Higher Level Thinking

1. Higher Level Thinking

2. Who are Advanced Learners? Beethoven’s music teacher said, “As a composer, he is hopeless.” Isaac Newton’s was a poor elementary school student. Einstein couldn’t speak until the age of 4; he couldn’t read until age 7. Edison’s teacher told him he was unable to learn. Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college. Louis Pasteur was given a rating of “mediocre” in chemistry. Mendel failed his test to become a biology teacher. Winston Churchill failed 6th grade. A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had “no good ideas”. Henry Ford was evaluated as “showing no promise”.

3. Who Are Advanced Learners? Highly gifted children are often defined statistically as those who score high on IQ tests or who are prodigies in a particular domain. (Webb, Meckstroth, & Tolan,1982) Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity (Columbus Group, 1991) Advanced learners exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership capacity, or excel in specific academic fields. Present across all cultural groups, all economic strata, & in all areas of human endeavor (O.E.R.I., 1993, p. 26) Consider the possibility that all students have some advanced capabilities if given the chance.

4. Who Are Advanced Learners? Three Fundamental Characteristics (vanTassel-Baska) 1) Capacity to learn at faster rates. (Colangelo, Assouline, & Gross, 2004) 2) Capacity to find, solve, & act on problems more readily. (Sternberg, 1985) 3) Capacity to manipulate abstract ideas & make connections easily. (Gallagher & Gallagher, 1994)

5. Chief Blunders Blunder Number One: Always Asking Your Gifted Students To Serve As Tutors For Students Who Are Struggling. Blunder Number Two: Only Allowing Gifted Students To Move Ahead When They Complete The Grade/Age Designed Work Assignments With 100% Accuracy. The Biggest Blunder: Giving Your Gifted Students More Identical Work When They Finish Early.

6. Tips from Experts Tip #1: Know the Characteristics of Advanced Learners Tip #2: Let Go of "Normal“ – It’s a Journey Tip #3: Conduct Informal Assessments Regularly Tip #4: Re-Visit the Basics for Ideas: For Example: Vygotsky, Piaget, & Bloom Tip #5: Involve Parents as Resource Locators Tip #6: Learn About Distance Learning Opportunities Tip #7: Explore Acceleration & Compacting Tip #8: Learn from the Experiences of Others Tip #9: Utilize Outside Resources Davidson Institute for Talent Development 2003

7. Higher Level Thinking Strategies Problem Solving Metacognition Epistemological Beliefs Transfer Conceptual Understanding Authentic/Meaningful Activities Mentoring Creativity Critical Thinking Contracts & Choice

8. Problem Solving Algorithm – prescribed sequence of steps that guarantees a correct problem solution i.e., memorize a formula in order solve a problem Heuristic – general strategy that facilitates problem solving but does not always yield a problem solution i.e., design an original strategy to solve a problem Using your subject area or grade level, think of 2 strategies for teaching your students a concept; one that involves an algorithm one that involves a heuristic.

9. Effective problem solvers tend to: • Identify 1 or more goals to represent the solution • Break a complex problem into 2 or more sub-problems • Plan a systematic approach to solving the problem • Identify any obstacles • Change to a new strategy if the current one does not work • Can think outside the box These skills can be taught! We can teach our students to use metacognition – to be consciously aware of their thinking – & use it skillfully.

10. Epistemological Beliefs • Personal views about what knowledge is, how it can be gained, its degree of certainty, and the limits and criteria for determining knowledge • Schommer-Aikins (2002; Schommer, 1990) • Issues regarding epistemology: • Is knowledge certain?/Does absolute knowledge exist? • Is knowledge simply facts? • Does knowledge reside with the authorities (e.g., teachers) or do all learners create knowledge? • Is learning quickly a sign of successful learning? • Is ability (or IQ) fixed/static?

11. Transfer:Unscramble These Words As Quickly as You CanBefore Moving to the Next Slide: • raspe • klsta • nolem • dlsco • hsfle • naorg • egsta

12. Negative Transfer • pears; spear • talks; stalk • melon; lemon • colds; scold • shelf; flesh • groan; organ • gates; stage • raspe • klsta • nolem • dlsco • hsfle • naorg • egsta Our habit of expecting one right answer often creates “negative transfer” (We only look for one solution – when in actuality there might be multiple solutions.)

13. Emphasizing Conceptual Learning • organizing units around a few ideas/themes • exploring each concept in depth • explaining how new ideas relate to students’ own experiences • showing importance of conceptual understanding • asking students to explain what they’ve learned

14. Culture Change Conflict Exploration Force or Influence Order vs Chaos Patterns Power Structure Systems Relationships Universal Themes & Generalizations Try to create concept maps of the material you are teaching, building around important, meaningful concepts.

15. Use Authentic Activities • Try to frame classroom activities around activities the students are apt to encounter or find meaningful in the outside world Empty Bowls Activity Google the Empty Bowl Activity at UNCG for an example related to the concept of HUNGER. Check out the activities related to Hunger posted on Bb for strategies/resources you can use.

16. Rubber is easy to shape To eliminate friction on a bumpy road Rubber doesn’t absorb electricity Creative Thinking Intelligence uses convergent thinkingWhy are tires made out of rubber? A new and original behavior with an appropriate and productive result Creativity uses divergent thinking What new improvements can we make to tires?

17. How do we make creativity grow? • Show students creativity is valued! • Focus students attention on internal rather than external rewards. • Promote mastery rather than performance • Ask thought-provoking questions. • Let students as the questions. • Give students the freedom & security to take risks. • Provide time that creativity requires.

18. Critical Thinking Process of evaluating the warrant & worth of information & lines of reasoning • Model critical thinking • “Practice makes perfect!” • Ask questions • Debate • Embed critical thinking in other activities • Verbal reasoning: Understanding and evaluating persuasive techniques found in oral and written language. • Argument analysis: Weighing pros and cons of a situation. • Probabilistic reasoning: weighing the likelihood and uncertainty associated with events • Hypothesis testing: Judging the value of data/research results

19. UseContracts & Choiceto allow students to venture into Higher Level Thinking.

20. Bloom’s Taxonomy A hierarchical classification system of educational objectives arranged from simple to complex/abstract cognitive skill • Critical Thinking • Make a judgement or evaluation • Is this good/bad, • useful/not useful ? • Creative Thinking / Synthesis • Creative original use of ideas • Apply this information • to a new subject • Analysis • Compare & contrast, break into components • Why is this so ? • Application • Apply rules • Use the information to solve a problem Examples List the six levels in order. Explain each level briefly. Given a set of objectives, identify the level. Identify the assumptions of the taxonomy. Write an objective at each level in one subject area. Evaluate the value of learning Bloom’s taxonomy. • Comprehension • Explain 0r Describe • “In your own words” • Knowledge • Who, what, when, where • Rote memory

21. Your teaching strategies can be mapped on to a model incorporating Bloom’s Taxonomy & the increasing complexity of your course Content, in order to track whether you are offering students learning opportunites at varying (& especially at higher) levels. This is called a Curry Samara Chart. Examples are posted on Bb. Basic Thinking Abstract Thinking