The Design of Future Educational Interfaces

Sharon Oviatt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134102624
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Engineering
• Index: Computer Science

The Design of Future Educational Interfaces provides a new multidisciplinary synthesis of educational interface research. It explains how computer interfaces can be redesigned to better support our ability to produce ideas, think, and solve problems successfully in national priority areas such as science and mathematics. Based on first-hand research experience, the author offers a candid analysis of emerging technologies and their impact, highlighting communication interfaces that stimulate thought. The research results will surprise readers and challenge their assumptions about existing technology and its ability to support our performance.

In spite of a rapid explosion of interest in educational technologies, there remains a poor understanding of what constitutes an effective educational interface for student cognition and learning. This book provides valuable insights into why recent large-scale evaluations of existing educational technologies have frequently not shown demonstrable improvements in student performance. The research presented here is grounded in cognitive science and experimental psychology, linguistic science and communications, cross-cultural cognition and language, computer science and human interface design, and the learning sciences and educational technology.

Part I

Evolutionary and Neurological Basis for Educational Interface Design

1 Innovative Tool Use, Cognitive Evolution, and Implications for Educational Interfaces

The history of human cognitive evolution has implications for constraints on human learning, including conditions and tools that are most capable of facilitating learning. Tool use is widely considered a hallmark of human cognitive evolution. Pragmatically speaking, tools can involve physical, linguistic/symbolic, or interpersonal agents. In designing new digital technologies, it is important to understand dominant trends in the evolution of tools over millions of years, and the impact of human tool use on shaping brain growth and functions. This chapter summarizes the evolution of both physical and linguistic tools, and their impact on the human brain, cognitive abilities, social interaction skills, and exchanges involving learning.

In discussing the impact of modern digital communication on cognition and cognitive evolution, Davidson highlights the importance of extrapolating lessons learned from cognitive archaeology as we project into the future: “The ongoing impact of instantaneous communication provided by the penetration of electronic devices (such as mobile phones) into all aspects of human life makes it highly likely that we are in the midst of further subtle cognitive changes” (Davidson, 2010, p. 224).

Troughout evolutionary history, the use of innovative physical tools has accelerated the expansion and molding of brain functions in humans and other species (Wynn, 2002; Shettleworth, 2010). Adaptive pressures on early hominids caused them to migrate into new territories and adopt stone tools to ensure successful hunting, which promoted selective adaptation for navigational abilities and spatial cognition. Spatial reasoning, or people's ability to use spatial or quasi-spatial representations when they think, is the foundation of contemporary human cognition (Johnson-Laird, 1999). The emergence of humans' ability to reason spatially at a symbolic level originated in their earlier experience with manipulating physical objects. However, it was the evolution of symbolic language involving spatial and other representations that provided the most powerful and fexible tool for human thought. Symbolic language also promoted heightened analytical skills and self-awareness about how to use linguistic tools to infuence others. One important implication is that educational interfaces designed to leverage visual-spatial memory offer an especially powerful means of leveraging thinking and problem solving.

This chapter begins by summarizing two major episodes in the evolution of humans' ability to construct and use stone tools, as well as dominant trends in the way these abilities changed. These transitions focus on the initial emergence of bilateral symmetry in tools, followed later by three-dimensional congruent symmetry and tools made of multiple components. Archaeological evidence is summarized for corresponding changes in brain-to-body ratio and structure, and in cognitive abilities associated with multi-step planning, meta-awareness of tool design, and social transmission of tool making through imitation and teaching. In numerous species, expansion of executive brain size has a strong positive relation with behavioral innovation rate and tool use (Shettleworth, 2010). It is especially important to understand the causal factors that increase behavioral innovation rate, including tool design and use, because innovative behavior predicts adaptation and survival in new settings.

Linguistic symbols, which are markers for shared understanding of an event or situation, have evolved to play an especially powerful role in advancing social collaboration and teaching. The fexible use of symbolic language gradually evolved as a critical tool for expressing nearly limitless thought, and for guiding humans' ability to think and solve problems successfully. In this regard, symbolic language tools serve dual functions: social communication for information exchange, and self-regulation of thought and performance. This chapter describes how language evolved for multimodality, compositionality, and dual patterning. These building blocks contributed to its stunning generativity, fexibility, robust intelligibility, ease of learning, and use. These pivotal developments in symbolic language co-emerged with expansion of the neocortex, neural interconnectivity, multisensory processing capabilities, growth of the mirror neuron system for regulating multimodal communication, and increased brain plasticity.

Communication of symbolic languages throughout the world has gradually evolved toward shorter length and greater simplicity, in support of reduced human efort in expressing more complex information. This trend reduced cognitive load associated with using linguistic tools, which improved people's ability to focus attention on their primary tasks. Simpler language tools have enhanced people's ability to solve increasingly hard problems, which was an evolutionary advantage. The educational interfaces discussed in upcoming chapters provide tools that leverage our simplifed but expressively powerful symbolic language. Tey also extend the evolutionary theme of conserving human efort, while nonetheless expanding expressive power through the use of multiple representations, modalities, and linguistic codes.

As a complement to the long-term perspective of cognitive evolution, research on neural plasticity has revealed that enrichment environments and tool use can lead to modifications in human brain structure over far shorter time periods. This chapter discusses the remarkable and extensive adaptivity of the human brain during learning of physical, procedural, and symbolic language skills. It also describes how novel cultural inventions, such as the advent of writing and reading, have infuenced structural specialization of the brain. It concludes by discussing implications for designing educational interfaces that can more effectively stimulate neurogenesis, conceptual change, and long-term adaptive cognitive evolution (see Table 1.1 for terminology). In addressing this topic, existing technologies and their features are critiqued, and the following basic questions are discussed:

• What are the dominant evolutionary pressures of our time, and how are they selecting for new cognitive abilities?

• How is current technology either supporting or undermining the evolution of our cognitive abilities?

• How can new technologies be designed that more effectively stimulate human cognition and learning?

Table 1.1 Definition of Terms

Bilateral symmetry of stone tools, such as hand axes and cleavers, includes two roughly parallel cutting edges with fat or non-cutting surfaces in between, as illustrated in Figure 1.1. These structures had significant functional advantages for hunting large game.

Tree-dimensional congruent symmetry was a characteristic of more refined stone tools with improved rotational and spearing capabilities, as illustrated in Figure 1.1. Tey required more sophisticated spatial ability and multi-step planning.

Brain endocasts are fossilized or man-made structures revealing the shape of the neurocranium in an extinct species. Tey are used to study brain structures and hemispheric specialization, and to estimate areas near the brain's surface such as Broca's or Wernicke's areas. Digital endocasts also can be created using computerized tomography to avoid damaging specimens.

Alphabetic languages contain a standard set of separate glyphs or letters, basic written units, which roughly correspond to different sounds or phonemes in the spoken language. Alphabets primarily are classifed by how they treat vowels. True alphabets contain consonants and vowels written as independent letters, whereas abjad alphabets do not express vowels. Abugidas indicate vowels with diacritics or other systematic graphic modification of consonants.

Logographic languages contain a standard set of written pictorial symbols or characters that represent whole words. These logograms also have been called ideograms, which tend to be relatively easy to decipher (e.g., hieroglyphics). On the other hand, logographic languages have larger and more complex character sets than alphabetic or syllabary-based languages, which make them dificult to learn. Tey also difer fundamentally from these other types of language in not being phonemic.

Syllabary languages contain characters representing a whole syllable. Examples include Cherokee and Japanese kana (hiragana and katakana).

Experience- or activity-induced neural plasticity refers to the brain's capacity for dynamic change in structure and basic processing as a function of sensory experience and physical and communicative activity. Brain adaptations can be extensive, persistent, and occur throughout the lifespan. However, massive neural adaptations occur during sensitive periods early in development.

Neurogenesis refers to the establishment of new neurons, and the process by which they are generated from neural stem and progenitor cells.

Synaptogenesis refers to the formation of new synapses, which transmit neural impulses. Synaptogenesis and the pruning of synapses is very active during early brain development, and continues through adulthood.

Dendritic spines are protrusions that exist on some of the branched dendrites that project from neurons, for example in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex. Increased neural activity at spines increases their size and conduction, and plays a role in learning and memory formation.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a long-lasting facilitation or strengthening of signal transmission between two neurons that results from their stimulation. It is a major mechanism associated with synaptic plasticity, learning, and the formation of long-term memory.

Long-term depression (LTD) is an activity-dependent long-term reduction in signal transmission between two neurons, and in the eficacy of neural synapses. Together with LTP, it plays an oppositional role in establishing neural homeostasis. Like LTP, it is a mechanism that enables synaptic plasticity, learning, and long-term memory.

Mirror neurons activate when an animal acts, and also when it observes the same action in others. Both visual and auditory stimuli associated with an observed action thereby prepare an animal to act as part of a behavioral perception-action loop. As such, mirror neurons provide the neurological substrate for action understanding, both at the level of physical and communicative actions. Tey have been documented in various species, including humans, primates and birds.

Echo neurons are the auditory analogue of mirror neurons.

The Physical Origin of Digital Tools

Early homo habilis began to use stone tools 2.5 million years ago (Shettleworth, 2010). Initially, they engaged in simple stone knapping by repeatedly throwing or striking stones together to create adjacent sharp edges. This attempt at tool making involved a sequence of actions that refected rudimentary sensory-motor skills (Shettleworth, 2010; Commons & Miller, 2002). Eventually, tools were used in a chained manner, so a hammerstone could knap a cutting edge, which then was used for hunting (Haidle, 2010). This early tool use required bimanual manipulation, which stimulated fine motor skills and preferential handedness, changes that were pre-adaptations for manual gesturing and oral language abilities (Humphrey, 2002; Toth & Schick, 1993).

Archaeological evidence reveals two distinct and important episodes in the evolution of stone tools, which coincided with sharply increased ratios of brain-to-body size in hominids (Epstein, 2002; Weaver, 2002; Shettleworth, 2010). By 1.4 million years ago, the first major transition occurred when homo erectus began navigating into new and different environments. This included migrating into Europe, a much colder and harsher environment, which was considered an adaptive breakthrough (Shettleworth, 2010). During this period of territorial expansion, homo erectus began making large stone tools displaying bilateral symmetry, such as hand axes and cleavers, to hunt large game more successfully (Masters & Maxwell, 2002; Parker, 2002; Shettleworth, 2010). Figure 1.1 (lef) shows an example of a hand ax with global bilateral symmetry (see Table 1.1 for terminology). Gradually, the earlier sensory-motor tool-making skills of homo habilis became more conceptual in nature (Stone, 2002; Shettleworth, 2010). Artifacts indicate that homo erectus followed through with planning and constructing a well-formed tool until it was completed, and that tools during this period had significant functional advantages (Stone, 2002; Shettleworth, 2010).

The emergence of tools with bilateral symmetry is particularly significant, because it improved their functional stability and predictability during hunting. For example, it reduced twisting movement due to asymmetry. It also enhanced the ergonomic qualities of early stone tools by reducing torque on the human hand and the risk of injury. In

Figure 1.1

Hand ax with bilateral symmetry from 1.4 million years ago (lef); hand ax with 3-D congruent symmetry from 300,000 years ago (right) (redrawn from Shettleworth, 2010, Figs. 4 & 7).

particular, rotational inertia was reduced in these more symmetrical tools, which decreased the force required to use them. This resulted in better control during piercing and cutting (Wagman, 2002). The center-of-mass of these more symmetrical tools also improved their balance and alignment with the direction of motion during spearing. This further contributed to the overall power and precision of tools when capturing large game (Simao, 2002). Finally, these tools had greater structural integrity and durability. As the lifespan of tools increased, homo erectus spent less time remaking tools, which freed up time for other activities (Deregowski, 2002; Jefares, 2002; Simao, 2002; Wagman, 2002).

Much later, approximately 200,000–400,000 years ago, homo sapiens began making stone tools with three-dimensional congruent symmetry. Figure 1.1 (right) illustrates a hand ax with these properties (see Table 1.1 for terminology). In addition, more fexible construction techniques involving multiple-component tools became evident in Africa and Europe. For example, a stone arrowhead was found attached to a stick at Clacton and Schöningen13 sites (Corballis, 2002; Haidle, 2010). This second major transition in the evolution of tool making is considered an especially significant and a defining period during cognitive evolution. Construction of more refined tools with 3-D congruent symmetry and multiple components provides evidence for multi-step planning and hypothesis testing, and increasingly fexible problem solving and reasoning abilities (Haidle, 2010; Rossano, 2009). The emergence of 3-D congruent symmetry also provides evidence for more sophisticated spatial abilities involving object representation, mental rotation, manipulation of multiple perspectives, and expansion of working memory (Epstein, 2002; Haidle, 2010; Masters & Maxwell, 2002; Shettleworth, 2010). During this phase, homo sapiens are believed to have engaged in imitative learning that enabled social transmission of tool making (Humphrey, 2002; Masters & Maxwell, 2002; Simao, 2002; Stone, 2002).

Later during this period, tool production began to display greater adaptivity and complexity of design. Homo sapiens learned to explicitly manipulate the design of tools to suit different purposes, available materials, and use by others in the group. Improvements in tool design yielded lighter weight, improved balance, longer distances spanned, greater ease of use and control over performance, and the enhanced fexibility and power of tools (Masters & Maxwell, 2002). Tool design also began to systematically manipulate more variables (e.g., shape, de...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Foreword
• Preface: Suggestions for Teaching with This Book
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• I Evolutionary and Neurological Basis for Educational Interface Design
• Part II Existing and Future Interfaces
• Part III Foundational Elements of Communications Interface Design
• Part IV Building Educational Interfaces of the Future
• Appendix: Supplementary Teaching Materials Sample Syllabus, Focus Questions to Accompany Chapter Content, Course Project Activity Overview
• References
• Index