Complex Cognitive Processes
Metacognition - or thinking about thinking
Learning Strategies
Problem Solving - formulating new answers beyond what you already know to accomplish something
Creativity in Cognition - a process that involves independently restructuring problems to see things in new, imaginative ways.
Critical Thinking and Argumentation
Transfer - occurs when a rule, fact or skill learned in one situation is applied in another situation
Metacognitive Skills
Monitoring
Evaluating
Planning
Deciding how much time to give to a task.
which strategies to use
how to start
etc.
Real time awareness of 'how I'm doing.'
Make judgements about the processes of thinking and learning
Acting on those judgements
Types of Strategies
Applying learning strategies
What are learning strategies
Procedural knowledge - really knowing how to do something
Help students to focus attention on relevant, important aspects of material - help students think and process deeply
Mnemonics
Skimming
Summaries
help students regulate and monitor their own learning
effort in applying strategies are reasonable
students must care about learning and understanding
Understanding vs memorizing
Types of Problems
Argumentation - the process of debating a claim with someone else.
Critical Thinking:
Critical Thinking Skills
defining and clarifying the problem
Make judgements about the consistency and adequacy of info related to a problem
drawing conclusions
Overlearning
follow up with activities and additional practice to help extend critical thinking skills
take time and instruction to learn
Evidence: needed to support your position with and to refute your opponents claims
difficult for children to accomplish
Automatic transfer
spontaneous application of well-learned knowledge and skills
How teachers can help transfer learning strategies
providing practice with feedback
teach strategies directly
expanding the applications of strategies to new, unfamiliar situations
Mindful, Intentional Transfer
involves reflection and conscious application of abstract knowledge to knew situations
Assessing Creativity
supporting creativity in the classroom
Divergent (purposing many different ideas or answers) and convergent thinking (identify only one answer)
fluency - the number of different responses
flexibility - the number of different categories of responses
having students engage in more multicultural experiences
accepting unusual, immaginative answers
facilitating divergent thinking
brainstorming
being okay with students holding opposing views
Regulation in Metacognition
Declarative knowledge: knowing what to do
knowing how to use the strategies
knowing the conditions, when and why to apply procedures and strategies
Developing metacognition - self reflection
W: What do I want to know?
L: What have I learned at the end?
K: What do I already know about this subject?
outlining: highlighting, underlining, taking notes
All Caps
Concept maps
General problem solving strategies
Identify the problem
setting goals
exploring possible solutions and outcomes
Acting
Evaluating outcomes
algorithm - step-by-step prescription
Heuristics - general strategies
Availability Heuristic: judgements based off the availability of info from our memories
representativeness: what we think is representative of a category
Confirmation Bias: We look to the solution that already fits our ideas
Belief perseverance: the tendency to hold on to what we know is true and keep us from taking in new info
Originality - determined statistically
Sources of Creativity
Domain-relevant skills: talents and competencies that are valuable for working in the domain
Creativity-relevant processes: including work habits and personality traits
Intrinsic task motivation: a deep curiosity and fascination with the task