Running head: PIDP 3420 2nd reflective Corry Martin

2nd Reflective Writing Entry: Teaching Naked, Chapters 4-8.

School of Instructor Education/ Vancouver Community College
Corry Martin - 000388651
August 27, 2016

PIDP 3420 2ND REFLECTIVE CORRY MARTIN

Introduction
When reading the chapters 4 through 8, in Jose Antonio Bowens book Teaching Naked
(2012), Mr. Bowen opens the fourth chapter with a statement I found to be very profound;
Learning requires change. It is a simple statement which has probably been coined by others
previously however Jose goes in in the first few paragraphs to support this statement by stating
The progression through levels (like a video game) would reflect the consensus of research
about the developmental capabilities of adolescents to maximize learning development. (Jose
Antonio Bowen Teaching Naked, 2012.) I found these statements to strike a chord with me
personally because I believe that if learning does require real change, then learning is
development and if learning requires change, then so does teaching.

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Objective
Early on in chapter 4, Bowen calls on the discussion of William Perrys classic model (1970 et
al) where Perry examines the development cycle of college students. Those developments can
be citing as; He (Perry) believes that college students go through four stages of mental and
moral develop(ment). The four states are dualism, multiplicity, relativism, and lastly
commitment.
I would like my objective statement to focus on Perrys goal of coaxing students into
relativism, in which the evidence upon which conclusions are based makes some conclusions
better than others. (Teaching Naked, Pg. 79) Where I will expand on this belief and using
further examples I will explain what this means to me. Furthermore, it is prudent for readers to
understand that; The Perry scheme is a model for understanding how college students come to
understand knowledge, the ideas they hold about knowing, and the ways in which knowing is a
part of the cognitive processes of thinking and reasoning. Perry (1970) proposed that college
students pass through a predictable sequence of positions of epistemology growth.
Fundamental to the Perry scheme is a students nine-position progression from dualist to
relativist epistemologies. (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_G._Perry) For the
readers benefit it should be clear that epistemology means Epistemology studies the nature of
knowledge, the rationality of belief, and justification. (Wikipedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology) and that moving forward in this essay I will refer to
epistemology as, the nature of knowledge.

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Reflective
As I reflect on what the nature of knowledge means to me, I find that I am more inclined
to look at the five questions we are introduced to as children. The five Ws if you will, the Who,
What, Why, Where and When. These are the questions we are introduced to in our formative
years and are very simple questions that mostly have right and wrong answers. These formative
questions, which are of a dualist nature, hold very true to Perrys model of the development
cycle. Perrys model, as summarized well by an unknown author on the blog;
http://studentdevelopmenttheory.weebly.com/perry.html, states; The first stage that is
typically discussed for people who are very young is dualism. Dualism is the belief that every
problem is solvable, that students are to learn the right answers, and that one must obey
authorities. The second stage is known as multiplicity. Multiplicity is that there are two types of
problems: solvable, and also problems that the answer is not known yet. In addition, in this
stage, students put trust in their own inner voice. Relativism is the third stage. During this
stage, all solutions to problems must have reasons, and be viewed within a specific context. The
basis for this stage is that every issue must be evaluated because everything is
contextual. Lastly, commitment is the stage where there is an acceptance of uncertainty as part
of life. During this stage, students use the combination of personal experience and evidence
learned from outside sources to arrive at conclusions. (~Unknown,
http://studentdevelopmenttheory.weebly.com/perry.html)

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When dealing with adult learners, as I am an adult educator, I assume that all of my
students arrive at college with all of the learning skills needed to be successful in the courses
they have enrolled in. The students come prepared with strong foundations in dualism and
multiplicity, where they have a strong belief that there are right and wrong answers and that
some questions have not yet been answered. Their ability to trust their inner voice is just
developing and these students are beginning to realize that solutions are reasons. It is my job as
an instructor to nurture this transformation from their more formative ideals of right and wrong
towards a new outlook that embraces the why question of our dualistic nature and to expand
that question into the search for reason. This will further allow the student to define their own
meaning of the nature of knowledge.
Interpretive
Blooms taxonomy of educational objectives were further revised by Anderson and
Krathwohl (2001.) to further classify cognitive ability into six levels of increasing complexity.
These levels include, remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating.
With the similarities between this taxonomy and the nature of video games it becomes
increasingly important to, as an educator, remember that these students have most probably
been raised with nearly as much video game time as they have studying, it is possible and likely
for some, that more time has been spent on video games than studying! Students will rely on
their simplistic dualist nature when embarking on a new video game quest, relying on solving
evermore difficult challenges as they progress through the game. They will eventually be forced
to reflect on previous tactics and solutions and apply new reasoning to accomplish the next
defined goal inside the game. Unknowingly these students have progressed through Anderson

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and Krathwohls taxonomy by analyzing and evaluating their virtual situation and creating new
solutions to more difficult problems. These students have developed the ability to assess
problems, apply previously gained knowledge and combine this experience to arrive at new
conclusions. These students have learned how to learn; they may not realize it however they
have applied the nature of knowledge. The question is, how can we (instructors) take this video
game prowess and have students apply it to their learning journey?

Decisional
As an instructor, it is in my best interest and the interests of my students to present
learning goals and course content in a manner that best suits the student. How do I; coax(ing)
students into relativism, in which the evidence upon which conclusions are based makes some
conclusions better than others. (Teaching Naked, Pg. 79)? How do I have my students make the
connection between their recreational activities while playing video games and applying these
skills and abilities towards learning course content?
Finks taxonomy (2003) of significant learning, (see fig. 4.1, pg. 84 of Teaching Naked)
is a resource that I can make very good use of. The goal of Fink (2003), as I see it, is to
understand that we need to pay more attention to the frame in which learning occurs.
(Teaching Naked, Bowen, 2012, pg. 84) Using Finks (2003.) pie chart taxonomy of significant
learning we can see the connections between context and application. I would define this as;
students, who have learned how to learn, can take their skills they have gained from working in
one context and apply those skills to a new and foreign context. These students will have the
ability to apply their skills, work from their foundational knowledge, integrate these ideas with

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new ideas and form new resolve as to how they interact with future problems. These students
will have developed beyond their previous level of knowledge, much like successes at video
gaming.
When I, as an instructor, am able to have my students begin to trust their inner voice,
question their previous knowledge and start assessing the quality of conclusions to problems, I
will feel as if the students have gained insight into the nature of knowledge. Contextual delivery
that makes sense to the student is paramount, relationships and connections to existing
fundamental understanding will be key in delivering course content that students can actually
develop from. I know my ability as an instructor to deliver content to learners in this manner
will provide the best opportunity for students to develop however, coaxing students into
relativism, having them question the quality of conclusions and having them learn to learn will
remain a challenge (for me) and will be the focus of my teaching methodology into the future.
The reasoning for this challenge is that I find I have a partial disconnect from this type of
student, I stink at video games.

Summary
The final chapters in the assigned reading are focused primarily on the technology for
information delivery and technology for development. Today we already know most of what is
presented in these chapters, we take it for granted that modern students, millennials in
particular, prefer an e-learning environment and that these students possess an almost natural
command of how to manipulate these technologies. How often do adults, particularly adults
born prior to the technological advancements of the last 20-some years, hand off complex

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learning opportunities to younger persons when dealing with technological challenges? An
example of this would be asking a ten-year-old how to do something on a smart phone or
computer, it happens right?
For modern instructors to be successful we need to adapt modern methods, game-ify
our content, communicate on the same platforms as our students, realize students are better
prepared than we may know, and encourage our students to ask, why?

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References

William perry's scheme of intellectual and ethical development. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.jmu.edu/geology/evolutionarysystems/protected/handouts/willperry2.pdf
Jose Antonio Bowen, of Teaching Naked (2012) Jossey-Bass
Unknown Author, http://studentdevelopmenttheory.weebly.com/perry.html
Finks (2003.) pie chart taxonomy of significant learning
A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational
objectives Lorin W. Anderson, David R. Krathwohl, Benjamin Samuel Bloom (2003)
Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. (Bloom et al., 1994; Gronlund, 1991;
Krathwohl et al., 1956.)
Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_G._Perry
Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology