[Crosstalk] Invitation to educational talk on how to assess deep conceptual learning

[Young-Jin Lee]

Interested in Deep Conceptual Learning and ways to teach and assess 
multiple representations? The RELATE (REsearch in Learning, Assessing, 
and Tutoring Effectively) announces:

*A Path to Deep Conceptual Understanding:
Meaning Equivalence Instructional and Assessment Methodology *

Dr. Kivita Seeratan 26-214 12 Noon Thursday May 11, 2006

Research from Cognitive Psychology has begun to unravel the rich 
underlying structure and process of knowledge acquisition and 
competence, producing invaluable insights for a new science of learning 
that strives to illuminate a path for acquiring deep conceptual 
understanding.

The Meaning Equivalence (ME) Instructional and Assessment Methodology, 
influenced by decades of research highlighting the importance of 
multiple representations of meaning to learning, was designed to assess 
learners’ depth of comprehension of conceptual material. In addition to 
assessing learning, ME is believed to allow learners to begin thinking 
in ways that promote deep processing and understanding, prerequisites 
for successful knowledge transfer. Other pedagogical advantages of the 
method include its capacity to: identify learners' strengths and 
weaknesses; facilitate instruction and remediation; and be objective, 
practical, and technologically scalable.

Besides describing the design, development, application, and various 
evaluative implementations of the ME method, I will discuss underlying 
theoretical principles, empirical claims, as well as implications.


Dr. Seeratan received her Ph.D. degree from the well-known Ontario 
Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at University of Toronto. Her 
thesis concerned assessing and enhancing learning outcomes using meaning 
equivalence, and she has published review chapters on extracognitive 
aspects of developing high ability, and on the nature of individual 
innovation. She has had positions as Meaning Equivalence (ME) Designer, 
Research Associate & Director of Research and Development (Learning 
Disabilities Resource Community Project), and as a Remediation 
Specialist and Instructor.