Question 4

Component one. Copied from Other Blog
Video - Meisner Effect

Principle


Application


These videos are a demonstration of the Meisner effect. This seemingly supernatural phenomenon is a result of the superconducting properties of certain materials at extremely low temperatures.

Gardner
This demonstration would suit those with visual intelligence. The first video is the simplest demonstration of the effect. This demonstration is important because the theoretical understanding of superconductivity is very hard to grasp but the effect is readily demonstrated. All the theoretical attempts to understand the effect are first based on having observed it.
The second video is an application of this effect with a voice-over explanation of what is happening. This would be particularly relevant to those with visual spatial intelligence because this demonstrates the way of thinking that engineers and artists use.

A logical thinker would also benefit from this presentation because the voiceover explains the logic of how the system works: magnetic fields are trapped in the superconductor. From here it follows logically that the train will run as it appears to.

Implementation
This could be implemented as a video presentation in a classroom setting. In Bloom's Taxonomy this presentation would fall into the lowest level of cognitive ability however the stunning visual and the sequence of first the concept is illustrated without explanation and then application is given could be a very effective aid to remembering.
In Vygotsky's theory this could be seen as cultural mediation where the cultural significance hinted at in the second video aids a process of internalization.

This effect is briefly covered in the year 12 Physics syllabus and

Component Two. Copied from Blog
Audio File

Sound of the Big Bang


"(c) John G. Cramer - 2003

Sound file of what the Big Bang would have sounded like in the very early stages of the Universe if someone were around to hear it and if that person could also hear very low frequencies.

Gardner
This sound file would be very useful to musically intelligent people. The sound does in fact have a rythm and melody to it (albeit not a very appealing one). The changing pitch and volume of the sound could be easily remembered by a musically able person and this would re-enforce the theory behind the sound, which is that the universe expanded and changed characteristics.

Implementation
Two simple ways to implement this device are to play it to the class or embed it in a document, blog, webpage or email so that the sound file fits with the text it describes. The combination of linguistic implementation and audio re-inforcement can be experienced individually or with a group, that is, at the student's own pace or at the teacher's pace.

Implementation
These components are implemented in the blog in exactly the same way as they are implemented here. Ways which they can used in a particular learning environment are described in the associated text.
Evaluation In Light Of Theorists
Gardner: This has already been described in the posts which were copied over.
Piaget: Piaget said the the congitive ability develops through life and people at different stages of development have qualitatively different capacities. According to Piaget the first component, which has the two videos would be appreciated very differently by people at different stages of development. For a person in the concrete operational zone the two videos would demonstrate a strange phenomenon, the students could see that something strange was happening but would lack the absract understanding to explain. In the formal operational stage the two videos could be understood in light of the explanation in the second video. Belief in invisible things like magnetic fields are the key to understanding.
Piaget may not give much value to the sound file when it is shown to anyone who has not yet reached the formal operational stage. The reason for this is that there is nothing concrete about the wave sound depicted in the file. The sound file is artificially constructed to demonstrated what the big bang may have sounded like if smoeone have been around 13 billion years ago to hear it and if that person had hearing which was tuned to extremely low frequencies. It is of course an exercise in abstract ideas becaus the very definition of sound is only meaningful within the realm of human processing ability. Nonetheless for a person with a sufficient understanding of the theories of sound and the process of the big bang this could be a fantastic learning tool.

Bruner: Bruner would be thrilled by both components because he believed that at any age challenging concepts could be taught in an intellectualyl honest way. This is fortunate because both components demonstrate ideas which are generally far beyond the capacity of high school students. The first video depicts a phenomenon which can only occur at super low temperatures and will be analyzed by the student until he/she reaches university level, and even then only briefly. However it would be intellectually honest to learn in the way which is depicted on the blog. It is in no way untrue or dishonest to observe that the Meisner effect can make objects levitate and trains move with great efficiency. Even if a rigorous understanding of the process is beyong the capacity of children, a child of any age can be enligtened by this component.
The second component is also quite advanced in nature. It depicts a cosmological event which could not really be understood by a child but it is still intellectually honest. It is both intellectual and honest (within the limits of our knowledge of cosmology) to play such a sound file. Once again students can gain insigt into a difficult process with the simple device of audio. This should be suitable for all ages.
Vygotsky: One of Vygostky's key concepts is the idea of cultural mediation where the learning process is aided by the cultural significance of the objective. Vygostly would have noted the cultural mediation going on in the first compontent.
The video of the train going around the track is important to a childs culture becaus the experience of riding on a train gives meaning to the symoblic gesture of a small train running around a small track. It is in order to grasp more fully this cutural event that a child would come to understand what is demonstrated in the video.
The second component does not have the same cultural significance. The sound is an artifical recording of an event 13 billion years ago. It has little cultural significance. It could not easily draw a response from a child. It does not and abstract symbol representing the fundamental social needs of the child.