Blog 2

Gee: In School, words and meanings usually float free of material conditions and embodied actions. They take on only general, so-called decontextualized meanings. (84)

Nicoll: I agree with Gee to some extent. I believe that the reason for teaching these sort of half definitions is because of the “teach for the test” process. Teachers have to make sure that their students are learning what they need for the test and learning it well enough that they can pass the test. Basic definitions are often the way in which this is done. I think that teachers feel that there is not enough time to teach in depth, situated definitions. Teaching the lowest based definition seems to be the way that teachers believe they are guaranteed to fit in everything in their lesson plans. However, if, on the day of the test, the definition required is a situated definition, the teacher has to hope that the student can figure it out on their own. In the long run the student is suffering, especially if they cannot make the leap from point “A” to point “A+1.” By this I mean that if a student cannot build an idea off of the basic definition, then what have they really learned and how will they be able to function in higher educational classes. On page 102, Gee says that you can’t use the commands described in the game manual unless you understand it in terms of the game. In other words, what good will the explanation be if you can’t understand the context of what you are doing?

Gee: Rather, as group members are discovering things through their own activity, the good science instructor comes up, assesses the progress they are making and the fruitlessness of the paths down which they are proceeding in their inquiry, and then gives overt information that is, at that point, usable. (120)

Nicoll: This reminded me of Murray’s reading from last week. There is no harm in encouragement and in fact it is probably more beneficial than critique. Pushing a child in one direction over another will allow them to develop their strengths, and later they will be able to work on their weaknesses when they are confident with the skills they have already developed. While the teacher is assessing the work the students are doing they can not only offer encouragement, but the much needed guidance that is necessary for the untrained student to achieve the results they are seeking. The student is still practically applying what they have learned and they will still achieve a sense of accomplishment because of the guidance and encouragement of the teacher. Telling a student, “No, this is wrong,” is unhelpful and discouraging. They probably won’t learn everything they need to learn. Offering guidance in the form of “You did good, now try this,” is more helpful and probably will have more of an impact on the learner.

Williams: There seems to be a fear of empty space. (15)

Nicoll: In all of the examples Williams shows, the original designs are overly spaced out. I agree that there is a fear of empty space because the original designs are trying so hard to fill the business card, advertisement or page, that the designs are lost. My eye got lost between the text. In the examples where Williams changed what needed to be changed, there was still empty space, but you hardly noticed it because the information was easy to find and your eye was drawn to the information rather than scanning the design for the information necessary. Williams goes on to say that everyone knows the importance of proximity and that we use it, but now we need to use it correctly. As I sit here at work, looking at my boss’s letter head that he took upon himself to redesign last week, I can’t help thinking that it looked better before. His name is in the middle, but the phone number, email address, and office address are all on different sides of the page and the states where he is admitted to practice are in the middle. Now, I know someone from California is not going to call us and see if we can handle a matter in San Diego. It seems that the contact information was better off in the middle because that is where his name is and that is where people are going to look first. The empty space on the side of the letter head didn’t matter because it was unnoticeable with the original placement of the information.