Dimensions of Learning Trainer's Manual, 2nd ed.

Edition

Teacher’s

MANUAL

Dimensions of Learning

Robert J. Marzano

and

Debra J. Pickering

with

Daisy E. Ar redondo

Guy J. Blackburn

Ronald S. Brandt

Cerylle A. Moffett

Diane E. Paynter

Jane E. Pollock

Jo Sue Whisler

Dimensions of Learning

Robert J. Marzano

and

Debra J. Pickering

with

Daisy E. Arredondo

Guy J. Blackburn

Ronald S. Brandt

Cerylle A. Moffett

Diane E. Paynter

Jane E. Pollock

Jo Sue Whisler

Edition

Teacher’s

MANUAL

Alexandria, Virginia USA

Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory

Aurora, Colorado USA

DoL Teacher TP/Div 1/1/04 2:11 AM Page 1

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rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any

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information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from McREL.

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Printed in the United States of America.

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To order additional copies of this book, please contact ASCD: 1-800-933-2723 or

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Dimensions of Learning

Teacher’s Manual

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Introduction

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What Is Dimensions of Learning? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 1. Dimension 1: Attitudes and Perceptions

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Helping Students Develop Positive Attitudes and Perceptions

About Classroom Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Feel Accepted by Teachers and Peers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Experience a Sense of Comfort and Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Classroom Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Helping Students Develop Positive Attitudes and Perceptions

About Classroom Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Perceive Tasks as Valuable and Interesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Believe They Have the Ability and Resources to Complete Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Understand and Be Clear About Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Classroom Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Unit Planning: Dimension 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Chapter 2. Dimension 2: Acquire and Integrate Knowledge

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

The Importance of Understanding the Nature of Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

The Relationship Between Declarative and Procedural Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Levels of Generality and the Organization of Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Acquiring and Integrating Declarative and Procedural Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

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Helping Students Acquire and Integrate Declarative Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Construct Meaning for Declarative Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Organize Declarative Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Store Declarative Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Classroom Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Unit Planning: Dimension 2, Declarative Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Helping Students Acquire and Integrate Procedural Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Construct Models for Procedural Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Shape Procedural Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Internalize Procedural Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Classroom Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Unit Planning: Dimension 2, Procedural Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Chapter 3. Dimension 3: Extend and Refine Knowledge

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Helping Students Develop Complex Reasoning Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Comparing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Classifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Abstracting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Inductive Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Deductive Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Constructing Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Analyzing Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Analyzing Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Unit Planning: Dimension 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Chapter 4. Dimension 4: Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Helping Students Develop Complex Reasoning Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Decision Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Invention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Experimental Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Systems Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Unit Planning: Dimension 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

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Chapter 5. Dimension 5: Habits of Mind

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Helping Students Develop Productive Habits of Mind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Classroom Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

The Dimensions of Learning Habits of Mind:

A Resource for Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Critical Thinking

Be Accurate and Seek Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Be Clear and Seek Clarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Maintain an Open Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Restrain Impulsivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Take a Position When the Situation Warrants It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Respond Appropriately to Others’ Feelings and Level of Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Creative Thinking

Persevere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Push the Limits of Your Knowledge and Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Generate, Trust, and Maintain Your Own Standards of Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Generate New Ways of Viewing a Situation

That Are Outside the Boundaries of Standard Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Self-Regulated Thinking

Monitor Your Own Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Plan Appropriately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Identify and Use Necessary Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Respond Appropriately to Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Evaluate the Effectiveness of Your Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Unit Planning: Dimension 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Chapter 6. Putting It All Together

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Sequencing Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

In Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Colorado Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

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Teacher’s Manual

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to those individuals from the following school

districts who contributed ideas and suggestions to this second edition of the Dimensions of Learning

Teacher’s Manual:

Ashwaubenon School District, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Berryessa Union School District, San Jose, California

Brisbane Grammar School, Queensland, Australia

Brockport Central School District, Brockport, New York

Brooklyn School District, Brooklyn, Ohio

Broome-Tioga Boces, Binghamton, New York

Cherry Creek Public Schools, Aurora, Colorado

Colegio International de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela

Douglas County Schools, Douglas County, Colorado

George School District, George, Iowa

Green Bay Area Public Schools, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Ingham Intermediate School District, Mason, Michigan

Kenosha Unified School District #1, Kenosha, Wisconsin

Kingsport City Schools, Kingsport, Tennessee

Lakeland Area Education Agency #3, Cylinder, Iowa

Lakeview Public Schools, St. Clair Shores, Michigan

Loess Hills AEA #13, Council Bluffs, Iowa

Lonoke School District, Lonoke, Arkansas

Love Elementary School, Houston, Texas

Maccray School, Clara City, Minnesota

Monroe County ISD, Monroe, Michigan

Nicolet Area Consortium, Glendale, Wisconsin

Northern Trails AEA #2, Clear Lake, Iowa

North Syracuse Central School District, North Syracuse, New York

Prince Alfred College, Kent Town, South Australia

Redwood Elementary School, Avon Lake, Ohio

Regional School District #13, Durham, Connecticut

Richland School District, Richland, Washington

St. Charles Parish Public Schools, Luling, Louisiana

School District of Howard-Suamico, Green Bay, Wisconsin

South Washington County Schools, Cottage Grove, Minnesota

Webster City Schools, Webster City, Iowa

West Morris Regional High School District, Chester, New Jersey

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The following members of the Dimensions of Learning Research and Development Consortium worked

together from 1989 to 1991 to advise, consult, and pilot portions of the model as part of the

development of Dimensions of Learning.

ALABAMA

Auburn University

Terrance Rucinski

CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles County Office of Education

Richard Sholseth

Diane Watanabe

Napa Valley Unified School District

Mary Ellen Boyet

Laurie Rucker

Daniel Wolter

COLORADO

Aurora Public Schools

Kent Epperson

Phyllis A. Henning

Lois Kellenbenz

Lindy Lindner

Rita Perron

Janie Pollock

Nora Redding

Cherry Creek Public Schools

Maria Foseid

Patricia Lozier

Nancy MacIsaacs

Mark Rietema

Deena Tarleton

ILLINOIS

Maine Township High School West

Betty Duffey

Mary Gienko

Betty Heraty

Paul Leathem

Mary Kay Walsh

IOWA

Dike Community Schools

Janice Albrecht

Roberta Bodensteiner

Ken Cutts

Jean Richardson

Stan Van Hauen

Mason City Community Schools

Dudley L. Humphrey

MASSACHUSETTS

Concord-Carlisle Regional School District

Denis Cleary

Diana MacLean

Concord Public Schools

Virginia Barker

Laura Cooper

Stephen Greene

Joe Leone

Susan Whitten

MICHIGAN

Farmington Public Schools

Marilyn Carlsen

Katherine Nyberg

James Shaw

Joyce Tomlinson

Lakeview Public Schools

Joette Kunse

Oakland Schools

Roxanne Reschke

Waterford School District

Linda Blust

Julie Casteel

Bill Gesaman

Mary Lynn Kraft

Al Monetta

Theodora M. Sailer

Dick Williams

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NEBRASKA

Fremont Public Schools, District 001

Mike Aerni

Trudy Jo Kluver

Fred Robertson

NEW MEXICO

Gallup-McKinley County Schools

Clara Esparza

Ethyl Fox

Martyn Stowe

Linda Valentine

Chantal Irvin

NEW YORK

Frontier Central Schools

Janet Brooks

Barbara Broomell

PENNSYLVANIA

Central Bucks School District

Jeanann Kahley

N. Robert Laws

Holly Lomas

Rosemarie Montgomery

Cheryl Winn Royer

Jim Williams

Philadelphia School District

Paul Adorno

Shelly Berman

Ronald Jenkins

John Krause

Judy Lechner

Betty Richardson

SOUTH CAROLINA

School District of Greenville County

Sharon Benston

Dale Dicks

Keith Russell

Jane Satterfield

Ellen Weinberg

Mildred Young

State Department of Education

Susan Smith White

TEXAS

Fort Worth Independent School District

Carolyne Creel

Sherry Harris

Midge Rach

Nancy Timmons

UTAH

Salt Lake City Schools

Corrine Hill

MEXICO

ITESO University

Ana Christina Amante

Laura Figueroa Barba

Antonio Ray Bazan

Luis Felipe Gomez

Patricia Rios de Lopez

PROGRAM EVALUATOR

Charles Fisher

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Teacher’s Manual

Introduction

Overview

Dimensions of Learning is an extension of the comprehensive research-based

framework on cognition and learning described in Dimensions of Thinking: A

Framework for Curriculum and Instruction (Marzano et al., 1988), published by

the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Dimensions of Learning translates the research and theory explained in

Dimensions of Thinking into a practical framework that K-12 teachers can use

to improve the quality of teaching and learning in any content area. The

Dimensions of Learning Research and Development Consortium, which

worked on the model for two years, was made up of more than ninety

educators, including the author team from the first edition of this manual.

Under the leadership of Dr. Robert Marzano of the Mid-continent Regional

Educational Laboratory (McREL), these educators helped to shape the basic

program into a valuable tool for reorganizing curriculum, instruction, and

assessment.

Implicit in the Dimensions of Learning model, or framework, are five basic

assumptions:

1. Instruction must reflect the best of what we know about how learning

occurs.

2. Learning involves a complex system of interactive processes that includes

five types of thinking—represented by the five dimensions of learning.

3. The K-12 curriculum should include the explicit teaching of attitudes,

perceptions, and mental habits that facilitate learning.

4. A comprehensive approach to instruction includes at least two distinct

types of instruction: one that is more teacher directed, and another that

is more student directed.

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Overview

Introduction

5. Assessment should focus on students’ use of knowledge and complex

reasoning processes rather than on their recall of information.

In addition to this teacher’s manual, Dimensions of Learning is supported by

a number of resources designed to help educators fully understand (1) how

these five assumptions affect teachers’ work in the classroom and, as a

consequence, students’ learning and (2) how the Dimensions of Learning

framework can be used to restructure curriculum, instruction, and

assessment:

• A Different Kind of Classroom: Teaching with Dimensions of Learning

(Marzano, 1992) explores the theory and research underlying the

framework through a variety of classroom-based examples. Although

teachers need not read this book to use the model, they will have a

better understanding of cognition and learning if they do. Staff

developers also are encouraged to read this book to strengthen their

delivery of the Dimensions of Learning training.

• Observing Dimensions of Learning in Classrooms and Schools (Brown,

1995) is designed to help administrators provide support and

feedback to teachers who are using Dimensions of Learning in their

classrooms.

• Dimensions of Thinking (Marzano et al., 1988) describes a framework

that can be used to design curriculum and instruction with an

emphasis on the types of thinking that students should use to

enhance their learning.

• The Dimensions of Learning Trainer’s Manual (Marzano et al., 1997)

contains detailed training scripts, overhead transparencies, and

practical guidelines for conducting comprehensive training and staff

development in the Dimensions of Learning program.

• Assessing Student Outcomes: Performance Assessment Using the Dimensions of

Learning Model (Marzano, Pickering, & McTighe, 1993) provides

recommendations for setting up an assessment system that focuses on

using performance tasks constructed with the reasoning processes

from Dimensions 3 and 4.

We recommend that those who plan to train others to use Dimensions of

Learning first participate in the training offered by ASCD or McREL or by

individuals recommended by these organizations. In some cases, experienced

staff development trainers with an extensive background in the teaching of

thinking may be able to learn about each dimension through self-study or,

ideally, through study with peers. We strongly recommend, however, that

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Overview

Introduction

before conducting training for others, these individuals use the Dimensions

of Learning framework to plan and teach units of instruction themselves. In

short, Dimensions of Learning is best understood and internalized through

practical experience with the model.

• Implementing Dimensions of Learning (Marzano et al., 1992) explains

the different ways that the model can be used in a school or district

and discusses the various factors that must be considered when

deciding which approach to use. It contains guidelines that will help

a school or district structure its implementation to best achieve its

identified goals.

• Finally, the Dimensions of Learning Videotape Series (ASCD, 1992)

introduces and illustrates some of the important concepts underlying

the Dimensions of Learning framework. Videotaped classroom

examples of each dimension in action can be used during training, in

follow-up sessions for reinforcement, or during Dimensions of

Learning study-group sessions.

Together, these resources guide educators through a structured, yet flexible,

approach to improving curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

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What Is Dimensions

of Learning?

Introduction

What Is Dimensions of Learning?

Dimensions of Learning is a comprehensive model that uses what researchers

and theorists know about learning to define the learning process. Its premise

is that five types of thinking—what we call the five dimensions of

learning—are essential to successful learning. The Dimensions framework

will help you to

• maintain a focus on learning;

• study the learning process; and

• plan curriculum, instruction, and assessment that takes into account

the five critical aspects of learning.

Now let’s take a look at the five dimensions of learning.

Dimension 1: Attitudes and Perceptions

Attitudes and perceptions affect students’ abilities to learn. For example, if

students view the classroom as an unsafe and disorderly place, they will

likely learn little there. Similarly, if students have negative attitudes about

classroom tasks, they will probably put little effort into those tasks. A key

element of effective instruction, then, is helping students to establish

positive attitudes and perceptions about the classroom and about learning.

Dimension 2: Acquire and Integrate Knowledge

Helping students acquire and integrate new knowledge is another important

aspect of learning. When students are learning new information, they must

be guided in relating the new knowledge to what they already know,

organizing that information, and then making it part of their long-term

memory. When students are acquiring new skills and processes, they must

learn a model (or set of steps), then shape the skill or process to make it

efficient and effective for them, and, finally, internalize or practice the skill

or process so they can perform it easily.

Dimension 3: Extend and Refine Knowledge

Learning does not stop with acquiring and integrating knowledge. Learners

develop in-depth understanding through the process of extending and

refining their knowledge (e.g., by making new distinctions, clearing up

misconceptions, and reaching conclusions). They rigorously analyze what

they have learned by applying reasoning processes that will help them

“Oh how fine it is to know

a thing or two.”

—Molière

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extend and refine the information. Some of the common reasoning processes

used by learners to extend and refine their knowledge are the following:

• Comparing

• Classifying

• Abstracting

• Inductive reasoning

• Deductive reasoning

• Constructing support

• Analyzing errors

• Analyzing perspectives

Dimension 4: Use Knowledge Meaningfully

The most effective learning occurs when we use knowledge to perform

meaningful tasks. For example, we might initially learn about tennis rackets

by talking to a friend or reading a magazine article about them. We really

learn about them, however, when we are trying to decide what kind of tennis

racket to buy. Making sure that students have the opportunity to use

knowledge meaningfully is one of the most important parts of planning a

unit of instruction. In the Dimensions of Learning model, there are six

reasoning processes around which tasks can be constructed to encourage the

meaningful use of knowledge:

• Decision making

• Problem solving

• Invention

• Experimental inquiry

• Investigation

• Systems analysis

What Is Dimensions

of Learning?

Introduction

“Knowledge changes

knowledge.”

“Information isn’t

knowledge until you can use

it.”

intro chapter 4/16/09 9:23 AM Page 5

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 5: Habits of Mind

The most effective learners have developed powerful habits of mind that

enable them to think critically, think creatively, and regulate their behavior.

These mental habits are listed below:

Critical thinking:

• Be accurate and seek accuracy

• Be clear and seek clarity

• Maintain an open mind

• Restrain impulsivity

• Take a position when the situation warrants it

• Respond appropriately to others’ feelings and level of knowledge

Creative thinking:

• Persevere

• Push the limits of your knowledge and abilities

• Generate, trust, and maintain your own standards of evaluation

• Generate new ways of viewing a situation that are outside the

boundaries of standard conventions

Self-regulated thinking:

• Monitor your own thinking

• Plan appropriately

• Identify and use necessary resources

• Respond appropriately to feedback

• Evaluate the effectiveness of your actions

What Is Dimensions

of Learning?

Introduction

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Teacher’s Manual

The Relationship Among the Dimensions of Learning

It is important to realize that the five dimensions of learning do not operate

in isolation but work together in the manner depicted in Figure A.1.

FIGURE A.1

OW THE DIMENSIONS OF LEARNING INTERACT

Briefly, as the graphic in Figure A.1 illustrates, all learning takes place

against the backdrop of learners’ attitudes and perceptions (Dimension 1)

and their use (or lack of use) of productive habits of mind (Dimension 5). If

students have negative attitudes and perceptions about learning, then they

will likely learn little. If they have positive attitudes and perceptions, they

will learn more and learning will be easier. Similarly, when students use

productive habits of mind these habits facilitate their learning. Dimensions

1 and 5, then, are always factors in the learning process. This is why they are

part of the background of the graphic shown in Figure A.1.

When positive attitudes and perceptions are in place and productive habits

of mind are being used, learners can more effectively do the thinking

required in the other three dimensions, that is, acquiring and integrating

Using Knowledge

Meaningfully

Extending and

Refining Knowledge

Acquiring

and Integrating

Knowledge

What Is Dimensions

of Learning?

Introduction

intro chapter 4/16/09 9:23 AM Page 7

Teacher’s Manual

knowledge (Dimension 2), extending and refining knowledge (Dimension

3), and using knowledge meaningfully (Dimension 4). Notice the relative

positions of the three circles of Dimensions 2, 3, and 4. (See Figure A.1.)

The circle representing meaningful use of knowledge subsumes the other

two, and the circle representing extending and refining knowledge subsumes

the circle representing acquiring and integrating knowledge. This

communicates that when learners extend and refine knowledge, they

continue to acquire knowledge, and when they use knowledge meaningfully,

they are still acquiring and extending knowledge. In other words, the

relationships among these circles represent types of thinking that are neither

discrete nor sequential. They represent types of thinking that interact and

that, in fact, may be occurring simultaneously during learning.

It might be useful to consider the Dimensions of Learning model as

providing a metaphor for the learning process. Dimensions of Learning offers

a way of thinking about the extremely complex process of learning so that we

can attend to each aspect and gain insights into how they interact. If it serves

this purpose, it will be a useful tool as we attempt to help students learn.

Uses of Dimensions of Learning

As a comprehensive model of learning, Dimensions can have an impact on

virtually every aspect of education. Because the major goal of education is to

enhance learning, it follows that our system of education must focus on a

model that represents criteria for effective learning, criteria that we must use

to make decisions and evaluate programs. Although Dimensions is certainly

not the only model of learning, it is a powerful tool for ensuring that

learning is the focus of what we do as educators. It should validate current

efforts in schools and classrooms to enhance learning, but should also suggest

ways of continuing to improve. Although individuals, schools, and districts

should use the model to meet their own needs, it might be helpful to

understand a number of possible ways in which the Dimensions of Learning

model might be used.

A Resource for Instructional Strategies

At the most basic level, this manual has been used as a resource for research-

based instructional strategies. Although there are many effective strategies

included in the manual, it is important to remember that the manual is not

the model. As the strategies are used, they should be selected and their

effectiveness measured in terms of the desired effect on learning. The

implication is that even at this basic level of use, it is important for teachers

to understand each dimension as they select and use strategies.

“We were thrilled to discover

that Dimensions of Learning

is not an ‘add-on’ but,

instead, a framework that

enhances teaching and

learning across the curricula

within our classrooms.”

—First-grade teacher

in Connecticut

What Is Dimensions

of Learning?

Introduction

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Teacher’s Manual

A Framework for Planning Staff Development

Some schools and districts see Dimensions as offering an important focus

during their planning of staff development and as a way of organizing the

diverse inservice experiences offered in the district. The matrix in Figure A.2

(see next page) graphically represents this organization. Down the left-hand

side is an outline of the components of the Dimensions model. Planning for

professional development begins here, whether for individuals or an entire

staff. The first question staff developers would ask is, “What part of the

learning process needs to be improved?” After answering that question,

resources for seeking the improvement are identified across the top of the

matrix. These resources might includes programs, strategies, individuals, or

books that can be used to achieve the desired learning goal. There might be

many resources available that complement and supplement each other and

could, therefore, all be offered to those seeking the improvement in learning.

When any resource is identified, the matrix allows for indicating clearly

which aspects of the learning process might be enhanced if people were to

select and use that resource. Notice that the focus is on the learning process

rather than on the resource.

A Structure for Planning Curriculum and Assessment

One reason that the Dimensions of Learning model was created was to

influence the planning of curriculum and assessment, both at the classroom

and the district level. It is particularly suited to planning instructional units

and creating assessments that are clearly aligned with curriculum, including

both conventional and performance instruments.

Within each dimension there are planning questions that can help to

structure the planning so that all aspects of the learning process are

addressed: for example, “What will I do to help students maintain positive

attitudes and perceptions?” or “What declarative knowledge are the students

learning?” Although it is important for the planner to ask powerful

questions, sometimes the answer may be that very little or nothing at all

will be planned to address that part of the model. It is not important to plan

something for every dimension; it is important to ask the questions for every

dimension during the planning process. More detailed explanations and

examples are included throughout this manual and in each planning section.

Those who use the Dimensions model to influence their assessment practices

quickly realize instruction and assessment are closely integrated but that

both conventional and performance-based methods of assessment have a role.

Specific recommendations for assessment are included at the end of this

manual.

“The Dimensions model

validates so much of what

we were already doing in

our classrooms. It gives us a

common structure and

vocabulary with which to

discuss and plan professional

activities throughout the

school.”

—An elementary

school principal

What Is Dimensions

of Learning?

Introduction

intro chapter 4/16/09 9:23 AM Page 9

Teacher’s Manual

Attitudes & Perceptions

I. Classroom Climate

A. Acceptance by Teachers and Peers

B. Comfort and Order

II. Classroom Tasks

A. Value and Interest

B. Ability and Resources

C. Clarity

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

I. Declarative

A. Construct Meaning

B. Organize

C. Store

II. Procedural

A. Construct Models

B. Shape

C. Internalize

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Comparing

Classifying

Abstracting

Inductive Reasoning

Deductive Reasoning

Constructing Support

Analyzing Errors

Analyzing Perspectives

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Decision Making

Problem Solving

Invention

Experimental Inquiry

Investigation

Systems Analysis

Habits of Mind

Critical Thinking

Creative Thinking

Self-Regulated Thinking

Resources for Improvement

Dimensions of Learning Outline

FIGURE A.2

ATRIX FOR PLANNING STAFF DEVELOPMENT

intro chapter 4/16/09 9:23 AM Page 10

Teacher’s Manual

A Focus for Systemic Reform

The most comprehensive use of the Dimensions model is as an organizational

tool to ensure that the entire school district is structured around and

operating with a consistent attention to learning. The model provides a

common perspective and a shared language. Just as curriculum planners ask

questions in reference to each dimension during planning, people in every

part of the school system ask similar questions as they create schedules,

select textbooks, create job descriptions, and evaluate the effectiveness of

programs.

These four uses of the model are offered only as examples. There is no reason

to select only from among these four options; the purpose of the model is to

help you define and achieve your goals for student learning. The model is a

structure that should allow for and encourage a great deal of flexibility.

Using This Manual

Understanding the Dimensions of Learning model can greatly improve your

ability to plan any aspect of education. This manual is designed to help

teachers and administrators study learning through the Dimensions model

and to provide guidance for those who are using the model to achieve their

specific individual, school, and district goals. The sections of the manual, as

well as the format used to organize the information and recommendations,

are described below.

1. There is a chapter for each dimension that includes an introduction,

suggestions for helping students to engage in the thinking involved in

that dimension, classroom examples to stimulate reflection and suggest

ways of applying the information, and a process for planning instruction

in the particular dimension.

2. The margins throughout the manual contain information that should

help you think about the ideas highlighted in each dimension and

pursue further study. You will find

• bibliographic references (shortened in some cases because of space),

which provide suggestions for further reading;

• quotes from documents that were used as references for the section;

• interesting and relevant quotes or thoughts, offered as ideas for

reflection;

• descriptions of implementation activities that have been used in

schools or districts;

What Is Dimensions

of Learning?

Introduction

intro chapter 4/16/09 9:23 AM Page 11

• suggested materials that might be used in planning classroom

activities or that contain other strategies related to the dimension; and

• graphics that depict ideas addressed in the dimension.

3. The chapter “Putting It All Together” walks the reader through the

entire planning process and offers suggestions, different planning

sequences, and examples from units of study planned using the

Dimensions of Learning framework. This chapter also discusses critical

issues related to assessment techniques that can be used to collect data

on students’ performance in each of the dimensions; rubrics to facilitate

consistent, fair teacher judgment and to promote student learning; and

ideas for assigning and recording grades.

The strategies and resources highlighted throughout this manual are only a

small percentage of those that could have been included in support of each

dimension. If cost had not been a consideration, this manual would have

been published as a loose-leaf notebook so that users could add their own

strategies and resources. Gathering additional ideas and suggestions should

be a goal for every professional educator. Hopefully, what is offered here will

contribute to the resources that master teachers already have gathered and

provide a beginning for those new to the profession.

Teacher’s Manual

What Is Dimensions

of Learning?

Introduction

intro chapter 4/16/09 9:23 AM Page 12

Dimension

DIMENSION 1

DoL Teacher TP/Div 4/17/09 7:49 AM Page 2

Dim 2 chapter-procedural 4/17/09 7:23 AM Page 1

DIMENSION 1

Teacher’s Manual

“I read once, ‘Billiard balls

react. People respond.’ This

reminds me that although I

recognize that I did not

cause my students to have

some of the negative

attitudes that they bring to

school, I am responsible for

having a repertoire of

effective strategies for

eliciting positive attitudes

that enhance students’

learning.”

—A mathematics

teacher in Missouri

Dimension 1

Attitudes and Perceptions

Introduction

Most people recognize that attitudes and perceptions influence learning. As

learners, we all have experienced the impact of our attitudes and perceptions

related to the teacher, other students, our own abilities, and the value of

assigned tasks. When our attitudes and perceptions are positive, learning is

enhanced; when they are negative, learning suffers. It is the shared

responsibility of the teacher and the student to work to maintain positive

attitudes and perceptions or, when possible, to change negative attitudes and

perceptions.

The effective teacher continuously works to influence attitudes and

perceptions, often so skillfully that students are not aware of her efforts.

Subtle though this behavior may be, it is a conscious instructional decision

to overtly cultivate specific attitudes and perceptions. In the next two

sections, you will find strategies and techniques for enhancing two types of

attitudes and perceptions: those related to the climate of the classroom and

those related to classroom tasks. You will find strategies, techniques,

recommendations, and classroom examples to refer to when you are

planning to

• elicit positive attitudes and perceptions from learners and

• teach the learner how to maintain positive attitudes and perceptions

or change negative or detrimental ones.

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Teacher’s Manual

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Introduction

Dimension 1

DIMENSION 1

This dimension includes two main sections as described below.

I. Helping Students Develop Positive Attitudes and Perceptions About

Classroom Climate

• Feel accepted by teachers and peers

• Experience a sense of comfort and order

II. Helping Students Develop Positive Attitudes and Perceptions About

Classroom Tasks

• Perceive tasks as valuable and interesting

• Believe they have the ability and resources to complete tasks

• Understand and be clear about tasks

Dim 1 chapter 1/1/04 12:12 AM Page 14

DIMENSION 1

Teacher’s Manual

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Climate

Dimension 1

Helping Students Develop Positive Attitudes

and Perceptions About Classroom Climate

Educators recognize the influence that the climate of the classroom has on

learning. A primary objective of every teacher, then, is to establish a climate

in which students

• feel accepted by teachers and peers and

• experience a sense of comfort and order.

The following strategies are designed for teachers to use to help students

enhance their attitudes and perceptions and to help students develop their

own strategies for enhancing attitudes and perceptions.

1. Help students understand that attitudes and perceptions

related to classroom climate influence learning.

Students vary in the degree to which they understand the relationship

among attitudes, perceptions, and learning. Emphasize with students that

• attitudes and perceptions related to classroom climate are critical to

learning, and

• it is the shared responsibility of the students and the teacher to keep

attitudes as positive as possible.

Help students understand that it is important to maintain a climate that

positively affects learning and that this means much more than simply “good

behavior.” There are many ways to help build this understanding:

• Share with students how your own learning (from kindergarten to

where you are today) has been influenced by your attitudes and

perceptions related to acceptance and to comfort and order. Include

in your discussion strategies you use, or have used, as a learner to

maintain positive attitudes and perceptions and how those strategies

have worked to enhance your learning. Then ask students to share

their experiences and the effectiveness of strategies they have used.

• Present a variety of hypothetical situations in which an individual

student’s negative attitude is affecting his or her learning. Ask

students to discuss why the student might have a negative attitude

and to suggest ways in which the situation might be resolved.

An elementary school

principal regularly displays

positive quotes about

learning on bulletin boards

and posters throughout the

school (e.g., “Attitudes are

the mind’s paintbrush”). He

periodically asks students

what they think each quote

means and how the idea

might enhance their

learning.

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DIMENSION 1

Teacher’s Manual

• Help students become aware of fictional, historical, or famous people

who have enhanced their own learning by maintaining positive

attitudes. Newspaper articles, books, films, or television programs

are good resources for examples.

Feel Accepted by Teachers and Peers

Everyone wants to feel accepted by others. When we feel accepted, we are

comfortable, even energized. However, when we do not feel accepted, we are

often uncomfortable, distracted, or depressed. The stakes are particularly

high in the classroom. Students who feel accepted usually feel better about

themselves and school, work harder, and learn better. Your job as a teacher

begins with helping students to feel accepted by both you and their peers.

There are a number of ways you can accomplish this.

2. Establish a relationship with each student in the class.

We all like to experience being “known.” A simple gesture such as being

greeted by name can be validating. Students are no different. Establishing

relationships with them communicates that you respect them as individuals

and contributes to their successful learning. There are many ways to

establish these relationships:

• Talk informally with students before, during, and after class about

their interests.

• Greet students outside of school, for instance at extracurricular

events or at stores.

• Single out a few students each day in the lunchroom and talk to

them.

• Be aware of and comment on important events in students’ lives,

such as participation in sports, drama, or other extracurricular

activities.

• Compliment students on important achievements in and outside of

school.

• Include students in the process of planning classroom activities;

solicit their ideas and consider their interests.

• Meet students at the door as they come into class and say hello to

each child, making sure to use his or her first name.

McCombs & Whisler (1997)

The Learner-Centered

Classroom and School

For strategies for

“invitational learning,” see

Purkey (1978) Inviting School

Success.

Combs (1982) A Personal

Approach to Teaching

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Climate

Dimension 1

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• Take time at the beginning of the school year to have students

complete an interest inventory. Use this information throughout the

year to connect and converse with students about their interests.

• Call students before the school year begins and ask a few questions

about them to begin to establish a relationship.

• Call parents and share anecdotes that focus on something about

which parents and students can be proud.

3. Monitor and attend to your own attitudes.

Most teachers are aware that when their attitudes toward students are

positive, student performance is enhanced. However, they are sometimes

unaware of favoring or having higher expectations for certain students.

Increasing awareness of, monitoring, and attending to your own attitudes

can contribute to students feeling accepted. The following process might be

helpful when you are aware of a negative attitude:

1. Before class each day, mentally review your students, noting those

with whom you anticipate having problems (either academic or

behavioral).

2. Try to imagine these “problem” students succeeding or engaging in

positive classroom behavior. In other words, replace your negative

expectations with positive ones. This is a form of mental rehearsal.

It’s useful to review the positive images more than once before

beginning the instructional day.

3. When you interact with students, try consciously to keep in mind

your positive expectations.

4. Engage in equitable and positive classroom behavior.

Research suggests that even those teachers who are most aware of their

interactions with students unwittingly can give more attention to high

achievers than to low achievers and call on one gender more than the other.

It is important to do what is necessary to ensure that all students are

attended to positively so that they are likely to feel accepted. To this end,

there are several classroom practices that are useful:

• Make eye contact with each student in the room. You can do this by

scanning the entire room as you speak. Freely move about all sections

of the room.

Good (1982) “How

Teachers’ Expectations

Affect Results”

Rosenshine (1983)

“Teaching Functions in

Instructional Programs”

Covey (1990) The 7 Habits

of Highly Effective People

Rosenthal & Jacobson

(1968) Pygmalion in the

Classroom

Kerman, Kimball, & Martin

(1980) Teacher Expectations

and Student Achievement

Sadker & Sadker (1994)

Failing at Fairness

Grayson & Martin (1985)

Gender Expectations and

Student Achievement

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Climate

Dimension 1

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• Over the course of a class period, deliberately move toward and be

close to each student. Make sure that the seating arrangement allows

you and students clear and easy access to move around the room.

• Attribute the ownership of ideas to the students who initiated them.

(For instance, in a discussion you might say, “Dennis has just added

to Mary’s idea by saying that. . . .”)

• Allow and encourage all students to be part of class discussions and

interactions. Make sure to call on students who do not commonly

participate, not just students who respond most frequently.

• Provide appropriate “wait time” for all students, regardless of their

past performance or your perception of their abilities.

5. Recognize and provide for students’ individual differences.

All students are unique. They come to the educational setting with varying

experiences, interests, knowledge, abilities, and perceptions of the world. As

research and experience tell us, people also vary in their preferred styles of

learning and thinking; their types and degree of intelligence; their cultural

backgrounds that include varying perspectives and customs; and their

particular needs due to background, physical or mental attributes, and

learning deficits or strengths. Teaching that recognizes and provides for such

differences results in students feeling more accepted because of greater

personalization. The result is increased and improved student learning. The

following strategies can help teachers recognize and provide for students’

individual differences:

• Use materials and literature from around the world.

• Design a classroom setup that accommodates varying physical needs.

• Plan varied classroom activities so that all students have

opportunities to learn in their preferred style.

• Allow students choice in projects so that they may use their

strengths and capitalize on their interests as they demonstrate their

learning.

• Include in your lessons examples of successful people talking about

how they recognized and capitalized on their differences.

Hunter (1976) Improved

Instruction

Rowe (1974) “Wait-time

and Rewards as

Instructional Variables,

Their Influence on

Language, Logic and Fate

Control”

Gardner (1983) Frames of

Mind; Gardner (1993)

Multiple Intelligences

McCarthy (1980) The

4MAT System

Wlodkowski & Ginsberg

(1995) Diversity and

Motivation

Dunn & Dunn (1978)

Teaching Students Through

Their Individual Learning

Styles

Gregorc (1983) Student

Learning Styles and Brain

Behavior

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Climate

Dimension 1

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6. Respond positively to students’ incorrect responses or lack of

response.

Students participate and respond when they think it is okay to make mistakes

or to not know an answer, that is, when they know that they will continue to

be accepted in spite of errors or lack of information. How you respond to a

student’s incorrect response or lack of response is an important factor in

creating this sense of safety for students. When students give wrong answers or

no answer, dignify their responses by trying one of the following suggestions:

• Emphasize what was right. Give credit to the aspects of an incorrect

response that are correct and acknowledge when the student is

headed in the right direction. Identify the question that the incorrect

response answered.

• Encourage collaboration. Allow students time to seek help from

peers. This can result in better responses and can enhance learning.

• Restate the question. Ask the question a second time and allow time

for students to think before you expect a response.

• Rephrase the question. Paraphrase the question or ask it from a

different perspective, one that may give students a better

understanding of the question.

• Give hints or cues. Provide enough guidance so that students

gradually come up with the answer.

• Provide the answer and ask for elaboration. If a student absolutely

cannot come up with the correct answer, provide it for him and then

ask him to say it in his own words or to provide another example of

the answer.

• Respect the student’s option to pass, when appropriate.

7. Vary the positive reinforcement offered when students give

the correct response.

Praise is perhaps the most common form of positive reinforcement teachers

provide when students give correct responses. There are times, however,

when praise can have little effect—or even a negative effect—on students’

perceptions of their contributions to the class. For example, students may

perceive praise as empty, patronizing, or automatic, especially when they are

frequently correct and accustomed to praise; enthusiastic praise of a correct

response may communicate to other students that the issue is closed and cut

off other answers; some students might be embarrassed when singled out,

praised, or otherwise reinforced publicly.

Hunter (1969) Teach More

Faster!

Brophy (1982) Classroom

Organization and Management

Brophy & Good (1986)

“Teacher Behavior and

Student Achievement”

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Climate

Dimension 1

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Teacher’s Manual

There are alternative ways to respond to correct answers that can reinforce

and validate students:

• Rephrase, apply, or summarize students’ responses. (“That would also

work if. . . .”)

• Encourage students to respond to one another. (“What do you think?

Is Juan correct?”)

• Give praise privately, particularly to students who may be

embarrassed by being acknowledged in front of their peers. (“Ian,

today in class I was very pleased when you. . . .”)

• Challenge the answer or ask for elaboration. (“Devon, that seems to

contradict. . . .”)

• Specify the criteria for the praise being given so that students

understand why they are being praised. (“Barb, that answer helps us

to see a new way of. . . .”)

• Help students analyze their own answers. (“How did you arrive at

that answer?”)

• Use your tone of voice to ensure that students understand what is

being reinforced.

• Use silence along with nods or other body language, such as eye

contact, that encourages students to elaborate on their answers.

8. Structure opportunities for students to work with peers.

Opportunities to work in groups toward a common goal, when structured

appropriately, can help students feel accepted by their peers. Be sure to set

up groups that help foster positive peer relations and that enhance student

achievement. There are a number of strategies that will increase the success

of group work:

• Teach students the skills necessary for group interactions.

• Identify learning goals in advance and make them very clear for

students.

• Monitor the group to suggest additional information, resources, or

encouragement as necessary.

• Structure the learning experience so that every student in the group

has a responsible role in completing the task.

• Make sure that each student in the group is acquiring the targeted

knowledge.

Johnson, Johnson, &

Holubec (1994) New Circles

of Learning

Slavin (1983) Cooperative

Learning

Kagan (1994) Cooperative

Learning Structures

Shaw (1992) Building

Community in the Classroom

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Climate

Dimension 1

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9. Provide opportunities for students to get to know and accept

each other.

Some students make friends and are accepted more readily than others.

Other students have a difficult time accepting peers who are different from

themselves. Take the time to provide opportunities for students to get to

know each other, to see that in spite of some apparent differences they are

alike in many ways. Encourage them to establish relationships with

individuals and groups other than those with whom they already have

friendships. Teachers commonly provide opportunities for students to get to

know each other at the beginning of the school year. Providing opportunities

at other times of the year can have positive effects especially when students

understand that the goal is to improve learning for all. Some specific

strategies might include the following:

• Ask each student to interview another student at the beginning of

the year and then introduce that student to the rest of the class.

• Have students make posters representing their backgrounds, hobbies,

and interests. Students might include pictures of themselves from

birth to the present. Then hang these posters around the classroom,

or ask students to present them to the class.

• Encourage all students to share about themselves and their heritage.

This activity might be particularly interesting for students if there

are others in the class from different countries and cultures.

• Have each student write his or her name on a sheet of paper. Ask

them to pass their papers around and write one positive comment on

each of the other students’ sheets. Encourage students to avoid

repeating a comment that is already included on the page. Return

the completed “positive-o-grams” to their “owners” to keep.

• Have students design and make a “nameplate” that represents their

likes and dislikes with a collage, pictures, or drawings. These can be

placed on students’ tables or desks during the first weeks of school.

• Use structured “get-to-know-you” activities periodically throughout

the year.

10. Help students develop their ability to use their own strategies

for gaining acceptance from their teachers and peers.

Students need to accept increasing responsibility for gaining acceptance from

teachers and peers. However, many students will need opportunities to

identify and practice using strategies for gaining acceptance. You might

Canfield & Wells (1976)

100 Ways to Enhance Self-

concept in the Classroom

Smuin (1978) Turn-ons: 185

Strategies for the Secondary

Classroom

Whisler & McCombs (1992)

Middle School Advisement

Program

Carkhuff (1987) The Art of

Helping

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“People develop feelings

that they are liked, wanted,

acceptable, and able from

having been liked, wanted,

accepted, and from having

been successful.”

—Arthur W. Combs

Teacher’s Manual

periodically ask students to identify and discuss potential strategies and then

record them in a way that can be regularly updated and used (e.g., on

bulletin boards or overheard transparencies or in notebooks). Remember to

emphasize with students that using strategies to gain acceptance positively

influences the learning environment for everyone.

Suggested strategies for students to use in gaining acceptance from their

teachers include the following:

• If you are developing negative attitudes toward a teacher, make an

appointment to meet with him or her one-on-one. Frequently, a

personal interaction will establish a more positive relationship.

• Treat teachers with respect and courtesy. When talking with them,

make eye contact and use appropriate language.

• If a teacher seems angry or irritable in class, don’t take it personally.

Teachers are human; they have good days and bad days just like

everyone else.

• Work hard. Regardless of your level of achievement, when a teacher

perceives you are trying to learn, the relationship between you and

the teacher will likely be a positive one.

Suggested strategies for students to use in gaining acceptance from their

peers include the following:

• Be interested rather than interesting. When you are first getting to

know people, spend more time asking them about themselves rather

than telling them about yourself.

• Compliment people on their positive characteristics.

• Avoid reminding people about their negative qualities or about bad

things that have happened to them.

• Treat people with common courtesy. Treat them as you would like to

be treated or as you would treat an honored guest.

Attitudes & Perceptions

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Teacher’s Manual

“The physical setting of a

high school should nurture

a student in much the same

way that the clean, safe

interior of a home makes

the youngster feel

comfortable and secure.”

—NASSP (1996)

Breaking Ranks: Changing an

American Institution,

p. 34.

Carbo, Dunn, & Dunn

(1986) Teaching Students to

Read Through Their

Individual Learning Styles

Experience a Sense of Comfort and Order

A student’s sense of comfort and order in the classroom affects his or her

ability to learn. Comfort and order as described here refer to physical

comfort, identifiable routines and guidelines for acceptable behavior, and

psychological and emotional safety.

A student’s sense of comfort in the classroom is affected by such factors as

room temperature, the arrangement of furniture, and the amount of physical

activity permitted during the school day. Researchers investigating learning

styles (e.g., Carbo, Dunn, and Dunn, 1986; McCarthy, 1980, 1990) have

found that students define physical comfort in different ways. Some prefer a

noise-free room; others prefer music. Some prefer a neat, clutter-free space;

others feel more comfortable surrounded by their work-in-progress.

Teachers can draw on the extensive research available on classroom

management (e.g., Anderson, Evertson, and Emmer, 1980; Emmer, Evertson,

and Anderson, 1980) to guide them in addressing issues about classroom

order. This research shows, for example, that explicitly stated and reinforced

rules and procedures create a climate that is conducive to learning. If

students do not know the parameters of behavior in a learning situation, the

environment can become chaotic.

Most educators understand the importance of involving students in making

decisions about the classroom climate. When students are involved in decision

making, individual needs are more likely to be met. The following subsections

cover strategies for establishing a sense of comfort and order in the classroom.

11. Frequently and systematically use activities that involve

physical movement.

Many students will be more comfortable if they do not have to remain in

one position for a long time. There are many ways to allow—even

encourage—movement during regular classroom instruction:

• Periodically take short breaks in which students are allowed to stand

up, move about, and stretch.

• Set up classroom tasks that require students to gather information on

their own or in small groups, using resources that are away from

their desks.

• Systematically switch from activities in which students must work

independently at their own desks to activities in which they must

organize themselves in small groups in different areas of the room.

• When students’ energy level begins to wane, take an exercise break

for two to five minutes to change the routine.

Attitudes & Perceptions

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12. Introduce the concept of “bracketing.”

Bracketing is a process of maintaining focus and attention by consciously

blocking out distractions. In the first step, the learner recognizes that it is

time to pay attention. Next, the learner acknowledges his or her distracting

thoughts and mentally frames or “brackets” them. Finally, the learner makes a

commitment to avoid thinking about the distracting thoughts. Bracketing can

be accomplished in a variety of ways. You might suggest to students that they

• Use self-talk. (“I won’t think about it now.”)

• Designate a later time to think about it. (“I will think about it at the

end of class.”)

• Mentally picture pushing the distracting thoughts out of their head.

Bracketing contributes to a sense of comfort in the classroom because it

helps students to focus on one idea or task at a time. To help students

understand and practice bracketing, you might use the following strategies:

• Model bracketing by talking through the process during an

appropriate transition time (e.g., after lunch or before recess). You

might say that you are “changing channels” in preparation for

beginning a new task.

• Provide personal examples and ask students to share their examples

of when bracketing was productive or not very useful.

• Share with students examples, testimonials, or videos of well-known,

accomplished people (e.g., Olympic athletes, performers, and

political leaders) explaining how they have used strategies similar to

bracketing to stay focused.

• Use examples from literature in which students might find explicit

references or infer that a character bracketed information to persevere

or stay focused.

• If a student’s distracting thoughts are consuming or urgent, suggest

that he focus on the thoughts for a minute or two and then “put

them in a box” to retrieve after class. You can use this box

figuratively, or you might have a box on your desk for this purpose.

13. Establish and communicate classroom rules and procedures.

Well-articulated classroom rules and procedures are a powerful way of

conveying a sense of order to students. This can be accomplished in a

number of ways:

Marzano & Arredondo

(1986) Tactics for Thinking

Teacher’s Manual

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• Generate clear rules and standard operating procedures for the

classroom (either independently or collaboratively with the class).

Figure 1.1 lists some categories for which rules and procedures are

commonly specified.

• Have students discuss what rules and procedures they think would

be appropriate for the classroom.

• Communicate rules and procedures by discussing their meaning or

rationale, providing students with a written list, posting them in the

classroom, role playing them, or modeling their use.

• Specify when rules and procedures apply and how they may vary

depending on the context (e.g., “At the beginning of class. . . .” or

“During exams. . . .”).

• When a situation occurs that requires an exception to the rules,

acknowledge the change and explain the reasons for the exception.

• When providing students with feedback about their behavior,

identify the specific behavior that was consistent with the rules of

the class. In addition, let students know how they contributed to

their own success and to the success of others.

• Enforce rules and procedures quickly, fairly, and consistently.

FIGURE 1.1

ATEGORIES FOR CLASSROOM RULES

1. Beginning class

2. Room/school areas

3. Independent work

4. Ending class

5. Interruptions

6. Instructional procedures

7. Noninstructional procedures

8. Work requirements

9. Communicating assignments

10. Checking assignments in class

11. Grading procedures

12. Academic feedback

Teacher’s Manual

Fisher et al. (1978) Teaching

Behaviors, Academic Learning

Time and Student Achievement

Evertson et al. (1981)

Organizing and Managing the

Elementary Classroom

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14. Be aware of malicious teasing or threats inside or outside of

the classroom, and take steps to stop such behavior.

Personal safety is a primary concern for everyone. It is difficult to learn when

you feel physically or psychologically unsafe. There are several things you

can do to help your students feel safe:

• Establish clear policies about the physical safety of students. The clearer

you can be about policies regarding physical safety, the stronger the

message will be to students. Policies and rules should include a

description of the consequences of threatening or harming others.

• Make sure your students know that you are looking out for their

safety and well-being. Be certain that they understand that you will

take action on their behalf.

• Pinpoint the students who are threatening or teasing others and

those who are being threatened or teased. Talk with the students to

find out why this is happening.

• Occasionally patrol the perimeter of the school, looking for threatening

aspects of the environment. Check areas within the school where

students could be threatened (e.g., bathrooms or hallways).

• If necessary, meet with parents to discuss problems.

• Establish an environment in which “put downs” are not acceptable.

15. Have students identify their own standards for comfort and

order.

Teachers may spend much of their time in their classrooms prompting

students to meet agreed-upon standards for comfort and order. However, the

goal is for students to learn to identify their own standards for comfort and

order based on their preferences and understandings about accepted social

behavior.

Some classroom activities can help students take on more responsibility for

their own comfort and order, while being attentive to the needs of those

around them as well:

• Ask students to describe in some detail how they would arrange

their personal space (e.g., their desk area or work space) to achieve a

sense of comfort and order. This description might include a

checklist that students could refer to later. From time to time, ask

students to assess the extent to which they are keeping their personal

space up to the standards they have identified.

Maslow (1968) Toward a

Psychology of Being

Edmonds (1982) “Programs

of School Improvement: An

Overview”

Carbo, Dunn, & Dunn

(1986) Teaching Students to

Read Through Their

Individual Learning Styles

Hanson, Silver, & Strong

(1986) Teaching Styles and

Strategies

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• Periodically place a group of students in charge of “room

arrangement.” Make it the group’s job to enhance the appearance or

arrangement of the classroom in some way.

• Discuss with students how to change their standards for comfort and

order depending on the situation. For example, a student may need

the environment to be very quiet while studying but may enjoy

music while working on an art project. You might prompt students

to examine different activities (e.g., doing homework, cleaning up a

room, and fixing a bike) in order to find out what they need to make

themselves comfortable.

• Suggest that students ask other people to describe their needs or

strategies for creating comfort and order. Sometimes ideas from

others can validate strategies or help students generate new ones.

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 1 in your classroom.

Each year Mrs. Frost developed classroom rules and had her elementary students write

them on individual tablemats, which they then decorated to their liking. Although the

tablemats were meant to help students experience ownership of the rules, it seemed to

her that she was the only one who “owned” them. The students were constantly

finding new ways to bend them, and much of Mrs. Frost’s time was spent enforcing

them. Feeling frustrated, she talked with a colleague who suggested that she allow

students to devise their own set of rules and decide on the consequences for breaking

them. Two days later, Mrs. Frost found her colleague to share how well it worked.

“The students added rules I had not thought of,” she explained, “and some of their

consequences are harsher than mine. In addition, one child came up with a great title

for the list: Respect yourself, respect others, and respect property.”

• • •

Mr. Vosburg decided he needed some new ways to get more students to participate in

classroom discussion. Many students seemed to “fade into the background” during

discussions or to offer ideas only when called on. After some reflection, he realized that

he knew many strategies that addressed this problem; he just did not use them very

often. He decided to make a conscious effort to use these strategies, such as recording

students’ ideas on the board and writing their names next to the ideas, remembering

students’ ideas and referring to them at a later time (e.g., “Yesterday, Colleen said

that she disagreed with. . . .”), and challenging students ideas more vigorously,

especially with students who would find these challenges more reinforcing than praise

Teacher’s Manual

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(e.g., “But wait, Sandy. That doesn’t make sense if. . . .”). As Mr. Vosburg had

hoped, when students realized that their ideas were making an impression on him,

they began to participate more enthusiastically and thoughtfully.

• • •

Mr. Berger noticed that students in his high school history classes often referred to each

other as “that kid sitting in the back” or “the guy with the vest on” or “that girl who

always wears a ponytail.” He decided to create some opportunities for students to get to

know one another in the hopes that in the future they would interact more frequently.

He started by having students play a rhyming “name game,” one that is usually

played in elementary school. The students thought it was funny to play a “kid’s”

game, but they also began to know and use each other’s names. Mr. Berger was very

pleased when he noticed that once students began to address each other by name, they

were more likely to ask each other for information and check with each other when

they needed some help.

Teacher’s Manual

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

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Perceptions About Classroom

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Helping Students Develop Positive Attitudes

and Perceptions About Classroom Tasks

The second area of attitudes and perceptions is related to the tasks that

learners are asked to perform. First, learners must perceive that tasks are

valuable or interesting or they will not put much effort into them. Second,

students must believe they have the ability and resources to complete tasks

or they will not attempt the tasks because the risk is too great. Third,

students must clearly understand what they are being asked to do; if

students do not understand a task but try it anyway, their efforts probably

will be unfocused and ineffective. The following strategies are a few of the

many ways in which a teacher can help students develop and maintain

positive attitudes and perceptions about tasks.

1. Help students understand that learning is influenced by

attitudes and perceptions related to classroom tasks.

It is important for students to understand that their attitudes and perceptions

about classroom tasks significantly influence what they learn from those tasks.

It is also important for them to understand that maintaining positive

attitudes and perceptions toward tasks is a shared responsibility between

teachers and students. If students develop these understandings, they are

more likely to appreciate the efforts teachers make to keep students’ attitudes

and perceptions as positive as possible. They also are more likely to develop

and use their own strategies for maintaining positive attitudes and

perceptions as they work on assigned tasks.

Learning is influenced by the degree to which students perceive tasks as

valuable and interesting, believe that they have the ability and resources to

complete tasks, and understand and are clear about tasks. There are many

ways to help students understand these influential attitudes and perceptions:

• Share with students how your own learning (from kindergarten to

where you are today) has been influenced by your attitudes and

perceptions related to tasks you have been assigned. Share strategies

you use, or have used, to maintain positive attitudes and perceptions

and thus to improve your learning. Then ask students to share their

experiences and the strategies that have worked to enhance their

learning.

Teacher’s Manual

One principal uses Back to

School Night as an

opportunity to present the

Dimensions of Learning

model. He highlights the

faculty’s role in helping

students to acquire,

integrate, extend, and use

knowledge and elicits

parents’ help in enhancing

students’ attitudes toward

learning. Throughout the

year, the school newsletter

includes suggestions for

parents to enhance students’

attitudes.

Dimension 1

Attitudes & Perceptions

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Perceptions About Classroom

Tasks

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• Present hypothetical situations in which students’ attitudes are

negatively influencing learning and ask students to discuss how

learning might be enhanced if the situation were resolved.

• Help students become aware of how fictional, historical, or famous

people maintain positive attitudes toward tasks. People in newspaper

articles or characters in books, films, or television programs can

provide opportunities to discuss both positive and negative examples.

Perceive Tasks as Valuable and Interesting

2. Establish a sense of academic trust.

One way of ensuring that students perceive their assigned tasks as valuable is

to establish with them a relationship referred to as “academic trust.” This

means that students consider tasks to be valuable because they trust that the

teacher only assigns tasks that are valuable. In an environment of academic

trust, students are less likely to challenge tasks that they do not immediately

see as valuable because they have the confidence that they will eventually

understand why the tasks are important.

Like any trusting relationship, academic trust can only be developed over

time. It requires that students have consistent experiences with teachers in

which they eventually see the value of assigned tasks.

3. Help students understand how specific knowledge is valuable.

If students do not initially see value in learning about specific knowledge,

sometimes all they need is an explanation of why the knowledge is valuable.

For example, it may be difficult for students to understand why learning

about the Cuban missile crisis is important. However, the teacher might use

the details of the crisis to help students understand how the relationship

between the United States and the former Soviet Union has evolved over

time.

There are a number of other ways to help students understand the value of

specific knowledge:

• Explain to students how this information will be useful to them later

as they learn even more complex concepts, make interdisciplinary

connections, or as they complete a task. (You may want to “preview”

an upcoming task, pointing out how the knowledge they are

learning will be useful as they complete the task.)

“Teachers should have the

ability to develop activities

for students that—while

embodying the learning

objectives—are clearly

linked to intellectual

products that the students

value.”

—NASSP (1996)

Breaking Ranks: Changing an

American Institution,

p. 15.

Teacher’s Manual

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• Help students relate the information to real-life experiences in which

the information can be used.

• Have students identify and share with one another why they think

specific information or tasks might be worthwhile or important to

their learning.

4. Use a variety of ways to engage students in classroom tasks.

Few would dispute that when students are highly engaged in tasks, they

learn more. Constructing tasks that are interesting and engaging is a

challenge, especially given the diversity among learners in terms of interests

and abilities. There are numerous ways to construct and present tasks that

can increase the numbers of students who find the task interesting:

• Construct tasks that are “authentic,” that is, related to life outside of

school or in the workplace. Students who clearly see the relevance

and use of tasks are more likely to be engaged in them.

• Make sure that tasks represent an intellectual challenge. It is not

uncommon to observe students, at all levels of achievement,

becoming immediately immersed in seemingly unimportant tasks

(e.g., solving a riddle, looking for a solution to a hypothetical

situation, or clarifying a confusing idea) simply because they are

engaged in a perceived challenge. Classroom tasks can have a similar

effect if the intellectual challenge is there.

• Allow for student choices. There are a number of ways to provide

students with choices yet maintain the academic rigor of a task. For

example, you might give students several tasks or product ideas from

which to choose in order to demonstrate specific knowledge; you also

might allow students to select their own specific content to

exemplify or illustrate a generalization or principle.

• Exhibit a sense of enthusiasm about the material you present. If you

are excited about the content, students may share your enthusiasm.

• Provide anecdotes and interesting “asides” related to the information

being presented. Although students may not initially be interested in

the content, you might pique their interest with an anecdote.

Teacher’s Manual

Brookover et al. (1979)

School Social Systems and

Student Achievement

Strong, Silver, & Robinson

(1995) “What Do Students

Want?”

Wlodkowski & Ginsberg

(1995) Diversity and

Motivation

McCombs & Whisler (1997)

The Learner-Centered

Classroom and School

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5. Create classroom tasks that relate to students’ interests and

goals.

Students are more likely to perceive tasks as valuable if the tasks somehow

relate to their interests and goals. Consequently, teachers often seek out

information about students’ interests and goals as a way to help them see

value and to engage them in learning. For example, if a teacher presenting a

unit on ratios and proportions knows that students in her class are interested

in music and sports, she could explain how ratios and proportions are used in

music performances and sports events.

Over time, teachers might want to give students the opportunity to generate

their own tasks based on their personal interests. For example, after

introducing three types of graphs in a math lesson, the teacher might have

students select something of interest to them to illustrate the use of the

three types. One student might select the shooting percentages of her

favorite basketball players; another might graph the number of months that

various books are on the best-seller list.

Teachers can find out about students’ interests and goals through ongoing

conversations or by directly eliciting this information. Figure 1.2 shows an

example of an interest inventory that teachers might ask students to complete.

FIGURE 1.2

TUDENT INVENTORY

1. If you could be anything in the world, what would it be?

______________________________________________________________

2. Where would you like to go if you could go anywhere?

______________________________________________________________

3. If you could live during any period in history, when would it be?

______________________________________________________________

4. What projects are you currently working on?

______________________________________________________________

5. What projects would you like to work on?

______________________________________________________________

Markus & Ruvulo (1990)

“Possible Selves:

Personalized

Representations of Goals”

Markus & Wurf (1987)

“The Dynamic Self-concept:

A Social Psychological

Perspective”

Teacher’s Manual

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Believe They Have the Ability and Resources to

Complete Tasks

6. Provide appropriate feedback.

The kind of feedback students receive as they are working on tasks can have

a significant influence on the extent to which they believe they can be

successful. Many good teachers are accustomed to giving students the kind

of feedback that encourages them and expresses confidence in their ability

(e.g., “Good job.”, “Keep going.”, “I knew you could do it.”, “Don’t stop

now.”). However, at times students may need more specific feedback that

identifies exactly what they did well and what they need to improve. This

may require breaking the task into smaller parts and helping students see

their strengths and weaknesses in each part. For example:

• “Your opening paragraph clearly states the thesis of the essay. Your

closing summarizes nicely. Let’s look at the support offered in your

third paragraph.”

• “The stance you take before you swing provides exactly the stability

you need. Don’t change your swing, but as you lean back. . . .”

• “This part of the assignment was strong. Because you went back and

checked your answers, you. . . .”

The type of feedback needed varies as a function of the specific student, the

task, and even the mood of the day. However, the purpose of feedback is

always to build students’ confidence in their ability to complete challenging,

complex assignments.

7. Teach students to use positive self-talk.

One of the most powerful ways in which students can develop positive

attitudes about their abilities is to replace their negative self-talk with

positive self-talk. The first step in this process is to become aware of

negative self-talk. Students might keep a journal for a few days, noting all

the negative things they say about themselves and about school (e.g., “I

dislike this class. I can’t do this very well.”). Once they have identified

specific negative comments they make to themselves in specific situations,

they can try to change their negative self-talk to positive self-talk (e.g., “I

enjoy this class. I’m good at it.”). It is important to note that students

initially do not have to believe their positive self-talk for it to help them be

successful.

Teacher’s Manual

Brophy & Good (1986)

“Teacher Behavior and

Student Achievement”

Covington (1985) “Strategic

Thinking and the Fear of

Failure”

Covington et al. (1974) The

Productive Thinking Program

Whisler & Marzano (1988)

Dare to Imagine

“Your mind can amaze your

body if you just keep telling

yourself, I can do it, I can

do it, I can do it.”

—Jon Erickson

Dimension 1

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8. Help students recognize that they have the abilities to

complete a particular task.

When students believe that they do not have the abilities needed to

complete a task, sometimes they simply need to understand that, in fact,

they do. This means more than being a cheerleader for students; it means

helping them understand that they have the knowledge. Students may be

overwhelmed and distracted from the knowledge embedded in the task,

particularly when tasks are presented in complex contexts or are long-term

projects. There are a number of ways to help them to recognize their own

knowledge:

• Explain more clearly exactly what knowledge is needed for the task.

• Provide students with evidence that they have demonstrated the

knowledge in the past (e.g., through work in a portfolio or scores on

previous assignments).

• Break the task into smaller parts in a way that helps students see

that they have the knowledge for each step and, therefore, are able to

complete the task.

• Provide students with a spontaneous miniquiz in which they are

asked to demonstrate the knowledge in a simpler context. When

they are successful, refocus them on the more complex task.

9. Help students understand that believing in their ability to

complete a task includes believing that they have the ability

to get the help and the resources needed.

When students are encouraged to believe in their abilities, it is possible for

them to misunderstand and think that they are only successful when they

can complete a task on their own. It is important for all students to

understand that both in school and in life, identifying and seeking help

appropriately is a characteristic of a confident learner.

Students at all ability levels may need prompting and modeling to improve

their abilities in this area; however, interestingly, high-achieving students

may need even more. High achievers can put heavy pressure on themselves

to be successful without anyone’s help. In fact, they may perceive seeking

help as a weakness. Take and make opportunities to discuss, model, and

reinforce the act of seeking appropriate help to complete a task.

Covington (1985) “Strategic

Thinking and the Fear of

Failure”

Covington et al. (1974) The

Productive Thinking Program

Hunter (1982) Mastery

Teaching

Covey (1990) The 7 Habits

of Highly Effective People

Teacher’s Manual

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Understand and Be Clear About Tasks

10. Help students be clear about the directions and demands of

the task.

Although the need for students to be clear about the directions and demands

of the task seems obvious, achieving this clarity can be difficult. Ask parents

who help their children with homework and you will hear examples of their

frustrated attempts to understand tasks, not only when their only source is

their children’s interpretation of the directions, but also when they have the

assignment sheet in hand. Experienced teachers who know that completing

the task as assigned will enhance students’ learning use techniques to ensure

clarity, including the following:

• Ask friends, colleagues, or family members to read assignment sheets

and explain their understanding of the assignments before giving

them to students.

• As you review directions with students, have them mentally rehearse

the more complex parts to help them identify and clear up confusions.

• Have students explain the tasks to each other, articulating and

clearing up confusions.

• Ask students if they understand what they are being asked to do.

• Show students examples of work turned in by other students.

11. Provide students with clarity about the knowledge that the

task addresses.

Sometimes students are asked to engage in tasks without knowing what

knowledge the task is requiring them to use. It is possible for students to

complete tasks by focusing more on the product to be handed in than on the

knowledge being used. This might result in the task having little positive

effect on learning. For example, students making a miniature colonial quilt

may enjoy making the quilt but lose sight of the fact that they are

developing an understanding of how people use available resources to

survive. In short, teachers need to ask themselves what knowledge a task is

intended to teach and then communicate this clearly to students so that they

know what they are supposed to be learning as a result of doing the task.

Teacher’s Manual

Emmer, Evertson, &

Anderson (1980) “Effective

Management at the

Beginning of the School

Year”

Dimension 1

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Tasks

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DIMENSION 1

12. Provide students with clear expectations of performance

levels for tasks.

To be successful learners, students need to know what standards of

performance are expected of them. As students mature and grow as learners,

they will learn to generate their own personal standards for excellence.

However, teachers need to provide performance standards to students when

they are beginning a task so that they know and understand the criteria

others will use to evaluate their work.

Students also need to understand the characteristics of performances that

exceed the standards and be able to describe those performances that do not

meet the standards. There are a number of formats that can be used to

communicate these criteria to students, the most common of which are

checklists and rubrics. An example of each of these is provided in Figure 1.3.

FIGURE 1.3

AMPLE CHECKLIST AND RUBRIC: TERM PAPER

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 1

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Tasks

Checklist (Sample Items) Completed

cover page with title

✔

bibliography

✔

appropriate page setup:

• 1-inch margins

• 12-point font

✔

Rubric

4 Thesis was clearly stated and was supported with information and examples

that reflected insight into its meaning; selected examples and information

strongly elaborated on the thesis and added an original perspective.

3 Thesis was clearly stated and supported with appropriate information and

examples.

2 Thesis was stated but parts of it were unclear and/or some information and

examples offered in support were not clearly related to the thesis or

reflected misconceptions or confusions.

1 Thesis was unclear and/or information and examples offered did not

support the thesis.

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DIMENSION 1

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 1 in your classroom.

Mr. Snow was tired of hearing that teachers should try harder to link assignments to

children’s interests. He had a great deal of content to cover and hated those “fluffy”

units that had no content, that simply engaged students in self-exploration. He also

was not going to dress up like George Washington and put on a show for students like

one teacher did. With this attitude, he reluctantly attended the required inservice on

the topic of student attitudes. To his surprise, he realized that he had misinterpreted

the message. The presenter explained that linking assignments to students’ interest

should not compromise academic rigor: “Just have them find examples of grammar

rules in articles about topics they like. Have them create three kinds of graphs using

data they care about. Ask them to apply scientific principles to situations they see every

day. Have them create analogies to show, for example, how the cell is like other

systems they see around them. Always hold students accountable for the knowledge but

let them help you identify ways to make it more interesting.” Mr. Snow of course had

used many of the suggested techniques in the past, but he acknowledged to himself that

he had not done it as much lately. He also admitted that he could probably use some

new ideas.

• • •

One of Mrs. Fitzsimmons’s brightest students experienced intense anxiety when he took

tests and when he was called on in class. In an attempt to help him, Mrs.

Fitzsimmons suggested that he use the strategy of positive self-talk. She even provided

him with a process: (1) keep a journal to record the negative self-talk you notice

before, during, and after a difficult task; (2) identify and write down positive self-

talk that replaces the negative messages; and (3) practice saying the positive things to

yourself during tasks. The student listened to Mrs. Fitzsimmons respectfully as she

explained her idea, but it was clear that he was not persuaded to try the process. Mrs.

Fitzsimmons was disappointed that she had not helped him. However, two years later,

the student came to visit her. After some polite small talk, he shared with her that his

anxieties had gradually worsened. Recently he had become so desperate that he tried

the process she had suggested to him so long ago. “I just wanted you to know that it’s

working!” he explained. “I came back to say thanks.” Mrs. Fitzsimmons smiled as

she remembered how often teaching involves delayed gratification.

• • •

The students in Mr. Young’s class had just turned in their projects for the semester. As

he looked them over, Mr. Young became concerned and disappointed. Although it

appeared that some students had worked very hard, most of the projects were nothing

more than fancy products that, at best, were related only tangentially to the knowledge

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 1

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Tasks

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DIMENSION 1

he had been trying to emphasize in the semester. His first reaction was that he could not

give students low grades, inasmuch as they had worked hard. But then he decided to

get tough and send the message that he would not compromise his standards.

The day the students received their grades, most of them were upset. When Mr. Young

explained why he had given the low grades, one student responded, “That isn’t fair.

We did what we thought you wanted.” At first, Mr. Young was defensive. Why did

students have to be told that their projects had to demonstrate knowledge? But as he

listened to the students’ complaints, he had to acknowledge that he had not been clear

when assigning the projects. After more discussion, the students and Mr. Young

reached a compromise: In the future, he would try to clearly specify what knowledge

the students should be demonstrating with their projects; the students agreed they

would put more energy into demonstrating knowledge than into creating a “pretty

project.”

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 1

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Helping Students Develop

Positive Attitudes and

Perceptions About Classroom

Tasks

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DIMENSION 1

Unit Planning: Dimension 1

Planning for Dimension 1 requires asking and answering the following

overarching question:

What will be done to help students develop positive attitudes and

perceptions?

What follows is a step-by-step process that will guide you in answering this

question. Each step asks you to answer a key question or provide specific

information. There is a space on the planning guide (see page 42) in which

to record your ideas, notes, decisions, and planned activities. A sample

planning guide has been filled out for a hypothetical social studies unit

about Colorado. (This unit topic was chosen because, with some changes, it

could be used for a unit about any state or region and at any developmental

level. You will find the entire unit in the planning section at the end of

Chapter 6, “Putting It All Together.”)

Step 1

To answer these questions, do the following:

• Identify any concerns and goals, in general, that you may have. For

example, perhaps students recently have been expressing their

frustrations about the relevance of their schoolwork, a particular

student has given up trying, or you have noticed that lately you have

been overly concerned with content coverage and less concerned with

students.

• Identify goals and concerns that you may have related to this specific

unit. For example, perhaps you know that the assignments in the

upcoming unit are going to be challenging for students or your

experience tells you that students might not find the topics

immediately interesting.

Are there any goals or concerns related to students’ attitudes and

perceptions

• in general?

• related to this specific unit?

Teacher’s Manual

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Unit Planning

Dimension 1

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DIMENSION 1

Step 2

This question has two parts as follows:

Step 2a

Classroom Climate

• feel accepted by teachers and peers?

• experience a sense of comfort and order?

Classroom Tasks

• perceive tasks as valuable and interesting?

• believe they have the ability and resources to complete tasks?

• understand and be clear about tasks?

Answer this question by identifying the aspect of attitudes and

perceptions that will help you address your goals and concerns.

Step 2b

Describe the specific activities, experiences, and strategies that you

will use to address your goals and concerns. You might want to

consider the strategies suggested in this section of the manual:

Classroom Climate

1. Help students understand that attitudes and perceptions related

to classroom climate influence learning.

2. Establish a relationship with each student in the class.

3. Monitor and attend to your own attitudes.

4. Engage in equitable and positive classroom behavior.

5. Recognize and provide for students’ individual differences.

6. Respond positively to students’ incorrect responses or lack of

response.

7. Vary the positive reinforcement offered when students give the

correct response.

Describe what will be done.

Specifically, will anything be done to help students …

What will be done to address these goals or concerns?

Teacher’s Manual

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Unit Planning

Dimension 1

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DIMENSION 1

8. Structure opportunities for students to work with peers.

9. Provide opportunities for students to get to know and accept

each other.

10. Help students develop their ability to use their own strategies

for gaining acceptance from their teachers and peers.

11. Frequently and systematically use activities that involve physical

movement.

12. Introduce the concept of “bracketing.”

13. Establish and communicate classroom rules and procedures.

14. Be aware of malicious teasing or threats inside or outside of the

classroom, and take steps to stop such behavior.

15. Have students identify their own standards for comfort and order.

Classroom Tasks

1. Help students understand that learning is influenced by

attitudes and perceptions related to classroom tasks.

2. Establish a sense of academic trust.

3. Help students understand how specific knowledge is valuable.

4. Use a variety of ways to engage students in classroom tasks.

5. Create classroom tasks that relate to students’ interests and goals.

6. Provide appropriate feedback.

7. Teach students to use positive self-talk.

8. Help students recognize that they have the abilities to complete

a particular task.

9. Help students understand that believing in their ability to

complete a task includes believing that they have the ability to

get the help and the resources needed.

10. Help students be clear about the directions and demands of the

task.

11. Provide students with clarity about the knowledge that the task

addresses.

12. Provide students with clear expectations of performance levels for

tasks.

Teacher’s Manual

Attitudes & Perceptions

✔ Unit Planning

Dimension 1

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DIMENSION 1

Dimension 1 Planning Guide Unit: Colorado

Are there any goals or concerns

related to students’ attitudes and

perceptions

• in general?

• related to this specific unit?

What will be done to address these goals or concerns?

Specifically, will anything be

done to help students. . .

Classroom Climate

❏ feel accepted by

teachers and peers?

❏ experience a sense of

comfort and order?

Classroom Tasks

❏ perceive tasks as

valuable and interesting?

❏ believe they have

the ability and resources

to complete tasks?

❏ understand and be

clear about tasks?

Describe what will be done.

I think I have been in a rut lately

when responding both to students’

incorrect answers and to their

correct or thoughtful answers.

The last field trip was not fun for

anyone; it seemed unorganized and

many rules for bus behavior were

forgotten.

I am going to work on slowing down and giving students a

chance to answer my questions; I need to do more restating and

rephrasing of the questions.

I will go over the rules of bus behavior and the general rules

for field trips; I think I’ll have students generate some additional

rules and suggestions for making the field trip successful.

✓

Students might be getting tired

of studying Colorado.

✓

The assignments will give students the opportunity to apply

knowledge to regions of their choice.

Step 1 Step 2

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Many districts are working

to identify academic

standards and benchmarks,

which specify the

declarative and procedural

knowledge that students

should have by the end of

grades 2, 5, 8, and 12. This

work then serves as a

resource for teachers as they

plan curricular units that

specify the content

knowledge that students

must acquire and integrate.

Dimension 2

Acquire and Integrate Knowledge

Introduction

Before planning to help students acquire and integrate knowledge, it is

important to clarify the type of knowledge that is the target of the lesson or

unit. Many cognitive psychologists believe that knowledge can be organized

into two basic categories: declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge. Here

are some examples of each type of knowledge:

Learning procedural knowledge requires the learner to perform a process or to

demonstrate a skill, that is, to take some kind of action. Some of the actions

are primarily mental (e.g., add and subtract); some are primarily physical

Declarative Knowledge

The learner knows or understands

• democracy

• a numerator

• an amoeba

• the conventions of

punctuation

• the rules of basketball

• that when oppression meets

resistance, conflict results

• that George Washington was

the first president of the

United States

Procedural Knowledge

The learner is able to

• add and subtract

• write a paragraph

• shoot free throws

• read a bar graph

• set up an experiment

• search a database

• read music

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(e.g., shoot free throws). Whether mental or physical, when we perform

these actions, we go through a series of steps: first we do one thing, then

another, then another. This is the case even with complex processes like

writing, reading a bar graph, and setting up an experiment. Although the

sequence of steps is not always linear, there are steps that we must perform

in the skills and processes that make up procedural knowledge.

In contrast, learning declarative knowledge does not require the learner to

perform a series of steps with the mind or body. This kind of information is

information that the learner must know or understand. When we think of

democracy, we do not perform one step first, then another, and then another.

Rather, we recall the attributes of democracy (e.g., one person, one vote;

decisions are made by the group versus by an individual). Similarly, when we

think of an amoeba, we think about its characteristics (e.g., it is a one-celled

animal), and when we think of the conventions of punctuation, we think of a

set of rules used in the written language (e.g., capitalize the first letter of the

first word in each sentence). In short, declarative knowledge is the

information—facts, concepts, and generalizations—within content

knowledge.

The Importance of Understanding the Nature of

Knowledge

Although studying the distinctions between the types of knowledge is

somewhat of a technical endeavor, many educators would argue that it is

necessary in order to effectively plan and implement curriculum, instruction,

and assessment. Clearly, to help students learn, we must not only understand

the learning process, we must understand the nature of knowledge. We must

be as good at identifying the knowledge students are learning as we are at

planning interesting educational activities. We must understand how

teaching and assessing declarative knowledge is different from teaching and

assessing procedural knowledge. We must make informed decisions about

what knowledge is worth acquiring and integrating, extending and refining,

and using meaningfully. The following explanations and descriptions are

offered as a resource for those who are unfamiliar with these distinctions and,

especially, for those who are using the Dimensions of Learning model as a

structure for planning and implementing curriculum, instruction, and

assessment.

Anderson (1990) Cognitive

Psychology and Its Implications

Anderson (1995) Learning

and Memory

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Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

✔ Introduction

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The Relationship Between Declarative and

Procedural Knowledge

Because we as educators are concerned with students’ ability to use the

knowledge that they are learning, helping students acquire procedural

knowledge is sometimes seen as the ultimate goal of education. This reflects

the common misconception that procedural knowledge is the most

important type of knowledge, a conclusion that perhaps results because

examples of procedural knowledge typically begin with the phrase “is able

to” and because the uses of procedural knowledge are apparent (e.g., it is

easy to identify how we use the ability to write a paragraph). In addition,

people tend to think that if students are involved in an activity or something

“hands-on,” procedural knowledge is being used. Activities and hands-on

experiences (e.g., making a model of the solar system) are often methods that

are used to help students learn or demonstrate declarative knowledge. The

uses of declarative knowledge, although sometimes not as apparent, are

numerous and important.

Most tasks involving the use of knowledge require both declarative and

procedural knowledge. Completing a decision-making, problem-solving, or

experimental-inquiry task, for example, requires learners to perform the

steps of the specific process (procedural knowledge). But it is the declarative

knowledge—what learners know or understand about the topic—that often

is the primary factor in students’ successfully completing tasks and

obtaining useful results. For example, students who are asked to conduct an

experiment to determine the makeup of an unknown substance in chemistry

class must be skilled in the scientific process. However, their research will be

significantly influenced by their understanding of the properties of chemicals.

Acquiring a skill without understanding the various concepts related to the

skill could result in students’ acquiring knowledge that is of limited use. For

example, if students are skilled at solving linear and quadratic equations, but

do not understand the distinctive characteristics of these equations or when

to use a specific type of equation, they are missing the critical knowledge—

the declarative knowledge—that is necessary to know how and when to use

these skills.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

✔ Introduction

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Levels of Generality and the Organization of

Knowledge

Within the general categories of declarative and procedural knowledge, there

are even finer distinctions that can guide the process of identifying the

knowledge that all students should have the opportunity to learn. We can

understand these distinctions by examining how declarative and procedural

knowledge can be organized to create a hierarchy from specific to general

knowledge.

Declarative Knowledge

Declarative knowledge can be organized into patterns that highlight

different relationships among pieces of information. Organizational patterns

are used to ensure that students do not see information as isolated pieces,

sometimes call “infobits.” When, instead, students see that the pieces of

information can be connected to form patterns, they are more likely to use

and retain the information. Six of the most common organizational patterns

are explained below.

1. Descriptions. At the most specific level, declarative knowledge can be

organized as descriptions of specific persons, places, ideas, things, or events.

Information might be organized as simple descriptions when students are

initially learning the meaning of vocabulary terms or when they are gathering

key facts related to very specific content knowledge.

Vocabulary Terms. Knowing a vocabulary term means understanding

the meaning of a word at a very general level. This means organizing

information to show the most important characteristics of the word

as well as to identify some examples or experiences that further

describe it. In other words, students need to have enough

information to describe the word accurately, but at a somewhat

surface level of understanding, and have no serious misconceptions

about its meaning.

Facts. Facts can be organized to describe very specific persons, places,

living and nonliving things, and events. They commonly articulate

information such as the following:

• characteristics of a specific person (e.g., The fictitious character

of Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest.)

• characteristics of a specific place (e.g., Denver has a very dry

climate.)

“A question I ask myself

when I’m designing a task

for students is, ‘What is the

knowledge I want them to

learn?’ We’ve all used tasks

like the classic sugar cube-

pyramid. But what is the

point of it? One of my self-

imposed challenges is to

create tasks that are fun

AND that help students to

acquire and integrate

specific knowledge and

skills.”

—A primary teacher

“Some [people] try to make

education painless. ‘Do not,’

they say, ‘ask students to

learn facts, but teach them

to think.’. . . How can a

man think if he doesn’t

know? Charles Darwin

gathered biological facts for

twenty years without seeing

any binding relationship.

Then one day, when he was

walking through an English

country lane, the idea of

evolution suddenly came to

him. That’s what thinking

is—the flashing emergence

of an idea after facts have

been mulled over a long

time.”

—W. E. McNeill,

as quoted in Dale (1984)

The Educator’s Quotebook,

p. 86.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

✔ Introduction

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“We’re drowning in

information and starving for

knowledge.”

—Rutherford D. Rogers

• characteristics of specific living and nonliving things (e.g., My

dog, Tuffy, is a golden retriever; the Empire State Building is

more than 100 stories high.)

• characteristics of a specific event (e.g., Construction began on the

Leaning Tower of Pisa in 1174.)

2. Time Sequences. Important events that occur between two specific points

in time can be organized into a time sequence. For example, the events from a

story or biography can be organized into a time sequence.

3. Process/Cause-Effect Relationships. Process/cause-effect relationships organize

information into a causal network leading to a specific outcome or into a

sequence of steps leading to a specific product. The information that explains

how we digest food, for example, can be organized into a process pattern.

The events leading to the fall of the Roman Empire can be organized into a

causal network.

4. Episodes. Episodes are specific events that have (1) a setting (e.g., a

particular time and place), (2) specific participants, (3) a particular duration,

(4) a specific sequence of events, and (5) a particular cause and effect. For

example, “Watergate” could be organized as an episode if it is important for

students to know the facts about the time and place, how long it lasted, who

was involved, the sequence of events, the causes, and the specific effects on

the country.

5. Generalizations/Principles. Generalizations are statements for which

examples can be provided. “Mysteries often use the technique of

foreshadowing” is a generalization. Principles are generalizations that

articulate rules or relationships that can be applied to a number of specific

situations. “Water seeks its own level” is a scientific principle. In some cases,

it is easy to confuse generalizations with facts. Facts identify characteristics

of specific persons, places, living and nonliving things, and events, whereas

generalizations make statements about classes or categories of persons, places,

living and nonliving things, and events. In addition, generalizations identify

characteristics about abstractions; specifically, information about abstractions

is always stated in the form of generalizations. The following are examples of

the various types of generalizations:

• characteristics of classes of persons (e.g., It takes at least two years of

training to become a fireman.)

• characteristics of classes of places (e.g., Large cities have high crime

rates.)

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

✔ Introduction

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• characteristics of classes of living and nonliving things (e.g., Golden

retrievers are good hunting dogs; firearms are the subject of great

debate.)

• characteristics of classes of events (e.g., The Super Bowl is one of the

premier sporting events of the year.)

• characteristics of abstractions (e.g., Love is one of the most powerful

human emotions.)

6. Concepts. Concepts, the most general way of thinking about knowledge,

are commonly single words or phrases that label entire classes or categories

of persons, places, living and nonliving things, and events (e.g., dictatorship,

civil rights, equilibrium, perspective, artificial intelligence, and poetry). Whereas

generalizations are statements about general classes or categories, concepts

are words or phrases that label the general classes or categories.

“Governments are established to both regulate and provide services” is a

generalization. Government is a concept.

Because concepts can be confused with vocabulary terms, it might be useful

to examine the distinctions between them. The difference between concepts

and vocabulary terms is in the approach used to teach them. If dictators, for

example, were approached as a simple vocabulary term, students would be

expected to have a general, but accurate, understanding of what the word

means. In other words, students could generate mental images of the word

or connect it to experiences in which the word applies. However, if the word

were approached as a concept, students would be expected to develop an in-

depth understanding of the word. This would include being able to

articulate the key characteristics of the concept and being able to generate a

number of examples that illustrate each characteristic. Students would need

to understand, for example, that one characteristic of dictators is that they

tend to silence or persecute their opposition. They should then be able to

provide examples of dictators, such as Mussolini and Hitler, who imprisoned

or banished their dissenters.

The ways of organizing declarative knowledge described above are listed in

an order that represents a hierarchy, from the most specific to the most

general. This level of generality refers to the degree to which the knowledge

transfers, that is, the degree to which it can be applied to many different,

specific situations. If, for example, students are studying a concept, such as

culture, which is at the highest level of generality, this general information

about culture will help them organize and therefore understand specific

information about the cultures of many different countries. It will also help

them organize and understand specific information about the cultures of

organizations. If, however, students are studying facts, such as the specific

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

✔ Introduction

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characteristics of the Empire State Building, this information will not

necessarily help them when they are learning specific facts about other

buildings, the Taj Mahal, for example.

Procedural Knowledge

The terms skills and processes are commonly used to identify types of

procedural knowledge. Although they are not part of a strict hierarchy, skills

and processes do represent levels of generality of procedural knowledge. A

skill typically refers to a specific set of steps performed in a fairly strict order

and, ideally, without much conscious thought. Adding, subtracting, typing,

and strumming a guitar are examples of skills. A process is a more general

set of steps that is performed with more conscious thought and careful

consideration of what needs to be done next. Skills might be embedded

within the steps of a process. In fact, the most general processes, called

macroprocesses, describe procedural knowledge that is commonly comprised of

a number of skills. Reading for comprehension, driving a car, and giving a

speech are examples of macroprocesses.

When specifying the procedural knowledge that students are to learn in a

specific lesson or unit, identifying only general processes is not sufficient.

One goal of a unit might be, for example, to help students learn to read for

comprehension. However, reading is such a general process that more

specific procedural knowledge also needs to be designated; for example,

students might be learning to create mental pictures as they read or to figure

out the meaning of a word they do not know. As is true of declarative

knowledge, the more clearly the procedural knowledge is specified, the more

likely it is that students will acquire that knowledge.

Acquiring and Integrating Declarative and

Procedural Knowledge

Understanding these two types of knowledge—declarative and procedural—

not only influences how teachers identify knowledge for lessons and units, it

also should help them select appropriate instructional strategies. Different

strategies are appropriate for each type of knowledge because students learn

each type differently. Learning declarative knowledge requires three phases:

constructing meaning, organizing, and storing. Learning procedural knowledge

requires phases that are somewhat parallel with those in declarative

knowledge: constructing models, shaping, and internalizing. The relationships

among the phases within each type are different, as represented in Figures

2.1 and 2.2. The emphasis that you place on the various phases can vary

greatly depending on the specific goals you set for the lesson or unit. More

detailed explanations of each phase, along with suggestions for instruction

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

✔ Introduction

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and planning, are included in the remainder of this chapter. A discussion of

assessment for all of the dimensions can be found in Chapter 6, “Putting It

All Together.”

FIGURE 2.1

HE PHASES OF DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE

FIGURE 2.2

HE PHASES OF PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE

Construct

Models

Shape Internalize

Store

Organize

Construct

Meaning

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

✔ Introduction

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DIMENSION 2

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Helping Students Acquire and Integrate

Declarative Knowledge

As explained in the introduction to this dimension, declarative knowledge

includes information the learner must know or understand. Knowing and

understanding requires the learner both to acquire new information and

integrate that information with what has been previously learned. This

process of acquisition and integration has been the topic of much theorizing

and experimentation in an attempt to understand how to help students learn

more effectively. Although there is still much that is not understood, the

three phases—construct meaning, organize, and store—define more precisely

what the learner must do to be successful. The explanations of these phases

and the accompanying strategies should help teachers to plan experiences

that will lead to more efficient and effective learning.

Construct Meaning for Declarative Knowledge

An important phase in learning declarative knowledge is constructing

meaning. Experienced educators know that if students are to understand the

information they are receiving, they must actively do something “in their

heads.” Students must construct meaning by recalling prior knowledge and

linking it with new knowledge, making and verifying predictions, and

filling in unstated information. If students are watching a documentary film

on sharks, for example, they are using what they already know to make sense

of the new information about sharks. Their prior knowledge enables them to

predict what they might see in the documentary and to then verify those

predictions as they view the film. They might also correct their

misconceptions, fill in unstated information, and identify areas that are

confusing. All of these activities exemplify the active process of constructing

meaning that needs to occur as students are trying to understand the

information.

Fortunately, human beings tend to construct meaning naturally as they are

exposed to information, as they read the newspaper in the morning, for

example, or listen to the radio. However, in the classroom, students often

need prompting to use, and to improve on, their ability to construct

meaning. There are many techniques and strategies that can be used to help

students learn to construct meaning during structured classroom experiences

and during independent assignments. The following sections provide

suggestions to use as students are constructing meaning while they are

initially acquiring and integrating knowledge.

Construct

Meaning

Organize

Store

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Construct Meaning

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

1. Help students understand what it means to construct

meaning.

The strategies in this section can help students construct meaning and

thereby enhance their learning. However, any time students are using a

strategy, success is much greater if they understand the effect the strategy

should have on their learning. Further, students will be much more likely to

use the strategies on their own if they are able to recognize situations in

which the strategies are needed. Thus, we suggest that teachers provide

experiences for students that will help them to understand the importance of

constructing meaning as they acquire declarative knowledge. Suggestions for

achieving this understanding include the following:

• Lead a discussion with students about the differences between simply

looking at or hearing words and seeking understanding. You might

ask students to read a passage (such as the one below) that has been

intentionally written to hinder the constructing meaning process.

Then give the passage a title (“Doing Laundry”), and have students

read it again, noting how differently they process the information

when they have a cue (i.e., the title) that elicits prior knowledge.

The procedure is actually quite simple. First, you arrange items into different

groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is

to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to a lack of facilities, that is the

next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo

things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the

short run, this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A

mistake can be expensive as well. At first, the whole procedure will seem

complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is

difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate

future, but then, one never can tell.

After the procedure is complete, you arrange the materials into different

groups again. Then you can put them into their appropriate places.

Eventually, they will be used again, and the whole cycle will then have to be

repeated. However, that is part of life.

• When you use strategies that help students construct meaning,

review why you are using these strategies.

• When students are about to receive new information, cue them to

select a strategy that helps them construct meaning. After using the

strategy, have them discuss if and how it helped them understand

the information.

“It sounds like a simple

proposition: we construct

our own understandings

of the world in which we

live. . . . Our experiences

lead us to conclude that

some people are generous

and other people are cheap

of spirit, that representational

government either works or

doesn’t, that fire burns us if

we get too close, that

rubber balls usually bounce,

that most people enjoy

compliments, and that

cubes have six sides.”

—Brooks & Brooks (1993)

In Search of Understanding,

p. 4.

Dimension 2

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Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Construct Meaning

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

2. Use the three-minute pause.

Jay McTighe, of the Maryland Assessment Consortium, recommends that

teachers regularly use the three-minute pause. This means stopping every ten

or fifteen minutes during a classroom activity and asking students to reflect

on and verbalize about something they have learned. Students may work in

pairs or small groups or talk together as a class. This pause changes the

mode in which students are operating by asking them to move from

listening and observing (input) to reflecting and talking (output).

To set up the three-minute pause, you can give students very loose directions

(e.g., “Talk about what you have been thinking during this activity”) or

directions that are very structured (e.g., “Answer the following question. . . .”).

The degree to which your directions are structured should depend on the

complexity of the content about which students are constructing meaning

and the level of experience that students have had with the three-minute

pause. Below are some examples of what you might ask students to do. Then

give students three minutes, or fewer, to go through the process.

• “Summarize what you have learned.”

• “Identify one thing you already knew and one thing that was new to

you.”

• “Describe something you found interesting.”

• “Identify one thing that was confusing, and try to clear it up.”

• “Answer the following question. . . .”

3. Help students experience content using a variety of senses.

It is a fairly well-accepted principle that if students have the ability to create

detailed mental images of information they are receiving, they can improve

their comprehension and retention of the information. Further, the more

senses they use to create those images, the better the results. These images

can make a distant historical example seem more real and transform an

abstraction that is difficult to understand into something more concrete. To

help students cultivate this skill, when they are reading a book, viewing a

film, listening to a discussion or lecture, or observing a demonstration,

encourage them to use all five senses.

Sight

• Ask students to imagine and describe what the information looks like.

• Ask students to think of the information as a motion picture in their

minds.

Richardson (1983) “Images,

Definitions and Types”

Suhor (1984) “Toward a

Semiotics-based

Curriculum”

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DIMENSION 2

Smell

• Ask students to imagine and describe the smells associated with the

information.

Taste

• Ask students to imagine and describe the tastes associated with the

information.

Touch

• Ask students to imagine and describe the sensations of touch

associated with the information.

Hearing

• Ask students to imagine and describe the sounds associated with the

information.

Creating mental images is a skill that you can help students to practice and

refine. After asking them to create images, have several students describe

their images aloud. Give them feedback about how well their images depict

the content being learned and about any misconceptions the images reveal

(e.g., “That is a good start for your picture. But remember, you want a

picture of the electrons outside the nucleus.”). To help students clarify and

sharpen their images, also provide feedback about the details in their images

(e.g., “What did you hear, smell, or taste?” “What color were the. . . ?”).

After giving this specific feedback aloud to several students, ask students to

pair up and share their images to practice giving each other the same types

of feedback. In this way, students will improve both their learning of the

content and their ability to create images that construct meaning.

4. Help students to construct meaning for vocabulary terms.

The most specific way to organize knowledge, as described in the

introduction to this dimension, is to identify vocabulary terms. Vocabulary

development is a major focus in many classrooms because teachers know that

the words students are able to use while listening, speaking, reading, and

writing will influence their success in any academic area. However, the most

commonly used approaches to teaching vocabulary are probably not the most

effective.

Teachers often ask students to look up a word in a dictionary or glossary, copy

the definition, and then use it in a sentence to show that they understand the

meaning. Although this type of activity might help students learn some

words, it does not necessarily encourage students to construct meaning for

words. When we understand words for which we have constructed meaning,

Marzano & Arredondo

(1986) Tactics for Thinking

Marzano & Marzano (1988)

A Cluster Approach to

Elementary Vocabulary

Instruction

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Construct Meaning

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DIMENSION 2

we do not understand them as definitions. We understand them because we

have constructed meaning as result of our experiences with them. The

following strategy, adapted from Tactics for Thinking (Marzano & Arredondo,

1986), is the type of approach that is consistent with the belief that in order

to truly understand vocabulary words and other types of declarative

knowledge, the learner must construct meaning for this knowledge.

1) Provide students with a direct or indirect experience for the new word

through a field trip, classroom activity, discussion, or some personal

examples of your experience with the word.

2) Have students describe (rather than define) the new word in terms of their

experiences.

3) Using the information generated in steps 1 and 2, ask students to form a

strong mental image of the new word.

4) Ask students to say the word to themselves and mentally picture the

word spelled correctly.

5) Systematically review the word, adding and deleting information.

5. Present students with the K-W-L strategy.

The K-W-L strategy, developed by Donna Ogle (1986), is a powerful way to

help students construct meaning. This process can be presented to students

as a simple three-step strategy:

• Before reading, listening, observing, or acting, students identify

what they know (K) about the topic.

• Next, they list what they want (W) to know about the topic.

• After the activity, students identify and list what they have learned

(L). This list may include new and unpredicted knowledge, answers

to questions from the W column, and knowledge that validates or

invalidates items from the K column.

You can help students become familiar with the K-W-L strategy by asking

them to create their own worksheets. Figure 2.3 shows the beginnings of a

K-W-L worksheet prepared by a student before watching a film about sharks.

Teacher’s Manual

Ogle (1986) “K-W-L: A

Teaching Model That

Develops Active Reading of

Expository Text”

Dimension 2

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Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Construct Meaning

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DIMENSION 2

FIGURE 2.3

K-W-L W

ORKSHEET: FILM ABOUT SHARKS

Some teachers adapt the K-W-L strategy by changing “what I know” to

“what I think I know” and “what I want to know” to “what I think I’m going

to find out.” Both of these changes seem to increase students’ level of

participation and input into the learning process. Other teachers add an

additional W to the end of the strategy to prompt students to determine

“what I want to know now.” This step emphasizes that learning is an

ongoing process.

6. Create opportunities for students to discover or figure out the

new information for themselves.

When teachers want students to understand a concept or principle, they

often use inquiry or inductive models of presenting information to increase the

level of students’ involvement and understanding. When teachers use these

models, they explicitly ask students to use their prior knowledge as they try

to understand new information. As a result, students not only gain new

knowledge, but deepen their understanding of their prior knowledge.

For example, a science lab teacher might ask students to conduct

experiments and then ask them to construct an explanation for their results.

A language arts teacher might give students examples and nonexamples of

the concept of simile and then ask them to try to figure out the defining

characteristics. The approach in the latter example is a basic model from

which Bruce Joyce and Marsha Weil developed a “concept attainment”

process, described in Models of Teaching (1986). We have developed five

phases from those described by Joyce and Weil.

KNOW WANT LEARNED

They are mean.

They live in water.

They have sharp teeth.

Do they live only in

oceans?

Where are there the

most?

How big are they?

Teacher’s Manual

Joyce & Weil (1986) Models

of Teaching

For a discussion of inquiry

models, see also Bruner,

Goodnow, & Austin (1956)

A Study of Thinking.

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DIMENSION 2

Phase I

The first step in presenting a concept is to provide examples and

nonexamples. Assume that a teacher wants to present the concept of compound

words. First he generates pairs of examples and nonexamples. Examples have

all of the defining attributes or characteristics of the concept; nonexamples

do not have all of these attributes. The teacher then presents examples and

nonexamples to students one at a time. For the concept of compound words, he

might make the following presentation to students: “This is an example of a

compound word: boyfriend. This is not an example: boy. This is an example:

railroad. This is not an example: car.” As the teacher presents pairs of

examples and nonexamples, students try to figure out the defining

characteristics of the concept. The teacher then asks students to view these

initial ideas as hypotheses.

Phase II

The second step is to present more pairs of examples and nonexamples so

that students can test their initial hypotheses about the defining

characteristics of the concept. At the end of this phase, the teacher asks

students to orally state their hypotheses and explain how they arrived at

them. Here is one example of a hypothetical student response, again using

the compound words illustration:

I think that the example words are made up of two words. Sometimes the meaning of

the combined word comes from the two words, but a lot of times it doesn’t. At first I

thought the two words made up the meaning of the combined word all of the time,

but then I noticed that. . . .

Phase III

The next step is to present more examples and nonexamples. The teacher keeps

presenting pairs of examples and nonexamples until the majority of students

are able to state the defining characteristics of the concept.

Phase IV

In this phase of the process, the teacher asks students to identify examples

and nonexamples on their own. This can be done in two steps. The teacher

might first have students pick examples and nonexamples from a list he has

provided. Using the compound words illustration, he might say, “Here’s a

word. Is it an example of the concept? Railroad. Here’s another word. Is it an

example of the concept? Rebound.” Next, the teacher might have students

find their own examples and nonexamples of compound words and report

back to the entire class.

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Construct Meaning

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Phase V

During the last phase of the process, the teacher asks students to develop a

written or oral description of the concept that includes the key or defining

characteristics. In addition, the teacher gives students the name of the concept

and asks them to include it in their definitions. (Note: In some versions of the

concept attainment process, the name of the concept is provided.)

The following example illustrates how another teacher might use the phases

of the concept attainment process:

Assume that a social studies teacher wants to present the concept of

Eurocentrism. She explains to students that the concept she will illustrate can

be thought of as a “perspective.” She also explains that the examples validate

this perspective; the nonexamples do not. The teacher explains to her

students that their job is to figure out what perspective is illustrated by the

examples, but not by the nonexamples. She has developed about twenty pairs

of examples and nonexamples, including the following:

As the teacher presents these to students during the first four phases of the

concept attainment process, students gradually realize that ideas such as

“The West,” “The East,” and “Columbus discovered America” make sense

only from the perspective of Europe as the center of civilization. By the time

the teacher explains that this concept is called Eurocentrism, students are able

to write clear definitions of it.

7. Use instructional techniques that provide students with

strategies to use before, during, and after they receive

information.

Some reading theorists have conceptualized the reading process as consisting

of three phases: before reading, during reading, and after reading. These

phases apply whether students are reading, listening to, or viewing

information. In each phase, learners do certain things to create meaning from

the new information they are receiving.

Examples

• Middle East

• The Orient

• The West

• The East

• Columbus discovered America.

Nonexamples

• United States

• Japan

• Canada

• China

• Columbus invaded a new land and

enslaved the indigenous people.

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Construct Meaning

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DIMENSION 2

Several instructional techniques provide students with strategies to use

before, during, and after they receive information. Using these techniques in

the classroom communicates to students that during the learning process,

they have a responsibility to do much more than simply pick up a book and

read a text or sit down and watch a film. Students are expected to develop

and use strategies (e.g., accessing what they already know, asking and

answering questions, and creating and changing mental pictures) that

increase their understanding of the information they are receiving.

Below are two instructional techniques that follow the before, during, and

after structure: Reciprocal Teaching and SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read,

Recite, and Review.

Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal teaching is a technique that actively engages both teacher and

students in the use of prior knowledge. The following is an adaptation of the

reciprocal teaching strategy:

a. Summarizing. After students have silently or orally read a short section

of a passage, a single student acting as teacher (i.e., the student leader)

summarizes what has been read. Other students, with guidance from the

teacher, may add to the summary. If students have difficulty

summarizing, the teacher might point out clues (e.g., important items or

obvious topic sentences) that aid in the construction of good summaries.

b. Questioning. The student leader asks some questions to which the class

responds. The questions are designed to help students identify important

information in the passage. For example, the student leader might look

back over the selection and ask questions about specific pieces of

information. The other students then try to answer these questions based

on their recollection of the information.

c. Clarifying. Next, the student leader tries to clarify confusing points in

the passage. He might point these out or ask other students to point

them out. For example, the student leader might say, “The part about

why the dog ran into the car was confusing to me. Can anyone explain

this?” Or, the student leader might ask other students to ask clarification

questions. The group then attempts to clear up the confusing parts. This

might involve rereading parts of the passage.

d. Predicting. The student leader asks for predictions about what will

happen in the next segment of the text. The leader can write the

predictions on the blackboard or on an overhead, or all students can

write them down in their notebooks. Keeping those predictions in mind,

Teacher’s Manual

Palincsar & Brown (1985)

“Reciprocal Teaching:

Activities to Promote

Reading with Your Mind”

Palincsar et al. (1986)

Teaching Reading as Thinking

Research reported on by

Reeve, Palincsar, and Brown

(1987, “Everyday and

Academic Thinking”) shows

that reciprocal teaching

results in students’

improved performance on

classroom comprehension

tests (from 20% to 80%

correct) and on standardized

comprehension tests

(average gain of two years).

Dimension 2

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Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Construct Meaning

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DIMENSION 2

the class then silently or orally reads the text. Then a new student is

selected to be the teacher (i.e., the student leader), and the process

begins again. During each successive summarizing stage, the student

leader addresses the predictions that were made.

SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review

SQ3R is a five-step study plan to help students construct meaning while

reading. It uses the elements of questioning, predicting, setting a purpose

for reading, and monitoring for confusion. Developed by Francis Robinson

(1961), SQ3R helps students understand and recall what they have read. As

described in Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me, Then Who?

(Billmeyer, 1996), SQ3R includes the following steps:

1. Survey

• Think about the title: “What do I know?” “What do I want to know?”

• Glance over headings and/or skim the first sentences of paragraphs.

• Look at illustrations and graphic aids.

• Read the first paragraph.

• Read the last paragraph or summary.

2. Question

• Turn the title into a question.

• Write down any questions that come to mind during the survey.

• Turn headings into questions.

• Turn subheadings, illustrations, and graphic aids into questions.

• Write down unfamiliar vocabulary words and determine their

meaning.

3. Read actively

• Read to search for answers to questions.

• Respond to questions and use context clues for unfamiliar words.

• React to unclear passages, confusing terms, and questionable

statements by generating additional questions.

4. Recite

• Look away from the answers and the book to recall what was read.

• Recite answers to questions aloud or in writing.

• Reread text for unanswered questions.

5. Review

• Answer the major purpose question.

• Look over answers and all parts of the chapter to organize information.

• Summarize the information learned by drawing flow charts, writing a

summary, participating in a group discussion, or by studying for a test.

Robinson (1961) Effective

Study

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Construct Meaning

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DIMENSION 2

Organize Declarative Knowledge

In addition to constructing meaning, learning declarative knowledge

involves organizing information, that is, identifying the important pieces of

information and putting them together to see the possible relationships, or

patterns, in these pieces. In the introduction to this dimension, we explained

the importance of students’ recognizing patterns in information. We also

discussed ways that information can be organized when you are identifying

the declarative knowledge for specific lessons and units of study. However,

even if you have organized the information for students during planning,

there is no assurance that students will recognize patterns in that

information. The strategies included in this section are suggested as ways to

help students see the patterns that have been identified as important and to

help them recognize patterns for themselves as they encounter blocks of

information. Keep in mind that using these strategies also frequently helps

students to construct meaning and to store, or remember, the information

they are learning.

1. Help students understand the importance of organizing

information.

Students may sometimes feel anxious and overwhelmed when they are

receiving a large quantity of information. It might help if they understand

that organizing information is an essential phase of learning and that

recognizing and using patterns in information can reduce their anxieties and

enhance the learning process. Before teaching organizing strategies, help

students to understand that the purpose of the strategies is to enable them to

figure out what is important and to recognize the relationships among the

pieces of information. If they believe that this process of organizing will help

them understand, use, and retain the information, they will be more likely

to use the strategies. Approaches for increasing students’ awareness and

understanding of the importance of organizing information might include

the following activities:

1. Ask students to look for patterns in their environment, emphasizing

that patterns help us to sort through and understand stimuli we are

receiving.

2. Pantomime some behavior patterns (e.g., two people meeting,

shaking hands, then departing; someone walking, opening a door,

and jumping back in fear) so that students see how easy it is for

them to recognize and respond to familiar patterns of behavior.

Teacher’s Manual

Construct

Meaning

Store

Organize

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Organize

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DIMENSION 2

3. Present a picture with hidden outlines of familiar objects and ask

them to find the objects in the picture (e.g., using Where’s Waldo?).

Point out that when they are familiar with the pattern of the object,

they can recognize it even in complex environments.

4. Present information to students as it might appear in a text, then

present the same information in a graphic organizer. Emphasize that

students can better recognize the information in the text once they

have become familiar with the pattern.

All of these are ways of emphasizing that just as patterns around us help us

to cope with our world, organizing information helps us to understand, use,

and retain that information.

2. Have students use graphic organizers for the identified

organizational patterns.

Most declarative information can be organized into one of the six patterns

identified in the introduction to this dimension: descriptions, time

sequences, process/cause-effect relationships, episodes, generalizations/principles,

or concepts. (You may wish to review the descriptions of these patterns on

pages 46-49.) Each of these organizational patterns can be depicted in a

graphic organizer that can be used in the classroom in two ways: in teacher-

structured and student-structured lessons. If, during planning, the teacher

has organized the information into a pattern, he or she can provide the

students with the appropriate graphic organizer, either with the information

filled in or blank so that students can fill in the information as it is

presented. In more student-structured situations, the information is

presented and students are asked to choose the organizer that helps them

make the most sense of the information. Below are suggested graphic

organizers for the six common organizational patterns included in this

dimension.

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Organize

Heimlich & Pittelman

(1988) Semantic Mapping

One district regularly

schedules evening sessions

for parents at which teachers

demonstrate strategies for

Dimension 2 and make

suggestions about how

parents can use the

strategies to help their

children with their

homework. Parents find the

various graphic organizers

particularly helpful.

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DIMENSION 2

a. Descriptive patterns can be used for vocabulary terms or for facts.

Specifically, descriptive patterns represent information that has been

organized around vocabulary terms. Descriptive patterns also represent

facts that have been organized to describe characteristics about specific

persons, places, things, and events. The information organized into a

descriptive pattern does not need to be in any particular order. For

example, information about the Empire State Building or about the term

urban might be organized as a simple descriptive pattern. A descriptive

pattern can be represented graphically as shown below.

b. Time sequence patterns organize events in a specific chronological order.

For example, the information in a biography about Edgar Allan Poe can

be organized as a sequence pattern. A time sequence pattern can be

represented graphically as shown below.

Event

Fact Fact

Fact

Topic

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Organize

van Dijk (1980)

Macrostructures

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DIMENSION 2

c. Process/cause-effect patterns organize information into a causal network

leading to a specific outcome or into a sequence of steps leading to a

specific product. For example, information about the process of digesting

food might be organized as a process/cause-effect pattern. A process/cause-

effect pattern can be represented graphically as shown below.

d. Episode patterns organize a large quantity of information about specific

events, including (1) a setting (time and place), (2) specific people, (3) a

specific duration, (4) a specific sequence of events, and (5) a particular

cause and effect. For example, the information about Watergate might be

organized into an episode pattern using a graphic like that shown below.

person person

EFFECTCAUSE

person

Episode

time

place

duration

Effect

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Organize

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DIMENSION 2

e. Generalization/principle patterns organize information into general

statements with supporting examples. For instance, for the statement

“Mysteries often use the technique of foreshadowing,” examples can be

provided and represented in a graphic like that shown below.

f. Concept patterns, the most general of all patterns, organize information

around a word or phrase that represents entire classes or categories of

persons, places, things, and events. The characteristics, or attributes, of

the concept, along with examples of each, should be included in this

pattern. The concept of culture, for example, could be organized into a

graphic like that shown below.

Concept

Example

Characteristic

Generalization/Principle

Example

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

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Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Organize

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To reiterate, the same block of information often can be organized into a

number of different patterns. Figures 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, and 2.7 contain a passage

about dictators and graphics showing how this concept can be organized into

different patterns. Notice that the learner would focus on different

information as a function of the pattern used.

FIGURE 2.4

ICTATORS RISE TO POWER

The United States was not the only nation to suffer from the Great Depression. The nations of

Europe also were hard hit. Moreover, many Europeans had been trying to repair the damage to

their countries caused by World War I.

Because of the hardships under which they were forced to live, some Europeans were willing to

listen to leaders who promised to make their nations rich and powerful again. Some of these

leaders brought about total changes in their countries. Their actions also caused another world

war.

Dictators rise to power. In the 1920s and 1930s, new leaders formed governments in Italy and

Germany. The governments formed in these countries were dictatorships. In a dictatorship, the

leader or leaders hold complete authority over the people they rule. The people living in a

dictatorship have only those rights that their leader, the dictator, chooses to give them. Dictators

alone make all the important decisions in their nations. The decisions made by the dictators of

Italy and Germany contributed to the beginning of World War II.

Mussolini takes over in Italy. After World War I, many Italians wanted to feel pride in the

strength of their country once again. Benito Mussolini, the founder and organizer of the Fascist

Party, convinced the Italians that he and his party could strengthen the nation. To succeed, the

Fascists had to take control of the economy, the government, and many other parts of Italian life.

In 1922, the Fascists took control of the Italian government, creating a dictatorship with

Mussolini as leader. Italians who were against Mussolini or his government were either thrown

into prison or were forced to leave the country.

Mussolini planned to increase Italy’s power and wealth by taking over weaker nations. He turned

to Africa and, in 1935, attacked Ethiopia. By early 1936, the Italian army overran this East

African country and added it to the Italian empire.

Hitler becomes dictator in Germany. After losing World War I, Germany continued to struggle

with severe economic problems throughout the 1920s. These difficulties and the memory of their

defeat in World War I brought many Germans to the Nazi Party. Its leader, Adolf Hitler,

promised to make Germany the most powerful country in the world. In 1933, the Nazis won

control of the German government. Hitler became Germany’s dictator and silenced anyone who

opposed him.

The people against whom Hitler directed his greatest hatred were the Jewish citizens of Germany.

He unfairly blamed them for all of Germany’s problems. By constantly repeating these false

accusations, Hitler aroused public opinion in Germany against its Jewish citizens. Then he took

away all civil rights and property of the Jews. Next, the police rounded up Jewish men, women,

and children and sent them to concentration camps or prison camps.

Hitler promised the Germans that he would add to the territory of their nation. He immediately put

the country to work making weapons and other war materials. The first nation he moved into was

Austria in 1938. Hitler annexed Austria, he explained, because most of its people were Germans.

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FIGURE 2.5

ONCEPT PATTERN: DICTATORS RISE TO POWER

FIGURE 2.6

IME SEQUENCE PATTERN: DICTATORS RISE TO POWER

1920s

Economic depressions, war

damage in Germany & Italy

1922

Fascists took control of Italian

government, created dictatorship

with Mussolini as leader.

1933

Nazis won control of German

government. Hitler became dictator.

1935-36

Mussolini added Ethiopia to Italian

empire in move to increase Italy’s

power and wealth.

1938

Hitler annexed Austria to Germany.

Hitler banished

opposition.

Mussolini jailed

opponents or

forced them to

leave Italy.

People only have

rights that dictators

give them.

Make all important

decisions

Silence or persecute

their opposition

Have absolute power

Dictators

Nazis persecuted

the Jews.

Hitler and Mussolini

decided to take over

weaker countries.

Nazis won control

and Hitler became

dictator.

Germany was weak

because of war and

economic depression.

Fascists took control

of Italian government.

Mussolini capitalized

on Italians’ desire

for renewed pride.

Come to power in

times of trouble

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FIGURE 2.7

ENERALIZATION/PRINCIPLE PATTERN: DICTATORS RISE TO POWER

3. Provide students with advance organizer questions.

A good organizational strategy to use, particularly if you want to provide

students with strong guidance in organizing information, is to present

questions prior to exposing students to new information. You can structure

these questions around the six types of organizational patterns just described:

• Questions to ask when you want to emphasize descriptive patterns

about specific people, places, things, and events:

• Facts about a specific person: Describe important points about

Columbus. What was his personality like? What important things

did he do? Why did he do them? What happened as a result?

Dictators rise to power when countries are weak, by promising

them strength.

In Italy. . .

Italy was weak and damaged after WWI.

1922: Fascists created a dictatorship.

Mussolini convinced the Italians that he and

the Fascists would make Italy strong again.

In Germany. . .

Germany suffered severe economic problems

and other problems from WWI.

1933: Nazis won control of the German

government.

Hitler promised to make Germany the most

powerful nation in the world.

Ausubel (1968) Educational

Psychology

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• Facts about a specific place: Describe the important characteristics of

Denver. Where is it? How big is it? What are its unique features?

What important events have occurred there?

• Facts about a specific thing: Describe the important characteristics of

the space shuttle. What does it look like? What is it used for? Why

was it made? What important things has it been involved in?

• Facts about a specific event: Describe the important characteristics of the

Watergate break-in. Where did it happen? When did it happen?

Who was involved? Why did it happen? What happened as a result

of it?

• Question to ask when you want to emphasize a specific time sequence

pattern:

• What is the sequence of movements in Beethoven’s Ninth

Symphony?

• Questions to ask when you want to emphasize a process or a cause-

effect pattern:

• What are the steps involved in making a cake? How does each step

relate to the others?

• What were the causes of the Persian Gulf War? How does each cause

relate to one or more of the others?

• Questions to ask when you want to emphasize an episode pattern:

• Who were the participants, what was the sequence of events, and

what were the effects of the Duke of Windsor’s abdication of the

throne of England in the 1930s?

• Question to ask when you want to emphasize a generalization/principle

pattern with examples:

• What are three illustrations of the principle that water rises to its

own level?

• Questions to ask when you want to emphasize a concept pattern with

examples and defining characteristics:

• What are three examples of modern dictators? Explain why they are

examples. What are the defining characteristics of dictators?

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4. Present note-taking strategies that use graphic

representations.

A useful way of highlighting the various patterns that students can use to

organize information is to introduce a note-taking format like the sample

page from a set of notes shown in Figure 2.8. Students structure their notes

by dividing the page in half with a vertical line and then leaving a strip at

the bottom that cuts across the entire page. On the left side of the page,

students take notes in whatever fashion they wish; one common method is

simply to indent less important ideas. Periodically, students stop and make a

graphic representation of their notes on the right side of the page. This note-

taking method takes extra time but forces students to consider the

information a second time. At the end of their note taking, or periodically

throughout the process, students record summary statements of what they

have learned in the space at the bottom of the page.

FIGURE 2.8

OTE TAKING WITH GRAPHICS: THE FIVE SENSES

(ONE OF SEVERAL PAGES)

We get information about

our world from our senses:

SUMMARY - Senses have nerve endings that send messages to the brain.

Touch

- nerve endings

- send messages to brain:

pressure, pain, heat/cold

Notes

light cornea

Touch

Sight

cold/hot pain pressure

pupil

lens retina

Sight

- light passes through

cornea, lens, hits retina,

then to brain

Senses

Brain

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5. Have students create physical and pictographic

representations of information.

Creating physical representations and pictographs of information is an

organizational strategy that works for many students. Physical

representations, as the name implies, are physical models or enactments of

information. For example, students in a science class might create a physical

representation by making a three-dimensional model of an atom, using ping-

pong balls and straws. When creating physical enactments of information,

students act out the information. For example, elementary students might

create a physical enactment of the solar system by having one student stand

in the center of the room with a flashlight and be the sun, while other

students representing the planets walk (rotate) around him.

Students also can organize information through pictographs. A pictograph is

a drawing that uses symbols and symbolic pictures to represent important

information. For example, after watching a film about Colorado’s natural

resources, a student might use the pictograph in Figure 2.9 to organize

information.

FIGURE 2.9

ICTOGRAPH: COLORADO’S NATURAL RESOURCES

Colorado’s

Natural

Resources

Trees

Sunshine

Water

Silver

Gold

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6. Have students use graphs and charts.

Quantitative information is commonly organized into graphs and charts.

Although they are often associated with mathematics, graphs and charts can

also be used in other subject areas. For example, a literature teacher might

ask her high school students to compare three short stories by creating pie

graphs that represent the relative emphasis on character, plot, and setting.

Before doing the pie graphs, she asked students to create graphs for three

movies that placed differing emphases on character, plot, and setting. Figure

2.10 depicts one student’s perspective relative to the movies The Remains of

the Day, Mission Impossible, and The Sound of Music.

FIGURES 2.10

IE CHARTS: COMPARING PLOT, CHARACTER, AND SETTING IN

MOVIES

character setting

plot

The Sound of Music

character

setting

plot

The Remains of the Day

character

setting

plot

Mission Impossible

One group of teachers

regularly clips out graphs

and charts from USA Today

to show students how

graphs and charts are used

every day to organize and

communicate both simple

and complex information.

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Store Declarative Knowledge

To easily access and use information, often we must consciously store it in

memory. Constructing meaning and organizing the information often

positively influence what we remember, but sometimes we need to use

storage strategies in order to retain important pieces of information. For

instance, even if you create mental pictures of something you have read and

make an outline of the information, you might have to do something to help

you remember key points if you want to recall them at a later date.

Some educators believe that memorizing should be deemphasized in the

learning process. They reason that it is more important for students to focus

on understanding (not recalling) information, to learn where to find

information, and to learn how to access it. Although recall may not be the

primary goal of most learning situations, it is easy to list situations in the

classroom, in the workplace, and even during leisure activities in which

there is the need to recall information without looking it up. As educators,

we must make careful decisions about what we want students to recall and

then provide them with effective and efficient strategies for storing

important information.

Reviewing information a number of times is the least effective, and most

commonly used, information-storage strategy. The most powerful memory

strategies are those that use “imagery.” For example, to help us recall

information we might

• imagine a mental picture of the information,

• imagine physical sensations associated with the information, and

• imagine emotions associated with the information.

If you want to create an image about George Washington, you might first

picture Washington on his horse (mental picture). You then might imagine

the smell of the leather saddle and the feeling of sitting on the horse

(physical sensations). In addition to creating images, it also helps to “talk to

yourself” about the information you are trying to remember; for example,

“George Washington was the first president. He kept his army together at

Valley Forge.” Finally, you might try to conjure up feelings of patriotism

(emotions). There are many powerful classroom strategies based on the use of

imagery.

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Construct

Meaning

Organize

Store

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1. Help students understand the process of storing information.

Because students sometimes spend a disproportionate amount of study time

memorizing information, it is important for them to gain two key

understandings before learning additional memory strategies. First, students

should spend most of their time engaged in constructing meaning and

organizing information, not only because these processes will enhance their

understanding of information, but because using these processes will also

enhance their memory of the information. Second, when it is appropriate to

instantly recall something, the efficient use of storage strategies can

significantly reduce the time it takes to commit the information to memory.

To help students grasp the importance of these two points, take the time to

discuss the process of storing, and provide experiences that will help them

decide when and how to use strategies for storing information. These

experiences might include one or more of the following:

• To help students understand how the construction of meaning

influences storing, present two blocks of information: one for which

students will use strategies for constructing meaning and organizing,

the other for which they will not. Test students’ recall immediately

and then again after a period of time. It is likely that they will recall

the information that they processed with the strategies better than

that processed without strategies.

• To show the power of storing strategies, have students memorize

some information using repetition; then have them recall similar

information using storing strategies that they have learned. Test

their recall immediately, then again after a period of time. Compare

students’ recall of the two sets of information.

• To ensure that students appropriately use storing strategies, when

presenting declarative knowledge discuss what should be

remembered and if the use of storing strategies might be necessary.

2. Present students with the strategy of using symbols and

substitutes.

Although it is easy to create images for some types of information, it is

difficult to do this with other types. For example, creating images for factual

information about George Washington is fairly easy because you can picture

him, his horse, his army, and so on. But what about abstract information like

the basic elements of water: two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom? To

create images of these elements you can use symbols and substitutes:

Lindsay & Norman (1977)

Human Information Processing

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A symbol is anything (an event, a person, a place, or a thing) that suggests to

you the information you are trying to remember. For example, an oxygen

bottle used in scuba diving might symbolize oxygen to you.

A substitute is a word that sounds like the information you want to remember

and is easy to picture. You can use substitutes when you cannot think of a

symbol or any other way of picturing information. For example, the word

hydrant sounds like hydrogen, and it is easy to picture.

You now have one symbol and one substitute to use with oxygen and hydrogen

respectively. To remember that water is two parts hydrogen and one part

oxygen, you could imagine two hydrants floating in water balancing an

oxygen tank. You might also generate physical sensations and emotions and

talk to yourself about the information.

3. Use the link strategy with students.

The link strategy is almost always used with symbols and substitutes. It

simply involves linking one image to another in a chain or story. For

example, suppose a student wants to remember the 13 original colonies:

Georgia, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina,

Virginia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island,

Maryland, and Massachusetts. Because it is difficult to mentally picture the

states themselves, the student will probably have to use symbols and

substitutes. For example, a Jersey cow sounds like New Jersey, and the

Empire State Building could be a symbol for New York. The name Georgette

sounds like Georgia, and the words Christmas carol sound like Carolina, so

they could be used as substitutes.

The student would then link the mental pictures provided by the symbols

and substitutes into one continuous story. For example, the student might

first picture Georgette (Georgia), the Jersey cow (New Jersey). Next she would

imagine Georgette (a Jersey cow) putting on a pair of yellow underwear

(which sounds like Delaware) as she stands on top of the Empire State

Building (New York). Georgette then begins singing Christmas Carols (North

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and South Carolina). Under her left “arm” Georgette is holding a Virginia

ham (Virginia, New Hampshire). In her right “hand” she has a pen

(Pennsylvania). With the pen, Georgette is connecting dots (which sounds

like Connecticut). These dots join to form a picture of a road (Rhode Island).

On the road is Marilyn Monroe (Maryland) on her way to mass

(Massachusetts).

4. Use highly structured systems for storing information with

students.

There are many highly structured systems to help students store

information. Four of them are discussed here.

a. The rhyming pegword method. The rhyming pegword method is a simple

system that can be used to remember information that is or can be

organized in a list format. It begins with visualizing the following rhymes:

The words bun, shoe, tree, door, hive, sticks, heaven, gate, line, and hen are

easy to remember because they rhyme with the numbers 1 through 10. If

a student wants to put information in slot #1 (1 is a bun) of the

framework, she would do so by forming a mental image of the

information she wants to remember that also includes a bun, because

bun is the “pegword” for the first slot of the framework. For example,

assume the student wants to put the following information about

Christopher Columbus into slot #1:

• He landed in America in 1492.

• He sailed with three ships.

• The popular opinion was that he would sail off the end of the world.

To form a mental image of this information that includes the pegword

bun, she might imagine a bun sailing across the ocean. Christopher

Columbus would be standing at the bow of the bun. Two other buns

(ships) would also be sailing. She might then picture the end of the

world with water rushing off it like a waterfall. She could even put the

date 1492 in the picture. The student might also say to herself,

“Columbus landed in America in 1492. He sailed with three ships.”

1 is a bun

2 is a shoe

3 is a tree

4 is a door

5 is a hive

6 is a pile of sticks

7 is heaven

8 is a gate

9 is a line

10 is a hen

Ross & Lawrence (1968)

“Some Observations on

Memory Artifice”

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To continue, if the student wants to put information about notable jazz

musicians into slot #2 during a unit on the history of jazz music, she

would form images representing that information and make sure that the

images contained a shoe (e.g., she might form an image of Louis

Armstrong and Chuck Mangione trying on red shoes). Continuing this

process, she could put ten different sets of information into the rhyming

pegword system—simply by including a pegword in her image for each

set. To retrieve the information, all the student would have to do is

count one through ten. Each number would remind her of its

corresponding pegword. In turn, each pegword would remind her of the

images that contain the information she wants to remember.

A common question is whether students can use this method effectively

to memorize the multiplication tables. The answer is that students have

used this method to help them recall the troublesome facts. For example,

if the student cannot recall the answer to 7 x 8, he might create a picture

of angel from heaven (pegword for 7) swinging on a gate (pegword for 8)

and the number 56 emblazoned on the front of the gate. In his picture,

the gate is making a creaking noise that sounds like 56, 56, 56.

b. The number/key word method. At first the number/key word method

seems complex. However, it is actually quite simple and very powerful.

In this system each digit from 0 through 9 is associated with a unique

sound (always the sound of a consonant).

Digit Sound Reason for using sound

0 s Zero begins with z, which is like a backwards s.

1 tT has one vertical bar.

2 nN has two vertical bars.

3 mM has three vertical bars.

4 r The word four ends with r.

5 lL is the Roman numeral for 50.

6 j or ch Turn the letter j around and it resembles a 6;

ch and j make similar sounds.

7 k Turn the letter k around and it can look like a 7.

8 f When the letter f is written in script, it looks

like an 8.

9 p Turn the letter p around and it looks like a 9.

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These letter/digit associations are used to develop a list of easy-to-

remember key words for as many slots as you like. For example, let’s

assume you would like to build a framework for 30 slots. Each slot has a

number (1 through 30), but we also need a very concrete key word for

each slot. You create these key words by using the letter/digit

association. Consider the slot 21:

21 = NT

Those two digits are associated with the sounds N and T, in that order.

A word that also contains those same sounds in the same order is NET.

Therefore, finding key words for any number is simply a matter of

finding a word that has the same sounds in the same order as the digits

(e.g., 307 = M-S-K = MASK).

Using this system you can create key words for as many slots as you like.

You might think that the key words would be hard to remember, but

they are not. Once you have established which key words you want to

associate with which numbers, all you have to do is recall the consonant

sounds associated with each digit in the number, and that will

automatically remind you of the key word. Below is a set of key words

for the numbers 1-30. You can use this list or establish key words on

your own. Of course, you can go beyond 30. With a list of 100 key

words you could easily memorize 100 pieces of information.

1 = T = Tea 16 = TJ = TaJ Mahal

2 = N = kNee 17 = TK = TKo (Technical Knockout

—boxing)

3 = M = Maypole 18 = TF = TurF

4 = R = Rug 19 = TP = TeePee

5 = L = Law 20 = NS = NoSe

6 = J = Jaw 21 = NT = NeT

7 = K = Key 22 = NN = NuN

8 = F = Free 23 = NM = NaMe

9 = P = Pie 24 = NR = NeaR

10 = TS = TosS 25 = NL = NaiL

11 = TT = TreaT 26 = NCH = NiCHe

12 = TN = ToN 27 = NK = NecK

13 = TM = TiMe 28 = NF = kNiFe

14 = TR = TRay 29 = NP = NiP

15 = TL = TaLe 30 = MS = MouSe

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After students decide how long the framework should be, they can use

this system as they would the rhyming pegword system: attach a mental

picture of an item they wish to recall to the mental picture of the key

word for that slot. For example, if a student is using the number/key

word method to recall the presidents of the United States, she would

create a mental picture, for example, of Abraham Lincoln standing in

front of the Taj Mahal to recall that he was the sixteenth president of the

United States.

c. The number/picture system. Like the rhyming pegword system, the

number/picture system allows students to associate information with

digits. It operates on the principle that each of the digits 1-9 and 0

actually look like objects that are easy to imagine:

1 = a policeman 6 = an old man with a sore toe

2 = a swan 7 = a cane or walking stick

3 = bird 8 = a snowman

4 = girl with hand on hip 9 = an elephant

5 = a snake 0 = a big egg

Like the bun, shoe, tree, and door from the rhyming pegword system,

the policeman, the swan, the bird, and so on are easy-to-remember cues

with which to associate information you want to remember. The

number/picture system provides ten cues or ten slots. If a student wants

to place information in the first slot, she would form an image of the

information and include a policeman in that image—the cue for that

slot—and so on.

d. The familiar place system. One of the easiest memory strategies to use

is the familiar place system. First, you imagine a place that is very

familiar to you, like your bedroom. Then, you mentally go around your

room and identify familiar objects in the order in which they appear in

your room. You might first select the door to your room. Then, moving

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to the right, the mirror on the dressing table, the chair, the plant to the

right of the chair, the window, the bed, and so on. In this framework,

then, you would have selected six objects to associate information with,

or six “slots” to put things into: (1) door, (2) mirror, (3) chair, (4) plant,

(5) window, (6) bed. Of course, you could keep going around your room

and produce as many slots as your room would allow.

The objects in your framework should always represent slots with which

you associate information you want to recall. For example, assume you

want to remember key ideas about ancient philosophers. You would first

picture your doorway in your mind. In your mental picture, you would

open the door and see Socrates dressed in argyle knee “socks.” You would

then see him surrounded by students dressed in togas. He is holding a

copy of a book, and you hear him asking questions. Given that the

second slot is your mirror, you might picture Plato standing in a cave

with a plate spinning on his head. The point is that the objects in your

framework become slots with which you associate particular information

you want to recall. As long as you have broken information into

meaningful chunks, you can store these chunks in the slots of your

framework.

A variation of the familiar place framework is to imagine a route that

you commonly take (e.g., the way you drive home). To identify slots,

select familiar objects or places you pass along the way: (1) the stop sign

at the corner, (2) the school on the left side of the road, (3) the

restaurant, and so on.

5. Provide students with mnemonics for important content.

A mnemonic is a word, phrase, rhyme, or similar device that provides a cue to

the information to be remembered. For example, the colors of the spectrum

(red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) become easier to

remember when you realize the first letter of each color spells the name Roy

G. Biv. Similarly, the five Great Lakes (H

uron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and

Superior) can be arranged so that their first letters spell the word homes.

With a little ingenuity, teachers and students can devise mnemonic devices

for a variety of types of declarative information.

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Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 2 in your classroom.

In previous years, a favorite unit in the first grade was the unit on birds. Students

read about birds, listened to stories about birds, studied parts of birds and their

behavior, went bird watching, created a class “Bird Book,” and wrote individual

reports about different types of birds. Although the teachers liked the unit, they

realized that they had done a better job of identifying activities than they had of

identifying the declarative knowledge students would be learning. Therefore, they

began to list the information about birds that they hoped students would learn. Next,

they began to organize this list of declarative knowledge using the common

organizational patterns (i.e., facts, generalizations, concepts, and so on). As a result

of planning in this way, they decided they had too many facts and that the unit

would be stronger if they organized the information under a key concept and a

generalization, as follows:

At the end of the unit, students will

• understand the characteristics of living things (key concept) and

• understand that animals have characteristics that help them live in different

environments (generalization).

Using these organizational patterns, the teachers restructured the bird unit. They kept

many of the activities that the students loved but made sure that each activity

increased students’ understanding of the identified declarative knowledge.

• • •

One goal of Mrs. Garron’s fifth-grade unit on Mayans and Aztecs was to help

students understand why and how civilizations throughout history have experienced a

rise and then a fall. She decided to use the mental imagery strategy to help students

develop this understanding. From the text and supplementary materials in her file, she

pulled out details that would help students create images of the Mayan and Aztec

civilizations. She then guided students through the process of creating detailed mental

pictures of the thriving cities. Finally, she provided details that helped students change

their images by creating mental pictures of the demise of these cultures. Students

created pictures of the people fighting among themselves over gold, of military attacks

on the cities, and of barren fields that had been farmed too heavily. As students

created these images, Mrs. Garron noticed that they were highly engaged and

interested in the task. They also asked questions that indicated they were beginning to

understand the information.

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Classroom Examples

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DIMENSION 2

In a later unit, when Mrs. Garron presented pictures of ghost towns in the western

United States, she asked students to recall their pictures of the demise of the Mayans

and Aztecs and to use that information to offer possible reasons that the towns had

become ghost towns. She was thrilled when students easily transferred that knowledge

to the examples from American history, thus demonstrating their understanding and

retention of the information from the previous unit.

• • •

A team of health education teachers decided to organize their content around some key

concepts and generalizations. For example, they wanted students to see that almost all

topics in health (e.g., exercise, diet, blood sugar, and stress) can be studied from the

perspective of balance. They wanted students to be able explain the ideal balance

related to each topic, define specific conditions that result when things are out of

balance, and describe ways that people reestablish balance. To help students see this

common pattern, they organized the information they would use to teach each topic in

the following ways:

Describe optimal balance for blood sugar

Describe the condition(s) related to too little blood sugar.

Describe the condition(s) related to too much blood sugar.

• • •

Out of frustration, a study group of students in a high school chemistry class decided

to take the time to memorize some troublesome chemical symbols that they kept

forgetting. They used some memory strategies they had learned in other classes, and

their work paid off. For iron (Fe), for example, they created the mental image of the

giant from Jack and the Beanstalk in his home with his wife ironing his huge

overalls and complaining loudly, “Fe, Fi, Fe, Fum, ironing these pants is just plain

dumb.” For gold (Au), they created a mental picture of an old gold miner running

after a thief who is carrying away a big pile of his shiny gold. The miner is yelling,

“HEY YOU! HEY YOU! Bring back my gold!”

Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Classroom Examples

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

Unit Planning: Dimension 2, Declarative

Knowledge

Planning to teach declarative knowledge requires asking and answering the

question:

What will be done to help students acquire and integrate declarative

knowledge?

There are four basic steps included in the process of answering this question,

three of which require answering some additional questions:

Step 1: What declarative knowledge will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating? As a result of this unit, students will know or

understand. . . .

Step 2: What experiences or activities will be used to help students

acquire and integrate this knowledge?

Step 3: What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning

for, organize, and/or store this knowledge?

Step 4: Describe what will be done.

There is a place on the Dimension 2 Planning Guide: Declarative Knowledge

(see page 92) to record the responses to the planning questions and to

describe what will be done to help students acquire and integrate the

identified declarative knowledge. A sample page from the planning guide for

this dimension has been filled out—using these planning questions—for a

hypothetical social studies unit about Colorado. (This unit topic was chosen

because, with some changes, it can be used for a unit about any state or

region and at many developmental levels. The entire Colorado unit planning

guide, for all of the dimensions, can be found in Chapter 6, “Putting It All

Together.” The chapter also includes general recommendations for

assessment.) The following sections walk you through the four steps required

to plan declarative knowledge and provide recommendations and points to

keep in mind as you plan.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

Step 1

Identifying the declarative knowledge for a unit is often one of the most

difficult parts of planning. This is because of the quantity of declarative

knowledge that you might include in a unit and because you should be

careful to include only important knowledge. To aid you in this part of the

process, notice that this section, Step 1, walks you through the identification

process and provides worksheet and graphic formats you may use as you

make decisions. After you identify the important declarative knowledge,

transfer each piece of knowledge to the planning guide and continue the

planning process, Steps 2, 3, and 4. (See, for example, a page of the planning

guide for declarative knowledge for the Colorado Unit on page 92. The

entire unit can be found at the end of Chapter 6.)

Answering this key question in Step 1 of the planning process requires

additional steps. These steps will vary as a function of the requirements and

philosophy of your school or district. You may have a great deal of autonomy

in identifying the knowledge students are to acquire, or you may need to

closely follow standards and benchmarks from your state, district, or school.

(Standards are statements of the information and skills that all students

should learn before they graduate. Benchmarks translate standards into what

students should know and be able to do at various developmental levels.)

Suggestions and examples are provided for both situations: when you are

planning with standards and benchmarks and when you are planning

without them.

a. Identify the title or focus for the unit. This might be a theme (e.g.,

survival, heroes); a topic (e.g., Colorado, Civil War, Romeo and Juliet); a

concept (e.g., force, energy, revolution); a principle or generalization (e.g.,

“Art both influences and reflects life”); or any other unifying idea that

brings meaning to the unit.

b. Brainstorm a list of information that you might include in the unit. The

purpose of this step is to begin to think about the important declarative

knowledge that could be a focus for the unit. If you are in a district with

standards and benchmarks, identify the benchmarks that might be

addressed in the unit.

c. Identify and organize the declarative knowledge that students will learn.

As you decide what information should be included from the list that

you brainstormed, consider the question, “Are any of the following

organizational patterns important in the unit?”

What declarative knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring

and integrating? As a result of this unit, students will know or understand…

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

• concepts • time sequences

• generalizations/principles • descriptions

• episodes • vocabulary terms

• process/cause-effect relationships • facts describing specific

persons, places, things, events

This identification and organization of information might be recorded on

a declarative knowledge worksheet, then displayed graphically. There are

two versions of the worksheet, along with their corresponding graphics,

that simply show how the planning process looks different when you are

guided by standards and benchmarks, and when you are not. Each

process requires the following steps:

Without standards and benchmarks (see Sample Worksheet and Unit

Planning Graphic: Colorado Unit, pages 86 to 87):

• Identify any organizational patterns that are important in this unit.

• Identify the important declarative knowledge that will be organized

into these patterns.

• When necessary, identify any additional or specific knowledge that

provides support for, examples of, or further explanations of more

general knowledge.

With standards and benchmarks (see Sample Worksheet and Unit

Planning Graphic: Colorado Unit, pages 88 to 89):

Identify the benchmarks that will be the focus of the unit, then do the

following:

• Identify any organizational patterns that are important in this unit.

• For each benchmark, identify the important declarative knowledge

that will be organized into these patterns.

• When necessary, identify any additional or specific knowledge that

provides support for, examples of, or further explanations of more

general knowledge.

Note that with both of these approaches, you are asked to identify more

specific information that “provides support for, examples of, or further

explanations of ” the more general knowledge. This emphasizes that

much of the more specific information already organized into vocabulary

terms, facts, time sequences, process/cause-effect relationships, and

episodes in a unit can be organized to support more general concepts and

generalizations/principles.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

Dim 2 chapter-declarative 4/17/09 7:20 AM Page 85

DIMENSION 2

Identify any organizational

patterns that are important

in this unit:

Identify the important declarative knowledge that will be organized into

these patterns.

When necessary, identify any additional or specific knowledge that

provides support for, examples of, or further explanations of more

general knowledge.

Concepts?

Generalizations/

principles?

Episodes?

Processes/cause-effects?

Time sequences?

Descriptions: facts,

vocabulary terms?

Topography, natural resources, climate, culture

—facts about Colorado that are examples of each of these concepts

Topography, natural resources, and climate influence the culture of a

region.

—examples from Colorado (e.g., Mountains and snow influence

winter sports culture.)

Story of the Colorado Gold Rush, 1859-1900

Facts describing how Molly Brown, Zebulon Pike, and Alferd

Packer interacted with their environments

Vocabulary terms: tourism, urban

Step 1

What declarative knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring and integrating? As a

result of this unit, students will know or understand. . . . (Use worksheet below to answer this question.)

Sample Worksheet: Colorado Unit

Declarative Knowledge W

ithout Standards and Benchmarks

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DIMENSION 2

Colorado

plateau, urban, ruraltourism,

Vocabulary Terms

Generalizations/ Principles

Time Sequences

Facts

Understands that topography, natural

resources, and climate influence the

culture of a region.

Understands that topography, natural

resources, and climate influence

settlement patterns.

(Unit Title)

Knows facts describing Molly Brown,

Zebulon Pike, and Alferd Packer

Concepts

Understands topography, natural resources,

climate, culture

Understands renewable, nonrenewable,

flow resources

Knows process by which fossil fuels are created.

Knows facts about Colorado’s renewable (e.g.,

timber), nonrenewable (e.g., gold, oil), and flow

resources (e.g., wind, sunshine).

Knows facts about Colorado that are

examples of each of these concepts.

Knows examples from Colorado (e.g.,

Mountains and snow cause winter sports

emphasis; sunshine, rivers, and mountains

cause outdoor recreation; plains create

ranching, causing Western culture).

Knows examples from Colorado (e.g.,

Mountains, gold, and hot springs

contributed to settlement of Colorado

Springs.)

Knows the story of the Colorado Gold Rush,

1859-1900

Unit Planning Graphic: Colorado Unit

Declarative Knowledge (Without Standards and Benchmarks)

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DIMENSION 2

Identify any organizational

patterns that are important

in this unit:

For each benchmark, identify the important declarative knowledge that

will be organized into these patterns.

When necessary, identify any additional or specific knowledge that

provides support for, examples of, or further explanations of more

general knowledge.

Concepts?

Generalizations/

principles?

Episodes?

Processes/cause-effects?

Time sequences?

Descriptions: facts,

vocabulary terms?

Benchmark Understands the interactions between humans

and their physical environment within a region

Topography, natural resources, climate, culture

—facts about Colorado that are examples of each of these concepts

Topography, natural resources, and climate influence the culture of a

region.

—examples from Colorado (e.g., Mountains and snow influence

winter sports culture.)

Story of the Colorado Gold Rush, 1859-1900

Facts describing how Molly Brown, Zebulon Pike, and Alferd

Packer interacted with their environments

Vocabulary terms: tourism, urban

Step 1

What declarative knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring and integrating? As a

result of this unit, students will know or understand. . . . (Use worksheet below to answer this question.)

Sample Worksheet: Colorado Unit

Declarative Knowledge W

ith Standards and Benchmarks

Dim 2 chapter-declarative 4/17/09 7:20 AM Page 88

DIMENSION 2

Colorado

Other declarative knowledge not

related to benchmarks:

Knows process by which fossil fuels are created

Concepts: Understands renewable resources, nonrenewable

resources, and flow resources

(Unit Title)

Unit Planning Graphic: Colorado Unit

Declarative Knowledge

(With Standards and Benchmarks)

Knows the story of the Colorado Gold Rush,

1859-1900.

Concepts: Understands topography, natural

resources, climate, culture

Generalizations/Principles: Understands that

topography, natural resources, and climate

influence the culture of a region.

Facts: Knows how Molly Brown, Zebulon Pike,

Alfred Packer’s interacted with their physical

environments.

Vocabulary Terms: tourism, plateau

Knows facts about Colorado that are examples

of each of these concepts

Knows examples from Colorado (e.g., Mountains

and snow influence winter sports culture.)

Geography Standard 1, Benchmark 2(D):

Understands the interactions among

humans and their physical environment

within a region

Geography Standard 2, Benchmark 5(D):

Understands the reasons for human

movement within and among regions.

Generalizations/Principles: Understands that

topography, natural resources, and climate

influence settlement patterns.

Vocabulary Terms: urban, rural

Knows examples from Colorado (e.g., Mountains,

gold, and hot springs contributed to the settlement

of Colorado Springs.

Geography Standard 3, Benchmark 2(D):

Understands characteristics and locations of

renewable and nonrenewable resources

Knows facts about Colorado’s renewable (e.g., timber),

nonrenewable (e.g., gold, oil), and flow resources (e.g.,

wind, sunshine).

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

Step 2

For each major piece of knowledge, identify how students will have access to

the knowledge. (For this step and for Steps 3 and 4, refer to the filled-in

planning guide for the Colorado Unit, page 92.) Will they have direct,

active experiences (e.g., field trips, simulations) or indirect experiences (e.g.,

reading the text, viewing a film, listening to lecture or discussion)? Some

activities or experiences that might be included are

• read text • view film

• go on field trip • do independent research

• conduct experiment • participate in simulation

• observe demonstration • interview sources

• engage in discussion

Step 3

Because we know that rich experiences and activities do not guarantee that

students will learn what you want them to, select strategies to use with these

activities that will increase the likelihood that they will construct meaning,

organize, and store the knowledge. Keep in mind that these three phases of

learning declarative knowledge overlap (i.e., strategies that help them

construct meaning also might help them organize and store). However, it is

important to ask yourself questions relating to each phase. (See page 91 for

questions and a summary of strategies included in this chapter.)

Step 4

Provide a brief description of how the strategies will be used in conjunction

with the identified experiences and activities.

Describe what will be done.

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning for,

organize, and/or store this knowledge?

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire and

integrate this knowledge?

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

Summary of Strategies for Use in Step 3 of Planning

for Declarative Knowledge

What will be done to help students construct meaning for this

knowledge? Strategies might include the following:

1. Help students understand what it means to construct meaning.

2. Use the three-minute pause.

3. Help students experience content using a variety of senses.

4. Help students to construct meaning for vocabulary terms.

5. Present students with the K-W-L strategy.

6. Create opportunities for students to discover or figure out the new

information for themselves.

7. Use instructional techniques that provide students with strategies to

use before, during, and after they receive information.

What will be done to help students organize this knowledge?

Strategies might include the following:

1. Help students understand the importance of organizing information.

2. Have students use graphic organizers for the identified organizational

patterns.

3. Provide students with advance organizer questions.

4. Present note-taking strategies that use graphic representations.

5. Have students create physical and pictographic representations of

information.

6. Have students use graphs and charts.

What will be done to help students store this knowledge? Strategies

might include the following:

1. Help students understand the process of storing information.

2. Present students with the strategy of using symbols and substitutes.

3. Use the link strategy with students.

4. Use highly structured systems for storing information with students.

5. Provide students with mnemonics for important content.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Declarative

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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DIMENSION 2

What declarative knowledge

will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating?

As a result of this unit, students

will know or understand. . .

What experiences

or activities will be

used to help students

acquire and integrate

this knowledge?

What strategies will

be used to help students

construct meaning

for, organize, and/or

store this knowledge? Describe what will be done.

Text, pp. 8-10

Film: “From Sea

to Shining Sea”

Read physical maps

Independent study:

Regional cake

K-W-L

Physical/pictographic

representation

On a class K-W-L chart, we all will generate the

K and the W related to topography. We will then read

the text, watch the film, and read physical maps.

After each experience, we will fill out the L of the

chart. We will use the information from the K-W-L

to start a class pictograph of examples of topography.

Each student will make a cake depicting topography

from a region of his or her choice. Students will find

information independently. After the regional cake

assignment, as a class, we will add to our pictograph.

Film: “From Sea

to Shining Sea”

Read natural

resource maps

Field Trip:

Argo Gold Mine

3-minute pause

Use all senses

Pictograph

Several times during the film, I will stop and ask

students to identify one type of natural resource. After

the film, I will ask them to try to create mental

pictures of examples of natural resources and identify

what they see, smell, feel, etc. We then will start our

pictographs of natural resources, a class one and

individual ones. After reading the natural resource

maps, we will add information to the pictographs.

During the field trip, students will have their

pictographs with them so they can add examples of the

natural resources that we observe.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Concept: Topography

—Natural and artificial

features including land forms,

bodies of water, road, bridges, etc.

Facts describing Colorado’s

topography will deal with the

Rocky Mountains, sand dunes,

rivers, plains, plateaus,

canyons.

Concept: Natural Resources

—Materials found in nature

that are useful, necessary, or

attractive

Facts describing Colorado’s

natural resources will deal

with snow, gold, soil,

sunshine, forests, oil,

mountains.

Dimension 2 Planning Guide: Declarative Knowledge Unit: Colorado

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

Helping Students Acquire and Integrate

Procedural Knowledge

Acquiring and integrating procedural knowledge requires students to

develop the ability to perform and use critical skills and processes, both

physical skills and processes, like typing, and mental skills and processes,

like solving an equation. Helping students successfully acquire procedural

knowledge at every developmental level is especially important because

learning complex skills and processes is often dependent on how well simpler

skills and processes have been learned. For example, students will have

trouble learning to design a building if they have not mastered the skills of

measuring to a scale. The fact that each piece of procedural knowledge can

be so important and the fact that students master skills and processes at such

different rates means that we as educators must understand the phases of

acquiring and integrating procedural knowledge—construct models, shape,

and internalize—and be able to structure experiences so that all students can

be successful.

Construct Models for Procedural Knowledge

The first phase of learning a skill or process is to develop a rough model of

the steps involved. For example, when you first learned to hit a golf ball,

someone probably showed you what to do before you actually tried a shot on

your own. Your instructor may have demonstrated the proper grip, the

proper stance, how to shift your weight, and so on. Likewise, when you first

learned long division, someone probably showed you the steps in the process.

In short, when we learn a new procedure, we need a place to start; we need a

model. Without an initial model, learning a skill or process can be chaotic

and time consuming because it is essentially a trial-and-error process.

Helping students construct models is essential if students are to efficiently

and effectively learn procedural knowledge.

When helping students to construct models, it is important to be aware of

and sensitive to the fact that a process or skill you are teaching is new to

them, although you use it automatically. When helping students to construct

a model of the steps, be careful not to omit important steps or make

assumptions about students’ abilities to perform the procedures embedded in

a single step.

There are several ways that you can help students construct models. It is

advantageous to use more than one approach when helping students

construct a model for the steps involved in any procedure. By doing so, you

Construct

Models

Shape

Internalize

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Construct Models

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

are likely to reach more students because one technique may “connect” for

one student and not for another. In addition, you will be addressing more

than one learning-style preference by using more than one strategy.

1. Help students understand the importance of constructing

models for procedural knowledge.

It can be beneficial for students to understand that acquiring procedural

knowledge begins with constructing a model, or a set of steps, for the skill

or process. Like acquiring declarative knowledge by constructing meaning,

developing procedural knowledge requires learners to “construct” the steps

in their heads by observing others performing the skill or process, by reading

an instruction manual, or by figuring out the steps for themselves. Simply

watching someone else perform the skill or process, and then mimicking his

or her actions, leads to inefficient learning. Help students to understand the

importance of constructing models by

• explaining the process of constructing models and providing

examples from your learning experiences;

• helping students to think of examples from their own lives when

they had to learn a specific set of steps to be successful; and

• setting up an experiment with students in which you teach them a

skill without helping them construct a model, then teach another

skill with specific strategies for constructing models. Ask students to

compare the learning experiences in terms of how confident they feel

about using the skill, how long they can remember how to use it,

and the extent to which they can use it in different contexts.

2. Use a think-aloud process to demonstrate a new skill or

process.

This is a simple yet powerful technique for building an initial model. It

involves verbalizing your thoughts as you demonstrate the skill or process. It

is important, of course, that your thinking include all the important parts of

the skill or process. For example, a teacher using a think-aloud process to

help students develop a model of two-column addition might write a

problem on the board and then say,

Let’s see. The first thing I have to do is add up the numbers in the ones column: 2 plus

3 equals 5, and 7 more equals 12. That’s 12 ones, which equals 1 ten and 2 ones. I

write down the 2 ones and take the 1 ten over to the tens column. I think I’ll write

the 1 at the top of the tens column so I don’t forget it.

Anderson (1990) Cognitive

Psychology and its Implications

Anderson (1995) Learning

and Memory

Suhor (1984) “Toward a

Semiotics-based

Curriculum”

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Construct Models

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Gagne (1989) Studies of

Learning: 50 Years of Research

3. Provide or construct with students a written or graphic

representation of the skill or process they are learning.

For some students, watching a teacher model a skill or process will not

sufficiently prepare them to construct a clear, accurate model for themselves.

They may also need a written or graphic representation that describes or

depicts each step. Depending on the skill or process, these representations

could be in the form of one or several of the following: a set of written steps

(see Figure 2.11), a flow chart (see Figure 2.12), or a series of pictures or

symbols (see Figure 2.13).

FIGURE 2.11

SET OF WRITTEN STEPS FOR READING A BAR GRAPH

FIGURE 2.12

FLOW CHART FOR THE PROCESS OF INVENTION

Draft Draft

Need:

Standards:

Invention:

CHOICEDRAFT AND REVISE

Draft

a. Read the title of the graph. Get a sense of the information that will be in it.

b. Look at the horizontal line at the bottom of the graph. Identify what is being

measured on it.

c. Look at the vertical line on the left side. What is being measured on it? Look

at the scale that is used.

d. For each of the items measured on the horizontal line, identify its “height” on

the vertical line and interpret that height.

e. Make a statement that summarizes the important information in the bar graph.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Construct Models

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

IGURE 2.13

SERIES OF PICTURES OR SYMBOLS FOR SERVING A TENNIS BALL

4. Help students see how the skill or process they are learning

is similar to and different from other skills or processes.

To help students develop a sense of the new skill or process, it can be useful

to show them how some steps are similar to the steps of another skill or

process that they have already learned. You might also point out how the

previously learned skill might seem similar, but is really different. For

example, while teaching students to swing a baseball bat, a teacher might

review the steps of swinging a golf club, which were learned in a previous

lesson. The goal is to emphasize the steps that are similar, but also to explain

which steps are different and how having a skill in one might cause errors in

using the other skill. (e.g., being able to swing a golf club might cause you

to incorrectly swing a baseball bat).

5. Teach students to mentally rehearse the steps involved in a

skill or process.

A model of a skill or process can be reinforced through mental rehearsal,

which means simply reviewing the steps in your mind without actually

performing them. For example, you might rehearse the steps involved in

hitting a golf ball by going over them in your mind and picturing yourself

doing each part of the process. In effect, mental rehearsal helps reinforce the

basic model of a skill or process. This strategy is well-known and widely

used by athletes.

Perhaps Chinese and

Japanese restaurants should

consider providing

customers with more

specific directions on how to

use chopsticks. Instead of

simply including a picture

of someone using

chopsticks, the directions

should include the

following specific steps:

1. Grasp one chopstick in the

valley between the thumb

and forefinger.

2. Stabilize this chopstick

with the upper part of the

thumb and the lower part

of the ring finger.

3. Place other chopstick

between tips of thumb and

forefinger. Do NOT

stabilize it. Rest chopstick

on end of middle finger.

4. Adjust small ends of

chopsticks to make them

even.

5. Move second chopstick

back and forth, making

small ends touch.

6. Use step 5 to grasp a bite

of food.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Construct Models

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DIMENSION 2

Teacher’s Manual

Shape Procedural Knowledge

Constructing an initial model for a new skill or process is just the first step

in learning procedural knowledge. Once you actually begin to use the skill

or process, you will probably alter your initial model. You will start to find

out what works and what does not work and, in response, you will modify

your approach, adding some things and dropping others. You may also

become aware of variations in using the process, potential problem areas,

common errors, and how to use the process or skill in different contexts—

like driving on a wet road versus driving on a dry road, or driving on a

highway versus driving in a parking lot. This is called shaping. For example,

after you constructed an initial model for performing long division, you

began to discover some shortcuts and “tricks” that made the process work

better for you. Similarly, after you first learned how to create text on your

word processor, you began to identify ways that you could use the word

processor more efficiently.

The importance of shaping a new skill or process cannot be exaggerated, and

yet it is often shortchanged or even ignored. It is perhaps the most crucial

part of learning a new skill or process because without it, errors can creep in

and become internalized and, therefore, difficult to correct. It is also during

this phase that students attend to their conceptual understanding of skills

and processes so that they are not focused on simply learning a set of steps.

Lack of attention to this aspect of learning procedural knowledge is a

primary reason for students’ failure to effectively use basic skills and

processes. When planning for procedural knowledge, classroom activities for

shaping should be included. To help with this planning, the following

sections offer suggestions of strategies and techniques that can help students

shape procedural knowledge.

1. Help students understand the importance of shaping

procedural knowledge.

As we have just discussed, it is essential for teachers to understand the

importance of shaping. Similarly, students might see more value in

assignments that are designed to encourage shaping if they understand this

phase in acquiring procedural knowledge. The idea that shaping is a process of

making a skill or process “your own” might appeal to some students and help

them to understand and use some of the strategies in this section. Facilitating

this understanding can be done a number of ways including the following:

• Take the time to explain to students the process of shaping.

Construct

Models

Shape

Internalize

“Hours of learning time and

energy can be saved. . . and

achievement results will

reach a higher level more

rapidly if students’ initial

practice is guided and

monitored by the teacher.”

—Hunter (1982)

Mastery Teaching, p. 71.

For more on the importance

of shaping, see Healy (1990)

Endangered Minds.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Shape

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• Share with students your own personal experiences with shaping a

skill or process, and encourage them to identify and share their own.

• Ask students what happens when they practice a skill that they are

performing incorrectly.

• Encourage students to offer suggestions for improving or adapting

skills and processes. Explain why this is an important part of the

culture of the classroom.

• Look for, and encourage students to look for, real-life examples of

people shaping a skill or process and, therefore, improving their

ability to use it.

2. Demonstrate and create opportunities for students to practice

using the important variations of the skill or process.

Every skill or process has variations, the understanding of which is

important to the successful use of the skill or process. For example, to

skillfully perform three-column addition, you must understand a number of

variations in that process: what to do when you have to carry from the first

column to the second, what to do when you do not have to carry from the

first column to the second and so on, what to do if the numbers are

presented horizontally rather than in a column. Helping students shape a

new skill or process requires illustrating these important variations. For

example, to shape the process of three-column addition, a teacher might use

a single problem but keep changing it to illustrate all the variations. To

highlight the variations, the teacher might ask questions like the following:

“What would happen if the 4 were a 7? Now, how many ones and how many

tens would I have? Now suppose in the tens column I had two tens from the

ones column. What would happen?”

In addition to working through one or two examples and asking what-

would-happen-if questions, the teacher should create opportunities for

students to practice using all of the variations. After working through the

single example with all the variations, the teacher might give students

problems to work out that exemplify all of the variations they have seen

demonstrated.

3. Point out common errors and pitfalls.

It is easy for errors to creep into a skill or process during the early phases of

learning. If these errors are not identified and corrected during the shaping

process, they may be practiced and become difficult to correct later. Whether

the targeted skill is using a lathe (where errors could result in injury) or a

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Shape

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skill necessary for writing (where errors result in poor communication), it is

important to help students identify and correct errors. This should happen

during the shaping process in a number of ways:

• Identify and demonstrate some common errors. As you demonstrate

the errors, think out loud to model the process of noticing and

correcting errors.

• Demonstrate the skill process and make obvious and subtle errors.

Ask students to observe closely and try recognize and describe the

errors. Then have them suggest corrective measures.

• As students are working, provide feedback that will help them

become aware of and correct errors they are making.

• Ask students to interview people who have mastered the skill or

process. Emphasize that they should focus their interview questions

on the parts of the skill or process where errors are commonly made

so that they can avoid such pitfalls.

• Encourage students to share with peers the parts of the skill or

process that they find difficult and elicit suggestions from peers for

avoiding mistakes.

• When necessary, help students develop a new model for the part of

the skill or process that is proving to be troublesome for them.

4. Help students develop the conceptual understanding

necessary to use the skill or process.

Part of the shaping process is helping students to understand the skill or

process, that is, to know its various uses and to understand any important

concepts related to the skill or process. Technically, this means that it is

important to make sure that students have the declarative knowledge they

need to use the procedural knowledge. If students learn to do an analysis of

variance in statistics, for example, but do not understand the concept of

variance, the skill becomes relatively useless. Likewise, if students are

learning to find points on a map, but do not understand the various uses of

maps, their acquired skill is of limited value to them. To make sure students

understand what they need to use a skill, consider the following suggestions.

a. Describe a variety of situations or contexts in which students can use

a specific skill or process.

Teachers can help students understand that most skills or processes vary

according the situation or context in which they are being used. For

example, the skills involved in driving a car change somewhat when

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Shape

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there is wet pavement rather than dry pavement; hemming a pair of

pants requires slight variations in some of the steps as a function of the

fabric used; and map reading skills may need to be slightly adapted to

different types of maps.

Students will use a skill much more proficiently if, during shaping, they

are provided with different situations or contexts that require them to

use the skill, and then are cued to notice what adaptations and

adjustments they must make in each setting.

b. Check for students’ level of understanding of key concepts and

principles (declarative knowledge) related to the skill or process.

When initially planing for procedural knowledge, it is, of course,

important to identify and plan for teaching the declarative knowledge

students will need in order to learn and use the identified skills and

processes. However, even when this declarative knowledge has been

taught, it is important to periodically check students’ level of

understanding of important concepts as they are learning the skills and

processes. Practicing a skill or process that has little meaning is not an

effective use of students’ time. During shaping,

• review important concepts and ask students to identify any that are

confusing;

• as they begin to practice the skills and processes, periodically ask

students to explain to you, or to each other, what they are doing and

why they are doing it; and

• listen to their explanations to detect confusions, misconceptions, or

lack of important knowledge. When necessary, postpone having

students practice the skill or process and, instead, provide additional

opportunities for them to understand what they are learning to do.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Shape

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Internalize Procedural Knowledge

The last aspect of learning a new skill or process is internalizing it. For some

skills and processes, this means learning them to the point where you can

use them without much conscious thought. This level of skill is called

automaticity because you use the skill or process automatically. In fact, some

skills and processes have to be used automatically if they are to be truly

useful. Imagine how difficult driving a car would be, for example, if the skill

of using the brake were not an automatic response. If you always had to

think about when and how to use the brake, there might be serious

consequences.

You cannot achieve automaticity in all skills and processes, but you can

develop fluency in them. For example, the process of editing is never

automatic, but good editors are quite fluent in the language of editing.

Although good editors have to think about what they are doing, they have

internalized the necessary skills to the degree that they can use them with

relative ease.

For a process to be learned to the level of automaticity or fluency, extensive

practice is required. Because learning procedural processes is time

consuming, it is important to identify those processes and skills that

students truly need to internalize versus those with which students simply

need to be familiar. A good deal of time and effort should then be devoted to

helping all students internalize those skills and processes identified as

needing this level of learning. It important to understand that students can

often pass a test without internalizing the skill or process. If it is important

for students to internalize a skill so that they can, for example, use it in six

months, teachers must provide students with the time and experiences

necessary to internalize it. Teachers often give students enough time and

practice to learn a process or skill well enough to pass a test but not enough

time to actually internalize it. The following sections highlight some things

you can do to help students internalize procedural knowledge.

1. Help students understand the importance of internalizing

procedural knowledge.

Achieving automaticity or fluency with a skill or process requires practice,

something students often resist. It might be helpful, even motivating, for

students to understand the internalizing phase of acquiring procedural

knowledge.

You can easily point out examples from students’ lives in which they

internalized skills (e.g., riding a bike, forming letters, and throwing a ball)

Construct

Models

Shape

Internalize

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Internalize

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and emphasize that they achieved this level of mastery because of practice.

Students might be able to remember that during the process of learning a

skill, like riding a bike, they could think of nothing else because the

learning process consumed all of their mental energy. Yet now they can ride

a bike, talk to a friend, and enjoy the scenery all at the same time because

the skills of riding a bike have been internalized and there is mental energy

left to do other things simultaneously. Help students to understand that

many, although not all, skills they are learning in school need to be acquired

so that they can use these skills with relative ease.

Suggestions for building this understanding might include the following:

• Explain internalizing, and provide students with examples from your

own life.

• Teach students a skill without having them internalize it. Give them

a test, wait for a period of time, and then announce you are going to

test them again. Many students will protest that they cannot perform

the skill now, even though they passed the test. Discuss with them

what is required to internalize a skill, that is, to be able to use it in

the future.

• Use examples from daily life, current events, movies, or books that

exemplify the process of internalizing. For example, in the movie

Karate Kid, the teacher had the boy wax cars (“Wax on. Wax off.”) to

internalize the specific hand movements that he would use later in

more complex karate moves.

2. Help students set up a practice schedule.

When students are first learning a new skill or process, they should practice

it immediately and frequently; that is, they should engage in massed practice.

For example, in a computer technology class period, you might have

students construct a model for the process of operating a spread-sheet

program by demonstrating the process and making a flow chart. After

students have spent time shaping the process, have them begin massed

practice. Pairs of students might work at the computer and practice the

process of operating the spread-sheet program as many times as possible

before the end of a period. You might also provide time for students to

practice the next day—perhaps not for as long a period of time as on the

previous day, but for a substantial amount of time. You could gradually

increase the intervals of time between practice sessions. Instead of practicing

every day, you could have students practice every other day, then every third

day, and so on. This is called distributed practice, lengthening the intervals of

“Practice makes permanent,

not perfect.”

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Internalize

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time between practice sessions. Over time, students would naturally

internalize the new skill.

In general, then, practice sessions should initially be spaced close together

and then gradually spaced further and further apart. Figure 2.14 shows the

relationship between massed and distributed practice.

FIGURE 2.14

ELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MASSED AND DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE

3. Have students chart and report on their speed and/or

accuracy when practicing new skills or processes.

When developing some skills, the emphasis is on accuracy; when developing

others, the emphasis is on accuracy and speed. One way of helping students

to develop new skills and processes is to have them keep a record of their

progress as they practice. If they are working on accuracy, they can divide a

series of problems, for example, into several clusters, and then chart the

number they solved correctly for each cluster. If they are working on

accuracy and speed, they can create a chart that indicates how many

problems they were able to solve correctly in a given period of time, and

then try to beat that time for the next cluster. If accuracy suffered when

speed increased, they can decide if they should slow down again to achieve

accuracy.

When students are keeping speed and accuracy charts, you should remind

them that they are internalizing the skill, that is, they are practicing so that

the skill becomes permanent and automatic. The charts can help answer the

question that students often pose, “If I know how to do these problems, why

do I have to do 20 of them?”

Week

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Internalize

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DIMENSION 2

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 2 in your classroom.

Mrs. Fox had been teaching a unit on percents. Her students were doing well

computing percentages in different types of problems. She decided to give them some

story problems so that they could apply their new skills. To her dismay, most of the

students were unable to solve all of the problems. As a result of conferencing with some

of her students, she realized that she had not taught the declarative knowledge

associated with the procedures of calculating percentages. Her students did not

understand when to use which type of calculation nor what the problems actually

meant. For example, when asked to determine what percentage of the original price the

sale price represented, most students did not know which procedure, formula, or

calculation to use. She then decided to identify the important concepts and information

related to percentages and teach that to her students.

• • •

Ms. Hallfield was trying to help students understand and use analogies. She decided

to teach students how to solve analogy problems (e.g., Man is to boy :: king is to____.

Answers: a. child b. prince c. queen d. son). Although she demonstrated these problems

through a think-aloud technique, she realized that many of her students were not

improving their ability to solve them. She recalled a conversation she had with a

friend, an athletic coach, who had described how clearly students must know each step

of a process. She decided to present students with a set of written steps for solving the

analogy problems (see below), even though she thought the steps were fairly obvious.

She was surprised to see how much these steps helped some of her students.

1. Describe the relationship between the two elements in the first set. Verbalize

the entire first step, emphasizing the phrase that describes the relationship.

For example: “A is similar to B,” or “A is the opposite of B,” or “A causes

B.”

2. Verbalize the given element in the second set along with the relationship

phrase in Step 1.

For example: Step 1: “A causes B.”

Step 2: “C causes____.”

3. Finish the second set with an element that has that relationship with the

given element.

• • •

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Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Classroom Examples

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DIMENSION 2

Coach Elway, the physical education teacher, had given his student teacher the

responsibility of teaching students to pass a football. The student teacher, Kevin,

demonstrated throwing a spiral and then asked students to spend the rest of the class

period practicing this throw. Because of students’ limited success in demonstrating this

skill, Kevin sought out Coach Elway for advice. Coach Elway explained that Kevin

should have spent more time working with students on each step of the process of

throwing the ball and helping them shape the process before asking them to practice.

• • •

Shirley’s father said to Mrs. Cliburn, the piano teacher, “Why does she have to keep

playing the same scales and technique lessons over and over again? She’s becoming

bored and the rest of us are frustrated, to say the least.” Mrs. Cliburn smiled and

patiently replied, “The great pianists practice many hours each day. Shirley can play

the Chopin nocturne she wants to play only after she has mastered the fundamentals.

She must practice, practice, practice.”

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Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Classroom Examples

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DIMENSION 2

Unit Planning: Dimension 2, Procedural

Knowledge

Planning to teach procedural knowledge requires asking and answering the

following question:

What will be done to help students acquire and integrate procedural

knowledge?

There are three basic steps included in the process of answering this

question, two of which require answering additional questions.

Step 1: What procedural knowledge will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating? As a result of this unit, students will be able

to…

Step 2: What strategies will be used to help students construct models

for, shape, and/or internalize this knowledge?

Step 3: Describe what will be done.

There is a place on the Dimension 2 Planning Guide: Procedural Knowledge

(see page 112) to record the responses to the planning questions and to

describe what will be done to help students acquire and integrate the

identified procedural knowledge. This planning guide has been filled out—

using these planning questions—for a hypothetical social studies unit about

Colorado. (This unit topic was chosen because, with some changes, it could

be used for a unit about any state or region and at many developmental

levels. The entire Colorado unit planning guide, for all of the dimensions,

can be found in Chapter 6, “Putting It All Together.” The chapter also

includes general recommendations for assessment.) To help you use the

planning process, the following sections walk you through each step and

provide recommendations and points to keep in mind as you plan.

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Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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Step 1

Answering this first key question in the planning process requires additional

steps. These steps will vary as a function of the requirements and philosophy

of your school or district. You may have a great deal of autonomy in

identifying the knowledge students are to acquire, or you may need to

closely follow standards and benchmarks from your state, district, or school.

Suggestions and examples are provided for both situations: when you are

planning with standards and benchmarks and when you are planning

without them.

As you identify the skills or processes that students will be learning, you

might record them on the procedural knowledge planning worksheet, then

organize them graphically. There are two versions of the worksheet, along

with their corresponding graphics, simply to show how the planning process

looks different when you are guided by standards and benchmarks and when

you are not. Each process requires the following steps:

Without standards and benchmarks (see Sample Worksheet and Unit

Planning Graphic: Colorado Unit, page 109):

• Identify the important procedural knowledge (skills and processes).

• When necessary, identify specific skills that support more general

processes.

With standards and benchmarks (see Sample Worksheet and Unit

Planning Graphic: Colorado Unit, page 110):

Identify the procedural knowledge benchmarks that will be the focus of this

unit, then do the following:

• For each benchmark, identify the important procedural knowledge

(skills and processes).

• When necessary, identify specific skills that support more general

processes.

The goal during planning for either of these situations is to identify exactly

what students will be learning to do. It is important to remember, especially

when you are guided by benchmarks that identify very general processes, to

be fairly specific when identifying the skills and processes students will

learn. If the identified procedural knowledge is too general, such as

“students will know how to engage in the research process,” it will be

What procedural knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring

and integrating? As a result of this unit, students will be able to. . . .

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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difficult to generate a single model, or set of steps. Most general processes

contain many supporting, specific skills and processes, each with its own set

of steps. Therefore, if you start with a very general process, make sure that

you also identify skills or processes that are specific enough to generate steps

that students can use when they are constructing models for, shaping, and

internalizing the procedural knowledge.

Step 2

To answer this question, first decide how proficient students should become

in using each skill or process. In some cases, you may simply want to

introduce the skill or process and help students construct models and shape

the skill or process. In other cases, you may want to help students through

each phase of learning procedural knowledge so that they internalize the

skill or process.

You might want to consider the strategies from this chapter of the manual as

you answer the questions related to each of these phases of learning procedural

knowledge. (See page 111 for questions and a summary of these strategies.)

Step 3

Briefly describe how these strategies will be used to help students acquire

the identified procedural knowledge.

Describe what will be done.

What will be done to help students construct models for, shape, and

internalize the procedural knowledge?

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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DIMENSION 2

109

read and interpret physical maps

read and interpret natural resource maps

Skills/Processes (P)

Knows how to read and interpret

physical and natural resource maps

Colorado

Identify the important procedural knowledge (skills and processes).

When necessary, identify specific skills that support more general processes.

What procedural knowledge (skills and processes) will students be in the process of acquiring and

integrating? As a result of this unit, students will be able to. . . . (Use worksheet below to answer

this question.)

Sample Worksheet: Colorado Unit

Procedural Knowledge W

ithout Standards and Benchmarks

Unit Planning Graphic: Colorado Unit

Procedural Knowledge W

ithout Standards and Benchmarks

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Sample Worksheet: Colorado Unit

Procedural Knowledge W

ith Standards and Benchmarks

Unit Planning Graphic: Colorado Unit

Procedural Knowledge With Standards and Benchmarks

Benchmark: Uses thematic maps

Colorado

Knows how to read and interpret physical maps

Knows how to read and interpret natural resource

maps

Geography Standard 6, Benchmark 1(P):

Uses thematic maps

For each benchmark, identify the important procedural knowledge (skills and processes).

When necessary, identify specific skills that support more general processes.

read and interpret physical maps

read and interpret natural resource maps

What procedural knowledge (skills and processes) will students be in the process of acquiring and

integrating? As a result of this unit, students will be able to. . . . (Use worksheet below to answer

this question.)

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Summary of Strategies for Use in Step 2 of Planning

for Procedural Knowledge

What strategies will be used to help students construct models for the

procedural knowledge?

1. Help students understand the importance of constructing models for

procedural knowledge.

2. Use a think-aloud process to demonstrate a new skill or process.

3. Provide or construct with students a written or graphic

representation of the skill or process they are learning.

4. Help students see how the skill or process they are learning is similar

to and different from other skills or processes.

5. Teach students to mentally rehearse the steps involved in a skill or

process.

What strategies will be used to help students shape the procedural

knowledge?

1. Help students understand the importance of shaping procedural

knowledge.

2. Demonstrate and create opportunities for students to practice using

the important variations of the skill or process.

3. Point out common errors and pitfalls.

4. Help students develop the conceptual understanding necessary to use

the skill or process.

What strategies will be used to help students internalize the

procedural knowledge?

1. Help students understand the importance of internalizing procedural

knowledge.

2. Help students set up a practice schedule.

3. Have students chart and report on their speed and/or accuracy when

practicing new skills or processes.

Dimension 2

Acquire & Integrate Knowledge

Helping Students Acquire

and Integrate Procedural

Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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112

What will be done to

help students construct

models for, shape, and

internalize the knowledge? Describe what will be done.

What procedural knowledge

will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating?

As a result of this unit, students will

be able to. . .

read and interpret physical

maps.

read and interpret natural

resource maps.

I will talk through the steps of reading a map,

demonstrating the steps with each type. I will give

them a set of written steps for reading any map.

Working in groups, students will receive several variations

in format (taken from different textbooks) for both physical

and natural resource maps. There will be questions for the

group and then for individual students to answer as a way

of becoming familiar with each variation. This assignment

also will reinforce the learning of the concepts of topography

and natural resources.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Note: These strategies

will be used to teach

both types of maps.

Think-aloud

Set of written steps

Practice with variations

Internalizing is not a

goal.

Dimension 2 Planning Guide: Procedural Knowledge Unit: Colorado

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The principal and faculty at

a middle school agreed to

focus schoolwide on one

complex reasoning process

each month. Letters were

sent to parents explaining

the definition and steps of

the process and asking for

their support in reinforcing

the process at home. Hall

bulletin boards, dedicated

to the various grade levels

and content areas, displayed

students’ work related to

the targeted reasoning

process.

Dimension 3

Extend and Refine Knowledge

Introduction

Learning declarative and procedural knowledge requires much more than

simply recalling information or mechanically performing a procedure. The

most effective learning occurs when students develop an in-depth

understanding of important knowledge so that they can use that knowledge

in school and in life. To develop this understanding, learners extend and

refine the knowledge they initially acquire. This occurs as learners examine

and analyze knowledge and information in a way that helps them make new

connections, discover or rediscover meanings, gain new insights, and clarify

misconceptions.

For example, when first learning about the concept of free enterprise, a student

might understand it well enough to generate a definition and some

examples. However, broadening that understanding requires him to do more

than recite the definition or generate additional examples. It requires him to

compare free enterprise to other economic structures or to figure out how the

principles of free enterprise can be applied to predict what might happen in

new, specific situations. In other words, deepening understanding requires

thinking about the information by using reasoning processes that are more

complex than those used when knowledge simply is being recognized or

reproduced. It necessitates using processes that change—extend and refine—

the knowledge.

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Helping Students Develop Complex

Reasoning Processes

The eight complex reasoning processes identified in Dimension 3 are offered

as resources for teachers as they are helping students to extend and refine

their knowledge. It is not sufficient to simply ask students questions or give

them assignments that require these types of reasoning processes; educators

need to directly teach the processes. The following reasoning processes can

be used to deepen students’ understanding of what they are learning.

• Comparing: Identifying and articulating similarities and differences

among items

• Classifying: Grouping things into definable categories on the basis

of their attributes

• Abstracting: Identifying and articulating the underlying theme or

general pattern of information

• Inductive reasoning: Inferring unknown generalizations or

principles from information or observations

• Deductive reasoning: Using generalizations and principles to infer

unstated conclusions about specific information or situations

• Constructing support: Building systems of support for assertions

• Analyzing errors: Identifying and articulating errors in thinking

• Analyzing perspectives: Identifying multiple perspectives on an

issue and examining the reasons or logic behind each

Each of these reasoning processes is used unconsciously by people every day.

We compare things. We draw conclusions inductively. We analyze other

people’s perspectives during informal interactions and in learning situations.

However, when teachers require students to use these processes as a means of

extending and refining knowledge, they must teach the steps involved in the

processes so that students use them deliberately and rigorously.

As schools and districts begin to plan for teaching these processes, they

should keep in mind some general principles of implementation:

• Although the eight complex reasoning processes should be

systematically and rigorously taught, no single teacher should take

on all eight in one semester or school year. If students are to learn

and internalize these processes, they must have time to shape and

“Constructing support,

analyzing errors, and

analyzing perspectives. I call

these the thinking skills of

marriage.”

—A teacher in Iowa

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

✔ Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning

Processes

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“More than anything else,

learning the critical

attributes for each of the

complex reasoning processes

made me realize how much

thinking I was doing for my

students. I was doing the

majority of the work for

them!”

—An elementary teacher

practice them over time. When students are first learning the

processes, you should introduce only three or four new processes in

any one year.

• Students of all ages are capable of learning and using all of these

types of thinking processes. Younger students, of course, may require

more guidance and modeling than older students. In addition, they

need to apply the processes to developmentally appropriate content.

When older students are learning the processes, the same principles

apply. They need guidance and modeling in the early stages of

learning the processes and may need more guidance later as they use

the processes with increasingly complex content.

• It is more likely that students will increase their ability to use

different types of thinking if teachers across all grade levels and

content areas are using a common language, providing similar

experiences, and setting consistent expectations that communicate to

students that they will be held accountable for specific reasoning

abilities. Although there is nothing magical about the list of

reasoning processes highlighted in this Dimension, having a list that

is used throughout the district can be magical. Students may develop

the ability to reason at a level that is rarely demonstrated in

classrooms today.

For each of the eight reasoning processes identified in Dimension 3, the

following sections are included:

1. Help students understand the process. This section discusses how to

introduce the process to students and how to help them understand

the function or goal of the process.

2. Give students a model for the process, and create opportunities for

them to practice using the process. This section introduces the

complex reasoning process itself: the model for the steps involved in

using the process. Examples of specific ways to guide students

through the thinking involved in the process are presented.

3. As students study and use the process, help them focus on critical

steps and difficult aspects of the process. This section identifies

critical steps and difficult components of the process as well as

specific examples and suggestions about how to deal with these

elements.

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

✔ Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning

Processes

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Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

✔ Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning

Processes

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations of the

model to help them understand and use the process. Graphic

organizers and representations help students understand and visualize

the process. Examples of these organizers or representations are

included in this section.

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks. This section

addresses the importance of modeling and guiding the use of the

process, first through the use of teacher-structured tasks. Suggestions

are provided for how to move from teacher-structured to student-

structured tasks, shifting students from highly structured tasks to

tasks that students create as they become more proficient and

confident at using the process.

A curriculum writing

committee created a

database of focused, high-

quality classroom tasks in

various content areas at

different grade levels based

on the complex reasoning

processes. Teachers could

access this database and use

the tasks directly or use

them as models to create

their own tasks.

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Dimension 3

For more on comparing:

Beyer (1988) Developing a

Thinking Skills Program

Mullis, Owen, & Phillips

(1990) America’s Challenge:

Accelerating Academic

Achievement

Stahl (1985) Cognitive

Information Processes and

Processing Within a Uniprocess

Superstructure/Microstructure

Framework

Comparing

Almost daily, we compare things—classes we take, books we read, the food

we eat, the experiences we have. In fact, it is difficult not to compare. The

effect of this everyday process of comparing is that we see things differently,

we gain insights, we change perspectives. You might think you had a bad

day, for instance, until you hear of a friend’s day that was much worse.

“Compared to hers,” you might conclude, “my day wasn’t so bad after all.” If

you read two books by the same author and then compare them, you might

discover something in one of them that you missed when you first read it.

Comparing, then, influences our perceptions of our world. (In some

classrooms, comparing refers only to similarities; the term contrast is used to

refer to differences.)

Comparing is done in the classroom for the same reasons: to gain insights, to

see distinctions, to change perspectives. When students are asked to use

comparing with content knowledge, however, they need to go beyond loose,

everyday comparing. They need to be taught and held accountable for

rigorously using the process to ensure that their learning is enhanced as a

result of the comparison. The following sections review activities and

strategies that will help students understand and fully master the process of

comparing.

1. Help students understand the process of comparing.

As common as the process of comparing is, it is still useful to introduce the

basic concept to students, especially young students. You can do this by

presenting examples of the different ways in which people use comparing.

For example, you might describe a time when you compared a movie you

saw with the book of the same title and gained a new appreciation for the

book. Then you might have students identify comparisons they have made

(e.g., two classes they are taking; a place they have visited and their own

home). Finally, help students become aware of how often comparisons are

used in daily life and in the world around them. For example, you might ask

students to listen to the various news media and notice how often people,

current events, or celebrations are compared during newscasts.

Comparing is the process of identifying and articulating similarities and

differences among items. Stated more simply, it is the process of describing how

things are the same and different.

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Comparing

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2. Give students a model for the process of comparing, and

create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of comparing.

Even when students understand comparing, it is important to

provide them with steps to follow as they use the process with

content knowledge. The following steps are recommended:

The process might be stated in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

Explain and demonstrate each of the steps in the comparison process

to students. You can do this in a think-aloud fashion. You might say,

Let me see. I want to compare an apple and an orange. That’s the first step in

the process. The next step is to pick the characteristics I’m going to compare. I

think I’ll pick size, shape, taste, and nutritional content.

Once you have modeled the steps, make them available to students

by having students copy them or by displaying them on the board or

on a piece of chart paper. Then create some opportunities for

students to have fun using the steps with nonacademic topics so that

they become comfortable with the process.

3. As students study and use the process of comparing, help them

focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the process.

As you increasingly hold students accountable for engaging in the comparing

process, provide focused instruction and practice in order to help them avoid

common errors and pitfalls. The following key points review some common

problems and suggestions for solving or avoiding common errors.

1. What do I want to compare?

2. What is it about them that I want to compare?

3. How are they the same? How are they different?

1. Select the items you want to compare.

2. Select the characteristics of the items on which you want to

base your comparison.

3. Explain how the items are similar and different with respect to

the characteristics you selected.

Color

Shape

Size

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Comparing

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Key Points

1) Comparing is the reasoning process that is probably the most commonly

used in K-12 classrooms. It is a powerful way of helping students

examine key attributes of important content knowledge, and students

seem to become comfortable with the three steps fairly quickly. Because

of its power and ease of use, however, it can be overused. Thus, it is

important in the planning process to carefully consider the questions:

Why are students doing this comparison? Are the items that they are

comparing important to this content knowledge? Is comparing the best

process to use to help students extend and refine this knowledge?

2) One key to a rigorous comparison is to identify characteristics that are

meaningful and interesting. For example, comparing wars on the

characteristic of “the kinds of horses that were ridden” might be

interesting but will not add much to students’ learning. Conversely, “the

extent to which the conflict involved foreign countries” and “the extent

to which economic factors caused the wars” are characteristics that might

lead to increased understanding.

For students to become skilled at identifying meaningful and interesting

characteristics, they may need extensive modeling and feedback as they

practice. You can provide this support in different ways:

• Brainstorm ideas for characteristics as a class, especially the first few times

you give students a comparison task or when the content is particularly

difficult for them. You might then ask students to select characteristics

from the brainstormed list or to come up with their own.

• Use expanded comparison. This means that using a comparison matrix,

students are provided with several characteristics, then asked to

expand the matrix by adding additional characteristics of their own

that are as meaningful and interesting as those provided. It is

important to provide students with good initial characteristics and

with feedback on their additions.

3) Make sure that students understand that the purpose of doing a

comparison task in the classroom is to extend and refine knowledge. To

reinforce this, after they have completed the comparison, ask questions

about what they learned, for example, “What insights did you gain?”,

“What new connections did you make with other content?”, or “What

did you discover or rediscover as a result of doing the comparison?”

“No wonder my students

couldn’t provide me with

strong comparisons! I had

never taught them step 2.

It’s determining the

characteristics that allows

students to make a

comparison truly

meaningful.”

—A fifth-grade teacher

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Comparing

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4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of comparing.

A powerful way to help students understand the process of comparing is

to show them how to represent their thinking in a graph or picture.

Figures 3.1 and 3.2 suggest ways of organizing the information that is

being compared.

A Venn diagram is an organizer that is best used when you want to highlight

the fact that the two things being compared have some things in common

(these characteristics go in the area of intersection) but not others (these go

in the nonintersecting part of each circle). When several characteristics are

identified in the comparison, you may want to use a separate Venn diagram

for each set of characteristics. For example, Figure 3.1 is an example of how a

first-grade teacher might lead her students in a comparison of different

cultures on the characteristics of holidays and celebrations, and food.

FIGURE 3.1

ENN DIAGRAMS

United States England

Labor Day

Memorial Day

Fourth of July

Christmas

Easter

Birthdays

Boxing Day

Queen’s

Birthday

Guy Fawkes

Day

United States England

Beef

Peanut Butter

Popcorn

Potatoes

Bacon

Eggs

Lamb

Asian Food

Steak and

Kidney Pie

Holidays and Celebrations Food

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Comparing

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Figure 3.2 is a matrix that can help students organize their information as

they perform each step of the comparing process.

FIGURE 3.2

OMPARISON MATRIX

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

When students are just beginning to use the comparison process and

whenever you have a very specific academic goal in mind, you might give

students highly structured comparison tasks. A teacher-structured task

presents students with the items to be compared and the characteristics on

which they are to be compared. Students then describe how the items are

similar and different, using the characteristics the teacher has selected.

When the comparison is completed, students are asked to summarize what

they learned. For example, students might be given a list of cities, including

their own, and asked to compare them on size, job opportunities, cultural

opportunities, crime rates, and air quality. This process would be structured

for students to make sure that they begin to understand characteristics of

different types of communities.

When students have become adept at using the process of comparing, have

them structure their own tasks. You might ask them to generate the items to

be compared or the characteristics on which to base their comparison or

both. Students should then work independently or in groups to identify

similarities and differences among the items. Even though students are

working more independently, you might still need to monitor their work to

make sure they are rigorously engaged in comparisons that will enhance

their learning of important content knowledge.

Items to be compared

Characteristics

#1 #2 #3

Similarities

Differences

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Comparing

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Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 3 in your classroom.

Students in Mr. Johanssen’s kindergarten class were studying about how living things

grow and change. To help increase their understanding of how different animals

change as they grow, they compared the baby or young stage with the adult stage of

several different animals. For example, students identified similarities and differences

between frogs and tadpoles, between butterflies and caterpillars, between whales and

calves, and between horses and colts. The characteristics they used in their comparison

included size, color, skin covering, and body shape. Students were surprised to discover

how much some animals change as they grow.

• • •

Mrs. Wasson noticed that her geography students seemed to use maps readily in the

classroom but were reluctant to use maps that were unfamiliar to them. She led a class

discussion on the different types of maps and their purposes. To extend and refine

students’ understanding, Mrs. Wasson created a task the following week in which she

asked them to identify features of map projections that make them useful and then to

choose three different types of map projections (e.g., Mercator, Robinson, and

Mollweide). After students compared their selected maps on these features, Mrs.

Wasson asked them to explain how the map projections were similar and different

with respect to the characteristics they selected. Students began to develop a more in-

depth understanding of the different uses of each map projection.

• • •

For the first semester of the school year, Ms. Norford decided to focus on helping her

health education students understand the social, economic, and political effects of

disease on individuals, families, and communities. She created a task to enhance

students’ understanding and to strengthen students’ use of the process of comparing.

Students were to compare the similarities and differences between Typhoid Mary, a

cook who infected twenty-two or more New York residents between 1900 and 1907,

and Ryan White, a child who contracted the HIV virus in the 1980s. Students were

required to select elements of the disease (e.g., symptoms and treatments), aspects of the

affected communities (e.g., the public’s attitude toward the disease), and characteristics

having to do with how well the individuals reacted to having the disease (e.g., how

well they accepted it, whether they sought treatment, and whether they told others).

Comparison matrix by

kindergartners

Characteristics

Adult Baby

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Comparing

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Classifying

Classifying is a process used every day to organize our world. The average

kitchen, for example, is organized by classifying the foods, the cooking

utensils, and the dinnerware into categories based on attributes such as the

frequency with which we use them, their size, or their storage requirements.

Stores, schools, libraries, and homes all have items classified in some way,

and although we take these classification systems for granted, they influence

our perceptions and our behavior. Imagine changing the way we group

students entering school, or food in a grocery store, or books in a library.

Changing classification systems would change our world.

Just as classifying influences our perceptions in everyday life, using

classifying in the classroom can influence what students see about the

knowledge they are acquiring. In fact, one reason that classifying is a

powerful way to extend and refine knowledge is that consciously putting

things into different categories influences how we perceive the items. When

a round, purple object is grouped with other round objects, you notice it is

round; when it is grouped with other purple objects, you notice it is purple.

Because the process of classifying and reclassifying focuses students on

different attributes of items they are studying, it is a process that extends

and refines students’ knowledge.

If you want classifying to have this effect of extending and refining

knowledge, however, you need to do more than just say to students, “Classify

this information.” As an extending and refining activity, classifying is often a

challenging process, and many students need careful guidance to fully master

it. We recommend using the activities below because they help students first

to understand the process of classifying and then to fully explore and develop

their classifying skills.

1. Help students understand the process of classifying.

Although classifying is a natural human behavior, it is a good idea to

introduce the concept to students so that they understand the process and see

that consciously classifying items can influence their learning. Start by

identifying various ways in which classifying is used and what advantages

classifications provide. For example, you might discuss with students how

classifying things in their drawers at home helps them to find things quickly.

Classifying is the process of grouping things into definable categories on the

basis of their attributes. Stated more simply, it is the process of grouping things

that are alike into categories.

For more on classifying:

Beyer (1988) Developing a

Thinking Skills Program

Jones, Amiran, & Katims

(1985) “Teaching Cognitive

Strategies and Text

Structures Within Language

Arts Programs”

Mervis (1980) “Category

Structure and the

Development of

Categorization”

Nickerson, Perkins, &

Smith (1985) The Teaching of

Thinking

Smith & Medin (1981)

Categories and Concepts

Taba (1967) Teacher’s

Handbook for Elementary

Social Studies

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Classifying

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To help students gain an appreciation for the extent to which classifying

influences perceptions and behavior, you might also have students try to

imagine how their perceptions or behavior would change if certain classification

systems we take for granted were changed (e.g., if the food in a grocery store

was classified into three price ranges or if department stores classified clothes

according to size only). Have students select an item (e.g., a tiger) and place it

in several different categories (e.g., with a group of cats, then with a group of

wild animals, then with other striped items). Ask them to notice what

attributes they see in the same item as they change the group it is in.

2. Give students a model for the process of classifying, and

create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of classifying.

Although some classifying can be done loosely, students need to

learn a set of steps for the process of classifying. Below is one set of

general steps that students can use.

1. Identify the items you want to classify.

2. Select what seems to be an important item, describe its key

attributes, and identify other items that have the same

attributes.

3. Create the category by specifying the attribute(s) that the

items must have for membership in the category.

4. Select another item, describe its key attributes, and identify

other items that have the same attributes.

5. Create this second category by specifying the attribute(s) that

the items must have for membership in the category.

6. Repeat the previous two steps until all items are classified and

the specific attributes have been identified for membership in

each category.

7. If necessary, combine categories or split them into smaller

categories and specify the attribute(s) that determine

membership in the category.

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That works, too!

That works.

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Classifying

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DIMENSION 3

The process might be stated in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

When presenting the steps in the classifying process, you should

demonstrate each, perhaps with a think-aloud technique. For

example, while demonstrating the process, you might say,

I’m going to classify the fifty states. I think I’ll start with New York. What

other states are like New York and why?

Once the students are familiar with the steps, have them practice

using them. Ask them to classify then reclassify things around them,

for example, the books in the classroom, the furniture, the items in

their desk. Each time, hold students more accountable for the rules

that describe the categories and the reasons for placing each item

into a specific category.

3. As students study and use the process of classifying, help them

focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the process.

As students learn to classify, there are several parts of the process that may

need special attention and focused instruction if the process is to realize its

potential to help students extend and refine knowledge. As you help

students with the classifying process, keep in mind the following points:

Key Points

1) In the second step of the process of classifying, students group items

based on a specific attribute. When they get to step 4, they create

another category and again specify the attribute. In order to focus the

classification process, it is important that this second attribute, as well as

each subsequent attribute, be related to the first. For example, if

students are classifying the states and the first attribute is “has a

predominantly warm climate,” the second attribute should be something

like “has a predominantly cold climate” or “has a climate with a balance

1. What do I want to classify?

2. What things are alike and could be put into a group?

3. How are these things alike?

4. What other groups can I make and how are the things alike

in each group?

5. Does everything now fit into a group?

6. Would it be better to split up any of the groups or put any

groups together?

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Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Classifying

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DIMENSION 3

of warm and cold weather.” Switching to an attribute such as “is densely

populated” will create confusion and decrease the likelihood that

students will increase their understanding of the items and the attributes

they are studying.

2) Classifying is the process of placing items into groups on the basis of

their attributes. In the second step of the process, students are required

to select an important item and identify other items that share the same

attribute. In this early stage of classifying, it is important for students to

focus on attributes that are important and meaningful to the content.

The selected attributes should cause the student to discover something

in the items or to make connections among items that they had not

previously made. If the attributes are not interesting or important, the

students might accurately place items into groups but without any

apparent positive effect on learning.

3) As students begin to place the items into categories, it is important that

they understand the defining characteristics of the categories well

enough to justify placement of the items. Sometimes the reasons for

placing the items will be apparent, for example, if the categories are

based on the attribute of color. However, as the content becomes more

complex, explaining the reasons for the placement of items might be the

most challenging part of the process. It is important to ask students for

this explanation. For example, the following is a sample of an item on an

open-book final exam in a high school history class:

Below is a list of wars and military conflicts that we have studied this year.

Create a classification system with at least three categories. Explain the rule or

defining characteristics of each. Place each war into a category and explain to

what extent it has the defining characteristics of that category.

French Revolution Spanish American War

American Revolution World War I

French and Indian War World War II

Vietnam Desert Storm

4) Having students classify and then reclassify is often a key to helping

them notice unique distinctions among items that they could miss if

they classify items only once. It might help students if you provide

different contexts for different classifications; for example, you might ask

students to classify a list of plants as if they were gardeners, then

reclassify them as if they were doctors who treat people with allergies.

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“Although I have certainly

had students classify many

times in my class, I

discovered that I was using

classifying only to sort

items accurately rather than

to extend and refine their

knowledge.”

—A teacher in Arkansas

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Classifying

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DIMENSION 3

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of classifying.

For many students, a graphic organizer or representation may help them to

understand and use the process of classifying. Figure 3.3 depicts two

examples of graphic representations that students might use.

FIGURE 3.3

RAPHIC ORGANIZERS FOR CLASSIFYING

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

Even when students have been introduced to classifying and understand the

steps involved, they still may feel a bit unsure of themselves. At this early

stage, or any time the teacher has a very specific academic goal in mind, use

teacher-structured classification tasks, that is, tasks in which the teacher

specifies the items to be classified and the categories into which they are to

be classified. Ask students to place the given items in the given categories to

increase or demonstrate their understanding of the content. For example, in

a literature class you might give students a list of book titles and ask them

to categorize them based on whether the major conflict was (a) man versus

man, (b) man versus society, or (c) man versus himself. The goal is to

increase students’ understanding of the types of conflicts found in literature

and to focus their study on specific titles.

As students become more comfortable with classifying, you might use more

student-structured classification tasks to allow students to direct more of

their own learning. In these tasks, you might provide students with a list of

the items to be classified, but ask them to identify their own categories and

explain the rules they used to form the categories. Alternatively, you might

ask students to generate the items to be classified and the categories. It is

important any time that students are structuring their classifying task that

you ask them to identify what they learned in the classifying process.

Categories

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Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Classifying

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Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 3 in your classroom.

Mrs. Martinez’s primary students were learning about the different ways that objects

can be described and classified. To extend and refine their understanding, she asked

them to select a dozen objects from bins she kept in the classroom and to group together

items that were alike. Students selected a wide range of things, including buttons,

rocks, paper clips, magnets, and rubber balls. Mrs. Martinez had her students classify

the objects several different times, first by size, then by shape, and finally by the

material that students thought the objects were made of.

• • •

Students in Ms. Shreiber’s class were given a set of vocabulary terms related to

geography (e.g., bay, basin, canyon, delta, glacier, harbor, mesa, peninsula, plateau,

tundra, and valley). To extend and refine their understanding of the Earth’s physical

features, she asked them to create categories into which to place each term. Students

automatically classified the terms into categories that they had studied in the text,

such as landforms created by erosion, by plate tectonics, or glaciation. Ms. Shreiber

concluded that the task involved the simple recall of information. She directed students

to reclassify the items as if they were Martians seeing these physical features for the

first time.

• • •

Students in Mr. Rory’s class were studying the various ways that authors develop and

use characters in literature. To help extend and refine students’ knowledge, Mr. Rory

gave them a list of thirty characters from several literary works, then asked them to

form categories for these characters and explain the rules used to form the categories.

He was pleased with the depth of students’ understanding and with the range of

categories that they created. A few students, for example, created categories based on

the attribute of “types of character flaws”; others used the attribute of “the kinds of

changes (e.g., physical, emotional, or psychological) that the characters experienced as

the stories evolved.”

• • •

Students in Ms. Hussey’s science class were studying the basic properties of matter,

specifically the elements that make up living and nonliving substances: hydrogen,

helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, sodium,

potassium, mercury, strontium, iodine, chlorine, radium, chromium, iron, neon, and

lead. They also had been learning how elements are grouped according to similar

properties. Ms. Hussey asked her students to classify these elements (assuming them to

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be at room temperature) into the traditional categories of solids, liquids, and gases.

Students had no problem completing this task. In order to extend their knowledge of

the elements, Ms. Hussey then asked students to reclassify the elements into a set of

completely new categories. She was pleased with the different ideas that students

generated for categories (e.g., “economically valuable” versus “not valuable,”

“replenishable” versus “not replenishable,” and the like) and the wide variety of new

connections that students made between and among the elements.

• • •

Mrs. Ranahan wanted to be sure that her mathematics students understood the basic

characteristics of the real number system and its subsystems. With this goal in mind,

she had been distinguishing the following categories of numbers: counting numbers,

whole numbers, integers, rational numbers, and real numbers. She thought students

had a fairly good understanding of these categories and, thus, of the real number

system and its subsystems. As an extending and refining activity she

• gave them the beginning of a list of numbers (0, 2, 11, 15, 1/2, -7,

0.75, , π),

• asked them to add to this list other examples of numbers that represent the

categories of numbers so that their final list included 30 numbers, and

• asked them to place each number from their list of 30 into the five categories.

Mrs. Ranahan then asked students to reclassify the numbers using their own rules for

categories.

√48

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Abstracting

The process of abstracting builds on an ability we all need to function daily:

the ability to recognize patterns. We must recognize and use patterns in

structures, designs, behaviors, and natural phenomena in order to understand

and respond to the stimuli bombarding us in a complex world. Similarly,

recognizing patterns in the incredible amount of information we receive,

whether in school or in daily activities, allows us to organize and use this

information more readily. Abstracting takes this ability a step further by

providing a process for identifying less-obvious general patterns in specific

information we see and hear and then using these general patterns to see

similarities between blocks of information that at first seem to be quite

different. Because abstracting forces a level of analysis that goes deeper than

literal interpretations, the result of using the process should be an increased

understanding of each block of information. The benefit of this increased

understanding should be clear both for students in the classroom and for

anyone attempting to make sense of the information they receive every day.

Like comparing and classifying, abstracting helps students in the classroom

analyze similarities and differences in information they are studying. It is

especially effective in helping them understand unfamiliar information by

recognizing that it contains patterns similar to information that is more

familiar; for example, if students are studying a war that occurred in ancient

Greece, they might understand it better if they can see how it follows a

similar pattern to a fairy tale they know well. Conversely, abstracting can

help students gain new insights into what is familiar by analyzing the

familiar with patterns extracted from something unfamiliar; for example,

students may gain insights into their own culture by relating familiar

customs and rituals to a general pattern that they extracted while studying

customs and rituals from a culture foreign to them.

Another reason to teach the process of abstracting is that it is the reasoning

process underlying metaphor and analogy. You are abstracting when you create

a metaphor—for example, “love is a rose”—to help explain an abstraction

(love) by relating it at an abstract level to something more concrete (rose).

Similarly, you are abstracting when you use an analogy to understand

something (e.g., “The Earth is to the Sun as the electron is to the nucleus.”).

Developing an understanding of the ability to use abstracting, therefore, can

help students to understand and generate metaphors and analogies.

Abstracting is the process of identifying and articulating the underlying theme

or general pattern of information. Stated more simply, it is the process of finding

and explaining general patterns in specific information or situations.

For more on abstracting:

Anderson (1993) Rules of the

Mind

Anderson (1995) Learning

and Memory

Gick & Holyoak (1980)

“Analogical Problem

Solving”

Gick & Holyoak (1983)

“Schema Induction and

Analogical Transfer”

Holland et al. (1987)

Induction: Processes of Inference,

Learning and Discovery

Ortony (1980) “Metaphor”

“Analogies, it is true, decide

nothing. But they can make

one feel more at home.”

—Sigmund Freud

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Because abstracting allows us to see how two seemingly different things are

connected, it is a very powerful tool for extending and refining knowledge in

the classroom. You can help students develop their abstracting skills by

including the following activities in your classroom.

1. Help students understand the process of abstracting.

Because of its complexity, abstracting should be introduced to students

using content with which they are familiar. For example, you might explain

how abstracting can help us to identify the general pattern of some common

fables, such as “The Grasshopper and the Ant” or “The Emperor’s New

Clothes,” and relate the general patterns to current events or to something

happening at school. Gradually increase the complexity of stories or start

with a current event and demonstrate making connections. Ask students to

help you go through the same process by identifying how two stories or

situations are really alike. Push them to make connections among

increasingly dissimilar situations.

Once students have heard and generated several clear examples of

abstracting, you can explain its main function: to distill information into its

most basic form, then connect it to information that on the surface appears

unrelated, or to create something new that follows the same general pattern.

Although they should be able to do this with simple information without

using a step-by-step process, explain that in academic situations the

information they are analyzing is often longer, more complex, or unfamiliar.

In these situations, a process will serve them well. Additionally, explain that

using the process can help them increase their understanding of information

as they make connections that are more subtle and would be missed without

a rigorous use of the process.

Finally, students might gain an appreciation for this process if they

understand situations in which abstracting has been used. Discuss examples

with them and encourage them to look for examples in and out of school.

Movies and plays are sometimes created as a result of an author abstracting

from history or literature; for example, My Fair Lady is a story following the

same general pattern as the myth Pygmalion, and West Side Story was

abstracted from Romeo and Juliet.

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2. Give students a model for the process of abstracting, and

create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of abstracting.

Presenting a general model for the process of abstracting is a good

way to help students become comfortable with the process. The steps

of the model might include the following:

This process might be stated in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

The various steps in the process should be demonstrated to students,

preferably in think-aloud fashion. Provide students with the specific

information and then let them observe your thinking. For example,

you could give students the following passage:

Two rival tribes lived on opposite sides of a river. Over the years they began to

trade with one another, with one tribe giving the other grain in return for

cattle. As the quantity and quality of their trade increased, they began to

interact more at a social level. As a result of their social interaction, they

began to realize that they had differing beliefs about what they would do if

the river dried up. Even though there was little chance that the river would

actually dry up, the tribes became irritated and impatient with each other

because of their differences. Their disagreements soon began to interfere with

their trade. Over time, they stopped their trade and eventually went to war.

After telling this story, demonstrate the process of identifying the

literal information of the story. The result might be the following:

1. What is important here?

2. How can I say the same thing in a more general way?

3. What else has the same general pattern?

1. Identify what is considered important or basic to the

information or situation with which you are working.

2. Write that basic information in a more general form by

• replacing words referring to specific things with words

referring to more general things, and

• summarizing information whenever possible.

3. Find new information or a situation to which the general

pattern applies.

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I can use the

same pattern

again here…

… and again

here.

General Pattern

1. Gather materials

and combine.

2. Add heat.

3. Put on finishing

touches.

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• Two tribes

• Lived across the river

• Exchanged cattle for grain

• Increased social interaction

• Learned of differences in beliefs about what should be done if the river

dried up

• Two tribes became irritated with each other

• Stopped trading with each other and eventually went to war

Next, show students how to translate the literal information into a

more abstract form. Identify each specific and talk through how you

are generating the general pattern.

• Two groups of people or two entities live in relatively close proximity but

are separated or antagonistic in some way.

• The two groups or entities begin to interact.

• Because of this interaction, they discover some type of conflict.

• They end up even less connected or more antagonistic than they were

previously.

Then link the general pattern to some other situation that would not

seem similar at the literal level. For example, you might help

students to see that the abstract pattern about the two tribes is

similar to the relationship between a particular man and woman in a

book they’ve been reading in class; or it might fit the type of

interaction observed between two organisms in nature.

Next, provide students with a passage or story. As a class or in small

groups, have them practice each step of the abstracting process.

Provide feedback and push them to connect their general pattern to

increasingly more interesting, specific information. Build in a

number of practice sessions before applying the process to academic

content.

3. As students study and use the process of abstracting, help

them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the

process.

The word abstracting can be intimidating to students who seem to interact

more easily with concrete information. However, if they use the steps of the

process to provide them with structure, they will see that abstracting is not

as elusive as it might sound and they should develop increasing confidence

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“When the students turned

in their reports, I was very

disappointed. I had asked

them to explain how the

situation in the Middle East

followed the same pattern as

another event in history, but

their reports were less than

acceptable. I began to

realize that I had asked

them to engage in

abstracting but I had never

taught them how.”

—A high school teacher

in Ohio

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in their ability to generate and use abstract relationships. Keep in mind the

following key points and recommendations as you help students understand

and use the process.

Key Points

1) Ironically, it is the first step of the process, the one requiring the

identification of the important or basic literal information, that poses the

biggest challenge for many students. Mistakes range from missing key

parts of the literal information to identifying virtually every detail as

important. Students’ ability to successfully complete this step will

depend on the complexity of the information or situation and on their

experience and practice in summarizing. They may need focused practice

and feedback on just this part of the process, and, even with practice,

they may require support in completing this step accurately.

2) As students are translating the literal to the abstract, they often have

questions about how general the language in the pattern should be.

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut answer or way to measure the level of

generality. The objective is to be general enough that connections can be

made between seemingly different information but not so general that

everything seems to connect to everything else. If the literal statement in

the following example was rephrased as shown, the translation would be

considered too general:

The following translation, however, could lead to more insightful connections:

Experience and common sense, then, should be your guide for defining

the levels of abstraction that will extend and refine knowledge.

3) As students apply their general pattern to new specifics, the obvious

connections will emerge first. In order to maximize the potential for

abstracting to extend and refine knowledge, push students for more

obscure connections. It is worth the effort to encourage and reinforce

students’ more rigorous use of the model, especially when they make

Literal

The colonists rebelled by staging the

Boston Tea Party.

General

A small group of people rebelled against

oppression from an authority.

Literal

The colonists rebelled by staging the

Boston Tea Party.

General

Someone did something to someone else.

“An unintended result of

teaching abstracting was

that students found out that

at an abstract level they had

a lot more in common with

others than they thought.”

—A middle school teacher

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powerful connections that cross the disciplines. For example, if students

can see that the relationship between producers and consumers in nature

is similar at an abstract level to producers and consumers in an economy,

they may gain a better understanding of both.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of abstracting.

For many students, using a graphic organizer will help them to understand

the process of abstracting and guide them through the steps of the process.

Figure 3.4 illustrates a simple organizer to use with abstracting.

FIGURE 3.4

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR ABSTRACTING

This three-part graphic allows students to record both the literal information

as well as the abstract pattern. The literal information of the two items

being associated are listed in the two outside panels. The abstract pattern

that connects them is listed in the middle panel. (When using this graphic

with your students, you might want to label the three sections “Specific,

General, Specific.”)

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

When students are just beginning to use the process of abstracting, and even

later when there are very specific academic goals identified in the

curriculum, students might need to engage in abstracting tasks that are

highly structured. In these tasks, you may select the information to be

abstracted, guide them through identifying the literal information, and even

lead them through generating the abstract pattern. Students would then be

asked to find another situation to which the abstract pattern applies.

Literal LiteralAbstract

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As students become comfortable with using the process, have them structure

more and more of the task. You might begin this by providing them with

the original information but having them independently engage in each step

of the abstracting process. Although it is still important to monitor them as

they work, your goal is to help them to become more proficient and

confident in their use of each step of the process. In this way, as different

students generate slightly different general patterns, they will be more likely

to make connections that never occurred to you. Students eventually should

begin to identify for themselves the situations in which abstracting can help

them to extend and refine their knowledge.

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 3 in your classroom.

When Mrs. Cleaver first learned about the process of abstracting, she thought that the

process was not appropriate for her first graders. However, one day she realized that

she had been using abstracting in class without intending to. She had been trying to

help students understand that just as letters stand for sounds, numbers stand for

things. She had been extending and refining students’ understanding of symbol systems

by showing them how things that seem different are similar at a general level—and

her students had been getting it.

The next week, Mrs. Cleaver taught her students the process of abstracting by using

some fairy tales that had plots following the same general pattern. From then on, she

periodically challenged her students to look for general patterns as they learned. She

was amazed at what her students observed. One student noticed that digits can be put

together to make a new number in the same way that letters can be put together to

make a new word. With further prompting from Mrs. Cleaver, students noticed that if

they changed the order of the letters of some words, their meaning changed. For

example, tap became pat. Similarly, if they turned around the order of the digits in a

number, it, too, had a new meaning. For example, 453 became 354.

Mrs. Cleaver started a bulletin board on which she listed the general statements

discovered by the class, along with specific examples from students. Periodically she

added a general statement to see if students could apply it to specifics, for example, “If

you put things together ‘any old way’, you don’t get much meaning, but if you put

things together in an organized way, you make patterns that have meaning.” She

hoped that students would see that words in random order say nothing, but in an

organized sequence, they make a sentence; numbers in a random order do not have any

meaning, but if you follow a pattern like counting by two’s, you get meaning. Mrs.

Cleaver had to admit that students were beginning to see connections everywhere, even

connections she had not noticed.

• • •

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Students in Mr. Lucas’s language arts class were just beginning to use the process of

abstracting. To help them extend and refine their understanding of themes in myths

and epics, he presented them with a task that he thought would interest them. Using

the movie Star Wars, Mr. Lucas helped students identify the important or basic

elements of the movie and create a general pattern from this specific information:

1. A young man has special talents.

2. He is destined for possible greatness.

3. He must forge his character through a series of tests and trials of body and will.

4. He is helped by wise advisors in a battle between good and evil.

5. He comes close to death and destruction.

6. He overcomes limitations.

7. He is triumphant.

Mr. Lucas then asked students to apply this pattern to The Odyssey and to an epic,

myth, or legend that they had studied in previous units (e.g., Native American

literature or ancient legends).

• • •

Mr. Hillman explained to his students that a computer virus is so named because

someone noticed that this phenomenon in computers behaves, at an abstract level, like a

virus in nature. He asked students to use the process of abstracting to trace the

thinking that led to the name computer virus.

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Inductive Reasoning

Most of us informally use induction every day. For example, we are using

induction when we observe the way the cashier at the supermarket greets the

customers and rings up the items, and we conclude that he is in a bad mood.

We are reasoning inductively when we infer that a potential employer

during an interview is looking for someone who is assertive and confident. In

both of these situations, the conclusions reached inductively have helped us

understand a situation and respond appropriately.

We have all also experienced the consequences of reaching conclusions

inductively that turned out not to be true. We might misinterpret evidence,

for example, and, as a result, wrongfully accuse someone of stealing

something. We might misread nonverbal cues and attribute the wrong

motives to an action or comment. The power of inductive reasoning, and the

reason it is important for students to learn, is that it is a reasoning process

that enables us to figure out things that are not explicit or overt. However,

the limitation of inductive reasoning is that no matter how carefully we use

the process, the conclusions we draw may or may not be true.

Some would argue that this characteristic of inductive reasoning—the fact

that conclusions reached inductively may or may not be true—is the reason

that students should understand and learn to use the process. There are times

in our lives when it is important to realize that conclusions drawn inductively

should be used cautiously. In certain situations, before conclusions are accepted

at any level, they should be validated with as much information as possible.

People might be less likely to form stereotypes, for example, if they

understood that they are often based on conclusions drawn from too little

information or from too few observations. When people serve on a jury, they

need to realize that they are often being asked to reach verdicts inductively.

If they understand inductive reasoning, they may be more careful about

listening to all of the available information before reaching their conclusions.

Situations like these remind us how important it is for students to develop

an understanding of and ability to use this process.

In the classroom, we cue students to reason inductively any time we ask

them to identify what is not explicitly stated or when we ask them to read

between the lines. By teaching them the process of inductive reasoning, we

increase the likelihood that they will be able to learn more than what is

obvious. And, by holding them accountable for rigorously using the process,

Inductive reasoning is the process of inferring unknown generalizations or

principles from information or observations. Stated more simply, it is the process

of making general conclusions from specific information or observations.

For more on inductive

reasoning:

Anderson (1990) Cognitive

Psychology and Its Implications

Lipman, Sharp, & Oscanyan

(1980) Philosophy in the

Classroom

Negin (1987) Inferential

Reasoning for Teachers

Wason & Johnson-Laird

(1972) Psychology of

Reasoning

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we increase the chances that they will generate valid, accurate conclusions,

both in the classroom and in life.

The following suggestions should help in planning for students to learn

about inductive reasoning and to develop the ability to use the process.

1. Help students understand the process of inductive reasoning.

Students need some introduction to the concept of inductive reasoning

because it is so commonly used yet often misunderstood. Giving students a

concrete example is the best introduction. Try this one: Walk into class,

slam the door, throw your books on the desk, and then fold your arms across

your chest. After a moment, ask students what conclusions they formed

when they observed your actions. Then explain to them that the mental

process they were using is called inductive reasoning, which is reasoning that

uses specific observations to draw general conclusions. Ask them to identify

other possible explanations of the behavior in order to emphasize that their

conclusions may or may not be true.

You might ask students to identify other examples of induction. For

example, you might ask students to observe a newscast and identify the

inductions made by the announcer. Or you could have a discussion about the

uses and necessity of induction in daily life (e.g., “What would life be like if

we could not induce anything?”).

Finally, explain to students that inductive reasoning will help them extend

and refine knowledge by increasing their ability to make connections and see

patterns in the information available to them in class and anywhere in life.

2. Give students a model for the process of inductive reasoning,

and create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of inductive reasoning.

Although induction is a natural mental process, it is still necessary to

provide students with a model they can use when applying induction

to content. The steps of the model might include the following:

1. Focus on specific pieces of information or observations. Try not

to assume anything.

2. Look for patterns or connections in the information you have

identified.

3. Make a general statement that explains the patterns or

connections you have observed.

4. Make more observations to see if your generalization holds up;

if it does not, change it as necessary.

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The general set of steps may be presented in simpler terms for young

students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

When you present this strategy to students, you might model each

step in think-aloud fashion. For example, you might say,

Right now I’m looking out the window and watching a man mowing his

lawn. It’s the middle of the day, and the man appears to be in his sixties or

seventies. I see him at home quite a bit. Let me put all this information

together. It could be that he is retired. What else do I see or know that would

support or refute that conclusion?

You can list the steps on a wall chart so that students can follow

along as you speak.

Another way of providing opportunities for practice is to take

students on induction outings. An induction outing is simply a

situation in which students go outside the classroom to observe and

draw conclusions based on their observations. For example, a teacher

might ask students to walk around the school or the neighborhood

and make specific observations (e.g., “The house on the corner has a

lot of athletic equipment in the garage and the backyard.”). Students

would then make inductions from those observations (e.g., “The

people who live in the house on the corner are very interested in

sports.”). After reporting their inductions, students describe their

observations and explain the reasoning that led to their conclusions.

Gradually hold students more accountable for making pure

observations and for having more than one or two observations for

their conclusions.

3. As students study and use the process of inductive reasoning,

help them to focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of

the process.

As students learn to engage in inductive reasoning, there are several parts of

the model that may need special attention and focused instruction. Keep the

1. What specific information do I have?

2. What connections or patterns can I find?

3. What general conclusions or predictions can I make?

4. When I get more information, do I need to change my general

conclusions or predictions?

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following points in mind as you help students to increase their

understanding of and ability to use the inductive reasoning process.

Key Points

1) Sometimes the statements that students offer as inductions are not really

conclusions generated as a result of seeing connections or patterns in

information or observations. Often, especially when students are initially

learning induction, their “conclusions” actually are

• restatements of the original information (“I conclude that the

characters were really angry because they said they were mad.”),

• descriptions of the observation (“I conclude that the salt melted the ice.”), or

• opinions (“I conclude that the people were wrong to protest.”).

Students need multiple opportunities to practice generating conclusions

that represent connections or patterns among observations or pieces of

information. They also need modeling and feedback during these

practice sessions.

2) As students practice inductive reasoning, make sure they are basing their

conclusions on observations and information rather than assumptions and

opinions. This, of course, requires that students understand the

differences between an observation and an assumption or an opinion. For

example, if a student concludes that Edgar Allan Poe was probably

obsessed with death and if he bases that conclusion on the “observation”

that “Poe’s poems were weird,” it must be pointed out to him that the

conclusion is based on an opinion, not on a pure observation.

It is difficult to make pure observations, that is, objective observations

not confounded by opinions, assumptions, or biases. Sometimes our

opinions, assumption, and biases are obvious and we can be careful to

avoid using them to draw our conclusions. However, sometimes it is not

so obvious that our observations are confounded by or represent our

opinions, assumptions, and biases. Students will need practice and

feedback to become proficient at making observations that are objective.

3) One of the most important requirements of good inductive reasoning is

that conclusions are based on as many observations or as much specific

information as possible. Although one can never be sure that conclusions

are true, the conclusions have more validity when they are supported

well. Consistently push students to look for more information and

observations to support their initial conclusions.

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Tweney, Doherty, & Mynatt

(1981) On Scientific Thinking

“The temptation to form

premature theories upon

insufficient data is the bane

of our profession.”

—Sherlock Holmes

(Arthur Conan Doyle)

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4. Provide students with examples of graphic organizers or

representations to help them understand and use the process

of inductive reasoning.

For many students, using a graphic organizer will help them understand

the process of inductive reasoning and guide them through the steps of

the process. Figure 3.5 helps to emphasize that students need to make a

number of observations before drawing a conclusion.

FIGURE 3.5

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR INDUCTIVE REASONING

Figure 3.6 is an example of an inductive reasoning matrix, which is a way of

organizing large blocks of information to facilitate making inductions. The

induction is most easily applied to concepts. The horizontal rows of the

induction matrix contain the concepts to be considered. In general, these

concepts should all belong to a common category (e.g., types of government).

The columns of the matrix contain questions to be answered about each

concept. Note that conclusions can be drawn for both rows and columns.

Once students answer all of the column questions (e.g., “Who governs?”) for

each of the four types of governments (e.g., democracy), they can draw

conclusions about each form of government (row conclusions). They can also

draw conclusions about governance, decision making, and early forms of

government (column conclusions). Finally, they can construct a summary

conclusion that combines the elements of the row and column conclusions.

Conclusion

Observation Observation ObservationObservation

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“Inductive reasoning can be

done at the kindergarten

level. I design tasks around

very simple content, but my

students are starting to

understand how much they

can figure out by using

what they observe.”

—A primary teacher

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FIGURE 3.6

NDUCTIVE REASONING MATRIX

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

When students are first learning to engage in inductive reasoning and any

time that the content is complex, it is appropriate to use highly structured

induction tasks and to monitor students closely as they are completing the

tasks. They may need help in making the initial observations or selecting

important pieces of information, in seeing the connections or patterns, and

in generating logical conclusions from these patterns. For example, if you are

on a field trip to a local pond, and you want students to draw some

conclusions about the living things around the pond, you might focus them

on observations of specific phenomena and dictate descriptions of these

phenomena for them to record in their learning logs. After returning to the

class, you might lead them in a discussion that focuses on specific

observations and help them generate some conclusions.

Eventually, as students become more accustomed to making inductions, you

should be able to provide much less structure. In fact, one of the goals of

teaching students inductive reasoning is to help them begin to discover

subtle connections and patterns within content even when they are not

explicitly directed to do so. For example, the next time you go on a field

trip, you may simply encourage students to make their own observations and

see what they conclude from what they have observed.

Who governs? How are

decisions made?

What are some

early examples?

CONCLUSIONS

Democracy

Republic

Monarchy

Dictatorship

CONCLUSIONS SUMMARY

CONCLUSIONS

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Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 3 in your classroom.

Ms. Krueger presented her fifth-grade students with the following task:

Fossil remains tell us about the plant or animal that formed them. Fossils

also tell us about the environment in which the plant or animal lived. You

will be given a variety of photographs, diagrams, and other representations of

fossils from the Mesozoic Era (e.g., lungfish, lizards, dinosaurs, insects,

seaweeds, and land plants). Observe the features of the fossils (e.g., backbone

or not, number of legs used for walking, presence of wings, body surface

covering) which would help the plant or animal survive in a particular

environment. Look for patterns or connections in the information you have

identified. What do these patterns tell you about the environment in which

these plants or animals lived (e.g., water or land, danger from other

creatures, amount of seasonal changes)?

• • •

Mrs. Smith asked students in her literature class to select a favorite character from a

favorite book and look for patterns and connections in the character’s actions,

attitudes, and relationships. She then asked students to use the patterns and

connections to draw conclusions about the character’s personality, using information

from the book to support their conclusions. Students then presented their conclusions

and supporting information in “articles” that appeared in the class’s newsletter, “The

Book Nook.”

• • •

As part of their study of political satire, students in Ms. Chung’s high school

literature class read Gulliver’

s Travels. Periodically, she asked them to infer what

might have been occurring in England at the time the story was written.

• • •

Mrs. O’Riley was planning a unit to address a topic that was included in national

documents covering standards in health literacy. These standards emphasized that

students should understand a variety of consumer influences and how those influences

affect decisions regarding health resources, products, and services. Students were aware

that advertisers try to influence consumers to purchase their products by appealing to

consumers’ concern for their health. To increase their understanding of how advertisers

attempt to influence consumers’ decisions, Mrs. O’Riley gave students the following task:

We are surrounded by images and messages telling us how to be healthier and

stronger, how to run faster and to jump higher, how to live longer. Who are

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the creators of these images and messages targeting? What do the creators of

these advertisements think their audience wants and is willing to believe?

Choose an advertisement that promotes a product it claims will improve your

health in some way (e.g., a super-energy-drink advertisement from an exercise

magazine, a live-longer vitamin advertisement from a health magazine, or a

television infomercial about an exercise machine). Study the advertisement

carefully, noting various aspects, such as health-promoting claims, prices, and

layout. Based on your observations, draw a conclusion about the creators of

the advertisement. What do you think advertisers believe about what people

want in relation to their health? What do advertisers seem to think people

will believe about what might help them to achieve their goals (e.g., “The

people who created this advertisement must believe that . . . .”)? Support your

conclusions with information and observations from the advertisement you

studied.

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Deductive Reasoning

We all use deductive reasoning every day to make sense of our world. This

happens every time we apply a general principle to a new specific situation

and, as a result, understand something about that new situation. We are

using deductive reasoning when, for example, we tell ourselves we should

not eat that piece of chocolate cake because we know that cake often contains

ingredients that can make us gain weight. We are reasoning deductively

when we conclude that the airplane we are on has a fire extinguisher because

it belongs to the general category of commercial airplanes, and we know that

all commercial airplanes carry fire extinguishers. Both of these examples

emphasize how commonly we need to use deductive reasoning to cope with

new situations every day.

As simple as the above examples are, it is interesting that deductive

reasoning is a process that many people find intimidating. One possible

reason for this is that when people think of deductive reasoning, they

immediately associate it with formal logic, a subject many people struggled

with or successfully avoided in school. Although it is true that deduction is

integral to formal logic, it is not true that deduction should be taught only

in logic classes. All students should have the opportunity to develop the

ability to reason deductively, not only because it is important in everyday

life, as exemplified above, but because it is important to learning.

In academic situations, deductive reasoning is a key to achieving one of the

major goals of learning: the ability to transfer knowledge from one situation

to the next. When students are learning how to apply general principles to

new specific situations, they are learning to transfer knowledge. If, for

example, students are studying the characteristics of living things during a

unit on plants, they should be able to transfer that knowledge deductively to

their study of animals; or, if they understand some general principles of force

and motion, they should be able to predict what will happen in an

experiment in which those principles apply. This transfer of knowledge is

dependent, of course, on understanding the general principles, but transfer

also requires the ability to apply the principles deductively to the new

specific situations.

Like any reasoning process, developing an understanding of the process of

deductive reasoning and practicing the skills associated with it will enable

Deductive reasoning is the process of using generalizations and principles to

infer unstated conclusions about specific information or situations. Stated more

simply, it is the process of using general statements to come to conclusions about

specific information or situations.

For more on deductive

reasoning:

Copi (1972) Introduction to

Logic

Johnson-Laird (1983)

Mental Models

Klenk (1983) Understanding

Symbolic Logic

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anyone to use deduction in daily situations or while engaged in academically

rigorous tasks. Although the topic of deduction can include the study of

many types of arguments and rules of formal logic, the scope of information

in the following sections will be limited to two major areas: (1) using

deductive reasoning in a general sense, and (2) categorical syllogisms.

1. Strategies 1 through 5 provide recommendations for using deductive

reasoning in a general sense, that is, learning to apply general

principles to new specifics in order to increase understanding of the

new information and to make predictions about the new situations.

If students have these experiences, they should begin to develop the

understanding needed to be aware of how deductive reasoning helps

them in everyday life and with academic content.

2. A resource section (see pages 155-159) is provided for those who

would like to provide students with a greater understanding of one

particular type of deductive reasoning: categorical syllogisms.

1. Help students understand the process of deductive reasoning.

It is important for all students to understand deductive reasoning in a

general sense, that is, to understand that deductive reasoning is a process of

using general information to draw conclusions or to make predictions about

specific situations. Illustrate the definition by providing examples of how

they use deductive reasoning daily; for example, students can predict what

they will see if they go to a specific grocery store because they know some

general characteristics of grocery stores that always apply. Likewise, they can

predict that they will not do well on a test if they are not familiar with the

material that’s on the test.

Once students begin to understand how the process is used in simple,

everyday examples, you will want to increase their understanding of

deductive reasoning so that they can apply the process to content knowledge.

Given the common confusion between inductive and deductive reasoning,

directly comparing the two types of thinking is a good way to begin.

Explain that

deductive reasoning is the process of using general information to draw

conclusions about specific information or situations, and

inductive reasoning is the process of using specific pieces of information to

draw general conclusions.

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When Sherlock Holmes

said, “Brilliant deduction,

my dear Watson,” should he

have said, “Brilliant

induction, my dear

Watson”?

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Give students several examples of each type of reasoning. For example,

explain that you are reasoning deductively when you apply the principles

related to gravity and predict that you will fall to the ground if you step off

the roof. Likewise, if you understand the principles of force and motion and

have the right information related to a specific shot in billiards, you can

predict the path of the billiard ball.

Contrast examples of deduction with examples of induction. For example, a

detective reasons inductively by examining the clues at the scene of a crime

and drawing a conclusion, such as the robber probably was someone the

victim knew. That conclusion might be based on the following observations:

a. There were no signs that someone broke in.

b. Only the places where valuables were kept were disturbed.

c. The dog did not bark during the time of the robbery.

There are other conclusions that could be drawn from these observations, but

the pattern seems to lead to the detective’s conclusion. A good detective, and

someone who is skilled at inductive reasoning, will then look for other

information to determine if the conclusion holds up.

You may need to demonstrate the difference between induction and

deduction a number of times by presenting students with examples like

those above. Try to make the examples as relevant and meaningful as

possible. Over time, ask students to identify whether the examples provided

are conclusions arrived at inductively or deductively.

2. Give students a model for the process of deductive reasoning,

and create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of deductive reasoning.

There are some very general steps or guidelines that apply to most

deductive situations:

1. Identify the specific situation that is being considered or studied.

2. Identify the generalizations or principles that apply to the

specific situation.

3. Make sure that the specific situation meets the conditions that

have to be in place for those generalizations or principles to apply.

4. If the generalizations or principles do apply, identify what is

known about the specific situation, that is, what conclusions

can be drawn or what predictions can be made.

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This is a bee, and it is an

insect. Therefore, I know it

has 3 body parts, 6 legs…

… and a stinger!

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These general guidelines may be stated in simpler terms for young

students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

Before asking students to practice using the general guidelines for

deduction, demonstrate them in a think-aloud fashion, using

situations in which you can highlight each guideline. You might say,

I am a weather forecaster and I see a tornado on the radar. I ask myself,

“What do I know about tornadoes?” I recall all the general principles

related to tornadoes and determine if the tornado I am observing has the

characteristics that would make those principles apply. If the tornado does

have those characteristics, I can make predictions about what the tornado will

do, and I can decide whether to sound any alarms.

Or,

I am trying to determine the length of a side of a triangle, given the other

two sides. I know that for right triangles, the square of the hypotenuse is

equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. First, I have to

determine if the triangle I am studying is a right triangle. If it is, I can

apply the principle and calculate the length of the unknown side.

Once students become familiar with these guidelines, ask them to

practice using the steps of deductive reasoning by pairing up with other

students and using the think-aloud technique. They can use principles

from their content, such as math and science, or they may begin to

identify generalizations they take from everyday situations, such as, “If I

clean the house before mom gets home from work, and nothing else

negative happens, the evening at home will be very pleasant.”

1. What specific topic am I studying?

2. What general information do I already have that might

help me understand my specific topic?

3. Am I sure the general information applies to the specific

topic I am studying?

4. If it does, how did the general information help me

understand the specific topic?

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3. As students study and use the process of deductive

reasoning, help them focus them on critical steps and difficult

aspects of the process.

To help students to become increasingly proficient at using deductive

reasoning, it is important for the teacher to develop an understanding of key

aspects of the process and to make sure that students are learning academic

content that lends itself to the use of deductive reasoning. To plan the

necessary experiences, the following key points are offered as guides.

Key Points

1) Deductive reasoning is the process of applying general information, in

the form of generalizations and principles, to new specific situations.

Obviously, if students are to use this process, they must be learning

important content generalizations and principles that they can apply.

Although this is obvious, sometimes the reality is that students spend a

large percentage of their time memorizing factual information;

consequently, developing an in-depth understanding of generalizations

and principles is not a major emphasis in the curriculum. If students are

to learn the process of deductive reasoning, the curriculum—both the

written curriculum and what is actually delivered in the classroom—

must emphasize the learning of clearly articulated generalizations and

principles.

2) The third step of the process of deduction asks students to make sure

that the specific situations meet the conditions that have to be in place

for the generalization or principle to apply. It is important for students

to understand that sometimes the wording of the generalization or

principle does not include all conditions. The implication is that

students might need to restate the generalization or principle to make

sure the conditions are clearly articulated. For example, if a student is

working from a principle that states, “If two magnets are placed near

each other, they will be pushed apart,” the student must add the

condition that this is only true if the two common poles of the magnets

(two north or two south poles) are brought together.

3) Some educators would assert that it is not as effective to present

important generalizations and principles to students as it is to ask them

to discover this knowledge. However, directly teaching important

knowledge, and then asking students to apply that knowledge, can be

just as effective as discovery methods. Using deductive reasoning to apply

knowledge requires students to develop an understanding of both the

concepts within a principle and the conditions that make it applicable.

“It was easy to teach my

students that deductive

reasoning was going from

the general principle to the

specific topic—just the

opposite of inductive

reasoning. It was difficult to

teach them that a general

principle only applies if the

specific topic meets certain

conditions.”

—An eighth-grade teacher

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It also requires that this understanding be sufficient to help them

determine if the general statement applies to the new situation. If

students are required to apply their understanding to increasingly

complex and diverse situations, they may develop a level of understanding

that equals—or even exceeds—what could be attained with inductive

instructional approaches.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations

that will help them understand and use the process of

deductive reasoning.

Below are two graphic organizers that may help students to understand the

steps involved in deductive reasoning. These organizers also can be used to

help some students organize their information and follow the steps of the

process. Figure 3.7 provides places to describe the specific situation, the

generalization or principle, the conditions that must be in place, and any

conclusions or predictions that are made. It also emphasizes that the goal is

to determine if there is a match between the specific situation and the

generalization or principle.

FIGURE 3.7

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR DEDUCTIVE REASONING

1. Specific situation/topic

4. Conclusion/Prediction 4. No Conclusion/Prediction

2. Related generalization/principle

3. Does the specific situation/topic meet the conditions that make

the generalization/principle apply?

Conditions that must be in place for

the generalization/principle to apply

Yes? No?

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Figure 3.8 organizes that information in a matrix with columns that follow

the steps of the process. It allows for the application of several principles to a

single, specific situation and for the generation of a number of predictions or

conclusions.

FIGURE 3.8

EDUCTIVE REASONING MATRIX

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

Sometimes students should be provided with very structured tasks that

require them to use deductive reasoning. When students are just beginning

to learn to use the process or when the teacher wants to deepen or broaden

students’ understanding of very specific academic knowledge, students may

be given the specific situations, the generalization or principles to apply, and

details of the conditions that must be met. For example, in a science class, a

teacher might be helping students understand the principle that “water

seeks its own level.” She may set up several experiments and ask students to

determine if the principle applies, explain why or why not, and, when it

does apply, to make predictions.

As students become more comfortable using deductive reasoning, they

should begin to structure their own tasks. To encourage this, teachers may

want to stop specifying exactly which principle to apply and, instead, only

make some suggestions. For example, when studying the Eastern European

countries, a social studies teacher might ask students to predict what will

happen to specific countries in the future by applying any of a number

principles they have studied related to economics, sociology, civics, or

science. Hopefully, over time, students will develop an appreciation of the

power of deductive reasoning and begin to use the process independently

when trying to understand or make predictions in new situations, both in

the classroom and in daily life.

Specific topic

or situation

Principles or

generalizations

that might apply

Conditions that

would make the

principle or

generalization

apply

If the principle or

generalization

applies, what can

you conclude or

predict?

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Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 3 in your classroom.

During a unit on plants, Ms. Isaacs’s kindergartners were learning about what

plants need to survive and the different ways in which they get what they need. After

several lessons, Ms. Isaacs placed three green plants on a shelf by a window. She

placed one plant in the middle. She placed the other two plants on either side with a

box over each one. She explained that all of the plants would receive the same amount

of water. Ms. Isaacs asked students to predict what each of the plants would probably

look like after a week and draw a picture that showed what they predicted.

• • •

Elementary students in Mr. Caraveo’s class were learning how human beings breathe.

A guest speaker came to the class to demonstrate the Heimlich maneuver. Knowing

that they had already studied respiration, the speaker asked Mr. Caraveo’s students to

apply what they had learned to the following hypothetical situation:

Your friend is having a coughing fit. You ask him if he is all right, but he is

coughing too hard to answer. Should you administer the Heimlich maneuver?

• • •

Mrs. Williamson presented her business students with the following task:

If a country in eastern Europe became a free-market system, what can we predict

would happen in that country?

• • •

Ms. Touchett’s high school physics class had been studying momentum. They had

learned about Newton’s first law and its applications in understanding car crashes

and had just finished a discussion of the law of conservation of momentum in inelastic

collisions. Ms. Touchett gave her students the following task to help them extend and

refine their knowledge about momentum:

In a car crash, the severity of damage to vehicles and passengers is related to the

change in velocity of the vehicles. When a heavy truck and a lighter car collide

head-on, the wreckage travels in the direction that the truck was headed before

the crash due to its greater momentum. The truck’s velocity decreases slightly, but

the car’s velocity changes direction as well as speed. The car’s change in velocity

is much greater than the truck’s. This is the reason that the truck driver often

suffers less severe injuries than the driver of the car. The weight of the truck

protects its driver in such a crash, but contributes to the damage to the car and

its driver.

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Understanding this principle, or any principle of physics, can be important to

understanding many activities in life. An Olympian hurdler once explained that

he jumped the hurdles in a very unconventional way. He did violate conventions

of running hurdles, he explained, but he did not violate the principles of physics.

Clearly, science helped him understand his sport. Just as the principle of

momentum was used to explain car-truck collisions, use it to explain at least two

phenomena in sports (e.g, football, baseball, boxing, or tennis). Include in your

explanation what happens, why it happens, and what equipment is used because

of what happens. Just as auto manufacturers try to understand physics to help

them devise new ways of keeping drivers safe, explain how understanding this

principle of physics might suggest the need for new equipment in the sport.

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Categorical Syllogisms

One type of deductive reasoning is represented in the form of categorical

syllogisms. This section includes explanations and recommendations that can

be used when planning to increase students’ understanding of this type of

deductive reasoning.

At a very basic level, you are making a categorical argument when you draw

a conclusion from premises. For example, you are reasoning categorically

when your thinking follows this pattern:

a. All commercial airplanes have a fire extinguisher on board.

b. The airplane I am on is a commercial airplane.

c. Therefore, this airplane has a fire extinguisher on board.

This type of argument is called a syllogism. Statements a and b are premises.

Statement c is the conclusion. Syllogisms always have two premises and a

conclusion. In everyday reasoning, the form of categorical syllogisms is

usually hidden. The following argument, for example, is based on a hidden

categorical syllogism: I know this airplane has a fire extinguisher because it

is a commercial airplane. Underlying this statement are premises a and b and

conclusion c. Note that the conclusion has to be true; we are sure of it.

Again, this is the defining characteristic of all forms of deductive reasoning:

Given that the premises are true, the conclusion has to be true. There are at

least four powerful ways that categorical syllogisms can be used in the

classroom. These four ways are usually used together.

1. Help students see hidden categorical syllogisms in their reasoning and

that of others.

One of the most powerful awarenesses students can have is that people

often unknowingly use categorical syllogisms in their reasoning. You can

foster this awareness by asking students to transform certain conclusions

they or others make into the form of a categorical syllogism (two

premises and a conclusion). This is called standardizing an argument.

Although it is not absolutely necessary, you might want to teach

students some of the formal rules for categorical syllogisms. One has

already been mentioned: They have two premises and a conclusion.

Additionally, the two premises can have only three elements. In the

example above the three elements are

• commercial airplanes

• contain fire extinguishers

• the airplane (that the speaker is in)

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Additionally, one of the three elements is transferred between the other

two. In this case, the element “contain fire extinguishers” is transferred

from the element “commercial airplanes” to “the airplane I am in.”

Finally, the elements in a categorical syllogism are modified by such

terms as “all,” “some,” and “none.”

Once students have been introduced briefly to these general rules for

categorical syllogisms, they can usually find statements that are based on

an underlying categorical syllogism and standardize these statements,

that is, rewrite them as categorical syllogisms.

2. Provide students with a graphic way of representing syllogisms.

Categorical syllogisms are so abstract that some people have difficulty

following the reasoning that supports them. Euler diagrams, which use

circles to represent membership in a set, can help make that reasoning

more concrete. In an Euler diagram, each of the three elements in a

categorical syllogism is represented by a circle. Circles are inside,

outside, or overlapping one another based on the relationships expressed

in the categorical syllogism. To illustrate, consider the following:

• All mammals breathe air.

• All whales are mammals.

• Therefore, all whales breathe air.

The three elements in this syllogism are

• A = mammals

• B = breathe air

• C = whales

If we represent each element with a circle, the first premise looks like this:

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The second premise tells us that the circle for whales, C, goes inside the

circle for mammals, A. Therefore, the entire categorical syllogism can be

represented as follows:

Once students have standardized statements into syllogistic forms, they can

use Euler diagrams to help understand and test the validity of the reasoning

represented by the syllogism.

3. Present students with the various forms of valid and invalid

categorical syllogisms.

Although categorical syllogisms can take many forms, only a few forms

yield valid conclusions. For example, the following form of categorical

syllogism generates no valid conclusion:

• All A are B

• All C are B

• Therefore, ________________.

Again, the Euler diagram can help students see that there are many

possibilities:

Because all three of these representations are equally possible, you cannot

reach a definite conclusion. Figure 3.9 lists all the forms that categorical

syllogisms can take and the valid conclusions that are possible.

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FIGURE 3.9

ALID CONCLUSIONS FROM SYLLOGISTIC ARGUMENTS

SECOND

PREMISE

All B are A Some B are A No B are A Some B are not A

All B are C

Some B are C

No B are C

All C are B

Some C are B

No C are B

Some C are not B

Some B are not C

Some A are not C

Some C are A

Some A are C

Some C are A

Some A are C

Some C are A

Some A are not C

Some C are not A

Some A are not C

No C are A

No A are C

All C are A

Some A are not C

Some A are C

Some C are A

FIRST PREMISE

SECOND

PREMISE

All A are B Some A are B No A are B Some A are not B

All B are C

Some B are C

No B are C

All C are B

Some C are B

No C are B

Some C are not B

Some B are not C

No A are C

No C are A

All A are C

Some A are C

Some C are A

Some A are not C

Some C are not A

No C are A

No A are C

Some C are not A

No A are C

No C are A

FIRST PREMISE

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Of the sixty-four forms of categorical syllogisms listed in Figure 3.9,

only twenty-seven yield valid conclusions. Once students are aware of

this fact, they are better able to identify an invalid argument.

4. Have students examine the truth of the premises in categorical

syllogisms.

A categorical syllogism may be logically valid but untrue. This occurs

when the form of the syllogism is valid but the premises are not true or

cannot be accepted in any absolute way. For example, the following

categorical syllogism is logically valid:

• All thieves are products of broken homes.

• Bill is a thief.

• Therefore, he is the product of a broken home.

Saying that the syllogism is logically valid means that the conclusion

follows from the premises. The premises themselves, however, must also

be examined. In this example, the first premise, “All thieves are products

of broken homes,” is not true; therefore, the conclusion may not be true.

An important awareness about categorical syllogisms, then, is that they

can be logically valid but not true. You analyze the validity of a

syllogism by looking at its logic. You analyze the truth of a syllogism by

looking at the premises themselves. This is a powerful awareness for

students. After they have analyzed the validity of a categorical syllogism,

they can then consider its truth by examining the premises.

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Once students become

familiar with categorical

syllogisms, introduce them

to conditional syllogisms.

One good source for this is

Virginia Klenk’s

Understanding Symbolic Logic

(1983).

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Constructing Support

There are times in all of our lives when we feel strongly enough about

something to want to take action. That action often includes trying to

influence or persuade others by constructing supportive arguments for a

particular position and then expressing those arguments orally or in writing.

To successfully construct arguments requires two kinds of knowledge: first,

an understanding of and the ability to use persuasive techniques and, second,

an understanding of the information needed to construct a powerful

argument. Understanding and successfully using persuasive techniques will

be useful to students throughout their lives. However, while developing the

ability to construct support, they should also be increasing their

understanding of the content information they are using in their arguments.

Thus, students should learn to construct support, not just because it is a life

skill but because it is another type of reasoning that can lead to their

extending and refining knowledge.

This twofold benefit of learning to construct support suggests that we

should make sure that the process is not relegated to speech and debate

classes only. These classes, of course, provide students with the opportunity

to develop knowledge and skills related to persuasion, but many students do

not take speech and debate classes. All content areas can have issues surface

about which it would be beneficial for students to take positions and

construct support. If educators used the process of constructing support

across the disciplines, more students would have the opportunity to develop

this ability and use the process in many different contexts with different

types of content information.

Another benefit of using the process of constructing support in the

classroom is that taking a position on an issue often increases students’

engagement, particularly when you give students some choice in selecting a

position they want to support. Teachers sometimes complain that students

display very little affect in the classroom, that apathy—sometimes even

lethargy—is evident. Part of the reason is that students become so focused

on simply taking in information that they begin to passively accept

everything they read and hear. Students may be more interested in and

motivated to study the knowledge related to issues when you encourage

them to identify issues about which people have different opinions and then

to take and defend their own positions. Constructing support, then, can

enhance students’ learning simply by injecting new energy—even passion—

into the classroom.

Constructing support is the process of building systems of support for

assertions. Stated more simply, it is the process of providing support for statements.

For more on constructing

support:

Goldman, Berquist, &

Coleman (1989) The Rhetoric

of Western Thought

Kinneavy (1991) “Rhetoric”

Toulmin, Rieke, & Janik

(1981) An Introduction to

Reasoning

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If the process of constructing support is to be used across the disciplines,

there needs to be some consistency in how it is defined and used. The

definitions and suggestions included here can serve as a resource for teachers

who want to help students develop a way of increasing their understanding

of and ability to use this process.

1. Help students understand the process of constructing

support.

Introduce the concept of constructing support by presenting a well-designed

argument on some issue that will interest the students, such as requiring

school uniforms. Before you present the argument, however, explain to

students that you will be trying to persuade them that your idea is a good

one. Ask them to look for specific strategies you are using to persuade them.

At the end of your presentation, ask students to list their observations on the

board. Then use this list to explain that constructing support involves

planning an argument and using techniques like those listed. Ask them to

add additional techniques and strategies as they become aware of them.

Once students begin to understand that constructing support is a process

that takes planning and practice, try to help them gain an appreciation for

how frequently it is used in our society. Encourage them to begin noticing

when individuals are trying to persuade or influence others, either in their

everyday life, in news reports, in their interactions with classmates, or in the

content they are studying. Ask students to try to determine how successful

the individuals were in each situation. Periodically ask students to share

their examples, and then lead a class discussion around questions such as,

“Why was it important to the individual to persuade or influence others?”

and “What were the consequences or rewards if the individual was

successful? If she or he was unsuccessful?” Students should begin to conclude

that the ability to construct support can be very important not only to an

individual but to many people or even to a society.

2. Give students a model for the process of constructing

support, and create opportunities for them to practice using

the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of constructing support.

There is no single strategy for constructing support. Below is one set

of general steps that students can use when they are faced with

situations that may require them to construct support.

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The process might be presented in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

Before asking students to practice using these steps, model and

demonstrate the various components of the process, preferably in a

think-aloud fashion. For example, you might show students how you

constructed support for your opinion that the school year should be

lengthened, making sure to include each aspect of the process:

Let’s see, I’m stating my opinion that the school year should be lengthened. Is

it worth supporting further? Yes. I think this is an important issue for

students. I’d better construct a good argument that includes facts related to

effects on student achievement in other places and perhaps examples of parents’

reactions. I think I also need to remind the audience of the traditions in this

country that make education a high priority and then show them how

lengthening the school year can serve that priority.

Have students practice the steps of this process with issues that

interest them. You might ask them to demonstrate using the steps in

a think-aloud manner in pairs and groups. At first, the issues should

be simple, everyday issues that students might care about (e.g.,

constructing support to convince their parents to get a puppy or to

buy them a new stereo or game). Gradually increase the complexity

of the issues and the requirements for finding information to

construct their arguments.

1. Am I stating a fact or an opinion?

2. If I am stating an opinion, do I need to offer support?

3. What will I include (Facts? Examples? Evidence? Appeals?)

when I provide my support?

1. Identify whether you are stating facts or opinions.

2. If you are stating an opinion, determine whether the situation

warrants support.

3. When the situation warrants it, construct a supportive

argument through the use of a variety of devices, such as facts,

evidence, examples, or appeals.

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3. As students study and use the process of constructing

support, help them focus on critical steps and difficult

aspects of the process.

Although students’ understanding of the position being taken will influence

the strength of the argument, the success of the argument will also depend

on the extent to which they understand concepts related to the process of

constructing support. As students develop this understanding and practice

using the process, keep the following recommendations and explanations in

mind.

Key Points

1) It is important for students to understand the difference between facts

and opinions for two reasons. First, constructing support is necessary for

opinions, not facts. Second, when we support an opinion, facts can

strengthen the arguments. Students need to understand that, according

to researchers who study the nature of knowledge, facts are statements

that can be verified, whereas opinions reflect someone’s beliefs and may

be accompanied by reasons for those beliefs. For example, the statement,

“The month of May generally has more precipitation than April” is a

fact. It is not a statement with which you agree or disagree; it is a

statement that can be confirmed or disproved by checking the

precipitation records with the weather service. The statement, “John Doe

would make the best governor” is an opinion; it is a statement with

which others may agree or disagree. It cannot be verified, therefore it is a

statement for which support is needed.

When students are distinguishing between facts and opinions, emphasize

two points. First, although the word fact is often used to label

something that is true, from a technical perspective a fact is a statement

that is verifiable; it does not have to be true. Facts can be false. “The

moon is made of green cheese” is a fact; that is, it is verifiable. When

asking students to identify facts, make sure that they are clear about how

you are defining “fact.”

Second, statements do not fall neatly into the categories of fact and

opinion. In actuality, facts and opinions can be more accurately viewed as

a continuum, with facts that can be empirically verified at one end (e.g.,

“Ten convicted felons were executed last year”) and pure opinions at the

other (e.g., “Capital punishment is wrong”). When students are

confused, it might be because they are dealing with a statement

somewhere near the middle of the continuum (e.g., “Capital punishment

has been shown to deter crime”).

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To help students understand the difference between fact and opinion,

you will need to give clear examples of each plus some that are in the

middle. Discuss the characteristics of facts and opinions, highlighting

those described above, and write them on the board. Then ask students

to identify statements in information they read or hear that tend to be

more on the fact side of the continuum and statements that tend to be

more on the opinion side of the continuum. These opinions can be

potential topics for teaching the process of constructing support.

2) The final step of the process of constructing support includes choosing

from a list of devices that people use to develop a persuasive argument:

facts, evidence, examples, and appeals. Although the first three devices

will be more familiar to students, the last device, appeals, may be

relatively new to them. It refers to the formal art of persuasion, dating

back to the early Greeks, in which four basic persuasive techniques were

identified, called the four appeals. Specifically, these included appeals

using personality, tradition, rhetoric, and reason. Although appeals using

reason are commonly emphasized in school, students should be aware of

the other types of appeals so that they can use them when constructing

their own arguments and recognize them in support offered by others.

The four different types of appeals are explained below.

Personality. When the appeal is through personality, the speaker or

writer tries to get you to like him. To accomplish this, he might use

many personal stories or act very interested in you. Congeniality is

another common element of this appeal.

Tradition or accepted beliefs. The appeal through tradition or accepted

beliefs might be boiled down to “do the right thing.” The power of the

argument comes from the fact that there is a general acceptance of the

beliefs or values alluded to. For example, you are appealing to tradition

or accepted belief when you demonstrate that your position has been

accepted by Americans since the beginning of the 20th century.

Rhetoric. An appeal through rhetoric aims to persuade through the

beauty and style of language. It relies on the use of impressive phrases,

idioms, and even gestures. The power of the argument comes from the

power of the construction of the language.

Reason. An appeal to reason is an appeal to logic. The speaker makes

claims and systematically provides evidence for the claims.

Illustrate each of the four types of appeals to students, using clear

examples in which only one type of appeal is used. (This might be

“I always have done a good

job teaching persuasion

with an emphasis on using

evidence, appeals to reason.

I remember studying other

types of appeals in my

college rhetoric course, but

I didn’t think about

teaching them to my

students.”

—A speech

competition teacher

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difficult because people commonly use more than one type of appeal in

their persuasive arguments.) Additionally, ask students to create their own

examples of each type of appeal. Finally, ask students to identify the types

of appeals used in persuasive arguments in and outside the content area.

3) Although all four appeals are frequently used, the appeal to reason is the

staple of a democratic society. There is no single way to appeal to reason,

but there are some commonly accepted components that such an appeal

includes:

• Evidence. Information that leads to a claim. For example, “Last

night five crimes were committed within two blocks of one

another.”

• Claim. The assertion that something is true. For example, “The

crime rate in our city is escalating dramatically.”

• Elaboration. Examples of or explanations for the claim. For

example, “The dramatic increase can be seen by examining the

crime rates in the downtown area over the past twenty years.”

• Qualifier. A restriction on the claim or evidence counter to the

claim. For example, “The crime rate has stabilized in some areas,

however.”

As the example above illustrates, an appeal to reason is usually initiated

by presenting evidence, such as incidents, events, and statistics, that

leads to a conclusion. The evidence is designed to lead to a conclusion

that is then clearly stated in the claim. If the evidence is strong and

presented well, there is already support for the claim once it is stated.

The claim then is the statement for which further support is offered.

Elaborations lay out the case in detail providing definitions of key terms,

specific examples, and additional evidence. Qualifiers state the

restrictions on the claim. They can be statements about the situations to

which the claim does not apply or they can be statements about the

underlying assumptions of the claim.

To ensure that students understand the various components of the appeal

to reason, present clear examples. Then have students identify the various

components in information they read or hear (e.g., in editorials or news

broadcasts). Finally, have students construct supporting arguments that

use an appeal to reason for claims they have identified.

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4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of constructing

support.

Some students will benefit from using a graphic organizer as they

construct an appeal to reason. Figure 3.10 is one example of a graphic

organizer you might suggest that students use to carefully consider the

types of appeals that they will include in their support. Note that the

organizer emphasizes the use of appeals through reason.

FIGURE 3.10

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR CONSTRUCTING SUPPORT

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

Tasks that require students to construct support may be highly structured by

teachers, especially when students are just beginning to learn to construct

support or any time that a specific academic goal would be served by

focusing students on a specific issue. You may provide the description of the

issue and even the opinion that is to be supported and then specify the types

of support that should be used. However, because part of learning to

construct support is being able to determine which opinions warrant

support, students need to be involved in structuring the tasks as often as

possible. In student-structured tasks, ask students to select the issue, the side

of an issue they wish to support, and the types of support they will include.

Appeal through

personality

Appeal through

tradition or

accepted beliefs

Appeal through

rhetoric

Appeal through reason

Evidence:

Claim:

Elaboration:

Qualifier:

Opinion

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Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 3 in your classroom.

Mr. Santiago’s history students were studying the foreign policy of the United States

during the 20th century. To extend and refine their understanding of time and place

as context for historical events, Mr. Santiago divided the class into two groups and

gave the groups the following tasks:

Group 1: President Woodrow Wilson has just asked you to give him your opinion

as to whether the United States should join the League of Nations. As a

nonpartisan foreign policy advisor, you recognize that a strong position can be

made either for the United States to join or for the United States to return to a

policy of isolationism. The President has asked you to give a speech stating your

position at his next foreign policy meeting. Your speech should discuss the changing

role of the United States in world affairs in the early 20th century.

Group 2: It is 1999. The new Secretary of State has taken a position against

the policy of isolationism. The President wants to hear your perspective. Take a

position for or against isolationism in which you clearly articulate your reasons.

• • •

Students in Ms. Girardi’s life skills class were researching different occupations that

might be entered directly upon graduation from high school. As part of their study, they

researched the types of preparation and training needed for these occupations and the

educational opportunities available to prepare for these occupations. Ms. Girardi asked

her students to take a position on whether or not a traditional college education is

important to one’s future ability to function and experience success in the world of work.

• • •

Mrs. Cimino’s students protested when she introduced them to the process of long

division. They thought it was a waste of time to learn the process, arguing that

“everyone” has calculators and that “no one” ever does long division by hand. Some

students added that they really did not need to know the multiplication facts for the

same reason. Because the topic generated so much interest and “passion,” Mrs. Cimino

decided to have students take a position—for or against the importance of learning the

computation processes—and present their arguments, which were to include an appeal

to reason, to the class.

• • •

Mr. Hill asked his French foreign language students to identify a current issue in the

French culture. He asked them to take a position on the issue and then develop and

present a persuasive argument in French to the class.

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Analyzing Errors

The process of analyzing errors can be useful to us every day as we are

bombarded with information attempting to persuade us to believe something

or to act in a particular way. Television, radio, and newspaper advertisements

try to convince us to buy one product over another. Politicians try to convince

us that their platforms will provide better conditions and services. Marketing

agencies try to persuade us to make decisions in response to mail and

telephone solicitations. As potential consumers, people may notice

misrepresentations and detect errors in the information that is being

presented, but sometimes they are persuaded to believe or act in ways that

they later regret or want to rethink. It is important for us, as consumers and

citizens, to develop the ability to recognize and analyze possible errors in the

reasoning of those communicating with us and in our own reasoning as we

receive these messages.

When we are influenced by flawed information or arguments, the

consequences are frequently insignificant (e.g., we may buy one brand of

cereal instead of another), but they may also be so significant that they

influence our quality of life or impact life-and-death situations. The rigor

with which we should analyze information for errors is dependent on the

extent to which the information is intended to affect us. The higher the

stakes, the higher the level of rigor that is needed. Recognizing these high-

stakes situations and increasing the level at which we attend to and analyze

information will decrease the possibility of suffering negative consequences.

When students study and use the process of analyzing errors in the

classroom, they are likely to develop the disposition of attending to and

analyzing information. They are also likely to gain a better understanding of

the kinds of errors that people commonly make. This can enable them to

detect even subtle or skillfully crafted errors in reasoning. Gaining this

understanding and skill clearly benefits students in “real life.” It also has

immediate academic benefits: Engaging in error analysis can force students

to carefully scrutinize content information, thus helping them to extend and

refine their knowledge.

Analyzing errors is the process of identifying and articulating errors in

thinking. Stated more simply, it is the process of finding and describing errors

in thinking.

For more on analyzing

errors:

Gilovich (1991) How We

Know What Isn’t So

Johnson-Laird (1985)

“Logical Thinking: Does It

Occur in Daily Life?”

Perkins, Allen, & Hafner

(1983) “Difficulties in

Everyday Reasoning”

Toulmin (1958) The Uses of

Argument

“The cuckoo who is on to

himself is halfway out of the

clock.”

—Wilson Mizner

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1. Help students understand the process of analyzing errors.

Students need to understand why the process of analyzing errors is important

in the so-called information age. Talk them through a typical day in the life

of a typical citizen, and try to list the types of information that this citizen

must process. Put a check by each item that represents a time that the

citizen should stop and look for errors in the underlying thinking.

To help students maintain an awareness of the importance of pausing to

consider errors in thinking, periodically present examples of information that

contain obvious as well as subtle errors. Advertisements are, of course, a rich

source of examples and are commonly used, but also include examples from

editorials, speeches, and articles in print and nonprint media. When

appropriate, you might tape or purchase transcripts of radio and television

talk shows to illustrate the errors that people make when they are discussing

issues about which they feel passionate. In addition, provide examples from

everyday situations that students can relate to (e.g., a school friend who states,

“Everybody is doing. . . .”). Use these examples as a focus for discussing the

reasons people make errors in their thinking and the consequences of people

not recognizing these errors.

2. Give students a model for the process of analyzing errors, and

create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of analyzing errors.

The steps for the process of analyzing errors are deceptively simple,

although teaching the process is a challenge because it requires that

students have an understanding of the types of errors that people

make. (For detailed information on types of errors in thinking, see

pages 173-176.) The process includes the following steps:

1. Determine if the information being presented is important or

is intended to influence your beliefs or actions.

2. If the information is important or intended to influence you,

identify statements or claims that are unusual, violate what you

know to be true, or seem wrong.

3. Look for errors in the thinking underlying the statements or

claims you have identified.

4. If you find errors, seek clarification or more accurate

information.

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That makes more

sense, but …

Better. I still need

more information.

Is this trying

to talk me into

something?

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The process might be presented in simpler terms for young students:

b. Provide students with the opportunity to practice using the model.

Whenever possible, take advantage of opportunities to model the

process by thinking aloud. You might say,

Wait. This information is trying to convince me to. . . . Something is funny

here. This isn’t like what I have heard before. I need to ask for another

reason to. . . .

As you talk through the process, focus students on the steps by using

an overhead transparency or posting the steps where students can see

them.

Each time you model the process, try to include a different type of

error. This will help increase students’ understanding of the types of

errors to look for when they are receiving information.

3. As students study and use the process of analyzing errors,

help them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the

process.

The degree of success that students will have in using the process of

analyzing errors is dependent on their knowledge and their disposition. They

must have the ability to recognize situations in which the process of

analyzing errors is needed, an understanding of the types of errors in

thinking that are commonly made, and a willingness to analyze information

that is being received.

To help you plan for developing students’ ability to analyze errors, two

resources are provided: (1) a teacher resource section, which defines and gives

examples of four types of errors in thinking, and (2) the following

explanations of key points to keep in mind while planning for classroom

lessons and for schoolwide implementation of this process.

1. Is the information I am receiving important or does it try to

influence my thinking or my actions?

2. Does something seem wrong with any of the information?

3. What is wrong?

4. How can I get more or better information?

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Key Points

1) When providing students with feedback on their ability to engage in the

process of analyzing errors, make sure that you reinforce their efforts to

analyze the information, even when they are not sure what type of error

is being made. Putting a precise label on an error is not as important as

determining that an error has been made. If students first develop the

tendency to look for errors in information they are receiving, they are

more likely to then develop an understanding of the types of errors that

are made.

2) The in-depth study of errors in thinking (e.g., faulty logic, weak

references, and attacks) is often the content of formal logic classes, and

logic is not a class that students commonly take. Thus, the average

student may not encounter this knowledge. However, when students are

engaged in the process of error analysis, their understanding of these

types of errors will influence their ability to recognize errors and respond

appropriately when errors are detected. For example, when students

understand specific types of faulty logic, such as “false cause” or

“begging the question,” they will be more likely to recognize these

errors and dismiss arguments that include such errors. They also will

know to withhold any conclusions or actions in response to these

arguments until more relevant and accurate information is provided by

the source.

In order to help students build distinctions among types of errors, first

try to expose them to a broad range of examples and provide them with

easy access to resources (articles, books, and glossaries) that will help

them label the types of errors they are encountering. Periodically select,

or ask students to select, a specific type of error for focused study and ask

students to look for and generate examples. If teachers do this across

grade levels and subject areas, students gradually will develop an ability

to analyze errors far beyond that of students in most classrooms today.

3) Educators sometimes avoid teaching the process of analyzing errors

because they are concerned that students will learn to challenge all

information they receive. Help students to understand that it is as

important to be skilled in discerning when the process should be used as

it is to be skilled in the process of analyzing errors. A good thinker, for

example, accepts some information simply because of the source or

accepts certain claims as a matter of faith.

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“Isn’t it amazing how often

we need to analyze errors?

Before they began learning

about this process, my

fourth-grade students were

easily convinced by other

people’s persuasive writing.

Now, they really

concentrate on whether or

not the information they are

receiving is in line with

what they already know.”

—A teacher in Arkansas

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4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of analyzing errors.

Figure 3.11 is a graphic representation of the process of analyzing errors. It

helps students see how the steps of the process interact. It can also be used as

an organizer as students are engaged in the process.

FIGURE 3.11

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR ANALYZING ERRORS

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

At first students will need tasks that are highly structured to help focus

their learning on specific types of errors in thinking. You might present the

information and ask students to find a specific type of error. You should then

ask your students to identify an appropriate response (e.g., ask for

clarification or request additional information). For example, during a unit

on energy, a teacher might read to the class an editorial about an issue

related to the use of resources in the community. She might ask students to

listen for errors that reflect misunderstandings and confirmatory bias. (See

the section “Types of Errors in Thinking,” pages 173-176, for definitions of

these types of errors.)

Information:

Is this information important or

intended to persuade?

YesNo

What is wrong with the thinking underlying the information?

Does anything

seem wrong?

Misinformation?Attacks?Weak references?Faulty logic?

Ask for more information.

Stop

analysis

Stop

analysis

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Gradually, students should begin to identify errors without being cued. You

might limit your prompting to suggesting that they look for errors in

thinking that influence the topic or unit of study. Ideally students should

begin to identify errors in thinking even when it is not a stated objective of

the unit.

Types of Errors in Thinking

The following four sections briefly describe some types of errors in thinking

people make as a result of using

• faulty logic,

• attacks,

• weak references, and

• misinformation.

Faulty Logic

a. Contradiction. Contradiction occurs when someone presents conflicting

information. For example, if a politician says she is for a tax increase, and

then a little later says she is against a tax increase, she has committed the

fallacy of contradiction.

b. Accident. An accident occurs when someone fails to recognize that an

argument is based on an exception to a rule. Concluding that the letter e

always comes before the letter i after observing the spelling of the words

neighbor and weigh is an example of accident.

c. False Cause. False cause occurs when someone confuses a temporal (time)

order of events with causality or when someone oversimplifies a very

complex causal network. For example, if someone concludes that the

decision to place a man on the moon was prompted by America’s failed

attempt to send a satellite into orbit, he is confusing temporal order

with causality. This is not to say that temporal order does not play a part

in causality; it is simply to emphasize that the causes of an event usually

include more than the events that immediately preceded it. Similarly, if

a person acknowledges only one or two causes of the Civil War, he is

making the error of false cause because the reasons for the Civil War

were numerous and complexly related.

d. Begging the question (circularity). Begging the question involves making

a claim and then arguing for the claim by using statements that are

simply the equivalent of the original claim. For example, if you say,

“That product is not very useful,” and then back up your assertion by

saying, “You can’t do anything with it” or “It has no apparent

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application,” your argument is circular. You are backing up one

statement with others that mean just about the same thing.

e. Evading the issue. Evading the issue is sidestepping an issue by changing

the topic. For example, someone evades the issue if, when asked about

his involvement in arms trade to foreign countries, he changes the topic

of conversation to the necessity of weapons.

f. Arguing from ignorance. Arguing that a claim is justified simply

because its opposite cannot be proven is called arguing from ignorance. For

example, arguing that there is no intelligent life beyond the planet Earth

because we cannot prove that extraterrestrial life exists is arguing from

ignorance.

g. Composition and division. Composition is asserting about a whole

something that is true of its parts. Division is asserting about all of the

parts something that is true of the whole. For example, you are making

an error of composition if you assume that all members of a family are

intelligent because a single member of the family is (e.g., everyone in the

Ewy family must be smart because Robert is). On the other hand, you

are making an error of division if you conclude that a specific city in the

state of Washington receives a lot of rain simply because the state as a

whole is noted for its rainfall.

Attacks

h. Poisoning the well. Being committed to your position to such an extent

that you explain away absolutely everything that is offered in opposition

to your position is referred to as poisoning the well. This type of attack is

not signaled so much by a specific type of information as by a person’s

unwillingness to listen to or consider anything contradictory to her

opinion.

i. Arguing against the person. Rejecting a claim on the basis of

derogatory facts (real or alleged) about the person who is making the

claim is referred to as arguing against the person. If a politician rejects

another politician’s stance on nuclear disarmament by attacking the

person’s heritage, he is arguing against the person.

j. Appealing to force. Appealing to force is the use of threats to establish the

validity of a claim. Telling someone that you will not like him anymore

unless he takes your side on an issue is an example of appealing to force.

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Weak References

k. Using sources that reflect habitual and confirmatory biases.

Sometimes information comes only from sources that were selected as a

result of a hidden or obvious bias. In general, biases fall into one of two

broad categories: habitual biases and confirmatory biases. Habitual biases

sometimes are unconsciously built into our thinking and are specific to

certain people, places, things, and events. For example, we might have a

bias toward rejecting ideas from a specific radio talk show host or

accepting ideas from a specific magazine. Confirmatory bias is evident

when we only accept information that supports what we think or feel

and reject information that is contrary to our position. For example, we

might receive positive information about a politician but ignore it

because we have already decided that we do not like him.

l. Using sources that lack credibility. Information relevant to a topic or

issue might come from sources that lack credibility. Although

determining credibility may be subjective, there are some characteristics

of sources that most people agree damage credibility (e.g., when the

source is known to be biased, has a reputation for communicating false

information or rumors, or has little knowledge of the topic).

m. Appealing to authority. Appealing to authority refers to invoking

authority as the last word on an issue. For example, someone appeals to

authority if he says something is true (or false) simply because it is stated

by a superior. This is a weak reference because someone in a position of

authority does not necessarily know if something is true or false.

n. Appealing to the people. Appealing to the people is an attempt to justify a

claim on the basis of its popularity. Supporting the claim that “staying

up late does not affect my schoolwork” by stating that everyone in school

stays up late is an example of appealing to the people.

o. Appealing to emotion. Using an emotion-laden story, or “sob story,” as

proof for a claim is referred to as appealing to emotion. For example, when

a speaker tries to convince people to vote for a particular political

candidate by relating a story about the death of the candidate’s family in

a tragic accident, he is appealing to emotion.

Misinformation

p. Confusing the facts. It is not uncommon for people to use information

that seems to be factual but has been distorted or modified and is no

longer accurate. This happens when, for example, events are described

out of order or when important facts are left out.

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“Because I’m the mother,

that’s why.”

“But, Mom, everyone is

going.”

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q. Misapplying a concept or generalization. Errors can be made when a

concept or generalization is misunderstood and, therefore,

inappropriately applied to explain a situation or to support a claim. For

example, if someone claims that protesters at a rally at city hall should

be arrested because they are committing “treason,” this represents a

misunderstanding of the concept of treason.

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 3 in your classroom.

Mr. Hagadorn’s second-grade health education students were learning practices

concerning injury prevention and safety. When they got to the portion of the class

devoted to learning refusal skills (e.g., refusing to get in a car with a stranger, not

giving in to peer pressure), he constructed a task to help students extend and refine

their understanding of errors in thinking, such as faulty logic, attacks, and

misinformation. Mr. Hagadorn created scenarios in which students might need to take

precautions and use refusal skills.

Mr. Hagadorn had students act out the scenarios and then analyze the situations for

any errors in thinking. For example, in one scenario a group of children was trying to

convince Sam, another student, to eat earthworms. Students identified several types of

errors in thinking. The group of children “begged the question” when they claimed

that “earthworms are good for you” and supported this assertion by saying, “Cool

things happen to you when you eat earthworms.” They used an “appeal to force” when

they threatened to stop hanging out with Sam if he didn’t eat worms. They used an

“appeal to authority” and “used sources that lack credibility” when they said that

everyone should eat worms because the captain of the high school football team ate

worms. As Mr. Hagadorn’s students learned to practice refusal skills, they also

learned to identify errors in thinking.

• • •

Mrs. Browning’s sixth-grade art class was learning about the factors that contribute

to artwork becoming valuable in the marketplace. To extend students’ understanding,

she constructed a task in which she asked students to examine the advertising

campaign of a local technology institute. The institute’s ads claimed that computer-

generated artwork had become as valuable as individually created artwork. Mrs.

Browning asked her students to consider what they had been learning in class to

analyze this claim and expose any errors in the thinking that the institute used in its

argument (e.g., appeals to authority and begging the question).

• • •

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Mrs. Kominami and Mr. McColl collaborated to create an integrated unit for their

science and language arts students to end the year. The unit focused on having

students learn about the degree to which people use scientific information and valid

reasoning to understand their world and the degree to which they base their

conclusions about their world on faulty information, misconceptions, or flawed

reasoning. Earlier in that year, scientists had announced that evidence from a

meteorite suggested that life may have existed on Mars more than 3 billion years ago.

This motivated Mrs. Kominami and Mr. McColl to construct the following task as a

culminating activity for the unit:

Do you believe that life may have once existed or still exists on Mars? Do you

believe that life exists on other planets? Why do you believe this? Examine the

reasons for your beliefs, and attempt to analyze your reasons and reasoning. In

addition, interview several other people to determine their beliefs about the

existence of life on other planets, and examine their reasons and reasoning. In

your analysis, attempt to determine to what extent your beliefs and those of

others result from the use of scientific information, credible sources, and valid

reasoning and to what extent those beliefs reveal faulty reasoning, weak sources,

and misunderstandings. For example, if you tend to pay attention only to

evidence that supports your opinion, you are guilty of “confirmatory bias.” If

someone tells you he believes that there is life on Mars because scientists have not

proven that life does not exist there, he is guilty of the fallacy of “arguing from

ignorance.”

Draw some conclusions about the degree to which beliefs are based on scientific

information, strong sources, and valid reasoning. Support your conclusions with

as many specific examples as possible.

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Analyzing Perspectives

One of the most powerful thinking processes is to analyze your own

perspectives, to consider the positions you take on issues and to understand

the basis for those positions. Just as powerful is analyzing other perspectives,

trying to understand the reasoning or logic underlying very different ways of

looking at an issue. It can be difficult to analyze perspectives—whether they

are your own or someone else’s—when you have strong feelings about the

topic. It takes discipline and skill to stop during an argument, for example,

and take enough of a step back to gain an understanding of your own or

another’s perspective. This is why it is important for students to develop this

ability in the classroom through the examination of academic issues that are

not emotionally charged. This classroom process helps students not only to

extend and refine their understanding of content but also to develop a skill

they will need when they face highly emotional situations in which they

need the ability to analyze perspectives.

When teaching the process, it is important to emphasize that the goal of

analyzing perspectives is to seek understanding of the reasons or logic

underlying a position. The goal is not to accept, appreciate, or agree with

opposing perspectives, nor is it to change your own perspective. Although

you might alter your point of view, it is just as likely that you might solidify

your original position because you understand it better or because you

understand more clearly why you reject other positions.

The measure of success in analyzing perspectives, then, is that as result of

your analysis, you can articulate and explain the reasons and logic behind

your own and/or others’ perspectives. To achieve this success often will

require digging deeper into sources of information, finding additional

sources, or interviewing people. These are the activities that lead to increased

understanding of content and that help students develop important and

related information-accessing skills. As you teach students to analyze

perspectives in a way that extends and refines their knowledge in these ways,

you might use the suggestions and recommendations in the following

sections.

Analyzing perspectives is the process of identifying multiple perspectives on

an issue and examining the reasons or logic behind each. Stated more simply,

it is the process of describing reasons for different points of view.

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For more on analyzing

perspectives:

Fisher & Ury (1981) Getting

to Yes

Paul (1984) “Critical

Thinking”

Paul (1987) “Critical

Thinking and the Critical

Person”

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1. Help students understand the process of analyzing

perspectives.

Make it a practice to periodically share with students examples of situations

in which someone exemplifies the process of analyzing perspectives. This

practice helps increase students’ understanding of the process of analyzing

perspectives and helps them realize the positive effects of analyzing

perspectives. Discuss how the situations are influenced when people take the

time to understand other people’s reasons for their perspectives. Try to make

the examples as relevant to students as possible. You might present examples

about which students would be likely to have an opinion, such as dress codes

at school, curfews, or requirements for sports participation.

Even when students are working on other reasoning processes during a unit,

look for opportunities to point out examples of people analyzing perspectives

or of situations that would have benefited had someone taken the time to

understand another viewpoint. You might point out instances from literature

in which characters enhanced their relationships by seeking understanding of

differing points of view; you might also use news reports for examples of

conflicts between countries that can be traced not just to disagreements

about issues but to misunderstandings about perspectives.

2. Give students a model for the process of analyzing

perspectives, and create opportunities for them to practice

using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of analyzing perspectives.

Although analyzing perspectives requires more than just following a

set of steps, it is more likely that students will gain this ability if

they have a process to guide them. A simple model includes the

following steps:

1. When you are examining an issue about which people disagree,

first identify and clearly articulate one perspective.

2. Once you have identified a perspective, try to determine the

reasons or logic behind it.

3. Next, identify and clearly articulate a different perspective.

4. Try to describe the reasons or logic behind the different

perspective.

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Price is

too high!

Bills

Price is

too low!

They sell many

pairs at a higher

price!

These

are cool!

The price

is right!

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The process might be stated in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

To prepare students for practicing the steps of analyzing perspectives,

you might set up a hypothetical situation and, through think-aloud,

role play a specific person in the situation. Highlight each step as

you talk through the situation.

Wait. Before I continue this argument with my friend, I need to establish

why I believe. . . . My reasons include. . . . But he feels equally strong. . . .

It must be because. . . .

After modeling the steps and perhaps posting them in the classroom,

ask students to pair up and do similar think-alouds using situations

from their own lives or from hypothetical situations.

3. As students study and use the process of analyzing

perspectives, help them focus on critical steps and difficult

aspects of the process.

On the surface, analyzing perspectives is one of the simpler reasoning

processes. However, there are some important points to keep in mind as you

help students understand and use the process.

Key Points

1) Although students should be reinforced for acknowledging and

respecting different points of view, the process of analyzing perspectives

demands much more from them. Students should be held accountable for

the analysis process, for understanding and clearly articulating not just

the obvious reasons and logic underlying perspectives but the more

subtle and complex reasons. This rigorous analysis leads students to

extend and refine academic content knowledge.

2) Using this model of analyzing perspectives demands that students

recognize a good reason and trace the logic of an explanation of a

perspective. Helping students understand these two concepts, reasons

and logic, presents one of the key challenges of teaching this process.

1. What is one point of view?

2. What are the reasons for this point of view?

3. What is another point of view?

4. What might be some reasons for this other point of view?

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“Students in my class got

into an argument one day

about whether their parents

should use the V-chip to

monitor their television

watching. I took the

opportunity to teach

analyzing perspectives. We

had a great discussion while

we were identifying the

reasons for and against the

chip.”

—A high school

teacher in Colorado

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Reasons are those pieces of evidence that support a given point of view

or perspective. A common mistake when identifying reasons is to simply

restate or rephrase a position, perhaps with more passion (e.g., “I believe

seat belt laws are a good idea because it is really important.”), rather

than providing specific reasons. By logic we mean the strength of the

argument when you combine all of the evidence. A common mistake

here is to present evidence but to fail to organize it into a coherent

argument. To decrease these types of mistakes and to increase

understanding of these concepts, students may need the opportunity to

examine many examples (both good and bad) of reasons and logical

explanations of perspectives.

3) It is important for students to understand that most issues have multiple

perspectives. It is easy to develop the mistaken impression that issues

have only two perspectives: their own and the opposing viewpoint.

Whenever students are analyzing perspectives, provide them with or

encourage them to identify more than two. Identifying and analyzing

perspectives that are beyond the obvious can increase students’

understanding of the issue itself and of the process of analyzing

perspectives.

4) Finally, as stated earlier, students need to understand that the goal of

analyzing perspectives is not to accept, appreciate, or agree with different

perspectives. To keep the focus on honing skills of analysis rather than on

changing people’s viewpoints, it is best to limit applications of the

process to academic content that is not emotionally charged.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of analyzing

perspectives.

Below are two matrices that can help students organize their thoughts as

they learn to analyze perspectives. Figure 3.12, a Perspective Examination

Matrix, can be used when students are focused on establishing the reasons or

logic for their own perspective. Figure 3.13, a Conflict Clarification Matrix,

can help students organize their thoughts when they are examining an issue

that includes their personal perspective. Using a matrix cues students to

record their response to each step and thus allows them to go back and

reexamine their ideas once they have completed the process.

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FIGURE 3.12

ERSPECTIVE EXAMINATION MATRIX

FIGURE 3.13

ONFLICT CLARIFICATION MATRIX

Issue

Personal perspective

Reasons/logic behind my

personal perspective

Different perspective

Reasons/logic behind

different perspective

Conclusion/awareness

A new mass transit system for

the city

I think this is a good idea for

the city.

Mass transit is a good idea

because …

Someone could think that mass

transit is a bad idea for the city.

The reasons they might give

are …

From this I learned that …

Statement or

Concept

A 75-mph speed

limit

The new rule that

all students have to

wear a common

uniform

Assigned Value

I think this is a

good idea.

I think this is not a

very good idea.

Reasoning or

Logic Behind

My Value

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5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

There will be times when you will want to present students with highly

structured tasks in which you have identified both the issue and the

perspectives and then ask them to identify the reasons and logic for each. For

example, during a unit on Western Europe in a secondary class, the teacher

might present students with two or three very specific perspectives on

particular issues related to unification; the goal of this structured task might

be to increase students’ understanding of ways in which people and cultures

hold on to the past yet look for changes in the future. During a unit about

whales, an elementary teacher might focus on the issues surrounding whale

hunting. The teacher might make sure that many perspectives are identified

and analyzed, including those of hunters, their families, environmentalists,

and scientists.

Over time, students can begin to structure their own tasks that require

analyzing perspectives. They might identify issues from their own life, such

as differing perspectives on types of music or sports-related topics. However,

ideally, they should begin recognizing issues in academic content that are

worth analyzing. For example, during health class, to help students

understand how complex the issues can be, you might periodically encourage

them to identify the issues that interest them and about which people

disagree. Then have students describe and analyze different perspectives.

Even when students are identifying the issues and the perspectives, your role

is to hold them to standards of rigorous analysis. This ensures that even tasks

that are completely structured by students will help them to extend and

refine their knowledge.

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 3 in your classroom.

Mr. Pine and Ms. Shikes created an interdisciplinary task for their science and social

studies students. Students gathered information about the reintroduction of wolves into

Yellowstone National Park, identified various perspectives about the issue (e.g., those

held by farmers, animal rights advocates, wildlife biologists, and park rangers), and

described the reasons that each group holds its particular views. Mr. Pine and Ms.

Shikes then asked students to select another current issue that interested them and

apply a similar process.

• • •

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Mrs. Snow was trying to engage her sixth-grade students in the study of music,

specifically, in developing an understanding of the criteria that affect the quality

(e.g., use of elements that create unity, tension/release) and effectiveness (e.g., expressive

impact). She knew her students were quickly losing interest, so she decided to tap into

their experiences and biases. She asked each student to analyze possible perspectives on

whether “rap” should be considered music that should be taken seriously as an art

form. Some people, for example, think “rap” is simply verses that rhyme, with noise in

the background. Others believe it is a new form of music. Students had to articulate

two perspectives and offer reasons and logic that reflected their understanding of the

criteria that they had been studying.

• • •

In his civics class, Mr. Williams shared with his students a dinner conversation he

had with his in-laws about attempts to include England in the unification efforts in

Europe. The couple, who was from England, became quite upset during the

conversation. It became clear that they were bitterly opposed to bringing England into

European economic and political alliances. Mr. Williams said that Mary, a friend

who was at the dinner, later commented, “They are just stuck in their old ways. They

can’t face the future. They should realize that their old way of life is gone, the

monarchy clearly is in disarray, their economy is in need of a boost, and if they don’t

face reality, their future is doomed.” Mr. Williams asked students to prepare a

response to Mary by presenting at least two perspectives on the issue of whether

England should be brought into unification efforts. Their job was to convince Mary

that the position that the British couple had taken was not simply irrational or

emotional. Students were required to present defensible reasons and logic that would

support their own perspective, as well as at least one other opposing perspective, and

then present both perspectives in a role play.

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Unit Planning: Dimension 3

Planning for Dimension 3 requires asking and answering the following

overarching question:

What will be done to help students extend and refine knowledge?

What follows is a step-by-step process that will guide you in answering this

question. Each step asks you to answer a key question or provide specific

information. There is a place on the planning guide (see page 188) in which

to record your decisions about the knowledge that will be extended and

refined (Step 1) and descriptions of planned activities (Step 3). A sample

planning guide has been filled out for a hypothetical social studies unit

about Colorado. (This unit topic was chosen because, with some changes, it

could be used for a unit about any state or region and at any developmental

level. You will find the entire unit in Chapter 6, “Putting It All Together.”)

Step 1

As you clearly identify the knowledge that students will be extending and

refining, remember that the goal of extending and refining knowledge is to

deepen and broaden students’ understanding of important information.

Therefore, the knowledge that you identify here will be the important

declarative knowledge identified in the unit. Further, because it is unlikely

that students need to increase their understanding of specific facts, the

knowledge they are extending and refining will probably be at the more

general level of generalizations, principles, and concepts.

The planning guide has two places on each page for planning Dimension 3

activities. This does not imply that there must be exactly two activities. The

number of activities depends on the length of the unit and the amount of

important knowledge that students need to understand.

As you plan these extending and refining activities, consider whether

students already have learned how to use the reasoning processes that the

activities require. You may need to limit the number of new reasoning

processes that you will teach students during the unit.

What knowledge will students be extending and refining? Specifically,

students will be extending and refining their understanding of. . . .

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Step 2

Selecting a reasoning process is important because the type of reasoning that

students apply to knowledge significantly influences what they learn. It is

sometimes difficult to determine which reasoning process is best suited to

the knowledge that you want students to extend and refine. We have,

therefore, provided some questions to stimulate your thinking as you

consider each process during planning.

Comparing

• Would it be useful to show how things are similar and/or different?

• Would it be useful for students to focus on identifying how similar

things are different and how different things are similar?

• Would it be helpful to have students describe how comparing things

affects their knowledge or opinions related to those things?

Classifying

• Would it be helpful to have students group things?

• Would it be beneficial for students to generate a number of ways to

group the same list of things?

Abstracting

• Is there an abstract pattern that could be applied?

• Could something complex or unfamiliar be understood better by

generating an abstract pattern and applying it to something simple

or more familiar?

• Are there seemingly different things that could be connected

through the generation of an abstract pattern?

Inductive Reasoning

• Are there important unstated conclusions that could be generated

from observations or facts?

• Are there situations for which probable or likely conclusions could

be generated?

• Are there issues or situations for which students could examine the

inductive reasoning used?

What reasoning process will students be using?

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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Deductive Reasoning

• Are there generalizations (or rules or principles) that could be

applied to reach conclusions and make predictions?

• Are there topics or issues for which students could examine the

validity of the deductive reasoning used?

Constructing Support

• Are there important claims to be refuted or supported?

• Would it be important to examine existing arguments that support

or refute a claim?

Analyzing Errors

• Are there situations in which it would be beneficial to identify errors

in reasoning?

Analyzing Perspectives

• Would it be useful to identify and understand the reasoning or logic

behind a perspective on a topic or issue?

• Would it be useful to analyze opposing perspectives on a topic or

issue?

Step 3

The type of extending and refining activities that you create will vary

greatly. Students might be answering a question, constructing a matrix,

drawing some conclusions, or gathering information. Clearly describe what

students will be doing and how they will be applying the reasoning process.

Describe what will be done.

Dimension 3

Extend & Refine Knowledge

✔ Unit Planning

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Extend & Refine Knowledge

✔ Introduction

Dimension 3 Planning Guide Unit: Colorado

Several times during this unit we will, as a class, select articles from

“USA Today” that reflect the culture of a place with which we are

unfamiliar. Based on what we learn from the article about the culture of

the place (e.g., issues or problems people face, their celebrations), we will

try to induce specific facts about the topography, natural resources, and

climate of the location.

What knowledge will students be

extending and refining?

Specifically, they will be extending

and refining their understanding of. . .

What reasoning process

will students be using?

❏ Comparing

❏ Classifying

❏ Abstracting

❏ Inductive Reasoning

❏ Deductive Reasoning

❏ Constructing Support

❏ Analyzing Errors

❏ Analyzing Perspectives

❏ Other _________________

Describe what will be done.

What knowledge will students be

extending and refining?

Specifically, they will be extending

and refining their understanding of. . .

What reasoning process

will students be using?

❏ Comparing

❏ Classifying

❏ Abstracting

❏ Inductive Reasoning

❏ Deductive Reasoning

❏ Constructing Support

❏ Analyzing Errors

❏ Analyzing Perspectives

❏ Other _________________

Describe what will be done.

Topography, natural resources, and

climate influence settlement patterns

in a region.

So far we have been focused on understanding how topography, natural

resources, and climate influence the “appearance” of settlements. Shift

your focus now and examine how these factors influence the

“disappearance” of settlements. You will be given descriptions of

situations where populations thrived and then disappeared (e.g.,

Anasazi Indians, several ghost towns, dinosaurs, and the “dust bowl”)

and the reasons for their demise. Classify each description according to

whether the reasons for the disappearance had more to do with

topography, natural resources, or climate. If more than one possible

reason is given, you may have to place the example in more than one

category.

Topography, natural resources, and

climate influence the culture of a

region.

✓

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

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DIMENSION 4

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Fred Newmann discusses

the importance of

distinguishing between

projects that ask students to

reproduce knowledge and

those that ask students to

produce knowledge such as

solutions, decisions,

clarifications, explanations,

and insights. For further

reading, see Newmann et al.

(1995) A Guide to Authentic

Instruction and Assessment.

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Introduction

The purpose of acquiring knowledge is to be able to use it meaningfully. For

example, we might want to learn all that we can about stereos or computers

before deciding which brand and model to buy. We might learn a lot about

genetics if we are trying to project what will happen in the future as a result

of research in genetic engineering. Similarly, we would probably learn a

great deal about social security if we were trying to invent a new retirement

system. In short, when we use knowledge to deal with specific issues that we

care about, we become truly immersed in learning. Dimension 4 emphasizes

this important part of learning: the process of using knowledge meaningfully.

The challenge is to engage learners in using knowledge in a context that is

meaningful to them. Many students will complete tasks simply because they

have been assigned. But when students perceive tasks as meaningful and

relevant, they are motivated to acquire the knowledge needed to complete

the task. As a result, they may achieve a higher level of understanding and

proficiency related to that knowledge. In addition, because their level of

engagement can increase when they use knowledge meaningfully, students

are more likely to demonstrate what they have learned. Tasks that require

students to use knowledge meaningfully, therefore, are a powerful method—

and potentially a more accurate method—of assessing learning.

Teachers can help students become highly engaged in tasks, whether

students perceive the key knowledge as meaningful or not. When it is quite

obvious to students that the knowledge they are learning is meaningful—

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that is, when they see clearly that they need the knowledge in life—it is easy

to construct tasks that are meaningful to them; mathematics and language

arts are examples of content areas in which it is relatively easy to construct

tasks that are meaningful to students. When it is less obvious to students

that the knowledge is important and relevant to them, tasks can be

constructed in a way that increases their meaningfulness and relevance. By

asking students to use knowledge in authentic contexts or in intriguing

situations, for example, or by allowing students to be involved in the

construction of the tasks, meaningfulness and relevance—and, therefore,

students’ level of engagement—can increase.

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

✔ Introduction

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Helping Students Develop Complex

Reasoning Processes

As is true with the processes needed to extend and refine knowledge

(Dimension 3), using knowledge meaningfully requires students to engage

in thinking and reasoning that is quite different from that required when

they are asked to simply recall, restate, recognize, recollect, reiterate, or

otherwise reproduce knowledge. Using knowledge requires students to

engage in complex thinking and reasoning processes as they complete long-

term, meaningful tasks. Six of these reasoning processes have been identified

and defined in this dimension. They are

• Decision making: Generating and applying criteria to select from

among seemingly equal alternatives

• Problem solving: Overcoming constraints or limiting conditions that

are in the way of pursuing goals

• Invention: Developing unique products or processes that fulfill

perceived needs

• Experimental inquiry: Generating and testing explanations of

observed phenomena

• Investigation: Identifying and resolving issues about which there are

confusions or contradictions

• Systems analysis: Analyzing the parts of a system and the manner in

which they interact

When students are engaged in tasks that require them to use the processes

listed above—to make decisions, clarify confusions, create new products and

ideas, solve problems, and analyze systems—they must also use their content

knowledge. When constructing tasks, there are several things to keep in mind.

• Each of these processes crosses content boundaries. Although there

are sometimes content-specific versions of the processes (e.g., a

problem-solving process in economics), each of those identified above

has been used in multiple content areas. If teachers across content

areas consistently use these reasoning processes—or those from a

similar list a district may generate—students are more likely to

become comfortable and proficient with these types of processes and,

thus, better able to use increasingly complex content knowledge,

whether in content-specific or integrated tasks.

To help students appreciate

the usefulness of the

complex reasoning

processes, a team of middle

school teachers invited

business leaders from the

local community to meet

with students. Each of them

shared an incident that

illustrated how a specific

reasoning process had

contributed—in the past

week alone—to the success

of his or her business.

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

✔ Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

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• When the knowledge students are using is procedural knowledge (i.e.,

skills or processes), a task may simply ask students to perform the

procedure within a meaningful context; that is, it may not require

students to use one of the reasoning processes identified in this

dimension. However, many teachers have found that using the

reasoning processes to provide a focus for these types of task helps to

provide a meaningful context for the demonstration of the procedural

knowledge. Students may be required, for example, to use their

procedural content knowledge to make a decision, to conduct an

experiment, or to generate ideas for an invention. Students are then

held accountable for demonstrating their proficiency in using the

content-specific skill or process as well as their ability to engage in

the targeted reasoning process.

• When the knowledge students are using is declarative knowledge—that

is, when students are using and developing their understanding of

concepts, principles, or generalizations—these reasoning processes

should be used to provide a means by which they can apply the

knowledge to the task. In the planning section of Dimension 4, at

the end of this chapter, you will find questions (identified for each

process) that can help you decide which reasoning process would

provide the context in which students can demonstrate their

understanding of the targeted content knowledge. (For example, if

there is a phenomenon that needs to be clarified, then experimental

inquiry is most appropriate; if something new needs to be created or

improved, then an invention task is needed.) If students are clear

about what reasoning process a task requires, they are likely to spend

more energy thinking about the declarative knowledge than creating a

product that looks impressive.

• In this age of technology, some educators have complained that

students are using software and online sources to produce reports and

research papers simply by electronically cutting and pasting text or

even by downloading entire papers. Plagiarism, they report, although

always a concern, seems to be increasing. Thus, it is increasingly

important to hold students accountable for using knowledge

meaningfully, no matter how it is accessed. One way to combat these

abuses of technology, or any form of plagiarism, is to hold students

accountable for complex reasoning and for the rigorous use of the

information they have collected.

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

✔ Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

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• These processes can be used by students at all developmental levels.

Younger students will need more guidance and modeling, and, of

course, the content must be developmentally appropriate. However,

even older students need time to practice using the processes with

simple content at first.

For each of the six processes identified in Dimension 4, the following

sections are included:

1. Help students understand the process. This section discusses how to

introduce the process to students and how to help them understand

the function or goal of the process.

2. Give students a model for the process, and create opportunities for

them to practice using the process. This section introduces the

complex reasoning process itself: the model and the steps involved in

using the process. Examples of specific ways to guide students

through the thinking involved in the process are presented.

3. As students study and use the process, help them focus on critical

steps and difficult aspects of the process. This section identifies

critical steps and difficult components of the process as well as specific

examples and suggestions about how to deal with these elements.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations of the

model to help them understand and use the process. Graphic

organizers and representations help students understand and visualize

the process. Examples of these organizers or representations are

included in this section.

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks. This section

addresses the importance of modeling and guiding the use of the

process, first through the use of teacher-structured tasks. Suggestions

are provided for how to move from teacher-structured to student-

structured tasks, shifting students from highly structured tasks to

tasks that students create as they become more proficient and

confident at using the process.

It is important to note that although six mental processes are identified in

Dimension 4, tasks that require students to use knowledge meaningfully can be

constructed with reasoning processes other than these six. For example, once

students become familiar with the nature and purpose of the eight Dimension 3

complex reasoning processes, you can ask them to perform combination tasks that

require them to do more than simply extend and refine their knowledge. The

following task is an example of a combination task that requires students to

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

✔ Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

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apply two reasoning processes from Dimension 3 as they use their knowledge

from a unit on the Navajo and Hispanic cultures in New Mexico.

Consider these aspects of the two cultures:

• the types of dwellings they built

• the types of food they ate

• their religion

• their mobility

• their family patterns

Then induce at least one generalization about both cultures and explain the

specific information that you used to draw this conclusion. Finally, identify

and abstract a pattern from one of the cultures and identify another culture

or situation to which it applies.

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

✔ Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

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Decision Making

Decisions that we make every day, whether they are relatively unimportant

or critical choices in life, are driven by criteria. Whether you are deciding

which movie you will see Friday night or which college you would like to

attend, your selection will depend on what you see as important or valuable

at the time. When selecting which movie to see, you might loosely verbalize

your criteria, for example, “Do I want to laugh, cry, be frightened, or be

informed?” When selecting a college, you might write down your criteria

related to cost, location, and academic offerings, for example, and then

carefully apply each criterion to each alternative you are considering.

Although these examples are similar in that they rely on the application of

criteria, they are quite different because the choice of which college you

would like to attend needs to be made using a process that is methodical and

rigorous. Learning to engage in decision making means learning to use a

process for applying criteria when the stakes are high—when there is this

need to be methodical and rigorous.

As students learn to use a decision-making process and apply it to everyday

decisions, they will quickly discover that the process demands that they have

a great deal of knowledge related both to the criteria and to the alternatives

in the decision-making situation. Likewise, asking students to apply a

decision-making process to academic content requires that they demonstrate

extensive content knowledge—or seek it out—to complete the task. Just as

it would be impossible to use the process to select a college without

extensive knowledge about each alternative, students could not apply criteria

to decisions in chemistry, for example, without the scientific knowledge

needed. This is why engaging students in decision-making tasks not only

teaches them a useful process but enhances their learning by requiring that

they understand content well enough to use it.

If students are asked to complete decision-making tasks, they will need

multiple opportunities to develop their understanding of and ability to use

the process. The following suggestions are offered for structuring these

opportunities for students.

Decision making is the process of generating and applying criteria to select

from among seemingly equal alternatives. Stated more simply, it is the process

of developing and using criteria to select from choices that seem to be equal.

For more on decision

making:

Ehrenberg, Ehrenberg, &

Durfee (1979) BASICS:

Teaching/Learning Strategies

Halpern (1984) Thought and

Knowledge: An Introduction to

Critical Thinking

Wales & Nardi (1985)

“Teaching Decision

Making”

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Decision Making

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1. Help students understand the process of decision making.

One way to help students begin to understand that decision making requires

applying criteria to alternatives is to describe examples of decisions you have

made. Try to differentiate between decisions that were fairly trivial (e.g.,

where to go for the weekend) and those that required a more rigorous

process (e.g., deciding how to vote in an important election). For each

example identify the criteria and how each alternative measured up to those

criteria. The goal is to develop students’ understanding of the concepts

criteria and seemingly equal alternatives and to help them understand the

process of applying criteria to alternatives.

Another way of increasing students’ understanding of the decision making

process is to help them understand that this is often the process used when

awards are given or distinguished performance is recognized. Students

should be familiar with common examples of awards ceremonies or well-

publicized honors bestowed on people, such as the presentation of the

Academy Awards or Nobel Prizes, the selection of the most valuable player

in a sport or game, or a publication’s selection of “the person of the year” or

“the best and worst dressed.” Help students see that in each case criteria are

generated and applied to make the selection. Take advantage of current

awards shows, special publications, sports awards, or honors programs to

discuss with students the criteria that might have been used and how they

were applied in the selection process.

2. Give students a model for the process of decision making, and

create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of decision making.

Presenting an explicit model for decision making is a good way to

help students become comfortable with the process. One powerful

and useful model includes the following steps:

1. Identify a decision you wish to make and the alternatives you

are considering.

2. Identify the criteria you consider important.

3. Assign each criterion an importance score.

4. Determine the extent to which each alternative possesses each

criterion.

5. Multiply the criterion scores by the alternative scores to

determine which alternative has the highest total points.

6. Based on your reaction to the selected alternative, determine if

you want to change importance scores or add or drop criteria.

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Decision Making

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You may want to describe the process in simpler terms for young

students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

Most students at first will be unsure of their ability to follow the

steps of this process. It is helpful if you begin teaching the process

by illustrating each step. Walk students through a highly structured

decision-making task using content-area information. For example,

let’s assume you want to use material from a social studies class. Your

demonstrations and explanations might include the following:

My first step is to identify and state a decision question. We have been

studying world leaders in class. An interesting question that would help us

use what we have been learning might be, “Who, from the past or present,

would be the best national leader if the entire world were at peace?”

Next, I have to identify the alternatives to be considered in the decision-

making process. Who should we consider? (Allow students to help in this

step.) How about Margaret Thatcher, Martin Luther King, Jr., and

Anwar Sadat?

My next step is to identify the criteria that will be used to decide among the three

alternatives. These might be (again, let students help during this step)

• Good negotiation skills

• Charismatic leadership

• Extensive knowledge of other cultures

• Extensive knowledge of international finance

It would help me if I use a matrix to organize my alternative and criteria.

It might look like this. (Show students an organizer similar to Figure

4.1.)

1. What am I trying to decide?

2. What are my choices?

3. What are important criteria for making this decision?

4. How important is each criterion?

5. How well does each of my choices match my criteria?

6. Which choice matches best with the criteria?

7. How do I feel about the decision? Do I need to change any

criteria and try again?

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Decision Making

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FIGURE 4.1

ECISION-MAKING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

Alternatives

good negotiation skills (1)

1 × 2 1 × 3 1 × 3

Thatcher King Sadat

Criteria

charismatic leader (3)

3 × 1 3 × 3 3 × 3

extensive knowledge of other

cultures (2)

2 × 2 2 × 2 2 × 3

extensive knowledge of

international finance (3)

3 × 3 3 × 1 3 × 2

TOTALS

18 19 24

4 6

3 3

Alternatives

good negotiation skills (1)

1 × 2 1 × 3 1 × 3

Thatcher King Sadat

Criteria

charismatic leader (3)

3 × 1 3 × 3 3 × 3

extensive knowledge of other

cultures (2)

2 × 2 2 × 2 2 × 3

extensive knowledge of

international finance (3)

3 × 3 3 × 1 3 × 2

TOTALS

Alternatives

good negotiation skills (1)

1 × 1 × 1 ×

Thatcher King Sadat

Criteria

charismatic leader (3)

3 × 3 × 3 ×

extensive knowledge of other

cultures (2)

2 × 2 × 2 ×

extensive knowledge of

international finance (3)

3 × 3 × 3 ×

TOTALS

• Assign importance scores.

• Determine the extent to

which each alternative

possesses each criterion.

• Calculate quality points.

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Decision Making

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Now that I have the decision question, the alternatives, and the criteria

identified, I am ready to weight the criteria by assigning each an

importance score. I will use a three-point numeric weight, or importance

score. So, if I consider a criterion to be very important, I give it a 3; if I

consider it to be not very important, I give it a 1. I give a criterion a 2 if I

consider it to be somewhere between “very important” and “not very

important.” I will assign the importance score, or weight, to each criterion

on my matrix. (See, for example, the first organizer in Figure 4.1. At

this stage of your demonstration, allow students to help you assign

the weights, emphasizing that they must explain the reasoning

behind those weights. Make sure students are using sound

reasoning when they suggest importance scores.)

Next, I’ll need to determine the degree to which each alternative possesses each

of the criteria and justify the assignment as I do. Again, I will use a

numeric scale: 0 = the alternative does not possess the criterion at all; 1 =

possesses it a little bit; 3 = possesses it totally; 2 = somewhere between 1 and

3. (The second organizer in Figure 4.1 depicts a possible ranking of

the alternatives in terms of the extent to which they possess each

criterion, but you and the students may rank them differently.)

Finally, I will calculate the quality points each alternative has in relation

to each criterion. I will do this by multiplying the criterion weights by the

alternative weights. (Demonstrate the process of multiplying the

number in each cell by the number at the beginning of each row

and then enter that product in each cell, as shown in the third

organizer in Figure 4.1.)

In this example, Thatcher has two quality points for the criterion “good

negotiation skills,” three quality points for the criterion “charismatic

leader,” four quality points for the criterion “extensive knowledge of other

cultures,” and nine quality points for the criterion “extensive knowledge of

international finance.”

My next step is to tally the quality points for each alternative and

determine which alternative has the most. In my matrix, Anwar Sadat has

the most quality points. It would appear, then, that Anwar Sadat would be

the best choice for a peacetime leader, based on the information in the

decision-making matrix.

But wait. The final step of the process is to ask myself if I am comfortable

with the decision. It is legitimate to change the weights that have been

assigned or to add or drop criteria. In my example here, for instance, I

think that the criterion of good negotiation skills should receive a weight of

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Decision Making

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3 rather than 1. (This last step is important. You might want to

make the point that it is not about changing points arbitrarily. It is

about attending to your initial reaction to the decision and

thoughtfully reexamining criteria and importance scores, if

appropriate.)

After taking students through the steps of the process, give them the

opportunity to practice with nonacademic content or with current events.

You might create hypothetical situations or ask them to select criteria and

alternatives for the “best” football player or television show. Be sure to hold

them accountable for generating and thoughtfully and consistently applying

criteria to each alternative.

3. As students study and use the process of decision making,

help them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the

process.

As students use the decision-making process, they should gradually be

increasing their understanding of and ability to use the process. The

following key points describe some of the challenges and important points to

keep in mind while you are guiding students through learning the decision-

making process.

Key Points

1) Perhaps the most critical concept that needs to be developed as students

are engaged in decision making is the concept of a criterion. The quality

of everyday decisions, as well as those made using academic content,

depends on developing criteria that are clearly stated and that accurately

identify the conditions that the selected alternative need to meet.

Rarely can a criterion be expressed in one word. Push students to

articulate the meaning of a criterion with phrases or sentences that

ensure that the criterion can be applied consistently to each alternative.

For example, if students are setting up criteria for selecting powerful

characters in literature, they should define a weak criterion like

“interesting” more clearly, such as “characters had qualities with which I

could identify.”

In addition, unlike the process of comparing, in which characteristics are

stated in neutral language, criteria must be stated with a clearly defined

preference or value. For example, a newspaper might objectively compare

political candidates on the characteristic of “their plan for taxation.”

However, if you were deciding which political candidate to vote for, your

“I realize that often when I

have asked students to

engage in a decision-making

task, I have simply looked

to see if the decision seems

logical. I really have not

held students accountable

for the criteria. Now that I

am holding them

accountable, I have

discovered many

misconceptions that had not

surfaced when the focus was

on the alternatives.”

—A high school

biology teacher

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Teacher’s Manual

Dimension 4

Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Decision Making

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DIMENSION 4

criteria would be more subjective and reflect what you prefer or value; for

example, you might rate each candidate on the “extent to which he or she

will fight property tax decreases.” As students practice generating criteria

for decision making, provide them with examples of both characteristics

and criteria in order to help them understand the difference.

2) Although a decision-making matrix is a common and clear format to use

when engaged in decision making, its ease of use can create the

misconception that decision making is an exercise in filling out squares

in a matrix. The most important aspect of this process is the level of

dialogue that occurs as students are using the matrix. Thus, the matrix

functions as an enabling tool for thoughtful dialogue and precise

thinking. Following the steps of the process does result in placing

numbers into boxes, but students must be held accountable for assigning

those numbers (importance scores and quality scores) by carefully

considering the relative importance of criteria and thoughtfully

determining the extent to which the alternatives meet those criteria.

Holding students accountable for rigorously using the process will

increase the likelihood that they will use academic knowledge

meaningfully, as well as increase their proficiency in decision making.

3) Engaging in the decision-making process can create the need for

students to use the knowledge they have acquired. It can also help

students gain new insights into, and make new connections with,

information they have learned, as well as provide a motivation for

acquiring additional knowledge. The following are some suggestions for

helping students to realize these benefits:

• Once students have made a selection on their matrix, ask them to go

back and alter the criteria so that one or two of the alternatives that

scored few points score more. This forces students to look at different

attributes of the alternatives. For example, using the “best national

leader” example above, you could add a criterion of “fought for

human rights” and remove the criterion of “extensive knowledge of

international finance.” This could change the total points for each

alternative.

• Begin a unit of study by asking students to make a decision for

which they have a limited understanding of the alternatives and the

criteria. For example, you might ask students to select “the best

national leader” using only what they already know about each of the

alternatives. Then halfway through the unit and again at the end of

the unit, ask them to go back and determine if they need to change

any scores, add or delete criteria, or consider different alternatives in

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Use Knowledge Meaningfully

Helping Students Develop

Complex Reasoning Processes

✔ Decision Making

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light of their new knowledge. This reinforces the idea that decisions

are significantly influenced by the knowledge we have related to the

alternatives considered and the extent to which we understand the

criteria.

• Lead the class through a decision-making task using the information

provided in the unit. Then have them do a similar task that requires

them to access the new information in an independent study. For

example, as students study criteria relevant to a particular art form,

guide them through the process of applying the criteria to examples

within that form; then have them set up a matrix that uses criteria

and examples from a very different form of their choice.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of decision making.

When students are following the identified steps of the decision-making

process, using the decision-making matrix becomes a necessity (see page

198). A matrix organizes the large quantity of information needed to

generate criteria and alternatives and to apply each criterion to each

alternative.

As students become comfortable with the process of decision making, you

may want to encourage them to create their own graphic organizer to

facilitate the process. There are a number of available software programs that

students could use to go through the steps. For example, one high school

science teacher uses a software program that reports the totals for each

alternative in the form of a bar graph. This program also allows students to

change the importance scores and to quickly obtain a new printout showing

the new results.

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

Once students understand the general process of decision making, you can

start giving them fairly well-structured tasks that will let them practice the

decision-making process to become more familiar with it. In fact, any time

that there is a clear academic goal, you may want to structure all or part of

the task. As you develop teacher-structured tasks, you may decide to do all

or some of the following for students:

• Clearly state the decision question.

• Clearly identify the choices or alternatives to be considered.

• Clearly identify the criteria on which the alternatives will be judged.

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• Monitor students closely as they weight the alternatives and the criteria.

• Have students focus on very specific knowledge as they explain how

they reached their decisions.

To illustrate, an elementary teacher presents students with the following

structured decision-making task:

You are Queen Isabella and must decide whether you should give Columbus funds

for an ocean voyage. You may not use what you know now but must work only

with what was available to Queen Isabella at the time. Your criteria should

reflect your primary concern as Queen to keep the public treasury sound and to

work for the public good. However, you should also consider in your criteria your

interest in establishing new trade routes. In making your decision, you also should

consider the amount of money that might be involved and the number of lives that

might be lost. There are no guarantees of success. Make your choice and defend it.

Gradually, students should be able to generate their own decision-making

tasks; that is, they should recognize situations in which the process is

applicable and be able to specify many parts of the task. To move toward this

goal, reduce the amount of structure that you provide for them and begin to

act more as a facilitator of the process. Some suggestions for doing this

include the following:

• Suggest a general topic about which students can make a decision, or

pose an interesting question. Encourage students to generate similar

topics or questions that interest them.

• Suggest some choices to consider, and encourage them to use only

some of yours or, when appropriate, to generate their own completely

different choices.

• Suggest some criteria to consider, but begin to hold students

accountable for criteria that are clear and meaningful.

• Have students apply the criteria to each alternative, and provide

feedback only when students request it or when you notice

misconceptions that need to be clarified.

• Ask students to explain how they reached their decisions and

articulate what they learned from the decision-making process.

To illustrate, the elementary teacher in the above example might encourage

students throughout the year to look for situations similar to Queen

Isabella’s in which an historic decision could be analyzed to increase their

understanding of the past. This could be applied, for example, during lessons

in science, the arts, geography, or health education.

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Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 4 in your classroom.

Mrs. Flores gives her second-grade students the following task in order to

meaningfully use their understanding of mathematics problem-solving strategies:

Ben is 43 inches tall. Keisha is 66 inches tall. How many different methods

can you use to figure out how much taller Keisha is than Ben? Make a list of

the important characteristics of a method for solving a problem (e.g., the time it

takes, the number of steps involved). Then make a chart of the methods and

important features that will help you to decide which method is the best.

• • •

Students in Mrs. Wong’s middle school class had been studying about the factors that

influence people’s decisions to emigrate to another country. To pique students’ interest,

she read aloud several letters from people who had immigrated to the United States

from different European countries. These letters explained the hardships they

encountered and the reasons they left their homelands. Some left because of war or

economic depression; others were excited about exploring a new country; and still others

fled because of religious persecution. Mrs. Wong explained that throughout the year,

whenever students encounter situations in which people are emigrating, they will

examine the factors that influenced people’s decisions. At the end of the year, students

will look at each matrix and draw a conclusion about the factors that are most

common and how that pattern has changed throughout history.

• • •

A large urban high school was planning its annual Career Exploration Fair. The

planning committee discussed the fact that, in the past, students typically took notes as

they explored each career, but that it was unclear how useful these notes had been. The

committee decided that this year each student planning to participate would generate a

decision-making matrix. During home-room time, teachers helped those who did not

already know the process of decision making to learn to use the steps of the process. All

students were then given the time and guidance that they needed to generate criteria

and assign importance scores that reflected what they believed was important in a

career. This matrix was their ticket for entry to the fair. When committee members

observed the students using their matrices and talked to students, they concluded that

more than any note-taking technique previously used at the fair, the matrix helped

students to focus on the criteria they considered to be important in a career. As a

result, students asked better questions of the career representatives than they had in the

past, then used the information they received to change and refine their criteria and,

in some cases, to rethink their priorities.

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For more on problem

solving:

Anderson (1982)

“Acquisition of Cognitive

Skills”

Anderson (1983) The

Architecture of Cognition

Gourley (1981) “Adapting

the Varsity Sports Model to

Nonpsychomotor Gifted

Students”

Gourley & Micklus (1982)

Problems, Problems, Problems

White (1983) “Sources of

Difficulty in Understanding

Newtonian Dynamics”

Problem Solving

Most people agree that the ability to engage in problem solving is

fundamental to success in life. However, even when people agree that

students need to be good problem solvers, achieving the goal is difficult

because there are so many different types of problems. To facilitate the

discussion here, we have divided problems into two basic types: unstructured

problems and structured problems. Unstructured problems are the kind you face

in real life: They often have unclear constraints and require unidentified

resources; sometimes the goal is not even clear. Unstructured problems also

typically have more than one solution. Trying to improve efficiency (in this

case, the goal needs clarification) in a workplace that is steeped in traditions

that must not be violated (the constraint needs further elaboration) is an

example of an unstructured problem.

Structured problems are the type we usually find in textbooks, games, and

puzzles. They generally have clear goals and specify the resources available to

accomplish the goals. In addition, structured problems usually have one

right answer. For example, if the problem you are trying to solve is how to

put the pieces of a puzzle together to form a certain picture, the goal is fairly

clear (make the picture) and so are the available resources (the pieces of the

puzzle). And there is only one correct way of putting the pieces together to

form the picture.

It may confuse and frustrate students if they are taught a problem-solving

process only to find that it does not help them with a completely different

type of problem. The best course, therefore, is to clearly designate for

students what type of problems they are learning to solve. For this reason, it

is important to understand that the definition and process for problem

solving in this section will focus on only one particular type: unstructured

academic problems. These are problems for which there are multiple solutions

and for which one or more of the following may need to be identified:

• the goal,

• the constraints or limiting conditions that hinder the achievement of

the goal, and

• the alternative ways of achieving the goal.

The advantage of focusing on unstructured academic problems is that they

are more like the unstructured problems we encounter in everyday life. For

Problem solving is the process of overcoming constraints or limiting conditions

that are in the way of pursuing goals. Stated more simply, it is the process of

overcoming limits or barriers that are in the way of reaching goals.

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“We only think when we

are confronted with a

problem.”

—John Dewey

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instance, a parent has to find a way to give three children a nutritious

dinner, even though the children’s sports and activities pose limits on the

time available for preparing and eating the meal. Or, a corporate task force

has to come up with a process for increasing production without raising

costs. Notice that both of these real-life situations have the defining

characteristics of unstructured academic problems; that is, there is a need to

identify the goal, the constraints or limiting conditions, and/or the

alternative ways of achieving the goal. Because unstructured problems like

these exist in real life, as students improve their ability to use this process

with academic problems in the classroom, they will also develop a useful life

skill.

In addition to gaining a life skill and increasing their ability to solve

academic problems, students engaged in solving unstructured academic

problems should also be using knowledge meaningfully. Problem-solving

tasks should not only require students to demonstrate their understanding of

important knowledge but should also provide motivation for seeking new

knowledge that may be needed to clarify the goal, understand the constraints

or limiting conditions, or identify available resources. As with other complex

reasoning processes, it is helpful to guide students through a series of

activities to ensure that they fully understand the process and how and when

to use it.

1. Help students understand the problem-solving process.

Because students are also frequently exposed to structured academic problems,

it is important for them to understand that the process in this section is

designed to help them solve unstructured problems. Begin by reviewing with

them the distinctions:

Structured problems have clear goals, specific resources available to achieve

the goal, and one right answer.

Unstructured problems, whether academic or real life, need clarification

of the goal, the constraints or limiting conditions, and the resources available.

There are multiple solutions to each problem.

Emphasize with students that the process provided here will help them to solve

unstructured problems. It might help them to understand they are answering

questions that include “What is my goal?”, “What constraints or limits are

hindering my achieving the goal?”, and “What are some different ways I might

overcome these constraints or limits?”

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Identify with them both academic and real-life problems that require

answering some or all of these questions. For example, if a person has to be

at work by 9:00 a.m., but at 8:05 a.m. finds that the car will not start, she

has to determine the goal (getting to work or starting the car), identify the

obstacle (e.g., public transportation isn’t running today or jumper cables are

missing), and identify how to overcome the obstacle (call a neighbor or push

the car to jump-start it). To generate academic examples, ask students to

identify assignments in which students are asked to build something (goal

needs to be clarified) with only certain materials (limiting conditions).

In order to emphasize that problem solving requires the meaningful use of

knowledge, help students to identify what knowledge is needed to solve each

problem that is discussed. They should realize that knowledge is needed to

clarify the goal, to understand the constraints and limiting conditions, and

to generate solutions to the problem. Once you have presented examples, ask

students to describe and analyze problems they have had or problems they

have heard or read about.

2. Give students a model for the process of problem solving, and

create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of problem solving.

Providing a model is a good way to help students feel comfortable

with the problem-solving process. The steps in the process might be

stated as follows:

1. Identify the goal you are trying to accomplish.

2. Identify the constraints or limiting conditions.

3. Determine exactly how these constraints or limiting

conditions are preventing you from reaching your goal.

4. Identify different ways of overcoming the constraints or

meeting the limiting conditions.

5. Select and try out the alternative that appears to be the best.

6. Evaluate the effectiveness of the alternative you have tried. If

appropriate, try a different alternative or identify additional

ways of overcoming the constraints or limiting conditions.

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You may want to present the process in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

To illustrate the steps in the problem-solving process, walk students

through a content-area example, preferably a situation that has a

clear constraint. You might use a think-aloud while involving

students in the example. For instance, your demonstration might

include the following:

Salt has been used for centuries to cure meat, fish, and other foods because it

kills microorganisms. How could I produce the same effect on meat, fish, and

other foods without using salt or any of its basic elements and keep the food

at room temperature?

First, I need to restate the goal. (Alternatively, ask students to restate

it.) I want to treat meat, fish, and other foods with something that will kill

the microorganisms even when the food is kept at room temperature.

Next, I need to identify the constraints or limiting conditions. In this case,

there are two constraints: (1) that neither salt nor any of its basic properties

can be used and (2) the food must stay at room temperature (i.e., it cannot be

frozen or heated).

Next, I need to examine exactly how these constraints are limiting me. (Ask

students to help with this step.) Let’s see. The salt kills microorganisms,

and dropping the temperature of meat below freezing stops the organic processes

that produce microorganisms. Therefore, I must either think of different ways

of killing microorganisms or stopping the processes that allow their growth.

What are some possible ways of doing this, and what are the pluses and

minuses of each? Some sort of vacuum packing or drying process might be used

to prevent bacteria from growing. (Have students help you with this

step. Be sure to discuss with them the extent to which each

alternative helps to overcome the constraints. If you have adequate

time and resources, the class can try one or more alternatives and

discuss the results.)

1. What am I trying to accomplish?

2. What are the limits or barriers that are in the way?

3. What are some solutions for overcoming the limits or barriers?

4. Which solution will I try?

5. How well did it work? Should I try another solution?

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“Although many of the

tasks I’ve assigned over the

years certainly have been

challenging and interesting,

I’ve never clearly identified

the reasoning process that

they require. For example,

at times I’ve called the same

task a decision-making task

one day and a problem-

solving task the next.

Consequently, my students

didn't focus on the

reasoning process; they

focused on the product.”

—A high school

algebra teacher

“The beginning of wisdom

is the definition of terms.”

—Socrates

After you have modeled the various steps in the process, give

students opportunities to practice in pairs or small groups beginning

with easy academic problems or lighthearted real-life situations.

3. As students study and use the process of problem solving,

help them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the

process.

Gaining confidence in using this problem-solving process with unstructured

academic problems will, of course, require practice. As you give students

problems to solve, you may want to focus attention on specific parts of the

process. As you plan for these lessons, keep in mind the following

suggestions and key points related to problem solving.

Key Points

1) The first step of the process—identifying the goal—may sometimes be

provided for students. However, students also need to practice

identifying the goal. Provide them with situations in which the goal is

not clear, and ask them to clearly verbalize it. As they compare their goal

statements with those of other students, they may also discover that in

any situation there might be several possible goals. For example, if your

car will not start in the morning, your first reaction might be that the

goal is to get the car started; however, perhaps the goal should be to get

to work on time. If parents are complaining about students’ test scores at

their children’s school, should the school’s goal be to increase test scores

or to decrease the complaining by clearing up misconceptions? It is

important for students to practice framing and reframing goal

statements to see the effect that different versions have on the other steps

of the problem-solving process.

2) Students may be anxious to get to the steps of the problem-solving

process in which solutions are generated. However, it is important to

make sure that students take time to focus on step 3: analyzing whatever

is in the way of achieving the goal. (Note: This is step 2 in the simplified

language suggested for young students). When students understand

exactly how the constraints or barriers hinder the achievement of the

goal, the various solutions will be more focused on overcoming those

constraints and barriers. For example, you might ask students to

construct a vehicle, but give them the constraint of using only certain

types of materials. Before students generate solutions, it might be

important for them to know if these limitations influence the strength,

power, or aerodynamics of the project.

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Another reason to ensure that students carefully analyze the constraints

and barriers is that this is a step in which learning can be enhanced. For

example, a primary teacher might create a problem-solving task by

asking students to draw a picture of a busy city without using any

circles. If students stop to determine how the constraint of using no

circles limits them, they may gain a better understanding of the

importance of shapes (or the importance of geometry) in their lives.

3) When students get to step 5 (select and try out the alternative that

appears to be the best), they may find the need for decision making or

invention, two other processes identified in Dimension 4. For example,

when they are able to identify many possible solutions, the process of

decision making may help them select the one most likely to succeed;

when they are unable to generate any solutions, they may conclude that

something new must be invented. If students are familiar with these

complex reasoning processes, they should be able to shift quite easily to

them during this step of problem solving. If they are unfamiliar with

these processes, this would be a good time for them to learn about them.

In either situation, understanding how these processes support one

another can help students appreciate the usefulness of each.

4) It is important for students to understand that the problem-solving

process is a way of finding the best solution, not simply any solution.

Step 6 reinforces this point because it requires evaluating the success of

the solution and, based on the evaluation, determining whether further

action may be needed. If the first solution, for example, does not work, it

might be necessary to go back to one or more of the previous steps. For

instance, a failed solution might mean that the goal needs to be reframed

(step 1), the constraint needs to be reevaluated (step 3), or different

solutions need to be generated or tried (steps 4 or 5). If the solution is

successful, it is still beneficial to consider returning to previous steps to

find solutions that are the most effective and, in the classroom, to learn

more about the problem situation. If students use problem solving in

this way, their learning of the content and the problem-solving process

should be greatly enhanced.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of problem solving.

For some students, organizing information graphically as they perform the

steps will help them to use the process. Figure 4.2 provides an example that

might be helpful to students.

“No problem can withstand

the assault of sustained

thinking.”

“In great attempts, it is

glorious even to fail.”

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FIGURE 4.2

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR PROBLEM SOLVING

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

As they are first learning the problem-solving process, or any time there is a

very specific academic goal, students should engage in well-structured

problem-solving tasks. Some suggestions for constructing teacher-structured

tasks include the following:

• Identify a situation in your content area in which there is already a

constraint or some limiting condition to examine or in which a

constraint or limiting condition could be imposed (a hypothetical

situation or a simulation).

• Clearly identify the desired goal, perhaps explaining different ways of

perceiving the goal.

• Clearly identify the constraint or limiting condition.

• Analyze with students the effect of the constraining element or

limiting condition.

• Collaborate with students to generate ways of overcoming the

constraint or limiting condition.

• Provide the necessary information and resources for students to try

their alternatives.

Problem

Worked well.Did not work well.

Try another solution.

Constraint/Limiting Condition:

Goal:

Problem solved.

Possible Solution: Possible Solution:

Selected Solution:

Possible Solution:

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“Problems are opportunities

in work clothes.”

—Henry J. Kaiser

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• Have students evaluate the effectiveness of their solutions and then

respond appropriately.

To illustrate, an art teacher knows that pastel colors are commonly used to

convey soft tones in paintings. She decides to use pastels as the constraint;

that is, she tells students that they cannot use pastels in their paintings for

this project. She states the goal and the constraint as follows: “I want you to

paint a picture that conveys a tone of softness, but you cannot use any pastel

colors.” Students then have to devise other ways of creating the feeling of

softness that pastels commonly convey. Students must then try out their

solutions and evaluate the effectiveness of those solutions.

As students become more comfortable with the problem-solving process,

encourage them to develop their own tasks. When students are setting up

these tasks, you will need to decide how much guidance is appropriate. You

might do all or some of the following:

• Suggest a general topic within which students might identify a

problem, and ask students to generate additional ideas.

• Ask students to identify a situation in which some constraint or

condition has been imposed or a situation in which a constraint or

condition might be imposed. Provide suggestions, as appropriate.

• Have students clearly state the goal or the desired outcome. Hold

them accountable for clarity and, when appropriate, encourage them

to consider other ways of framing the goal.

• Ask students to describe the function of the constrained element, or

have them describe the limitations imposed by the conditions. You

might find it helpful to provide them with feedback at this point

because it may influence the remainder of the process.

• Have students generate ways of accomplishing what the constrained

element would have accomplished or have them generate ways of

accomplishing the goal within the limiting conditions. Clarify

misconceptions and provide advice when appropriate.

• Provide students with the time to access information and other

necessary resources to try out their solutions. Offer help and advice

when this will help students use their time and resources more

efficiently.

• Have students evaluate the effectiveness of their solutions and report

on their conclusions. Make sure that students include in their reports

the knowledge that helped them understand and solve the problem.

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To illustrate, to help her art students begin to structure their own tasks, the

teacher might first present the painting task and then ask students to

identify another commonly used material or process in painting (e.g.,

students might select a particular type of brush or brush stroke), determine

what the material or the process accomplishes, and then try to accomplish

the same thing without using that material or process.

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 4 in your classroom.

A teacher designed the following task for students in her family and consumer studies

class. Her goal was for students to learn to plan and prepare meals that meet the

nutritional needs and dietary restrictions of different people.

It’s Thanksgiving. For most families this is a simple matter of buying a turkey,

whipping up some mashed potatoes, buying a few cans of cranberry sauce, and

baking some pies. But your family is different. Your dad has diabetes; your sister

is lactose intolerant; your brother is a vegetarian; your mother is on a low-fat diet.

How can you create a Thanksgiving meal that incorporates all of the needs of

your family members, while still maintaining the appropriate nutritional levels

and the traditional foods that most people associate with a good Thanksgiving

feast? Develop an outline of what you want the menu to include. Identify the

limitations of various dishes and explore alternatives you could use. Try a few

different alternatives to see which one might be the most flavorful and nutritious.

Continue to try different alternatives until you have come up with a menu that

achieves the outlined objectives.

• • •

Mrs. Brokaw, a middle school English teacher, loved grammar. Her students, however,

did not share her passion. To increase their appreciation for the usefulness of grammar

and to determine how well they understood how adjectives are used, she assigned the

following task as a sort of “reverse psychology”:

Write a rave review of a movie or book. You may use the articles—a, an, the—

freely. You may, however, use adjectives only four times.

• • •

You have been given a job by a small theater company to design the sets for its next

production. The budget is tight, but their facility has one strength: the lighting

capabilities. In fact, the producer wants you to use your understanding of the visual

and aural elements of an environment (place, time, atmosphere, and mood) to design

the sets using only lights.

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Invention

We all have encountered the kind of frustrating situations that make us stop

and think, “There has to be a better way to. . . .” or “They ought to make a

better. . . .” These are the situations in which the process of invention is

needed, the process with the explicit purpose of creating products or

processes to meet perceived needs. Whether making up a game or devising a

better way to move students in and out of the lunch room, you are engaged

in invention because you are answering such questions as, “How can I do

this better or more efficiently?” or “What can I create that is new?” This

creative aspect of invention is probably why many students see it as a

reasoning process that is a challenge but is also fun. Students are excited

when they are free to brainstorm new ideas and gratified when they realize

that the process of invention can help them to create a product or a process

that did not exist before.

This freedom and creativity associated with invention highlights how it

differs from the problem-solving process. Although both processes involve

achieving a goal, problem solving is driven by constraints and conditions,

whereas invention is driven by standards or criteria. Constraints and

conditions are imposed from the outside; standards and criteria are set by the

inventor. For example, while inventing a better way to move students in and

out of the lunch room, you might decide that your new process will be

quieter and will take less time than the process that is currently being used.

These standards are imposed by you, the inventor. They do not necessarily

have to be accomplished; the goal of creating a better way of cycling

students in and out of the lunchroom could be achieved with very different

specific standards. Constraints and limiting conditions, on the other hand,

usually come with the problem-solving situation, and the problem solver has

little control over them.

Although invention allows for a great deal of freedom, the inventor must

identify a clear goal. The identification of the goal is guided by an

understanding of the situation that created the need for an invention in the

first place. Without this knowledge, the resulting product or process might

be unique but might fail to improve the situation. Likewise, in the

classroom, when are students given invention tasks related to academic

content, they must have the knowledge necessary to complete the task.

Engaging students in invention, then, not only helps them develop their

Invention is the process of developing unique products or processes that fulfill

perceived needs. Stated more simply, it is the process of developing original

products or processes that meet specific needs.

For more on invention:

Amabile (1983) The Social

Psychology of Creativity

Applebee (1984b) “Writing

and Reasoning”

Crabbe (1982) “Creating a

Brighter Future”

Marzano (1991) Cultivating

Thinking in English and the

Language Arts

Moffett (1968) Teaching the

Universe of Discourse

Nickerson, Perkins, &

Smith (1985) The Teaching of

Thinking

Perkins (1986) Knowledge as

Design

von Oech (1983) A Whack

on the Side of the Head

“No army can withstand the

strength of an idea whose

time has come.”

—Victor Hugo

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ability to use the process, it requires them to use their knowledge

meaningfully. The recommendations in the following section are offered as

ways of helping students develop their understanding of and ability to use

the process of invention.

1. Help students understand the process of invention.

To help students develop an understanding of invention, generate with them

a list of inventions that have significantly influenced society and their own

lives. You might include inventions from the past as well as those that are

currently changing our world. After you have an adequate list, present the

definition of invention and then, for several inventions, ask students, “What

was the perceived need that motivated the invention?” or “What were the

inventors trying to improve?” This will give you an opportunity to

emphasize that successful inventions are not just unique; they must have

some value or use. Students should be able to identify inventions that were

so valuable and useful that people’s lives were changed, often for the better.

You might get even more interest from some students if you identify which

inventions were so successful at meeting a need that the inventor built an

entire career or business around his or her invention.

If students are also learning (or already have learned) the problem-solving

process, it might help their understanding of both problem solving and

invention if you take the time to compare the two processes. For example,

you might explain to students that if you asked them to build a bridge

across a stream but allowed them to use only boards that were no

longer than four feet, they would have a problem. They would have a clear

goal but a major constraint to overcome. On the other hand, if you asked

them to build a bridge that is as strong as possible, and told them that they

could use any materials that they wanted to use, they would be involved in

invention because the goal is clear but there are no constraints or limiting

conditions. The task does, however, come with standards—to build a strong

bridge—and the inventor might even identify more specific standards, for

example, that the bridge must be able to hold at least five people. With

invention, standards are set by the inventor; they are an ideal to strive for.

With problem solving, limiting conditions and constraints usually come

with the situation and determine what you cannot do or cannot use.

Explain to students that understanding the distinction between problem

solving and invention—in fact, understanding the distinctions among all of

the reasoning processes—is important because when you begin a task and

know which process is needed, you are much more likely to achieve the

objective of the task.

2" × 4"

“There should be a museum

dedicated to human

inventive failure. The only

problem it would face

would be its overnight

success.”

—R.S. Wurman (1989)

Information Anxiety,

p. 200.

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2. Give students a model for the process of invention, and create

opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of invention.

Providing a model of the steps involved in invention will help

students understand and use the process. The steps for invention

might be outlined in the following way:

You may want to present the steps in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

When first introducing the invention process, walk students through

a clear example using a think-aloud strategy and involving them

when possible. For instance, while teaching a unit on maps, you

might demonstrate in this way:

1. What do I want to make, or what do I want to make better?

2. What standards do I want to set for my invention?

3. What is the best way to make a rough draft of my invention?

4. How can I improve on my rough draft?

5. Does my invention meet the standards I have set?

Choice

1. Identify a situation you want to improve or a need to which

you want to respond.

2. State your purpose or goal; write or say it several times in

several different ways to look at it from different perspectives.

Drafting

3. Identify specific standards for your invention. What specifically

do you want it to do?

4. Make a model, sketch, or outline of your invention.

5. Start developing your product. Keep looking for alternatives

and even better ways of creating your product. Don’t be too

easily satisfied.

6. Occasionally set your partially completed product aside so you

can be more objective when you return to it.

Revising

7. Keep going over your invention with attention to detail.

8. Stop when you have reached a level of completeness consistent

with the norms and standards you have set.

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“To invent, you need a good

imagination and a pile of

junk.”

—Thomas Edison

People get frustrated when they have to use different maps for each different

purpose, for example, a topographical map to look at terrain or a political

map to examine boundaries. What I think is needed is to have a map that

combines information of various types like political, economic, and

demographic. So my goal is this: I want to create a type of map that combines

information about the economics, terrain, and politics of a region.

Now that my goal is set, I have to identify the standards that this map is

going to meet. First, I need to identify how much specific information I can

include. I want to include economic factors (like imports and average

incomes), terrestrial features (like lakes, rivers, and elevations), and political

elements (like alliances and territorial relationships). My goal is to display

all of this information and design a key that will make it easy for users to

find the type of information they want. The map must appear organized and

uncluttered. (You might allow students to elaborate on your standards

and suggest others.)

Next, I need to do some rough sketches of this map. (Ask students to

develop rough sketches or models of their ideas for the map. As you

work, describe some of the problems you foresee as a result of

making your rough draft and ask students to do the same.)

I have my draft; now I am ready to create the map. As I work, I’ll share

with you some issues that arise during the construction of my invention. (You

might prepare a finished product before you do this demonstration

or actually create the map with the students. Students can be

simultaneously creating their own maps and sharing with one

another the problems or issue that arise.)

OK, I like what I have created. Does it meet the standards that I set? Yes,

but how could I put some finishing touches on it to make it better? (You

could ask groups of students to determine if their maps meet the

identified standards. Then encourage them to add finishing touches,

giving them adequate time to make sure their maps meet the

standards they initially set and encouraging them to make their

products as polished as possible.)

Provide students with opportunities to practice these steps by creating

products and processes that are not necessarily linked to academic content.

They might even try inventing Rube Goldberg-type devices. Discuss each of

the steps as students progress through them and provide feedback to help

them understand the process. For instance, while students are making drafts

of their invention, you could remind them to keep their standards in mind.

You might also post the steps in a prominent place so that students can refer

to them as they work.

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Thomas Edison is reported

to have used the following

analogy to stimulate his

thinking about a motion

picture machine: “I want to

create a machine that does

for the eye what the

phonograph does for the ear.”

“I love to construct

invention tasks for my

students now. This process

keeps them focused on the

standards they are setting so

that the final product is

useful, not just ‘creative’.”

—A teacher in Montana

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3. As students study and use the process of invention, help

them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the

process.

Students often become very involved in their projects when they are

inventing something because they are so clearly using their own ideas to

create something new. As they are working, however, it is important to

remember that we not only want them to complete their projects, we want

them to improve their ability to engage in the process of invention. What

follows are some suggestions and important points to keep in mind as you

monitor students’ work and provide them with feedback.

Key Points

1) Attending to the first phase of invention, choice, is important to the

ultimate success of a new product or process. During this phase, students

need to identify exactly what need they are addressing with their

invention. A clear, concise explanation of the situation that needs

improving will enable them to generate standards and begin the

outlines, sketches, or models during the drafting phase of the process. As

students are learning to use the invention process, you may give them

the opportunity to invent fun, even silly, products or processes as a way

of practicing the steps in a nonthreatening environment. However, as

soon as possible, begin emphasizing the importance of clearly identifying

a need that the invention is going to meet.

Identifying the perceived need is also the part of the process in which

academic knowledge is first used. For example, if students are devising a

new process for solving boundary disputes among countries, they must

understand the present process and its apparent weaknesses. Without

this understanding, students will not be able to define a clear purpose for

the invention. Thus, holding students accountable for explaining the

perceived need for the invention also demands that they have an in-

depth understanding of important academic content.

2) The drafting phase includes one of the pivotal aspects of the invention

process, setting standards for the invention. The identification of standards

answers the questions, “What product or process will this invention

provide that does not exist now?” or “How will this invention improve

on what exists now?” Not only do the standards determine how the

identified need will be met, they guide the work in the drafting and

revising stages because the inventor continuously evaluates the extent to

which the invention is meeting, or exceeding, the identified standards.

For this reason, even when students are anxious to begin creating their

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invention, it is important to discourage them from proceeding until

clear, rigorous standards are set. Additionally, during this standard-

setting phase, keep students focused on the academic content that has

provided the context for the invention. This is, along with the choice

phase, a part of the process that requires students to use their knowledge

meaningfully.

3) The work done during the revising stage will determine if the invention

satisfies the identified need and meets the standards that have been set.

Students need to understand that most successful inventions were created

as a result of numerous drafts and constant revisions. Because these are

the phases that are less creative and involve more hard work, students

may need a good deal of feedback and reinforcement to keep them

engaged in a cycle of drafting, evaluating, revising, checking back on or

even modifying the standards, revising again, and polishing. Try to

instill in them that the goal is for the completed product or process to

meet, or exceed, the standards.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of invention.

For some students, graphic organizers help them to use the steps of

invention and organize their ideas while they work. Figure 4.3 depicts a

possible organizer that they might use.

FIGURE 4.3

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR INVENTION

Draft Draft

Need:

Standards:

Invention:

CHOICEDRAFT AND REVISE

Draft

“Failure is the opportunity

to begin again more

intelligently.”

—Henry Ford

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5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

As students are becoming familiar with the process of invention, and any

time there is very specific academic content that students are to use in their

invention, you may want to present students with very structured invention

tasks. When developing these teacher-structured invention tasks, you might

include all or some of the following steps:

1. Clearly state the purpose of the invention.

2. Clearly identify the standards that the invention should meet.

3. Provide students with access to the necessary materials and

information to develop the invention.

4. Provide extensive feedback as students are developing a model,

sketch, or outline of the invention. Make sure they understand the

purpose and standards that should be driving their work.

5. Monitor students closely as they are developing and producing their

invention.

6. Encourage or, when appropriate, push students to revise the

invention until it meets, and hopefully exceeds, the standards that

have been identified.

To illustrate, a mathematics teacher asks students to create a new way of

performing multiplication. She also sets standards for the invention. These

might be the following:

• Your process should make it easier to identify errors that are made.

• Your process should not require much more time than the current process.

Students would then work alone or in cooperative groups, drafting the initial

models and then revising them until they met the standards that have been

identified.

Ultimately, students should initiate and develop their own invention tasks.

You will still need to provide some guidance and structure, however. You

might do all or some of the following:

• Suggest a topic or area related to your content that might include a

context or situation in which students could identify an unmet need.

• Ask students to identify an unmet need or something to improve.

“An invention doesn’t have

to be bigger than a

breadbox; it can be an idea.”

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• Ask students to state clearly the purpose of their invention, giving

them a good deal of choice during this step. Provide direction only if

their stated purpose reflects misconceptions related to the content

that is providing the context for the invention.

• As students identify the standards for their invention, provide

feedback only on the clarity and rigor of their standards.

• As students create a model, sketch, or outline of the invention,

provide minimal feedback. If their initial drafts are weak, they will

discover that for themselves during the drafting and revising phases.

• While students are working on creating their process or product, ask

questions that will help them maintain a focus on their original

purpose and standards.

• Encourage and reinforce students as they are revising their

inventions.

To illustrate, if a mathematics teacher wants to use a multiplication task to

stimulate student-structured invention, she would simply suggest that it

would be useful to have a way of doing multiplication that makes it easier to

identify possible errors being made. She would then invite students to

identify other mathematics procedures that could be improved. Next,

students would select their procedures and carry out the invention process.

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 4 in your classroom.

In conjunction with Presidents’ Day, Ms. Bennis’s primary class was studying the

concept of symbols, specifically American symbols (e.g., the bald eagle, Uncle Sam, the

Stars and Stripes). At about the same time, the school’s parent-teacher organization

announced a student contest to design a school flag. Ms. Bennis decided that the

contest was a perfect opportunity for her students to use their understanding of symbols.

She first taught students the phases of invention and then led them through the first

phase, setting the standards for the flag. Together they generated some initial ideas

that they thought should be represented with a symbol on the flag, such as learning,

reading, writing, math, cooperation, and kids. Ms. Bennis then let students work in

pairs to design a flag that had symbols of important ideas from the class list or other

ideas that they thought of with their partners. After students completed their flags,

each pair presented its flag to the class and explained each symbol. Each of the flags

was then entered into the contest.

• • •

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Mr. Gregorio realized that his physical education students did not understand the

importance of engaging in proper warm-up and cool-down techniques when exercising

or playing sports. As a result, he decided to spend some concentrated class time

modeling the techniques and discussing their benefits and importance. To help students

meaningfully use their knowledge of these techniques, he then asked students to use

that knowledge to complete the following task:

You have been asked by a local television station to design a new routine for a

half-hour health and fitness show. The previous routine was criticized by

audiences because it did not allow enough warm-up and cool-down time to

increase and decrease the heart rate.

Using your knowledge of the cardiovascular impact of exercise, toning, and

warm-up and cool-down techniques, create an exercise routine that appropriately

increases and decreases heart rate. Begin by specifying the standards that you

want the routine to meet. Next, outline the exercises you will use as well as the

specific warm-up techniques (e.g., static stretches, walking or slow jogging, and

calisthenics) and cool-down techniques (e.g., gradual reduction of exercise and

stretches similar to those used in warm-up) that will be in your routine. Specify

the time you will allot for each of these phases. Continue to develop your routine,

exploring alternative combinations of exercises and warm-up and cool-down

techniques. Run through the routine with several students, checking pulse rates

before, during, and after they exercise. Adjust your routine until it meets the

standards you have set. Present your routine to the class, explaining how it meets

the standards you set and what adjustments you had to make from your original

routine.

• • •

Ms. DuBois wanted her eleventh-grade science students to use their knowledge of

electrically charged materials and the attractive forces between them in creative and

meaningful ways. She designed the following task to complete the unit on the

electrical forces that exist between objects and within atoms:

Your mom ran out of those dryer sheets that keep your socks from clinging to your

pants when you take them out of the dryer. Since you don’t like the way those

dryer sheets smell anyway, and you think they are just clogging up our

landfills, you decide to invent a reusable anti-static-cling device for your mom.

Using your knowledge of the electrical forces that exist between objects and

within atoms, think about how clothes get static charges while they are in the

dryer. Create a reusable device that will prevent static electricity in the dryer.

Specify the standards you want the anti-static-cling device to meet (e.g., it

should not melt in the high heat cycle). Make a model or sketch of your

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invention, and begin developing your product. Test your product as you develop

it, making adjustments and changes to your original design as necessary until it

meets the standards you have set. Present your completed device to your mother

for Mother’s Day and explain to her, in terms she can understand, how your

product works.

• • •

Students in Mrs. Roser’s communications class were discussing various reasons that

people attend to or ignore important messages (e.g., messages that could influence their

health or safety) and methods that are used to get people’s attention. One student

shared his experience on a recent family vacation that involved flying to another city.

He noticed that many people did not pay attention to the flight attendant during the

safety demonstration. Students speculated about why people do not attend to such

critically important information. As a result of the class discussion, Mrs. Roser

assigned each student the task of using everything they had learned about sending and

receiving information to either (1) create a new or better way to communicate airline

safety messages or (2) improve another situation in which people commonly ignore

important information.

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Experimental Inquiry

Experimental inquiry is a process that is as useful to anyone trying to

understand what they have observed as it is to the scientist or the researcher.

For example, a family from Denver on a vacation in Maine makes the

following observations on their trip:

Maria, their first grader, is surprised and frustrated when she notices that

the towels and swimming suits they use on one day are still very wet the

next day, even though they hang them outside to dry. After all, towels

hung outside on a line in Denver dry in a matter of hours. But then she

remembers something she learned in science class during a unit on

weather. She decides to use that knowledge to figure out “the towel

mystery.”

Maria’s parents observe, happily, that their children fight much less on

vacation than at home. They wonder if it is because they are all just too

busy and tired to fight or if the undivided attention that the children are

getting from Mom and Dad accounts for the increased peace. They get

out the book they just bought on parenting and try to figure it out.

Both Maria and her parents are engaged in trying to explain what they have

observed. They will now use the knowledge available to them to generate

clear explanations, predict what might happen if their explanations are

accurate, and then set up experiments to test their predictions. While Maria

is applying her scientific knowledge and her parents are using what they

know about the psychology of children’s behavior, both are trying to address

the four questions basic to experimental inquiry:

• What do I observe?

• How can I explain what I observe?

• What do I predict based on my explanations?

• How can I test my prediction?

These same questions drive the inquiry process, whether it is performed by

nuclear physicists in a lab, by teachers in the classroom, or by children

trying to make sense of their world.

Experimental inquiry is a fairly common activity in science classes but is less

common in the humanities, liberal arts, and fine arts. This is unfortunate

Experimental inquiry is the process of generating and testing explanations

of observed phenomena. Stated more simply, it is the process of developing and

testing explanations of things we observe.

For more on experimental

inquiry:

Gilovich (1991) How We

Know What Isn’t So

Turner & Greene (1977) The

Construction of a Propositional

Text Base

Tweney (1980) Scientific

Thinking

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Wilhelm Roentgen, the

discoverer of X-rays, when

asked what he thought they

were, reportedly replied, “I

do not think; I experiment.”

because the same process that is applied to physical phenomena in the sciences

can be applied to psychological phenomena. If students are trying to explain

why people react to specific literature, music, or visual arts, for example, they

will have to use their knowledge to explain the reactions they observe, predict

reactions in other situations, and set up experiments, perhaps using surveys or

questionnaires, to test their predictions and validate or invalidate their

explanations. Clearly, the process of experimental inquiry is a powerful way to

use and expand knowledge, no matter what the subject matter.

As with the other complex reasoning processes for using knowledge

meaningfully, it is important to introduce the process of experimental

inquiry with examples, model the steps in the process so that students learn

to perform them rigorously, and then gradually have students use the process

independently. As you teach students to use the process of experimental

inquiry in a way that uses their knowledge meaningfully, you might use the

suggestions and recommendations in the following sections.

1. Help students understand the process of experimental inquiry.

Relating a famous example of experimental inquiry or discussing an

experiment you were involved in is a good way to introduce experimental

inquiry. You might describe an experiment that you did in high school or

college; or you might describe aspects of the many experimental inquiry

tasks conducted by Thomas Edison or Benjamin Franklin. As you do so, ask

students to identify what they consider to be key aspects of the experimental

inquiry process, guiding them to the awareness that experimental inquiry

involves answering the questions: “What do I observe?”, “How can I explain

what I observed?”, “What do I predict based on my explanation?”, and

“How can I test my prediction?” Be sure to emphasize that researchers have

to go back many times and try different explanations when their

experiments fail to validate their explanations.

In addition to helping students understand the process, share stories that

exemplify how our lives are influenced by discoveries resulting from the

process of experimental inquiry (e.g., Jonas Salk’s experiments that led to the

polio vaccine). Ask students to describe other famous or important examples

of experimental inquiry or some current situations in which it might be

beneficial for someone to use experimental inquiry. In each case, ask them to

describe what knowledge the researcher must have had—both of the scientific

process and of the topic being researched—to conduct the experiments.

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2. Give students a model for the process of experimental inquiry,

and create opportunities for them to practice using the

process.

a. Give students a model for the process of experimental inquiry.

As with all complex reasoning processes, students should be provided

with the steps involved in the process. Those steps might be

described as follows:

The process of experimental inquiry might be stated in simpler

terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

To illustrate the process to students, demonstrate each step in a

concrete way. You might first use a think-aloud presentation

(involving students as you use each step) of a physical phenomenon

that students can easily understand, such as the following:

I am going to drop a rock and a feather simultaneously from the same height

to demonstrate something I have noticed. I see that the rock falls to the ground

faster. I wonder why that is.

I have one idea. I know that gravity makes things fall and that rocks weigh

more than feathers. Maybe gravity pulls on things harder if they weigh more.

(As an alternative, you might ask students to develop an explanation

for what they observe.)

1. What do I see or notice?

2. How can I explain it?

3. Based on my explanation, what can I predict?

4. How can I test my prediction?

5. What happened? Is it what I predicted? Do I need to try a

different explanation?

1. Observe something that interests you, and describe what has

occurred.

2. Explain what you have observed. What theories or rules could

explain what you have observed?

3. Based on your explanation, make a prediction.

4. Set up an experiment or activity to test your prediction.

5. Explain the results of your experiment in light of your

explanation. If necessary, revise your explanation or prediction

or conduct another experiment.

A team of middle-school

science teachers was

concerned that students’

science fair projects were

more focused on elaborate or

“glitzy” displays of

knowledge. “We realized,”

said one teacher, “that we

were encouraging students

to engage in the

experimental inquiry

process but that we were

not holding them

accountable for engaging in

the process.”

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OK. If I am right, then any object that weighs more should fall faster than

one that weighs less, and any two objects that weigh the same should fall at

the same rate. Let me see. I could then make the following predictions:

• A piece of paper crumpled into a tight ball will fall at the same rate

as a piece of paper loosely crumpled or a flat sheet of paper.

• A pound of feathers in a pillow and a small one-pound lead weight

should fall at the same rate.

(You might instead ask students to make their own predictions or to

add more predictions to yours.)

My next step is to figure out how the predictions could be tested. I think I

will carry out an activity or experiment for one of these predictions.

(Demonstrate an experiment, or provide materials for students to set

up experiments.)

Based on what I just observed in my experiment, do I have corroboration for

my explanation or do I need to change it? The tightly crumpled paper and

the lead ball both fell faster even though they were the same weight as their

paired object (the loosely crumpled paper and the feathers). My original

explanation did not hold up. Maybe it isn’t the weight that affects the

falling; maybe it has to do with the density or how compact the object is. My

new hypothesis is. . . . (You might demonstrate this last step, or allow

students to use the think-aloud process for their own experiments.)

Once students have become familiar with the experimental inquiry process,

provide multiple opportunities for them to practice and talk through the

steps as a class, in small groups, or in pairs using light-hearted situations or

interesting current events. Because each step requires understanding

concepts, such as prediction and explanation, and an increasing ability to

perform the steps, students’ early experiences should not simultaneously

require them to use complex content knowledge.

3. As students study and use the process of experimental

inquiry, help them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects

of the process.

Engaging in experimental inquiry provides an opportunity for students not

only to use their knowledge but to produce new knowledge in the form of

explanations and clarifications of phenomena. If the process is to realize its

potential, students must have carefully monitored experiences that increase

their understanding of and ability to use the steps of the process. As you

plan these experiences, keep the following key points in mind.

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“Our science teachers have

helped us to better

understand the experimental

inquiry process so that we

can use it across the

disciplines.”

—A principal in

New Mexico

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Key Points

1) Engaging in the process of experimental inquiry is a complex and

demanding undertaking. Because the process can be quite challenging to

students, they should be examining phenomena that interest them or

that have significant meaning to them personally. A major goal of all the

tasks in Dimension 4 is for students to use knowledge in ways that are

meaningful to them, but the more complex the process, the more

important it is for students to care about the outcome of the task.

Student interest and engagement can result from presenting them with

phenomena that are intriguing or that pique their curiosity. This can

also be achieved by allowing students to choose the phenomena they will

research and to determine the manner in which they will explore the

phenomena. Additional suggestions for increasing students’ interest in

tasks and their perception of the value of tasks can be found in

Dimension 1 (pages 30-32).

2) In the second step of the experimental inquiry process, students are

asked to offer an explanation of the phenomenon they are examining.

This is a critical point in the process because students have to bring their

prior knowledge and experience to the task. In addition, because this is a

very deductive part of the process—that is, because it requires students to

apply general theories and rules to novel, specific situations—students

must bring with them an understanding of the concepts, generalizations,

and principles that could help explain the phenomenon. Even when they

are interested in clarifying the phenomenon, students also must have the

knowledge needed to attempt the explanation. It is the responsibility of

the teacher, therefore, not only to encourage and prompt students, but to

provide opportunities for them to learn the knowledge that they are

being asked to use in this part of the inquiry process.

3) When students are asked to make a prediction (step 3) and to set up an

experiment (step 4), they are facing the same challenge as researchers who

have spent a lifetime learning to generate hypotheses and set up powerful,

elegant experiments. These are the steps of the process during which

students may need a great deal of modeling and guidance. Although it is

important for students to become proficient at independently setting up

experiments, it sometimes is appropriate to offer a great deal of help

during these steps, especially when the primary goal of the assignment is

for students to use their content knowledge meaningfully.

4) As students are analyzing the results of their experiments (step 5), they

may begin to understand the interactive nature of the steps of the

experimental inquiry process. As experienced researchers know, obtaining

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“The great tragedy of

science—the slaying of a

beautiful hypothesis by an

ugly fact.”

—Thomas Huxley

the results of the experiment does not represent an end; it simply provides

direction for what needs to be done next. When the experiment suggests,

for example, that the explanation was incorrect, the researcher must decide

whether to try a different explanation or set up an alternative experiment.

When the experiment indicates that the explanation of the phenomenon

was correct, it is equally important to go back and set up additional

experiments or even consider different explanations.

Although experienced researchers understand this quality of

experimental inquiry, it is important to help students gain this

understanding as well. It may sometimes be sufficient for them simply

to accept that, although they have completed their assignment by

analyzing the results of their experiment, there are many more

experiments that could and should be done to explore the topic. Other

times, you may need to persuade students to continue their inquiry with

multiple experiments. The more interested they are in the topic, the

more likely they will be to continue their research.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of experimental

inquiry.

Figure 4.4 is a graphic representation of the experimental inquiry process. It

helps students see how the steps of the process interact. It may also be used

as an organizer as they are engaged in the process.

FIGURE 4.4

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR EXPERIMENTAL INQUIRY

Results:

Observation:

Relevant Theory/Rule:Relevant Theory/Rule:Relevant Theory/Rule:Relevant Theory/Rule:

Possible Explanation:

Activity/Experiment:

Prediction:

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5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

Once students understand the process of experimental inquiry, you might

assign fairly well-structured tasks that give students some guided practice in

using the process. When setting up these structured tasks, it important to

do all or some of the following:

• Provide a clear demonstration or description of some phenomenon

(physical or psychological) in the content area.

• Ask students to explain the phenomenon. You might suggest or

require them to use specific content that will help them provide the

explanation.

• Using the explanations generated, suggest possible predictions and

accompanying experiments or activities to test those predictions

and/or provide feedback as students do this.

• Provide the necessary information and resources for students to set

up their experiments or activities.

• Upon completion of their experiments, have students review their

original explanation in light of the results of the experiments and

report on their conclusions and next steps.

A visual arts teacher, for example, might present a task that requires

students to demonstrate their understanding of the principles of light and

color as applied in painting. For example, students initially might be asked

to observe how color affects the way people respond to selected paintings,

then apply specific principles of the use of light and color to explain these

reactions, and, finally, make and test a prediction to determine if the

principles did, in fact, explain the reactions. This task is highly structured

and closely monitored to ensure that students demonstrate their level of

understanding of the principles.

After students have been given some structured tasks, you might gradually

let them design their own experimental inquiry tasks. It does not work to

simply tell students to do an experimental inquiry task. They still need some

structure and guidance. Helping students to set up their tasks might include

all or some of the following:

• Provide content in which there are unexplained phenomena that

students might find interesting.

• Ask students to select a phenomenon that interests them and to

describe in detail what they observe.

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• Have students suggest a possible explanation for the phenomenon

they observed, providing feedback as needed.

• Have students make a prediction based on their explanation.

• As students devise and carry out an activity or experiment to test

their predictions, give them the responsibility of accessing necessary

information and resources.

• Provide an opportunity for students to explain the results of their

experiment to an appropriate audience and to describe the steps they

would then take.

For example, in a psychology class, a teacher asks students to observe, over

time, the way people behave in an elevator. She then asks students to

identify some phenomenon that is interesting to them and apply a principle

from psychology to explain the phenomenon. With only limited prompting

and feedback from the teacher, students are engaging in the inquiry process

on their own.

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 4 in your classroom.

Mr. McIntyre, a primary level teacher, decided to introduce to his young students the

concepts of supply and demand and consumers and producers. He provided very concrete

examples of each concept and the relationships among them but was not sure his

students understood the ideas. Then during a class discussion, one student said, “Last

Christmas, everyone wanted a Tickle Me Elmo doll, but there weren’t any. Santa

couldn’t even get them. I thought you said when more consumers want something, that

producers make more.” The discussion that followed was heartening to Mr. McIntyre

as other students chimed in. “I didn’t get a new Nintendo game,” said one student,

“because there weren’t any. My mom said that the company made them difficult to get

so that people would want them even more.” Mr. McIntyre prompted students to

continue their discussion about how limited supply might increase demand. He then

helped them set up an experiment to determine what happens when consumers perceive

that there is a limited supply of an item.

The class decided to hold a cookie sale near the entrance to the school. Each day

students secretly selected one kind of cookie and placed only a few on the display plate.

Next to it was a sign: “Hurry! Almost sold out!” Each time they sold one of these

cookies, they quickly replaced it so that there were always a few on the plate. Each

day they kept a tally of how many they sold of each cookie type so they could determine

if they sold more of the cookies that students perceived to be in limited supply. They

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discovered that when students thought that there were only a few of one type of cookie,

they did, in fact, buy more of them. They concluded that this might have been what

happened with the Christmas toys.

• • •

Mrs. Carey overheard her American Literature students complaining about how

difficult William Faulkner’s works were to read and understand. One of the students

suggested that it was because Faulkner wrote long, complex sentences which are harder

to understand than short sentences. Mrs. Carey asked students whether they wanted to

test this hypothesis. The students became excited about conducting an experiment to test

the hypothesis. They designed an experiment in which other students in the school read

one of two passages that contained identical information. One version was composed of

long sentences and the other of short sentences. The experimenters predicted that the

students who had the long-sentence version would not understand the information as

well and would therefore do more poorly when tested on their understanding of the

information in the passage. The students were surprised to find that readers of the

long- and short-sentence passages performed equally well. As a result of their

findings, they reviewed their Faulkner readings again to see if they could come up

with another possible explanation for their difficulty in reading and understanding

his works.

• • •

Students in an applied science and technology class were learning about energy types,

sources, and conversions. Their teacher created the following task for them to use and

apply their understanding that energy cannot be created or destroyed:

You have just dashed into Otto’s Auto Shop to purchase a new battery for your

car when you overhear a man in the store talking about an experience he once

had with a battery. The man tells his buddy that he once purchased a new

battery for his car, but it went dead before he could install it because he left it

sitting on the concrete floor of his garage. You are concerned because it will be a

week or so before you will be able to install the new battery in your own car, so

you decide to ask Otto about this when you pay for the battery. Unfortunately,

Otto is not in the best of moods this afternoon, and he only growls to you that

with today’s batteries you don’t have to worry about that happening anymore.

As you leave the store, you become more curious about the whole idea of a concrete

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floor causing a new battery to lose its charge. You decide to inquire a little

further into the matter.

Based on your understanding that energy can never be created or destroyed, how

might you explain the fact that a battery lost its charge just by sitting on a

garage floor? Conduct some research, if necessary, to familiarize yourself with

how batteries work. Review any theories or rules we have learned that might

explain how this could happen. Then come up with your explanation, and make

a prediction based on that explanation. Design and conduct an experiment to

test your prediction. Confirm or revise your prediction based on the results of

your experiment, and be prepared to report your findings to the class.

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Investigation

We all have read or listened to stories in the media that are the product of

investigative reporting. This type of reporting requires digging deeper into a

story when the available information contains contradictions, inconsistencies,

or other indications that the entire truth has not been exposed. When

reporters are engaged in an investigation in an attempt, for example, to

explain an event, they first look for as much information as possible from as

many different resources as possible. They then construct a sequence of

events that seems the most accurate. This process of investigation, as

demanding as it sounds, is the same process used by parents to try to find

out why a conflict erupted between their children when they were out of the

room or by a teenager struggling to define the concept of friend. The goal of

investigation—whether conducted by a trained reporter or by an untrained

individual—is to gather and use information to clear up inconsistencies and

confusions or to uncover or generate information that is missing or otherwise

unknown.

Just as the investigative reporter’s job is different from that of the news

reporter, requiring students to engage in investigation provides a different

challenge than asking them to simply gather information for an independent

study. One major difference is the selection of the topic. When engaged in

investigation, students are focused on topics not because they are confused

about them but because there are confusions and contradictions in the

available information related to that topic. A second major difference is that

students cannot simply go to a resource and find the answer. They must use

resources to construct a resolution to a confusion or contradiction. For

example, a student might decide to do an independent study to understand

the customs in the country of Iraq; this would not qualify as an

investigation. However, if during that study he realized that there was

confusion about the definition of the concept of the Third World, then

investigation would be needed. He would need to use the appropriate

resources to construct such a definition.

At first it may seem that there are limited opportunities to engage students

in investigation. However, when this process is more regularly used in the

classroom, teachers and students begin to notice topics that have confusions

and contradictions that they might have missed before they were familiar

with the process. They will be even more likely to recognize the uses of the

Investigation is the process of identifying and resolving issues about which

there are confusions or contradictions. Stated more simply, it is the process of

suggesting and defending ways to clear up confusions about ideas or events.

For more on investigation:

Applebee (1981) Writing in

the Secondary School

Applebee (1984a) Contexts

for Learning to Write

Applebee (1984b) “Writing

and Reasoning”

Kentucky Institute for

Education Research (1995)

An Independent Evaluation of

the Kentucky Instructional

Results Information System

(KIRIS): Executive Summary

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The entertaining book

Legends, Lies, & Cherished

Myths of American History

(Shenkman, 1988) is one

man’s attempt at

investigating numerous

historical events about

which there are confusions

and disagreements.

process if they understand all three types of investigation: definitional

investigation, historical investigation, and projective investigation. These types of

investigation can be defined in the following way:

A limitation of investigation is that even when the investigation has been

skillfully completed, the constructed definition or scenario may or may not

be accurate. The usefulness of the product of investigation will depend on

the ability of the investigator to use the process. The following sections offer

suggestions and recommendations for helping students to gain this ability.

1. Help students understand the process of investigation.

To help students understand each type of investigation, provide examples of

the three types of investigation and the types of questions that the

investigator in each example is trying to answer.

Try focusing your discussion of definitional investigation on the Supreme

Court’s attempts to define the boundaries of free speech by examining, for

example, the question of whether burning the American flag in protest of

government policy falls within these boundaries. Explain that during

definitional investigation, the focusing questions are “What are the

important features of. . . ?” or “What are the defining characteristics of. . . ?”

Definitional Investigation

Historical Investigation

Projective Investigation

Constructing a precise definition of a

concept for which there is no

generally agreed-upon definition; for

example, defining civil disobedience.

Constructing a scenario for an event

or situation from the past for which

there is no agreed-upon explanation

or sequence of events; for example,

determining Columbus’s route to the

New World.

Constructing a scenario for a future

event or for a hypothetical past

event; for example, predicting what

would have happened if Mahatma

Gandhi or President Lincoln had not

been assassinated or what might

happen if genetic engineering

continues on its present course.

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Explain that historical investigation is motivated by questions like “What

really happened?” or “Why did this happen?” You might describe, for

instance, people’s efforts to find out exactly who was involved in the

assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and how the

assassination was planned. Point out that the movie JFK was the result of

Oliver Stone’s attempt at investigation but that others have constructed very

different scenarios as a result of their investigations. Emphasize that

examining past events to find out what happened or why something

happened will result in only one possible scenario based on information used

by the investigator.

Finally, help students understand projective investigation by explaining that the

movie It’s a Wonderful Life is an example of someone constructing a scenario

for a hypothetical past event and that the book 1984 was George Orwell’s

prediction of the future. Both types of projective investigation—describing a

hypothetical past event and predicting a future event—are trying to answer

the questions, “What would have happened if. . . ?” or “What would happen

if. . . ?” Provide examples of and ask students to suggest topics for projective

investigation. For example, the controversy over the greenhouse effect and

the resulting global warming is a good example of a possible future scenario

about which people disagree. Explain that some scientists say that global

warming will never happen, others say it will surely happen, and still others

say it is already happening.

Ask students to generate other possible topics for investigation by using the

questions associated with each type. Throughout the year, look for issues and

topics that lend themselves to investigation and encourage students to do

the same.

To recap, the following questions are associated with the different types of

investigation:

Definitional Investigation

What are the important features of. . . ?

What are the defining characteristics of. . . ?

Historical Investigation

What really happened?

Why did this happen?

Projective Investigation

What would happen if. . . ?

What would have happened if. . . ?

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2. Give students a model for the process of investigation, and

create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of investigation.

Although different in intent, the three types of investigation all

follow the same basic process:

The process might be stated in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

Before engaging students in using the steps of investigation, walk

them through the steps using a clear example of one of the types of

investigation. Let’s say you have decided to model the process of

projective investigation using the issue of the possible effect of the

decaying ozone layer. Your modeling might include the following:

My first step is to clearly identify the hypothetical event I wish to investigate.

My issue is the decaying ozone layer. My specific question is, “What will

happen over the next ten years if the ozone layer continues to decay at its

present rate?”

The next step is to identify what is already known about the topic. I have

here articles and newspaper clippings that I have collected about the decay of

the ozone layer. (Provide these for students to review.) Determining what

1. What event or idea do I want to explain?

2. What do people already know?

3. What confusions do people have about the idea or event?

4. What suggestions do I have for clearing up these confusions?

5. How can I defend my suggestions?

1. Clearly identify

• the concept to be defined (Definitional Investigation), or

• the past event to be explained (Historical Investigation), or

• the hypothetical event to be defined or explained

(Projective Investigation).

2. Identify what is already known or agreed upon.

3. Identify and explain the confusion or contradiction.

4. Develop and defend a plausible resolution to the confusion or

contradiction.

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is already known is going to challenge my ability to access and use

information. Specifically, this process will challenge my ability to know

• how and when to use primary sources,

• how to separate opinions from facts in the sources being used,

• how to cite the sources I am using, and

• how to use media centers to locate a variety of sources.

(Give students time to review the articles and newspaper clippings.)

Now I want you (students) to help me list the important information on the

board and identify any confusions, contradictions, or opposing theories that

seem to be part of what is currently known about the ozone layer. (Emphasize

that identifying these confusions, contradictions, and opposing

theories is basic to the process of each type of investigation.)

Finally, I am ready to begin clearing up the confusions, contradictions, or

differences in theories. This is the difficult step. I must go back over the

information I have collected, use everything I know about the issue, perhaps

talk to other people and get some ideas, then carefully construct the most

plausible scenario. (You might want to give individual students or

small groups time to construct their own scenarios. It is important

for them to understand that when investigating a topic, different

people using exactly the same information can construct very

different scenarios. Investigation results in one solution to the

confusions or contradictions, not the solution.)

After appropriately modeling the process, ask students to first practice the

steps with content they are comfortable with or with everyday real or

hypothetical situations or concepts. For example, students might use one of

the following questions to begin practicing the steps:

• What is tattling?

• What happened on the playground yesterday?

• What will happen if school uniforms are required?

As students become more comfortable with the process, have them begin to

apply the process to more complex academic content.

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“Whenever students are

working on research reports,

I remind them to attend to

confusions or disagreements

within and among sources.”

—A middle school

teacher in Wyoming

3. As students study and use the process of investigation, help

them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the

process.

As students begin to use investigation, it may be helpful for you to provide

some additional modeling and specific feedback as they use the process with

increasingly complex content. As you are planning for instruction, you

might keep the following key points in mind.

Key Points

1) Topics for investigation are sometimes difficult to identify. Although

topics for more typical research reports may include anything the

student chooses to study independently or any topic important to the

content, topics for investigation are identified only when it is discovered

that there are confusions and contradictions within the literature and

when it is determined that it would be beneficial to clear up these

confusions or contradictions. One problem is that you and the students

may, at first, not even be aware that there are confusions and

contradictions related to concepts or events that you are studying. And,

even when possible topics for investigation surface when information is

being studied, they may be missed because students are not accustomed

to looking for confusions and contradictions among sources of

information. In fact, they may ignore confusions and contradictions they

do notice because their goal is so often to simply take in the information.

Even with these difficulties, there are some things that can be done to

begin identifying topics appropriate for investigation.

In order to help students become more accustomed to looking for topics

that could benefit from investigation, introduce the process to students

with an initial goal of helping them understand the three types of

investigation (definitional, historical, and projective). Then, in order to

increase their understanding of each of these types of investigation, begin

a class list of

• concepts that seem to have no agreed-upon definition,

• historical events about which there are confusions or

contradictions, and

• hypothetical past events or future scenarios that might be

constructed.

Generating this list will accomplish two things. First, it trains students,

and you, to look for and notice topics that need investigation. Second, it

can be used later as a resource for ideas for investigation assignments.

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Once you and your students are more accustomed to looking for these

topics, you may be surprised at how often the process of investigation is

needed.

2) When students are engaged in an independent study that requires

simply gathering information about a topic, they are commonly required

to use a number of sources for their information. However, in an

independent study requiring investigation, the number of sources is not

as important; the challenge is to find the specific sources that help the

student perform steps 2 and 3 of the process, that is, to identify what is

agreed upon or already known about a topic and then to define the

confusions or contradictions. These steps often require the students to

access and use a wide variety of sources including information taken

from primary sources, from interviews, and from hard-to-find documents

tracked down through the use of technology.

Because investigation demands such extensive use of a wide variety of

sources, you may need to help students learn how to access and use

sources. Younger students and students who are just beginning to

engage in investigation may need to begin by investigating topics for

which the necessary sources of information are readily available in the

classroom. Their focus is then on using the sources appropriately. As

students become more comfortable with the process and more proficient

at finding and accessing sources, you can expect them to take increasing

responsibility for the investigation. Keep in mind that whether you are

providing resources or having students access their own, you may need to

do careful planning with the media specialists in your building so that

they understand the purpose of investigation and are aware of the kinds

of sources that may need to be available.

3) Many students will perceive the final step of the investigation process—

offering a plausible resolution to the confusion or contradiction—as the

most creative and stimulating part of the task. It is exciting when

students become engaged in crafting and defending their resolution, that

is, when they are taking ownership of the task rather than simply

completing an assignment for a grade. Encourage and reinforce this

ownership by looking for opportunities for students to share their ideas.

For example, encourage students to submit their products for

publication, to present their ideas to experts in the field, or to add their

work to the materials you regularly use in the classroom with all

students.

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4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of investigation.

Students could use a graphic organizer like that depicted in Figure 4.5 while

engaged in any of the three types of investigation. You might also encourage

students to develop their own graphic organizers.

FIGURE 4.5

RAPHIC ORGANIZER FOR INVESTIGATION

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

Once students understand the general process of investigation, they can

begin to practice it. Tightly structured tasks will help them become

comfortable with the process. When developing such teacher-structured

investigation tasks, you might follow some or all of the following guidelines:

• Clearly identify the concept (definitional investigation), past event

(historical investigation), or hypothetical event (projective

investigation) to be explained.

• Clearly identify the sources you want students to use, and make these

available to them. Encourage students to search for and use other

sources as well.

• Specify the issues (confusions, contradictions, and opposing theories)

you want students to address, but encourage them to look for others

as they engage in the investigation.

Known or Agreed Upon:

••

Confusions or Contradictions:

Resolution:

Concept/Scenario:

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• Ask students to generate their own resolution for the issues and to be

ready to explain what they learned. When appropriate, hold students

accountable for demonstrating their understanding of specific

content knowledge.

To illustrate, let’s say you are creating a teacher-structured definitional

investigation task for the concept of democracy. You might specify that you

want students to use the writings of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin,

and Samuel Adams. You might even identify specific works written by these

men that you want students to consult. Next, you should identify the

specific issue you want students to address: whether the primary focus of a

democracy should be the rights and freedoms of the individual or the

common good of the people. Students should then develop and defend their

positions on this issue using the sources you have identified and others that

they consider important.

Students eventually should create their own investigation tasks, as

appropriate. As you are planning for shifting this responsibility to the

students, you may want to follow some or all of the following guidelines:

• Suggest a general topic or issue that students might like to

investigate, but encourage them to find their own topics.

• As students begin to search for various resources, monitor their work

and provide guidance when it will contribute to their knowledge and

to their efficient use of time.

• As students identify what is known about the topic and describe the

contradictions and confusions, check for misconceptions and provide

appropriate feedback.

• Monitor students as they generate their resolutions to the issues. When

necessary, push them to generate thoughtful and creative solutions.

• As students prepare to share work, whether in writing or orally,

make sure they understand the expectations for presenting and

defending their resolution.

To illustrate using these guidelines, if you were to use the concept of

democracy to help students structure their own definitional investigation task,

you would simply offer the concept as an illustration of a topic about which

there are still confusions. You might then ask the class to identify related

concepts that need clarification, for example, liberal and conservative. Students

might select one of these concepts or identify another concept they would

like to investigate. Your job from this point on would be to monitor and

provide appropriate feedback to ensure that the process is increasing

students’ understanding of relevant social studies concepts.

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Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 4 in your classroom.

Definitional Investigation

Students in Mrs. Watson’s high school language arts class were complaining about the

list of books on the class syllabus. Mrs. Watson justified the titles by explaining that

the goal was for students to study the classics in literature. One student challenged her

further, “What is a classic, anyway?” Fortunately the bell rang signaling the end of

class. Mrs. Watson spent the afternoon talking to colleagues, some of whom were

college professors, to identify the characteristics of a classic. To her surprise, there was

no general agreement.

The next day, Mrs. Watson confessed to students that it seemed there was no agreed-

upon definition. Some people she talked to emphasized that the literature must be old.

But how old? Some said it must be of high quality, but could not define what that

meant. Mrs. Watson challenged students to remedy this obvious contradiction by

working throughout the year to craft a definition of a classic in literature. She

promised to submit all the definitions to a literary magazine that she respected and to

ask the magazine to solicit reactions to the definitions from their readers. She also

promised that she would use the class definitions to review and, if necessary, to modify

her syllabus for future years. The students accepted her challenge.

• • •

At the beginning of a unit on microbes, Ms. Abraham gave her students the following

task to work on periodically throughout the unit:

Are viruses living things? Some people say “yes,” and some say “no.” Some say

they are a highly complex piece of inorganic matter. Some say that they are the

simplest type of organic matter. Offer a resolution to this disagreement.

Historical Investigation

In an eighth-grade unit on exploration and invention in America, Ms. Lindquist

decided to digress from her usual approach. She wanted her students to become

familiar with specific individuals from history, but she also wanted them to begin to

understand that exploration and invention are ongoing processes that involve many

people. “It is rare that one day a person suddenly experiences ‘Eureka! I’ve done it!’,”

she told them. As a history buff, Ms. Lindquist had many documents, articles, and

books about historical discoveries and inventions. She had always been fascinated by

the fact that there were so many disagreements about the specific events surrounding

these discoveries and inventions and even about who made the discoveries or created the

inventions. She designed a task in which students would break into groups, then select

a topic from her list (or a topic of their choosing) and use the resources she would

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supply (or any others they could find) to engage in historical investigation. She

wanted them to focus more on why there are disagreements and misconceptions than on

crafting the perfect resolution. She asked students to pretend that they were producing

a movie that would explain the reasons for the disagreements or misconceptions about

the topic and offer a resolution (much like Oliver Stone did in the movie JFK). Her

list of topics included the following:

• Did Columbus discover America?

• Did Vasco Núñez de Balboa discover the Pacific Ocean?

• Did Admiral Peary discover the North Pole?

• Did Eli Whitney invent the cotton gin?

• Did George Pullman invent the sleeper car?

• Did Henry Ford invent the assembly line?

Students became more involved in their projects than they had been with previous

assignments that had asked them simply to write a report about an inventor.

• • •

In Mrs. Martino’s advanced placement literature class, students were discussing the

idea that many authors write great things because they have lives or personal

characteristics that are interesting, even bizarre. Their own lives, the students mused,

seemed so everyday, so mundane. How could they ever write great works? Mrs.

Martino, explained that many legends about these authors have been generated over

the years, after—and perhaps because—their works became famous. In fact, if the

students were to do a little digging, she told them, they might find that people

disagree about many of the facts surrounding the lives of these authors. For example,

there is general disagreement about the extent to which Henry David Thoreau was

actually a recluse, about whether Edgar Allan Poe was mentally unstable, and

whether Shakespeare engaged in rampant plagiarism. Mrs. Martino created a task

for students to work on sometime during the year. Students were to select an author,

identify points of disagreement or misconception, and then try to clear these up. She

was confident that students would discover that the lives of many authors were not so

unique and that they simply drew on everyday, mundane events to craft great works.

Projective Investigation

Students in Mr. Achbach’s high school economics class were learning how the

progressive tax system in the United States works. In particular, they were studying

how taxation, spending, and assistance programs affect people and businesses. Students

were calculating federal, state, property, and FICA tax liabilities for hypothetical

individuals and businesses. Students discovered that progressive taxes take a larger

proportion of income or wealth from higher income families and individuals. The class

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discussed the pros and cons of the progressive tax system. As a way to stimulate their

thinking, Mr. Achbach proposed a task in which students would investigate an

alternative to the current tax system.

Some politicians claim that a flat tax of 17% will raise nearly as much money

as the current tax system and provide the American people with a modest tax

cut. Opponents of the flat tax claim that it will create high inflation, devalue

homes, and cause people to lose their jobs. Identify what is already known about

the flat tax and explain the confusions or contradictions generated by the debate

(e.g., it protects the country from a higher deficit, spurs productive investment

and economic growth, and raises unemployment). What do you think would

happen if the United States adopted a flat tax system? In essay form, develop a

plausible description of what you think might happen and defend this with

logical arguments and mathematical calculations.

• • •

Mr. Ballard wanted to more thoroughly assess how much his high school advanced

geography students really understood about how a country’s future might be impacted

by patterns of consumption, production, and population growth. Although he had

spent a great deal of time helping students develop a knowledge base about the concepts

of growth and change, his assessments had only evaluated whether students had

memorized facts and information and not whether they could apply information in a

meaningful context. Mr. Ballard constructed the following task which demanded

much more of students and gave him a more accurate picture of their understanding.

Latin American countries currently are experiencing rapid population growth.

Statistics suggest that some of these countries will double their current

populations within 20-30 years. It is likely that this population growth will

have a severe impact on employment, education, housing, poverty, and land use

within these countries.

To investigate the possible future effects of this enormous population growth,

Latin American countries have established a special investigative committee. As

a member of this committee, you have been asked to select a specific Latin

American country and identify what is already known about the current

problems it faces related to rapid population growth. Identify any questions or

confusions regarding how these current problems may relate to future population

growth problems in this country. Based on the information you have gathered,

project how this country might be affected by a population twice its current size.

Construct a scenario of the future in which you clearly describe the effects of

overpopulation on the country. Be prepared to support your scenario with evidence

from your research.

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Systems Analysis

One of the most powerful types of thinking we can engage in is systems

analysis. As the name implies, when we engage in this type of thinking we

are analyzing the parts of a system and the manner in which they interact.

Although this seems straightforward, it is not. One of the hardest things to

do is identify systems. This is because they are frequently so transparent that

we do not recognize them even though they are all around us. For example, a

school district can be viewed as a system that has interacting parts: the

students, the school board, the teachers in the district, the administrators,

and so on. A family can be viewed as a system. An engine can be viewed as a

system. A fish tank can be viewed as a system. The human body can be

viewed as a system. In short, the world around us can be viewed as multiple

layers of systems interacting with one another.

Although there are certainly many different types of systems, they all appear

to have some similar traits. For example, all systems have parts that might

be made up of individual units or groups of units. A school when viewed as

a system has parts. Some of those parts are composed of groups of

individuals. To illustrate, one working part of a school is the teachers taken

as a group. Parents as a group can be considered another part of the school,

as can the students. Some of the parts of the school are made up of

individual units. To illustrate, one part of a school might be the school

secretary. The school principal might be considered another part composed

of an individual. Each part receives something from and/or gives something

to the other parts. Commonly the “something” that is given or received

involves information. For example, the principal provides information to the

school secretary and receives information from the school secretary. The

parents receive information from the school secretary, the students, and

teachers; the students receive information from the teachers and give

information to the teachers, and so on. All systems are affected when one of

the working parts is impacted. For example, if the teachers stop giving

information to the principal, everyone else in the system is affected. In

summary, although there are many different types of systems that make up

the world around us, all systems seem to have similar characteristics and

behave in similar ways.

Because our world consists of many types of systems interacting in complex

ways, systems analysis is one of the most complex and important thinking

Systems analysis is the process of analyzing the parts of a system and the

manner in which they interact. Stated more simply, it is the process of describing

how the parts of a system work together.

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and reasoning processes of our time. It can be used to study the

interrelations of a group of family members planning a vacation or the

interactions of a set of countries involved in a dispute over oil.

1. Help students understand the process of systems analysis.

The first step in helping students understand the process of systems analysis

is to help them understand the concept of a system. In very basic terms, a

system is a collection of parts that interact with each other to function as a

whole. Specifically, students should have a basic understanding of the

following:

a. A system involves working parts that interact with one another.

b. What one part in a system does affects all the other parts.

c. The world around us is made up of many systems interacting with

one another.

The best way to demonstrate a and b is by simulation. Luckily, there are a

number of computer programs that do this quite effectively. For example,

Stella II, by High Performance Systems, Inc., is a powerful computer

simulation that can be used with virtually any type of system. If there is no

access to a computerized program, a teacher might be able to find a simple

example of a system in the classroom or the school. For example, the manner

in which air temperature is controlled in the classroom is a good example of a

system that can be demonstrated in the classroom. The parts of that system are

• the air temperature,

• a furnace,

• an air conditioning unit, and

• a thermostat.

The teacher might point out these parts and then demonstrate how changing

one part affects all the others. For example, decreasing the air temperature

by opening a window on a cold day makes the thermostat send a message to

the furnace, which then turns on and increases the air temperature until it

reaches the level specified by the thermostat.

Another way to help students understand the concept of a system is to

design a simulation that actively involves students. For example, a simple

assembly line is a good illustration of a system. Students can be organized

into small groups, each of which has a specific role to play in putting

together a particular object, a gingerbread house, for example. Each group

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might be responsible for constructing a certain aspect of the object (e.g., the

roof) and passing that part on to another group. While students are in the

groups constructing their particular part of the object, the teacher might

change the task of a group by instructing them to add something to what

they are making (e.g., she might ask students to add a porch on to the front

of the house) or to use different materials. This, in turn, will alter the job of

other groups. The change in the system should be introduced only after the

groups have started to work effectively as a group so that the effects on the

system when one group changes what it is doing are pronounced. After the

simulation, students can describe and discuss what they noticed.

Once students have a general idea about the nature of systems, you can guide

them in identifying some of the systems that they encounter in their daily

lives. The more systems that are identified, the stronger will be the message

that the world around us is made up of many systems that interact with one

another. Systems that students might identify include

• their families,

• their sports leagues, and

• ecosystems.

2. Give students a model for the process of systems analysis, and

create opportunities for them to practice using the process.

a. Give students a model for the process of systems analysis.

Once students have a basic understanding of the nature and function

of systems, you can guide them in constructing a model for systems

analysis. The first step in helping students construct a model for this

process is to describe systems analysis as the process of identifying

and describing a system. It is also useful to explain that this type of

thinking can be quite complex and challenging. There have been

many attempts to describe the steps involved in systems analysis.

Some of those attempts can be found in the following works:

Systems One: An Introduction to Systems Thinking (1980), by Draper L.

Kauffman, Jr.

Stella II: An Introduction to Systems Thinking (1992), by High

Performance Systems, Inc.

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Here we use a very simple model. (Readers should consult other sources,

such as those above, for more complex versions of systems analysis.) The

steps of systems analysis might be stated as follows:

This process might be stated in simpler terms for young students:

b. Create opportunities for students to practice using the process.

You might present these steps directly to students or guide them in

discovering the steps. In either case, you should present a strong, verbal

model of the process as you go through the steps. For example, you

might use school as an example of a system. You would then answer the

question, “What are the parts of this system?” As you answer the

question, you would also comment on your thinking, explaining how

you arrived at your conclusions. Demonstrate each step of the process in

this think-aloud fashion. Your explanations might include the following:

Let’s see. What’s a system we’re familiar with? I know. Our school is a system.

What are the parts of the system? (Ask students to help with this step and

with the other steps as well.) There are the parents, the principal, the teachers,

the students, and the support staff (that is, the custodians, the office personnel, etc.).

What are the boundaries of the system—our school? That’s kind of hard. It

could be our attendance area, but we have students and parents from outside our

attendance area so maybe it’s the whole district.

How do the parts affect one another? (Give students an opportunity to give

their ideas.) If the principal announces that school is closing early, every part of

the system would be affected, wouldn’t it? The students would go home early; the

1. What are the parts of the system?

2. What are things that are related to the system but are not

part of it?

3. How do the parts affect each other?

4. What would happen if various parts stopped or changed

their behavior?

1. Identify the parts of the system.

2. Describe the boundaries of the system.

3. Describe how parts affect each other.

4. Identify various parts of the system and for each explain what

would happen if this part changed or stopped working.

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“I know right now it is

popular in the corporate

world to talk about ‘systems

thinking.’ This process

made that whole idea much

more real to me. I can’t

teach ‘systems thinking,’

but I can teach the process

of systems analysis.”

—A teacher in Michigan

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parents would have to make arrangements to be home for the students or set up

child care; and the support staff would go home early too. The parents affect the

principal, the teachers, and the students; if they like what’s happening in the

school, they give their support. If they don’t like something that’s happening, they

may go to the school board or to the newspaper to get that something to change.

What would happen if one part of the system stopped or changed its behavior?

(Again, ask for students’ ideas.) Let’s see. If the principal went to a workshop

on cooperative learning and liked it and started teaching the teachers how to use

it in the classroom, we would probably have lots of cooperative learning lessons in

classrooms, which would affect the teachers, students, and parents. If the support

staff stopped coming to work, that would affect all parts of the system because all

of us depend on their work to get our jobs done.

Once students are familiar with systems and the steps in the systems

analysis process, give them several opportunities to identify systems and

then, in groups and individually, have them analyze those systems. Begin

with familiar, simple systems, and work toward more complex systems

that relate to classroom content.

3. As students study and use the process of systems analysis,

help them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the

process.

As students use the systems analysis process, they should gradually be

increasing their understanding of and ability to use the process. The

following key points describe some of the challenges and important points to

keep in mind while you are guiding students through learning the process.

Key Points

1) Because systems analysis is a very complex reasoning process, all of the

steps can be challenging. Identifying the parts of a system can be

difficult because one working part might consist of a number of

elements. Identifying the boundaries of a system might be difficult

because it is hard to precisely determine all of the working parts of the

system. In general, however, the most critical step in systems analysis is

the third: determining which parts affect each other and how they affect

each other. This is the core of systems analysis.

Determining which parts affect each other and how is a difficult step

because there are many different ways in which one part might affect

another. One part of a system might provide a resource needed by another

part; for example, a unit on an automobile assembly line provides a

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component that is used by another unit to complete its job. One part of a

system might provide physical energy to another part; for example, a girl

on a bicycle (which together represent a system) provides energy to the

peddle. One part of a system might provide information to another part

of the system; for example, the principal in a school provides information

about schedules to the other members of the school.

2) Another critical aspect of the third step in systems analysis is

determining the exact nature of the relationship. Is it always the case

that the more resources, energy, or information that one part provides to

another, the better? For example, is it always the case that the more

information the principal provides to the teachers, the secretaries, and so

on, the better? Is it always the case that the more energy the girl

provides to the peddle, the better? Technically, this aspect of step three is

called identifying the functional relationship between one part of a system

and another. There are many types of functional relationships. As the

flow of resources, information, or energy increases, so might the

productivity of the part of the system to which it is flowing. However, it

might also be the case that flow of resources, information, or energy

increases the productivity of the receiving part up to a certain point.

After that point, the receiving part may become less efficient or even

break down. Some teachers find it highly useful to use graphs during

this stage of the systems analysis process to study the nature of such

functional relationships. Again, a powerful and highly recommended

tool to this end is a computer simulation like the Stella II program.

4. Provide students with graphic organizers or representations to

help them understand and use the process of systems analysis.

Graphic organizers and representations are excellent ways to help students

understand the concept of a system and the process of systems analysis. The

basic convention used when illustrating a system is an arrow depicting the

flow of information or resources from one part of a system to another.

Obviously, the more parts that a system has and the more complex the flow

of information or resources, the more intricate the diagram. Figure 4.6 shows

two possible graphic representations of the concept of a system.

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FIGURE 4.6

RAPHIC REPRESENTATIONS OF A SYSTEM

A graphic organizer for a system focuses on the identification of the parts

and the manner in which they interact. The emphasis, when considering the

process of systems analysis, should be on ensuring that no steps have been

left out of the process. If the steps are followed, a student quite naturally

will attend to the various parts of a system and how those parts interact.

5. Use teacher-structured and student-structured tasks.

When students are just beginning to use the systems analysis process and

whenever you have a very specific academic goal in mind, you might give

students highly structured tasks. A teacher-structured task presents students

with information about the parts of the system and how the component

parts affect one another. Students then determine what would happen if

specific parts stopped or changed their behavior. When the analysis is

completed, students are asked to summarize what they learned. For example,

during a unit on the human body, students would study the different

systems that make up the larger system of the human body. Students might

then be asked to explain how a breakdown in the circulatory system might

affect the nervous system, the reproductive system, the skeletal system, and

so on. This process would be structured for students to make sure that they

meaningfully use their knowledge of the systems of the human body.

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When students have become adept at using the process of systems analysis,

have them structure their own tasks. You might ask them to identify the

component parts of the circulatory system. Students should then work

independently or in groups to identify how the parts affect one another and

what might happen if one part, for example the heart, stopped functioning

or started working differently. Even though students are working more

independently, you might still need to monitor their work to make sure they

are rigorously engaged in analysis tasks that will enhance their learning of

important content knowledge.

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples are offered to stimulate reflection on how

to apply the ideas covered in this section of Dimension 4 in your classroom.

Students in Mr. Hash’s second-grade language arts class were working on general

skills and strategies for reading literature. Specifically, students were studying the

interactions among setting, plot, and character in texts. In addition, Mr. Hash had

also been helping students understand systems and how parts of a systems influence

each other. It occurred to him that elements of literature are also a system. He designed

the following task to emphasize the systemic nature of the elements.

Plot, setting, and characters form a system:

Also, each element is a system. Let’s see how the characters in a story, together,

are a system. The characters in Cinderella, for example, have feelings about each

other, which might be represented as shown below:

loved

hated

feared

hated

didn’t care about

admired

didn’t care about

admired

Cinderella

Stepmother

Stepsisters

Prince

plot

character setting

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What might happen if you change these feelings? Try it. Change one or two of

the feelings (e.g., the stepsisters love Cinderella, or Cinderella doesn’t like the

Prince). What other relationships would be changed? Now, look back at the

system of plot, setting, and characters. If the characters’ feelings for each other

changed, how would the plot and setting be influenced? Now, get a partner and

choose a different story. Change something in the system of relationships among

the characters, and explain how the plot and the setting might be affected.

• • •

Mrs. Anzaldúa created a science task for her fifth-grade students to help them

meaningfully use their knowledge of ecosystems. Students had been learning how species

depend on one another and on the environment for survival and how variations in

resources, climate, and organisms affect an entire ecosystem. The task, which served as

the culmination of her unit on ecosystems, focused on analyzing the parts of a specific

ecosystem and the ways in which these parts interact. The task had two parts. The

first section was done by students individually.

The most obvious parts of an ecosystem are an oak tree, a squirrel, a brown bear

and her cub, a family of field mice, a barn owl, a coyote, a black snake, a grove

of rhododendron, and a large patch of wild raspberries. Identify other features

that may be a part of this ecosystem. Explain how these features are interrelated

with the obvious parts.

Mrs. Anzaldúa then split the class into groups to work cooperatively on the remainder

of the task:

What will happen within your ecosystem if various parts change their behavior

(e.g., what if the brown bear becomes a vegetarian, if rain does not fall for a

month, or if, instead of eating mice, the snake eats only raspberries)?

• • •

Ms. Switzer’s tenth-grade civics students were studying the protection of individual

rights within the American judicial system. To provide an opportunity for students to

apply their knowledge of the jury system, she constructed a task in which students

analyzed the system of a trial.

As students began the process of systems analysis, they found that identifying the parts

of the system of “a trial” was difficult because of the many different elements involved.

They decided to limit their analysis to the interactions among the human parts of the

system (e.g., the judge, the jury, the defense team, and the prosecutor). Determining

which parts affect each other and the ways in which they affect each other enhanced

their understanding of the relationships. For example, as they identified the functional

relationship between a defense lawyer and the defendant, they discovered that a greater

flow of information from the client to the lawyer is not always productive. In addition,

students examined how changes in the functions or roles of various people might affect

the system (e.g., if only 9 out of 12 jurors were required to find a defendant guilty in

a criminal trial, or if a defendant is presumed guilty rather than innocent).

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Unit Planning: Dimension 4

Planning for Dimension 4 requires asking and answering the following

overarching question:

What will be done to help students use knowledge meaningfully?

What follows is a step-by-step process that will guide you in answering this

question. Each step asks you to answer a key question or provide specific

information. There is a place on the planning guide (see page 259) in which

to record the responses to the planning questions and a description of the

task that is constructed for the unit. A sample planning guide has been filled

out for a hypothetical social studies unit about Colorado. (This unit topic

was chosen because, with some changes, it could be used for a unit about any

state or region and at many developmental levels. You will find the entire

unit in Chapter 6, “Putting It All Together.”)

Although this process is presented in a step-by-step sequence, the reality is

that the person planning a task for Dimension 4 may not begin with Step 1

(see below), but instead begin with an idea for the context or purpose of the

task or with the goal of using a particular reasoning process. The sequence of

steps presented here, however, works for many situations. The first two steps

emphasize the importance of focusing the task on the knowledge that is

being used and on the reasoning process that is being applied in the task.

Step 1

The knowledge that students will be using might be declarative or

procedural. If students are to demonstrate their understanding of declarative

knowledge, identify the important generalizations, principles, or concepts

they will use in the task, and, when appropriate, describe the types of

specific information they might need. If students are to demonstrate their

ability to use procedural knowledge, clearly identify the skill or process that

they will be using in the task. Because tasks that are designed to encourage

the meaningful use of knowledge are often the focus of the unit and because

completing the task often takes a relatively large amount of time, careful

consideration should be given to ensure that the knowledge students are

asked to use is knowledge that is worth the time and attention.

What knowledge will students be using meaningfully?

Specifically, students will be demonstrating their understanding of

or ability to. . . .

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Step 2

If students are using declarative content knowledge, identify a reasoning

process to provide the context and purpose for the task and to ensure that

students will be using the knowledge thoughtfully. Notice that this is the

second step of constructing the task; this emphasizes the importance of

planning how students will be thinking during the task before planning

what product they will be handing in.

If students are using procedural knowledge, the reasoning process they are

using may be embedded in the skill or process itself, for example,

representing data with a mathematical equation. When constructing tasks

that use only procedural content knowledge, it might not be necessary to

identify any other type of reasoning; students are already applying the

knowledge thoughtfully. However, it is worth considering the reasoning

processes included within Dimension 4 as a way of enriching the task or

providing a meaningful context or purpose for using the skill or process.

What reasoning process will students be using?

❏ Decision Making

(selecting from seemingly equal alternatives or examining the decisions

of others)

❏ Problem Solving

(seeking to achieve a goal by overcoming constraints or limiting

conditions

❏ Invention

(creating something to meet a need or improve on a situation)

❏ Experimental Inquiry

(generating an explanation for a phenomenon and testing the

explanation)

❏ Investigation

(resolving confusions or contradictions related to the defining

characteristics of something, a historical event, or a hypothetical past or

future event)

❏ Systems Analysis

(analyzing the parts of a system and how they interact)

❏ Other _______________

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As you decide which reasoning process will focus the task, the following

questions might help you to consider each process identified here:

Decision Making

• Is there an unresolved decision important to the unit?

• Is there an unresolved issue about who or what is the best or worst?

• Is there an unresolved issue about who or what has the most or least?

Problem Solving

• Is there a situation or process that has some major constraint or

limiting condition?

• Is there a situation or process that could be better understood if

constraints or limiting conditions were placed on it?

Invention

• Is there a situation that can and should be improved on?

• Is there something new that should be created?

Experimental Inquiry

• Is there an unexplained phenomenon (physical or psychological) for

which students could generate explanations that can be tested?

Investigation

• Is there an unresolved issue about the defining characteristics or

defining features of something? (Definitional)

• Is there an unresolved issue about how something occurred?

(Historical)

• Is there an unresolved issue about why something happened?

(Historical)

• Is there an unresolved issue about what would happen if . . . or what

would have happened if … (Projective)?

Systems Analysis

• Are there parts of a system or the interactions of the parts of a

system that could be analyzed?

• Is there something that could be examined in terms of how it

behaves or works within a system?

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Use Knowledge Meaningfully

✔ Unit Planning

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Step 3

As you construct the task, you need to consider the following questions:

• What specifically does the task require students to do? Make sure

that the task requires students to use the identified knowledge in

order to complete the task.

• What makes the task meaningful to the student?

• Does it have an authentic context or purpose?

• Is it intellectually stimulating and interesting?

• Does it allow for artistic expression?

• Does it allow for student choice?

• To what extent will students be working alone or in groups?

• What product will students turn in?

• How will the criteria for evaluation be communicated to the

students?

Describe what will be done.

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Use Knowledge Meaningfully

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Dimension 4 Planning Guide Unit: Colorado

What knowledge will students be

using meaningfully? Specifically,

they will be demonstrating their

understanding of and ability to. . .

What reasoning process

will they be using?

❏ Other __________________

Describe what will be done.

❏ Decision Making

(selecting from seemingly

equal alternatives or examining

the decisions of others)

❏ Problem Solving

(seeking to achieve a goal by

overcoming constraints or

limiting conditions)

❏ Invention

(creating something to meet a

need or improve on a situation)

❏ Experimental Inquiry

(generating an explanation

for a phenomenon and

testing the explanation)

❏ Investigation

(resolving confusions or

contradictions related to a

historical event, a hypothetical

past or future event, or to the

defining characteristics of

something)

❏ Systems Analysis

(analyzing the parts of a

system and how they interact)

The concepts of topography,

natural resources, climate, and

culture

Topography, natural resources,

and climate influence settlement

patterns.

We have discussed in class that Colorado’s population is growing

very rapidly. In fact, compared to many other states, a relatively

large number of people who live in Colorado moved from

somewhere else. There are actually not that many “Colorado

natives.” Why have so many people moved to Colorado, and why

is the population still growing so rapidly?

One explanation is that aspects of the topography, natural

resources, climate, and culture attract people to Colorado. Let’s

find out if that helps explain it. If it is true, we should be able

to trace people’s reasons for moving to Colorado to these

characteristics of the state.

Set up an activity—for example, surveys or interviews—that

would help to determine to what extent people have moved to

Colorado because of factors related to topography, natural

resources, climate, and culture. You will need to set up the

activity, plan for analyzing your results, and be ready to report

your findings to the class. Any member of your group may be

asked to explain what you found out about the influence of each

concept you are considering: topography, natural resources,

climate, and culture.

✓

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

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DIMENSION 5

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Habits of Mind

✔ Introduction

Dimension 5

“Mark Twain once said,

‘Nothing so needs

reforming as other people’s

habits.’ I remembered that

quote after I became so

excited about introducing

the habits of mind to my

students. I decided to slow

down and take the time to

determine whether I use the

habits myself before I tried

to teach them to my

students.”

— A middle school

teacher in Texas

Dimension 5

Habits of Mind

Introduction

Dimension 5, Habits of Mind, identifies productive mental habits that,

along with attitudes and perceptions, form the backdrop of the learning

process. Students benefit in two principal ways when they develop

productive mental habits. First, developing such habits of mind can enhance

students’ learning of academic content knowledge. When students

consistently demonstrate productive mental habits as they approach

academic assignments—when, for example, they consistently seek clarity and

accuracy—they learn more from those assignments. Second, productive

mental habits will serve students well in the future because these habits

should increase their abilities to learn in any situation. Although we cannot

predict exactly what knowledge students will need, we can predict with a

great deal of confidence that in almost every phase of their lives they will

need to continue learning. Productive mental habits help students to be

successful learners in whatever circumstances they encounter.

The dispositions identified in Dimension 5 are called habits because it is

important to increase the frequency with which students display them, just

as it is important to instill in students good study habits or listening habits.

However, the term habit can suggest exhibiting behavior so automatically

that it is almost unconscious. It is important to emphasize with students

that we want them to demonstrate their ability to use productive mental

habits consciously; more specifically, we want them to demonstrate that they

understand when and why the specific habits are needed.

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The habits of mind identified in the Dimensions of Learning model fall into

three general categories: critical thinking, creative thinking, and self-

regulated thinking.

If you have mental habits that exemplify critical thinking, you tend to

• Be accurate and seek accuracy

• Be clear and seek clarity

• Maintain an open mind

• Restrain impulsivity

• Take a position when the situation warrants it

• Respond appropriately to others’ feelings and level of knowledge

If you have mental habits that exemplify creative thinking, you tend to

• Persevere

• Push the limits of your knowledge and abilities

• Generate, trust, and maintain your own standards of evaluation

• Generate new ways of viewing a situation that are outside the

boundaries of standard conventions

If you have mental habits that exemplify self-regulated thinking, you tend to

• Monitor your own thinking

• Plan appropriately

• Identify and use necessary resources

• Respond appropriately to feedback

• Evaluate the effectiveness of your actions

This list of mental habits reflects the work of a number of educators.

However, it is not meant to be an exhaustive list or a list that is appropriate

for everyone. Users of the Dimensions of Learning model are encouraged to

change this list, if necessary, to make it most useful to them. Some districts,

schools, and classrooms have made additions, deletions, and modifications;

others have replaced the list entirely with their own list of habits of mind.

You may also want to encourage individual students to build their own

personal list of mental habits that they believe enhance their learning.

It is important to understand that the mental habits identified in Dimension

5 are part of the backdrop of the Dimensions of Learning model because they

influence the thinking processes identified in the other dimensions. For

Ennis (1985, 1987, 1989)

and Paul et al. (1986, 1989)

suggest that other mental

habits make our learning

more critical in nature.

A different set of mental

habits characterizes

creativity (Amabile, 1983;

Perkins, 1984, 1985).

Certain mental habits render

our thinking and actions

more self-regulated

according to Flavell (1976a,

1976b, 1977) and Brown

(1978, 1980).

Costa (1991a, 1991b)

Developing Minds

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Habits of Mind

✔ Introduction

Dimension 5

DIMENSION 5

example, as students try to establish positive attitudes and perceptions for

learning (Dimension 1), they may consider the resources available to make

the classroom a safe and orderly place. While acquiring and integrating

knowledge (Dimension 2), students should seek accuracy. While extending

and refining knowledge through induction (Dimension 3), students may

need to work on resisting impulsivity. Finally, a key to helping students

engage in tasks that require them to use knowledge meaningfully

(Dimension 4) is to reinforce appropriate habits of mind at the same time;

for example, you can help students to push the limits of their knowledge and

ability during problem solving. The habits of mind in Dimension 5, then,

provide a foundation that should increase students’ success while they are

using the processes identified in any of the dimensions.

We perhaps should explain how our treatment of critical and creative

thinking may differ from others’. Those familiar with the research and

theory on critical thinking are aware that skills and processes such as error

analysis and decision making are commonly considered to be aspects of

critical thinking. Similarly, creative thinking is commonly understood to

include skills and processes such as abstracting and invention. Why, then,

are they not included in Dimension 5? We recognize that what we call

habits of mind requires the use of various skills and mental processes, but we

have chosen to classify skills and processes in other parts of the model. We

consider analyzing errors and abstracting as ways to extend and refine

knowledge (Dimension 3). Decision making and invention are included in

Dimension 4. Although one cannot be a good critical thinker or creative

person without being able to do these things, knowing how is not enough.

Dimension 5 is concerned with one’s determination to be a critical thinker, a

creative thinker, and a self-regulated thinker. The commitment to live up to

high standards—to be concerned with the quality of one’s thinking—is what

finally distinguishes Dimension 5 from the other aspects of thinking.

There are many approaches that can help students develop and use

productive habits of mind in the classroom. These approaches include direct

teaching of the habits, modeling and expecting them in the classroom, and

reinforcing students who are exhibiting them. However, to assure the success

of any of these approaches, teachers and students need to understand the

specific mental habits they are trying to develop. This chapter, therefore,

includes classroom strategies and practices that teachers can use to help

students develop productive habits of mind, whether the habits are those

identified in the Dimensions of Learning model or habits identified by

students. In addition, you will find definitions, explanations, and examples

of each habit of mind to help you plan activities to address the habits of

mind identified in the Dimensions of Learning model.

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Habits of Mind

✔ Helping Students Develop

Productive Habits of Mind

Dimension 5

Helping Students Develop Productive

Habits of Mind

Many students will be positively influenced to develop productive habits of

mind when classroom teachers and parents model and reinforce good mental

habits. However, students may need more than modeling and

reinforcement; they may need the habits of mind to be defined, explained,

discussed, and rewarded. The following subsections include strategies and

activities that can be used by classroom teachers who are interested in

overtly and intentionally helping students develop productive habits of

mind.

1. Help students understand habits of mind.

The goal of the following suggested activities is to help students gain an

understanding of the habits of mind and how they affect learning.

Facilitate classroom discussion of each habit. Whether you are using the

list of habits identified in this model or a customized list, provide students

with the time to label, define, and talk about each habit so that they can

associate the habits with specific behavior. You might then ask students to

discuss the possible benefits of having a particular habit and the possible

consequences of lacking such a habit. For example, you might have students

brainstorm what they think it means to “generate, trust, and maintain your

own standards of evaluation.” As students begin to develop their

understanding of each habit, they should identify the specific behavior of

people who exemplify this habit. You might give them examples; for

instance, you might say that students who generate their own standards do

not constantly ask the teacher, “Is this OK? Is this done?”

Use examples from literature and current events of people who are using

the habits in different situations. Whenever you come across a character in

literature or a person in the news who exemplifies using a powerful mental

habit or who lacks an important habit, bring it to the students’ attention.

For example, you might use Romeo and Juliet or Peter Rabbit as examples

of those who lacked the ability to restrain impulsivity and, therefore,

suffered significant consequences. In addition to pointing out examples for

students, establish a culture that encourages them to recognize and share

examples that they encounter in television programs, movies, books, or

personal experiences.

“My mother said to me, ‘If

you become a soldier, you’ll

be a general; if you become

a monk, you’ll end up as

Pope.’ Instead, I became a

painter and wound up as

Picasso.”

—Pablo Picasso

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Share personal anecdotes that relate to a habit. When the situation warrants

it, share personal examples of when and why a particular habit was beneficial

or when and why the lack of one was problematic. For example, “By planning

my time, I saved time and money because I completed my advanced degree in

two years.” Conversely, “It cost me twice as much time and money to complete

my degree because I was unable to plan my time effectively.”

Notice and label student behavior that demonstrates a particular habit.

When you notice students displaying a particular habit, use it as an

opportunity to introduce the habit and acknowledge the behavior. Make sure

that students understand exactly what they did and why their behavior

exemplifies the habit of mind. For example, when a student engages

intensely in a task, acknowledge what she has done and ask her if she can

explain how she disciplined herself to work so hard.

Ask students to identify personal heroes or mentors and describe the

extent to which they exemplify specific habits of mind. Periodically

provide a time for students to identify a fictional or real-life hero or mentor

or someone else whom they admire and respect. Ask them to describe the

mental habits that these people exemplify. Emphasize that this person might

be famous or glamorous but might also be the neighbor upstairs or a mom

or dad.

Have students create posters that illustrate their understanding of the

habits. As students become familiar with each habit of mind, have them

depict it in a poster or drawing that shows someone using the habit in a

specific situation.

2. Help students identify and develop strategies related to the

habits of mind.

After students understand and appreciate productive habits of mind, they

will discover that they must develop strategies for learning, maintaining,

and successfully using the habit. People who tend to be clear and seek

clarity, for example, may have a process of rigorously editing all written

communications to ensure that their messages are clear; they may use

paraphrasing or questioning techniques during oral communications to make

sure that they understand others correctly. There are a number of ways to

help students identify and begin to develop personal strategies.

Use think-aloud to demonstrate specific strategies. Demonstrate a strategy

while students listen to you talk through the mental steps. For example,

reinforce the habit of planning by reviewing aloud the steps you might

Habits of Mind

✔ Helping Students Develop

Productive Habits of Mind

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follow while planning a research paper. You may say things like, “Let’s see.

Before I jump into this, I need to state my goal clearly. I should identify

types of work that need to be done and then set deadlines. I’ll use a calendar

to record my plan and keep it in the front of my notebook.”

Ask students to share their own strategies. When you notice that students

are using or have used a habit, ask them to explain the strategy they used.

For example, if a student’s project reflects the effective use of available

resources, ask the student to tell you or the class what strategies helped him

to identify and seek out those resources.

Encourage students to find examples of strategies mentioned in literature

and current events. Ask students to look for examples of strategies that

relate to the habits of mind as they read literature, newspapers, or magazine

articles and as they view or use other media and technologies. Ask them to

record these examples in their learning logs and, when appropriate, to share

these examples with the class. For example, students might read about the

Wright Brothers and conclude that these inventors were exhibiting creative

thinking as they engaged intensely even when their airplanes failed to fly.

Ask students to interview others (e.g., parents, friends, or neighbors) to

identify strategies. As you help students to develop a specific habit, ask

them to identify people who they believe exemplify the habit and then

interview them to learn what strategies these people use. For example, while

studying the habit of “taking a position when the situation warrants it,”

students could interview people whom they respect for standing up for their

beliefs. They should write down questions they might ask, such as, “How do

you decide when it is time to take a position? If you ever find yourself

backing off a position too soon, how do you deal with that?”

Each quarter or semester, ask students to identify and focus on a habit of

mind they would like to develop. Successfully developing productive habits

of mind takes time. By asking students to focus on developing one habit of

mind at a time, you can help them to make the most efficient use of their

time. You might suggest some strategies for them to use or allow them to

identify and develop their own. As you monitor their progress, you may find

that you need to make some suggestions. If, for example, a student wants to

be more open-minded because his friends have accused him of not listening

to others’ opinions, you might share Edward DeBono’s Plus-Minus-Interesting

(PMI) strategy with him and then periodically check to see if it is working.

The PMI strategy is designed to help students suspend judgment about an

idea until they have listed the pluses (P), minuses (M), and interesting (I)

points or possible outcomes of the idea.

de Bono (1983) “The

Cognitive Research Trust

(CoRT) Thinking Program”

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Productive Habits of Mind

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3. Create a culture in the classroom and the school that

encourages the development and use of the habits of mind.

Culture is expressed in the language, behavior, and customs that reflect what

people believe to be important or valuable. There are many ways to assure

that the culture of the classroom and the school communicates to students,

in what they see, hear, and experience, that developing productive habits of

mind is expected and valued by all members of the school community.

Model the habits. Students know what teachers value by observation. If we

want students to develop productive habits of mind, we must consciously

and overtly use them ourselves as we go about our tasks and interact with

students. For example, if we want students to be responsive to the feedback

they receive, then we must deliberately model being responsive to the

feedback we receive from them.

Integrate the habits into the daily routines and activities of the classroom.

Helping students develop productive habits of mind should not require

major changes in the classroom. You can probably use previously planned

routines and activities to help students focus on particular habits. Below are

suggestions for reinforcing each cluster of the habits of mind (critical,

creative, and self-regulated thinking) as students are engaged in typical

classroom activities.

Critical Thinking

Debate is a fairly common activity in classrooms and is one of the best

arenas in which to reinforce the habits of critical thinking. During a

debate, information is presented, defended, attacked, and so on, setting

up the need to be clear and seek clarity or to respond appropriately to

others’ feelings and levels of knowledge. Periodically have groups of

three or four students prepare to debate an issue related to the content

you are teaching. Then set them up to debate in a “fish bowl” format:

Have two groups debate in the middle of the room while the other

students in the class observe and pay particular attention to whether the

debaters are displaying the habits of critical thinking. At the end of the

debate, ask the observers to give feedback to the debate teams. In

particular, have them point out specific instances in which team

members used one or more of the habits of critical thinking.

Creative Thinking

Solving structured problems is an excellent way to reinforce the habits of

creative thinking because almost all types of structured problems require

their use to some extent. Structured problems are those that have

relatively clear goals; they are found in textbooks, games magazines, and

An elementary teacher asked

students to debate the issue

of banning fur sales. He

taped the debate and then

played back the tape, asking

students to comment on the

use of the habits of critical

thinking.

Habits of Mind

✔ Helping Students Develop

Productive Habits of Mind

Dimension 5

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puzzle books. (See Chapter 4 for further discussion of structured

problems.) You might give students structured problems at the

beginning or end of class periods or during slow times. While students

are working on these problems, ask them to concentrate on one or more

specific habits of creative thinking. For example, while they are working

on problems that require them to invent something, you might have

them focus on the habit of generating new ways of viewing situations

outside the boundaries of standard convention.

Self-Regulated Thinking

Having students identify and pursue long-term goals is an excellent way

to reinforce the mental habits of self-regulated thinking and to explain

that they can be used as tools for accomplishing goals. For example, a

student might identify the goal of joining a particular athletic team. You

might encourage her to use the habit of planning (by setting up a

practice schedule for herself) or of being responsive to feedback (by

identifying a way to measure her progress in the skills necessary to earn a

position on the team).

To initiate the goal-setting process, you might first have students

identify goals that excite them and that they can accomplish within the

year, semester, or quarter. Have students write down their goals and

identify objectives or milestones. At least once every two weeks, students

should meet with a teacher, counselor, or their peers to report on their

progress. At the end of the agreed-upon period (e.g., at the end of the

semester), ask students to report on their goals, their progress, and what

they learned about the mental habits of self-regulated thinking.

Develop and display posters, icons, and other visual representations to

express the importance of productive habits of mind. Besides serving as

reminders to students, displaying posters of the habits of mind can become

easy references to help students identify the mental habits they need for

various learning situations. Below is the graphic from the poster that was

developed for the Dimensions of Learning habit of mind Restrain Impulsivity.

We have reproduced the posters for the other habits of mind in the margins

throughout this section.

I’ll think this

through before I

answer.

One elementary principal

lines the hallways of her

school with “interactive

bulletin boards” that contain

structured problems. As

students solve the problems,

the principal reinforces

specific habits of mind.

A high school principal met

with individual students

throughout the year to lend

his support in setting and

meeting goals. “As long as it

is legal and moral,” he told

each student, “I will help you

achieve any goal you set.”

Habits of Mind

✔ Helping Students Develop

Productive Habits of Mind

Dimension 5

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When appropriate, cue students to focus on specific mental habits or ask

them to identify habits that would help them while working on difficult

tasks. Sometimes students simply need a reminder to use the mental habits

while they are working. Before a test you might encourage students to be

aware of their thinking and suggest that they replace any negative self-talk

with positive self-talk. When assigning a long-term project, you might ask

students to select a habit from self-regulated thinking that could help them

be successful.

4. Provide positive reinforcement to students who exhibit the

habits of mind.

Besides labeling and acknowledging students’ use of the habits, offer praise,

specific feedback, and rewards, as appropriate. You might offer reinforcement

through verbal praise, specific comments or ratings on progress reports and

grade cards, or positive notes and telephone calls to parents. The ultimate

goal, of course, is for students to begin to experience the intrinsic rewards of

increased success and achievement that result from having good mental

habits. However, until they have experienced these benefits, immediate and

positive reinforcement from teachers and peers may help to motivate and

focus them as they work on developing productive habits of mind. Such

reinforcement also communicates to students that habits of mind are

important. The following are suggestions for specific ways to provide

positive reinforcement.

Appoint “process observers,” students who watch for positive examples of

other students who are demonstrating the habits. Assigning this role

benefits the observer and the student who is exhibiting the habit. You can

use the process observer role in a variety of ways. For example, you might

assign the role regularly during small-group or cooperative learning

activities or rotate the role for general classroom activities, with a different

student assuming responsibility each week or month.

Ask students to self-assess their use of specific habits. Students will benefit

most in the long run if they learn to independently use productive habits of

mind. To encourage this independence, periodically ask students to self-

assess. Ask students to reflect on their use of the habits in a journal or

learning log. Probes for this reflection might be highly structured (e.g.,

“How often do you evaluate the effectiveness of your own actions?” “How do

you act on your evaluation?”) or unstructured (e.g., “Evaluate your

effectiveness in using any of the habits of mind during the past week.”).

Habits of Mind

✔ Helping Students Develop

Productive Habits of Mind

Dimension 5

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Give students feedback on a report card or progress report. Some schools give

formal feedback to students and parents on students’ development and use of

the habits of mind. Figure 5.1 shows a portion of a sample progress report.

FIGURE 5.1

ORTION OF SAMPLE PROGRESS REPORT: HABITS OF MIND

Classroom Examples

The following classroom examples for critical, creative, and self-regulated

thinking are offered to stimulate reflection on how to apply the ideas

covered in Dimension 5 in your classroom.

Critical Thinking

At their monthly meeting, a team of K-5 teachers discussed how beneficial it would be

if students began to exhibit the habit of restraining impulsivity. At first the primary

teachers thought it might be difficult to introduce this habit in the early grades.

However, they realized that many of the stories they read with students were perfect

opportunities for increasing students’ understanding of this habit. They used stories

such as Peter Rabbit and Goldilocks and the Three Bears as examples of the

consequences of not restraining impulsive behavior.

• • •

When Mr. Foseid, a Spanish teacher, first learned about the habits of mind, he

thought they were important but decided that he did not have much time to teach them

in his class. Later, as he was preparing lessons for helping students understand other

cultures, he realized how important the critical thinking habits are when people from

different cultures interact. He then crafted an assignment in which he asked each

student to select a specific habit of critical thinking, explain why it would be

important when people from different cultures interact, and develop a strategy for its

use. After students completed the task, he asked them to present their explanations and

strategies in Spanish to the class.

• • •

Habits of Mind Lacks

Awareness

Understands Developing

Strategies

Becoming

a Habit

Maintain an open mind

Be accurate and seek accuracy

Be clear and seek clarity

Critical Thinking:

Habits of Mind

✔ Helping Students Develop

Productive Habits of Mind

Dimension 5

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Mr. Johnson decided to design a unit in which students would debate issues related to

the presidential election. In addition to teaching them about the elections, he had

another goal in mind. He had observed that the students in this particular class were

quite opinionated and closed-minded when they discussed the elections. Further, when

expressing their opinions they showed little regard for accuracy and clarity. He decided

that it was time to introduce and emphasize the critical thinking habits of mind.

Although he was excited about the unit, as Mr. Johnson sat down to plan the lessons

he realized that teaching the critical thinking habits of mind would take time. He

began to reconsider the goal of teaching the habits of mind. However, as he continued

to plan, he reflected on how many units throughout the year would be better if students

had an increased understanding of these mental habits. He renewed his commitment to

plan lessons focused on students’ learning about the critical thinking habits of mind.

The culminating project of the unit was a mock presidential debate in which each

student was responsible for clearly and accurately representing a candidate’s views and

ideas. After each debate, Mr. Johnson and the other classmates gave feedback to the

debaters on the accuracy and clarity of their arguments and on the extent to which

they demonstrated the ability to strike a balance between taking and defending a

position yet maintaining an open mind. Throughout the unit, students recorded in

their learning logs any insights they gained about critical thinking and any

confusions or questions that they still had about these habits of mind.

Creative Thinking

A team of primary teachers realized that many of their students’ favorite stories were

wonderful examples of the habits of mind. For example, The Little Engine That

Could offered a perfect opportunity to discuss perseverance. Using the language of the

habits of mind when reading stories was a great way to help students more fully

understand the habits.

• • •

Mrs. Henderson noticed that although her third-graders were intelligent, quick

thinking, and often clever, they put forth only a minimum amount of effort in much of

their school work, gave up quickly if an answer or solution was not obvious, and

constantly asked if their work was what the teacher wanted rather than holding

themselves to their own high standards. Mrs. Henderson decided that she might be

able to contribute something important to these learners by teaching them about the

habits involved in creative thinking. Before introducing the habits, she gave students

word puzzles and other entertaining, but increasingly difficult, problems. She noticed

that with these activities, almost all of her students seemed to want to do well and

were eager for each day’s puzzle. After several weeks, Mrs. Henderson introduced the

creative thinking habits by putting up a poster that illustrated the habits with a

Habits of Mind

✔ Helping Students Develop

Productive Habits of Mind

Dimension 5

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cartoon-like character. She asked the students to explain what they thought each of the

habits meant and what it might look like if someone was using or not using the habit.

She then asked students to think about the puzzles they had been solving and how

these habits related to what they were doing. She asked them to think about and

discuss in small groups how they used, or did not use, these habits and how being

aware of them now might influence their behavior in the future. As a result of the

discussion, the class decided to make a commitment to increasing their understanding

and use of the creative thinking habits of mind.

• • •

Mathematics students in a secondary school published a weekly newsletter that

contained perplexing problems that they had designed themselves. The newsletter was

distributed to every teacher and student in the school. Weekly and monthly competitions

were held to solve the problems. After learning about the creative thinking habits of

mind, the students decided to modify their awards. They designed a certificate that

highlighted the habits of mind that were needed to solve the problems; for example, some

problems required generating new ways of viewing situations, whereas others were more

divergent and required generating one’s own standards of evaluation.

Self-Regulated Thinking

At the beginning of each year, Mrs. Brooks has her elementary students identify

academic, social, and physical goals for themselves. She helps each student record and

develop a plan for each goal. Once a week, Mrs. Brooks asks students to meet in

support groups to discuss their progress and help one another solve difficult problems or

roadblocks they are encountering as they work to achieve their goals.

• • •

For three full class periods, Ms. Green had her elementary students work on

identifying strategies and techniques that can be used with each of the mental habits

of self-regulated thinking. She set up five small groups that students would work in

cooperatively. During the first two periods, each of the groups worked on one of the

habits of mind. During the third period, each group made a class presentation on the

strategies and techniques its members had developed.

• • •

After discussing the mental habits of self-regulated thinking with his social studies

students, Mr. Eckhardt, a middle school teacher, decided it was time to give students

feedback on their ability to exhibit these habits. He created a decision-making task for

students in which he asked them to generate and apply criteria to determine which of

the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution seems most important in today’s

society. He also asked students to use the strategies they had talked about in class to

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develop a plan for completing the task and to submit with it a list of resources they

would need. As students worked on the task, Mr. Eckhardt gave them feedback on

their use of content knowledge and on whether they were demonstrating self-regulated

thinking. When students turned in their final decision-making matrix, Mr. Eckhardt

asked them to write a summary of what they noticed about the habits of self-regulated

thinking and to self-assess the degree to which they exhibited the habits.

• • •

As a high-school counselor, Mr. Jordan helps students set personal goals. He

emphasizes to students that their goals should “make life exciting.” To stimulate their

thinking, he makes it a practice to ask students, “What would you try to accomplish

this year if you knew you would not fail?”

• • •

Ms. Barton, a high school English teacher, decided that it would be beneficial to

explicitly and intentionally address self-regulated thinking with students in her AP

English class. She believed that these habits were important to her largely college-

bound class. She introduced the habits by briefly explaining each and asking her

students to discuss them in small groups. She encouraged students to share personal

examples of their use of the habits of mind. She then explained that throughout the

semester she would ask them to identify characters in literature who use one or more of

the habits and to note a positive benefit for having done so.

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The Dimensions of Learning Habits of Mind:

A Resource for Teachers

The following sections are offered as a resource for teachers who are

preparing to provide students with explanations and examples of the specific

habits of mind identified in the Dimensions of Learning model. Over time,

you will undoubtedly generate your own examples to use with students;

however, the following suggestions can help you get started. Each habit of

mind is followed by

1. a brief explanation of the habit,

2. examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to have the

habit of mind, and

3. examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the

habit.

Critical Thinking

Be Accurate and Seek Accuracy

When you check to make sure that your work is correct or precise and when

you expect precision from others’ work, you are exhibiting the habit of being

accurate and seeking accuracy. Being accurate means making accuracy a goal

and then using a variety of techniques for checking accuracy as you work.

Seeking accuracy from information you are receiving acknowledges that it is

the responsibility of the receiver of information—as well as the sender—to

set and expect high standards of accuracy.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to be accurate

and seek accuracy

• When reviewing or preparing documents related to money (e.g.,

credit card bills, bank statements, tax returns, or loan applications),

checking the calculations can help you save money or avoid serious

monetary consequences. Mistakes occur even when companies use

computerized services.

• Budgeting for a major expense (e.g., buying a house or taking a

vacation) is something virtually everyone needs to do at some point.

Although estimating can be helpful, it is more likely that you will

have sufficient funds if, instead of working from a rough estimate,

you create a specific budget to help you reach your goal.

Ennis (1985) “Goals for a

Critical Thinking

Curriculum”

Ennis (1989) “Critical

Thinking and Subject

Specificity: Clarification and

Needed Research”

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me liek u

i lik u

I like you.

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• When someone gives or asks for directions, being accurate and

seeking accuracy increases the chance that the traveler will reach the

desired destination.

• Any time you receive information that appears suspicious or

inaccurate, you should take the time to check for accuracy or ask for

additional information. However, circumstances often arise when you

are reluctant to check for accuracy because the information is

complex or even intimidating (for example, when a report includes

complicated statistics). You might be particularly reluctant to check

for accuracy if the information is presented in a way that makes it

look accurate. If information seems contrary to experience or hard to

believe, you should find ways to check it for accuracy, even if it is

difficult to do so.

• There are many situations involving your health and well-being that

could be affected by your ability to be accurate and seek accuracy.

The consequences of being inaccurate can be significant in situations

like measuring dosages of medicine or following a specific,

prescribed course of physical therapy.

• Advertisers often use media to present information in a way that is

engaging, humorous, or provocative. Whether you are listening to

the radio, watching television, or reading a newspaper, it is easy to

be absorbed in the presentation and forget to consider the accuracy of

the information presented. Developing the habit of seeking accuracy

can help you become a more informed consumer, one who is more

likely to make sound choices.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of being accurate and seeking accuracy

• When preparing detailed documents, read them at least once with

the clear, single-focused goal of checking for accuracy. If you read for

meaning, clarity, and accuracy simultaneously, you might miss

errors.

• Use available reference materials, both in print and technology

formats (e.g., a dictionary, the spell-check function, a thesaurus, and

an encyclopedia) to achieve accuracy in your communications.

• When proofreading documents, try reading each sentence starting

from the end of the document to catch typographical errors that you

might miss when you read the document for meaning.

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• Ask one or more people to check your work for accuracy. Someone

who is unfamiliar with and less invested in the product is more

objective and, thus, more likely to find mistakes.

Be Clear and Seek Clarity

Clear communication is a fundamental component of success in nearly every

area of life. Yet there are many roadblocks to clear communication: Language

is full of ambiguity and connotation; body language is difficult to interpret;

intonation can change understanding.

All communication is influenced by the extent to which the parties involved,

whether senders or receivers, try to overcome these roadblocks. Confusion

and misinterpretation can lead to significant negative consequences; thus,

there must be a shared responsibility between sender and receiver to ensure

that there is clear communication.

It is particularly important for students to learn to be clear and seek clarity

in the classroom. Sometimes when students are working on an assignment,

they are more focused on simply “getting it done” than on monitoring

themselves to make sure they understand the information presented. The

earlier in their learning that students develop this habit, the more likely it is

that they will succeed in school.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to be clear and

seek clarity

• Throughout their school years, students frequently confront subjects

or issues that, at first, appear unclear. Learning is enhanced when

students consistently monitor the extent to which they understand

information they are receiving and then try to clarify anything that

is confusing.

• People often find themselves in situations in which someone is

trying to persuade them to do or buy something. At such times, it is

important to ask for clarification about claims that sound too good

to be true, anything that is confusing, or information that might be

incomplete. The ability to seek clarity can help you make informed

decisions and commitments.

• Being clear when giving a presentation, especially one that contains

complex or detailed information, is challenging because there are

often limited opportunities to receive immediate feedback. When

people are confused early in a presentation, they may tune out; the

opportunity to inform or persuade may be lost.

Costa (1984) “Mediating

the Metacognitive”

Presseisen (1987) Thinking

Skills Throughout the

Curriculum

Paul (1990) Critical

Thinking

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• Employers appreciate those who seek clarity before jumping into an

assignment, particularly one that is complex. Although some people

may be reluctant to admit that they do not understand an

assignment or a communication, experience shows that seeking

clarity can lead to the more efficient use of time and money.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of being clear and seeking clarity

• When you are unsure about what you want to express or are afraid

that others might misunderstand you, write down exactly what you

want to say. Then read it or practice saying it until you can express

yourself clearly.

• When presenting important information, occasionally stop and check

for understanding by asking the receiver to relate what he

understands so far.

• When listening to information that does not make sense, take notes

and then, when appropriate, use the notes to ask questions.

• Before giving a written communication to an audience, ask several

people to read it, explain what they understand it to say, and point

out any parts that are confusing.

• Make it a practice in emotionally charged situations to ask another

person who is not emotionally involved to be an active listener. A

good listener can often clarify issues just by repeating what was said

or by asking good questions.

• When engaged in important conversations, use phrases like, “Did I

hear you say that. . . ?” or “I think I understood you to say that. . . .”

Using phrases such as these communicates a concern for clarity and

helps to immediately identify and clarify any potential

misconceptions.

Maintain an Open Mind

Developing the ability to maintain an open mind can enhance learning and

increase the likelihood of success in a diverse society. Open-mindedness

enhances learning because it requires listening to different perspectives and

ideas with the goal of understanding them. Even if we ultimately reject

other views, just hearing them gives us additional information that might

increase our knowledge about a subject or issue. Open-mindedness helps us

live in a diverse society because it enhances communication among people

who live and work with others who have different backgrounds, opinions,

philosophies, and interests. Being open-minded enough to understand

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Specificity: Clarification and

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diverse views and approaches to life does not necessarily lead to changing our

beliefs or perspectives or even to accepting the reasons for others’

perspectives. It does, however, mean respecting others’ views enough to

listen to them. Open-mindedness helps create a society in which even those

with very different perspectives can live together productively and

respectfully.

Being close-minded means that a person rejects ideas and perspectives

without even really listening. A close-minded person habitually engages in

self-talk such as, “I don’t have to hear this because I’m not going to go along

with it anyway,” “We’ve already tried that. It didn’t work, so I won’t listen,”

or “My ideas are fine. I don’t need to hear others.” People who are close-

minded cut themselves off from potentially valuable information and

suggestions.

For students to learn how to be open-minded, they need to understand why

and when this habit of mind is appropriate and develop strategies for

maintaining an open mind when it would be beneficial to do so.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to maintain an

open mind

• It is not unusual in daily life to have a knee-jerk negative response to

particular ideas or potential changes (e.g., an employer proposes a

major relocation, a child announces a dramatic shift in education

plans, or a spouse suggests a change in lifestyle). In times like these

the ability to maintain an open mind—at least long enough to

explore the possibilities—can help you to avoid conflict and take

advantage of new opportunities.

• You may have had the experience of avoiding or rejecting someone

who has different perspectives about life. However, if you seek to

maintain an open mind, you might discover new friends and enjoy

stimulating conversations.

• Maintaining an open mind can be beneficial when traveling to places

that are unfamiliar or culturally or socially different. It can help you

view the experience as exciting or challenging instead of

uncomfortable and upsetting.

• Whether as an employer or an employee, people are exposed to

proposals, ideas, suggestions, and opinions in the workplace.

Knowing how and when to maintain an open mind can contribute to

being seen as a valued colleague, team player, or dynamic leader.

“Education’s purpose is to

replace an empty mind with

an open one.”

—Malcolm Forbes

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Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of maintaining an open mind

• When you notice yourself reacting negatively to a suggested change,

observe others who are responding positively. Carefully listen to what

they are saying and “try on” their point of view.

• Ask questions in a sincere effort to gather information and to

understand the reasons for others’ opinions. Remember that the goal

of being open-minded is not necessarily to change your perspective;

it is to seek understanding of others’ perspectives.

• When someone makes a suggestion or proposal and you notice that

you immediately react a particular way, force yourself to sit down

and list the positive and negative things that could happen if the

suggestion or proposal were accepted. The act of clearly articulating

different perspectives can stimulate reflection and force a deeper level

of analysis than just thinking about the issue or idea. It can be

helpful to talk to yourself by asking, “Have I listened actively to the

different perspectives?”, “Have I considered the positives and

negatives?”, or “What am I missing?”

Restrain Impulsivity

“Wait. Let me think about this.” This is the self-talk of someone who

recognizes when it might be a good idea to delay a decision or an action

until she can gather more information or until there has been time to

carefully consider the available information. It is the kind of self-talk that is

characteristic of someone who knows when and how to restrain impulsivity.

Restraining impulsivity is a mental habit that involves much more than

simply “keeping your hands to yourself” or refraining from making

inappropriate comments in the classroom. It includes understanding the

kinds of situations in which restraint is needed and then knowing how to

stop yourself from acting too quickly. Even if acting on impulse might be

desirable at times, the ability to restrain impulsivity appropriately can save

relationships, jobs, and even lives.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to restrain

impulsivity

• The ability to restrain impulsivity and delay gratification has been

associated by researcher Daniel Goleman (1995) with increased

academic ability and performance.

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the Metacognitive”

Ennis (1985) “Goals for a

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Curriculum”

Ennis (1989) “Critical

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Specificity: Clarification and

Needed Research”

Goleman (1995) Emotional

Intelligence

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• It is normal in life to feel frustrated at times and to think about lashing

out. Controlling this impulse increases the chance that the situation

will be resolved through negotiation, cooperation, and compromise.

• Although it is normal to want to contribute to a conversation,

sometimes it is better to be a listener first, to learn from what others

are saying, and then to analyze the situation and determine how best

to contribute.

• A democratic society thrives when citizens are involved in decision

making. Yet many issues are complex and media reports and analyses

are often conflicting or designed to generate an emotional response.

Thus, our initial conclusions might not always be the best.

Restraining impulsivity can help us to be more effective participants

in the democratic process.

• When a friend faces a problem, you may feel like jumping in

impulsively to give advice or to help solve the problem. Regardless

of how sincere you are, your behavior might be perceived as

meddling or might make the situation worse. Stopping to think in

such situations is sometimes the best approach.

• Life is full of opportunities for new adventures and new activities.

However, in general it is best to weigh the advantages and

disadvantages and consider the risks before rushing in to try

something new.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of restraining impulsivity

• Use self-talk phrases such as, “Look before you leap,” “Think before

you speak,” or “Wait a minute. Think.” as cues to restrain impulsive

tendencies. Ask yourself questions such as, “Do I understand this?”,

“Should I respond yet?”, or “Do I have any questions before I say

what I think is true?”

• Ask another person with whom you interact to give you feedback

about whether you are impulsive in your personal interactions and

then, if necessary, help you identify strategies to use to reduce

impulsive reactions.

• Allow people who are speaking to finish their thoughts before you

respond. Remind yourself how you feel when someone interrupts you.

• Try counting to ten or saying the alphabet to yourself when you

notice you are ready to pounce on an idea, a question, a comment, or

a proposed solution.

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Take a Position When the Situation Warrants It

The complementary habit to maintaining an open mind and restraining

impulsivity is taking a position when the situation warrants it. Like the

other productive habits of mind, developing this ability requires

understanding which situations call for taking a position and knowing how

to take a position or stance.

Taking a position is appropriate when we have strong feelings about an issue

and have taken the time to examine the arguments and evidence and to

construct support for our position. This approach contrasts sharply with

taking a position simply because others have, sometimes referred to as taking

a “copycat” position. It is also quite different from waffling or switching

positions impulsively—even as often as every few minutes—either as a

function of the latest argument or to please someone.

Committing to a position with confidence requires the ability to evaluate

evidence and construct support. At times it also may include the ability to

communicate clearly and the willingness to accept the risk of rejection from

others with different positions.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to take a position

• When you are listening as friends debate an issue, you might notice

that a particular position in which you believe strongly is not being

addressed. In this case, it might be appropriate to express and defend it.

• Most people have faced pressure from peers or others to act in ways

that violate their beliefs or values. Sometimes it is appropriate

simply to walk away from such pressure. At other times it is

important to express a position clearly, no matter how unpopular

that may be at the moment. The ability to take a position in this

case may influence others and serve as a much-needed role model to

people who are not confident enough to resist the pressure.

• There may be times when friends or colleagues take a stand on an

issue and ask you to support them publicly. If you agree with their

position, you need to be ready to stand strong and verbalize that

support.

• As citizens, when we see or experience injustices or controversies, we

may decide to make a concerted effort to improve the situation by

stating and defending our beliefs.

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Metacognitive”

Ennis (1985) “Goals for a

Critical Thinking

Curriculum”

Ennis (1989) “Critical

Thinking and Subject

Specificity: Clarification and

Needed Research”

Presseisen (1987) Thinking

Skills Throughout the

Curriculum

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is …

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Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of taking a position when the situation warrants it

• Develop the habit of asking yourself questions like “Is it time for me

to express and support my opinion?” or “What else do I need to

know before I take a position?”

• Find examples from current events in which someone whom you

admire has taken a position and defended it. Investigate the strategy

used, the actions taken, and the outcome of the action.

• Before taking a position, investigate various sides of the issue to help

solidify your commitment to that position. When you are confident

about your position, you will be more likely to stick to it and express

it clearly.

• Become familiar with common fallacies and types of weak

arguments. This knowledge will help you listen to diverse positions

and construct a strong argument for your own position.

Respond Appropriately to Others’ Feelings and Level of

Knowledge

Whether interacting with people to inform, to persuade, or to share ideas, a

good critical thinker watches for implicit and explicit messages that reflect

others’ feelings and level of knowledge. Assessing what others are feeling and

thinking, and then adapting a situation or message based on that assessment,

communicates respect for others and increases the chances that goals

dependent on collaboration and cooperation will be achieved.

A primary challenge in developing this habit is achieving an appropriate

balance between being sensitive to others and achieving the goals of the

interaction. For example, being sensitive to others’ feelings means respecting

them without indulging them and without allowing them to distract

inappropriately from the goals of the interaction. Likewise, responding

appropriately to others’ levels of knowledge means first assessing and then

responding in a way that ensures the achievement of the goal, even when

people have little or no knowledge about an issue or when people have a

great deal of knowledge and seek to dominate. Striking a balance in these

situations requires skill and understanding, which are developed over time as

a result of experiences in a variety of situations.

Paul (1990) Critical

Thinking

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Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to respond

appropriately to others’ feelings and level of knowledge

• When you are trying to express an opinion, others are more likely to

listen if you assess and respond appropriately to their feelings and

level of knowledge.

• Even if you have a different perspective on an issue (e.g., the

environment, political candidates, or health care), responding with

empathy when people are expressing their opinions may improve the

situation, especially if they seem troubled or stressed.

• Responding appropriately to others’ feelings and levels of knowledge

can increase the chances of successful communication with people

from different cultures or backgrounds.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of responding appropriately to others’ feelings and level of knowledge

• In a group situation, people often are reluctant to share their feelings

or level of knowledge. There are communication strategies you can

use to find out what people are feeling or thinking without making

them feel cornered or uncomfortable. One strategy for inviting others

into conversation is to ask, “Have you ever had that kind of

experience?” or “What have you found?”

• When an interaction is not going well and you find yourself feeling

frustrated, stop and think about whether you are reading the

situation carefully and responding appropriately. Taking a break or

going for a walk can give you time to think over a situation. You can

then come back to it feeling more empathetic and understanding.

• Body language and gestures are an important part of communication.

However, people from different cultures can interpret a gesture in

very different ways. Educating yourself on the nuances and

conventions of diverse cultures will help to enhance communication

and increase your ability to accurately assess others’ feelings and level

of knowledge.

• Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. How might you feel if

you were in his or her situation?

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Creative Thinking

Persevere

From time to time, we all face tasks or problems, whether academic or in the

course of daily life, for which the answer or solution is not immediately

apparent. Even after putting considerable effort into a task, we may have

made little or no progress. The ability to persevere—to stick to the task, to

remain engaged in or committed to finding the answer—can be the key to

success in these situations. In the classroom, the ability to persevere can help

students learn more from academically challenging tasks and can help

prepare them for the workplace. In daily life, perseverance is often associated

with the work ethic. Thus, many people consider the ability to persevere to

be the key to achieving success.

The fact that this mental habit is part of the cluster called “creative

thinking” emphasizes that engaging intensely in tasks does not mean simply

refusing to give up on a task. It means looking for appropriate help, finding

and trying different ways to approach a task, examining it from different

viewpoints, taking it apart and putting it back together, and comparing it to

other similar problems. These are all qualities critical to creative thinking.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to persevere

• When you persevere, you are more likely to gain knowledge and

skills that at first may seem too difficult to understand or master.

• Every job presents challenges. Being self-confident about your ability

to seek answers and solutions may increase your willingness to accept

challenges and, thus, make you a more valuable employee.

• There are examples of people in almost any field of work who have

contributed something important because of their ability to

persevere. Perhaps they found a way to provide better service,

increase sales, cure a patient, or defend a client. Even when faced

with difficult problems, they did not give up until they found a

solution.

• The result of meeting a goal sometimes can significantly affect others

(e.g., a team or a class). In these situations, your ability to stay

engaged and continue trying to find solutions can contribute to

others’ seeing you as a valuable group leader or role model.

Csikszenthmihalyi (1975)

Beyond Boredom and Anxiety

Covey (1990) The 7 Habits

of Highly Effective People

“Success is the ability to go

from one failure to another

with no loss of enthusiasm.”

—Winston Churchill

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Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of persevering

• Before beginning a complicated or difficult task, set small goals that

will lead to the accomplishment of the larger task. Tackle one small

goal at a time, and reward yourself after completing each one.

• When you continually fail at a task, identify aspects of the task that

might be contributing to your failure and generate alternative ways

to accomplish that part of the task.

• Identify people in your life you should seek out when you are

tempted to give up on a task as well as those you should avoid. Some

people are good at providing motivation and inspiration to others;

some, unfortunately, contribute to a “give it up” attitude.

• Generate and keep in mind a clear picture of solving the problem or

generating an answer. Visualizing success can renew your

commitment.

• When you feel burned-out in a job or task, step back from it. Take a

walk, play some music, or visit with a colleague. People who have

the habit of persevering report that the best solutions often occur to

them during these breaks.

Push the Limits of Your Knowledge and Abilities

Pushing your limits means more than simply accepting challenges. It means

seeking out new challenges even when you know that they could be risky,

both physically and psychologically. It means more than working hard. It

means attempting things you are not sure you can do. Pushing your limits

takes more than perseverance or commitment; it takes the courage to try and

to accept failure. However, as long as reason and caution prevail, the benefits

of pushing yourself should outweigh the risks, especially if those benefits

include excitement, expanded knowledge and abilities, increased confidence,

and a willingness to accept and learn from setbacks and failures.

Although pushing limits is listed here as a mental habit, the emphasis is on

developing the tendency and ability to push your limits, not on habitually

doing so. Like many of the other habits of mind, the emphasis is on using it

thoughtfully.

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Perkins (1981) The Mind’s

Best Work

Harman & Rheingold

(1984) Higher Creativity

Covey (1990) The 7 Habits of

Highly Effective People

Csikszenthmihalyi (1975)

Beyond Boredom and Anxiety

“Ah, but a man’s reach

should exceed his grasp, or

what’s a heaven for?”

—Robert Browning

“I thought about it all the

time.”

—Sir Isaac Newton

on how he discovered

the law of gravity

“Courage and perseverance

have a magical talisman

before which difficulties

disappear and obstacles

vanish into thin air.”

—John Quincy Adams

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Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to push the

limits of your knowledge and abilities

• When you have been working at the same job for a long time and

find that you are “coasting” through the day using as little energy as

possible or avoiding challenging tasks, it may be time to seek ways

to push the limits of your knowledge and abilities in some aspect of

your responsibilities. This could increase your energy, your

excitement, and, ultimately, your salary.

• When you find that you are falling into a routine in your daily life,

pushing your limits can turn routines back into challenging and

interesting tasks. Pushing your limits can be as simple as playing a

golf course you have considered too difficult, redecorating your home

in a style you have always admired, making unique Halloween

costumes instead of recycling old ideas, making and tossing your

own pizza crust, or running in a marathon.

• Learning to push the limits of your knowledge and abilities can be

particularly important when the stakes or rewards are high.

Continued employment, rehabilitation from illness, saving a

relationship, or staying in school can depend on this ability.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of pushing the limits of their knowledge and abilities

• When you are involved in a task, set a goal that will challenge you

to complete aspects of a task within a shorter amount of time than

usual. Then push yourself to meet the time limit.

• To discover potential new challenges, make it a practice to ask others

what they do to push their limits. Their experiences can help you to

identify personal challenges.

• When you find phrases or sayings that inspire or motivate you to

push your limits, write them down and keep them where you will

see them regularly, for example, in your personal calendar, framed in

your office, or taped to the refrigerator.

• Identify people in your life who help you to push yourself and let

them know that you may call on them when you are tempted to

simply coast. Conversely, identify those people you want to avoid

because they talk you out of trying things or because they mindlessly

err on the side of caution.

“You must do the thing you

think you cannot do.”

—Eleanor Roosevelt

“Behold the turtle. He

makes progress only when

he sticks his neck out.”

—James Conan Bryant

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and

Abilities

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Generate, Trust, and Maintain Your Own Standards of

Evaluation

Although your work often will be evaluated by others, you will function

more efficiently and effectively if you consistently apply your own standards

of evaluation as you work. When you generate your own set of standards,

you might consider the standards that others will use to evaluate your work.

However, you may decide to include only some of these standards, reject or

adapt others, and add some that are important only to you. If you have

rigorously generated your standards, trusting them and doing what is

necessary to meet them should follow naturally.

People who exhibit this mental habit become self-directed as learners and

workers. Their achievements and growth are not limited by others who do

not share their visions and aspirations. They are the people who set new

standards in whatever field they pursue.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to generate,

trust, and maintain your own standards of evaluation

• You may know how to get the highest grade from a teacher.

However, a good learner also will set his own standards when

necessary to maximize learning.

• There are many examples of inventors who have built successful,

lucrative careers around new products or ideas (e.g., Mrs. Fields and

Bill Gates). Successful inventions often are the result of people who

generated and applied their own standards of evaluation.

• History is full of examples of individuals who set new standards that

influenced people and societies. For example, Martin Luther King and

Mahatma Gandhi were both known for setting standards that influenced

the behavior of people who wanted to challenge the status quo.

• The books In Search of Excellence (Peters & Waterman, 1982) and A

Passion for Excellence (Peters & Austin, 1985), both best-sellers,

document many examples of businesses and schools enjoying

unprecedented successes because individuals generated, trusted, and

maintained uncommonly high standards in their products and services.

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Perkins (1986) Knowledge as

Design

Perkins (1984) “Creativity

by Design”

Finally …

I got it the

way I want it!

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Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of generating, trusting, and maintaining their own standards of

evaluation

• Whenever you are engaged in setting personal standards, ask yourself

questions like, “If I were evaluating this, what would I want to see?”

and “How would I know that I put forth my best effort?” This kind

of self-talk might motivate you to establish high standards.

• When you feel bored, unchallenged, or uninterested in a project or

task, generate and commit to higher standards as a way of increasing

your interest and making the task more challenging.

• Take the time to write down your standards. This serves two

purposes. First, it forces you to clearly define your standards. Second,

you can display the list or review it regularly to focus your work.

• Try setting your standards using a rubric, a set of criteria that

describes performance at levels that meet, exceed, and miss the

standard. The process of generating the rubric can force you to

articulate your criteria in even greater detail. Once you have created

the rubric, it can provide you with a way of evaluating the extent to

which you are maintaining your standards.

Generate New Ways of Viewing a Situation That Are Outside

the Boundaries of Standard Conventions

Whether solving a problem, analyzing an issue, clarifying a confusing idea,

making a decision, exploring a phenomenon, or inventing a new product,

sometimes we need a completely different way of looking at a task. Even

when we know this, it can be difficult to bring a fresh perspective to a task,

especially when we have been immersed in it for a long time. Deciding that

we need to generate a new way of viewing a situation is only the first step;

actually viewing it differently takes strategies and practice.

For some people, the tendency to view situations in unique or uncommon

ways comes naturally. Unfortunately, people like this sometimes are

considered a bit strange when they share their views and, consequently, may

learn to keep their visions to themselves. Other people, conversely, find it

very difficult to view something from a different angle. Although they may

realize that they are constrained by standard conventions, they may not

know how to break out of these constraints. People who do this naturally

discover that their ability is an asset that serves them well throughout life.

Those who struggle learn that with modeling and practice, they, too, can

develop this mental habit.

Amabile (1983) The Social

Psychology of Creativity

Perkins (1986) Knowledge as

Design

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if?

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Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to generate new

ways of viewing a situation that are outside the boundaries of

standard conventions

• When academic assignments seem uninteresting or mundane, you

can change your experience by looking at the assignment in a new

way. The result may be a more creative final product, a better grade,

and, hopefully, an increase in learning.

• When faced with everyday, complex problems, try to mentally move

away from the situation and view it in a different way. You may feel

less stressed as a result of seeing that the problem is not so

overwhelming, or you may discover more creative solutions.

• Corporations often put together “think tanks,” groups of people who

sometimes spend days or weeks trying to come up with new ideas or

products. You can be a major asset to the company if you are able to

lead these groups through exercises that help them generate new ideas.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of generating new ways of viewing a situation that are outside the

boundaries of standard conventions

• Use analogies and metaphors to help you see things in a different way.

• Use brainstorming techniques to force yourself to go beyond your

first idea.

• When attempting to create a solution or a new product or process,

generate your initial ideas, leave them alone for a while, and then

come back to them later.

• Ask yourself questions like, “What unnecessary constraints am I

putting on my thinking?” or “How would a child see this situation?”

• Seek out people (e.g., your child, a parent, or a friend) who have no

knowledge or experience with the situation and ask them to react or

respond. Sometimes a naive or innocent question or comment will

help you get out of your mental rut.

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Hanson, Silver, & Strong

(1986) Teaching Styles and

Strategies

One approach to metaphoric

thinking is synectics. See

Gordon (1961) Synectics and

Gordon (1971)

“Architecture—The Making

of Metaphors.”

von Oech (1983) A Whack

on the Side of the Head

“I’d get real close to him

and breathe on his goggles.”

—Johnny Kerr,

former NBA player

and coach, on how he

would guard Kareem

Abdul-Jabbar

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Self-Regulated Thinking

Monitor Your Own Thinking

Being aware of our thinking can help us to be more efficient, make fewer

mistakes, and learn from what is working and what is not. When we are

aware of our thinking, we periodically stop and monitor the mental

strategies we have been using, what we have been saying to ourselves, and

what we are picturing in our minds. This process might include asking

questions like, “What am I saying to myself right now?” and “What am I

seeing in my mind?”, or saying things like, “My mind keeps wandering. I

need to focus on this task” or “If I did that, then I must have been

thinking. . . .”

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to monitor your

own thinking

• When you are not doing well at any task, it might be helpful to stop

and attend to what you are mentally saying to yourself or what you

are seeing in your mind. If necessary, change the words and pictures

to make them positive.

• When you are learning new information or skills, it is important to

be aware of how and what you are thinking. When you are trying to

understand something, for example, check to see if you are using

effective strategies (e.g., talking to yourself, generating images, and

linking new information to old information). Consciously using

different kinds of thinking can enhance your learning by increasing

your understanding and retention of new information.

• Many Olympic athletes are very aware of their own thinking because

they realize how much it influences their performance. An integral

part of practicing is monitoring their thinking to keep it as positive

as possible.

• Research has identified ways that help people to improve their test-

taking and public-speaking skills just by helping them to be aware of

and change their own thinking during these stressful situations. Any

time you face a situation in which you feel self-conscious or nervous,

monitoring your thinking could help to reduce your anxieties.

Bandura & Schunk (1981)

“Developing Competence,

Self-efficacy and Intrinsic

Interest Through Proximal

Self-motivation”

Paris, Lipson, & Wixson

(1983) “Becoming a

Strategic Reader”

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thinking?

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Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of monitoring their own thinking

• When you are doing a difficult task, set a timer to beep every fifteen

minutes as a cue to stop and ask yourself, “What am I thinking right

now? Is my thinking hurting me or helping me? What do I want to

change?”

• When you are attempting a new skill or solving a difficult problem,

keep a piece of paper near you to write down the mental strategies

that work for you so that you can repeat your successes next time.

• Keep a journal that includes reflections on what you are thinking

during various activities of the day (e.g., when you are taking an

exam or working on a project). Reflect on what was helpful, what

was detrimental, and what you learned.

• For some people, having a list of personally motivating or inspiring

sayings is a useful resource during difficult times. When you come

across a particularly compelling saying or phrase on a poster, in a

book, from a mentor, at your place of worship, from a movie, or from

a relative, write it down and occasionally read it to keep the idea

fresh in your mind.

Plan Appropriately

One habit that teachers obviously want students to develop is planning.

Planning can be fairly loose or it can involve a process. This process might

include methodically defining a goal, identifying the steps needed to achieve

the goal, anticipating potential problems, assigning responsibilities, and

creating a time line with checkpoints.

In school and in daily life, we learn that taking time to create a plan

increases the chances that goals—whether individual or group goals—will

be achieved. Those who have studied goal setting assert that planning means

more than simply keeping the steps in mind; to be most effective, plans

should be verbalized or written down. The challenge is to understand when a

plan is needed and take the time to verbalize or record the plan so that it

will be used to achieve goals.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to plan

appropriately

• In school or in day-to-day life, there can be periods of time during

which you face many demands all at once. Careful planning can

decrease your stress and maximize your effectiveness.

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Scripts, Plans, Goals and

Understanding

“It wasn’t raining when

Noah built the ark.”

—Howard Ruff

“Change your thoughts and

you change your world.”

—Norman Vincent Peale

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• Planning can be especially helpful when working on any kind of

long-term project by helping to ensure that things are not put off

until the end. For a group project, planning is especially critical in

making sure that each person knows his or her responsibilities.

• Over the course of a lifetime, there are milestones that require

planning. Going to college, getting married, having a family, and

retiring are examples of critical turning points that can, of course, be

influenced by luck, coincidence, or whimsy. However, most people

would agree that planning for these important milestones increases

the chances for positive outcomes.

• In almost any job, you can become involved in major projects. The

ability to create and implement detailed plans can not only

contribute to the project, it can also increase your value as an

employee as you become known for the ability to design and

implement complex plans.

• The ability to plan can actually turn into a career. Financial planners,

party planners, and construction project planners are all examples of

people who have combined their planning abilities with other

interests and skills to carve out financially rewarding careers.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of planning appropriately

• Make sure that any plan has a clearly identified goal. It is difficult to

plan or to know if a plan worked when the identified outcome is

fuzzy. For example, “I am going to lose weight” or “We are going to

help our students think better” are goals that are too general. Being

as specific as possible helps to direct the plan; for example, you

might restate your goals by saying, “I am going to lose ten pounds

by June 1” or “We are going to help students improve their

inductive reasoning when reading from their textbooks.”

• Using a particular format, planner, or an organizer for writing down

the plan can ensure that it is complete and easy to use. In its simplest

form, an organizer might include the following components:

“He who does not look

ahead remains behind.”

—Spanish Proverb

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What needs to be

accomplished?

By when? By whom?

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• When you have long-term projects or goals, identify short-term

objectives or checkpoints to be achieved and to celebrate along the

way. You might use symbols or checkmarks to note objectives

accomplished.

• Because original plans often have to be revised, it is a good idea to

review your plan regularly, assess how the plan is working, and then

make necessary revisions.

• When creating a plan for a complex project, seek out others who

have been involved in similar projects and have them review your

plan. Ask specific questions related to your concerns and encourage

them to reflect on what they would have done differently in their

project, what cautions they would offer, and what they would be sure

to do again.

• Office supply stores carry planners for almost any project and time

frame. If you are not particularly skilled at designing your own

planner, buy one.

• There are courses offered to help people learn to be better planners. If

you are weak in this area, enroll in one.

Identify and Use Necessary Resources

When we encourage students to work hard, to push their limits, and to

believe in themselves, we also might need to remind them that success

frequently depends on seeking help, that is, seeking the human, financial,

material, and information resources that will contribute to completing a task

or achieving a goal. Successful people often attribute much of their success to

the resources—both human and nonhuman—that contributed to their

efforts along the way.

Being aware of necessary resources involves a cycle of assessing what

resources are needed, determining their availability, accessing them, using

them appropriately, and continually reassessing to identify additional

resources as you work. In the technological society we now enjoy, each step

of this cycle can be enhanced with the use of communication and

information systems.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to identify and

use necessary resources

• Every day in school, it is important to use the numerous resources

available to you under one roof: teachers, books, equipment, peers,

counselors, electronic media, and, especially, time.

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Schunk (1990) “Goal

Setting and Self-efficacy

During Self-regulated

Learning”

Covey (1990) The 7 Habits

of Highly Effective People

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• People who have been successful in almost any field have faced many

situations that required them to rely not just on their own personal

resources but on other people’s money, time, support, and ideas.

Sports figures often describe their search for the ideal coach;

entertainers and artists have stories of receiving backing from patrons

of the arts; authors dedicate works to key mentors from whom they

have received support and ideas.

• There are many times when identifying necessary resources will help

you fulfill your responsibilities as a family member. Most

experienced parents, for example, could describe numerous times

that they had to identify and seek help and advice as they raised

their children. People who face caring for aging parents sometimes

have a need to look for suggestions, professional help, or

psychological support.

• One of life’s major goals, maintaining your own health, increasingly

depends on finding and making use of resources, whether it is

seeking second opinions on health matters, finding an exercise

buddy, or hiring a personal trainer.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of identifying and using necessary resources

• When involved in any complex task or situation, start by making a

list that includes what is needed, what is available, what is not

available, and other resources that could replace what is not available.

• Before beginning a project or task, seek out others who have been

involved in similar types of projects and find out what they needed.

This can help you to make sure you have not overlooked some

important resources and can provide ideas for obtaining the resources

you have already identified.

• Regularly ask yourself, “What else is available to me, or what can I

make available, that will contribute to this process?” This self-talk

can help you to be alert to resources that you might otherwise miss.

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Respond Appropriately to Feedback

Seeking out and responding to feedback communicates that you care about

being successful and that you acknowledge that self-assessment, although

necessary, might not be sufficient for maximum success. It means you listen

to others’ remarks with an open mind because you value their input and

want to improve your performance. However, being sensitive to feedback

does not mean that you must agree with or act on every suggestion; it does

mean that you listen, reflect, and take appropriate action, which might

include dismissing the advice.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to respond

appropriately to feedback

• When you are engaged in a repetitious task, you might find yourself

getting into a rut. It can be helpful to solicit or listen to someone

else’s ideas about how to improve performance or prevent careless

mistakes.

• If you have a school project to complete or a plan to implement, it

can be useful to ask someone to give you feedback. This can help you

make the project more focused, thorough, and accurate. Just the

process of asking for feedback can help you to stay focused.

• If you are speaking to an audience, you can get feedback from the

audience. Watch body language, elicit responses during the speech,

and adapt accordingly.

• When you are striving to accomplish any long-term, complex task

(e.g., debugging your computer), it is important to actively seek

feedback. Being sensitive to the feedback can help keep you on

course, allow you to correct if things are not going well, and increase

the likelihood of your success.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of responding appropriately to feedback

• When you are involved in a difficult task, occasionally stop and ask

another person for his or her opinion about your progress. Be sure to

ask specific questions such as, “How do you think this is working?”,

“What would you change about the way that I’m dealing with

this?”, and “Tell me what I am doing best and which component of

the task you think is most important.” Direct, specific questions will

elicit advice that is most useful.

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Resnick (1987) Education

and Learning to Think

Pressley & Levin (1983b)

Cognitive Strategy Research:

Psychological Foundations

Pressley & Levin (1983a)

Cognitive Strategy Research:

Educational Applications

Thank you!

That was

a good

suggestion.

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• When you are creating an action plan to meet a specific goal (e.g.,

training for a long bike ride), include in your plan exactly when and

from whom you will seek feedback. Include people who have some

experience in the area so that they can help you identify the signals

or signposts that should let you know whether or not you are headed

in the right direction.

• When you are creating a new plan at work, ask colleagues for

feedback. As you listen, take notes. Avoid accepting or rejecting the

feedback until later when you have a chance to reflect on the ideas

from each person.

• There are times when you may need to prepare yourself to receive

feedback. For example, if you know that you tend to be defensive

about feedback in particular situations or from specific people,

prepare yourself by trying to be as open as possible.

Evaluate the Effectiveness of Your Actions

When you are evaluating the effectiveness of your actions, you are acting as

your own process observer. This type of self-assessment involves continually

stepping out of your work, looking at what you are accomplishing, and then

evaluating how successfully you are accomplishing the task or goal. You

might be asking yourself questions, validating or rethinking your approach,

deciding whether to maintain your plan of action or start over, and learning

if and how you would change your approach the next time. Exhibiting this

habit of mind takes discipline and a commitment to high standards.

Examples of situations in which it might be beneficial to evaluate the

effectiveness of your actions

• Any time you are starting something new or trying to do something

for the first time, evaluating your actions along the way helps you

learn from mistakes and can change the way that you perform in the

future.

• When you are teaching someone else how to do something, you may

find that you need to evaluate your own actions in order to be able to

influence others.

• When you are successful at some kind of task, such as organizing

large functions, it is useful to evaluate the effectiveness of your

decisions and actions so that you will be able to duplicate those

successes.

Covey (1990) The 7 Habits

of Highly Effective People

Hansen (1992) “Literacy

Portfolios: Helping

Students Know Themselves”

Resnick (1987) Education

and Learning to Think

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I did wrong.

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• If you are involved in a project that includes many people, by

articulating how you evaluate the effectiveness of your part of the

work, you may be able to give others an opportunity to do the same,

thereby contributing to the performance of the group as a whole.

Examples of strategies recommended by people who exhibit the habit

of evaluating the effectiveness of their actions

• As soon as you have finished working on a challenging, long-term

project, ask yourself, “What would I do differently next time? What

would I do the same?” Using self-talk is one of the most common

approaches to self-assessment.

• As discussed earlier, writing out your plan is a good practice to use

during any project. It also allows you to go back and methodically

evaluate each phase. This written record is then available to you in

future similar endeavors.

• After you have completed a project or task (e.g., painting a room),

seek out the strategies other people have used to be successful in that

area (e.g., successful painters) and compare your tactics with theirs.

Look for ways that you could change your behavior to be more

successful in the future.

• When you are trying to improve your ability to use a complex

process, it is always useful to break the process down into small

parts. This allows you to evaluate each part, rather than examining

the whole, and decreases the potential for feeling overwhelmed by

the improvements you need to make.

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“When you’re through

changing, you’re through.”

—Bruce Barton

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Unit Planning: Dimension 5

Planning for Dimension 5 requires asking and answering the following

overarching question:

What will be done to help students develop productive habits of mind?

What follows is a step-by-step process that will guide you in answering this

question. Each step asks you to answer a key question or provide specific

information. There is a place on the planning guide (see page 302) in which

to record your ideas, notes, decisions, and planned activities. A sample

planning guide has been filled out for a hypothetical social studies unit

about Colorado. (This unit topic was chosen because, with some changes, it

could be used for a unit about any state or region and at any developmental

level. You will find the entire unit in Chapter 6, “Putting It All Together.”)

Step 1

To answer these questions, do the following:

• Identify anything you have noticed, in general, about students’

awareness of or use of the habits of mind. For example, you might

have observed that students rarely stop to identify the necessary

resources before planning or that they are reluctant to say anything

when things are not clear to them.

• Think about the activities, experiences, and tasks that will be

included in the unit, and identify any mental habits that will

contribute to students’ performance or level of learning. For example,

there might be a particularly difficult task in Dimension 4 that will

challenge students to push themselves or there might be a class

debate during which students need to listen to each other carefully.

Are there any goals or concerns related to students’ habits of mind?

• in general?

• related to this specific unit?

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Step 2

This question has two parts, as follows:

Step 2a

Identify the specific habits of mind that will help you to address your goals

and concerns.

Specifically, will anything be done to help students. . .

Critical Thinking

❏ be accurate and seek accuracy?

❏ be clear and seek clarity?

❏ maintain an open mind?

❏ restrain impulsivity?

❏ take a position when the situation warrants it?

❏ respond appropriately to others’ feelings and level of knowledge?

Creative Thinking

❏ persevere?

❏ push the limits of their knowledge and abilities?

❏ generate, trust, and maintain their own standards of evaluation?

❏ generate new ways of viewing a situation that are outside the

boundaries of standard conventions?

Self-regulated Thinking

❏ monitor their own thinking?

❏ plan appropriately?

❏ identify and use necessary resources?

❏ respond appropriately to feedback?

❏ evaluate the effectiveness of their actions?

What will be done to address these goals or concerns?

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Step 2b

Describe the specific action you will take or the activities and strategies will

use. You might want to consider the strategies suggested earlier in this

section of the manual. They are as follows:

1. Help students understand habits of mind.

• Facilitate classroom discussion of each habit.

• Use examples from literature and current events of people who

are using the habits in different situations.

• Share personal anecdotes that relate to a habit.

• Notice and label student behavior that demonstrates a particular

habit.

• Ask students to identify personal heroes or mentors and describe

the extent to which they exemplify specific habits of mind.

• Have students create posters that illustrate their understanding

of the habits.

2. Help students identify and develop strategies related to the

habits of mind.

• Use think-aloud to demonstrate specific strategies.

• Ask students to share their own strategies.

• Encourage students to find examples of strategies mentioned in

literature and current events.

• Ask students to interview others (e.g., parents, friends, or

neighbors) to identify strategies.

• Each quarter or semester, ask students to identify and focus on a

habit of mind they would like to develop.

3. Create a culture in the classroom and the school that

encourages the development and use of the habits of mind.

• Model the habits.

• Integrate the habits into the daily routines and activities of the

classroom.

Describe what will be done.

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• Develop and display posters, icons, and other visual

representations to express the importance of productive habits of

mind.

• When appropriate, cue students to focus on specific mental

habits or ask them to identify habits that would help them while

working on difficult tasks.

4. Provide positive reinforcement to students who exhibit the

habits of mind.

• Appoint “process observers,” students who watch for positive

examples of other students who are demonstrating the habits.

• Ask students to self-assess their use of specific habits.

• Give students feedback on a report card or progress report.

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302

Describe what will be done.

Critical Thinking

❏ be accurate and seek accuracy?

❏ be clear and seek clarity?

❏ maintain an open mind?

❏ restrain impulsivity?

❏ take a position when the

situation warrants it?

❏ respond appropriately to others’

feelings and level of knowledge?

Creative Thinking

❏ persevere?

❏ push the limits of their

knowledge and abilities?

❏ generate, trust, and maintain

their own standards of evaluation?

❏ generate new ways of viewing a

situation that are outside the

boundaries of standard conventions?

Self-Regulated Thinking

❏ monitor their thinking?

❏ plan appropriately?

❏ identify and use necessary resources?

❏ respond appropriately to feedback?

❏ evaluate the effectiveness of their actions?

Are there any goals or concerns

related to students’ habits of mind

• in general?

• related to this specific unit?

Specifically, will anything be

done to help students. . .

It’s that time of year. Students are

really slacking off. Energy is low;

only the minimum is being done—

even from my good students

I am going to try to energize them a little bit by

verbally reinforcing students when they push their

limits or persevere. I think it is time to give out a few

certificates of achievement when students exhibit these

habits.

Students know you should plan

before you begin, but they do not

consistently or efficiently do this.

The experimental inquiry task will

be dependent on careful planning

and follow-through.

I am going to give students a planning form to keep on

their desks. I will use it to lead some discussions about

planning and then to demonstrate how to use the form.

Every few days I am going to have students write in

their learning logs about how their planning is going.

What will be done to address these goals or concerns?

✓

Step 1 Step 2

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As explained in the introduction to this manual, one of the primary uses of

the Dimensions of Learning model is as a structure for planning units of

instruction. At the end of the chapter for each dimension, a process for unit

planning is explained and examples are provided of a social studies unit

about the state of Colorado. Units of study planned using the Dimensions of

Learning model might be short—that is, implemented over a period of only

three or four days—or long—extending over two or more weeks. The length

will be influenced by a number of factors, including how much knowledge is

being targeted, the age of the students, and the level of interest of the

students. This section, “Putting It All Together,” addresses how a teacher

might integrate five issues that must be considered in relationship to one

another for a unit to truly be effective. The issues are (1) the content that

will be covered, (2) how students will be assessed, (3) how grades will be

assigned, (4) how instruction will be sequenced, and (5) how conferences will

be used.

Content

Whether a unit is short or long, deals with mathematics or social studies, or

is targeted for the first grade or the twelfth grade, the planning process

requires the curriculum planner to consider each of the five dimensions. The

primary questions that have been identified for each dimension include the

following:

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Dimension 1

What will be done to help students develop positive attitudes and

perceptions?

• Are there any goals or concerns related to students’ attitudes and

perception

• in general?

• related to this specific unit?

• What will be done to address these goals or concerns?

• Specifically, will anything be done to help students

• feel accepted by teachers and peers?

• experience a sense of comfort and order?

• perceive tasks as valuable and interesting?

• believe they have the ability and resources to complete tasks?

• understand and be clear about tasks?

Dimension 2: Declarative

What will be done to help students acquire and integrate declarative

knowledge?

• What declarative knowledge will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating? As a result of this unit, students will know

or understand. . . .

• What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire and

integrate this knowledge?

• What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning for,

organize, and/or store this knowledge?

Dimension 2: Procedural

What will be done to help students acquire and integrate procedural

knowledge?

• What procedural knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring

and integrating? As a result of this unit, students will be able to…

• What strategies will be used to help students construct models for,

shape, and internalize the procedural knowledge?

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Dimension 3

What will be done to help students extend and refine knowledge?

• What knowledge will students be extending and refining? Specifically,

students will be extending and refining their understanding of. . . .

• What reasoning process will students be using?

Dimension 4

What will be done to help students use knowledge meaningfully?

• What knowledge will students be using meaningfully? Specifically,

students will be demonstrating their understanding of or ability to. . . .

• What reasoning process will students be using?

Dimension 5

What will be done to help students develop productive habits of mind?

• Are there any goals or concerns related to students’ habits of minds

• in general?

• related to this specific unit?

• What will be done to address these goals or concerns? Specifically, will

anything be done to help students

• be accurate and seek accuracy?

• be clear and seek clarity?

• maintain an open mind?

• restrain impulsivity?

• take a position when the situation warrants it?

• respond appropriately to others’ feelings and level of knowledge?

• persevere?

• push the limits of their knowledge and abilities?

• generate, trust, and maintain their own standards of evaluation?

• generate new ways of viewing a situation that are outside the

boundaries of standard conventions?

• monitor their own thinking?

• plan appropriately?

• identify and use necessary resources?

• respond appropriately to feedback?

• evaluate the effectiveness of their actions?

The entire unit plan for the Colorado unit, in which each of the primary

questions for each dimension is answered, can be found at the end of this

chapter.

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Although these questions are presented in a step-by-step sequence, planning

is, in reality, rarely a linear process. A person planning a unit might start

with Dimension 4, then plan Dimensions 2 and 3, and then, because of

decisions made in Dimensions 2 and 3, go back and change decisions

initially made in Dimension 4. Perhaps the only fairly consistent approach to

planning is that the questions related to attitudes and perceptions

(Dimension 1) and habits of mind (Dimension 5) are answered last. This is

because many of the goals and concerns in these dimensions are not apparent

until Dimensions 2, 3, and 4 have been planned.

Even though there is great variation in the order in which people plan the

dimensions, it is critical to the planning process to ask and answer the

questions for each dimension. This guarantees that each part of the learning

process is carefully considered during planning. However, it would be a

mistake to conclude that each dimension has an equal role in each unit.

Sometimes when you are asking yourself the questions related to a particular

dimension, you will decide that nothing or not much will be done to address

that dimension during the unit. Because of the specific focus of a unit, one

dimension might dominate or be deemphasized. Below are explanations of

three models of planning, each representing a different focus and, therefore, a

different emphasis on the individual dimensions.

Model 1: Focus on Knowledge

When using Model 1, the teacher focuses on Dimension 2, acquiring and

integrating declarative and procedural knowledge. This means that specific

concepts, generalizations/principles, skills, or processes are the focus of the

unit. Everything that happens in the classroom “serves” these learning goals.

Thus, the teacher selects extending and refining activities (Dimension 3) and

tasks that require students to use the identified knowledge meaningfully

(Dimension 4). The planning sequence for this model might include the

following steps:

Step 1

Identify the declarative and procedural knowledge (Dimension 2) that will

be the focus of the unit.

Step 2

Create extending and refining activities (Dimension 3) that will reinforce

and deepen students’ understanding of the declarative and procedural

knowledge identified in Step 1.

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Step 3

Design a task that requires students to use knowledge meaningfully

(Dimension 4). The targeted knowledge should be the declarative and

procedural knowledge identified in Step 1.

Model 1 has these general characteristics:

• The knowledge identified in Dimension 2 is selected because the

planner considers it to be important for all students or because it is

important knowledge related to district or state standards and

benchmarks.

• When declarative knowledge is the focus, concepts and

generalizations/principles (as opposed to discrete facts) should be

identified. When the focus is on procedural knowledge, important

declarative knowledge that is related to those procedures also should

be identified.

• Both Dimension 3 and Dimension 4 tasks are means of enhancing

students’ understanding of, or proficiency with, the identified

knowledge.

• Usually, only one task that requires students to use knowledge

meaningfully (Dimension 4) is included in the units, and the teacher

makes sure that students know that the task requires them to use the

knowledge identified in Step 1.

Model 2: Focus on Issues

When using this model, you focus on Dimension 4, the meaningful use of

knowledge. Specifically, you identify an issue related to the general theme of

the unit and decide what kind of task might be associated with the issue.

For example, if there is an issue about how or why something happened,

then historical investigation becomes the focus of the unit. If there is a

phenomenon to be studied, then experimental inquiry becomes the focus of

the unit, and so on. Once you have identified the issue and its related task,

you identify the declarative and procedural knowledge (Dimension 2) and

any extending and refining activities (Dimension 3) needed to complete the

task. Work in Dimensions 2 and 3 supports the task that you have selected.

The planning process for Model 2 might be represented in this way:

Step 1

Identify an important issue and its related task that requires students to use

knowledge meaningfully (Dimension 4).

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Step 2

Identify the declarative and procedural knowledge (Dimension 2) needed to

complete the task.

Step 3

Identify the extending and refining activities (Dimension 3) needed to

enhance students’ understanding of the declarative and procedural

knowledge.

Model 2 has these general characteristics:

• The unit contains only one task that requires students to use

knowledge meaningfully. In the primary grades, an extending and

refining activity (Dimension 3) may be used instead because this

kind of activity is often more appropriate for young students.

• The identified declarative and procedural knowledge is selected

because students need that knowledge to complete the identified

Dimension 4 task.

• Extending and refining activities might be deemphasized because the

Dimension 4 task will serve to enhance students’ understanding of,

and proficiency with, the identified knowledge.

Model 3: Focus on Student Exploration

Model 3 most closely resembles the developers’ original concept of the

workings of the Dimensions of Learning framework. As in Model 1, you first

identify the declarative and procedural knowledge (Dimension 2) that will

be highlighted in the unit. You also identify the extending and refining

activities (Dimension 3) that will reinforce that knowledge. In a departure

from both models 1 and 2, however, you do not identify a task that requires

students to use knowledge meaningfully (Dimension 4) but ask students to

select their own tasks, or projects, for making meaningful use of knowledge.

Your job is to assist students in choosing a project and to encourage them to

explore issues and interesting questions that arise naturally in the unit. In

effect, students have the freedom to study issues that are beyond the scope of

the declarative and procedural knowledge you have identified. The only

requirement is that students use important knowledge in ways that are

meaningful to them. Using this model, the planning process might be

delineated in the following way:

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Step 1

Identify the declarative and procedural knowledge (Dimension 2) to be

highlighted in the unit.

Step 2

Identify extending and refining activities (Dimension 3) that will deepen

students’ understanding of the declarative and procedural knowledge.

Step 3

Identify ways to help students select tasks in which they use knowledge

meaningfully (Dimension 4).

Model 3 has these general characteristics:

• The types of tasks or projects undertaken by students are very

diverse.

• A greater portion of class time is devoted to these projects

(Dimension 4) because students develop their own projects.

Assessment

Dimensions of Learning can help teachers identify and clarify what they will

teach—the content of a unit of instruction. In addition, Dimensions of

Learning can be a powerful model for organizing classroom assessment.

What to Assess

Traditionally, classroom assessment has been focused exclusively on the

acquisition of information and skills—declarative and procedural knowledge

as represented in Dimension 2. The Dimensions of Learning model suggests

that, in addition to the content-specific knowledge of Dimension 2, other

types of information and skills are important for students to learn and can be

assessed, specifically the information and skills involved in Dimensions 3, 4,

and 5. In other words, the bias of the Dimensions of Learning model is to

assess Dimensions 2, 3, 4, and 5 as opposed to just the information and

skills in Dimension 2. Why?

First, even if we could agree that only content-specific information and skills

(Dimension 2) are important, most educators would admit that they want

students to have more than a surface-level grasp of important declarative and

procedural knowledge. Thus, it is important to teach students processes that

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help them to extend and refine that knowledge—that is, go into more depth,

make new connections, have new insights, and correct misconceptions. The

Dimension 3 complex reasoning processes accomplish this purpose but must

be taught and assessed if students are to learn and use them.

Similarly, most people recognize the necessity for students to apply

important information and skills to real-life settings and problems. Again,

the Dimension 4 complex reasoning processes provide an opportunity for

students to do this. They, too, must be taught and assessed if students are to

value them and learn to use them.

Finally, most people concur that having certain dispositions makes it more

likely that students will learn content more effectively and function more

successfully in the world. The habits of mind in Dimension 5 are the kinds

of dispositions that many people believe students need in order to learn

effectively in school and to succeed in life. Again, these habits of mind can

and must be taught and assessed if students are to learn them.

Dimension 1, it might be noticed, has not been mentioned in this discussion

of assessment. Although the different aspects of Dimension 1 may be

assessed, primarily through teacher observation or student self-assessment,

most people refrain from such assessment because the elements are largely

attitudinal.

To summarize, then, we recommend that the various components of

Dimensions 2, 3, 4, and 5 be taught and assessed for the many reasons

discussed above.

Assessment Techniques: Tools and Techniques for

Collecting Data

One of the keys to effectively assessing Dimensions 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the

classroom is to have a wide variety of assessment techniques. Here we

consider five types of assessment that all classroom teachers can use: (1)

forced-choice items, (2) essay questions, (3) performance tasks and portfolios,

(4) teacher observation, and (5) student self-assessment. The utility of these

five types of assessment for each dimension is depicted in Figure 6.1. As

Figure 6.1 illustrates, some types of assessment are much more flexible than

others in the number of dimensions they address.

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FIGURE 6.1

YPES OF ASSESSMENT FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE

Forced-Choice Items

As described by assessment expert Richard Stiggins (1994), forced-choice

items are those found in what we think of as conventional, objective tests.

They include multiple-choice items, true/false items, matching exercises, and

short, fill-in-the-blank items. The student is asked to select or give the

correct or best answer.

Although forced-choice items can be used to assess declarative knowledge—

from the general (concepts and generalizations) to the specific (facts about

people, places, events)—they are best suited for information at the factual

level and when simple recall or recognition of information is the goal. For

procedural knowledge, such items are appropriate for assessing whether

students have mastered basic algorithms such as adding or subtracting.

Essay Questions

Essay questions have been used by classroom teachers for many years. They

are effective for assessing both declarative and procedural knowledge

(Dimension 2) as well as the complex reasoning processes (Dimensions 3 and

4). Relative to Dimension 2, essay questions are appropriate for assessing

students’ understanding of general levels of declarative knowledge (concepts

and generalizations, big ideas and their relationships) as well as determining

Dimension 2:

Specific

Declarative

Knowledge

X X X X X

Dimension 2:

General

Declarative

Knowledge

X X X X

Dimension 2:

Specific

Procedural

Knowledge

X X X X X

Dimension 2:

General

Procedural

Knowledge

X X X X

Dimension 3 & 4:

Complex

Reasoning

Processes

X X X X

Dimension 5:

Habits of Mind

X X X

Forced-Choice

Items

Essay

Questions

Performance

Tasks/Portfolios

Teacher

Observation

Student

Self-Assessment

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students’ proficiency with procedural knowledge (by having students explain

or critique a procedure). When a complex reasoning process is applied to

declarative knowledge in an essay, students must demonstrate an

understanding of the declarative knowledge as well as competence in using

the reasoning process.

Performance Tasks and Portfolios

Good essay questions are closely related to performance tasks. In fact, an

essay question that uses one of the Dimension 3 or 4 reasoning processes is a

type of performance task. Performance tasks require students to construct

responses that demonstrate that they can analyze and/or apply knowledge. As

indicated in Figure 6.1, performance tasks may be used to assess declarative

and procedural knowledge (Dimension 2), complex reasoning processes

(Dimensions 3 and 4), and habits of mind (Dimension 5). In addition,

performance tasks promote student engagement, a deeper understanding of

the content being studied, and an opportunity for students to meaningfully

apply that content knowledge.

A model for constructing performance tasks based on the Dimensions of

Learning model includes the following steps adapted from Assessing Student

Outcomes (Marzano, Pickering, & McTighe, 1993):

1. Identify important declarative or procedural knowledge that will be

assessed in the task. (Dimension 2: Declarative knowledge should be

at the concept, generalization, or “big idea” level of generality.)

2. Structure the task around one of the complex reasoning processes in

Dimensions 3 or 4. (This may not be necessary when procedural

knowledge from Dimension 2 is selected. Instead, the skill or process

may be placed in a real-life, real-use context.)

3. Write a first draft of the performance task, incorporating the

information identified in steps 1 and 2.

4. Identify dispositions from the habits of mind (Dimension 5) to

include in the task. Revise the task to include them.

5. Identify specific aspects of communication, information processing,

and/or cooperation/collaboration, if desired, and build them into the

task.

The performance task shown in Figure 6.2 was developed using the above

steps. (These steps were adapted from a task from Assessing Student Outcomes.)

To make the task most effective as an assessment tool, rubrics should be

provided for students. (For a discussion of rubrics, see the upcoming section

“The Important Role of Judgment.”) General rubrics for all the dimensions

can be found in the book Assessing Student Outcomes.

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FIGURE 6.2

EFINITIONAL INVESTIGATION TASK

Portfolios are intimately tied to performance tasks. In fact, they usually

contain products from a series of performance tasks. They also might contain

examples of various stages of a particular performance task to show

development and growth. An important aspect of a portfolio is the student’s

description of the process of creating a product, why certain decisions were

made, and a judgment about his or her own effort. Portfolios are often

accompanied by exhibitions, that is, presentations or defenses of student

work.

Grade-level range: Junior high—high school

Although the term Third World is often used by newscasters,

economists, and authors, its meaning is unclear to many people. There

is no common understanding of precisely what the Third World is or

where the term originated. In your small group, locate descriptions of,

or allusions to, the Third World or to another regional term of your

choice (e.g., underdeveloped nations, the Far East) that provide

information or insights into the characteristics represented by the

terms and an explanation of why the term is used.

Construct a definition of the term, and determine if its characteristics

focus primarily on political, sociological, topographical, or religious

distinctions. Use a consensus process to reach agreement on the

definition. You will present your findings in a panel discussion format,

so be prepared to defend your definition. You will be assessed on and

provided rubrics for the following:

Declarative Knowledge (Dimension 2): Social Studies

1. Your ability to distinguish differing definitions of regions: those

based primarily on politics, sociological elements, topography,

religions, etc.

Complex Reasoning Process (Dimension 3/4): Definitional Investigation

1. Your ability to define or describe something for which there is no

readily available or accepted definition.

2. Your ability to develop and defend a logical and plausible resolution

to the confusion, uncertainty, or contradiction about the concept.

Habit of Mind (Dimension 5): Critical Thinking

1. Your ability to take a position when the situation warrants it.

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Teacher Observation

Perhaps the most direct way of collecting assessment data is to informally

observe students. To do this, a teacher commonly makes notes as he observes

students demonstrating their understanding of information or their use of a

skill. This is done unobtrusively as students engage in classroom activities.

As depicted in Figure 6.1, teacher observation can be used to assess

Dimensions 2, 3, 4, and 5. Recording data over an extended period of time

(e.g., a quarter or a semester) gives a teacher enough information to reliably

judge each student’s performance on any of the four dimensions that are the

focus of assessment.

Student Self-Assessment

This technique is particularly powerful because the assessment data comes

directly from students. Usually students are given specific questions, probes, or

rubrics to guide them in their self-assessment. They might write their

responses to questions or probes in a learning log or journal. They might also

respond to surveys and questionnaires. Self-assessments can be used to gather

assessment data for any and all of the dimensions of learning. They are

particularly appropriate for the habits of mind from Dimension 5 because

many of the habits are not easily observed but must be inferred by the teacher.

The Important Role of Judgment

With the exception of forced-choice items, the assessment techniques

described above cannot be reduced to responses that can be scored as correct

or incorrect. Therefore, teachers using this expanded array of assessment

techniques must shift their perspective from one of adding up the number of

correct responses a student obtains to one of making judgments about a

student’s level of performance on specific types of information and skill. One

of the best tools for making these types of judgments is a rubric, a set of

criteria that describes the characteristics of performance at difference levels of

competency. A rubric provides a scale, usually represented by numbers (e.g.,

4, 3, 2, and 1 for a 4-point scale) or descriptive terms (e.g., advanced,

proficient, developing or basic, and novice). Rubrics provide a structure for

making judgments about students’ levels of performance. This is especially

true for essays, performance tasks, portfolios, teacher observations, and

student self-assessments.

Teachers and students who use rubrics attest to their power to improve

student performance. Rubrics answer the question that students ask, “What’s

expected of me?” Grant Wiggins, director of programs for the Center on

Learning, Assessment, and School Structure, in describing the usefulness of

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rubrics, suggests that they are like road signs. Rubrics provide information

that lets students know where they are, where they need to be, and what

they need to do to get from where they are to where they need to be.

Rubrics help students self-assess, self-correct, and be more self-reliant.

The rubrics shown in Figures 6.3 and 6.4 can be used to assess students’

performance relative to declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge,

complex reasoning processes, and habits of mind. They can be tailored to

assignments and tasks by substituting assignment- or task-specific language

for the generic terms.

FIGURE 6.3

ENERIC RUBRICS FOR DECLARATIVE AND PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE

Declarative

4 Demonstrates a thorough understanding of the important

information; is able to exemplify that information in detail and

articulate complex relationships and distinctions.

3 Demonstrates an understanding of the important information;

is able to exemplify that information in some detail.

2 Demonstrates an incomplete understanding of the important

information, but does not have severe misconceptions.

1 Demonstrates an incomplete understanding of the important

information along with severe misconceptions.

Procedural

4 Carries out the major processes/skills inherent in the procedure

with relative ease and automaticity.

3 Carries out the major processes/skills inherent in the procedure

without significant error but not necessarily at an automatic

level.

2 Makes a number of errors when carrying out the major

processes and skills important to the procedure but still

accomplishes the basic purpose of the procedure.

1 Makes so many errors when carrying out the process and skills

important to the procedure that it fails to accomplish its

purpose.

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FIGURE 6.4

UBRIC FOR THE COMPLEX REASONING PROCESS “COMPARING”

DAPTED FROM GENERIC PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE RUBRIC

RUBRIC FOR THE HABIT OF MIND “RESTRAINS IMPULSIVITY”

4 Carefully considers a situation to determine whether more

study is required before acting. When further study is

required, gathers thorough and detailed information before

acting.

3 Considers a situation to determine whether more study is

required before acting. When further study is required, gathers

sufficient information before acting.

2 Considers, in a cursory manner, whether more study is

required before acting. When further study is required, gathers

some information before acting.

1 Does not consider a situation to determine whether more study

is required before acting.

Note: See Marzano, Pickering, & McTighe (1993) Assessing Student

Outcomes

, for rubrics for all of the Habits of Mind.

4 Carries out the steps in the process of comparing completely,

accurately, and effectively, and with relative ease and

automaticity.

3 Carries out the steps in the process of comparing effectively

and without significant error, but not necessarily at an

automatic level.

2 Makes a number of errors when carrying out the steps of the

process of comparing, but still accomplishes the basic purpose

of the comparison.

1 Makes so many errors when carrying out the steps important

to the process of comparing that it fails to accomplish its

purpose.

Note: The generic procedural knowledge rubric may be similarly adapted

to any and all of the Dimension 3 and 4 complex reasoning

processes.

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Grading

Once decisions have been made about the criteria for students’ levels of

performance on specific dimensions and the types of assessment tools that

will be used, the next concern is how to assign grades.

To do this, teachers must stop thinking of a grade as a compilation of scores

on tests, assignments, and activities to which points are assigned, and begin

to think in terms of levels of performance on (1) the important declarative

and procedural knowledge (Dimension 2) specific to a class or subject area,

(2) the particular Dimension 3 and 4 complex reasoning processes students

are learning and using in the classroom, and (3) the habits of mind

(Dimension 5) that have been addressed.

For example, within a unit of study on Colorado (which has been used in the

planning sections throughout this manual), the teacher might address a great

deal of knowledge (identified in Dimension 2), which can be clustered under

the following benchmarks:

Students will…

Benchmark 1: understand the interactions of human and physical

characteristics of a regions

Benchmark 2: understand the reasons for human movement within and

among regions

Benchmark 3: be able to use thematic maps

Students’ abilities to engage in complex reasoning processes and to exhibit

habits of mind (skills which may or may not be identified in benchmarks

within a district) are also addressed in the unit. Specifically, students use

three complex reasoning processes—classifying, inductive reasoning, and

experimental inquiry—in the Colorado unit. In addition, the teacher has

targeted two creative thinking habits of mind (persevere and push limits)

and one self-regulated thinking habit of mind (plan appropriately).

Figure 6.5 shows a sample page from a grade book that might be kept by a

teacher using this unit of study. This type of grade book is manageable when

the declarative and procedural knowledge is organized under specific

benchmarks. If benchmarks are not used, only the most important pieces of

knowledge should be included in the grade book; recording separate grades

for each piece of knowledge would not be realistic. Each portion of the grade

book is explained below.

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FIGURE 6.5

AMPLE PAGE FROM A GRADEBOOK

The assignment key at the top of the grade book can be used by the teacher

to list the various assessment techniques, activities, and assignments used for

grading. A page from our sample grade book has room for ten items, student

self-assessment, and teacher observations. Eight items have been filled in on

this sample page.

Assignment Key:

A. Quiz

B. Induction Task

C. Reg. cake (HW)

D. Classify Task

E. Quiz

F. Exper. Inq. Task

G. Unit Test

H. Map Assign (HW)

I. Quiz

J. Quiz

K. Student Self-Assessment

L. Observations

Standards/Benchmarks:

Students

Geo S1B2

humans/

physical

environment

Geo S6B1

use thematic

maps

Dim 5

habits of mind

Al Einstein

Marie Curie

3 2

423

2, 2

Geo S2B5

human

movement/

regions

Dim 3 & 4

complex

reasoning

3 3

3, 3+

3 3

2 1

322

2, 2

1 2

1, 1

George Carver

4 3

444

4, 4

4 4

3, 4, 3

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At the top of each column (where assignments are recorded in more

conventional grade books) are categories of knowledge for which grades are

recorded during this unit. The first three columns are for three of the

benchmarks from the unit; these are followed by a column for complex

reasoning processes (Dimensions 3 and 4) used in the unit and a column for

habits of mind (Dimension 5) used in the unit.

Note that in this marking period the teacher gave two graded homework

assignments, two quizzes, two Dimension 3 tasks, one Dimension 4 task,

and a unit test. Each box below each benchmark has room for the teacher to

enter a number reflecting his or her judgment about an individual student’s

performance on a specific assessment, activity, homework assignment, and so

on. For example, consider Al Einstein’s scores for the first benchmark. This

box has a number of rows, each preceded by a letter. The letter in each row

represents the assignment, the test, or the event for which the teacher has

made judgments about Al’s performance. The number represents the

teacher’s judgment about Al’s performance on each of the assessments for each

applicable benchmark, reasoning process, or habit of mind.

Note that most of the assessments address more than one benchmark. For

example, consider assessment F, the Experimental Inquiry Task. The task

provides assessment information for students’ performance on two content

benchmarks, the complex reasoning process, and the habits of mind targeted

in the unit.

Row K is used to record the individual student’s self-assessment for his or

her performance relative to each dimension. (The teacher enters this into the

grade book at the time of a teacher/student assessment conference. During

A. Quiz

B. Induction Task

C. Regional cake assignment (Homework)

D. Classify Task

E. Quiz

F. Experimental Inquiry Task

G. Unit Test

H. Map Assignment (Homework)

I. ________________________

J. ________________________

K. Student Self-Assessment

L. Observation

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the conference, each student provides the teacher with his or her personal

judgment and the evidence for those judgments.)

Row L is used to record the teacher’s informal observations on the student’s

performance relative to each dimension. For example, the teacher assigned a

score of 2 on one occasion and a score of 3 on the other occasion.

Numbers ranging from 1 to 4 are used throughout the grade book. These

refer to the levels of performance achieved by the student during a single

assignment that related to the declarative or procedural knowledge,

Dimension 3 or 4 processes, and habits of mind. (Sample rubrics were

presented earlier in this section that might be used to assess students’

performance relative to the different dimensions.) What does a teacher do,

however, when a single assignment or test relates to more than one

component in a category of declarative or procedural knowledge (e.g.,

understanding the concepts of topography, natural resources, climate, and

culture are all components of “understanding interactions between human

and physical systems”) or more than one complex reasoning process or habit

of mind (e.g., a single task could assess both comparing and inductive

reasoning)? The rubric shown in Figure 6.6 can be used to summarize

performance on multiple aspects of a category of declarative or procedural

knowledge, multiple complex reasoning processes in Dimensions 3 and 4, or

multiple habits of mind.

FIGURE 6.6

UBRIC SUMMARIZING PERFORMANCE ON MULTIPLE COMPONENTS

At the end of the grading period, the teacher assigns a score representing the

student’s performance for each type of knowledge assessed. This is entered in

the white box in the lower portion of each column of the grade book. This

score is not intended to be an average of all of the student’s scores for that

type of knowledge. Many educators believe that it does not matter how long

it takes for students to learn the targeted knowledge. The score is intended

to reflect the level of performance the student has attained during the

grading period.

4 Advanced performance in some of the components of this objective

3 Proficient performance in the majority of components of this

objective

2 Proficient or higher performance in some components of this

objective

1 Basic or lower performance in the majority of components within

this objective

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Once the teacher has assigned a score for each type of knowledge being

assessed, more than likely she must combine these into an overall grade. Each

type of knowledge might be weighted according to its importance. For

example, the declarative and procedural knowledge pieces might be given a

weight of 2, the complex reasoning processes a 2, and the habits of mind a 1.

The student’s scores (representing levels of performance) are multiplied by the

assigned weight in order to calculate quality points. The quality points are

then added; the sum of the quality points is divided by the sum of the weights

to arrive at an average score, as shown in Figure 6.7. Finally, the student’s

average score is converted into a grade based on the following conversion:

3.26-4.00 = A

2.76-3.25 = B

2.01-2.75 = C

1.50-2.00 = D

1.49 or below = F

FIGURE 6.7

ALCULATING SCORES

Using a single overall letter grade is not the ideal for several reasons. First,

the apparently arbitrary nature of cut-off scores is a weakness in many

respects. Second, a single grade does not provide specific information on

performance in the variety of areas it represents. Finally, a single letter grade

Sample Student: Al Einstein

Weight Quality PointsStudent’s Scores

Content benchmark score 1

× 2

Content benchmark score 2

× 2

Content benchmark score 3

× 2

Complex reasoning score

× 2

Habits of mind performance

× 1

Al Einstein’s average score for the quarter: 26 divided by 9 = 2.89

Al Einstein’s grade for the quarter: B

Total

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is an oversimplification of the complex array of information and skills

presented, learned, and assessed in a course of study. However, letter grades

have a wide appeal and carry with them a particular mystic: People seem to

think they mean more than they actually adequately represent. Nonetheless,

letter grades probably are here to stay for a while. For a fuller discussion of

grading issues, see Marzano and Kendall (1996), A Comprehensive Guide to

Designing Standards-Based Districts, Schools, and Classrooms. In conclusion,

judgments about students’ levels of performance on specific benchmarks can

be used to assign letter grades in a manner that conveys information to

students about specific dimensions of learning.

Sequencing Instruction

A unit of instruction based on Dimensions of Learning quite obviously

encompasses many different activities. Students, for example, are engaged in

projects based on Dimensions 3 and 4; teachers and students are meeting

individually and in small groups; and students sometimes are out of the

classroom gathering resources. Given the variety of activities, day-to-day

classes also might vary. We recommend that teachers think of instruction in

terms of at least two different types of classes: presentation classes and

workshop classes.

Presentation Classes

Presentation classes are geared toward Dimensions 2: acquiring and

integrating knowledge. Classes devoted to this dimension tend to be more

teacher directed. This does not mean that the teacher “dictates” or “lectures”

while the students “listen attentively.” Nor does it mean that the teacher

necessarily “presents” information. Presentation classes include guest speakers,

films, and even field trips; information is being “presented” to students in

some way. As you can see in Chapter 2, many strategies in Dimension 2

emphasize inquiry and encourage students to actively participate in learning.

The general direction of learning, however, is still guided by the teacher.

Although presentation classes certainly differ from subject to subject, certain

instructional techniques are used frequently in all presentation classes.

• Stimulating interest: Providing some personal anecdote or interesting

story to help students become interested in the activity designed to

help them acquire and integrate knowledge (Dimension 2).

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• Stating goals: Explicitly identifying the purpose or goal of the

activities that will be used.

• Making linkages: Demonstrating how the learning activities relate

to what has occurred in previous classes or, better yet, having

students make these linkages.

• Demonstrating: Clearly explaining or modeling key aspects of the

activities that will be used.

• Providing closure: Asking students to make summary statements

and evaluations about the learning experience.

It is important to note that these five techniques should not be thought of as

a “lesson design”—steps that must be used in all presentation classes and

performed in a set order. It is also important to note, however, that these five

aspects of presentation classes should be systematically addressed.

Workshop Classes

In contrast to presentation classes, the flow of activity in workshop classes is

more student directed. This is because workshop classes focus on extending

and refining knowledge (Dimension 3) or using knowledge meaningfully

(Dimension 4). Workshop classes are a perfect vehicle for helping students to

design and work on complex reasoning tasks. You might think of the

differences between presentation and workshop classes in this way: During

presentation classes the teacher “carries the ball” and students react to what

the teacher does; during workshop classes, the students carry the ball and the

teacher reacts to what the students do. Workshop classes are commonly

divided into three parts: the mini-lesson, the activity period, and the sharing

period.

The Mini-Lesson

As its name implies, the mini-lesson is short (five to ten minutes). It

commonly, but not necessarily, occurs at the beginning of the workshop and,

for the most part, is a vehicle for providing guidance and assistance to

students as they work on two types of tasks: those that help them to extend

and refine knowledge and those that require them to use knowledge

meaningfully.

During a typical mini-lesson a teacher might

• model some strategy or technique that students can use as they work

on their projects (e.g., a specific aspect of decision making to help

students in their decision-making project); and

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• demonstrate or explain resources that students can use in the projects

(e.g., preview a book or article that students can use in their

decision-making projects).

The mini-lesson, then, is a time for the teacher to provide whole-class

support and guidance for student projects.

The Activity Period

The activity period typically lasts between twenty and forty-five minutes.

During this time, students work independently or in cooperative groups on

their projects. The teacher acts as a coach or guide while students work on

their projects. The teacher’s main vehicle for doing this is conferencing,

which is discussed later in this chapter.

The Sharing Period

The sharing period usually is quite short, perhaps lasting only five to ten

minutes. Although it can occur at any time, the sharing period frequently is

at the end of the workshop. Students commonly share

• what they learned from the mini-lesson or activity period,

• new insights they have had, and

• perplexing issues they are facing in their projects.

If students are expected to include demonstrations with their projects, then

the sharing period is quite long. This usually occurs at the end of a unit.

Integrating Presentation and Workshop Classes

It is important to integrate presentation and workshop classes into a unit of

study. Further, all of the presentation classes should not be scheduled at the

beginning of the unit and all of the workshop classes at the end. Rather,

within a four-week unit of study, presentation and workshop classes might

be distributed as shown in Figure 6.8. In this example, there is a gradual

shift from an emphasis on presentation classes to an emphasis on workshop

classes. In other words, there is a gradual shift from an emphasis on

Dimension 2 (acquiring and integrating knowledge) to an emphasis on

Dimension 3 (extending and refining knowledge) and Dimension 4 (using

knowledge meaningfully). Dimension 1 (positive attitudes and perceptions)

and Dimension 5 (productive habits of mind) permeate both presentation

and workshop classes. It is the careful sequencing of presentation and

workshop classes that makes a unit of study a holistic learning experience,

with teacher and students trading off control of learning and the two types

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of classes supporting each other at strategic points. The four questions below

will help you properly sequence your classes and integrate the five

dimensions of learning:

1. What strategies and activities will be used to support Dimensions

1 and 5?

For example, the teacher planning the unit on Colorado decided to use

the following strategies and activities to support Dimensions 1 and 5:

• Work on more frequently restating and rephrasing questions

(Dimension 1).

• Give students the opportunity to apply knowledge to regions of their

choice (Dimension 1).

• Verbally reinforce students when they push their limits or persevere

(Dimension 5).

• Help students learn how to plan; have them reflect on planning in

their learning logs (Dimension 5).

2. How many days of the unit will be devoted to presentation classes,

and when will they occur?

To answer this question, you must determine

• how to sequence the direct and indirect learning experiences in the

presentation classes, and

• where to build in time for students to practice skills and processes.

FIGURE 6.8

EQUENCE OF CLASSES

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Week 1 P P P P P

Week 2 W P P P W

Week 3 W P W W W

Week 4 P W W W

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To illustrate, the teacher planning the unit on Colorado might sequence

the presentation and workshop classes as shown in Figure 6.9. The

circled letter P signifies presentation classes; W signals workshop classes.

She has decided to use the presentation format for the entire first week,

during which she will introduce key concepts from the unit and the

procedural knowledge related to reading maps. During the second week,

she will present generalizations and facts about the Colorado Gold Rush;

she will also include two workshop classes. During the third and fourth

weeks, the number of presentation classes decreases as the number of

workshop classes increases.

FIGURE 6.9

SEQUENCE OF CLASSES: COLORADO UNIT

3. How many workshop classes will be needed in the unit?

An important issue to consider is what you will be doing during the

mini-lessons. If, for example, you want students to learn a new complex

reasoning process to carry out a Dimension 3 or 4 task, then you need

enough time to introduce and model the process. As indicated in Figure

6.9, the teacher has determined that nine periods will be workshop

classes.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Week 1 topography, natural

resources—read text

construct models and

shape for reading

physical maps,

natural resource maps

• See film—begin

both pictographs

• climate—read text

assign regional

cakes

culture, read text, and

presentations

culture, read text, and

presentations; learn note-

taking strategy

Week 2 induction task—

demonstrate steps, do

some together as class

(cakes start coming in

this week)

topography, etc.

influence culture—

discussion using graphic

organizer; present

information on important

people from Colorado

history.

topography, etc.

influence settlement

patterns—read text,

handout—use

organizer (quiz)

guest speaker on

Gold Rush, students

use timeline for notes.

classifying task—students

already know how to

classify, but I will review

steps before they start

(quiz)

Week 3 introduce

experimental inquiry

task—teach steps of

process—demonstrate

planning; students

begin work

field trip

experimental inquiry:

students work on task,

I conference

induction task—

students work with

newspapers in

groups, I conference

• experimental inquiry

task—students work on

project, I conference,

demonstrate planning

• review map reading,

homework

Week 4 renewable,

nonrenewable, etc.

film, concept

attainment, graphic

organizer

experimental

inquiry—students

work, I conference

experimental

inquiry—I will

conference

student presentations

of results from

experimental inquiry

task

unit test

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4. What sequence of presentation and workshop classes will provide

an integrated unit of instruction?

Students need a certain amount of knowledge before they can effectively

direct their own projects. This is why most presentation classes occur at

the beginning of the unit—so students can acquire that knowledge. The

number of presentation classes diminishes as students start using the

knowledge they have acquired to pursue projects in workshop classes.

Periodically, students may need small doses of information—presentation

classes—to be able to continue their projects, but as Figure 6.8 shows,

over the four weeks of a typical unit there is a gradual shift from an

emphasis on presentation classes to an emphasis on workshop classes.

In determining the sequence of classes for a unit, you should make sure

each class builds on the previous classes and stagger the two types of

classes so that you have ample time to give students guidance on their

projects. One notable side benefit of properly staggered classes is that

students do not have a chance to become bored with the same old

routine.

Conferences

Conferences provide the opportunity and format for teacher and students to

interact on a more personal basis and break the pattern of teacher as leader

and presenter of information and student as follower and receiver of

information. In conferences, teacher and student become coinvestigators,

colearners.

A conference may last anywhere from three or four minutes to ten or fifteen

minutes. The teacher may meet with one student or a small group of

students; group conferencing can help the teacher rotate through the class

relatively frequently. Although every conference has one basic function—to

establish a line of communication between teacher and student—it is useful

to think about two different focuses that might be used: projects and

assessment.

Project Focus: When a conference focuses on projects, its purpose is to

provide guidance for students’ work on their Dimension 3 or 4 projects. In

project conferences, the teacher and student discuss progress on the project

and any problems the student might be having. They also jointly plan next

steps for the project.

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Assessment Focus: The purpose of the assessment conference is for teachers

and students to share their perceptions about how students are doing related

to each of the dimensions addressed in the unit. If students have been self-

assessing, they report their evaluations to the teacher during the assessment

conference. If the teacher and student disagree on their assessment of the

student’s performance, they try to reconcile those differences during the

assessment conference. This type of teacher/student interaction can be a very

powerful and empowering learning experience for both the student and the

teacher.

In Conclusion

This chapter has addressed important issues that influence the planning and

implementation of a unit of study. The sample unit on Colorado, which has

been used throughout this manual, was again used to illustrate major points

in this chapter. What follows is the entire Colorado unit plan. We

recommend that you look through this unit plan to get a clearer, more

holistic picture of the planning process.

As you review this sample unit, you will recognize many of the pages as

those that appeared in the planning sections at the end of the chapters on

each Dimension. You will notice that, although only one page for declarative

knowledge was shown in the planning section for Dimension 2 (page 92), in

the entire unit there are a number of pages for declarative knowledge, which

reflects the quantity of declarative knowledge included in this unit.

Keep in mind that this is a sample unit that focuses on a single content area:

social studies. This type of unit was created as a sample unit so that simple

examples could be presented to illustrate complex ideas from the

Dimensions of Learning model. You should not infer that we are

recommending that you use only units like the Colorado Unit. Hopefully,

we have made it clear that the planning process lends itself to

interdisciplinary units and units that are both shorter and longer than the

sample Colorado Unit.

Finally, remember that the Dimensions of Learning model does not have to

be used to plan units of study. Educators should use the model, and the

resources associated with it, to set and achieve their goals for student

learning. The purpose of any model is to help people understand something

that is very complex. Because there are few things as complex as human

learning, the Dimensions of Learning model is offered as a tool for educators

to help them better understand the process of learning. If this understanding

is achieved, the ultimate goal of the model should be realized: the

enhancement of student learning.

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Colorado Unit

Colorado

Geography Standard 3, Benchmark 2(D):

Understand characteristics and locations

of renewable and nonrenewable resources

Concepts: Renewable resources, nonrenewable resources,

flow resources

Facts describing Colorado’s resources will be used as

examples of each of these concepts.

Process by which fossil fuels are created will be used

to explain a nonrenewable resource.

Geography Standard 2,

Benchmark 5(D): Understand the

reasons for human movement

within and among regions

Generalizations/Principles: Topography,

natural resources, and climate influence

settlement patterns

Cause-effect examples from Colorado

(e.g., Mountains stopped some pioneers,

which then caused cities such as

Denver and Colorado Springs.)

Geography Standard 1, Benchmark 2(D):

Understand the interactions among

humans and their physical environment

within a region

Concepts: Topography, natural resources, climate,

culture.

Facts describing Colorado will be used as

examples of each of these concepts.

Generalizations/Principles: Topography, natural

resources, and climate influence the culture of a

region.

Cause-effect examples from Colorado (e.g.,

Mountains and snow influence winter sport

culture.)

Facts: Descriptions of how Molly Brown, Zebulon

Pike, Alfred Packer interacted with their physical

environments

Vocabulary Terms: tourism, plateau

Time sequences: The story of the

Colorado Gold Rush, 1859-1900

Other declarative knowledge

not related to benchmarks:

Knows how to read and interpret a physical map

Knows how to read and interpret a natural

resource map

Geography Standard 6, Benchmark 1(P):

Use thematic maps

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Are there any goals or concerns

related to students’ attitudes and

perceptions

• in general?

• related to this specific unit?

What will be done to address these goals or concerns?

Specifically, will anything be

done to help students. . .

Classroom Climate

❏ feel accepted by

teachers and peers?

❏ experience a sense of

comfort and order?

Classroom Tasks

❏ perceive tasks as

valuable and interesting?

❏ believe they have

the ability and resources

to complete tasks?

❏ understand and be

clear about tasks?

Describe what will be done.

I think I have been in a rut lately

when responding both to students’

incorrect answers and to their

correct or thoughtful answers.

The last field trip was not fun for

anyone; it seemed unorganized and

many rules for bus behavior were

forgotten.

I am going to work on slowing down and giving students a

chance to answer my questions; I need to do more restating and

rephrasing of the questions.

I will go over the rules of bus behavior and the general rules

for field trips; I think I’ll have students generate some additional

rules and suggestions for making the field trip successful.

✓

Students might be getting tired

of studying Colorado.

✓

The assignments will give students the opportunity to apply

knowledge to regions of their choice.

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What declarative knowledge

will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating?

As a result of this unit, students

will know or understand. . .

What experiences

or activities will be

used to help students

acquire and integrate

this knowledge?

What strategies will

be used to help students

construct meaning

for, organize, and/or

store this knowledge? Describe what will be done.

Text, pp. 8-10

Film: “From Sea

to Shining Sea”

Read physical maps

Independent study:

Regional cake

K-W-L

Physical/pictographic

representation

Concept: Topography

—Natural and artificial

features including land forms,

bodies of water, roads, bridges, etc.

Facts describing Colorado’s

topography will deal with the

Rocky Mountains, sand dunes,

rivers, plains, plateaus,

canyons.

Concept: Natural Resources

—Materials found in nature

that are useful, necessary, or

attractive

Facts describing Colorado’s

natural resources will deal

with snow, gold, soil,

sunshine, forests, oil,

mountains.

On a class K-W-L chart, we all will generate the

K and the W related to topography. We will then read

the text, watch the film, and read physical maps.

After each experience, we will fill out the L of the

chart. We will use the information from the K-W-L

to start a class pictograph of examples of topography.

Each student will make a cake depicting topography

from a region of his or her choice. Students will find

information independently. After the regional cake

assignment, as a class, we will add to our pictograph.

Film: “From Sea

to Shining Sea”

Read natural

resource maps

Field Trip:

Argo Gold Mine

3-minute pause

Uses all senses

Pictograph

Several times during the film, I will stop and ask

students to identify one type of natural resource. After

the film, I will ask them to try to create mental

pictures of examples of natural resources and identify

what they see, smell, feel, etc. We then will start our

pictographs of natural resources, a class one and

individual ones. After reading the natural resource

maps, we will add information to the pictographs.

During the field trip, students will have their

pictographs with them so they can add examples of the

natural resources that we observe.

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What declarative knowledge

will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student

will know or understand. . .

What experiences

or activities will be

used to help students

acquire and integrate

this knowledge?

What strategies will

be used to help students

construct meaning

for, organize, and/or

store the knowledge? Describe what will be done.

This will be a review for most students; climate is

a concept learned in earlier grades. We will read

the pages in the text and a handout I received from

the local television station discussing weather and

climate in general and in Colorado. I will stop

students periodically and simply ask them to

verbalize what they understand about climate.

Because culture is a new concept for them and

because it is so abstract, we will begin by reading

and discussing the information, using the reciprocal

teaching strategy. I will guide students through the

notetaking strategy to ensure that they record notes

and then develop an organizer about what we have

learned. I will then do a presentation showing my

collection of pictures and souvenirs that depict

various aspects of culture from other countries. I

will help students add to their notes and continue

to develop their organizers, making sure they are

including critical characteristics of culture.

Concept: Climate

—Patterns of weather

including temperature,

rainfall, etc.

Facts describing

Colorado’s climate such as

four seasons, very hot and

very cold periods, large

snowfall, low humidity.

Concept: Culture

—Beliefs, customs, values,

recreation, housing, etc. of a

group of people.

Facts describing

Colorado’s culture will be

used

Read text, p. 13

Discuss handout

Read text, pp. 3-7

Presentation

3-minute pause

Reciprocal teaching

Notetaking using

graphic organizer

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What declarative knowledge

will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student

will know or understand. . .

What experiences

or activities will be

used to help students

acquire and integrate

this knowledge?

What strategies will

be used to help students

construct meaning

for, organize, and/or

store the knowledge? Describe what will be done.

We will use several copies of a blank graphic

organizer to make connections between topography,

natural resources, climate, and culture for

Colorado, then do the same for several other regions

of the students’ choice. On the field trip, we will

fill out the organizer for Colorado. Back in class,

students will work in groups to fill it out for other

regions.

The text and handout discuss the connections

between topography, natural resources, and climate

and settlement patterns by telling stories of how the

mountains contributed to the settlement of Colorado

Springs and Denver, how gold caused mining towns

to thrive, and how the climate contributed to resort

towns emerging when so much snow attracted

skiers. Students will receive advance organizer

questions to focus them as they read each scenario.

They will answer the questions during 3-minute

pauses.

Generalization: Topography

and natural resources

influence the culture of a

region.

Cause-effect examples from

Colorado: Mountains and

snow influence winter sport

culture, etc.

Generalization: Topography,

natural resources, and

climate influence settlement

patterns.

Cause-effect scenarios from

Colorado’s history will be

used as examples along with

examples from other regions

Discussion

Field Trip: Argo

Gold Mine

Text, pp. 12-16

Discussion

Handout

Graphic organizer

3-minute pause

Advance organizer

questions

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What declarative knowledge

will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student

will know or understand. . .

What experiences

or activities will be

used to help students

acquire and integrate

this knowledge?

What strategies will

be used to help students

construct meaning

for, organize, and/or

store the knowledge? Describe what will be done.

Using the concept attainment strategy, I will

provide students with examples and nonexamples of

each of the three types of resources to see if they can

figure out the characteristics of each.

We will then view the film and verify or correct the

characteristics of the three types.

We will develop a concept graphic organizer

together on the overhead, focusing on examples from

Colorado. I will then make a copy for each student.

Concept: Renewable

resources

—Can be replaced (e.g.,

timber, soy beans)

Concept: Nonrenewable

resources

—Cannot be replaced (e.g.,

minerals, fossil fuels)

Concept: Flow resources

—Must be used when and

where they occur (running

water, sunshine)

Facts describing

Colorado’s resources will

be used

Discussion

Film: “Sources of

our Resources”

Inquiry model—

concept

attainment

Graphic organizer

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What declarative knowledge

will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student

will know or understand. . .

What experiences

or activities will be

used to help students

acquire and integrate

this knowledge?

What strategies will

be used to help students

construct meaning

for, organize, and/or

store the knowledge? Describe what will be done.

Mr. Jacobs, a great storyteller and historian, will

come to share the story of the Colorado Gold Rush.

Each student will use a timeline to record the major

events.

When we go on the field trip to the Argo Gold

Mine, we will be at the site of part of the actual

story. I will ask students to create mental images

and report what they see, hear, smell as they picture

the events of the story.

For each vocabulary term, students will work in

groups and go through the steps of the vocabulary

strategy. They will then take turns presenting to

the class the images and experiences they used to

exemplify the terms.

Time sequence: The story of

the Colorado Gold Rush,

1859-1900

Vocabulary terms: Tourism,

urban, rural, plateau

Guest speaker

Class discussion

Use all senses

Timeline graphic

organizer

Vocabulary strategy

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What will be done to

help students construct

models for, shape, and

internalize the knowledge? Describe what will be done.

What procedural knowledge

will students be in the process of

acquiring and integrating?

As a result of this unit, students will

be able to. . .

read and interpret physical

maps.

read and interpret natural

resource maps.

I will talk through the steps of reading a map,

demonstrating the steps with each type. I will give

them a set of written steps for reading any map.

Working in groups, students will receive several variations

in format (taken from different textbooks) for both physical

and natural resource maps. There will be questions for the

group and then for individual students to answer as a way

of becoming familiar with each variation. This assignment

also will reinforce the learning of the concepts of topography

and natural resources.

Note: These strategies

will be used to teach

both types of maps.

Think-aloud

Set of written steps

Practice with variations

Internalizing is not a

goal.

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Several times during this unit we will, as a class, select articles from

“USA Today” that reflect the culture of a place with which we are

unfamiliar. Based on what we learn from the article about the culture of

the place (e.g., issues or problems people face, their celebrations), we will

try to induce specific facts about the topography, natural resources, and

climate of the location.

What knowledge will students be

extending and refining?

Specifically, they will be extending

and refining their understanding of. . .

What reasoning process

will students be using?

❏ Comparing

❏ Classifying

❏ Abstracting

❏ Inductive Reasoning

❏ Deductive Reasoning

❏ Constructing Support

❏ Analyzing Errors

❏ Analyzing Perspectives

❏ Other _________________

Describe what will be done.

What knowledge will students be

extending and refining?

Specifically, they will be extending

and refining their understanding of. . .

What reasoning process

will students be using?

❏ Comparing

❏ Classifying

❏ Abstracting

❏ Inductive Reasoning

❏ Deductive Reasoning

❏ Constructing Support

❏ Analyzing Errors

❏ Analyzing Perspectives

❏ Other _________________

Describe what will be done.

Topography, natural resources, and

climate influence settlement patterns

in a region.

So far we have been focused on understanding how topography, natural

resources, and climate influence the “appearance” of settlements. Shift

your focus now and examine how these factors influence the

“disappearance” of settlements. You will be given descriptions of

situations where populations thrived and then disappeared (e.g.,

Anasazi Indians, several ghost towns, dinosaurs, and the “dust bowl”)

and the reasons for their demise. Classify each description according to

whether the reasons for the disappearance had more to do with

topography, natural resources, or climate. If more than one possible

reason is given, you may have to place the example in more than one

category.

Topography, natural resources, and

climate influence the culture of a

region.

✓

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What knowledge will students be

using meaningfully? Specifically,

they will be demonstrating their

understanding of and ability to. . .

What reasoning process

will they be using?

❏ Other __________________

Describe what will be done.

❏ Decision Making

(selecting from seemingly

equal alternatives or examining

the decisions of others)

❏ Problem Solving

(seeking to achieve a goal by

overcoming constraints or

limiting conditions)

❏ Invention

(creating something to meet a

need or improve on a situation)

❏ Experimental Inquiry

(generating an explanation

for a phenomenon and

testing the explanation)

❏ Investigation

(resolving confusions or

contradictions related to a

historical event, a hypothetical

past or future event, or to the

defining characteristics of

something)

❏ Systems Analysis

(analyzing the parts of a

system and how they interact)

The concepts of topography,

natural resources, climate, and

culture

Topography, natural resources,

and climate influence settlement

patterns.

We have discussed in class that Colorado’s population is growing

very rapidly. In fact, compared to many other states, a relatively

large number of people who live in Colorado moved from

somewhere else. There are actually not that many “Colorado

natives.” Why have so many people moved to Colorado, and why

is the population still growing so rapidly?

One explanation is that aspects of the topography, natural

resources, climate, and culture attract people to Colorado. Let’s

find out if that helps explain it. If it is true, we should be able

to trace people’s reasons for moving to Colorado to these

characteristics of the state.

Set up an activity—for example, surveys or interviews—that

would help to determine to what extent people have moved to

Colorado because of factors related to topography, natural

resources, climate, and culture. You will need to set up the

activity, plan for analyzing your results, and be ready to report

your findings to the class. Any member of your group may be

asked to explain what you found out about the influence of each

concept you are considering: topography, natural resources,

climate, and culture.

✓

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Describe what will be done.

Critical Thinking

❏ be accurate and seek accuracy?

❏ be clear and seek clarity?

❏ maintain an open mind?

❏ restrain impulsivity?

❏ take a position when the

situation warrants it?

❏ respond appropriately to others’

feelings and level of knowledge?

Creative Thinking

❏ persevere?

❏ push the limits of their

knowledge and abilities?

❏ generate, trust, and maintain

their own standards of evaluation?

❏ generate new ways of viewing a

situation outside the boundaries

of standard conventions?

Self-Regulated Thinking

❏ monitor their thinking?

❏ plan appropriately?

❏ identify and use necessary resources?

❏ respond appropriately to feedback?

❏ evaluate the effectiveness of their actions?

Are there any goals or concerns

related to students’ habits of mind

• in general?

• related to this specific unit?

Specifically, will anything be

done to help students. . .

It’s that time of year. Students are

really slacking off. Energy is low;

only the minimum is being done—

even from my good students

I am going to try to energize them a little bit by

verbally reinforcing students when they push their

limits or persevere. I think it is time to give out a few

certificates of achievement when students exhibit these

habits.

Students know you should plan

before you begin, but they do not

consistently or efficiently do this.

The experimental inquiry task will

be dependent on careful planning

and follow-through.

I am going to give students a planning form to keep on

their desks. I will use it to lead some discussions about

planning and then to demonstrate how to use the form.

Every few days I am going to have students write in

their learning logs about how their planning is going.

What will be done to address these goals or concerns?

✓

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Index

References to figures are indicated by the italic letter f

following the page number.

Abstracting, as complex reasoning process, 114, 130–137

classroom examples of, 136–137

critical aspects in, 133–135

graphic organizers for, 135, 135f

model for, 132

opportunities to practice, 132–133

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 135–136

Academic trust, establishment of, and classroom tasks, 30

Acceptance

feelings of, by teachers and peers, 16–22

strategies for gaining, 21–22

Accident, as example of faulty logic, 173

Accuracy

as habit of mind, 274–276

of new skills, charting of, 103

Activity period, during workshop classes, 324

Advance organizer questions, for new information, 68–69

Analyzing errors, as complex reasoning process, 114,

168–177

classroom examples of, 176–177

critical aspects of, 170–171

graphic organizers for, 172, 172f

model for, 169–170

opportunities to practice, 170

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 172–173

Analyzing perspectives, as complex reasoning

process, 114, 178–184

classroom examples of, 183–184

critical aspects of, 180–181

graphic organizers for, 181, 182f

model for, 179–180

opportunities to practice, 180

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 183

Appealing to force, as example of attack in argument, 174

Appropriate response, as habit of mind, 282–283

Arguing against the person, as example of attack in

argument, 174

Arguing from ignorance, as example of faulty logic, 174

Assessment

and Dimensions of Learning, 309–316

focus on, in teacher-student conferences, 328

structure for planning, Dimensions of Learning as, 9

techniques for, 310–314, 311f

Attacks, as error in thinking, 174

Attitudes and Perceptions (Dimension 1), 13–42

classroom examples of, 27–28, 37–38

and content to be covered, 304

overview of, 4, 13–14

unit planning for, 39–42

Attitudes, of teachers, and classroom climate, 17

Begging the question, as example of faulty logic, 173–174

“Bracketing,” and sense of comfort and order, 24

Categorical syllogisms, 155–159

graphic representations of, 156–157

hidden, 155–156

and truth of premises, 159

valid vs. invalid, 157–159, 158f

Cause-effect/process relationships, as declarative knowledge, 47

advance organizer questions for, 69

graphic organizer for, 64

Charts, student use of, 72, 72f

Circularity, as example of faulty logic, 173–174

Clarifying, and reciprocal teaching strategy, 59

Clarity

on classroom tasks, 35–36

as habit of mind, 276–277

Classifying, as complex reasoning process, 114, 123–129

classroom examples of, 128–129

critical aspects of, 125–126

graphic organizers for, 127, 127f

model for, 124–125

opportunities to practice, 125

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 127

Classroom climate, attitudes and perceptions about, 15–28

classroom examples of, 27–28

student awareness of, 15–16

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Classroom examples

of abstracting, 136–137

of Acquire and Integrate Knowledge (Dimension 2),

81–82, 104–105

of analyzing errors, 176–177

of analyzing perspectives, 183–184

of Attitudes and Perceptions (Dimension 1), 27–28, 37–38

of classifying, 128–129

of classroom climate, 27–28

of classroom tasks, 37–38

of comparing, 122

of constructing support, 167

of creative thinking, 271–272

of critical thinking, 270–271

of decision making, 204

of declarative knowledge, 81–82

of deductive reasoning, 153–154

of definitional investigation, 243

of experimental inquiry, 231–233

of Extend and Refine Knowledge (Dimension 3), 122,

128–129, 136–137, 144–145, 153–154, 167,

176–177, 183–184

of Habits of Mind (Dimension 5), 270–273

of historical investigation, 243–244

of inductive reasoning, 144–145

of invention, 221–223

of investigation, 243–245

of problem solving, 213

of procedural knowledge, 104–105

of projective investigation, 244–245

of self-regulated thinking, 272–273

of systems analysis, 253–254

of Use Knowledge Meaningfully (Dimension 4), 204,

213, 221–223, 231–233, 243–245, 253–254

Classroom rules and procedures, and sense of comfort and

order, 24–25, 25f

Classroom tasks, attitudes and perceptions about, 29–38

clarity on, 35–36

classroom examples of, 37–38

and student interests/goals, 32, 32f

Colorado, sample unit plan for, 329–339

Comfort and order

sense of, in classroom, 23–27

standards for, identified by students, 26–27

Comparing, as complex reasoning process, 114, 117–122

classroom examples of, 122

critical aspects of, 118–119

graphic organizers for, 120f, 120–121, 121f

model for, 118

opportunities to practice, 118

rubric for assessing, 316f

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 121

Comparison matrix, for use in comparing, 121f

Complex reasoning processes, development of, 114–184,

191–254

Composition, as example of faulty logic, 174

Concepts, as declarative knowledge, 48

advance organizer questions for, 69

graphic organizers for, 65, 67f

Conferences, between teachers and students, 327–328

Conflict clarification matrix, 181, 182f

Constructing support, as complex reasoning process, 114,

160–167

classroom examples of, 167

critical aspects of, 163–165

graphic organizers for, 166, 166f

model for, 161–162

opportunities to practice, 162

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 166

Content, and Dimensions of Learning, 303–309

Contradiction, as example of faulty logic, 173

Contrasting, vs. comparing, 117

Creative thinking, as habit of mind, 6, 262

classroom example of, 271–272

integration of, 267–268

resource for teachers, 284–289

Critical thinking, as habit of mind, 6, 262

classroom examples of, 270–271

integration of, 267

resource for teachers, 274–283

Curriculum, structure for planning, Dimensions of

Learning as, 9

Decision making, as complex reasoning process, 191,

195–204

classroom examples of, 204

critical aspects of, 200–202

graphic organizers for, 198f, 202

model for, 196–197

opportunities to practice, 197–200, 198f

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 202–203

Declarative knowledge, 43–49, 192

acquisition and integration of, 49–50, 50f, 51–82

classroom examples of, 81–82

and content to be covered, 304

summary of strategies for, 91

construction of meaning for, 51–60

organization of, 61–72

rubric for assessing, 315f

with standards and benchmarks, 85, 88–89

storage of, 73–80

highly structured systems for, 76–80

without standards and benchmarks, 85–87

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Deductive reasoning

as complex reasoning process, 114, 146–159

classroom examples of, 153–154

critical aspects of, 150–151

graphic organizers for, 151f, 151–152, 152f

model for, 148–149

opportunities to practice, 149

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 152

vs. inductive reasoning, 147–148

Deductive reasoning matrix, 152, 152f

Definitional investigation, 235–236

classroom examples of, 243

Descriptions, as declarative knowledge, 46–47

advance organizer questions for, 68–69

graphic organizer for, 63

Differences, among students, recognition of, 18

Dimension 1: Attitudes and Perceptions, 13–42

classroom examples of, 27–28, 37–38

and content to be covered, 304

overview of, 4, 13–14

unit planning for, 39–42

Dimension 2: Acquire and Integrate Knowledge, 43–112

classroom examples of, 81–82, 104–105

and content to be covered, 304

overview of, 4, 43–50

unit planning for, 83–92, 106–108

Dimension 3: Extend and Refine Knowledge, 113–188

classroom examples of, 122, 128–129, 136–137,

144–145, 153–154, 167, 176–177, 183–184

and content to be covered, 305

overview of, 4–5, 113

unit planning for, 185–188

Dimension 4: Use Knowledge Meaningfully, 189–259

classroom examples of, 204, 213, 221–223, 231–233,

243–245, 253–254

and content to be covered, 305

overview of, 5, 189–190

unit planning for, 255–259

Dimension 5: Habits of Mind, 261–302

classroom examples of, 270–273

and content to be covered, 305

integration of, 267–268

modeling of, 267

overview of, 6, 261–263

positive reinforcement for, 269–270

progress reports for, 270, 270f

resource for teachers, 274–297

strategies for development, 265–266

student understanding of, 264–265

unit planning for, 298–302

Dimensions of Learning

and assessment, 309–316

assumptions behind model, 1–2

and content, 303–309

and grading, 317–322, 318f, 320f–321f

overview of, 4–12

relationships among, 7f, 7–8

resources supporting model, 2

training for use of, 2–3

uses of, 8–11

Distributed practice, for new skills, 102–103, 103f

Division, as example of faulty logic, 174

Effectiveness of actions, evaluation of, as habit of mind,

296–297

Episodes, as declarative knowledge, 47

advance organizer questions for, 69

graphic organizer for, 64

Errors

analyzing. See Analyzing errors, as complex reasoning

process

early identification of, 98–99

positive response to, 19

in thinking, types of, 173–176

Essay questions, as assessment technique, 311–312

Evading the issue, as example of faulty logic, 174

Evaluation, standards of, as habit of mind, 287–288

Examples. See Classroom examples

Experimental inquiry, as complex reasoning process, 191,

224–233

classroom examples of, 231–233

critical aspects of, 227–229

graphic organizers for, 229, 229f

model for, 226

opportunities to practice, 226–227

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 230–231

Facts, as declarative knowledge, 46–47

Fallacy. See Faulty logic, as error in thinking

False cause, as example of faulty logic, 173

Familiar place system, of information storage, 79–80

Faulty logic, as error in thinking, 173–174

Feedback

appropriate response to, as habit of mind, 295–296

to students, on classroom tasks, 33

Focus on Issues, as planning model, 307–308

Focus on Knowledge, as planning model, 306–307

Focus on Student Exploration, as planning model, 308–309

Forced-choice items, as assessment technique, 311

Generality, levels of, and organization of knowledge, 46–49

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Generalizations/principles, as declarative knowledge, 47–48

advance organizer questions for, 69

graphic organizer for, 65, 68f

Grading, and Dimensions of Learning, 317–322, 318f,

320f–321f

Graphic organizers

for abstracting, 135, 135f

for categorical syllogisms, 156–157

for classifying, 127, 127f

for comparing, 120f, 120–121, 121f

for decision making, 198f, 202

for declarative knowledge, 62–66

for deductive reasoning, 151f, 151–152, 152f

for inductive reasoning, 142, 142f–143f

for invention, 219, 219f

Graphic representations

and note-taking strategies, 70, 70f

and procedural knowledge, 95, 95f–96f

Graphs, student use of, 72, 72f, 95f

Groups, students working in, and feelings of acceptance, 20

Habits of Mind (Dimension 5), 261–302

classroom examples of, 270–273

and content to be covered, 305

integration of, 267–268

modeling of, 267

overview of, 6, 261–263

positive reinforcement for, 269–270

progress reports for, 270, 270f

resource for teachers, 274–297

strategies for development, 265–266

student understanding of, 264–265

unit planning for, 298–302

Historical investigation, 235–236

classroom examples of, 243–244

Impulsivity, restraint of

as habit of mind, 279–280

rubric for assessing, 316f

Incorrect responses, positive response to, 19

Individual differences, among students, recognition of, 18

Inductive reasoning

as complex reasoning process, 114, 138–145

classroom examples of, 144–145

critical aspects of, 140–141

graphic organizers for, 142, 142f–143f

model for, 139–140

opportunities to practice, 140

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 143

vs. deductive reasoning, 147–148

Inductive reasoning matrix, 142, 143f

Information, new

advance organizer questions for, 68–69

student discovery of, 56–58

Instructional strategies, resource for, Dimensions of

Learning as, 8

Instruction, sequencing of, and Dimensions of Learning,

322–327

Invention, as complex reasoning process, 191, 214–223

classroom examples of, 221–223

critical aspects of, 218–219

graphic organizers for, 219, 219f

model for, 216

opportunities to practice, 216–217

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 220–221

Investigation, as complex reasoning process, 191, 234–245

classroom examples of, 243–245

critical aspects of, 239–240

graphic organizers for, 241, 241f

model for, 237

opportunities to practice, 237–238

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 241–242

Issues, focus on, as planning model, 307–308

Judgment, role of, in assessment techniques, 314–316

Knowledge

acquisition and integration of (Dimension 2), 43–112

classroom examples of, 81–82, 104–105

and content to be covered, 304

overview of, 4, 43–50

unit planning for, 83–92, 106–108

declarative vs. procedural, 43–49

extending and refining of (Dimension 3), 113–188

classroom examples of, 122, 128–129, 136–137,

144–145, 153–154, 167, 176–177, 183–184

and content to be covered, 305

overview of, 4–5, 113

unit planning for, 185–188

focus on, as planning model, 306–307

meaningful use of (Dimension 4), 189–259

classroom examples of, 204, 213, 221–223,

231–233, 243–245, 253–254

and content to be covered, 305

overview of, 5, 189–190

unit planning for, 255–259

nature of, importance of understanding, 44

specific, value of, 30–31

K-W-L strategy, and construction of meaning, 55–56, 56f

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Limit-pushing, as habit of mind, 285–286

Link strategy, used with symbols and substitutes, 75–76

Macroprocesses, and procedural knowledge, 49

Massed practice, for new skills, 102–103, 103f

Mental habits. See Habits of Mind (Dimension 5)

Mental rehearsal, of new skill or process, 96

Mind, habits of. See Habits of Mind (Dimension 5)

Mini-lessons, during workshop classes, 323–324

Misinformation, as error in thinking, 175–176

Mnemonics, and information storage, 80

Monitoring of thinking, as habit of mind, 290–291

Movement, physical, use of in classroom, 23

Negative self-talk, student use of, 33

New information

advance organizer questions for, 68–69

student discovery of, 56–58

Nonexamples vs. examples, 57

Note-taking strategies, using graphic representations, 70, 70f

Number/key word method, of information storage, 77–79

Number/picture method, of information storage, 79

Observation, by teachers, as assessment technique, 314

Open mind, maintenance of, as habit of mind, 277–279

Perceptions and Attitudes. See Attitudes and Perceptions

(Dimension 1)

Performance levels, standards of, 36, 36f

Performance tasks, as assessment technique, 312, 313f

Perseverance, as habit of mind, 284–285

Personality, appeal through, as persuasion technique, 164

Perspective examination matrix, 181, 182f

Perspectives, analyzing. See Analyzing perspectives, as

complex reasoning process

Physical movement, use of in classroom, 23

Physical representations of information, 71, 71f

Pictographic representations of information, 71, 71f

Planning. See also Unit planning

models for, 306–309

Planning appropriately, as habit of mind, 291–293

Poisoning the well, as example of attack in argument, 174

Portfolios, as assessment technique, 313

Position-taking, as habit of mind, 281–282

Positive reinforcement

and habits of mind, 269–270

variation of, in response to correct responses, 19–20

Positive response, to incorrect responses, 19

Positive self-talk, student use of, 33

Practice schedules, for new skills, 102–103, 103f

Predicting, and reciprocal teaching strategy, 59–60

Presentation classes

instructional techniques for, 322–323

integrated with workshop classes, 324–327, 325f–326f

Principles/generalizations, as declarative knowledge, 47–48

advance organizer questions for, 69

graphic organizer for, 65, 68f

Problem solving, as complex reasoning process, 191, 205–213

classroom examples of, 213

critical aspects of, 209–210

graphic organizers for, 210, 211f

model for, 207–208

opportunities to practice, 208–209

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 211–213

Procedural knowledge, 43–45, 49, 192

acquisition and integration of, 49–50, 50f, 93–105

classroom examples of, 104–105

and content to be covered, 304

summary of strategies for, 111

unit planning for, 106–108

construction of models for, 93–96

internalization of, 101–103

rubric for assessing, 315f

shaping of, 97–100

with standards and benchmarks, 107, 110f

without standards and benchmarks, 107, 109f

Procedures and rules, in classroom, and sense of comfort

and order, 24–25, 25f

Process/cause-effect relationships, as declarative

knowledge, 47

advance organizer questions for, 69

graphic organizer for, 64

Process observers, for habits of mind, 269

Progress habits, for habits of mind, 270, 270f

Project focus, of teacher-student conferences, 327

Projective investigation, 235–236

classroom examples of, 244–245

Pushing limits, as habit of mind, 285–286

Questioning, and reciprocal teaching strategy, 59

Questions, advance, for organizing new information, 68–69

Reason, appeal through, as persuasion technique, 164–165

Reasoning

deductive. See Deductive reasoning

inductive. See Inductive reasoning

Reasoning processes. See Complex reasoning processes,

development of

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Reciprocal teaching strategy, 59–60

Reform, focus for, Dimensions of Learning as, 11

Rehearsal, mental, of new skill or process, 96

Relationship, establishment of, with each student, 16–17

Resource for teachers, for Habits of Mind (Dimension 5),

274–297

Resources, identification/use of, as habit of mind, 293–294

Response to feedback, appropriate, as habit of mind,

282–283

Restraint of impulsivity, as habit of mind, 279–280

rubric for assessing, 316f

Rhetoric, appeal through, as persuasion technique, 164

Rhyming pegword method, of information storage, 76–77

Rubrics, as assessment technique, 314–315, 315f–316f, 320f

Rules and procedures, in classroom, and sense of comfort

and order, 24–25, 25f

Self-assessment

for habits of mind, 269

by students, 314

Self-regulated thinking, as habit of mind, 6, 262

classroom examples of, 272–273

integration of, 268

resource for teachers, 290–297

Self-talk, positive vs. negative, student use of, 33

Senses, variety of, in experiencing content, 53–54

Sequencing instruction, and Dimensions of Learning,

322–327

Sharing period, during workshop classes, 324

Situations, new ways to view, as habit of mind, 288–289

Speed, of new skills, charting of, 103

SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review), and

construction of meaning, 60

Staff development, framework for, Dimensions of

Learning as, 9, 10f

Standards of evaluation, generation/maintenance of, as habit

of mind, 287–288

Storage, of declarative knowledge, 73–80

highly structured systems for, 76–80

Structured problems, and problem solving, 205–206

Student exploration, focus on, as planning model, 308–309

Student self-assessment, 314

Substitutes, used for information storage, 74–75

Summarizing, and reciprocal teaching strategy, 59

Support, constructing. See Constructing support, as complex

reasoning process

Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review (SQ3R), and

construction of meaning, 60

Syllogisms. See Categorical syllogisms

Symbols, used for information storage, 74–75

Systemic reform, focus for, Dimensions of Learning as, 11

Systems analysis, as complex reasoning process, 191, 246–254

classroom examples of, 253–254

critical aspects of, 250–251

graphic organizers for, 251–252, 252f

model for, 248–249

opportunities to practice, 249–250

teacher- and student-structured tasks for, 252–253

Taking a position, as habit of mind, 281–282

Tasks. See Classroom tasks, attitudes and perceptions about

Teachers

attitudes of, and classroom climate, 17

observation by, as assessment technique, 314

resource for, for Habits of Mind (Dimension 5), 274–297

Teasing behavior, and sense of comfort and order, 26

Think-aloud process

for demonstrating new skill, 94

Threatening behavior, vs. comfort and order, 26

“Three-minute pause,” use of, 53

Time sequences, as declarative knowledge, 47

advance organizer questions for, 69

graphic organizer for, 63, 67f

Tradition, appeal through, as persuasion technique, 164

Unit planning

for Acquire and Integrate Knowledge (Dimension 2),

83–92, 106–108

for Attitudes and Perceptions (Dimension 1), 39–42

for Extend and Refine Knowledge (Dimension 3),

185–188

for Habits of Mind (Dimension 5), 298–302

sample (for Colorado unit), 329–339

for Use Knowledge Meaningfully (Dimension 4),

255–259

Unstructured problems, and problem solving, 205–206

Venn diagrams, for use in comparing, 120f

Viewing situations, generating new ways to, as habit of

mind, 288–289

Vocabulary terms

construction of meaning for, 54–55

as declarative knowledge, 46

Weak references, as error in thinking, 175

Workshop classes

instructional techniques for, 323–324

integrated with presentation classes, 324–327,

325f–326f

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Teacher’s Manual

index 4/16/09 9:24 AM Page 352

Mid-continent

Research for

Education and

Learning