Discovering an Arts and Science Film Model

Creating, implementing, monitoring continual data analyses, then evaluating, and publishing with the medical model is a lofty goal. Then converting this successful executive function application to mainstream understanding is even loftier.

My learning disability training came from renowned The University of Kansas’ instructional center, located at the main Kansas City, Kansas hospital. The rigorous medical model training was based upon the neuro-psychological construct.

As a learning disability specialist and classroom teacher, in the ‘70s & ‘80s, I applied science and art to the accepted accelerated learning construct.

At that time, creative instruction, was not a friendly construct with some public-school districts, administrators, and educators that depended on government funding.

Traditional teaching methods were inherent and cemented.

To my dismay, I soon discovered:

1)   Referred students required psycho-educational testing and evaluations to qualify, and many did not.

2)   Many students were not being identified, and fell through the testing requirement cracks.

3)   Furthermore, public schools could lose funding when the student was remediated. To maintain the funding stability, a newly referred student was needed to replace the vacancy.

4)   This meant additional after school staffing meetings with teachers, and administrators who were reluctant to lengthen their work-day.

5)   Auditory/sound/listening training was minimal, if any. (for creating auditory/visual integration for proficient logic and conceptualization).  Lightweight "listening" training lessons existed, but there were few heavy practice routines, like athletic or musical training. 

These attributes created a large learning gap for most everyone. Many concerned parents became desperate and sought private remediation resources.

Many instructional programs soon emerged. Some were cumbersome tutorials, whereas the individual traveled to a new setting/location.

This awkward construct opened the pathway for online leaning as broadband emerged, decades later.

Regrettably, many online auditory/visual training methods had their shortcomings with limited achievement results.

Then, there was me with my “arts in science” cognitive skills enhancement program with a phonological practice system that was working.

 

 Problem: My vocalized puppets, sitting on stools, demanded a filming interface. Moving them to distant states to film studios would be difficult, time consuming, and costly.

Subsequently, I created my own home laboratory complete with sound - recording, lighting, and video equipment to formulate procedural learning segments.

 Locating a talented sound technician who could work on small piece sound segments, plus learn a new looping system, was no easy task.

 Yet, one walked in from nowhere, as I interviewed many local candidates.

 My earlier blog discussions revealed the reluctance of current day individuals, faced with memory and cognitive deficiencies to rely on pills and concoctions as an easy quick-fix.

 And, with lots of Social Media time involvements over-riding educational learning.

However, hasty mental solutions will not produce efficient procedural upskill training.

Fortunately, looping, vocalized, puppet characters can realize and maintain their phonological sequencing results through continued science research, upskill implementation practice, and technology.

 

Memspan Podcast 3 of 3. Series 1 - Faces, Voices, and Data Outcomes Revealed

The Erratic Tik - Tok Brain Embraces Entertainment

To continue my ongoing discussion of “Solid learning factors”, including focus, many articles today discuss concerns about the current 1-minute Tik Tok brain instilling erratic focus for our young people. 

Poor focus interferes with listening integration sorely needed for sequencing, learning, retaining and applying new material.

 Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot compensate for learner cognitive deficiencies. Actually, AI can make matters even worse.

 Scrambling for Focus through Entertainment:

Historical Impact:

 No matter how poor an individual’s focus capability has become, one thing is certain: Entertainment will be embraced.

 What entertainment?

 Answer: Anything that excites the nervous system and brain, i.e. – video games or circus acts, and sporting events of all types. (Regarding the latter, erratic focus on the football game plays fails, when looking for Taylor Swift in the press box).

 Additionally, entertainment focus includes amusement parks, stage comedy, mime, ventriloquism, and magic tricks.

Subsequently, it stands to reason, that speaking, looping, puppet faces might provoke staring, leading to focus.

 The learning concept of looping, filmed faces emerged from a long puppetry/ventriloquism history.

 To begin – “The Entertainers”:

 1893 – Professor “Doc” Brown, living with a family of three, growing children, in rural Tonganoxie, Kansas, decided to carve some amusing vent figures. He liked to entertain rural area folks, who stared at the strange, wooden, talking faces. 

Professor Brown becomes a local “hit" for a few people, so decided to hike to the New York Stage with a backpack of puppets. 

Although it took him awhile to travel such a distance, he was well received on local city small vaudeville stages, making some income to feed his family. They have been surviving on buttermilk and popcorn in rural Kansas.

 

1923 - 1955 “Doc” Brown’s two sons, Fay and Foy E, are soon carving wooden faces like their father had done earlier. They perform for local Kansas folks and are well received at holiday organizational holiday events, needing entertainment.

1935 – 1955    Roughly in the same time frame, Ventriloquism was becoming a hit comedy act for night club entertainment on the East and West coast areas. Many tried to perform in Hollywood films but failed to succeed in that medium.

 1960 - 1972 – 1979    Jan, with a teaching background in Des Moines, Iowa, training children to emulate science, math, and reading units learning into writing poetry and comedy scripts for parental shows. Parents were thrilled with their children’s’ learning prowess obtained through the arts, science, and music.

 The Erland family now moves to Kansas City, and later to Lawrence whose school district finds arts and science creativity learning incompatible with their educational philosophy. The local district employs The University of Kansas’ “strategies,” paper and pencil methods. 

 Jan is applying the puppetry into her University of Kansas master's degree’s learning disabilities project “Following Oral Directions” with peers and puppets. 

The final outcome of the “Peers and Puppets” experiment was that team students’ TIED with the puppetry methods. Both groups focused on a peer role model and the teaching cloth puppet. All win-wins.

 Jan Erland is soon introduced to Foy Brown, the wood carver and former entertainer, who is a fire fighter, by trade. He carves, as a hobby, during –fire call lapses, at the fire station.

Jan meets with Foy, in 1972, purchases two ventriloquist dummies, and soon is applying puppetry comedy routines for advertising with her three children as musical and speaking performers. It becomes a summer activity for the three children, who are musical.

 Soon, Foy introduced Jan to Lucille Elmore, the noted 1940’s to 50’s stage performer. retired in Topeka, Kansas. Jan purchased her “Lily” (then called Snoopy) vent figure, and Lucille later bequeaths her 1935 carved “Butch O’Malley” puppet to Jan. Butch becomes filmed, as Lucille desired, for his final destiny.

 1980 – 1981 – 1996 Jan forms Mem-ExSpan, Inc. and Innovative Learning Stratagems, a 401 c3, nonprofit, as teaching/training entities for creative methodologies. Data collections become paramount in establishing creative puppetry for learning change.

 Milestone filming years: 1986 – 1988 – 1997 –2007 – 2012 – 2017 ­­­­– 2023 – converting wooden figures to a film format laced with data collections. (Five filming/audio recording generations applying puppet vocals).

 Foy E. Brown witnessed the film transfer just before he passed in 1988 and was astounded. What would our “Professor –Doc Brown” (Foy’s father) think if he saw his wooden figures able to transfer easily, streamed online, rather than walking to New York City?

 Do we have a valid conduit for focus and mental coding transfer applying the puppets’ looping faces and voices? Continuous data confirms that we do. But, will anyone apply it in a world of advancing technology forces with an erratic one-minute Tik Tok brain focus?

Banging Your Head Against the Wall

 Sometimes it feels like we are “banging our heads against a wall” when people are not listening to us. They often ask questions just explained.

 We may experience this not only in skills training sessions or even in casual conversations.

 The confused may not “be day-dreaming”, nut unable to process incoming listening information, as the visual details at hand now take over their brain.

Unfortunately, many can only focus and follow one step holistically at a time, and cannot detect issues within the entire sequential procedure. Slow in procedural thought, “one unit at a time-piecemeal”, they become over-whelmed with step-wise instructions.

This unpredictable mind set creates a flow of errors that is both time-consuming and costly to reformulate properly.

Today’s work projects often employ three to five individuals, at high cost inefficiency, to accomplish a simple procedure. 

The following alarming story was recently related to me by a hospital book-keeper, as an incorrect coding entry had been taking a year of our involvement to resolve the accounting/mis-coded issue.

Without productive efficiency, projects fail with faulty detail. All work operations are a series of ordered details to be completed correctly, systematically, with full accountability. 

Any work chain with too many links can break down to error laden inefficiency.

Actual Medical Scenarios:

 It took a chain of five individuals in the hospitals’ book-keeping department to submit a Medicare claim adjustment in the year-long process. 

Inversely, there were several people at the Medicare side to conduct the same, expensive, time laden, data entry chain link process to finally correct the claim.

 That amounts to 8 monkeys working on one hospital charges data set.

 My Ophthalmologist routinely hires assistants to train from scratch, with few technical, if any, credentials. She falsely assumes that if they can run the ocular equipment that entering the machine data readings and input to the patients' records will be correct.

 Wrong.

 The assistant not only had entered incorrect data but mixed up the chart with another patient with a severe condition.

Then the doctor confronted with the dire results, requiring immediate surgery, lucky for me with my high listening-auditory-coding capability, I recognized the problem immediately, and confronted her with “these photos are not my newly filmed records”.

Of course, the doctor double checked my file, was embarrassed, and apologized, as I have nearly perfect eyesight.

Obviously, I could have gone through unnecessary eye surgery, not to mention, the time involvement, and the anxiety-stress incurred.

Subsequently, this circumstance could have been avoided by pre-testing the listening capability of future technician applicants.

 

 Erland, J. K. (1989, 1980). The Hierarchy of Thinking Model. Lawrence, Kansas.

Erland, J. K. (February 1986, 1989).Contrapuntal thinking and the definition of sweeping thinking).

 

 

 

A Case for Digital Transformation

Exploring Evidenced-Based-Data Results

 

Many products in development claim Evidence-Based-Data findings.

What is their data authenticity? What kind of testing, and by whom?

This article is in response to my previous “Proof is in the Pudding” discussion, where I self-monitored my internal responses in parallel to the participants’.

Subsequently, my former personal anecdotal review can be validated by lengthy clinical research findings.

Most product-building data collections, unfortunately, are heavily anecdotal, or computerized self-tests, rather than having rigorous scientific analyses.  

Participants can be assessed by informal tests in specific areas, by self or instructors.  Compilations then become compiled by doctoral, or representative students in labs, or by computerized selection formats.

The BTA has applied both types of assessment extensively, through 13 test sites with many 3^rd party evaluators, testing companies, and institutions. 

The treatment outcomes included both criteria- referenced elements (continued to the present time), and highly recognized diagnostic standardized tests, monitored in depth by three independent testing companies, and five universities.

Although the confirmed results are precedingly dated, they remain substantive, as they were evaluated at so many assessment levels, with high level statisticians/evaluators, and circumstances.

Participant longitudinal data is hard to come by, as the learner often changes locations. Parochial schools are preferred, as students often move lock-step from grade- to- grade.

In the 2-Parochial school study, the goal was to determine if the results generalized to higher achievement scores. 

Out of 14 classrooms, only three adhered to implementation protocols and obtained results (two fourth grades and a 6^th grade).

These students, moved forward with new teachers, and were followed by assigned numbers for 2-4 years longitudinally, as long as they remained at the middle school level.

The implementation problem was embedded in the poor technical media applications available in 1996. 

Only three teachers could manage juggling video and audio tapes with an overhead projector, for 48 lessons on a daily basis. 

And, following heavy on-site teacher training, applying students’ handwriting on worksheets.

Surprisingly, these written worksheets, revealed important cognitive changes within the first 20 days.

Interestingly, the two schools with the 4^th and 6^th grades’ high results, elected to verify my outcomes with an independent testing company; Educational Testing Service (ETS) of Princeton, NJ.

Outcomes

The subsequent verification of my results indicated that I needed to wait for the right technology to emerge, even if it took a waiting time.

Broadband internet availability, with finding the right photographer/sound editor, who could incorporate the many embedded instructional layers into one brief, daily filming lesson, was crucial.

Then, hopefully, creating high fidelity, excellent phonological sound quality, with streamlined, engaging, and timing with puppetry.

Subsequently, I waited, and completed the problematic, on-going project’, now prepared for broader digital transformation.

Drahozal, E. (Vice President, Iowa Test of Basic Skills - ITBS testing service, personal communications, technical assistance, April 18, 1998, May 17, and May 27, 1999 and June 8, 1999). Ithaca, IL: Riverside Publishing Company.

Erland, J K. (c February 1986, 1989).  Contrapuntal Thinking and Definition of Sweeping Thoughts.  Lawrence, KS

Erland, J.  K.  (1994).  Analytical skills training through video-tape instruction develops higher-order thinking skills capability.  Journal of the Society for Accelerative Learning and Teaching, 19, (2), 155-227.

Erland, J . K. (1995).  Cognitive skills training improves listening and visual memory for academic and career success.  in ERIC Clearinghouse, Journal of Accelerative Learning and Teaching, 20, (1 & 2) 87-101.

Erland, J.  K.  (October 1997). Fitting into the high-performance workplace. The American Society For Training and Development. KC-ASTD’s VISION. p. 1

Erland, J.  K.  (Fall, 1998).  Cognitive skills and accelerated learning memory training using interactive media improves academic performance in reading and math.  Journal of Accelerative Learning and Teaching,23, (3 & 4), 3-57.

Erland, J. K.  (Spring, 1999).  High performance thinking counts.  Performance In Practice.  The American Society for Training and Development. and KC-ASTD’s VISION, February, 1999.

Erland, J.  K.  (Spring, 1999).  Brain-Based learning longitudinal study reveals solid academic achievement maintenance with Accelerated Learning practice.  Journal of Accelerative Learning and Teaching, 24, (1).

Erland, J. K. (Summer-Fall 2007). Five generations, 27-years of iterative experimentation demonstrates cognitive skill improvement enhances academic achievement and career goals.

Frisbie, D.  (Ed., ITBS, personal communication, technical assistance, June 10, 1998 and August 9, 1999). Iowa City, IA: Iowa Testing Service.

Hoover, H. D., Hieronymus, D. A. Frisbie, D. A., & Dunbar, S. B., (1993)  Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Content Classifications with Item Norms.  Complete/Core/Survey Batteries, Levels 5-14.  Form K.  Chicago, IL: The Riverside Publishing Company.

Riverside 2000. (1994). Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Integrated Assessment Program, Technical Summary I.   Chicago, IL: The Riverside Publishing Co.

Science Research Associates Standardized Achievement Testing (1985). Survey of Basic Skills. Chicago, IL: SRA.

 

The Proof is in the Pudding

Carefully designed Cognitive Behavior Modification (CBM) (Meichenbaum, 1995,1977) techniques and strategies that included self-verbalization, mnemonic organization, modeling, and study skills still fell short of desired academic and career improvement, because some important foundation components were missing.

Many theoreticians, although looking at all the ramifications of the problem, were not focusing on an important issue; poor information processing capability, with deficient cognitive functions (J. P. Guilford,1967; Intelligence Theory, containing a 3-D Model of 128 various mental cubes).

Subsequently, we are each born with our own unique profile of underlying, high to low, information processing areas (Meeker, M. 1999; Gilford’s student), and distributed parallel processing, feedback loops (Erland, J. 1986, 1989), (Rumelhart and McClelland, 1986), which can dictate our daily endeavors.

Yet, alternative cognitve, intelligence theories address, and interface with 8 types of  experiential, personal, talent capabilities (Gardner, H. 2006). 

Unfortunately, many of us are not familiar with earlier, established scientific findings, and how they personally affect each one of us.

Severe deficiencies within multiple cognitive functions, may be termed learning disabilities, Dyslexia, or simply, under-functioning.

Weaker cognitive areas do not disappear with maturation or the passing of time, unless with an intervention.

Cognitive deficits may include inadequate visual and auditory sequential memory capability that ultimately interferes with the integration of information.

The information processing dilemma may be misdiagnosed and blamed on a poor attitude, lack of motivation, or Long-Term, latent Covid effects.

Many now suffer from memory fog created from lasting Covid. Subsequently, the inherent strong and weak cognitive areas may also be adversely affected.

Individuals possessing several of these problems, may develop some compensatory and coping skills.

Furthermore, cognitive and memory deficits carry within them a high degree of stress that can result in underachievement, or even chronic situational depression.

We may be told to try harder, or to seek help with counselors, or mental health and medical professionals. Sketchy prognoses can be made, pills prescribed, creating an unfortunate situation.

Subsequently, as disillusioned individuals, we do not achieve our maximum potential.

We find it difficult to enter the career fields of choice, or be able to compete and advance in our chosen fields.

Braced with indecision, we become embarrassed, or too proud, to consider we could be performing at much higher output levels.  

Let alone, be trained by rotating, cubistic faces.

• 

Case in point: It was difficult for me to realize my own short-comings, as I had struggled since birth, compensating. I felt lagging, or “behind,” fast- paced classmates.

The puzzeling part was that I read like lightning, and was sent to upper grades for reading classes. I read classic literature by age 10.

In teaching my program, it was quite accidental that a personal, new revelation was realized. When studying memory and cognition theories, I understood that unfortunate hidden, gaps were within my own information processing system.

Technically, it was easy to identify my visual and auditory closure issues. What I saw and heard short-circuited, or was incomplete. 

Then, this deficit led to visual and auditory sequencing memory, not functioning optimally, as required for procedural learning.

Finally, a cascade of shortfalls creates poor memory integration needed for conceptualization.

Fortunately, and unexpectedly, I soon recognized increasing sharpness with my own verbal and written communications. I had gradually gained auditory and visual memory closure and transfer.

And, with great relief.

My original intention of applying a procedural system was to accelerate my own three children, plus strengthen my husband’s information processing capability, following a series of heart operations.

As I had worked for, the family all wound up excelling in their chosen, fields of endeavor. My spouse could now embark on a new career path.

Coincidingly, I internally followed my own internal mental progress, but self-help was not my intent.  

My daily puppetry, memory-span-drill workouts are now hinged with physical activity to create a whole-brain wellness regimen; without pills.

It is unusual that one affected with many cognitive shortcomings, would arrive with a solution. 

Nevertheless, I did through internal monitoring.

My only regret is that I did not have this surprising, sharpness benefit earlier, during my younger schooling days.

  

 

Erland, J  K. ( February c 1986, 1989).  Contrapuntal Thinking and Definition of Sweeping Thoughts.  Lawrence, KS

Erland, J .  K. (1995).  Cognitive skills training improves listening and visual memory for academic and career success.  in ERIC Clearinghouse, Journal of Accelerative Learning and Teaching, 20, (1 & 2) 87-101.

Gardner, H. (2006).  Multiple Intelligences:  New horizons, the development and education of the mind.  New York:  Basic Books.

Guilford, J. P.  (1967). The nature of human intelligence.  New York: McGraw Hill.

Guilford, J. P. (1984).  An odyssey of the SOI model: An autobiography of Dr. J. P. Guilford.  Tokyo:  Japan Head Office International Society For Intelligence Education.

Hessler, G.  (1982).  Use and interpretation of the Woodcock-Johnson psycho-educational battery.  Hingham, MA:  Teaching Resources.

Kess, J. F.  (1992).  Psycholinguistics:  Psychology, linguistics and the study of natural language.  Philadelphia:  J. Benjamin’s Publishing Co.

Meeker, M. N.  (1999) Structure of Intellect Systems. Teacher Training.  Vida, OR:  Structure of Intellect: Based on J. P. Guilford’s work.

Meichenbaum, D. (1991, 1977).  Cognitive behavior modification:  An integrative approach.  New York:  Plenum Press.

Mahoney, M., & Michenbaum, Donald. (1995). Cognitive and constructive psychotherapies : Theory, research, and practice. New York : Washington, DC: Springer ; American Psychological Association.

Rumelhart, D. E., McClelland, J. and the PDP Research Group.  (1986).  Parallel distributed processing:  Explorations in the micro structure of cognition.  Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

The Long Wait for a Cognitive Skills Film Production Project: Three Podcasts Reveal Surprises

With the finalization of a six-year film production, entailing 6 arduous years of filming- re-filming-editing puppetry training segments, I find myself at the cusp of a completed project. 

The cognitive skills retraining program, created in 1980, has become a reality for consumer, upskilling, and educational corporate licensing.

The re-filming and full compilation (four generations of previous versions) had been an ongoing goal to complete a complex film set of 48 lessons. 

The project lay latent for a number of years in trying to find the right entity who could perform this highly detailed work. 

Finally, it was decided that the only way this could happen was to create a home film studio, where I did not have to transport five ventriloquist puppets and remain on location to perform the vocal work.

I would have to train someone from scratch, as I had a unique rotating sound and visual system with vocal phonological requirements.

By luck, a local sound engineer applied to my on-going advertising search. My high-risk endeavor was planned to obtain a full lesson or two. 

My background began as a classroom teacher, parent of three, special education teacher and specialist, learning scientist researcher, and finally, a data analyst. 

I partnered with five research universities to monitor my experimental research for several years. 

This partnership provided evidenced-based longitudinal findings with  subsequent research awards, which gave me a unique background for creative insights.

This arduous adventure will be related in a series of articles and podcast episodes.

With that being said, I now offer Podcast Season 1, Episodes 1 to 3, with an interview by my daughter, Christina Erland Culver, CEO of EdNexus Advisors, an Educational policy expert. 

My beginnings as a child reveal having a natural curiosity for the profound. This became the root for developing procedural instruction for helping others find hope and self-purpose.

Episode 1

Now, let's review how I began my first class that included Christina as a role model, with home schooling instruction.

Episode 2

An important discussion with Christina explains how and why the various sound repetitions integrate visual and auditory (listening) memory that is so integral in following oral and written directions, the foundation for implementing accurate procedures.

Episode 3

Let's review a Summary of the Data Outcomes

Data Outcomes Summary

My stories will continue in future blogs and podcasts . . . . . .