- Xun Zi (Hsun Tzu) (298-238) Xunzi
Legalism
- Han Fei Zi (Han Fei Tzu) (d. 233) Han Feizi
- Li Si (Li Ssu) (d. 208) who became the Prime Minister of Qin
Daoism (Taoism)
- Lao Zi (Lao Tzu) "Old Master" (c. 500) Daodejing,
also known as Laozi
- Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) (c. 369-286) Zhuangzi
Other schools of thought mentioned from this period
are those of Mozi (5th c. BCE), whose philosophy is often called that
of "universal love," and the School of Yin and Yang and
the Five Agents.
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The west and north of what is China today are dominated by mountains,
steppe lands, plateaus, and deserts.
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Japan is an island country composed of four main islands and thousands
of smaller ones
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Japan has been able so consciously and deliberately
to borrow and adapt innovations from other civilizations and to forge
a strong cultural identity.
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Note the pattern of territorial pressure and incursions from China's
north by nomadic groups, who are attracted by the wealth of the settled,
agricultural civilization of China. The most illustrative examples are
those of the Mongols, who conquer China and establish the Yuan dynasty
(1279-1368 CE), and of the Manchus, who again conquer China and establish
the last dynasty, the Qing, that rules for 300 years (1644-1911 CE).
Each of these invaders rules through the Chinese bureaucracy, leading
to the expression that China "sinicizes its conquerors."
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the civil service examination system,
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The Japanese islands lack
most of the natural resources necessary to support an
industrialized economy. These resources must be imported.
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Netiquette Home Page -- A Service of Albion.com on 2008-07-16
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ERB0407.pdf (application/pdf Object) on 2008-07-01
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CriticalThinking.org - The Role of Questions in Teaching, Thinking and Learning on 2008-06-29
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For example, the statement that water boils at 100 degrees centigrade is an answer to the question "At what temperature centigrade does water boil?"
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Hence every declarative statement in the textbook is an answer to a question
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Hence, every textbook could be rewritten in the interrogative mode by translating every statement into a question.
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Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions
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To think through or rethink anything, one must ask questions that stimulate our thought.
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Answers on the other hand, often signal a full stop in thought.
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Questions define tasks, express problems and delineate issues
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That is, we ask questions only to get thought-stopping answers, not to generate further questions.
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Thinking is of no use unless it goes somewhere, and again, the questions we ask determine where our thinking goes.
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Deep questions drive our thought underneath the surface of things, force us to deal with complexity. Questions of purpose force us to define our task. Questions of information force us to look at our sources of information as well as at the quality of our information.
Questions of interpretation force us to examine how we are organizing or giving meaning to information. Questions of assumption force us to examine what we are taking for granted. Questions of implication force us to follow out where our thinking is going. Questions of point of view force us to examine our point of view and to consider other relevant points of view.
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Unfortunately, most students ask virtually none of these thought-stimulating types of questions. They tend to stick to dead questions like "Is this going to be on the test?", questions that imply the desire not to think
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No questions equals no understanding. Superficial questions equals superficial understanding. Most students typically have no questions.
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A Preliminary Investigation of “Teaching Presence” in the SUNY Learning Network on 2008-06-29
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We look at one aspect of their work - “teaching presence” and present results of a pilot study to assess students’ perceptions of this constellation of online faculty behaviors
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We also examine the components of teaching presence that correlate most highly with student satisfaction and reported learning.
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Strategic objectives for this initiative are threefold:
1. to provide increased, flexible access to higher education within and beyond New York State;
2. to provide a mechanism for maintaining consistently, high quality online teaching and learning across the SUNY system; and
3. leverage the resources of the State University of New York system to contain the costs associated with the development, design, and delivery of online education.
This paper focuses primarily on the second goal - that of providing a mechanism for maintaining consistently high quality online teaching and learning that supports student satisfaction.
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enrollment, from 119 in 1995-1996 to over 40,000 in 2001-2002
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Good learning environments are knowledge centered in that they are designed in consideration of desired outcomes
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what do we want students to know and be able to do when they have completed our materials or course?
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Good learning environments are also learner centered, that is they function in a manner that connects to the strengths, interests, and preconceptions of learners [1] and help students to gain insight into themselves as learners.
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In such environments teachers work to bridge new content with students current understandings and facilitate growth, while attending to the learners’ interests, passions, and motivations.
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Another characteristic of good learning environments is that they are community centered, that is they promote and benefit from shared norms that value learning and high standards
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Finally, the Bransford, et al. [1] emphasize that good learning environments are assessment centered meaning that they provide learners with many opportunities to make their thinking visible and to get feedback in order to create new meaning and new understanding.
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The seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education identified by Chickering & Gamson [2] reflect much of what is identified by Bransford et al. [1] in the design of good learning environments. These principles distill decades of research on the undergraduate experience, providing some guidance on how best to structure learning in higher education. Chickering & Gamson [2] encourage the following general conditions and behaviors for successful learning: 1) frequent contact between students and faculty; 2) reciprocity and cooperation among students; 3) active learning techniques; 4) prompt feedback; 5) time on task; 6) the communication of high expectations, and 7) respect for diverse talent and ways of learning.
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n the model of critical thinking and practical inquiry proposed by Garrison et al. [8] three overlapping lenses - cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence provide mutual support to create a framework in which interaction in an asynchronous online educational experience may be assessed.
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Figure 3. Elements of an educational experience. (Source: Garrison, Anderson, & Archer [8]).
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III. Helping Faculty Create and Sustain Quality Online Teaching and Learning
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emphasize the importance of learning-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community-centered environments.
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Support for instructional design and organization is provided in many ways for SLN faculty. For example all faculty are provided a shell structure from which to build their learning materials within the SLN course management system (CMS). The SLN CMS embeds a common instructional design format and organization into each course. It is however, flexible, and faculty can alter the format to suit their needs and the specific learning outcomes for their courses.
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Each course has a common look and feel, so students do not need to learn a new interface every time they enroll in a new course.
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hese are a) setting the curriculum, b) establishing time parameters, c) utilizing the medium effectively, and d) establishing netiquette
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Documents that touch upon setting the curriculum include: a welcome document, a course overview, course learning objectives, “how you will be evaluated” and “my expectations” documents, as well as readings and course materials.
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provide a “table of contents”
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Establishing time parameters
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Again, the SLN CMS contains standard course documents that help faculty to help students understand these functions
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Such shared documentation on effective use of the medium reduces the burden on individual faculty to “reinvent the wheel” in each course.
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a central student helpdesk exists to assist students to make effective use of the medium.
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One example is typing in upper case, which is viewed as “shouting” in online communication and thus inappropriate for most messages.
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The Faculty Center is one resource for promoting understanding of designing methods.
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Faculty are encouraged to browse from a broad selection of previously delivered and now archived courses
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New faculty may enter a selection of live, ongoing SLN courses to get an understanding of how experienced instructors conduct and facilitate a course.
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nstructional designers have developed a database of innovative online teaching and learning activities from previous courses
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Trainers and instructional design partners encourage faculty to consider the early stages of their courses as an opportunity to begin to create a non-threatening environment in which students can begin to engage in discourse. A standard practice designed to help meet this goal is the use of an “ice-breaking” module. In this initial course section, students engage in ungraded activities where they can practice the skills needed to participate in the course. These might include open class and small group discussions, submitting a profile or taking a learning style quiz. These activities are designed to encourage class discourse in a safe, supportive and un-assessed (at least in terms of course grade) environment.
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Examples of discourse facilitation tips to faculty are included below:
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Include a grade for participation. Be clear about how students can succeed in discussion with reference to quality and quantity guidelines as well as requirements for timeliness. Entering an asynchronous discussion after it is nearly over can be unproductive (though there are ways around this problem - such as asking a late student to summarize the discussion that has already occurred)…
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Provide an overview of what is due for each week.
This weekly agenda will help keep students working as a cohort and ensure a “critical mass” for getting discussions off the ground…
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Make the discussion interesting or provocative.
Asking students to respond to “known answer” questions is unlikely to generate sustained involvement. Discussion questions should be open-ended, focused on learning objectives and likely to spur some controversy or interaction…
Participate “wisely”.
The instructor should not dominate the discussion. Nor should he or she be absent. It is the instructor’s job to keep the discussion on track by guiding without “pontificating”. Frequently an instructor will provide a comment that students perceive as the “official answer” and discussion can come to a halt…
Require a product that is based on or the result of discussion.
A “hand-in” assignment that is based on class discussion can help students to synthesize, integrate and apply what has been discussed…
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direct instruction in their framework for the analysis of teaching presence. These indicators include a) presenting content and questions, b) focusing the discussion on specific issues, c) summarizing discussion, d) confirming understanding, e) diagnosing misperceptions, f) injecting knowledge from diverse sources and g) responding to technical concern.
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It is the role of the SLN Help Desk to address all technical issues and faculty are advised to refer all such questions to the Help Desk to avoid students becoming dependent of instructors for technical support.
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new faculty interact and learn from experienced faculty
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Resist the temptation to respond to every student’s response. Otherwise, the discussion may become a series of dialogs between you and each student, rather than among you and the students.
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Create a discussion response that calls on specific students that have not yet participated in the discussion.
Create a discussion response that asks a specific student to clarify a point, or that asks a student to reassess a response in light of another student’s response.
Create a discussion response that asks a follow-up question of the group or of an individual student.
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n general, students rated their experience of teaching presence as relatively high in these courses. Approximately 85% of respondents reported agreement with statements describing the first category of teaching presence, instructional design and organization.
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NEA: Guide to Online Courses for High School Students - Online Learning - Online Education on 2008-06-28
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Sloan-C - Publications - Journal: JALN - Vol8:3 on 2008-06-27
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Using Moodle book - MoodleDocs on 2008-06-21
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