Videos linked to our Professional Discussions at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9AA3BD8E7263D435&feature=view_all Official programme sapce at Learning journeys #lthejan12 http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgcap/sets/72157629541603128/ Learning journeys #lthesep12 http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgcap/sets/72157632104255891/ official PGCAP Programme site http://www.hr.salford.ac.uk/employee-development-section/pgcap

1. Would Plato Lego?
Chrissi Nerantzi
Chrissi Nerantzi
Academic Developer, University of Salford
@chrissinerantzi
c.nerantzi@salford.ac.uk
Using metaphors through model making to aid reflection
inspirED Seminar, University of Dundee, 17 April 2013

2. first things first! If you have a smart phone or tablet with you,
please download the free Socrative app now!
Available for Apple and Android devices ;)
Student version!!!

3. you the teacher
Q: Who are you as a
teacher?
Task 1 (5 mins):Create a
model using Lego and
add a caption on the
post-it note
Task2 (5 mins): Share
with others and discuss

4. “My Lego Learner
“Probably due to my position as a
student rather than teacher I must
admit I was a little late to the
session this week and missed out
on making my Lego learner. So I
have made my own Moshi Lego
learner.
My learner likes a little shelter,
something to stand on (prior
knowledge or achievement), to be
prepared (the stack of books) and a
prize (I like a qualification or
certificate).”
Juliette Wilson, PGCAP student
http://cpdjuliettewilson.wordpress.
com/2013/02/09/39/
photo by Juliette Wilson

5. • Socrates : switching
on minds through
questions! Socratic
questioning: deep
questions to trigger
critical thinking
• Socrates: “I don’t
see the point in the
technology of
writing! It makes
people lazy and
weakens their
memory as they rely
on the written
word!”
Thinking

6. http://www.flickr.com/photos/almarams/3902611177/
You can
discover more
about a person
in an hour of
play than in a
year of
conversation..

7. “Play isn’t the enemy of learning, it’s learning’s partner. Play is like fertilizer for brain
growth. It’s crazy not to use it.” (Brown, 2010, 101)
“As we grow older, we are taught that learning should be serious, that subjects are
complicated. These serious subjects take serious study, we are told, and play only
trivializes them.” (Brown, 2010, 101)
“Stepping out of a normal routine, finding novelty, being open to serendipity,
enjoying the unexpected, embracing a little risk, and finding pleasure in the
heightened vividness of life. These are all qualities of a state of play.” (Brown, 2010,
173)
“Play is nature’s greatest tool for creating new neural networks and for reconciling
cognitive difficulties. The abilities to make new patterns, find the unusual among
the common, and spark curiosity and alert observation are all fostered by being in a
state of play. When we play, dilemmas and challenges will naturally filter through
the unconscious mind and work themselves out. It is not at all uncommon for
people to come back not only reenergized, but also with fresh ideas for work”
(Brown, 2010, 128)

8. Thinking with our hands
• Making
• Playing/Reflecting/Learning
with Lego
– from replication to
uniqueness
– from literal models to
metaphorical models
• Connectionism (Papert) >
learning through making
mental/real models
image created using http://www.tagxedo.com/

9. “giving the thing a name that belongs to something else”
metaphor according to Aristotle

10. metaphors
“Metaphor systematically disorganizes the common sense
of things – jumbling together the abstract with the
concrete, the physical with the psychological, the like
with the unlike – and reorganizes it into uncommon
combinations.” (Geary, 2012, 2)
“It is easy enough to label a specific emotion, such as
grief, fear, pride or happiness. It is much harder to convey
the actual qualitative experience of that emotion. But
metaphorical language can describe the indescribable.”
(Geary, 2012, 211)

12. Postgraduate
Certificate in Academic
Practice (@PGCAP)
• active experimentation
• Lego in the context of the Learning and
Teaching in Higher Education module
• Assessment as learning > social media
portfolios
• Professional discussion > Lego model
making activity

13. Why a Professional Discussion?

14. the answer is in here...
“When we walk into our workplace, the classroom,
we close the door on our colleagues. When we
emerge, we rarely talk about what happened or
what needs to happen next, for we have no shared
experience to talk about. Then, instead of calling
this the isolationism it is and trying to overcome it,
we claim it as a virtue called ‘academic freedom’:
my classroom is my castle, and the sovereigns of
other fiefdoms are not welcome here.”
Palmer (2007, 147)

15. ... combined with...
Hallgrimsson (2012) notes that exploratory 3D
modeling enables the designer to inform their
mental journey which often leads to unexpected
insights which can create innovative responses.

16. ... and...
“Taking time to make something, using the hands,
gave people the opportunity to clarify thoughts or
feelings, and to see the subject-matter in a new
light. And having an image or physical object to
present and discuss enabled them to communicate
and connect with other people more directly.”
Gauntlett (2011, 4)

17. So what happens?
before (30
minutes)
• guidelines shared
• making a Lego
model that captures
the learning journey
during (30
minutes)
• share learning
journey using the
Lego model
• engage in a
conversation
• reflection
• assessment
after
(asynchronously)
• assessment
feedback provided
in minutes in
portfolio
• further reflection
through social
media
• further sharing and
conversation online

18. Lego learning method 4 C
Connect: reflecting on experiences and
learning
Construct: constructing of a model linked to
this
Contemplate: verbalising and analysing the
model
Continue: extending engagement through
sharing and commenting on models made by
others through social media.
formulated by Robert Rasmussen

20. “This model shows my movement from black and white, linear teaching towards a broader
understanding of good teaching and a greater sense of adventure and experimentation in my
own practice- moving into colour !!”
Dr Sian Etherington
http://pgcapsianetherington.wordpress.com/professional-discussion/

21. “[There is] a gap between lecturers’ stated
beliefs and actual teaching practices: lecturers
may, for example, claim to hold constructivist
notions of learning, but adopt more traditional
‘transmission’ modes of teaching in their actual
practice.”
(Samuelowicz & Bain, 1992, in Owens, 2012,
389)
some evidence

24. Methodology, method and findings
Phenomenography (Marton, 1994)
Individual video interviews
Categories of description
•method
•feelings
•communication
•impact

25. method
“[The Lego model] allowed me to
focus on the journey as a whole
going through the PGCAP rather
than going through how I might go
through the questions in the
Professional Discussion and
panicking about what I was going
to say.”
“It was a really
nice ice-breaker
which took the
edge off the
professional
discussion.”
“The Lego models were
important to kickstart their
discussion and reflection and
how they introduced their
learning path and journey.”
“At first I was a bit sceptic about
the whole Lego play thing as often
before I like to plan and I thought
it would get in the way of my head
space before the discussion.”“After the professional
discussion we took photos and
put them on Flickr which gave us
chance to compare and discuss.”
student panel member external examiner

26. communication
“As a talking
point,
excellent
and as a
creative
means of
thinking
about their
reflection,
excellent.”
“It is evident that Lego acts
as powerful metaphors for
them (the students) to
examine their practice, to
find ways of looking at things
they do and to justify why
they do them and how they
articulate them.”
“Some of the
representations within the
Lego models were unknown
to themselves (students)
until we started the
discussions and these
emerging properties and
symbols they weren't aware
of were dissected and
brought to the fore.”
“Lego modelling
gives them a
medium they can
talk and show in
different ways in a
pictorial or 3D way
and actually see
that they can
conceive of and
use their
imagination to tell
a story that needs
to be told to be
understood by
others allows
them a space they
would not get to
otherwise.”
student panel member external examiner

27. feelings
“Initially it was a bit
overwhelming because
I am not very good at
building things”
“Modelling in Lego was
useful as I was nervous
about going into the
professional discussion
and it relaxed the
atmosphere.”
“I always panic at
these things as its
forced creativity but
once you start doing
it its absolutely fine.”
student panel member external examiner

28. impact “I am a big fan of play and
I will be looking for ways to
use with my students”
“I will be stealing
this idea for
myself”
student panel member external examiner

29. method
•natural conversation
•focus and be reflective
•sceptic because of
novelty
•share experiences
•better prepared for
assessment
feelings
•initially overwhelmed
•more relaxed
impact
•considering using
similar approaches in
own practice
•recognised importance
of openness and
experimentation
communication
•visualising stories
•creative expression
•metaphors used to
reflect
•unconscious learning
surfaced

30. Results
relaxed
more reflective
articulate with more ease
metaphors richness of learning and
impact of module on practice
deeper conversations
unconscious learning
assessment: “informal” discussion
with peers

31. you the designer(s)
Ideal learning spaces for...
(define context first)
Task 1 (5 minutes): create an area of
this space (individual)
Task2 (5 minutes): Bring your areas
together to create the learning space
(groups of 4-6)
Group Task 3 (10 minutes): Share your
ideas with another group, come to a
collective conclusion
(groups of 10-15)

32. How could I use
Lego in my
practice?

33. Would
Plato & Aristotle
Lego?

34. Let’s try this
together!
Access your (brand new) socrative app and type in room:
chrissi
Now reply to a few questions about this workshop! ;)

35. useful links
• Lego in education scoop it http://www.scoop.it/t/lego-in-
education
• Lego links on diigo
http://www.diigo.com/user/chrissinerantzi/lego
• PGCAP YouTube Channel: Professional Discussion videos
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9AA3BD8E7263D4
35
• Lego in Education http://education.lego.com
• Lego ® Serious Play ® http://www.seriousplay.com/
• PGCAP Flickr collection: Lego models
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgcap/sets/7215763210425
5891/

36. References
Brown, S. (2010) Play. How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination,and invigoratesthe soul, London: Avery, Penguin.
Gauntlett, D. (2011) Making is connecting. The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web2.0, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Geary, J. (2012) I is an other, The secret life of metaphor and how it shapes the way we see the world, New York: Harper Perennial.
Hallgrimsson,B. (2012) Prototyping andModelmaking for Product Design, London: Laurence King Publishing.
Marton, F. (1994) Phenomenography as a Research Approach, in: Husen, T. And Postlethwaite, N, (2nd ed) The International Encyclopediaof Education,
Vol. 8, Pergamon, pp. 4424-4429, available athttp://www.ped.gu.se/biorn/phgraph/civil/main/1res.appr.html[accessed 72 December 2012].
Moon, J. (2010) Using Story In Higher Education and Professional Development, Oxon: Routledge.
Nerantzi, C. and Despard, C. (submitted) Lego models to aid reflection. Enhancing the summative assessment experience in the context of Professional
Discussions within accredited Academic Development provision, Innovations in Education and Teaching International.
Owens, T. (2012) Hitting the nail on the head: the importance of specific staff development for effective blended learning, in: Innovations in Education
and Teaching International, Vol. 49, No. 4, November 2012, 389-400.
Palmer, P. J. (2007) The Courage to teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Papert, S. and Harel, I. (1991) Situating Constructionism, in: Constructionism, Norwood: Ablex Publishing, Available from:
http://www.papert.org/articles/SituatingConstructionism.html [accessed1 January 2013]
Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner,San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

37. source: www.slideshare.net

38. Would Plato Lego?
Chrissi Nerantzi
Academic Developer, University of Salford
@chrissinerantzi
c.nerantzi@salford.ac.uk
photos without source are by Chrissi Nerantzi
Using metaphors through model making to aid reflection
inspirED Seminar, University of Dundee, 17 April 2013