Decoding the disciplines: A model for helping students learn disciplinary ways of thinking

Middendorƒ, Joan; Pace, David

doi:10.1002/tl.142

Cited by 216 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…It has been shown, however, that such disciplinary orders of discourse are often taken for granted by university lecturers in their teaching (Middendorf & Pace, 2004;Tobias, 1986Tobias, , 1992Tobias, -1993. In this respect, Northedge (2002) believes university lecturers often do not fully appreciate "…the sociocultural groundings of meaning.…”

Section: A Disciplinary Discourse Perspective On University Science Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

A disciplinary discourse perspective on university science learning: Achieving fluency in a critical constellation of modes

2008

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Abstract:In this theoretical article we use an interpretative study with physics undergraduates to exemplify a proposed characterization of student learning in university science in terms of fluency in disciplinary discourse. Drawing on ideas from a number of different sources in the literature, we characterize what we call "disciplinary discourse" as the complex of representations, tools and activities of a discipline, describing how it can be seen as being made up of various "modes". For university science, examples of these modes are: spoken and written language, mathematics, gesture, images (including pictures, graphs and diagrams), tools (such as experimental apparatus and measurement equipment) and activities (such as ways of working-both practice and praxis, analytical routines, actions, etc.). Using physics as an illustrative example, we discuss the relationship between the ways of knowing that constitute a discipline and the modes of disciplinary discourse used to represent this knowing. The data comes from stimulated recall interviews where physics undergraduates discuss their learning experiences during lectures. These interviews are used to anecdotally illustrate our proposed characterization of learning and its associated theoretical constructs. Students describe a repetitive practice aspect to their learning, which we suggest is necessary for achieving fluency in the various modes of disciplinary discourse. Here we found instances of discourse imitation, where students are seemingly fluent in one or more modes of disciplinary discourse without having related this to a teacher-intended disciplinary way of knowing. The examples lead to the suggestion that fluency in a critical constellation of modes of disciplinary discourse may be a necessary (though not always sufficient) condition for gaining meaningful holistic access to disciplinary ways of knowing. One implication is that in order to be effective, science teachers need to know which modes are critical for an understanding of the material they wish to teach.

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Section: A Disciplinary Discourse Perspective On University Science Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

A disciplinary discourse perspective on university science learning: Achieving fluency in a critical constellation of modes

2008

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“…Considerable advances in educational research illustrate the importance of more active learning methods (Fink 2003;Middendorf and Pace 2004) as the current information environment offers new mechanisms for building our pedagogies upon this research base. Our professional accrediting body, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), recognizes this transformation and has recently updated the standards defining quality in Public Affairs Education.…”

Section: Traditional Scholarly Roles and Means Of Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adult learners need situations that interrogate what they know from experience and consider alternative perspectives. They need to experience inherent motivation and assess their own mastery, even while instructors are assessing their learning performance (Middendorf and Pace 2004). From this perspective, students cannot be taught what they need to know.…”

Section: Alternative Roles and Practices To Support Student Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Open Public Administration Scholarship

Schweik¹,

Mergel²,

Sandfort³

et al. 2010

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory

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This essay focuses on the potential of information communication technologies to move the Public Administration (PA) scholarly community into a new information paradigm. We begin with a review of conventional approaches PA scholars use to communicate with each other, students, and practitioners. After illustrating advances in Web applications, we call for an ''Open PA Scholarship'' in which research, teaching, and engagement are conducted in a more participatory, timely, and effective manner enabled by new technologies. We conclude with a proposal of Online PA Commons, an interactive Web platform that may facilitate the development of such scholarship.

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“…Bottlenecks, which are areas of the discipline where students can get 'stuck' or 'interrupted' in their learning (Middendorf and Pace 2004;4-5), are typically described in conceptual terms, and the Decoding process was originally designed to help experts unpack their own cognitive processes. Using the Decoding interview technique (Pace and Middendorf 2004), experts are guided to unpack troublesome areas for students, working through how they approach and 'think through' such difficulties as experts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using the Decoding interview technique (Pace and Middendorf 2004), experts are guided to unpack troublesome areas for students, working through how they approach and 'think through' such difficulties as experts. However, in our interviews of seven faculty members from four diverse disciplines as described in Chapter 2 of this issue (Miller-Young and Boman), we observed that many of the bottlenecks described had more to do with ways of being-in-theworld, having affective, relational, and identity elements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decoding the Disciplines as a Hermeneutic Practice

Yeo

2017

New Drctns for Teach & Learn

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This chapter argues that expert practice is an inquiry which surfaces a hermeneutic relationship between theory, practice, and the world, with implications for new lines of questioning in the Decoding interview. Decoding the Disciplines as a Hermeneutic Practice Michelle YeoInsight is more than the knowledge of this or that situation. It always involves an escape from something that had deceived us and held us captive. Thus insight always involves an element of self-knowledge and constitutes a necessary side of what we called experience in the proper sense. Insight is something we come to. (Gadamer 1999, 356)

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Decoding the disciplines: A model for helping students learn disciplinary ways of thinking

Abstract: Using the Decoding the Disciplines model, faculty who are deeply ingrained in their disciplinary research answer a series of questions to understand how students think and learn in their field. The cross-disciplinary nature of the process clarifies the thinking for each discipline.

Cited by 216 publications

References 9 publications

A disciplinary discourse perspective on university science learning: Achieving fluency in a critical constellation of modes

A disciplinary discourse perspective on university science learning: Achieving fluency in a critical constellation of modes

Toward Open Public Administration Scholarship

Decoding the Disciplines as a Hermeneutic Practice

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