CALGARY COMES TO NEW ORLEANS
Alison Grey Anderson
University of California at Los Angeles

1. Goals of the “New Ideas” Conferences
   1. Theory
   2. Techniques
   3. Sharing ideas and advice
2. Calgary Theme
   1. “We Teach, but Do They Learn?”
   2. Learning Theory
   3. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning of the National Research Council, John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, eds. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., expanded edition 2000. Available online at http://www.nap.edu
3. Major Concepts
   1. Student Preconceptions Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom. (How People Learn: Bridging Practice and Research, at 10)
   2. Learning As Deep Understanding To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. (Bridging Practice and Research, at 12) 
   3. Metacognition A "metacognitive" approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them. (Bridging Practice and Research, at 13)