2.4 Higher Order Thinking Skills
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Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills (e.g., analyze, evaluate, and create); processes (e.g., problem-solving, decision-making); and mental habits of mind (e.g., critical thinking, creative thinking, metacognition, self-regulation, and reflection). (PSC 2.4/ISTE 2d)
For a student to use high order thinking skills in the Engage Learning Project (ITEC 7400), a few things need to happen first. A few situations that need to occur are that students must be asked higher order questions by teachers, their peers, and themselves. They must also have higher levels of interest as the lesson should relate to them in some higher level, and if nothing else, be in a type of learning environment where risk is rewarded. I like to believe that I offer most of those occurrences most of the time, and with that, the ability for students to learn by doing, learn by creating, and learn through meta-cognition (thinking about their thinking.)
Through my modeling and facilitation of digital tools and resources through this almost year-long project, I was able to ensure that students not only were able to create an app of their own, but utilize the digital tools and resources from http://www.como.com to stimulate the learning process. Students were now thinking with higher order thinking skills, engaging with deeper meaning and processes, and developed a stronger mental habit of mind.
Higher Order Thinking Skills & Engaging with Deeper Meaning and Processes
This project is a multi-month project that covers only one standard per group. This allows the students in this group to dig as deep to analyze and evaluate their standard as much as possible for the project. At first the simplest of answers are created, but as the project progresses, the refinement of the information provided is developed as students now have to answer the questions as to “how” and “why” to all of their findings. By problem solving through research and group discussions over time, students can learn what decisions to make in regards to what information needs to be included into the project, and how it is relevant to the overall project.
They are also required to identify trends over time (past and to future) within the 8th grade Georgia Standards and make calculations as to what the world would be like now if their time in history never occurred. What if the holocaust never happened? What if James Oglethorpe never got the Charter of 1732 from King George II? To project the non-event past into the creation of our future is not the easiest of tasks. This, and the overall creation of the app, requires higher order thinking skills and most definitely a deeper meaning and process to achieve the highest learning possibilities from this project.
Develop a Stronger Mental Habit of Mind
Procrastinators will not do well with this assignment. As it covers multiple months throughout the school year, waiting until the last month will not be possible. Critical and creative thinking needs to occur through this project as without it, we are just creating a simple PowerPoint. Students will share ideas through online and real life collaboration making it possible for them to communicate at any time, and any place. This project requires a strong mental habit of continually checking in with the group, and themselves through meta-cognition (thinking about their own thinking), to ensure that the calendar of events occurs and that the focus of the group stays on task. This is a self-regulated pace but at the same time, checkpoints need to be met to stay on pace. Just looking at the standard alone and what needs to occur, this project is not that time consuming. Having the project spread so far apart throughout the year, however, makes the strong habit of mind and thinking with the end in mind mentality become a necessity for any group to be successful within the confinement of this project. At the conclusion of the project, a reflection survey will be required for all students to participate in so that the improvement of this project, for the upcoming grade, can be made.
I learned that multi-month projects are difficult to maintain, and difficult to assess. There are multiple checks along the way, which are needed for everyone to stay on task, including the teacher. The only difference would be to change the time frame and start each group when that group’s standard is first introduced during the school year. Then, each group would only have 3 or 4 standards of time to complete their project. This may be more feasible.
The work that went into creating the artifact was creative and out of the box thinking to impact student learning on a whole other level. Students do not always want to be consumers, and they have more of an enjoyable learning experience when they can instead be the producers. Learning and the overall impact is assessed by the content within the student apps and through surveys throughout the app creation process, how many downloads the app has, and the pride the students take in their work.
Through my modeling and facilitation of digital tools and resources through this almost year-long project, I was able to ensure that students not only were able to create an app of their own, but utilize the digital tools and resources from http://www.como.com to stimulate the learning process. Students were now thinking with higher order thinking skills, engaging with deeper meaning and processes, and developed a stronger mental habit of mind.
Higher Order Thinking Skills & Engaging with Deeper Meaning and Processes
This project is a multi-month project that covers only one standard per group. This allows the students in this group to dig as deep to analyze and evaluate their standard as much as possible for the project. At first the simplest of answers are created, but as the project progresses, the refinement of the information provided is developed as students now have to answer the questions as to “how” and “why” to all of their findings. By problem solving through research and group discussions over time, students can learn what decisions to make in regards to what information needs to be included into the project, and how it is relevant to the overall project.
They are also required to identify trends over time (past and to future) within the 8th grade Georgia Standards and make calculations as to what the world would be like now if their time in history never occurred. What if the holocaust never happened? What if James Oglethorpe never got the Charter of 1732 from King George II? To project the non-event past into the creation of our future is not the easiest of tasks. This, and the overall creation of the app, requires higher order thinking skills and most definitely a deeper meaning and process to achieve the highest learning possibilities from this project.
Develop a Stronger Mental Habit of Mind
Procrastinators will not do well with this assignment. As it covers multiple months throughout the school year, waiting until the last month will not be possible. Critical and creative thinking needs to occur through this project as without it, we are just creating a simple PowerPoint. Students will share ideas through online and real life collaboration making it possible for them to communicate at any time, and any place. This project requires a strong mental habit of continually checking in with the group, and themselves through meta-cognition (thinking about their own thinking), to ensure that the calendar of events occurs and that the focus of the group stays on task. This is a self-regulated pace but at the same time, checkpoints need to be met to stay on pace. Just looking at the standard alone and what needs to occur, this project is not that time consuming. Having the project spread so far apart throughout the year, however, makes the strong habit of mind and thinking with the end in mind mentality become a necessity for any group to be successful within the confinement of this project. At the conclusion of the project, a reflection survey will be required for all students to participate in so that the improvement of this project, for the upcoming grade, can be made.
I learned that multi-month projects are difficult to maintain, and difficult to assess. There are multiple checks along the way, which are needed for everyone to stay on task, including the teacher. The only difference would be to change the time frame and start each group when that group’s standard is first introduced during the school year. Then, each group would only have 3 or 4 standards of time to complete their project. This may be more feasible.
The work that went into creating the artifact was creative and out of the box thinking to impact student learning on a whole other level. Students do not always want to be consumers, and they have more of an enjoyable learning experience when they can instead be the producers. Learning and the overall impact is assessed by the content within the student apps and through surveys throughout the app creation process, how many downloads the app has, and the pride the students take in their work.