Currently, K-12 science education in the United States...does not provide students with engaging opportunities to experience how science is actually done. -National Research Council Stage 4 of our framework emphasizes disciplinary thinking, which includes the ways of knowing and reasoning that are accepted as appropriate in a field of study. Historians make sense of the world… Continue reading 3 Steps to Thinking Like an Expert
Category: Stage 4: Disciplinary Thinking
Are you good at mathematics?
The Smartest Kids in the World has me thinking a lot about the different disciplines, especially math. Sure, kids have "favorite" subjects ranging from Art to Science, depending on the kid and usually on the quality of the teacher. But for some reason there is an assumption that some people are just "good at math"… Continue reading Are you good at mathematics?
Think about: Becoming vs. Learning
What if learning isn’t the goal of school? In an Edweek article that sure to rock all of our boats, Marc Prensky argues: “The real goal of education, and of school, is becoming—becoming a "good" person and becoming a more capable person than when you started. Learning is nothing but a means of accomplishing that… Continue reading Think about: Becoming vs. Learning
Assessing disciplinary thinking 101
By now you've been asking students to think like disciplinarians for quite some time. You've modeled for them with a think aloud. You've asked them to coach each other using discipline specific questions. You've designed activities and discussions to help them learn to behave like experts in your field. How can you assess if they've… Continue reading Assessing disciplinary thinking 101
Try this: Struggle in Front of Students
Step back and think about what your thinking looks like to your students. If you’re like many knowledgeable educators it may not look like thinking at all. In fact, it might appear to students that you just magically have the answers and insights they are struggling to reach. In reality we know just like… Continue reading Try this: Struggle in Front of Students
Trending: Deeper Learning
What’s the trendiest of all trendy phrase in education right now? You might say critical thinking or even Common Core, but we’re noticing another phenomenon: Deeper Learning. It’s a buzz that’s bubbling through the education world, but more important than the hype is what it really means. Here’s a quick look at deeper learning.… Continue reading Trending: Deeper Learning
Think about… push vs. pull learning
By and large, formal schooling is set up to push learning onto students. Adults decide what they need to learn and when they will learn it. Students show up and (most?) take notes and complete exercises. Contrast that with learning that students pull because they have a reason to learn it. Push vs. pull terminology… Continue reading Think about… push vs. pull learning
Try this: Behave like a disciplinarian
What subject(s) do you teach? When was that last time you explored an unknown or created something new in that field? Try it out and then write out the steps you took and the questions you asked yourself along the way. Then model it, thinking aloud in front of your students! Ideas: Mathematics = Solve a… Continue reading Try this: Behave like a disciplinarian
Trending: Fab Labs
"A Fab Lab is a technical prototyping platform for innovation and invention, providing stimulus for local entrepreneurship. A Fab Lab is also a platform for learning and innovation: a place to play, to create, to learn, to mentor, to invent. To be a Fab Lab means connecting to a global community of learners, educators, technologists,… Continue reading Trending: Fab Labs
Trending: Standards Overhaul
The United States has state and local control of education which means we've never had national learning standards. Many non-Americans are shocked to hear this. But highly adept political maneuvering has brought new learning standards in all four core subject areas recently (or soon-to-be) adopted by most states. Do these standards revisions share common attributes? First,… Continue reading Trending: Standards Overhaul
