This book chapter will be published in the summer of 2017. In it, the authors summarize what has already been discussed in the story proof book but also add one more dimension: the propositional analysis. It is not as difficult as it seems. In short, what the authors are suggesting is that, yes, one of the more commonly accepted rationales behind the power of story is its ability to add emotion and empathy with the characters to help contextualize the circumstances so that the ‘lesson’ is better recalled. Kintsch suggests, however, that the ties to learning through story are even stronger. His ideas on propositional analysis (i.e. a story always ‘proposes’ something…)is a construct embedded in all stories .. . that the ending of a story can be predicted… like in a video game, the main character has ‘allowable’ actions that are tied directly to his or her morals/character flaws etc. The story will result in predictive endings. The mere fact that a surprise ending is a surprise further makes the case.. the author is going against the grain of what was expected…
This chapter is provided to add one more dimension to your ideas about story and hopefully, will help you better articulate to others what it is about story that makes it a great teaching tool. In addition, there are several wonderful examples of how story has been successfully integrated into mathematics classes as an added bonus.
One caveat: It’s a draft so there may be some typos and misconstruction in the sentences.. but they will be corrected before it is finally published. We couldn’t wait to share it so we apoligize in advance for the draft nature of the reading
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