25 Critical Thinking Strategies For The Modern Learner Critical thinking is the engine of learning. Within this complex process or so many other relevant themes that contribute to learning: creativity, analysis, evaluation, innovation, application, and scores of other verbs from various learning taxonomies. So the following infographic from Mentoring Minds is immediately relevant to all educators, and students as well. At the bottom, it pushes a bit further, however, offering 25 critical thinking strategies to help support progressive learning. Design Thinking’s Convergence Diversion (Updated from 2010) We now tend to think of design thinking as embracing all that represents “new design.” Yet there remains more value in some of the original views of design thinking from decades ago than in most of what’s presented today. Design thinking is often treated as a process for moving an idea from ideation through prototyping to a concept test or an early alpha design. Or we mean it to represent the creative process associated with the structural mechanics of a generic design process – identify user needs by empathy and observation, iterate a promising prototype, add visual design and some marketing and voila. Let’s go back 30 years. Symbolic and visual communicationsMaterial objectsActivities and organized servicesComplex systems or environments for living, working, playing and learning Another 4-phase description of design thinking is GK van Patter’s Design 1.0 – 4.0 as described in numerous NextD articles and presentations.
The Inspiration Paradox: Your Best Creative Time Is Not When You Think A bus company in China has launched a new “safe driving” campaign by suspending bowls of water over their drivers. To avoid getting wet, drivers must drive gently. In today’s technology-obsessed world, this solution is elegantly primitive. You might imagine that this simple yet ingenious idea was conjured by someone functioning at their very best, that such “aha insights” come when innovators are at their peak. Not so. Numerous studies have demonstrated that our best performance on challenging, attention-demanding tasks - like studying in the midst of distraction - occurs at our peak time of day. In a study I conducted, for example, participants were given three related cue words (e.g., SHIP OUTER CRAWL), and were required to find their common link (SPACE). But distraction is not all bad, and Wieth and Zacks have demonstrated that we can use our increased susceptibility to distraction at off-peak times to our advantage. Insight problems involve thinking outside the box.
Making Good Lessons Great: Incorporating Multiple Iintelligences and Creative Thinking into Everyday Lesson Plans « clearings by Betty K. Wood and Andrew L. Hunt, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Sarah C. Wood-Jenkins, Ball State University I didn’t find anything very revolutionary here except this quote which I shall bear in mind (lay-out is mine): ‘One model for teaching the skill of creative thinking involves: fluency flexibility originalityelaboration‘ “The following linear representation of a problem-solving thought process, developed by Puccio, Murdock, and Mance (2005), provides an excellent example of how characteristics and behaviors of Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking operate.” Source: Like this: Like Loading...
How 21st Century Thinking Is Just Different How 21st Century Thinking Is Just Different by Terry Heick This content is proudly sponsored by The Institute for the Habits of Mind, promoting the development of personal thinking habits in 21st century learners. In an era dominated by constant information and the desire to be social, should the tone of thinking for students be different? After all, this is the world of Google. As a result, the tone of thinking can end up uncertain or whimsical, timid or arrogant, sycophant or idolizing–and so, devoid of connections and interdependence. The nature of social media rests on identity as much as anything else—forcing subjectivity on everything through likes, retweets, shares, and pins. But this takes new habits. Information Abundance There is more information available to any student with a smartphone than an entire empire would have had access to three thousand years ago. New contexts—digital environments that function as humanity-in-your-pocket—demand new approaches and new habits. Persisting.
7 Skills To Become Super Smart People aren’t born smart. They become smart. And to become smart you need a well-defined set of skills. Here are some tips and resources for acquiring those skills. Memory If you can’t remember what you’re trying to learn, you’re not really learning. If you want to amaze your friends with remembering faces, names, and numbers, look to the grand-daddy of memory training, Harry Lorayne. Reading Good scholars need to be good readers. Evelyn Woodski Slow Reading Course Announcer … Dan Aykroyd Man … Garrett Morris Woman … Jane Curtin Surgeon … Bill Murray … Ray Charles Announcer V/O: [The following words rapidly appear on a blue screen as they are read by the fast-talking announcer:] This is the way you were taught to read, averaging hundreds or thousands of words per minute. Psychologists have found that many people who take speed reading courses increase their reading speed for a short time but then fall right back to the plodding pace where they started. Writing Speaking Numeracy Empathy
List of creative thought processes The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to thinking: Essence of thinking[edit] Main article: Thought Types of thought[edit] Classifications of thought[edit] Williams' Taxonomy Properties of thought[edit] Fields of study[edit] History of thinking[edit] Main articles: History of thought and History of reasoning General thinking concepts[edit] Brain and brain biology[edit] Intelligence[edit] Nootropics (Cognitive enhancers and smart drugs)[edit] Psychometrics (measuring intelligence and cognitive traits)[edit] Artificial thinking[edit] Organizational thinking[edit] Personal thinking[edit] Awareness and Perception[edit] Creative processes[edit] Decision making[edit] Emotional intelligence (Emotionally-based thinking)[edit] Erroneous thinking[edit] Learning and Memory[edit] Reason and reasoning[edit] Teaching methods and skills[edit] Other[edit] Organizations[edit] Publications[edit] Positive Thinking Magazine Scholars of thinking[edit] See also[edit] Thinking Reasoning Lists
Critical and Creative Thinking - home How to Implement Deep Learning Characteristics in the Classroom | The Educato... Deep learning is the foundation on which I instruct my students; whether it is through the use of practical thinking skills, human dimension activities, and/or data gathering. There are other deep learning characteristics I implement daily, but these are most commonly used in my classroom. These strategies help to... Deep learning is the foundation on which I instruct my students; whether it is through the use of practical thinking skills, human dimension activities, and/or data gathering. Engaging students actively in their own learning, and encouraging understanding of presented materials, should be the main goal of all educators. Practical thinking skills are an essential part of my lesson planning. Human dimension activities also play an essential role in my lesson planning. Data gathering is incredibly significant to the way I plan my lessons. As you can see, deep learning is pivotal to successful teaching and learning in my classroom. Like this: Like Loading...
Convergent and divergent production Convergent and divergent production are the two types of human response to a set problem that were identified by J.P. Guilford (1967). Guilford observed that most individuals display a preference for either convergent or divergent thinking. Others observe that most people prefer a convergent closure.[citation needed] As opposed to TRIZ or lateral thinking divergent thinking is not about tools for creativity or thinking, but a way of categorizing what can be observed. Divergent thinking[edit] According to J.P. There is a movement in education that maintains divergent thinking might create more resourceful students. Divergent production is the creative generation of multiple answers to a set problem. Critic of the analytic/dialectic approach[edit] While the observations made in psychology can be used to analyze the thinking of humans, such categories may also lead to oversimplifications and dialectic thinking. References[edit] Guilford, J. (1967). See also[edit]