◆Schema or context?◆

 Let's read another passage from the materials of the experiment of Bransford & Johnson. Contrary to the previous examples, you can recognize every word in this passage, but you probably don't understand it (Bransford & Johnson, 1972).

 If the balloons popped, the sound wouldn't be able to carry since everything would be too far away from the correct floor. A closed window would also prevent the sound from carrying, since most buildings tend to be well insulated. Since the whole operation depends on a steady flow of electricity, a break in the middle of the wire would also cause problems. Of course, the fellow could shout, but the human voices are not loud enough to carry that far. An additional problem is that a string could break on the instrument. Then there could be no accompaniment to the message. It is clear that the best situation would involve less distance. Then there would be fewer potential problems. With face to face contact, the least number of things could go wrong. (Nishibayashi 2006, pp.51-52 from Bransford & Johnson, 1972)

 The meaning of the passage can be understood when you see the picture below. Both sites, where the same picture is posted, are listed here to avoid a broken link.

• What is it talking about? (A figure which helps you understand it)
A website of Prof. William A. Kealy, University of Southern California
(Bransford & Johnson, 1972)
http://www.coedu.usf.edu.kealy/B&J.html (a broken link)

• What is it talking about? (A figure which helps you understand it)
Fig.1.1 in the thesis of Robert J. Marzano placed on the website of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
(Bransford & Johnson, 1972) (a broken link)

 Nishibayashi (2006, summarized from pp.54-55) pointed out that we use both schema and context in order to understand the sentence, "If the balloons popped, the sound wouldn't be able to carry since everything would be too far away from the correct floor."

(a) A balloon filled with hydrogen or other gas floats. Such buoyancy can lift something. When a balloon bursts, it loses buoyancy.

(b) A speaker is raised by a balloon close to the correct floor. The floor is the top of the building and it is far away from the ground where music is played.

(a) is already-possessed knowledge which becomes a schema. (b) is information provided by the context. => Which schema has to be activated depends on the context. We can comprehend a passage by using schemas and at the same time by understanding contexts.

 Did you get it? There is one more example which demonstrates an effect of contexts, which is also quoted from the work of Nishibayashi (2006).

 The man stood before the mirror and combed his hair. He checked his face carefully for any places he might have missed shaving and then put on the conservative tie he had decided to wear. At breakfast, he studied the newspaper carefully and, over coffee, discussed the possibility of buying a new washing machine with his wife. Then he made several phone calls. As he was leaving the house he thought about the fact that his children would probably want to go to that private camp again this summer. When the car didn't start, he got out, slammed the door, and walked down to the bus stop in a very angry mood. Now he would be late. (Nishibayashi, 2006, pp.57-58; Source: Bransford & Johnson, 1973)

 There can't be anything in particular you cannot understand. Then, how about adding two different contexts to the passage? In one context, the man is jobless (Context A) and in the other, a stockbroker (Context B). Read the passage again. I hope you can image scenes differently and get another piece of information. To help you see the passage from a different angle, ask yourself which section of the newspaper he was reading carefully, and why he was annoyed by the children's request.

 The passage tells us that interpretation depends on the context. In other words, when a reader interprets the story with confidence, the basis for the interpretation cannot always be found in the sentences. In an action of "reading between the lines," we get more than what is actually written in a narrow context. We have schemas supported by various cases, which are created from our past experiences. Although we have the same frame of schemas, case examples composing schemas may differ from person to person. Therefore, there can be various kinds of interpretations including misunderstandings. Thus, we can see a pathway toward Constructivism where each person is considered to reconstruct the reality in a unique way, and learning must be examined from such a viewpoint. Note, again, that everybody has a frame of schema in common, but cases included in the frame may be different from each other.

References

• A manuscript on Schema Theory, which I presented at a conference during studying in the United States
  Suzuki, K. (1987). Schema Theory: A Basis for Domain Interaction Design. In W. Wager (Chair), Application of the Schema theory to Instructional design. A symposium conducted at the Annual Meeting of The Association for Educational Communication sand Technology, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
  
  
• Knowledge structure (Lecture material of Makio Taira, Miyagi University of Education) [In Japanese]