CAMBRIDGE SERENDIPITY

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Developing Delightful Content A Learning Journey
Thomas Rochford thomas.rochford_at_tcrochford.co.uk
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The Learning Journey Overview
Preparing for the Journey
Bump, bump, bump .
To travail or arrive?
The Looking-Glass Train
Crossed Destinies and Collaboration
Some Learning Journeys
Invisible Cities
Isfahan revealing the invisible
Notes
Serendipity
A constructivist Interpretation
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Ombra mai fu
Implementation
Afterthoughts?
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BUMP, Bump, bump 1
Motivating Your Learners
HERE is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump,
bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind
Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the
only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he
feels that there really is another way, if only
he could stop bumping for a moment and think of
it.
Notes 1.http//www.machaon.ru/pooh/chap1.html
And then he feels that perhaps there isn't.
Anyhow, here he is at the bottom, and ready to be
introduced to you.
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After the bumps 1
Getting Started
One day when he was out walking, he came to an
open place in the middle of the forest, and in
the middle of this place was a large oak-tree,
and, from the top of the tree, there came a loud
buzzing-noise. Winnie-the-Pooh sat down at the
foot of the tree, put his head between his paws
and began to think ...
First of all he said to himself "That
buzzing-noise means something. You don't get a
buzzing-noise like that, just buzzing and
buzzing, without its meaning something. If
there's a buzzing-noise, somebody's making a
buzzing-noise, and the only reason for making a
buzzing-noise that I know of is because you're a
bee."
Notes 1.http//www.machaon.ru/pooh/chap1.html
Then he thought another long time, and said "And
the only reason for being a bee that I know of is
making honey."
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And then he got up, and said "And the only
reason for making honey is so as I can eat it."
So he began to climb the tree .
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To travail or arrive?
To travel hopefully is a better thing than to
arrive1 .
A strange picture we make on our way to our
chimaeras, ceaselessly marching, grudging
ourselves the time for rest indefatigable,
adventurous pioneers. It is true that we shall
never reach the goal it is even more than
probable that there is no such place and if we
lived for centuries and were endowed with the
powers of a god, we should find ourselves not
much nearer what we wanted at the end. O toiling
hands of mortals! O unwearied feet, travelling
ye know not whither! Soon, soon, it seems to
you, you must come forth on some conspicuous
hilltop, and but a little way further, against
the setting sun, descry the spires of El Dorado.
Little do ye know your own blessedness
Notes 1.Robert Louis Stevenson, El Dorado, 1881
in Virginibus puerisque
for to travel hopefully is a better thing than
to arrive, and the true success is to labour.
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The Looking-Glass Train
What if youre travelling the wrong way?1 .
All this time the Guard was looking at her, first
through a telescope, then through a microscope,
and then through an opera- glass. At last he
said, You're travelling the wrong way, and shut
up the window and went away.
So young a child, said the gentleman sitting
opposite to her (he was dressed in white paper),
ought to know which way she's going, even if she
doesn't know her own name!
Notes 1.Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking
Glass, 1896, Ch. III
Never mind what they all say, my dear, but take
a return-ticket every time the train stops.
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The Castle of Crossed Destinies
Italo Calvino 1923-1985 Botanist, Author,
Garibaldist.
The Ingrate
The Alchemist
The Doomed Bride
Notes 1.Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking
Glass, 1896, Ch. III
The Grave Robber
Love-Stricken Roland
Astolpho on the Moon
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The Other Tales
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STD RTN 1
From
Bump, bump, bump .
To travail or arrive?
The Looking-Glass Train
Crossed Destinies and Collaboration
To
Invisible Cities
Notes
Isfahan revealing the invisible
Serendipity
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Invisible Cities
Marco Polo and Kublai Khan
In 1271 Marco Polo and his brother left Venice on
an embassy to Kublai Khan. Marco Polo spent 17
years as an honoured guest of the Khan.
During this period, Marco Polo, who was a gifted
story-teller tells us that he entertained the
khan with interesting stories and observations
about the lands he travelled.
Notes 1.Calvino, Italo. Le cita invisibili
Invisible Cities, Vintage, 1997. ISBN
0099429837
La Serenissma The invisible city Calvino 1972
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Naqsh-e-Jahan the main square of
Isfahan.
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes The Main bazaar looking out into the main
square
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes The Ali Qapu Palace
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Dome of the Masjed-Imam
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Melon Salesman
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Pol-e-Khajou The Khajou Bridge
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Tilework from Keliseh-ye-Gevork (Armenian)
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Chahar Bagh the main street of Isfahan,
with its Chenar trees
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Masjed-e-Sheikh Lotfallah
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Masjed-e-Sheikh Lotfallah
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?? ?????? ??? ?????
Notes Masjed-e-Sheikh Lotfallah
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Abductive Reasoning?
Abductive Reasoning
Abductive reasoning
Concept invented by Charles Peirce in 1890
He later used the term to mean creating new rules
to explain new observations, emphasizing that
abduction is the only logical process that
actually creates anything new.
Abduction allows the derivation a as an
explanation of b abduction works in reverse to
deduction, by allowing the precondition a of a
entails b to be derived from the consequence b
in other words, abduction is the process of
explaining what is known.1
I knew you came from Afghanistan. From long
habit the train of thought ran so swiftly through
my mind that I arrived at the conclusion without
being conscious of intermediate steps. There were
such steps, however. The train of reasoning ran
Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with
the air of a military man. Clearly an army
doctor, then. He has just come from the tropics,
for his face is dark, and that is not the natural
tint of his skin, for his wrists are fair. He has
undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard
face says clearly. His left arm has been injured.
He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner.
Where in the tropics could an English army doctor
have seen such hardship and got his arm wounded?
Clearly in Afghanistan. The whole train of
thought did not occupy a second ... (A Study in
Scarlet)2
Notes 1 the three sections above are dervied
from the definitiion in Wikipedia
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abductive_reasoning2
.http//ksl.stanford.edu/people/sam/abduction.ps
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How often have I said to you that when you have
eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the truth?
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Serendipity Learning Skills
The Three Princes of Serendip
They were always making discoveries, by accident
and sagacity, of things they were not in quest
of. (Horace Walpole)
Notes 1 Retold by Richard Boyle at
http//http//livingheritage.org/three_princes.htm

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STD RTN 2
From
Bump, bump, bump .
To travail or arrive?
The Looking-Glass Train
Crossed Destinies and Collaboration
Via
Invisible Cities
Isfahan revealing the invisible
Serendipity
Notes
To
Ombra mai fu
Implementation
Afterthoughts?
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Implementation A Learning Journey
A Learning Journey An emulation of the journey of
the three princes in search of serendipitous
knowledge hopefully without misfortune, and
within five minutes! Our journey starts in my
back garden in Cambridge .
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A Learning JourneySerse, Handel (London 1738)
Ombra mai fu Frondi tenere e belleDel mio
Platano amato,Per voi risplenda il Fato.Tuoni,
Lampi, e ProcelleNon vi oltraggino mai la cara
pace,Ne giunga a profanarvi Austro
rapace. Tender and beautiful frondsOf my beloved
plane tree,Let Fate smile upon you.May thunder,
lightning, and stormsNever bother your dear
peace, Nor may you be profaned by blowing winds.
Notes 1 Ombra mai fu Kenneth McKellar with
the Royal Opera House orchestra conducted by Sir
Adrian Boult - 1965
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A Learning JourneySardis (Herodotus 431-425
BCE)
?? d? ?? t?? F?????? ?s?ßa?e ?? t?? ??d???,
s????µ???? t?? ?d?? ?a? t?? µ?? ?? ???ste??? ?p?
?a???? fe???s?? t?? d? ?? de???? ?? S??d??, t?
?a? p??e??µ??? d?aß??a? t?? ?a?a?d??? p?taµ??
p?sa ?????? ???eta? ?a? ???a? pa?? ?a???t?ß??
p????, ?? t? ??d?e? d?µ??e???? µ??? ?? µ?????? te
?a? p???? p??e?s?, ta?t?? ??? ? ?????? t?? ?d??
e??e p?at???st??, t?? ????e?? e??e?a d???s?µe???
??sµ? ???s?? ?a? µe?ed??? ??a??t? ??d??
?p?t???a?.  
From Phrygia Xerxes entered Lydia and here the
road parts into two, and that which goes to the
left leads towards Caria, while that which goes
to the right leads to Sardis and travelling by
this latter road one must needs cross the river
Meander and pass by the city of Kallatebos, where
men live whose trade it is to make honey of the
tamarisk-tree and of wheat-flour. By this road
went Xerxes and found a plane-tree, to which for
its beauty he gave an adornment of gold, and
appointed that one of his Immortals should have
charge of it.2  
Notes 1 Bust of Herodotus and the Agora at
Sardis. 2.Herodotus, Histories, 731
http//www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh7030.htm
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A Learning JourneyXerxes (Persepolis 485-465
BCE)
King Xerxes says My father was Darius Darius'
father was named Hystaspes Hystaspes' father was
named Arsames. Both Hystaspes and Arsames were
living at the time -thus was Ahuramazda's desire-
when my father Darius was made king of this
earth. When Darius became king, he did much that
was excellent. Darius had other sons, but -thus
was Ahuramazda's desire- my father Darius made me
the greatest after himself. When my father Darius
went away from the throne, by the grace of
Ahuramazda I became king on my father's throne.
When I became king, I did much that was
excellent. What had been built by my father, I
protected, and other I added other buildings.
What I built, and what my father built, all that
by the grace of Ahuramazda we built. King Xerxes
says May Ahuramazda protect me, my kingdom, and
what was done by my father. May Ahuramazda
protect this.
18-15 I am Xerxes, the great king, the king of
kings, the king of all countries and many men,
the king in this great earth far and wide. 
15-27 King Xerxes says My father was Darius
Darius' father was named Hystaspes Hystaspes'
father was named Arsames. Both Hystaspes and
Arsames were living at the time -thus was
Ahuramazda's desire- when my father Darius was
made king of this earth. When Darius became king,
he did much that was excellent. King Xerxes
says28-43 Darius had other sons, but  -thus
was Ahuramazda's desire- my father Darius made me
the greatest mathita after himself. When my
father Darius went away from the throne, by the
grace of Ahuramazda I became king on my father's
throne. When I became king, I did much that was
excellent. What had been built by my father, I
protected, and other I added other buildings.
What I built, and what my father built, all that
by the grace of Ahuramazda we built. 44-48
King Xerxes says May Ahuramazda protect me, my
kingdom, and what was done by my father. May
Ahuramazda protect this.
Ombra mai fu ... Ombra mai fuDi
Vegetabile,Care ed amabileSoave piu. Never
was madea plant more dear and loving or gentle
Notes 1 Carvings of Xerxes from Persepolis
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A Learning JourneySir John Evelyn (England,
1663)
the incomparable and shady Platanus, that so
beautiful and precious Tree which we reade the
Romans brought out of the Levant, and cultivated
with so much industry and cost, for its stately
and proud head only that they would irrigate
them with Wine in stead of Water. Pliny tells us
there is no Tree whatsoever which so well defends
us from the heat of the Sun in Summer nor that
admits it more kindly in Winter.1
Notes 1 Sylva, Sir John Evelyn, 1663,
Ch.222.Adam Olearius 1656 quoted at.
http//chenarestan.blogspot.com/3. Palace of
Chehel Sotoon (40 Columns) - the wooden pillars
are made from the Chenar - Platanus orientalis
Ombra mai fu, di vegetabile, care ed amabile,
soave piu.
The Persians like specially a kind of wood ,
unknown in Europe, called Chenar.It is brown and
has a wavy grain, and they use it for doors and
windows, which, when rubbed with oil, become
incomparably finer than those made here of
walnut.2
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Never was made a plant more dear and loving or
gentle
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A Learning JourneySir John Chardin (Isfahan
1724)
The Persians hold, that the Plantane hath a
natural Virtue in it against the Plague, and all
other Infections of the Air and they affirm,
that they had no more Contagion at Ispahan, their
Metropolis, after they had planted them every
where round about, as they did in the Streets and
Gardens.1
Notes 1 A New and Accurate Description of
Persia, Sir John Chardin 1724, Vol II Ch. 4 2.
Chahar Bagh, Isfahan
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Never was madea plant more dear and loving or
gentle
Ombra mai fu, di vegetabile, care ed amabile,
soave piu.
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A Learning JourneyBack Home (Cambridge, 2006)

• Platanus orientalis. Linnaeus 1753
• Up to 30m. Leaves 5-7 lobed, central lobe much
  longer than its width at base. All lobes coarsely
  dentate, rarely entire. Capitula (2-)3-6(-7) on a
  long pendulous axis.
• Balkan peninsula southwards from c. 420 N.1

Notes 1 Flora Europaea Vol. I, CUP 1964
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Critical Serendipity Implementation (1)
Learning Goal
To enhance understanding of the subject through
the critical application of related , prior
material.
What will learners to do and how will this be
achieved?
Receive Information
?
Gather Information
?
Participate in activity

Contribute Information

Assess their learning
?
Problem Solve

Other
Media elements Purpose
Text
Animations
1. Text, Audio Images to Inform Illustrate2.
Form filling for self/tutor assessment
Audio
Video
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Images
Tasks
Other
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Critical Serendipity Implementation (2)
Support for constructivist learning
Adjustment of initial mental model
pre-conceptions to accommodate new experiences
information
Method of assessment
Record initial ideas, enhancements and then
assess progress possibly via feedback from
tutor. (cf. above.)
Other relevant design factors
Design template
Navigation
Why?
Standard
Mixed
Linear
Images audio
Text/Free Text
Simulates accident but preserves some
supporting structure
Branching
Other
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Why?
Simple, easily modified.
Free
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Critical Serendipity Implementation (3)
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Critical Serendipity Afterthoughts
http//www.tcrochford.co.uk/elearning/serendipity
Will also be available on RSC Eastern Moodle
Server.
Generic Issues
Is Serendipity a useful skill?
Is the use of abductive reasoning sound?
Is the Web Implementation actually a generic
model of any constructivist learning?
Notes 1 (CETL-RLO) Centre for Excellence in
Teaching Learning in Reusable Learning Objects
http//www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk/
Is there a role for serendipity and abductive
reasoning within the constructivist learning
paradigm?
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Afterthoughts
What next?
"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said
Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say
to yourself?" "What's for breakfast?" said Pooh.
"What do you say, Piglet?" "I say, I wonder
what's going to happen exciting to-day?" said
Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same
thing," he said.
Notes 1.http//www.machaon.ru/pooh/chap10.html
Christopher Robin nodded and went out . . . and
in a moment I heard Winnie-the-Pooh - bump, bump,
bump - going up the stairs behind him
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THE END
Thomas Rochford thomas.rochford_at_tcrochford.co.uk
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