Macgregor SHS
Overview
Why bother to try to teach thinking? What is a thinking skill? Which thinking skills will we teach? Basic Thinking Skills Higher Order Thinking Skills Teaching Thinking Thinking and Literacy
Why bother?
Thinking skills unlock the keys for learning
Premises
All subjects require students to think There are some generic strategies that guide thinking no matter what the subject There are some specific strategies in all subjects to implement thinking skills All students will benefit from explicit help in the application of generic strategies and specific tasks requiring structured thought
Premises
There is a need for students to explicitly develop the capacity to transfer their ability to think to other subjects,to employment, to leisure and to non subject specific tasks The identification and explicit practice of generic thinking strategies and specific thinking skills will help students develop their ability to think in a structured way in unfamiliar situations
Why bother?
Research Mayer ROSBA, CCEs and KLAs 2010 Directions
New Basics Productive Pedagogies ICTs Literate Futures
Research
Several large scale classroom evaluation studies have successfully linked teaching thinking methodologies with learning outcomes both in the short term and in the longer term, although not all are equally successful McGuiness 1999
Research
Can thinking skills be taught? A paper for discussion. Valerie Wilson http://www.scre.ac.uk/scotresearch/thinking/index.html Scottish Council for Research in Education (May 2000)
Research
Towards Developing and Implementing A Thinking Curriculum. Robert J. Swartz (June 2003) http://www.nctt.net/hongkongaddress.html
Mayer
KLAs
Outcomes Based
HPE Select and use information and apply problem solving and decision making strategies to: make informed decisions evaluate their own actions Science Working scientifically
Analysing Applying ideas and concepts Assessing and reassessing Creating analogies Inferring from data Interpreting data Judging credibility Synthesising
KLAs
SOSE
Students evaluate evidence Students develop criteria based judgements Students analyse patterns of spatial variations
Technology
Analyse alternate structures, logic methods of control Students process, transform, present and transmit information using appropriate forms, Students devise detailed production proposals Students develop suitable alternatives
New Basics
Productive Pedagogies
Higher order thinking Critical Analysis Problem based curriculum
Literate Futures
4 Resource Model
Code breaker Meaning maker Text User Text Analyst
Conclusion
Underpinning all initiatives is the need for students to be able to think effectively and reflect upon their learning In 21st Century students must be smart thinkers Need to explicitly teach students how to think
Taxonomy
Foundation Skills- Recall & Perception Basic Thinking Skills -Analysis, Comparison,
Classification, Evaluation, Prediction, Interpretation and Inference.
Analysis
What are we analysing and why? Activate prior knowledge and find more information Identify components Examine components and their relationship to one another State results
Attributes
Relationship to others
Knowledge
Rules
State Results
What is a thinking skill?
Metacognition
Talking about the thinking Transferring to another context
Teaching Thinking
The danger inherent in the teaching of thinking is that the discrete skills remain single and isolated. There is little value in this approach if students are not given the opportunities to practise and transfer the thinking skills into course content. Beyer
Premise
Thinking Skills needed to be taught explicitly Need for a shift in Pedagogy to create the thinking classroom and the thinking student.
Target
Explicit, Active and Transferable
EAT
Teaching thinking
Teaching for thinking Teaching of thinking Teaching about thinking
Rationale
Current QCS test requires complex literacy/numeracy skills Student understanding and application of the thinking skills Inference and Interpretation are keys to success in the QCS test.
Rationale
To understand and apply the thinking skills of Inference and Interpretation students
Need explicit instruction Need active involvement in the thinking Need to recognise the transference from one subject area to another Need to reflect upon their use of these thinking skills
Interpretation
Inference
State what you want to guess/know Make observations & use prior knowledge Make guesses Examine evidence supporting each guess
Locate information Evaluate information Select and sort information Create final product
Unit Planning
MacGregor SHS - Unit cover sheet H:\Thinking WEB site\Unit Cover Sheet Feb 2002.rtf Explanatory notes T:\Thinking Skills\Lesson Planning Templates\Cover sheet notes 2.doc
Lesson Planning
Infusing the Teaching of Thinking: Robert J. Swartz
http://www.nctt.net/lessonsarticles.html#LESSONS