Presentations for A&S 498 are expected to include octants 1-6 of the 4MAT model. 20 minutes per person is allocated for each presentation. If a student feels that more time may be needed this must be discussed and approved at least one class period prior to the presentation.
Presentations that exceed the time limit will be reduced by one full letter grade for each 5 minute period exceeded. This is necessary to assure that all students have sufficient and equal time.
4MAT, developed from the research of Bernice McCarthy, is an instructional model that gives consideration to multiple ways of perceiving and processing information. The image below, acquired from http://www.aboutlearning.com/, illustrates the relationships that exist among these processes.
True learning, according to McCarthy, does not occur until a full cycle occurs. What this means, is that learners must move through the cycle (around the circle, that is) from "12:00 to 12:00". As learners move/are moved around the circle, activities stimulate right and left hemispheres of the brain.
Teachers/presenters use the model to design instructional activities giving consideration to 1) the degree of interaction among learners, and 2) the type of activity the learners will engage in at each "point" in the cycle.
Each of the underlined terms is a link. The reader can learn more about the particular phase of the learning cycle by clicking on the links.
USING 4MAT TO TEACH ABOUT THE MARZANO INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
1) Identify the content to be learned (in this case, the Marzano strategy)
2) Identify the lens through which we explore the content (Marzano strategy). The "lens" is the concept through which the content will be explored. Concepts are timeless, broad, and extend beyond specific content. For example, the content of "how to clean the refrigerator" can be explored through the lens of "organization". Organization is a concept that is timeless, broad, and extends beyond the specific content of, in this case, cleaning the refrigerator.
Another example:
We can study the content of the Civil War through the lens of family, or balance, or growth, or change, or commitment, or many other conceptual frames.
These lenses provide the learner with a reason for learning the content.
For the Marzano presentation, the presenter will need to complete the following sentence before beginning the planning:
The class will learn about [strategy] through the lens of [concept].
The remainder of this section defines the specific types of activities appropriate for each octant.
Octant 1 - Connect
- Right brained activity. Open-ended in nature. Connects learner to CONCEPT (lens) NOT CONTENT. Activities in this octant do not require participants to read or write as these are left-brained activities.
- EXAMPLE: The lesson on cleaning the refrigerator which will be studied through the lens of organization. For a connect activity, the leader could have students talk about times when their lives were affected by organization (and disorganization).
- Connect activities begin at 12:00 on the wheel, and as such, require maximum experiencing and interaction with others.
Octant 2 - Attend
- Left brained activity. Product oriented in nature.
- Permits learner to reflect on the activity above where they connected to the CONCEPT (lens).
- Lesson content is not used or introduced.
- Activities in this octant require participants to reflect individually and in groups about what they experienced and learned about the concept during the connect activity. Charting, recording, or other methods of documenting reflections are used within this octant.
- EXAMPLE: The lesson on cleaning the refrigerator which will be studied through the lens of organization. For an attend activity, the leader could have students chart the ideas they generated. Another activity could be to create a T Chart for the concept (organization) and record the characteristics of organization and disorganization on the left and right sides of the T Chart, respectively.
- Attend activities move learners closer to 3:00 on the wheel, where processing occurs through reflection.
Octant 3 - Image
- Right brained activity. Creative in nature. Learners are moving from 3:00 (reflection) on the processing axis toward 6:00 (abstraction) on the perception axis.
- Causes learners to image the concept (lens) visually: a blending of reflection and abstraction.
- Lesson content is still not used or introduced.
- Activities in this octant require participants to actually develop a visual representation of the concept (lens).
- EXAMPLE: The lesson on cleaning the refrigerator which will be studied through the lens of organization. For an image activity, the leader could have students create a visual representation of organization based on what they discussed and reflected upon. Visuals are displayed and shared.
- Image activities move learners closer toward 6:00 on the wheel and anchor their understanding of the concept (lens) in preparation for the introduction of content.
Octant 4 - Inform
- Left brained activity. Leader-directed.
- This is the first time the learner is introduced to CONTENT. Content is introduced through the lens. Activities in this octant often require participants to read, write, or engage in other activities that cause them to learn new content.
- EXAMPLE: The lesson on cleaning the refrigerator which will be studied through the lens of organization. For an inform activity, the leader could introduce students to the content by explaining steps in cleaning the refrigerator, and then showing how the result is a clean organized refrigerator that will have benefit to the students.
- Inform activities begin at 4:30 and continue until 6:00 on the wheel. As such, the leader will be moving students into the abstraction of the content.
Octant 5 - Practice
- Left brained activity, again. Leader-directed.
- This is the first time the learner has opportunities to practice or apply the new content with consideration for the lens through which the content is being studied. Students can work individually or in groups to practice.
- Activities in this octant often require participants to read, write, or engage in other activities that cause them to practice new content. In this octant, they move from 6:00 to 7:30. As this activity is still an abstraction, this activity would likely not be in a "real" setting. Worksheets, simulations, and other activities are appropriate to give students opportunities to practice.
- EXAMPLE: The lesson on cleaning the refrigerator which will be studied through the lens of organization. For a practice activity, the leader could have students practice the content that was introduced by having them complete a worksheet that shows the shelves and bins in a refrigerator along with a list of random items found in a refrigerator. Students would then "organize" the refrigerator by placing the items on shelves and in bins to show an organized refrigerator.
- Practice activities begin at 6:00 and continue until 7:30 on the wheel . As such, the leader will be moving students from the abstraction of the content to gaining experience with the new content.
Octant 6 - Extend
- A right brained activity.
- Provides learners with opportunities to consider extension of the new learning to their lives.
- As this activity begins at 7:30 and continues to 9:00 on the wheel, the leftmost point on the processing axis, learners will be provided opportunities to move from abstract understanding about the concept toward experience to act on that learning.
- EXAMPLE: The lesson on cleaning the refrigerator is being studied through the lens of organization. For an extend activity, the leader could have students now draw pictures of what their own refrigerator will look like after they clean it, applying the new content and concept to their lives.
Octant 7 - Refine
- A left brained activity.
- Provides the presenter/teacher an opportunity to help students refine their thinking about the the content and concept.
- As this begins at 9:00 and continues until 10:30 on the wheel, the leftmost position on the processing axis, students will be actively engaged in meaningful activities, not abstract worksheets.
- These activities lead students to being able to actually demonstrate their learning through performance.
Octant 8 - Perform
- Right brained activity.
- Provides students with an opportunity to act out their new learning in a real world experience.
- This often results in performances, museum displays, video presentations, or other real life performance pieces, regardless of content. Performances demonstrate understanding of the content through the lens (concept). The richer the lens, the richer the performance of the new learning.
posted by Mike at 11:41 AM
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