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Papers by Mark Hardman

Research paper thumbnail of Ghosts in the Curriculum-Reframing Concepts as Multiplicities

Journal of Philosophy of Education

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Research paper thumbnail of The Use of Interactive Fiction to Promote Conceptual Change in Science

Science & Education

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Research paper thumbnail of Making the case for a material-dialogic approach to science education

Studies in Science Education

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Research paper thumbnail of How might educational research into children’s ideas about light be of use to teachers?

This paper offers a synthesis of research evidence around teaching light to secondary school pupi... more This paper offers a synthesis of research evidence around teaching light to secondary school pupils, as part of the Institute of Physics (IOP) Promoting and Interpreting Physics Education Research (PIPER) project. Conceptual change literature describes many difficulties young people have with understanding the phenomenon of light, and while this knowledge can be useful in the classroom, how best to address these issues is not something which can be proscribed by the research community. Teaching must be adapted to the particular needs of the learners in each group as each lesson unfolds. This paper highlights a range of influences on pupils from everyday life and from the classroom, with a view to promoting teacher awareness of conceptual change research evidence.

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Research paper thumbnail of Critical Complexity in the Classroom

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Research paper thumbnail of Learning to Teach First - Participant Perceptions

This paper reports on a pilot study to identify the influences upon Teach First participants as t... more This paper reports on a pilot study to identify the influences upon Teach First participants as they learn to teach and explores the dynamic nature of these influences.

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Research paper thumbnail of Learning to Teach First - Participant Perceptions

This paper reports on a pilot study to identify the influences upon Teach First participants as t... more This paper reports on a pilot study to identify the influences upon Teach First participants as they learn to teach and explores the dynamic nature of these influences.

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Research paper thumbnail of Human Behaviour - A Bridge Too Far for Complexity?

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Research paper thumbnail of Complex Neural Networks - A Useful Model of Human Learning

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Thesis Chapters by Mark Hardman

Research paper thumbnail of Complexity and Classroom Learning

This thesis provides a theoretical basis for applying complexity theory to classroom learning. Ex... more This thesis provides a theoretical basis for applying complexity theory to classroom learning.
Existing accounts of complexity in social systems fail to adequately situate human understanding within those systems. Human understanding and action is embedded within the complex systems that we inhabit. As such, we cannot achieve a full and accurate representation of those systems. This challenges epistemological positions which characterise learning as a simple mechanistic process, those which see it as approaching a view of the world ‘as it is’ and also positions which see learning as a purely social activity.
This thesis develops a materialist position which characterises understandings as emergent from, but not reducible to, the material world. The roles of embodied neural networks as well as our linguistic and symbolic systems are considered in order to develop this materialist position. Context and history are shown to be important within complex systems and allow novel understandings to emerge. Furthermore, shared understandings are seen as emergent from processes of response, replication and manipulation of patterns of behaviour and patterns of association. Thus the complexity of learning is accounted for within a coherent ontological and epistemological framework.
The implications of this materialist position for considering classroom learning are expounded. Firstly, our models and descriptions of classrooms are reconciled with the view of our understandings as sophisticated yet incomplete models within complex social systems. Models are characterised as themselves material entities which emerge within social systems and may go on to influence behaviour. Secondly, contemporary accounts of learning as the conceptual representation of the world are challenged.

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Drafts by Mark Hardman

Research paper thumbnail of Complexity and the Characterisation of Learning

Complexity theory offers an alternative to the simple causality and reductive accounts of change ... more Complexity theory offers an alternative to the simple causality and reductive accounts of change which dominate contemporary policy and practice. It does so by recognising that the interplay of dynamic elements results in the emergence of patterns and meanings that cannot be predicted by considering those elements in isolation. This symposium will show how complexity contests what it means to educate, and how it is related to existing philosophical traditions. This is the third of four papers presented at the workshop. It uses insights from complexity theory, along with the work of Gilles Deleuze, to critique existing characterisations of learning.

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Research paper thumbnail of ESERA 2017: The Matter of Learning: Reconsidering the theoretical basis of conceptual change research

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Conference Presentations by Mark Hardman

Research paper thumbnail of How does learning emerge in science classrooms?

When planning a science lesson, teachers often consider what they want pupils to learn and then s... more When planning a science lesson, teachers often consider what they want pupils to learn and then select and design activities that convey the concepts or skills being promoted. However, in recent years there has been a theoretical shift away from seeing concepts as ‘mental entities’ which can be conveyed through activities, and instead recognising that learning involves the specifics of embodied cognition and interaction between people, texts, images, equipment and the broader learning environment. The question then becomes whether we can give a more specific account of how pupils actually learn, and what they learn from. This workshop will highlight some of the issues with how learning is currently characterised and then report the early findings of video studies into what pupils actually learn from in science classroom, and what experienced teachers do to promote this learning.

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Research paper thumbnail of Ghosts in the Curriculum-Reframing Concepts as Multiplicities

Journal of Philosophy of Education

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of The Use of Interactive Fiction to Promote Conceptual Change in Science

Science & Education

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Making the case for a material-dialogic approach to science education

Studies in Science Education

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of How might educational research into children’s ideas about light be of use to teachers?

This paper offers a synthesis of research evidence around teaching light to secondary school pupi... more This paper offers a synthesis of research evidence around teaching light to secondary school pupils, as part of the Institute of Physics (IOP) Promoting and Interpreting Physics Education Research (PIPER) project. Conceptual change literature describes many difficulties young people have with understanding the phenomenon of light, and while this knowledge can be useful in the classroom, how best to address these issues is not something which can be proscribed by the research community. Teaching must be adapted to the particular needs of the learners in each group as each lesson unfolds. This paper highlights a range of influences on pupils from everyday life and from the classroom, with a view to promoting teacher awareness of conceptual change research evidence.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Critical Complexity in the Classroom

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Learning to Teach First - Participant Perceptions

This paper reports on a pilot study to identify the influences upon Teach First participants as t... more This paper reports on a pilot study to identify the influences upon Teach First participants as they learn to teach and explores the dynamic nature of these influences.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Learning to Teach First - Participant Perceptions

This paper reports on a pilot study to identify the influences upon Teach First participants as t... more This paper reports on a pilot study to identify the influences upon Teach First participants as they learn to teach and explores the dynamic nature of these influences.

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Research paper thumbnail of Human Behaviour - A Bridge Too Far for Complexity?

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Research paper thumbnail of Complex Neural Networks - A Useful Model of Human Learning

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Complexity and Classroom Learning

This thesis provides a theoretical basis for applying complexity theory to classroom learning. Ex... more This thesis provides a theoretical basis for applying complexity theory to classroom learning.
Existing accounts of complexity in social systems fail to adequately situate human understanding within those systems. Human understanding and action is embedded within the complex systems that we inhabit. As such, we cannot achieve a full and accurate representation of those systems. This challenges epistemological positions which characterise learning as a simple mechanistic process, those which see it as approaching a view of the world ‘as it is’ and also positions which see learning as a purely social activity.
This thesis develops a materialist position which characterises understandings as emergent from, but not reducible to, the material world. The roles of embodied neural networks as well as our linguistic and symbolic systems are considered in order to develop this materialist position. Context and history are shown to be important within complex systems and allow novel understandings to emerge. Furthermore, shared understandings are seen as emergent from processes of response, replication and manipulation of patterns of behaviour and patterns of association. Thus the complexity of learning is accounted for within a coherent ontological and epistemological framework.
The implications of this materialist position for considering classroom learning are expounded. Firstly, our models and descriptions of classrooms are reconciled with the view of our understandings as sophisticated yet incomplete models within complex social systems. Models are characterised as themselves material entities which emerge within social systems and may go on to influence behaviour. Secondly, contemporary accounts of learning as the conceptual representation of the world are challenged.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Complexity and the Characterisation of Learning

Complexity theory offers an alternative to the simple causality and reductive accounts of change ... more Complexity theory offers an alternative to the simple causality and reductive accounts of change which dominate contemporary policy and practice. It does so by recognising that the interplay of dynamic elements results in the emergence of patterns and meanings that cannot be predicted by considering those elements in isolation. This symposium will show how complexity contests what it means to educate, and how it is related to existing philosophical traditions. This is the third of four papers presented at the workshop. It uses insights from complexity theory, along with the work of Gilles Deleuze, to critique existing characterisations of learning.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of ESERA 2017: The Matter of Learning: Reconsidering the theoretical basis of conceptual change research

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of How does learning emerge in science classrooms?

When planning a science lesson, teachers often consider what they want pupils to learn and then s... more When planning a science lesson, teachers often consider what they want pupils to learn and then select and design activities that convey the concepts or skills being promoted. However, in recent years there has been a theoretical shift away from seeing concepts as ‘mental entities’ which can be conveyed through activities, and instead recognising that learning involves the specifics of embodied cognition and interaction between people, texts, images, equipment and the broader learning environment. The question then becomes whether we can give a more specific account of how pupils actually learn, and what they learn from. This workshop will highlight some of the issues with how learning is currently characterised and then report the early findings of video studies into what pupils actually learn from in science classroom, and what experienced teachers do to promote this learning.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact