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Scale and learning, teaching & education#

Scale and education need#

Donald Clark talks about the need for scale in education and

The solution to this problem cannot be throwing money at non-scalable solutions.

Which he links to a Thrun quote

For me, scale has always been a fascination—how to make something small large. I think that’s often where problems lie in society—take a good idea and make it scale to many people.

The multiple meanings of scale: Implications for Researchers and practitioners#

Morel et al, (2019)

A typology of scale#

  1. Adoption
  2. Replication

  3. Adaptation

    Increasingly common in educational settings, some researchers and reformers conceptualize scale as adaptation. Scale is the widespread use of an innovation that is modified according to the needs of local users (Clarke & Dede, 2009; Fishman, 2005; Means & Penuel, 2005; Sisken, 2016; Wiske & Perkins, 2005). For example, Dede and Nelson (2005) define scale as “transferring and adapting [a] set of interrelated innovations to new contexts” (p. 111). Means and Penuel (2005) define scale as “adaptation by local actors to local contexts” (p. 177). Such modifications are bounded by the requirement to adhere to predefined “core principles” of the innovation. 4. Reinvention (considered emergent)

    Of the scale conceptualizations presented here, reinvention is likely the least familiar in education. The concept derives in part from the field of digital media. The key idea is that innovations serve as a catalyst for further innovation (Bogers, Afuah, & Bastian, 2010; Morrison, Roberts, & von Hippel, 2000; von Hippel, 2007). Rather than reproducing or adapting an innovation, local actors build from it—”remix” it, in the language of digital media scholars—creating something new (Lessig, 2008).

Design for Scalability: A Case Study of the River City Curriculum (Clarke & Dede, 2009)#

Argues the "one-size-fits-all" approach to educational innovation is problematic. Presents a framework to design educational innovations for scalability. Key focus on enhancing their adaptability for effective usage in a wide variety of settings.

Dimensions of scale#

Coburn (2003) - defines scale on four inter-related dimensions:

  1. depth - deep change in practice, altering teacher beliefs, norms, principles
  2. sustainability - maintaining changes o time
  3. spread - to large numbers of sites
  4. shift in reform ownership - participants assume ownership

Clark & Dede (2009)

  1. evolution - when innovation is revised and adapted in a way that reshapes the thinking of the designers -- this is what creates a community of practice

From another paper identify activities to achieve scale along these dimensions

Dimension Activities
Depth evaluation and research (design-based research) to understand and enhance causes of effectiveness
Sustainability 'robust design' to enable adapting to inhospitable contexts
Spread modifying to retain effectiveness while reducing resources and expertise required
Shift moving beyond 'brand' to support users as coevaluators, co-designers, and co-scalers
Evolution learning from users’ adaptations to rethink the innovation’s design model

See also#

References#

Clarke, J., & Dede, C. (2009). Design for Scalability: A Case Study of the River City Curriculum. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18(4), 353--365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-009-9156-4

Morel, R. P., Coburn, C., Catterson, A. K., & Higgs, J. (2019). The Multiple Meanings of Scale: Implications for Researchers and Practitioners. Educational Researcher, 48(6), 369--377. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19860531