Thinking about thinking

Posted on 2 May 2011 by lorirabinovitch

We ask our IP students to develop habits of reflection throughout the realization of their projects. This type of everyday questioning allows students to self-assess their actions, strategies, and resources in order to make adjustments based on these auto-evaluative practices.

Meta-cognition requires students to dig deeper and ask more global questions – to think about their thinking in order to identify and understand the thought processes, patterns, trends, and categories that emerge across diverse actions. Meta-cognition is a diagnostic process that helps build autonomous learners.

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Mental management

Posted on 2 May 2011 by lorirabinovitch

Meta-cognition is personal. It is what permits us to turn the objective world into our personal experiences of the world. What kinds of questions will help students develop what has been called “strategic intelligence”? They need vocabulary for talking about their mental models.

Do you have a personal example of something you are learning – or have observed in one of your students – that demonstrates the distinction between everyday reflective practices and meta-cognitive practices?

Mental management can be developed and improved throughout our lives by paying attention to how we use: strategies, dispositions, mental models, concepts, beliefs, attitudes, values, habits, critical skills, intuitions, etc.

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Transfer of learning

Posted on 2 May 2011 by lorirabinovitch

Simple transfer: During my IP project, I learned how to drive a car. Now I can learn how to drive a truck.

Complex transfer: During my IP project, I became involved in an issue of social justice. This experience taught me that I need to incorporate certain principles into my long-term school and work plans.

Do you have examples that illustrate a complex transfer of learning? For example, do you know students whose overall understanding of their IP projects fundamentally changed how they interpret their place in the world?  Take a look at this video.

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