EC0DE
Making Learning Tangible
Intro to EC0DE
EC0DE is a holistic learning measurement platform. It is designed to facilitate and manage the learning and
development process for an individual by,
•
Tracking the learning and conceptual change, as well as the traits, strengths and learning needs of
an individual, over time;
•
Capturing, managing and supporting the development of one’s conceptions over time; and
•
Supporting the facilitation of the learning process, for both the learner and the learning coach or
teacher.
The platform is centered on the development of an individual learner profile, which manages a spectrum of
quantitative and qualitative data in various forms. It is most specifically designed to help manage the
learning process needed to support and individual on the learning pathway in a given domain. This is done
through the use of Cognitive Artifacts™, which are specific representations of conceptions articulated by
the learner and evaluated by all those engaged in that learning process.
Learning, then, is not tracked by student behavior (performance on an exam) but rather on one’s
conceptions, and their developmental complexity. These cognitive artifacts serve as the “currency” around
which one can assess prior knowledge and current conceptual complexity—which allows for much richer
and deeper engagement in the learning process (by both student and teacher), as well as for a more
strategic and targeted learning experience for more effective learning outcomes. Ultimately, it is designed
to not only better support the individual needs and learning pathways for each student, but to guide them
in developing their capacity at self-directed learning.
Learning is not a result of moving through the curriculum, but through learning pathways that can be seen laid over the existing the
curriculum.
Jennifer Groff
© 2012 Do Not Distribute
The Elements of EC0DE
The primary ‘currency’ of EC0DE are the Cognitive Artifacts™ which are self-contained, but connectable,
digital items constructed by the individual which represents their thinking. These may take various forms –
from a hand-written schematic that is later scanned in, to a formal essay – and generally can be categorized
in one of two ways:
•
Conceptual Artifact™ – An item that captures a students’ conception/mental representation at a
given time. These are often solicited through a prompt created by the learning coach/teacher and
can be assessed for a developmental level and also a misconception archetype—which guides
subsequent instruction and selection of learning experiences. These artifacts are changed and
developed over time, but each version is time/date stamped and archived in the learners’ profile.
•
Learning Artifact™ – An item captured by the student used to document and/or synthesis of a
learning event. These would not be evaluated in the learning and teaching context unless it was
agreed it was valuable to do so. These are more generally referred to as personal notes of the
learner that are then used to support the learner in their own personal study and their
development of the capacity for self-directed learning.
The Currency of Learning
Each of us carries conceptions in our minds around all content, and these conceptions change and evolve
over time. These conceptual changes are ultimately what produce true learning that can be applied
and developed into "expert" knowledge states1. Our early representations are not well formed, and have
come to be known as misconceptions, which do not simply disappear with age. For deep and lasting
learning to occur, these misconceptions must be deconstructed first before an effective learning
experience can take place2. As a result, learning is in our own individualized knowledge structures. Each of us
builds up complex knowledge structures by organizing more basic pieces of knowledge in a hierarchical
way. Different people all with high competence in a domain can have very different knowledge structures,
depending on their individual preferences and their learning histories; one characteristic is nevertheless
common to the knowledge of all competent persons: it is structured in a hierarchical ways”3.
Effective learning environments take time to elicit and understand prior knowledge and conceptions, and
they design learning experiences strategically from these prior conceptions. However, since we all have our
own individual knowledge structures and hierarchies, good teaching, then, is not all that we need. Metastrategic and metacognitive functions are critical to helping a learner move through learning progressions.
As Deanna Kuhn explains, “increasing meta-level awareness and control may be the most important
dimension [and] makes it clear why efforts to induce change directly at the performance level have only
limited success.4”
How EC0DE Enables Deeper Learning
EC0DE provides the structure and mechanism to capture and work with one’s conceptions over time. and
supports the situating of old and new artifacts in representations of hierarchies. When a student creates a
cognitive artifact, it can be evaluated and leveraged in a number of ways. Text-based artifacts can be
evaluated for their developmental level using cognitive scales such as Dynamic Skill Theory and Commons'
1
Strike & Posner, 1985; diSessa, 1996
2
Strike & Posner, 1985
3
Istance & Dumont, p. 76
4
Kuhn, 2000, p. 179
Jennifer Groff
© 2012 Do Not Distribute
General Stage Model5. This type of assessment offers us much richer quantitative data than that received
from a standardized test. However, all cognitive artifacts offer rich information for both the learner and the
coach/teacher to assist in the learning processes. These artifacts can be reviewed and leveraged more
informally in class or other learning environment, and create a shared artifact around which teacher and
student can unpack understanding and create the learning that is needed to move forward. To a large
extent, this occurs all the time in classrooms—however there is no centralized structure to support this
activity today. This will be particularly valuable over the course of a learner’s lifetime journey. EC0DE
provides that platform and mechanisms to structure this rich information and data for each learner.
Each of us carry conceptions, and effective learning comes from eliciting those conceptions, pushing and pulling on them and then
constructing new, more complex conceptions.
The EC0DE platform is intended to be used in a rich variety of ways. Below is a brief example of how EC0DE
might be implemented in an existing learning environment:
Megan is quite excited, because her science teacher, Mr. Z, recently explained that one of their upcoming
topics this year is astronomy. Her interest really spurred on the topic last year when she saw a movie on it at
the Museum of Science. Since then, she’s explored various books and websites on the topic, and has quite an
accumulation of learning artifacts that she has created as she captured what she learned, and what she
thinks about the topic.
In preparation for the topic, Mr. Z reviews all conceptual artifacts in each student’s profile that are tagged
with related terms to the topic. He also asks each student to submit any learning artifacts they would like
him to review to get a better understanding of their prior experiences and learning in this area. When the
class is ready to begin, Mr Z asks everyone to play SpaceZone—a short online game that confronts some of
the ideas the group will be coming up against in class. Afterwards, Mr. Z creates some prompts based on the
game that Megan and her peers will create conceptual artifacts in response to. Megan’s artifact includes
both a schematic and written text. From this, Mr. Z is able to determine Megan’s developmental level as well
as a key misconception she currently holds in order to advance her conceptual development. Using this
information, Mr. Z is able to create the right learning experiences that will target those misconceptions and
create the space for her to construct a more advanced conceptual understanding.
For a more detailed description, please request the document, “EC0DE for Learning.”
5
Fischer & Bidell, 2006
Jennifer Groff
© 2012 Do Not Distribute
Why EC0DE, Why Now
Our current educational system faces numerous fundamental challenges at its core:
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we need to understand a student’s current conceptions and mental representations
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we need to better meet students learning needs
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we need to improve the way we meet one’s individual needs for a more personalized education
•
we need better and richer data on what students actually know, and that needs to actually inform
learning experiences
•
we need more flexibility in the system where the ‘currency’ of learning is no longer what “grades
you passed”
Assessment is the term we use to describe the ways in which we ensure the learner is on the right path—a
critical element of the learning cycle. However, currently, we operate in a dichotomous system where there
is a tremendous gap between the formal standardized tests and informal anecdotal measures. We attempt
to use quantitative data to determine if the student has progressed in their understanding, yet we give
little attention to how it is they are progressing. This apparent gap is a critical shortcoming of the current
system.
Today’s education system hasn’t caught up with the learning sciences and our understanding of how we
learn. More than three decades ago we entered what world-renowned cognitive psychologist and
educational theorist Howard Gardner as the “ Cognitive Revolution”—the departure of the isolated, the
behaviorist view of learning and the emergence of a new set of ideas that centered on the key notion of a
‘mental representation.’ Gardner explains that cognitive psychologists came to an emerging view that
“individuals have ideas, images, and various ‘languages’ in their mind-brain. He explains that these
representations are real and important, and susceptible to study by scientists and to change by
educators”6. This simple shift to representations induced a revolution because we no longer just focused on
behaviors, but rather the mental representations that operate behind the scenes to cause that behavior.
Working with and changing conceptions is at the heart of learning—it is at the core of learning pathways. If
we move a ‘currency’ of learning that is no longer documenting “what grades I passed” but rather the true
development level of achievement of the learner. Such an approach will finally align with what we know
about cognitive development and how people learn. It will be a breakthrough that creates a more dynamic
ecosystem of education that is more accessible for all.
Education then is no longer a ‘black box’ that a student is led through by an assigned teacher, but rather it
becomes more open—where the learner has much greater insight into their learning (both in the moment
and over time), so that they can become a much more active agent in their learning. This is of critical
important as we see a substantial ecosystem of open educational resources emerging that benefit learners,
but still in limited ways. With a centralized mechanism to manage this learning currency, education can
more easily flow in and out of school and more richly capturing what an individual has learned, rather than
what they were taught. Ultimately, this will allow for much more flexibility for the learner and the system,
and put learning where it belongs—in the hands of the learner.
6
Gardner, 1999, p. 67
Jennifer Groff
© 2012 Do Not Distribute