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Blender

Grades: 6-8, 9-12
Estimated Duration: 30+ minutes

Table of Contents

All
Check for understanding, Collaboration, Idea generation, Knowledge acquisition, Presentation, Synthesis, Visual aid
In-person, Virtual
Combination
Optional

Description

Blender is a collaborative learning strategy where students interpret or create multiple representations to develop a shared understanding or solve a problem. Blender combines collaborative learning and multiple representations (text, photographs, diagrams, graphs, concept maps, videos, simulations, etc.) to expose students to a variety of perspectives that they can leverage to deepen their understanding of concepts and skills. Through collaboration, students compare, discuss, and integrate different ideas and representations to complement, enhance, or clarify their understanding. Blender can be used across all disciplines but is especially useful for learning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) concepts.

When To Use It

As a learning strategy, use blender when you want students to:

  • examine various representations (text, diagrams, graphs, videos, etc.) to process and interpret information
  • demonstrate their understanding by representing concepts using different formats
  • create, compare, and integrate multiple representations to develop a shared understanding with peers
  • leverage multiple perspectives and representations to collaboratively solve problems or draw conclusions

As an instructional strategy, use blender when you want to:

  • provide options for students to explore content and demonstrate their understanding
  • facilitate collaborative learning among diverse learners
  • make complex or abstract concepts more accessible
  • use multiple representations to help students make connections between concepts and skills

How To Use It

Advance Prep

  1. Multiple representations and collaborative learning can be implemented in a variety of ways across disciplines. Consider your learning objectives, the content, and your students’ prior knowledge when deciding how to use multiple representations in a collaborative learning activity.
  2. Decide which types of representations will be best suited for teaching or learning the required concepts or skills.
  3. Plan how students will interact with or create multiple representations.
  4. Decide whether you will randomly group students or use this as an opportunity for strategic grouping.
  5. Identify a prompt(s) or guiding question(s) students will address as they develop understanding or solve a particular problem using multiple representations.
  6. Plan to model the thought processes for interpreting multiple presentations to meet a specific learning goal.
  7. If you will provide multiple representations for students to use, create or identify them in advance.

Some example activities include:

  • Students creating individual concept maps and then working with a group to integrate their maps into one
  • Students working together to solve a problem by interpreting various representations of information needed to solve the problem
  • Individual students using their preferred format (text, illustrations, Frayer models’, etc.) to represent the meaning of a vocabulary term and then integrating their representation with other’s to create one shared definition
  • Students combining information from multiple representations to synthesize as a group and then present to the whole class
  • Individual students gathering information from different formats (video, illustration, charts, text, etc.) and then sharing what they learned with the rest of their group to form a whole picture of the content, similar to the jigsaw strategy.

Implementation

  1. Introduce the learning activity to students. Explain the purpose, guidelines, expectations, and instructions for how they will use or create multiple representations, and how they will work collaboratively to “blend” their ideas.
  2. Provide the necessary material for them to explore or create multiple representations for the activity.
  3. Assign groups and have students begin the planned activity.
  4. Circulate and support students as needed, asking them to explain the representation or how it connects to or depicts the concept. Ask them to compare the information offered by different representations and explain how they are connected (if applicable).
  5. Debrief the activity by asking students to share their conclusions or solutions. You may also ask students to reflect on how working collaboratively to use, create, and interpret multiple representations impacted their learning.

Pros

  • Promotes a deeper understanding of content
  • Fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills
  • Facilitates communication and collaborative learning
  • Helps to make complex or abstract ideas more accessible to diverse learners
  • Helps students to form mental models and refine their thinking

Cons

  • Students may get confused by multiple representations if they misinterpret or fail to see the connection among them.
  • Teachers need to know how to use different types of representations effectively based on the content, learning objectives, and students’ prior knowledge, as some use cases may hinder learning.
  • Integrating multiple representations may be especially challenging for novice learners.
  • Using multiple representations without understanding their connections may increase cognitive load

Culturally Responsive Application

Exposing students to multiple representations of content and giving them the opportunity to share, discuss, and compare multiple representations supports a culturally responsive approach to learning. Multiple representations paired with collaborative learning benefits diverse learners and makes learning accessible through a variety of modalities.

When students work collaboratively to solve a problem or develop a shared understanding, they experience the value of sharing and leveraging multiple perspectives and representations. Everyone’s contribution benefits the learning process whether it clarifies a misconception, offers a different viewpoint, expands understanding, or stimulates a meaningful discussion.

Emerging English Language Support

Gives student writing ability on narrative paragraphs.

Students with Disabilities Support

Students gain the ability to comprehend new insights and perspectives that come from someone in a position of equality rather than authority

Subjects

1.1 Literature, 1.2 Informational texts, 1.5 Speaking and listening,1.6 Language, 2.1 K-8 mathematics, 2.2 High school number & quantity, 2.3 High school algebra, 2.4 High school functions, 2.5 High school geometry, 2.6 High school statistics & probability, 3.1 Earth and space science, 3.2 Life science, 3.3 Physical science, 3.4 Engineering, technology, and application of science, 4.1 Civics, 4.2 Economics, 4.3 Geography, 4.4 History, 5.1 Computing systems, 5.2 Networks & the internet, 5.3 Data & analysis, 5.4 Algorithms & programming, 5.5 Impacts of computing

Why It Works

This strategy provides an opportunity for student to express their prior knowledge related to the materials. It also enhances the ability of critical thinking and improve the student’s learning outcome (REF)

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