Frame for this Workshop Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity To be playful and serious at the same time is possible, in fact it defines the ideal mental condition . (John Dewey, How We Think , p. 218)
Session Outcomes • Identify the role of thinking in learning (e.g., what good thinking enables us to do better) • Analyse Good Thinking - the specific types of thinking and how they work to enhance performance • Identify barriers to good thinking and how to mitigate negative impacts • Write learning outcomes to incorporate types of thinking • Use strategies (methods, activities and tools) for promoting good thinking • Produce integrated real-world performance tasks to develop and assess good thinking • Evaluate a range of assessment methods for assessing thinking • Produce scoring systems to assess specific types of thinking in an integrated learning experience
Thinking: A Key Process for effective learning “The best thing we can do, from the point of view of the brain and learning, is to teach our learners how to think” (Jenson, 1996, p.163) “Thought is the key to knowledge. Knowledge is discovered by thinking, analyzed by thinking, organized by thinking, transformed by thinking, assessed by thinking, and, most importantly, acquired by thinking” (Paul, 1993 vii ) Thinking is the cognitive process that builds Understanding
Knowledge, Rote-learning (as well as thinking) are important in effective learning Debates about the relative merits of teaching content Vs process, transmission of knowledge Vs discovery learning, thinking Vs rote learning, etc, only cloud rather than help effective pedagogy. For example, there is now virtual agreement among cognitive psychologists that effective thinking - however defined - needs an extensive and well organized knowledge base. As Resnick (1989) summarizes: Study after study shows that people who know more about a topic reason more profoundly about that topic than people who know little about it. (p.4) Similarly, Satinover (2001), drawing from recent brain research makes the case for the importance of repetition in the learning process: …these mundane chores are precisely what turns the fourth brain from a mass of randomness into a intellect of dazzling capacity. “Genius,” according to Thomas Edison, “is one percent inspiration and ninety -nine percent perspiration. Of “critical thinking skills,” he had nothing to say. (p.49)
Model of Human Memory E N Working V Integrating – Sensory Memory Memory I Conscious, Sight Executive Subconscious R Organizing & Hearing Long – Term O Unconscious Function Touch N Memory Limited Capacity Smell M 5-9 bits of Taste information E N T Infinite Capacity Forgetting
Long Term memory Long term memory is crucial for learning and the development of expertise. For example, Kircher et al (2006) point out: ...long term memory is now viewed as the central dominant structure of human cognition. Everything we see, hear and think about is critically dependent on and influenced by our long-term memory. (pp.3-4) Expert problem-solvers are able to draw on the vast knowledge bases in their long-term memory and quickly select the best approach and procedures for solving a given problem. Again Kircher et al: We are skillful in an area because our long-term memory contains huge amounts of information concerning that area. That information permits us to quickly recognize the characteristics of a situation and indicates to us, often unconsciously, what to do and how to do it. (p.4)
Working Memory Clark & Lyons (2004) point out: …it is in working memory that active mental work, including learning, takes place. Working memory is the site of conscious thought and processing. (p.48) Central Executive - Consciousness & Thinking - Information search - Information processing within capacity limitation While there is limited capacity in the Working Memory system, enabling only a small amount of information to be attended to at any given time, the rich connections between the memory systems – both consciously and unconsciously – make possible seamless and highly effective cognitive activity.
Intuition “Intuition is nothing more and nothing less than recognition” (Herber Simon) Everything is easy when you know how to do it Good intuitive judgements occur when experts have learned to recognize familiar elements in a new situation and act in appropriate manner to them.
Problems of Definition “In schools, critical thinking has long been a buzz phrase. Educators pay lip service to its Importance, but few can tell me what they mean by the phrase or how they teach and test it...” (p.16) “For the most part, teachers haven’t been trained to teach students how to think.” (xxiv) (Wagner, T., 2010, The Global Achievement Gap) “... But the heart of this problem is our failure to define such terms as critical thinking , problem solving , metacognition , reasoning , and abstract thinking . Without adequate definition and training, teachers lack the knowledge and skills to teach and test for these desirable but elusive human qualities” (Haladyna, T., 1997, Writing Test Items to Evaluate Higher Order Thinking, p.97)
This involves Critical Thinking – have I seen this problem before, what are the likely causes, what information do I need to clearly interpret what’s I want good occurring....? Thinking on this Good thinking, what’s that?
So if we really want to develop students ability to think well, we must firstly be able to …
What is thinking? Thinking is goal-directed mental activity (conscious and subconscious) we do in order to solve problems Good Thinking requires a particular skill set and related ‘habits of mind’ that need cultivation and practice over time - but it is achievable and will result in better learning – as I will demonstrate
Find me a girlfriend – potential wife Wife leaves me for Brad Pitt - What to do, lah?
Educational Taxonomies Bloom’s original taxonomy, 1956 Anderson & Krathwohl, revised taxonomy, 2001
Which one is better? Some questions to get you thinking: • What’s the difference between Knowledge and Remembering? • Is Understanding lower than Analysis or Evaluation? I will be assessing the quality of your thinking!
A Model of Thinking Comparison Inference & & Contrast Interpretation Analysis Metacognition Evaluation Generating Possibilities 16
Generating Possibilities What do we do when we generate possibilities? • Generate many possibilities • Generate different types of possibilities • Generate novel possibilities Comparison Inference & & Contrast Interpretation Meta- Analysis Evaluation All creative products involve the cognition combining of old ideas or elements in new ways 17 Generating Possibilities
What is Creativity? A product or response will be judged creative to the extent that it is novel, useful or a valuable response to the task at hand. (summarized from Amabile, 1996, p.35) <> One dark foggy night in Halifax, as Percy Shaw was driving home, he saw two small green lights, very close together near the edge of the road. He was curious so he stopped and saw the ‘lights’ were a pair of cats eyes reflecting the light from his head lights. This triggered off his thinking, making some new connections in his brain – subsequently he invented a small device involving two marbles placed close together in a rubber casing; this would then be set in the road at intervals between the lanes of traffic. After a year of experiments, Percy patented the invention and then, in 1935, formed his company, Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd. (That’s Innovation & Enterprise)
Creativity: Not Thinking out of the Box It all happens Inside the Head , it’s just a question of what’s in there, what you do with it and how Little in there, little desire and effort to keep making new neural connections - especially across knowledge areas – expect little by way of creativity Creativity results from conscious (and subconscious) neural restructuring that results in NEW PERCEPTIONS
Reframing “How your perceive something makes all the difference and you are free to see things from any perspective you wish” (Adler, 1996, p.145) To shift to a different frame will typically reframe one’s perspective and therefore, one’s meaning. And when we do this, our very world changes, which changes the sensory experience, hence how we feel Slimy Pond Life or Tasty Dinner?
Analysis Comparison Inference & & Contrast Interpretation Meta- What do we do Analysis Evaluation cognition when we analyse? Generating Possibilities • Identify relationship of the parts to a whole in system /structure/model • Identify functions of each part • Identify consequences to the whole, if a part was missing • Identify what collections of parts form important sub-systems of the whole • Identify if and how certain parts have a synergetic effect 21
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