tootsie pops & toilet paper, vampires & zombies
DESCRIPTION
A description of autoethnographic research processes called The CollectoryTRANSCRIPT
+
Tootsie Pops & Toilet
Paper, Vampires &
Zombies
+Developing Skills of Interest,
Creativity, Literacy, and Innovation
through the Engaging Research
Processes of The Collectory
A presentation from Dr. Z’s House of Fun
Wilkins-O’RileyZinn
Professor and Faculty Director of Teaching and Learning
Southern Oregon University
+When is learning fun
(engaging and
interesting) for you?
“Dolphins are my life
right now! This
project is the most
fun I ever had!!”
• Sixth grader, 2004
+Research is formalized curiosity.
It is poking and prying with a purpose.
• Zora Neale Hurston
+
My name is only an
anagram of toilets.
• T.S. Eliot
The ability to relate
and to connect,
sometimes in odd and
yet striking fashion,
lies at the very heart
of any creative use of
the mind, no matter in
what field or discipline.
• George J. Seidel
+Themes of Fun in Learning(Zinn 2004, 2008):
Choice
Relevance
Engagement
Active Learning
Teacher Attitude
Eiredaramac (Camaraderie)
+It‟s all about making students feel they want
to be there. • Teacher‟s epiphany, 2010
That’s when you’re at your best,
when you’re focused and you’re
serious and passionate about
what you do, but at the same
time, you can relax and have fun
and be confident.
• Derek Fisher, NBA
+
Nifty Fifty Challenge
An anonymous donor will
give you $50,000 to
research anything you
want, but you have to
make your choice in fifty
seconds. It must be
something you are
personally passionate
about, and you must
immediately provide a
rationale for your choice in
fifty words or less, taking
no more than four minutes
and ten seconds (5x50
seconds) to do so.
+How can students
learn essential
research attitudes,
skills, and knowledge
in a personally-
engaging way?
AND how is highly
individualized work
evaluated?
+The Collectory is about teaching the skills of
interest essential to making lifelong learning a
reality and an ongoing delight.
+What basic A•S•K do students
need to enable them to do
research in any discipline?
A • Attitudes
S • Skills
K • Knowledge
What else do they
need to know and be
able to do that‟s
specific to your
discipline?
+
Attitudes • blue card
Skills • yellow card
Knowledge • green card
Your discipline-specific ASK • pink card
Is there overlap? Of course—don’t stress!
That‟s interesting,
but it‟s not
interesting to me.
• Laurie Richlin
Lilly Int‟l. Nov. „09
A • S • K
+
BREAST WISHES!I have a collection of more than 7,000 quotations about breasts that have become part of an art exhibit: Breast Wishes: Uncovering an American Obsession. It‟s led to anonymous gifts like this.
+
Some Key Elements of
Collectory Research
• I-Search research (Macrorie, 1988)
• Collage/montage representation
• Multigenre writing (Romano, 2000)
• Scholarly personal narrative (Nash,
2004)
• Autoethnography (Ellis &Bochner,
2000)
• Autobibliography (Zinn, 2004)
• Self-actualizing creativity (Maslow,
1959)
• Pentangulation (Zinn, 2004)
+
Autoethnography is the
exploration of one‟s
own culture situated
within other cultures,
and leads to critical
self-understanding
through reflection and
experimentation.
A primary difference
between
autoethnography and
autobiography is the
creation of theory from
emergent knowledge,
making it particularly
useful within the
context of research
projects.
+
Adult Learning• Adults want to know why they are learning something.
• Adults need to learn experientially.
• Adults approach learning as problem-solving.
• Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value.
--from Malcolm Knowles‟ (1990) theory of adult learning
I’m fifty-three years old and this is the first time I’ve ever been excited about doing a research project! • Middle school teacher, ED 512: Educational Research, 2010
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Enjoyment is not a
goal, it is a feeling the
accompanies
important ongoing
activity.
• Paul Goodman
Ongoing
reflection and
self-evaluation are
crucial elements
of The
Collectoryprocess
es.
+Pentangulation
• Self as source of knowledge,
experiences, reflection,
metacognition
• Observation, formal and
informal
• Talking with others
• Formal research, scholarly
literature, historical context
ª Informal research, popular
culture, multiple media,
historical context
You don’t understand anything
until you learn it more than one
way. • Marvin Minsky
+
Ethics Quiz
I have used Spark Notes, Cliff Notes, or other reading aids and pretended the ideas were my own.
I have pretended to read an article, text, or other assigned materials.
I have appropriated material from the internet and passed it off as my own work.
I have cheated on a test.
I have copied someone else‟s homework or other assigned work.
I have done an assignment that was due at the start of class while I was in class instead of completing it out of class as assigned.
I have worked on other things during class, including but not limited to other coursework, surfing the net, texting, etc.
It’s hard to do your best at
something you don’t really
want to do. Why should I
go research information on
something I don’t care
about?
• Comments from a pair of
cheaters on ABC‟s 20/20,
November 19, 2004
+Things I Didn’t Buy For My Son
A Consumerist Collectory
+
Activate the skills of
interest, innovation, and
lifelong learning through
personally resonant
Collectory research
You can teach
students a lesson for
a day, but if you can
teach them to learn
by creating curiosity,
they will continue the
learning process as
long as they live.
• Clay P. Bedford
+Discovery Skills of Innovation• Dyer &Gregerson, 2010
• Associating: making connections among the seemingly
unrelated.
• Questioning: asking “what if?” and “why not?” Challenging the
status quo.
• Observation: closely observing details, including people‟s
behavior.
• Experimentation: trying new experiences; exploring new
worlds.
• Networking: including with people with whom you may have
nothing in common, but from who you can learn.
+
There is a formula for
drudgery (Ruediger, 1932),
and many students have
learned how to be actively
disengaged in school.
Skills of
Interest
+Where do ideas
come from?
I am often asked,
“Where do you get
your ideas?” The
short answer is
everywhere. It’s
like asking, “Where
do you find air to
breathe?” Ideas
are all around you.
• Twyla Tharp
+ChoiceI know how I learn and I
understand that this may
not be the same in every
context. I actively seek
opportunities to
maximize my learning
by integrating my
interests and passions
into my coursework.
Students choose
Collectory topics,
methods of pursuit and
sources, manner of
presentation.
+Relevance
I find purpose and
connections among things
I‟m studying. I connect
personal resonance and
pragmatic reality. I know
who I am and what
interests me.
I choose a Collectory topic
thoughtfully, engaging in
metacognitive activities
that help me understand
my interests and my
preferred ways of making
meaning.
+EngagementI attend class and
deliberately find ways to be
actively interested. I care
about my learning and am
truly present through
thoughtful interaction in and
out of class. I apply course
content to my life and to
other courses.
I engage in ongoing
disciplined and informal
Collectory-related reflection,
collection, and connection
and am alert for
interconnections.
+Active Learning
I don‟t just attend class; I am an integral part of making the class interesting because I am interested. I seek out additional information related to what I am learning.
I use all facets of my life as sources of information. I understand that learning doesn’t just happen in school and I actively seek additional learning-from-life opportunities.
+Teacher Attitude
What makes teaching fun?
I put myself in the place of
the teacher and make my
interest apparent. I go
beyond requirements and
produce quality work.
Collectory teachers are
open to possibility, trust
learners, emphasize the
journey, involve learners in
evaluation, expect quality.
+CamaraderieI talk with others in and out of class—instructors and classmates. I get involved in clubs, study groups, sports, student government, and/or other activities. I am interested in learning about other people and their cultures and I know how to listen and be a friend.
I actively seek other perspectives related to my Collectory topic and I share my work regularly, helping others with theirs as well.
+ A student once called me the “Ex-Lax of
writing teachers.” Collectory processes
can really help get the writing going!
+WHAT IS QUALITY
WORK?
WHAT SHOULD A
GRADE OF A
REPRESENT?
Quality is not an
act, it is a habit.
•Aristotle
+How to insure your Collectory doesn‟t suck!
Some advice from the Vampire Team:
• Pick a topic and begin your research right away.
• Tell other people what you‟re exploring and ask them
to watch for related information.
• Record what you‟re doing, the sources you find, and
your thoughts and reflections REGULARLY. You will
not remember!
• Keep careful track of your sources. Get all the biblio
information as soon as you look at something.
• Be open—keep your topic at the front of your mind
and you‟ll be surprised how much you start to see.
Winter 2011
+How about you?With The Collectory, the end is just the beginning. . .
How could you use Collectory processes with your students?
+El Dia de
Los Muertos
mIIm
aII
Zinnpix are from
Olvera Street,
Los Angeles,
and Dr. Z’s
House of Stuff
+ Zombie Haiku (Ryan Mecum, 2008)
They surround the car
and all are moaning something.
Is that the word “trains??! (p. 17)
+
Vampire Haiku
Ryan Mecum (2009)
As I‟m writing this,
my syllable-counting hand
is starting to smoke (p. 133).
+
In Finito
To find a form that
accommodates the
mess, that is the task
of the artist now.
• Samuel Beckett