Advanced Educational Psychology --mgmsantos

Misconceptions: 1. That nothing needs to be done for students with a high intelligence because they will automatically be good thinkers.

Misconceptions ( contd ) 2. That nothing can be done for students without a high intelligence because they cannot ever be good thinkers.

 Information is very important.  Information is not enough – unless we have complete information, we need thinking to make the best use of the information we have.

 Positive vs. Constructive Thinking positive thinking – the toles are adjusting to the block, thinking positive thoughts about the situation

 Constructive thinking – the toles are finding a way around the block

Deliberate thinking  Mapmaking  Exploring the subject  Looking broadly to be objective  e.g. The CoRT Tools

1) PMI -- Plus, Minus, Interesting Points 2) CAF – Consider All Factors 3) C & S -- Consequence and Sequel 4) APC -- Alternatives, Possibilities and Choices 5) OPV -- Other People’s Views

(contd) 6) EBS -- Examine Both Sides 7) ADI -- Agreement, Disagreement, Irrelevance 8) AGO -- Aims, Goals, Objectives 9) FOW -- Find Other Ways 10) FIP -- First Important Priorities

Coping (Reactive Thinking)  Moment to moment activity  Looking for signals and reacting to them  Walking-talking-breathing type of thinking  Like driving a road: read signposts and make decisions

Distinction between Critical Thinking and Mindlessness  Critical thinking – thoughts are consciously and purposefully directed towards finding a solution to the problem

 Mindless thinking – routinely and automatically following a customary thought pattern without consciously directing the thoughts

 for success in school  job requirement for careers  leads to ability to solve real world problems

Critics of education sometimes say that students are forced to engage in a lot of mindless activities. What are examples of such activities that students are made to pursue in some classrooms?

A. Concept Formation Concept is a mental abstraction or category of similar objects, people, events, or ideas (Hampton, 2000).

1. Defining features – features that are necessary and sufficient for defining a concept. Ex: The concept of even number We cannot find an even number that is not divisible by 2. Thus, this feature is both necessary and sufficient to guarantee that a number is an even number.

2. Characteristic features – properties typical of something in a concept, but not always associated with it. Ex: Classrooms and books are only characteristic features of a school. Can you tell why?

Characteristic Features (contd) a. Prototype – the most representative instance of a given concept Ex. A cow is a good prototype of a mammal because it is quite typical of a mammal, but bats and whales are not.

Characteristic Features (contd) b. Exemplars -- representations of individual instances of the concept Ex: In the concept of Dog, exemplars are collie, poodle, German shepherd, etc. which have individual characteristics.

 generalizable tools that can facilitate cognitive processing  are both mental and computation devices that support, guide and extend the thinking processes of the users.  external to the learner and engage the learner in meaningful processing of information.

SPIDER CONCEPT MAP -- organized by placing the central theme or unifying factor in the center of the map. Outwardly radiating sub-themes surround the center of the map.

HIERARCHY CONCEPT MAP -- presents information in a descending order of importance. The most important information is placed on the top. Distinguishing factors determine the placement of the information.

 FLOWCHART CONCEPT MAP FLOWCHART CONCEPT MAP -- organizes information in a linear format.

SYSTEMS CONCEPT MAP -- organizes information in a format which is similar to a flowchart with the addition of 'INPUTS' and 'OUTPUTS'.

B. Reasoning 1) deductive reasoning – general to specific 2) Inductive reasoning – specific to general

C. Problem Solving -- “cognitive processing directed at achieving a goal when no solution method is obvious to the problem solver” (Mayer and Wittrock, 2006).

4 Major cognitive processes in problem solving (Mayer and Wittrock) 1. Representing -- constructing a cognitive representation of the problem; 2. Planning -- devising a plan for solving the problem;

Problem-solving (contd) 3. Executing -- carrying out the plan; and 4. Self-regulating -- evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive processing and adjusting accordingly.

 Often associated with John Flavell  “thinking about thinking”  higher order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning

3 Basic elements 1) Planning – reflecting before 2) Monitoring – reflecting during 3) Evaluating -- reflecting after

Planning : you ask yourself:  What in my prior knowledge will help me with this task?  In what direction do I want my thinking to take me?  Why do I need to do this?  What should I do first?  How much time do I have to complete this task?

Monitoring : you ask yourself:  How am I doing?  Am I on the right track?  What information is important to remember?  Should I move in a different direction ?  Should I adjust my pace?  What do I need to do if I don’t understand?

Evaluating : you ask yourself:  How well did I do?  Did I produce more or less than I had expected?  What could I have done differently?  How might I apply this to other problems?  Do I need to go back through the task to fill in any “gaps” in my understanding?

Why are metacognitive strategies important?