See Introduction Tab First

Cycle: Physics and Poetics

Title: Physics and Poetics

Date: 284—322 BC

Nationality: Greek

Creator: Aristotle

Medium: Document

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle

            I would choose these documents not necessarily because of what the documents contain, but because of what they show. These show how learning is cyclical. Aristotle was the pupil of Plato, who was the pupil Socrates. Socrates proposed important ideas, then Plato added to and refined them, and later Aristotle changed and recalculated them. This shows how each student was going through a cycle, learning from his teacher, refining, and adding to knowledge to approach truth. Learning, ideally, should never end. It should be a continuous cycle of learning what is good, improving what is not, discovering new ideas, etc. This is good to explain to a new civilization because it gives a broad view of what learning is—never-ending and cyclical. This can help people set their views high and far. Once a society views learning as a continuous cycle, they will be more teachable and more able to improve and continue to diligently learn. This artifact would be presented first to give a perspective of the broad view of the learning process before getting into details. 

Action: Ibn Sina

Title: Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Sina, The Ideal Muslim Intellectual

Date: 980—1037 AD

Nationality: Central Asian

Creator: Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Sina

Medium: Document

http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=I_Sina_LC_m5hs_MA_2010_ul

This document provides a good explanation of the individual attitude and initiative that is necessary before true learning can happen. In this document, ibn Sina explains the process of the learning throughout his life. He starts out as a child with unique intellectual abilities. Because of this, he takes it upon himself to study many different books and work out various proofs in order to advance his learning. When encountered with difficult material to master, ibn Sina even memorizes the book that contains the material. He later solves what was perplexing him. In this autobiography, we see an excitement for learning that aids ibn Sina in learning many different things. This is a good artifact to present at the beginning because in order to create a true learning environment, people need to be willing to use their agency to act. Excitement and engagement are some of the most important things you can have, and they are required for learning to be real and lasting. When a civilization has this excitement for learning, they are able to flourish and prosper, like the Islamic empire did during this same time period. This is necessary to discuss early so people will be open to learning.

Struggle: Parchment/Codex

Title: Parchment/codex

Date: 3^rd Century BC

Nationality: Pergamum

Creator: Scholars in Pergamum

Medium: Animal skins

http://parchmentsheets.com/

http://www.pergamena.net/resources/timeline

The invention of parchment and codex shows the struggle that learning can involve, and how struggles can create opportunities for new learning. The Hellenistic cities of Alexandria and Pergamum competed fiercely. Alexandria stopped trading papyrus with Pergamum, hoping to stop the growth of their library. This created an obstacle and a challenge for Pergamum. However, because of this struggle, they found a new way to record language. They discovered that they could write on animal skins, or parchment, and bind parchment on the side instead of roll them to create what we now know as a book (Strong & Davis, 218). This is a good artifact to show a beginning civilization because after action and a good attitude, obstacles almost invariably come. These inventions show that the excitement for learning can continue to push people to work to understand something or make new discoveries instead of being resigned to failure. This culture of diligence can help stimulate and continue and excitement for learning. This is good to show after discussing individual excitement, because struggles can hamper a positive learning attitude if not confronted.

Discovery: Niña, Pinta, Santa Maria

Title: The Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria

Date: 1492

Nationality: Italian/Spanish

Creator (user): Christopher Columbus

Medium: Wood

http://deep-high.blogspot.com/2011/09/ancient-ark-agendas-nibiru-matrix_29.html

            These three ships represent Columbus’ discovery of the Americas. That event was one of the most influential moments in history, and it presents some unique concepts about learning and discovery. Columbus set out to reach Asia, but instead landed in America. Many people discredit his voyage because others, like the Vikings, had already known about the American continent. However, most Europeans still did not know about the Americas. Thus Columbus’ journey was still a discovery for many Europeans. When we learn, we are discovering truths that already exist. Natural laws are already in place, natural processes already work, and truth already exists. So discovery is the only kind of learning that we do. This is talked about third because after being ready to take action and overcome obstacles, this perception of what learning is can help a civilization get a better perspective of the learning process. It helps people see that the process of their learning will be discovering truths, no matter if others know them or not.

Exposure: Roman Roads

Title: Roman roads

Date: 509 BC to 476 AD

Nationality: Roman

Creator: Romans

Medium: Sand, gravel, stone

http://www.werribeesc.vic.edu.au/webquests/roman_webquest/roads.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/roads_and_places/

Roman roads connected the whole empire and were arguably one of the most important ways they kept their empire intact. The roads created channels of information that allowed ideas and knowledge to spread. When a conquered people had this exposure, it added to their existing knowledge. They people began to learn and use these new ideas and became different in the way they operated (becoming Roman citizens, building Roman buildings, etc.). They gained greater context of the world around them and found different ways to do things. This exposure to information is vital to the learning process. A new civilization needs to realize the need to be open to new channels of information and to listen to ideas of those around them. These interactions allow people to gain exposure to more ideas, which is an important part of the learning process. After the three previous artifacts where the broad elements of learning are discussed, this introduces the first step in the actual process, which is exposure to new ideas. Exposure means people can start learning.