Summary of "Making Sense of Making Meaning, the Semiotic Way: Emotional Journey of a Novice Learner" (Bawa, 2017)https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol22/iss1/5/
Semiotics and Umwelt:
Semiotics explores ideas, emotions, and perceptions in a universal context.
Umwelt refers to the subjective universe created by an organism through repeated interactions with its environment.
Cognitive and Emotional Reactions:
Individual learners have cognitive and emotional reactions creating umwelts.
The brain functions akin to a computer, analyzing signals to make sense of the world, with the amygdala playing a significant role.
Experimental Ethnography and Autoethnography:
Experimental ethnography emphasizes emic constructs, while autoethnography allows understanding cultural experiences.
The author combines autoethnography and ethnography to explore internal and external surroundings.
Discoveries and Knowledge Systems:
Discoveries occur through reflection and introspection, and findings result from deeper investigation.
Peirce's doctrine of continuity suggests the universe exists as a continuous whole.
Umwelt as Meaning Bubble:
Umwelt is a latticework of ontological relations organizing the environment based on inhabitants' needs and desires.
Curiosity and Learning Motivation:
Curiosity motivates learning, with interest induction (I-type) and deprivation elimination (D-type) curiosity.
Fulfillment, linked to curiosity, is a natural outcome and a key motivator for learning.
Semiotics and Unstructured Teaching:
Semiotics cannot be taught linearly; it requires an unstructured approach.
Bawa's life experiences, self-analysis, and cultural aspects influence his understanding.
Culture and Emotional Parameters:
Culture, learned through social interactions, inspires powerful emotions and affects learning.
Emotional parameters of culture include the moral circle encompassing pride, happiness, shame, etc.
Hope Theory:
Hope theory suggests carrying personal struggles and maintaining hope contributes to empathy and motivation.
Agentic thinking, confidence in selecting and staying on a goal-oriented path, is crucial, especially for novice learners.
Backfire Effect:
The backfire effect indicates resistance to changing opinions despite new knowledge.