Analyzing the role of cognitive theory in maker teacher training

In recent years , The educational concept of maker education to cultivate students' innovative spirit and practical ability has been widely recognized , Many schools actively introduce it into the school education system . Maker education is based on “ originality 、 Integrate 、 practice 、 Share ” And so on , It mainly adopts the project-based learning method to carry out the creation learning activities of the integration of emptiness and reality . essentially , It is an engineering education , For its implementer —— For maker teachers , They not only need to master the theoretical knowledge related to maker Education , We need to master a lot of practical knowledge , Form practical ability .

so to speak , The practical ability of maker teachers is the key to the success of maker education in schools , The training of their practical ability has become particularly urgent . However, from the maker education training carried out in various places in recent years , It is common to have too much theoretical knowledge 、 The content of practical training is insufficient or the effectiveness of training is weak , As a result, participants cannot gain direct experience and overall understanding of project development through training , The improvement of practical ability is slow . To solve the above problems , We believe that participants need to undergo practical training （ hereinafter referred to as “ Practical training ”） The process , To achieve the unity of knowledge and practice . This is consistent with the theory of embodied cognition “ Monism of body and mind ” The main idea of . therefore , Under the guidance of embodied cognitive theory , After six years of continuous iteration and improvement , Summed up the training strategies of maker teachers .

Physical cognition （embodied cognition） Originated in 20 century 80 Philosophy of the s 、 psychology 、 human-computer interaction 、 Cognitive science, neuroscience and other disciplines , It is relative to “ Off body cognition ” Proposed . Traditional cognitivism holds that , The essence of cognition is calculation , Although the brain grows on the body , But its function is independent of the body . Embodied cognition is a kind of cognition that emphasizes the same existence and close relationship between physical process and mental process , Its core meaning includes ： The way and steps of cognitive process are actually determined by the physical properties of the body ; The content of cognition is provided by the body ; cognition 、 The body 、 The environment is one , Cognition exists in the brain , The brain exists in the body , The body exists in the environment . Simply speaking , The theory of embodied cognition holds that , The process of establishing people's cognition of the world is rooted in the interaction between the body and the surrounding physical environment , The cognitive process of abstract knowledge from experience to concept , They are all based on physical embodiment . The practical ability of maker teachers includes maker technology 、 Maker works and maker teaching . These three abilities are closely related to embodied cognition .

First , From the content of practical activities , Maker education emphasizes on real projects 、 The solution of learning and studying real problems in real field , The learning process inevitably requires the presence of the body , So as to establish the unity of the cognitive subject at the level of symbolic meaning and direct experience . meanwhile , Maker education emphasizes intelligent creation （ namely “ product ”）, It's scientific 、 Technical and design features , Practice connection between tool use and creation output , The eyes, ears, mouth, nose and trunk are required to interact with the brain as senses , Realize the cognitive synchronization of external perception and symbolic representation .

secondly , From the cognitive construction process , Makers' practical activities contain multi-disciplinary declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge . Some declarative knowledge , Such as “ Open source hardware ” And so on 、“ Signal transmission and interference ” And so on , The real environment must be perceived through listening, seeing, smelling, touching and doing 、 Somatosensory cognition and operational perception , And with the operator （ device 、 material 、 Tools and equipment ） There's interaction , Form cognition through repeated stimulation . A great deal of procedural knowledge 、 Tacit knowledge and skills also need to be exposed to real problem situations , Through the master's instruction and demonstration 、 Observation imitation 、 Only through hands-on operation and repeated practice can we learn .

Last , From the perspective of teaching transformation , Maker education emphasizes the penetration of maker spirit and maker culture , Emphasize facing “ product ” Project-based learning of design , Emphasize learning activities such as creation and open source sharing . If the maker teachers themselves lack maker practice and learning experience , He can't imagine 、 Difficult to carry out and interpret Maker Teaching , It is also difficult to effectively guide students in project development . therefore , Maker teachers need to learn the knowledge of maker teaching .

thus it can be seen , The formation of maker teachers' practical ability has “ Physical and mental integration ”“ Unity of ” The internal needs of , And embodied cognitive theory “ Monism of body and mind ” Fit . Guide the training of maker teachers with the theory of embodied cognition , It will help to eliminate the distance between maker education theory and practice . Maker space is the practice field of maker education , So that the participants who are exposed to it can get quite rich perception brought by environmental support and experience , It includes the physical and mental coordination of hand and brain and the coordination based on the real field “ mentor - apprentice ” The process of physical, mental and emotional integration . Build a learning environment for makers to learn , Including offline maker space 、 Teaching technology environment and online research space , Form a multimodal teaching field . Maker space is the practice field of maker education , It can provide the embodied cognitive environment of the unity of body and mind , Enable participants to gain rich physical and mental perception . The creation of a learning environment , Including offline maker space 、 Teaching technology environment and online research space , Finally, a teaching field integrating online and offline will be formed .

Offline maker space . Different spaces have different cultures and configurations , But it should be replenished according to the needs of training . Equipment can be one set for each person or one set for two people , Others are provided in groups . Teaching technology environment . Teachers can deploy multi technology integration environment or smart classroom environment according to conditions , Instructor handouts 、 Pre questionnaire 、 Learning assessment 、 Micro video 、 Reference project works 、 Open source community resources, etc , All belong to learning interactive resources , Teachers should prepare in advance , And present in a structured way .“ Double tutor ” Pattern ： The design and operation interaction of the support body .

Before and after training , The lecturer tutor and the student tutor mainly cooperate with each other in teaching and evaluation online , Its collaborative information flow includes text or voice interaction 、 File exchange and handout case design ; The cooperation in training mainly reflects the offline physical space , Its information flow exists in the specific scenario of the training organization , Including attention and emotional input 、 Eyes and gestures 、 Implicit language such as mood and intonation , Teaching presentation, enlightenment and guidance .

in summary , Even all parts of the country have gradually introduced practical training methods to carry out maker education and training , Remarkable results have been achieved . There are many software and hardware tools for maker technology 、 Short life cycle （ Quick update 、 There are many versions ）, And involves technology 、 Interdisciplinary knowledge of engineering and product design and manufacturing processes , When the trainer develops the training course , Need to learn new technologies and skills constantly , And be familiar with the use of technology and its corresponding “ product ” Design method , This is a great challenge for the trainer team . For training organizers , Lack of trainers with strong comprehensive ability , It also increases the difficulty of training organization . Besides , Because the development time of embodied cognitive theory is short , There is little research on carrying out the embodied teaching , For different learning starting points 、 Participants with disciplinary background and practical ability , How to use the theory of embodied cognition to refine the training strategies of maker teachers , It needs further study .