Chapter 7 Teaching

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Chapter 7: Thinking Skills and Problem Solving Strategies

Thinking and Intelligence

Thinking Skills or Critical Thinking

refers to the purposeful mental manipulation of words and images.

By definition, critical thinking is:

a careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept reject or suspend judgment on a claim.

reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding whether to believe or do; an activity both practical and

reflective, that has reasonable belief or action as its goal(s).

comprises the mental processes, strategies and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions and

learn new concepts.

this definition emerged from a psychological analysis of critical thinking relative to intelligence.

Intelligence

By definition is the capacity for understanding; ability to perceive and comprehend meaning.

Sternberg believes that by instilling a more qualitative view of intelligence, you can improve critical thinking.

A theory on intelligence should be able to do the ff:

relate the intelligence to an individuals internal world and explain what happens when a person thinks

intelligently.

Accept the relation between the external world and that persons intelligence, and explain how intelligence

functions in the real world

relate intelligence to individuals experiences.

Currently, there are 3 interpretations of intelligence that are relevant to teaching thinking skills.

Sternbergs Triarchic Model of Intelligence:

(1) Intellectual skills and thinking skills are inseparable, although there is more to intelligence than thinking.

Three Elements of the Triarchic Model:

Componential

o Intelligence (initial segment) is composed of three components:

Metacomponents (Planning)

Executive components of intelligence used to plan, monitor and

evaluate problem solving strategies.

Performance Components (Action)

Implementation segments of intelligence that help execute the

instructions of the metacomponents.

Knowledge-Acquisition Components (Feedback)


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our ability to acquire and use language thus enabling us to use

contextual cues in solving problems.

It involves three processes:

o Selective encoding- detecting relevant facts that are not

immediately obvious.

o Selective combination- combining unrelated facts.

o Selective comparison- combining old and new

information.

Experiential

o Experience increases our ability to deal with novel task and make information

processing more automatic.

Contextual

o Specifies the functions to which components are applied in coping with the external world &

ADAPTATION.

GARNERs Multiple Intelligences

(1) The brain has evolved separate systems for different adaptive abilities, talents, or mental skills that are

called intelligences

There are 7 types of Intelligences:

(a) Linguistic Intelligence- ability to communicate through language.

(b) Logical-Mathematical Intelligence- ability to analyze and solve mathematical problems.

(c) Spatial Intelligence- ability to perceive and arrange objects in the environment.(d) Musical Intelligence- ability to analyze to compose or play music.

(e) Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence- ability to move effectively or manipulate objects effectively.

(f) Intrapersonal Intelligence- ability to know yourself well and understand what motivates your behavior.

(g) Interpersonal Intelligence- ability to function well in social situations understand and predict their

behavior.

Perkins Thinking Frames and Enculturation of Mindware

(1) Intelligence is the combination of 3 different views:(a) Power Theory of Intelligence- neurological functions

(b) Tactical Theory of Intelligence- how to use the mind.

(c) Content Theory of Intelligence- knowledge base

(2) Thinking Skills improve through intelligence

(a) Thinking frame- representations intended to guide the process of thought by supporting organizing and

activating the process.

3 stages of the thinking frame are acquisition, internalization and transfer.


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(b) Mindware- learnable processes, schemata and attitudes that foster good thinking.

(c) Enculturation- approaches to teaching thinking skills.

4 ways of enculturation: cultural exemplars, direct transmission of key information, involvement in

cultural activities and involvement in cultural interactions.

TAXONOMIES OF THINKING SKILLS

Taxonomy of Education by Benjamin Bloom.

to help curriculum construction; identify certain behaviors.

help in preparing learning experiences and evaluation; tool to analyze in educational process.

a) Cognitive Domain has 6 Levels of educational process

Knowledge

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

(1) Knowledge- require students to remember, recall or recognize facts and terminology and problem-solving

strategies.

(2) Comprehension- focused on some level of understanding, translating to restate what has been read or heard,

to see relationship/connection among parts, draw conclusion from information.

(3) Application- using previously acquired information in a setting modifying ways to use information;

demonstrate, develop, prepare.

(4) Analysis- identifying errors and differentiate facts, opinions, assumptions, hypothesis, or conclusions. Draw

relationships among ideas or compare & contrast.

(5) Synthesis- producing something unique or original; solving problems in a unique way; designing &

composing ways to come up a solution.

(6) Evaluation- form judgments about the value or worth of methods, ideas and etc. for a specific purpose; state

basis from judgment.

CONCEPT FORMATION

Involves organizing concepts & events into specific mental categories.

Cannot be taught. Acquired through fuzzy concepts, simply by discovering the critical defining features.

Prototypes best examples of a concept. It is used to determine whether less obvious stimuli belong to the concept.

We need to integrate conceptspermits us to learn & recall information easily; to integrate them is to form a

hierarchical organization of concepts.

PROBLEM SOLVING


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Newell & Simon proposed 3 distinct stages in problem-solving:

- divided into smaller, manageable parts

- look for a rule/hypothesis that will solve a particular problem

- evaluate hypothesis

PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES

1) Means of putting things in place carefully and with a great deal of thought.

2) Divided into two categories: general or weak and strong also called specific or detailed.

a) General Strategies-

i) De Bono defines this as a set of principles & guidelines that may apply to any situation. Adds that operational

structures seem to be the basis of general methods that constitute the core of problem-solving.

ii) Bransford and Stern said that working a problem backwards is a general strategy that eases problem solution.

They believed that working backward is helpful whenever the goal is clear and the initial state of the problem us

vague.

b) Strong Strategies-

i) Designed for a specific purpose that seems t be unique to a particular subject

ii) Familiarity with the concept is better able to initiate steps to solve a problem involving knowledge; most

powerful approach to problem solving is to become familiar with the concepts. Concepts provide tools of

representing & solving problems.

3) Sdorow problem solving strategies:

a) Trial and error- simplest strategy, individual tries one possible solution one after another until one works.

b) Insight- person depends on mental manipulation of information produces sudden solution to problems.

c) Algorithm- problem-solving rule/procedure that when followed step by step assures that a correct solution will be

found.

d) Heuristics- general principle, rule of the thumb guides problem-solving but does not guarantee a correct solution.

DUPE MODEL (dont let yourself be deceived)

1) D- determine, determining the problem

2) U- understand, understanding the problem

3) P- plan, planning a solution to the problem and what strategies will be use.

4) E- evaluate, evaluating the plan.

i) The DUPE model is created to help people to solve problems and have four elements which help to understand

and how to plan and solve a certain problem.

HAYES 7 Learning Strategies that reflect role of memory.

1) Structuring strategy- search for relation within the learning material.

2) Context Strategy- search for relationship between new materials and known materials.

3) Monitoring- teaching oneself and see what you have learned and not learned.


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4) Inferencing- asking yourself a question to evaluate yourself.

5) Instantiation- furnish an example.

6) Multiple Coding- a representation of a problem verbally and visually.

7) Attention Management- use of time effectively.

Good Problem Solver

Whimbey and Lochhead

i) Positive Attitude- can solve problems by careful, persistent analysis.

ii) Concern for Accuracy- takes pains and grasp the facts and relationship that the problem presents

iii) Habit of Breaking the problem into parts.- try to solve into parts analyze each part and then integrate.

iv) Avoidance of guessing- frequently play a hunch

v) Active Problem Solving- always in search of solution.

CREATIVITY

-is a form of problem-solving characterized by novel, useful solutions to problems, whether artistic scientific or

practical.

*Being creative is not identical to giftedness.

1) ElliotCharacteristics of Creative People:

a) Cognitive Skills

cognitive elements are memory and evaluation; it is the ability to sense problems that ambiguity exists.

b) Motive-Interest

love to manipulate ideas and are curious; enjoys challenge prefer the complex, and can tolerate uncertainty.

like to look at things in a new way and have an intense commitment to their work.

c) Personality

independent, inclined to take risks, resourceful adventurous and complex; excellent sense of humor.

2) Lesner and Hillman3 stages of Change Manifested in Creative People

a) Creative Internal Enrichment (birth to 11 yrs. Old)- children develop their own distinct personalities.

b) Creative External Enrichment (12 yrs to 60 yrs. Old)- occurs transition to a more outward socially aware

orientation.

c) Creative Self Evaluation (60 yrs. Old to death)- assess life accomplishments.

3) Dacey6 Periods in the growth of CreativityMales

0-5 years

11-14

18-20

29-31

40-45

60- 64

Females

0-5 years

11-14

18-20

29-31

40-45


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60- 64

a. For males 11-14 years and 10-13 females, Students at this range are attempting self-concepts.

b. This is the ideal time to foster creativity because these students are open to new ideas.

DECISION MAKING

1) is a form of problem solving in which one tries to make the best choice from among the alternatives or courses of

actions.

2 factors :

(a) UTILITY- value we assign to a given alternative

(b) PROBABILITY- estimate of likehood that a given alternative will lead to a valued consequence.

Pertinent

-analyze the difficulties in individual student problem solving behavior.

Intelligence

-by giving problems not too abstract

-start with a problem leading to do something abstract so their ability would be challenged.

Motivation

- intangible encouragement

- keep the problem simple at first then gradually make it difficult.

Information

- a teacher must know the students sot that you can satisfactorily match the problems with the

students.

Experience

- if the problem solving is relatively or entirely new to a student, demonstrate and let the

practice with simple problems, then show them how it is used in similar situations.

Mindset

- allow students to look for several solutions and to test them mentally to determine which is

most feasible.

- correct students difficulties

- direct teach problems solving techniques

- given opportunities for children to solve problems

General Suggestions for Creativity to be enhanced in the Classroom. (Elliot)

1. Ensure the maternal you use to encourage creativity in the classroom matches the developmental level of the child

2. Give children experience in doing as many different responses to a problem as possible.

a. Ex. Ask them to use newspaper, ask to come up with anything using the newspaper (Foster divergent

thinking.)

3. Ask the students to imagine, to go beyond the data.

4. Encourage your students to search for relationship.

a. Ex. Mind mapping


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5. Help the students to tolerate ambiguity.

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Chapter 7 Teaching