Major Activities reviewing the situation pedagogical knowledge structure2 fertile question and treatment3 research questions and implications4 inquiry activities, processes and skills5 understanding performances6 initiation activities 7 putting it all together8 adam lefstein & yoram harpaz – august 2004 – / h e u r i s t i c s f o r d e s i g n i n g a c o m m u n i t y o f t h i n k i n g

pedagogical knowledge structure controversiesinsights skillsconcepts controversies: questions, disagreements and disputes that divide (or divided) a discipline; tend to be composed of competing insights. (e.g. can historians be objective? is technology a neutral tool? what are the roles of nature and culture in determining personality?) insights: disciplinary understandings that constitute broad perspectives from which the world makes (more) sense; tend to go beyond our daily experience and contradict folk understandings. (e.g. individual behaviour is shaped by social norms, the conservation of energy, readers’ pre-understandings shape their interpretations.) skills: characteristic tools, methods and practices by means of which disciplines study and think about their objects of inquiry. (e.g. controlled experimentation, statistical analysis, literary criticism, naturalistic observation, ethnography.) concepts: key ideas, processes, events, terms and structures that the disciplines have developed in order to describe, think and talk about their subject matter. h e u r i s t i c s f o r d e s i g n i n g a c o m m u n i t y o f t h i n k i n g adam lefstein & yoram harpaz – august 2004 – /

posing the fertile question and fertility treatment potential fertile questions (brainstorming) criteria of a fertile question open – a question that in principle has no one definitive answer; rather, it has several different and competing possible answers. undermining – a question that undermines the learners’ basic assumptions and casts doubt on the self-evident or commonsensical; uncovers basic conflicts lacking a simple solution; requires the critical consideration of origins. rich – a question that necessitates grappling with rich content that is indispensable to understanding humanity and the world; requires careful and lengthy research. connected – a question relevant to the learners, the society in which they live, and a discipline and field. charged – a question with an ethical dimension; charged with emotional, social and political implications that potentially motivate inquiry and learning. practical – a question that can be researched in the context of the learners, facilitators, and available resources, and from which research questions may be derived. selected and “treated” question adam lefstein & yoram harpaz – august 2004 – / h e u r i s t i c s f o r d e s i g n i n g a c o m m u n i t y o f t h i n k i n g

research questions and implications fertile question (provisional ): potential research questions fertile questionconcluding performances initiation topicsinquiry processes and skills with which questions are we more and/or less pleased? how can we design the program so that we encourage the better questions? specifically, what are the implications for... adam lefstein & yoram harpaz – august 2004 – / h e u r i s t i c s f o r d e s i g n i n g a c o m m u n i t y o f t h i n k i n g

inquiry activities, processes and skills selected research question/s potential research activities (brainstorm) (2) requisite skills & dispositions (1) inquiry process(3) assessment criteria to what extent is this analysis generalizable to other potential research questions? (repeat if necessary for other questions) what are the implications for the fertile question, concluding performances and initiation topics? adam lefstein & yoram harpaz – august 2004 – / h e u r i s t i c s f o r d e s i g n i n g a c o m m u n i t y o f t h i n k i n g

understanding performances and assessment what are potential understanding performances of controversies, insights and concepts? in what activities and/or for what audiences might students’ knowledge be applied? possible activities and formats for communal concluding performances possible activities and formats for team concluding performances possible stagesassessment criteria adam lefstein & yoram harpaz – august 2004 – / h e u r i s t i c s f o r d e s i g n i n g a c o m m u n i t y o f t h i n k i n g

initiation activity design topic / subjectquestions controversiesinsightsskillsconcepts sources / textsunderstanding performances activity outline based on and/or “create” fertile questions involve understanding performances generate potential inquiry questions model skills, dispositions and performances initiate into community learning culture demonstrate potential sources of information and means of analysis and/or interpretation based on pedagogical knowledge structure: lead to controversies and insights; clarify concepts; skills provide informative feedback some elements of successful initiation lessons adam lefstein & yoram harpaz – august 2004 – / h e u r i s t i c s f o r d e s i g n i n g a c o m m u n i t y o f t h i n k i n g

putting it all together dates inquiry process understanding performances assessmentinitiation adam lefstein & yoram harpaz – august 2004 – / h e u r i s t i c s f o r d e s i g n i n g a c o m m u n i t y o f t h i n k i n g