The Talking Point is all about how people learn within groups. People can be much smarter than crowds if you measure "smart" as decision-making speed. Crowds can be much wiser than individuals if you measure wisdom by depth of understanding. It is possible to understand a great deal of information yet (or maybe because of this) you can also be slow to make decisions. If rushed, crowds will make poor decisions in spite of their wisdom. So... to get good group decisions on a time scale that will keep pace with policy development needs and social necessities, groups have to be supported so that their decision-making process can be accelerated. Much has been said and written about this problem over the years. It is dangerous to have the power of groups without the wisdom of groups, and it is tragic to have the wisdom of groups without the power of groups. The Talking Point presents a meeting point for the wisdom and power of groups through the use of Structured Dialogic Design. With hopeful intentions, as a culture we have poisoned the well just when we need it most. We have touted design charettes and stakeholder processes as engagement vehicles and then ignored, marginalized or corrupted the very input that we swore to hold as sacred. This has created a myth that large scale collaboration is not possible, and the myth has led to considerable disillusionment among would-be participants and could-be sponsors. Structured Dialogic Design seeks to bust the myth about our limited capabilities to sustain boundary spanning collaboration. To bust this myth, Structured Dialogic Design needs to usher in a new wave of collaborative planning. Scholars have identified the Structured Dialogic Design methodology as the cutting edge of "third phase" science - where the reality of a situation embraces interactions between objective findings and subjective intentions. The Talking Point provides a window for observing how Structured Dialogic Design has been put into practice and paints a panorama of the issues that confront complex social system design. This book is itself a bridge between scholarship and practice, written to be accessible yet anchored to major themes in cognitive psychology, information systems, social systems, and models of group learning. The book is an invitation for transformational leaders and those who support transformational leaders to pick up a new tool in the essential quest to put our nation and our world back on track toward sustainable futures. The Talking Point is a fresh source of water in a world that is thirsty for new ways of solving complex problems.

In an age where we are inundated with information, the ability to discern verifiable information to make proper decisions and solve problems is ever more critical. Modern science, which espouses a systematic approach to making "inferences," requires a certain mindset that allows for a degree of comfort with uncertainty. This book offers inspirations and ideas for cultivating the proper mindset for the studying, teaching, and practicing of science that will be useful for those new to as well as familiar with the field. Although a paradigm shift from traditional instruction is suggested in the National Framework for K-12 science, this volume is intended to help educators develop a personal mental framework in which to transition from a teacher-centered, didactical approach to a studentcentered, evidence-guided curriculum. While the topics of the book derive from currently published literature on STEM education as they relate to the National Framework for K-12 Science and the Three-Dimensional science instruction embedded in the Next Generation Science Standards, this book also examines these topics in the context of a new societal age posited as the "Age of Inference" and addresses how to make sense of the ever-increasing deluge of information that we are experiencing by having a scientific and properly discerning mindset.

The Language of Mathematics: How the Teacher's Knowledge of Mathematics Affects Instruction introduces the reader to a collection of thoughtful works by authors that represent current thinking about mathematics teacher preparation. The book provides the reader with current and relevant knowledge concerning preparation of mathematics teachers. The complexity of teaching mathematics is undeniable and all too often ignored in the preparation of teachers with substantive mathematical content knowledge and mathematical teaching knowledge. That said, this book has a focus on the substantive knowledge and the relevant pedagogy required for preparing teachings to enter classrooms to teach mathematics in K-12 school settings. Each chapter focuses on the preparation of teachers who will enter classrooms to instruct the next generation of students in mathematics. Chapter One opens the book with a focus on the language and knowledge of mathematics teaching. The authors of Chapters Two-Nine present field-based research that examines the complexities of content and pedagogical knowledge as well as knowledge for teaching. Each chapter offers the reader an examination of mathematics teacher preparation and practice based on formal research that provides the reader with insight into how the research study was conducted as well as providing the findings and conclusions drawn with respect to mathematics teacher preparation and practice. Finally, Chapter 10 presents an epilogue that focuses on the future of mathematics teacher preparation.

This book chronicles the professional life of a career-long, inclusive educator in New York City through eight different stages in special and general education. Developing a new approach to research as part of qualitative methodology, David J. Connor merges the academic genre of autoethnography with memoir to create a narrative that engages the reader through stories of personal experiences within the professional world that politicized him as an educator. After each chapter's narrative, a systematic analytic commentary follows that focuses on: teaching and learning in schools and universities; the influence of educational laws; specific models of disability and how influence educators and educational researchers; and educational structures and systems-including their impact on social, political, and cultural experiences of people with disabilities. This autoethnographic memoir documents, over three decades, the relationship between special and general education, the growth of the inclusion movement, and the challenge of special education as a discrete academic field. As part of a national group of critical special educators, Connor describes the growth of counter-theory through the inception and subsequent growth of DSE as a viable academic field, and the importance of rethinking human differences in new ways.

A group of distinguished experts in the field of brain science provide an overview of learning science today and its future, while offering insights for improving educational practice. Whether you're a researcher, educator, administrator, or policymaker, Learning Science brings you up to date on the state of learning science today-and on where it's headed. Presenting the newest research and ideas of leading authorities in their respective fields, it draws on many disciplines-from psychology and sociology to data science and cognitive science-and offers solutions to our most urgent educational challenges. Learning Science also bridges the gap between theory and practice, providing concrete examples of how theory drives educational innovation. It is organized into three sections: Foundations of Learning Science (broad explorations of learning science approaches to education, learning, and teaching); Technology, Algorithms, and Educational Practice (how advances in technology, data science, and AI are being harnessed to improve educational outcomes); and From Research to Practice (best practices and exemplary educational programs based on findings of learning science). Contributors include: *Arthur Grasser, University of Memphis *Rose Luckin and Mutlu Cukurova, UCL Knowledge Lab, London*Tanya Joosten, University of Wisconsin*Melina Uncapher, University of California, San Francisco*Xiangen Hu, Central China Normal University and University of Memphis*Susan Fuhrman, Teachers College, Columbia University*Ryan Baker, Jaclyn Ocumpaugh, and Juan Miguel L. Andres, University of Pennsylvania*Neil Heffernan and Korinn Ostrow, Worcester Polytechnic Institute*Alfred Essa, McGraw-Hill Education*Christopher Dede, Tina Grotzer, Amy Kamarainen, and Shari Metcalf, Harvard University*Richard C. Larson, M. Elizabeth Murray, and Daniel D. Frey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology*Jennifer Kotler, Sesame Workshop *Valerie Shute, Fengfeng Ke, and Russell Almond, Florida State University