Barry, welcome. It is an honor to have you make this presentation. I am sure
that everyone is ready to begin.
Thank you, Rob. It's a pleasure to join you and the members of the IEEE
Education Society.
Barry, let me ask this:
1. We understand the concept of 'cognition' and I'm sure we have an
understanding of the concept of 'learning', but it's the concept of 'affect'
may need some explanation. Perhaps it may be best if you told us how these
three concepts relate?
First of all, we use the term 'affect' to subsume the spectrum of
affective emotional states and feelings that one can experience while
engaged in the learning process. You can see a sampling of them on this
slide...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0005.gif
Modeling emotional axes is far from a settled question in Psychology and
Cognitive Science, but we've sought to identify those affective
emotional states (and axes) that seem to be most relevant to the
learning process -- both for voluntary learning (the intrepid learner)
and for involuntary learning (the reluctant learner).
There is copious evidence that we all experience at least some emotions
whilst engaged in the learning process. Our goal is to construct a
coherent model of the interplay of emotions and learning.
Cognition -- using one's noodle to think and solve life's large and
little problems -- is clearly a learned behavior. We learn from
academic sources, from practical firsthand personal experience, from
cautionary tales, stories and dramas, and (hopefully) from our
disheartening, embarrassing, lamentable, and crushing failures.
In the slide cited above (Slide #5), you will notice that each emotional
axis is divided into two halves -- a positive valence (pleasurable)
half, and a negative valence (unpleasureable) half. But most activities
will activate emotions on more than one such axis. And it's quite
possible that we can experience an emotional tug-of-war, say between
anxiety or dread on the one hand, and curiosity, anticipation or
hopefulness on the other. That is to say, we are often obliged to mix
the bitter with the sweet.
But we want to dig deeper into the interplay between emotions and
learning. We want to go beyond poetic metaphors to a more comprehensive
and scientific model relating emotions to cognition and learning.
And that's where we're headed. So put on your seat belts, because we
are going on an emotional roller coaster ride into the Calculus of
Emotions and Learning.
This is the second installment in our EdSoc Conversations on Cognition, Affect, and
Learning.
Another correspondent, who teaches high school, told me that he occasionally shares parts
of these theories with his students when they are feeling especially frustrated with
their progress.
Of the many related theories, there is one that I should mention at this point...
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced "Chick-Sent-Me-High") has a theory that he calls Flow
Theory. Flow is the name of the emotional state opposite of Frustration. Flow is when
you are gayly skipping down the 'Yellow Brick Road', neither bewildered and overloaded
with more than you can handle, nor bored to tears with nothing much to sink your teeth
into.
Here are some recent remarks from my correspondent who teaches high school...
Last year I employed Kort's Theory of Emotions and Learning to
enlighten my students that their negative emotions were not a
problem, simply a part of the spectrum of feelings any learner
experiences at points along the avenue of learning. It makes a lot of
sense and remarkably silences students who think their display of
negativity will cause me to change the course of what I am trying to
teach.
I also employed, unknowingly, Mihaly ChickSentMeHigh's Flow Theory. I
love it! One rap that I lay on my students relates directly to this
theory. I ask if anyone has ever gotten so involved in doing
something that they lose track of time and have this feeling that
they are pretty smart and very confident that they know what they are
doing and look forward to learning more about the activity that has
fully engaged thier senses. Everyone acknowledges that this has
happened. It is not difficult to impress them with the desireability
of achieving this state as often as possible in life. Of course I
would like to help turn on this experience right now in this
classroom, if for no other reason than it will make the day go faster
and you will find yourself outahere sooner than you expected. This is
not a surprising methodology for this vacationing high school teacher
who lists among his favorite resources Neil Postman's 'Teaching As a
Subversive Activity'.
Kort's Theory of Emotions and Learning carefully and accurately
applies truthful descriptions to the emotions any learner feels along
various emotional-cognitive continuums. And yes! kids and adults are
wrongly being taught today that painful emotions are somehow bad and
to be avoided at all costs. Bad feelings are very real and valuable
and if analyzed and understood they promote growth and understanding.
Certainly a positive emotional state is desirable, but devaluing the
negative makes us less capable of appreciating the genuinely
positive.
I disagree with the suggestion that recognizing when one is in the
flow state brings on its disippation. When I am in the flow state I
recognize it and enjoy it, recognizing that it is indeed a desirable
state. Usually I find myself in this state for good reasons that I
count as blessings when I analyze the factors which have put me in
the state.
Likewise, when feeling out of the flow state, I appeciate the factors
which have yielded that state, however unpleasant. At this point I
will analyze strategies I can use to get me out of this state, but
not all strategies will get me back into the flow. Some will just
make me feel better. Other times I just have to feel out of it
without wallowing in that state (which leads to that miserable state
of self-pity).
With regard to the comment above about Neil Postman's notion of teaching as a 'subversive
activity', one of the current frontiers on the Theory of Emotions and Learning focuses on
Drama Theory and strategies for relating to arrested learners who demonstrate
pathological resistance to the learning process. This pathological resistance is best
described by Maggie Martinez in her model of Learning Orientations. Here is a page where
you can read her description of The Resistant (or Reluctant) Learner:
https://www.trainingplace.com/source/research/mmresistant.htm
I suspect this learning resistance might be mediated by strong negative emotions, such as
feeling one is defeated if they admit to having learned something from a 'rival' with
whom they have established an antagonistic relationship.
Rob tells me that somewhere in the literature is a book title that says "Children Don't
Learn From Teachers They Don't Like."
A lot of children don't like their teachers, finding them insufferable authority figures
with way too much power and way too little empathy.
So I'd be curious to learn more about how we might transform the education process into
something more 'subversive' that solves this conundrum.
My correspondent (the high school teacher), continues...
So the initial strategy is avoid an antagonistic relationship.
Several strategies go into doing this. First is making a careful
examination of motives for being in school. Often it is simply
compulsory. Still, there are ways out if you really don't want to be
here. Second, mostly students want a diploma. Why? Because in most
cases they always assumed they would get one. A right of passage
thing. Third, expectations...etc. etc. All presented in a friendly
way properly balancing the humor and the gravity, and avoiding
sarcasm because that often sets one into antagonism.
I am very interested in your theories. In the event where serious
emotionality upsets the learner's apple cart, I find it a handy
resource to pull out your PowerPoint slides to reinforce the notion
that learning is still taking place, even though it is causing some
negative feelings. There is a positive side to this situation, and if
you keep working on it, you will eventually find yourself on the
positive side. Very helpful. In fact I have integrated those lessons
into a lesson on learning about the learning process. Meta-cognition
strategies will often defuse situations because learners don't feel
you are punishing them for their problems.
One of the more useful slides to pull out when a student is caught in the emotional
roller coaster ride is this one...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0009.gif
In that slide, we can see the ups and down of the rollicking learning curve. We call
this 'Non-Monotonic Learning' to remind ourselves that sometimes we acquire erroneous
beliefs and misconceptions which we eventually have to discard. In that slide, I've
superimposed a 'Frowny Face Scowl' and a 'Happy Face Smile' to point out where the
emotional states are variously negative valence (unhappy) and positive valence (happy).
Later on, we'll dig a little deeper into the specific emotions that typically arise in
these alternating phases. What I hope our readers can see from this slide is that there
is some mathematics here. We are dividing the roller-coaster learning curve into
sections where the curvature is variously concave (downward-turning) or convex
(upward-turning). In the Calculus, this corresponds to the sign of the Second
Derivative. A curve is turning downward when the Second Derivative is negative; a curve
is turning upward when the Second Derivative is positive. We'll return to this
observation in a day or two.
I am not sure how subversive I am in my role as teacher. I generally
don't let kids get me upset, although sometimes I act as if I am, and
I suppose I am being a bit subversive then. But generally, taking a
genuine interest in each learner's success in all aspects of the
school program, and some aspects of their outside life they are
willing to share, and sharing something of my personal life,
interests, frustrations and successes generally goes into maintaining
a healthy climate for achievement. Additionally, many reveal in
writing what they won't say in speaking. One of my biggest
frustrations is getting kids to "go public" or "publish" some of
their quality writing. There is considerable reluctance to take that
step.
And this is why we might want to make more use of drama, storycraft, theater, and the
Bardic Arts. Sometimes it's easier to translate a personal story to fictional
characters, to gain a little distance and perspective. Allegories and parables often
work where biographical anecdotes are too awkward or embarrassing to disclose.
Let me end today's installment with a bonus slide, not in the PowerPoint file. This one
is yet another view of the spectrum of emotions and responses that one can embrace when
faced with a challenging situation.
I call it the Phreaking Spectrum...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/phreak.html
In case it's not clear what my politics are, I generally favor learning and mastering
responses that progress to ever higher levels of consciousness and functionality. But I
also note that different responses tend to be fueled by different emotions (and their
corresponding neuropeptides). The more we understand these processes, the better we can
learn to manage them mindfully and wisely.
This is the third installment in our EdSoc Conversations on Cognition, Affect, and
Learning.
Time now to begin digging into the meat of the theory, as found in the PowerPoint slides
at:
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk.html
The outline of the talk is found on the second slide:
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0002.gif
Today we will visit the first three bullets in that outline.
Learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge. But what, exactly, is 'knowledge'?
For our purposes, we will adopt a scientific notion of knowledge as Concepts, Mental
Models, Theories, Beliefs, Hypotheses, etc.
That is, we intend to reckon how our Belief Systems evolve and become increasingly
refined, sophisticated, accurate, and insightful.
We all know from direct experience that our learning is not error-free. We adopt
misconceptions and erroneous beliefs, and struggle with them for a time before diagnosing
and correcting our mistaken beliefs.
While we can easily forget knowledge, we sometimes are obliged to discard beliefs that we
have discovered in the fullness of time to be so much baloney. Thus our store of
knowledge (or reliable beliefs) can rise and fall over time.
Sometimes the hills and valleys of the learning curve are gentle rolling slopes, and
sometimes there are precipitous cliffs. We all long for those 'Eureka' moments where
everything suddenly becomes crystal clear. And we dread those belief-shattering passages
where reality rears its ugly head and reveals to us that our cherished bright ideas are
so much rubbish.
The roller coaster ride travels through any number of emotional states along the way --
curiosity, fascination, surprise, anxiety, confusion, bewilderment, frustration, anguish,
chagrin, hope, perplexity, elation, satisfaction, and confidence. Part of the story is
just coming up with a comprehensive list of words to name all these affective emotional
states.
In Slides #4 and #5 we sort these emotions into a half dozen axes...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0004.gif
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0005.gif
Those of you who have some background in math will appreciate where we are going with
this model, because we are going to analogize the ups and downs of the 'Learning Curve'
to the properties of a generic mathematical function that exhibits a similar
roller-coaster shape.
If you study the motion of a real roller-coaster, you find that you need to keep track of
four basic parameters -- Time, Distance (or Position), Velocity, and Acceleration. These
four parameters are not independent. Velocity is the Time-Derivative of Position, and
Acceleration is the Time-Derivative of Velocity.
Before we can go on with our Theory of Emotions and Learning, we need to remind ourselves
of the relationship between Time, Distance, Velocity, and Acceleration in the trajectory
of a moving object.
When I give this talk in person, I use a little puppet figure -- Montana Mouse -- to
illustrate simple Galilean Motion, and review the elementary model of motion, as
suggested by Galileo.
Here is a (still) photo of Montana Mouse...
https://ultra.musenet.org:8020/media/MontanaMouse.jpg
In the Calculus, when we model simple motion, we can construct a Phase Plane Diagram, in
which Velocity is plotted against Acceleration. If you add Distance as a third axis,
perpendicular to the Phase Plane, you get a three-dimensional Phase Space Model of
motion, parametric in time.
Those readers who have some grounding in Calculus or Physics or Engineering may recall
using Phase Plane Diagrams or Phase Space Diagrams once upon a time.
For everyone else, just bear with us, as this diagram will still be helpful, even without
a full appreciation of the underlying math.
Tomorrow, we will spend some time unpacking the Phase Plane Diagram of
Slide #8, and the hills and valleys of Slide #9.
In the meantime, try to become comfortable with reckoning a journey in terms of
parameters like Time, Distance, Velocity, and Acceleration, because we are going to
analogize those to their corresponding elements in the Theory of Emotions and Learning.
When you drive home tonight or back to work in the morning, pay attention to Time,
Distance, Velocity and Acceleration.
Tomorrow we'll talk more about the similar relationship between Time, Knowlege, Learning,
and Emotions.
This is the fourth installment in our EdSoc Conversations on Cognition, Affect, and
Learning.
Today we will work on the technically most difficult and challenging part of the Theory
of Emotions and Learning -- the mathematical analogy that undergirds the Phase Plane
Diagram found in Slide #8:
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0008.gif
Let's begin by reviewing our analagy between a Learning Journey and an ordinary journey.
In ordinary Galilean motion, we typically include the following terms in our mathematical
model of motion:
Time, Distance, Velocity, and Acceleration.
When Newton invented the Calculus to systematize the study of motion, he also got around
to naming the next term after Acceleration. Newton called it Jerk. I kid you not. When
your car lurches, that's called Jerk in the Newtonian Calculus.
So now, let's set up our proposed analogy between ordinary motion and a learning
journey...
|
|
Ordinary
Motion
|
is to
|
Learning
Journey
|
|
as
|
Time
|
is to
|
Time
|
|
as
|
Distance
|
is to
|
Knowledge
|
|
as
|
Velocity
|
is to
|
Learning
|
|
as
|
Acceleration
|
is to
|
Emotions
|
|
as
|
Jerk
|
is to
|
Shock
|
Now in the Phase Plane Diagram for Ordinary Motion, we plot Velocity (on the vertical
axis) against Acceleration (on the horizontal axis).
The Phase Plane divides everything into Four Quadrants. In Quadrant I (the upper right
quadrant), Acceleration is Positive (you have your pedal to the metal), and that means
your Velocity is Forward Motion and Increasing. In Quadrant I, the Trajectory through
the Phase Plane is Upwards.
In Quadrant II (the upper left quadrant), you have your foot on the brakes (or retro
rockets). That means you are slowing down your forward motion. The Trajectory through
Quadrant II is Downwards.
In Quadrant III (the lower left quadrant), you are firing your braking thrusters so
intensely, you are now beginning to gain speed moving backwards. The Trajectory through
Quadrant III is still downwards.
In Quadrant IV (the lower right quadrant), you once again turn on your forward thrusters,
which arrest your backward motion. The Trajectory through Quadrant IV is now upwards
again.
Thus you cycle around the Phase Plane in a characteristic trajectory as you variously
accelerate positively or negatively.
Does your head hurt yet from all this mathematical thinking? Imagine how Galileo and
Newton must have felt working it all out for the very first time since Zeno originally
fired his mind-boggling arrow and threw down the gauntlet.
But I digress.
Back to our analogy...
Recall that we analogized Velocity to Learning and Acceleration to Emotions. So now we
just plug in those labels into our conventional Newtonian/Galilean Phase Plane Diagram.
And that's how we arrive at Slide #8.
In Quadrant I, we have positive valence emotions (like curiosity) as we investigate,
explore, and begin to build our initial, tentative, mental models. Gosh this part is fun!
Eventually we have enough new ideas in our heads to be able to anticipate and make
predictions about how things work. But wait! What's this? Do mine eyes deceive me? I
just saw something surprising and unexpected, something I didn't predict. Whazzat?
Zat is Quadrant II. Now we are really confused. We need to diagnose the discrepancy
between our jejune beliefs and simple-minded expectations and what's really happening out
there in that subtle and perplexing world.
Suppose we've really blown it. Suppose we've adopted some cockamamie theory like 'the
world is flat' or 'the rival gang down the street has a huge stockpile of secret weapons
hidden in the dumpster behind the Burger King'.
Trying to navigate the world with an error-ridden map can be downright frustrating and
exasperating. Arrgggh!
Eventually we're going to have to diagnose, admit, and discard such erroneous beliefs. With
chagrin in our bosom and embarrassment on our faces, we move along to Quadrant III and
pitch the bogonic beliefs.
Lemme tellya, this is the Dark Tea Time of the Soul. No one ever wants to admit they are
traversing the Pits of Quadrant III. Oy vey.
But lo! There is Hope. It's over there ---> in Quadrant IV.
And, so with our indomitable faith, determination, and steely grit, we get over our
humiliating mistakes and hunker down to fresh research.
Einstein said, "If we knew what we were doing, we wouldn't call it Research."
Research is what I do when I don't know what I'm doing.
I do a lot of research.
Welcome to Quadrant IV.
And what do we find after a quarter century of research?
We find the very slide we are studying -- the Phase Plane Diagram of the Learning Journey
of the Intrepid Researcher.
Or to quote our old friend, Archimedes, "Eureka! We have found it!"
Which brings us home to Quadrant I -- the Joy of Discovery Learning.
Round and round we cycle, time and again, climbing the arduous learning curve depicted in
Slide #9 -- the roller-coaster of life's learning journey.
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0009.gif
Each time around the loop, we have a net gain in total cumulative knowledge. If you add
the Knowledge Axis, perpendicular to the Phase Plane of Emotions and Learning, our
Trajectory looks something like the Helix of Slide #10...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0010.gif
"Onward and upward!" says Professior Excelsior.
What a wild ride, eh?
This would be a good time for anyone who remains confused, bamboozled, or bewildered to
shoot me a question or comment for further discussion in the days ahead.
And if there's anyone out there with the tools of Mathematica or Maple or MacroMedia
Flash who would like to construct an animation of the Phase Space Model, now is your
chance to become a world famous techno-artist.
Go for it! Become a hero and a mensch!
Otherwise, tomorrow we'll press ahead to the next chapter, StoryCraft.
--Barry
bkort@media.mit.edu
bkort@musenet.org
The Process of Enlightenment Works in Mysterious Plays.
This is the fifth installment in our EdSoc Conversations on Cognition, Affect, and
Learning.
Today we turn to the Bardic Arts — StoryCraft.
Throughout most of human history, cultural knowledge was passed from one generation to
the next by telling stories. It's only recently that we invented the classroom model of
education. And, sadly, we lost much of the power of story when we invented the classroom
instruction model.
Moderator's note: a few years ago the IEEE Computer Society
established a committee to identify "Emerging Technologies." And when their work was completed, "storytelling"
was on their list.
This is especially true in science and math, where storycraft is almost entirely unheard
of.
So let's fix that. Let's gin up a Theory of StoryCraft, and look at how we might reclaim
the Bardic Arts as an educational vehicle.
Now the first thing we're going to need in a story is some Characters.
What's a Character? It's a highly simplified model of a human being.
So let's see what might go into a basic Character Model for a storybook character. Take
a look now, at Slide #14...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0014.gif
The explanation that goes along with that slide is found at this supplementary URL on
Drama Theory...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Drama.html
You will note that I've added one extra component to the Character Model that doesn't
appear in Slide #14 -- 'Issues'.
Please take a few minutes to read the discussion in that last URL (Drama Theory), as I
don't propose to replay it here.
Slide #15, the Vexagon Diagram, gives Tom Clancy's Theorem...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0015.gif
The (Vector) Sum of All Fears = Zero.
What this means is that in order for the story to have dramatic continuity, each action
by some character has to be an emotion-driven reaction to some preceding action by an
antagonist, and the reaction has to provoke a downstream response from one of the other
characters.
Now if we go back to Slide #13...
web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0013.gif
...we can now see how the Bardic Arts emerge. Each scene in the story is an anecdote in
the context of the story so far. A coherent collection of anecdotes makes a story.
And that's what's been missing in traditional classroom education in subjects like
Science and Math, which concentrate on just part of the loop in Slide #13. Look at the
poverty of Slide #12...
web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0012.gif
We have Data (which is the answer to a question no one asked).
We have Information (which is a motley collection of Question/Answer Pairs).
And we have Knowledge, which is an integration of such Question/Answer Pairs into a
Fabric of Knowledge, much like assembling a Jigsaw Puzzle.
But what's missing is Wisdom and Story. To get from Knowledge to Wisdom, we have to fold
in a Value System. But that's just a fancy name for Dreads and Desires. As soon as you
have diverse characters with competing and conflicting Dreads and Desires, you have Drama.
And that's what we need to recognize and reckon -- the Function of Drama in the Learning
Process. It's not just Education. It's Edutainment, too.
Yesterday we talked about Time, Knowledge, Learning, Emotions, and Shock. In a dramatic
story, there are climactic moments where emotions run high. In your classic Hero/Goat
Drama, the Hero is the character whose Beliefs are revealed to be accurate. The Hero has
a Triumphant Belief-Crystalizing Moment. And the Goat has a Humiliating
Belief-Shattering Moment ("Curses, foiled again!").
Most of the time, in our pedestrian studies, it's not such high drama. But the dramatic
elements are there, perhaps lurking below radar. And while we don't have to
overdramatize the learning journey, it wouldn't hurt to spice it up a tad, just to
immerse ourselves in a bit of playful drama as we slog through the tedium of our studies.
If anyone has any questions or comments, this is another good juncture to feed them back
to Rob or me.
We'll spend a day or two on the remaining slides from the PowerPoint set, and then wrap
it up by the weekend, after which we can have as much open discussion and dialogue as
people can stand.
Barry
The Process of Enlightenment Works In Mysterious Plays
bkort@musenet.org
bkort@media.mit.edu
This is the sixth installment in our EdSoc Conversations on Cognition, Affect, and
Learning.
Some of today's material is only loosely connected to the main Theory of Emotions and
Learning, but we don't seem to be in any rush to wrap this up, so let's pause to reckon
it.
The material on the Multiple Interlinked Economies is summarized on Slide #17...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0017.gif
An Economy is defined as the flow of some commodity within a system.
Mostly we think of the Material Economy -- the flow of Goods and Services, in exchange
for little pieces of green paper. Those of you who live in other countries than the USA
might have more colorful currencies than we do. Anyway, we can measure and tally the
flow, and count the 'chits' that are in flux.
Today, we also need to consider the Information and Attention Economies. I can look at
my web server log and note that about 16 people bothered to look at the photo of Montana
Mouse from Monday's installment. We can measure Information and Attention in terms of
'bits' and 'hits'. (There were 10383 bits in that photo of Montana Mouse.)
The high end of the Information and Attention Economies are found in the Entertainment
and Drama Economies. We can measure them in 'skits' and 'fits' I suppose. (Bart Simpson
might say, "Don't have a cow, man!")
The next pair of economies that we consider are the Emotions and Learning Economies.
This is the educational part of Edutainment. Perhaps we can measure them in 'snits' and
'wits'.
And at the high end of the Emotions and Learning Economies we find the Spiritual Economy,
where we might have those rare moments of insight that are divinely inspired. Let's call
that 'grits'.
As suggested by the next slide...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0018.gif
...the 'Body Politic' juggles all these interlinked economies much like fiddling with a
'slinky'. Flows and fluctuations in any one econonmy induce fluctuations and flows in
the adjacent economies, and the effects ripple on down the line, ultimately linking the
Material Economy on the one hand (gotta be the sinister left hand) to the Spiritual
Economy on the other hand (the right hand of God, I suppose).
The point of this model is that if one is going to reckon any one economy (say Emotions
and Learning), one is obliged to reckon the entire chain of interlinked economies in
which the one we most care about is embedded. Everything is connected to everything else.
Finally, let's look at the last slide, on Socratic Dialogues ...
https://web.media.mit.edu/~bkort/Short-Talk_files/Slide0019.gif
Socrates came up with a remarkably powerful technique for structuring a dialogue that
facilitates learning. It's possible to work out a general template for a Socratic
Dialogue by cataloguing the kinds of questions one might ask at different junctures in a
conversation in the style of Socrates. You can find several such templates at this URL...
https://www.musenet.org/utnebury/socratic.txt
I occasionally use these templates to structure a dialogue when I want to diagnose a
particularly difficult learning passage.
This completes the contents of the PowerPoint slides. You can find previously published
conference papers with most of this material at these two repositories:
https://www.musenet.org/bkort/EmotionsAndLearning/
https://affect.media.mit.edu/projectpages/lc/
The SITE-2004 paper, "The Science Behind the Art of Teaching Science: Emotional State and
Learning" is the most recent one and is available in PDF format here:
https://www.musenet.org/bkort/EmotionsAndLearning/Reilly-Site.pdf
An older article which appeared in the October 2002 special issue of the IEEE Journal of
International Forum of Educational Technology & Society (IFETS) and IEEE Learning
Technology Task Force is entitled "Theories for Deep Change in Affect-Sensitive Cognitive
Machines: A Constructivist Model" and is available in HTML format here:
https://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_4_2002/kort.html
At this point, I'd like to invite people to offer comments or questions, or launch into
an open discussion on the topic of Cognition, Affect, and Learning.
--Barry
The Process of Enlightenment Works In Mysterious Plays.
bkort@musenet.org
bkort@media.mit.edu
This is Question/Comment is from Kay Purcell.
One set of your proposed Multiple Linked Economies is the set of Entertainment and
Drama Economies. In the last presentation you covered Storycraft and the Drama aspect.
Today I received a news letter from ASEE that included this article:
Breeding evil? - A video gaming furor has erupted, fueled by a popular and notoriously
violent cops-and-robbers game, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", that has been found to
contain hidden sex scenes. An article in the August 6th The Economist explores the
question of whether such video games are bad for people, or indeed may be positively
good. Critics are concerned that video game playing is addictive, and that the games
encourage violence. Neither problem seems to be significant, according to research. And
good games can be good for players, rather than bad, when developed as educational
tools and simulations. The article concludes that the controversy over gaming is mostly
the consequence of a generational divide - disagreement between old and young over new
forms of media. (See https://www.economist.com ) Has anyone
given any thought to packaging the course content as a video game where the learner
proceeds through the levels by mastering various aspects of the course content?
Kay M Purcell
Southern Illinois University
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Emeritus
1012 South Oakland Avenue
Carbondale IL 62901-2559
USA
(email) , , ,
(Voice) 618-529-2873; (Fax) 603-963-0563
(Cell) 618-559-6190, (plain text messages only)
Barry Kort's response begins here
Over the years there have been any number of projects to package educational material in the format of computer games. Puzzle-adventure games like Myst represent the gold
standard of this genre. Before Myst, Riven, and the newer sequels, Rand and Robin Miller
developed educational games in HyperCard (Cosmic Osmo and The Manhole). See this article
in WikiPedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyan_Worlds
See also this article about the Rand Brothers from WiReD Magazine:
https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.09/riven_pr.html
Cliff Johnson is another gifted creator of puzzle-adventure games. His first three games
(Fools' Errand, At the Carnival, and 3 in Three) are now available for free download from
his web site:
https://fools-errand.com/
There are also the many simulation titles from Maxis (SimCity, SimAnt, SimSafari, and
newer sequels). See this article on simulation games in WikiPedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_game
Most educational games don't rise to the remarkable standards set by the above authors,
but the genre is at least a niche market. At the Cahners Computer Place at the Boston
Museum of Science, a selection of such educational computer games has long been available
to visitors. Here is a web page listing some of their favorite selections:
https://www.mos.org/doc/1268
I'd love to see a lot more such creativity find its way into our educational mainstream.
--Barry
This is Question/Comment is from Kay Purcell.
This discussion covers characters and a bit about plot development. There is also the
suggestion that perhaps story craft should be incorporated into science and engineering
education. However, it is not clear exactly how you envision this; could you be more
specific? For instance, do you mean (1) the personification of the laws, theories,
quantities, and components used in the topic for the course? (2) the incorporation of
personal interest, historical stories about the folks who did the research, made
discoveries, and formulated the theories,? (3) the development of movies, TV series,
etc. similar to the popular doctor, lawyer, police shows, only featuring scientists and
engineers doing real science and engineering? or (4) something else entirely?
--Kay M Purcell
Barry Kort's response begins here
I mean all of those ideas and more. Enfleshing abstract concepts (such as are found in
scientific theories) as cartoon characters is a tried and true storytelling technique.
Most people relate better to a storybook character than to an abstract concept defined
within a mathematically structured system model. Retelling the historical accounts of
famous discoveries also helps to establish scientists and researchers as role models. I
suppose most people know the story of Archimedes running naked down the street shouting
"Eureka!" or Galileo dropping cannon balls off the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or Newton
getting conked on the head by a falling apple. There are many good stories of how genius
manifests itself. James Gleick wrote a terrific account of Richard Feynman; James Burke
produced an outstanding series on public television ("Connections" and "The Day the
Universe Changed"). CBS aired a dramatic series called "Numb3rs" which featured a math
genius who helped his brother (an FBI agent) solve perplexing crimes. Embedding the
'learning vitamins' within the vehicle of a compelling story, drama, cartoon, or
adventure puzzle-quest is an increasingly essential tool in the educator's arsenal.
We have the technology. We need to develop the art, craft, and practice of storymaking
as a vehicle for science and math education.
--Barry
The Process of Enlightenment Works In Mysterious Plays
bkort@musenet.org
bkort@media.mit.edu
This is Question/Comment is from Kay Purcell.
I'd love to see a lot more such creativity find its way into our educational
mainstream.
Somehow, I think it may require more than creativity. The art of the design and
implementation of computer games requires a set of skills with a very steep learning
curve. This set of skills is not usually possessed by folks who have spent their time
acquiring the knowledge and skills that now needs to be taught in science and
engineering. Science/engineering learning games on the university level will probably
require collaboration between a game creator that knows enough science/engineering to
be able to communicate with a scientist/engineer with the creativity to see the game
possibilities.
How practicable would that be?
--Kay
Barry Kort's response begins here
I think we are long overdue for setting up those collaborations, bringing together
technicians and artists.
At the MIT Media Lab, there has been such a collaboration underway for many years. It
takes a team with multiple and diverse talents to design, construct, and package a module
that blends technical content with story/game elements to create the next generation of
edutainment with some serious learning vitamins in the soup.
It won't be easy, but I daresay it will be fun.
--Barry
The Process of Enlightenment Works In Mysterious Plays
bkort@musenet.org
bkort@media.mit.edu
This is Question/Comment is from Rebecca Grasser rgrasser@ameritech.net
Just FYI, such a collaboration does exist ... at the University of North Texas. It's a different scale, I suspect than MIT. See, for example,
Parberry, I., Roden, T., and Kazemzadeh, M. B. 2005. Experience with an industry-driven capstone course on game programming: extended abstract. In Proceedings of the 36th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (St. Louis, Missouri, USA, February 23 - 27, 2005). SIGCSE '05. ACM Press, New York, NY, 91-95.
The talk that was given at SIGCSE got a lot of people excited - it was really an enjoyable presentation. Maybe there will be a fallout (in a good sort of way) in the next few years.
Perhaps some advice could be given for smaller (less funded, fewer experts) programs?
This has been a great series so far. Thanks.
Barry Kort's reply begins here:
In various web forums where groups of people chat, we've played around with improvisational theater, much like children who engage in informal play acting. Somebody
sets up a scene and we just act it out, like Our Town, with no more props than some
purple prose and an occasional embedded picture.
I call this kind of silly comic opera 'Dilbert & Sullivan' because it blends cartoonery
with other forms of entertainment. It's easy to adapt song lyrics from well-known
genres, including embedded MIDI. Often, it's just zany and silly. But it provides a
vehicle for thinking about characters and stories, and just having a few laughs while
learning some basic storymaking skills. Eventually one learns to weave in some serious
'learning vitamins'. But at first, we just want to gain some comfort with creative
story-telling as a genre.
--Barry
as there appears to be no further comments or questions for the speaker, Rob Reilly wrote:
Thank you for attending this presentation. We are especially grateful to
Dr. Barry Kort from the MIT Media Lab for sharing his thoughts.
Since there are no questions/comments from audience. I'm going to ask
Barry if he has any closing thoughts before we adjourn?
-Rob- reilly@media.mit.edu
Barry Kort replied:
Thanks, Rob. And thanks to all the members of the IEEE Education
Society who subscribed to and participated in this conversation.
I hope you have gained some useful insights and perspective on the role
of emotions in learning, and that you will be able to make effective use
of these ideas and models.
Again, thank you all for your interest and attention.
Barry Kort, Ph.D.
Visiting Scientist
Affective Computing Research Group
MIT Media Lab
