thinking strategies

Key terms
• Reflective thinking
• Meta-cognitive thinking
• Thinking tools

1. Reflective thinking essentially means a person thinks independently. He knows how to reason, to think for himself, to combine intuition and logic in the process of solving problems either within his internal world or the world around him.

2. Meta-cognitive thinking means knowing how to learn. Thinking skills and study skills are examples of meta-cogntive skills. For example, we try to assess our own understanding, choose an effective plan to solve problems. Hence, meta-cognitive skill enables the students to think about their own thinking process. For instance, when you ask yourself, “How well did I really handle that decision?” , you are asking yourself a meta-cognitive question. You are setting out to think about your own thinking. When you sit down to tackle assignment and ask yourself, “Now just how am I going to approach these problems?” you are again asking yourself a meta-cognitive question. However, if you say to yourself, “I don’t like the way I ended that short story.” You are not thinking about your own thinking, you are thinking about an eternal product, that is the short story.

3. Meta-cognitive thinking is supremely important to the cultivation of good thinking. Through meta-cognition, people become aware of their usual thinking practices and gain the perspective they need to fine-tune or even radically revise those practices. How this works becomes clearer if we distinguish four degree of meta-cognition, a kind of ladder of meta-cognition with the most powerful variety at the top 

(Swartz & Perkins, 1990).

4. Teaching reflective and meta-cognitive strategies to students can lead to a marked improvement in their achievement. This is because teaching involves so much more than giving information, applying technical skills, or managing a group of children. It is a process by which students are taught to be reflective.

5. The use of different types of questions is an effective tool to teach thinking skills among our students. Questions can be categorized into divergent questions, convergent questions, Low-Level Questions, and High-Level Questions or High Order Thinking Level Questions (HOT).

6. Convergent questions are those that require one correct answer. Generally, they are questions of fact are recall and often of at low level. Divergent questions are just the opposite. They require different answers as long as the answer are appropriate. In other words, questions can be answered in several ways.

7. Low-level questions require students to recall facts or information. For example, How much is 8 + 7 = , What is the Pythagorean theorem? On the other hand, High- Level Question requires a certain degree of intellectual processing on the part of the student. For example: To what extent cyber cafés influence our teenager? How is architecture influenced by culture?

8. We can use different thinking tools to enhance reflective and meta-cognitive thinking among our students. Mind maps, graphic organizer, CoRT 1 (PMI, CAF, C & S, AGO, FIP, OPV, and APC) are useful to help students to recall related information that could be used to assist in incorporating new information.

9. Mind mapping is a very useful thinking tool. Mind mapping is a way of notes taking whereby one should start from the main idea and branch out as dictated by individual ideas and general form of the central theme. According to Buzan (1989), the brain works primarily with key concepts in an inter-linked and integrated manner, our notes and our word relations should in many instances be structured in this way rather than in traditional ‘ lines’ or notes that are taking in linear forms. A mind map has a number of advantages over the linear form of note taking.

The center with the main idea is more clearly defined.

• The relative importance of each idea is clearly indicated (more important ideas will be nearer the center).
• The links between the Key concepts will be clearly indicated.
• As a result of the above, recall and review will be both more effective and more rapid.
• The nature of the structure allows for the easy addition of new information or ideas.

10. Mind mapping laws:

• Start with a coloured image in the center.
• Images throughout your Mind Map.
• Word should be printed.
• The printed words should be on lines, and each line should be connected to other lines.
• Words should be ‘units’, i.e. one word per line.
• Use colours throughout the Mind Map to enhance memory., delight the eye and stimulate the right cortical process.
• In creative efforts of this nature the mind should be left as ‘free’ as possible.

11. Graphic representations or organizers are visual illustrations of verbal statements. Many graphic representations are familiar to most adults: flow charts, pie charts, and family trees. More sophisticated graphics include spider maps, fish bone maps, network trees, and compare/ contrast matrices.
Graphic representations or organizers (GO) are important because they:

• help the learner to comprehend, summarize, and synthesize complex ideas.
• help students to select important ideas as well as detecting missing information and unexplained relations.
• help students to solve problems and making decisions.

12. Constructing Graphic Outlines:

•  Survey: First, the students survey the title, subheadings, illustrations and their captions, the initial summary or abstracts, and the objective of the text to determine what the passage discusses and how the discussion is structured.
•  Represent: The student begins to form a hypothesis about the structure of the text and mentally searches his or her repertoire of graphic structures for the best “fit”. For example, the use of compare or contrast diagram, predicting consequences of options, spider map or problem solving outline.

13. Cognitive Research Trust from which the abbreviation, CoRT is derived is a programme designed by Edward d Bono. The CoRT Programme teaches thinking skills through the use of thinking “tools” in a formal, focused, and deliberate manner. The programme has a multitude of applications. CoRT 1 is designed to encourage students to broaden their thinking. Often, we take too narrow a view when we think. We tend to judge rather than explore. CoRT 1 consists of:

•  Treatment of ideas (PMI- plus , minus , interesting)
•  Factors involved (CAF- consider all factors)
•  Consequences (C & F- consequences and sequel)
•  Objectives (AGO- aims, goals, objectives)
•  Priorities (FIP- first, important, priority)
•  Alternatives (APC- alternatives, possibilities, choices)
•  Other People Views (OPV)

14. PMI is used to examine an idea for good, bad or interesting point, instead of immediate acceptance or rejection. For instance:
a. Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English
b. Teaching as a career for graduates.
c. The employment of foreign workers in the country.

Steps involved:
a. List down all the plus points.
b. List down all the minus points.
c. List down all the interesting points
What is your decision after considering all the factors?

15. CAF is used to look as widely as possible all the factors involved in a situation, instead of only immediate ones. For instance:
a. What is the best way to improve the level of English among our graduates?
b. Extra-mural activities are compulsory for all students.
c. A credit in Mathematics is a pre-requisite for all candidates applying for teacher training.

Steps involved:
a). List down all the factors.
b). Consider each factor.

16.What is the appropriate decision to be made?

 C &S deals with the consideration of the immediate, short, medium and long term consequences. For instance,
a. The introduction of abacus in the primary one Mathematics.
b. The introduction of sex education in the primary and secondary school curriculum.

Steps involved:
a. What are the long term effects?
b. What are the risks I have to face?
c. To what extent the new plan would bring changes?

17. GO is used to pick out and defining objectives so as one is clear about his own aims and understanding those of others. For instance,
a. What is the AGO by implementing car pool system in the cities?
b. What is the AGO by introducing Moral Education in the school curriculum?

Steps involved:
a. What is the AGO of the plan?
b. Are the implementations out of The AGO?
c. How do I make sure that the AGO is achieved

FIP is used to choose from a number of different possibilities and alternatives, i.e., putting priorities in order. For instance,
a). What is the FIP for one session school system?
b). What is the best strategy to solve misbehavior problems in the class?

Steps involved:
a) What are the important matters involved?
b) Which is the most important one to be considered?
c) Which one should be given priority?

18. APC deals with generating new alternatives and choices, instead of feeling confined to the obvious ones. For instance,
a). The PMR examination should be abolished?
b). It is compulsory for all students to have a credit in English in order to be awarded the SPM certificate.

Steps involved
a). What are the other alternatives to overcome the problem?
b). What are the implications incur if every step is taken?
c). What is the best solution?

19. OPV means moving out of one’s own viewpoint to consider the points of view of all others involved in any situation. For instance,
a). All student teachers are required to stay in the hostels provided.
b). All school leavers are required to attend military training for a period of three months.

Steps involved
a). Will this idea influence others?
b). Other’s people opinion on this matter?
C). Is your idea relevant before actions are taken?