Ellen Winner

Ellen Winner is a psychologist at Boston College. Her research focuses on two areas of research on cognition in the arts.

  1. The study of the creative process in the visual arts, including what broad thinking dispositions are acquired by studying the arts, how students make sense of the arts, the role of arts in their lives and how students learn by reflecting on their portfolios;
  2. The study of the effects of music training on children’s brain growth (through brain imaging) and on their cognition (musical, spatial, and verbal) and motor development. This research is based on a view of the arts as cognitive as well as affective, and on the assumption that the arts are a central aspect of human behavior which must be incorporated into our understanding of human development and education.
    source: www.edge.org

external sources:

Edge

Why we need the arts

Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Howard Gardner’s work around multiple intelligences has had a profound impact on thinking and practice in education – especially in the United States.

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is a critique of the standard psychological view of intellect: there is a single intelligence, adequately measured by IQ or other short answer tests. Instead, on the basis of evidence from disparate sources, the theory claims that human beings have a number of relatively discrete intellectual capacities. IQ tests assess linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence, and sometimes spatial intelligence; and they are a reasonably good predictor of who will do well in a 20th (note: Not necessarily a 21st) century secular school. Humans, however, have several other significant intellectual capacities.

Intelligences can be analogized to computers. Belief in a singular intelligence implies that humans possess a single general purpose computer, which can perform well (high IQ), average (normal IQ) or poorly (low IQ). Multiple intelligences theory implies that human beings possess several relatively independent computers; strength in one computer does not predict strength (or weakness) with other computers.
source: multipleintelligencesoasis.org

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Camera Obscura

This “mother of all Cameras” has been around for a while.
First described 400 B.C. by Mozi, a Chinese philosopher,
it is rumored that great painters like Johannes Vermeer
made use of a life-size system featuring the optical principle.
It would explain how they managed some of the
incredible realistic and complicated perspective problems
without being a mathematical prodigy.
In  this workshop pupils experiment with optics,
play with lenses and paper and capture the result with their camera.

Jean Piaget

Piaget’s (1936) theory of cognitive development explains
how a child constructs a mental model of the world.
He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was
a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development
as a process which occurs due to biological maturation
and interaction with the environment.

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Vibranoids

New activity in development
A simple vibration driven walking robot, as well as it’s senses to navigate life…

Styrofoam planetoid

Craftivity

Creativity

Discover you can (re) create and invent new objects. Using existing simple around the house materials, a drop of imagination and a teaspoon of creativity we’ll stimulate pupils to materialize their own ideas.

The importance of creativity is not limited to artistic and musical expression, it is essential for science, math, and even social and emotional intelligence. Creative people are more flexible and better problem solvers, which makes them more able to adapt to technological advances and deal with change—as well as take advantage of new opportunities.

 

Every day robotics

The wonder of [electro]mechanical  physics

Starting with simple experiments and constructions pupils playfully explore the concepts of advanced physics.

With everyday objects and materials from around the house parts and structures are created. By adding simple – and safe – electronic circuits they construct independently operating systems, ultimately resulting in the robot of their fantasies.

A perfect playground to sharpen fine motor skills, stimulate logical thinking, structuring of information and visualization of abstract concepts.
Depending on the composition and character of the group, individual activities are loosely guided to a common end result.

The fun of writing

Handwriting.
The first universal method to describe and register our inner thoughts,
allowing us to share and pass them on, even beyond our lifetimes.
Writing is also instrumental in the development of fine motor skills
and key brick in building and maintaining our memory system.

The activities in the writing classes aim at triggering
curiosity and creativity, to stimulate pupils to discover the fun of writing,
playing with language and discovering latent abilities and talents.

In and as one group, the pupils together engage
in activities around a central theme, while they individually either
explore the basics of writing in level 1, or
expand their acquired skills in level 2.

The classes are available starting March 2017,
on Wednesdays from 14:30 to 16:00.
After payment of the invoice, registration is complete.

I am looking forward to seeing everybody!

Register

The art of photography

Drawing with light

This literal translation explains how photography, just like drawing,  starts with observation and understanding the observed. The game light and shadow play to build our visual world, as well as the dynamic of their interaction with our emotional world, apply to both drawing and photography. The translation of the mind’s image to visual image separates the two art forms.

A photographer has to compress this process in the time between observation and button press catching the image. All influencing factors are assessed, manipulated, tested and adjusted in a fast moving, repetitious process, until the shutter is released.
In a deliberate studio setup, a photographer has much more control over the situation. By playing with light and manipulating shadows and reflections, he builds the image before capturing it.
Our digitized society dramatically improved possibilities for post shoot processing. A program like Photoshop offers not only a complete photographer’s ‘dark room’, but adds an array of tools unimaginable in the old world.

The workshop activities playfully introduce pupils to the basic principles of optics. Playing with shadows, projections, shapes and colors and by building optical tools, such as Camera Obscura, peepshow box and telescope, toddlers lay the groundwork for grasping more advanced concepts.
Whenever possible, newly acquired insights are translated to the reality of camera and software.

Extend and depth of the classes are proportioned to the assessed level of the group. A young group will spend most time building peepshow boxes and playing with shadows, whilst a more advanced group might build a studio or process images on a computer.