Forum 3. A Private Universe

First, go to the Learner.org website and view the video called "A Private Universe." This is an investigation of how people deal with the concepts involved in understanding seasonal change.

http://www.learner.org/resources/series28.html (Video)

Next, when you click on the link at the bottom of the page you may be prompted to join—it's free—and do so. After joining, if necessary, you will be able to view the video using RealPlayer. If you don't have RealPlayer you will be prompted to download and install it. It's free too. Please do so if you don't have it or if it won't play in any other plug-in you have installed. Recently, updated browsers can play the movies without and further plugins. See what works for you.

Finally, once you sign up, log in and have the player, the video will start. It is approximately 20 minutes.

After viewing it, in a post relate what you observed to any lessons or ideas gleaned from "Taking Learning Seriously" and our discussions. What, if anything, do the lessons of this video this mean for your own teaching? If you are not in the classroom, what do the lessons mean to you as a student and/or as future teacher? Was the video shocking at all, or pretty much the world as you know it? (Optional) Respond to one of your classmates you take discussing this topic seriously.

Value-Added: The reactions of everyone involved, recorded years later, are below the video. You might be interested in what Heather has to say.

Not sure yourself? Check this. It includes a technology—based model. (PDF)

My Response:

The video A Private Universe (1987) shows students stating incorrectly why the seasons change which is the pathology of Fantasia which is the misconception of facts. The reason for this is because the students tend to use their own selective perceptions and assumptions. In the paper Shuman (1999) wrote that the misconceptions can interfere with significant amounts of good teaching. In the video we see that Shuman’s paper was reinforced by the video especially the pathology of Fantasia. As a student and an educator I need to be aware of how and why these pathologies occur in students and I would need to stop and review how to fix the misconceptions. I do not think that the video is shocking as some students and teachers might have multiple pathologies such as amnesia, and fantasia triggering in their minds these pathologies are dangerous and can hinder learning.