Writing and the brain

Writing, Brain, Knowledge & Educational Evolution: 

Writing, Brain, Knowledge & Educational Evolution Andrew Lian School of English Suranaree University of Technology website: http://ljunction.com/sut3 We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are. ( Anaïs Nin) The universe is made up of stories, not atoms (Muriel Rukeyser) When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change (Max Planck) 11 November 2011

Based on a review of:: 

Based on a review of: Berninger , V. W. & Winn, W. D. (2006). Implications of advancements in brain research and technology or writing development, writing instruction, and educational evolution. In MacArthur, C., Graham, S. & Fitzgerald, J. (Eds.) Handbook of Writing Research. Guilford Press. pp. 96 – 114,

While: 

While This article appears to be about how to improve writing through the findings of brain research, it actually does much more. In fact its main focus is on the internal representation of knowledge in humans and Educational evolution (or educational change if you prefer). The research outcomes, while talking about writing are in fact multi-disciplinary and generalisable to all aspects of human thought, knowledge and learning

The perspective: 

The perspective That it takes on writing is not that of A writing centre – how to write better paragraphs or university/school essays but How do children learn to write – starting with pencils/keyboards and spelling to the production of more complex discourse It deals with writing in a generic sense Although its conclusions do have a place in writing courses and centres Hence its interest for us

The Brain allows an organism: 

The Brain allows an organism To receive information from the external environment through sensory input and code that information internally To compute new mental structures from the incoming sensory information, existing mental structures, and operations performed internally and externally (generating what I call personal logical and representational systems ) To act upon the environment through the motor output systems

And…: 

And… At least three areas of the brain are involved in writing and There is some evidence (supported by another study) that brain processing may be more efficient (less energy required to activate fewer regions) when cross-code integration is possible

And…: 

And… The body has no “final organ” for writing, like listening, speaking and reading do It relies on coordinated activity to produce writing (from manipulation of pencil/keyboard to producing discourse – a combination of motor and intellectual activity) Importantly, they stress the physical/ physiological aspect of being human

The neurological study: 

The neurological study Confirms the number of areas of the brain involved in writing But extends the prior findings, identifying additional activation in distributed computational networks Which leads them to the conclusion that there is a strong connection between brain and mind (i.e. the mind is not dissociated from the brain as cognitivist discourse seems to argue)

This sets the scene for: 

This sets the scene for The major thrust of the article which is essentially cultural, Sociological/ sociocultural and pedagogic

The computer: 

The computer Will transform culture and the way we think Just as the printing press moved us away from an emphasis on rhetoric and toward Analytical thinking This was enabled by the replacement of the orator/oral tradition with portable, affordable storage of knowledge The availability of information also enabled the Reformation to happen Computers may be transforming the culture of literacy

Examples include: 

Examples include Children using word processors giving real-time advice during composition-writing Essentially, it told them how to think and This happens ALL the time AND How we are taught impacts how we understand and create personal knowledge AND Curricula should include a pedagogic component rather than focusing only on content – most of the time they do not

This activity results from: 

This activity results from An interaction between The external world and the student’s internal mental world And, not surprisingly, the internal world will change according to the nature of that interaction) This will have an impact on thought processes including the creation of knowledge and also literacy culture and cuture more generally e.g. language of SMS and negative impact of Powerpoint (limits on what can be said and promotion of appearance over content) The ways search engines search, privileging parallel semantic searches over words will influence intellectual structures

This is another indication: 

This is another indication That HOW we learn influences WHAT we learn, and how we go about solving problems

They agree in principle with: 

They agree in principle with “Radical constructivism: The knowledge construction process is fueled by adaptation to the environment as an individual interacts with it, and because everyone’s adaptations produce different histories, everyone’s understandings is thus constructed and is different from everyone else’s” But they dislike it as it has an anarchic dimension that “renders it hostile to clear thinking and rational action in education”

They prefer: 

They prefer A softer version of constructivism, called constructionism , based on Piaget and Argue for heightened interaction by the student with the world in relation to activities such as writing (or comprehension which necessarily precedes writing) They argue this on the basis that thinking develops as neurons (internal mental world) interact with the external world and perform.

Initially: 

Initially These interactions are with concrete objects in the external world (!!!!!!!!!!@@@) Eventually, the interactions are with internalized representations of those objects as abstract symbols Throughout development new mental worlds and inner environments are constructed Throughout development, both biological and environmental influences exert their effects

However: 

However As the brain is malleable and learns from its environment, this neuropsychological (cognitive) phenomenon needs to recognise the sociocultural aspects of learning as well as the contribution of the learning sciences They in fact conclude that good spellers are taught, not born

To optimise learning we…: 

To optimise learning we… Need to recognise that human nature is the result of not just the environment but the interaction of the environment with dispositions inherited from our parents (the language gene)

To optimise learning/writing: 

To optimise learning/writing We need a multiconceptual triangulation that takes into account Learner differences, writing instruction and instructional aids Brain structures related to writing, computational mechanisms underlying writing and observable writing behaviour and All components of an internal functional writing system

Verbal & Non-verbal aspects of writing: 

Verbal & Non-verbal aspects of writing Technology offers tools for teaching the non-verbal aspects of writing e.g. Paivio’s dual-coding theory (20 years of support for separate encoding) Using graphic representations in problem-solving involves fewer mental computations and places less deman on working memory

Externalising Cognition: 

Externalising Cognition Because we do not have access to people’s thoughts, the only way we can access them is through the production of text (whether verbal, graphic, gestural) Is there a way to understand people better and, in the context of writing, help them to become better at writing?

Here is a possibility : 

Here is a possibility  Students write and draw to describe (or externalise or re-represent) Once students can see their ideas expressed as objects, they can read and re-read, think about them in novel ways, change them if necessary and then reinternalise them as a mental model (???) They can also discuss them with others The process is iterative as writers interact with their drawings and texts ( Minsky )

Research suggests that: 

Research suggests that Once students’ ideas became visible to them they started experimenting with them in the external environment in ways they could not internally. While we cannot do the Vulcan Mind Meld, we can externalise our internal logical and representational systems by producing different kinds of texts (verbal, graphic, gestural). This enables us and others to understand us more accurately – we do that in fact

This is a way: 

This is a way For students to change the external environment with which they interact By producing drawings and other artefacts they have modified that environment which now contains things that were not there before Educationists are beginning to realise the importance of the COMPLETE learning environment (with ALL its variables – or none) to understand how students learn

Also : 

Also Researchers have proposed two new ideas Cognition is not just a mental activity but involves the mind interacting with the environment – a step toward interdisciplinarity If the bounds of cognition expand to include the body in an environment, then it is no longer possible to say with certainty whether an idea came from the environment, the student, or their interaction

As a result: 

As a result The student and the learning environment comprise one single system rather than two interacting ones (and has an impact on experimental design and other things)

They propose that: 

They propose that The writing process is supported by a single system – the writer’s internal brain-mind interacting with the external environment (including technology tools)

And that: 

And that Virtual Reality environments may be able to help the writing process as students experience being in a PLACE, a mental world of their own construction, with which they identify closely – a more sophisticated version of making drawings This powerful affective experience, combined with the realism of experiences in virtual worlds, could well help students self-scaffold their own writings

As you can see: 

As you can see We are now a long long way from the standard classroom or writing centre

Some research suggestions: 

Some research suggestions Interaction between internal working memory and external memory representations Improving teachers’ understandings of normal biological processes Investigate multiple sources of individual differences: biodiversity, multicultural-social diversity Develop new forms of assessment which take into account developmental and individual differences, individual profiles …

PowerPoint Presentation: 

Thank you!