Instructional Principle: The ways in which children study and think have a strong influence on how much they learn. Teachers can often help children develop better study and thinking skills.
Since studying is a form of problem solving, students who develop their thinking and problem-solving skills are likely to improve their study habits. In recent years, psychological and educational researchers have devoted a great deal of attention to "metacognitive skills." This term refers to the ability to be aware of what we are thinking and to manage our thought processes effectively. It is likely that this metacognitive research (summarized in Derry and Murphy, 1986; Marzano and Arredondo, 1986; and Palinscar and Brown, 1987) will lead to improved strategies for helping students study more efficiently.
The same software that can help teachers manage instruction (Chapter 7) can also help students use their study time more efficiently and to think more carefully. By becoming computer literate (Chapter 4), students can learn to use the computer as an effective tool for thinking and studying. Moreover, several programs are specifically designed to help students study more efficiently.
Figure 3.14 shows a program designed to teach some basic study skills. Figure 3.15 teaches a more generalized thinking skill. This program is distributed by the Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT), and the same company distributes several audiovisual tapes that often appear on television, such as the Thinkabout series. These programs try to teach higher-order thinking skills that students would apply to many areas, including study skills. The program shown in Figure 3.15 teaches ideas that are a main theme in several of the Thinkabout and other AIT programs. These concepts can be integrated into several areas of the elementary and middle school program. Research indicates that teaching "thinking skills" or "problem solving" in isolation is unlikely to have a major impact on a student's study habits. Rather, it is necessary to make specific and practical applications of these principles in instructional units throughout the curriculum.
ADD NEWER PROGRAMS
In addition to study skills (which are by definition related to studying), students must learn how to think. Being able to categorize information, think logically and critically, and solve problems are important skills that students can apply in their classrooms as well as in numerous other aspects of their lives. Numerous good programs are available to help stimulate these skills, which are often referred to as higher order thinking skills.
As Brem & Boyes (2000) point out, using the Internet to find information is an exercise in critical thinking and problem solving. It stands to reason, therefore, that (1) students need thinking skills to use the Internet, (2) students can develop thinking skills while using the Internet, and (3) students can transfer to the Internet thinking skills that they have learned in other settings. Teachers should keep in mind the principles of scaffolded instruction to help students benefit from their use of the Internet and other computerized reference sources.
Figure 3.1a shows a screen from The Factory Deluxe, a program that teaches problem solving. The computer has shown the student a completed "product" in the upper left corner, and the student's job is to use the "factory" to generate a product just like the specified one. To do this, it is necessary to choose a proper shape and color and to insert machines at the proper point along the assembly line to produce this product.
Figure 3.1a. A screen from Sunburst's Factory Deluxe.
Figure 3.1b shows a student's attempt at the final product. In this case, the student has done everything perfectly - pehaps after several tries - except that the product needs to be rotated just a little bit less in order to make the final product look just like the goal.
Figure 3.1a. A follow-up screen from Sunburst's Factory Deluxe, showing the results of the student's manufacturing process.
Progams like the one shown in Figures 3.1a and 3.1b are often ideally suited to cooperative learning and large-group, scaffolded instruction. When working together to make products in The Factory, students almost naturally assume roles and prompt one another to think about what they are doing - "Show me why you think that would work." In addition, the teacher can often use the program as a basis for asking probing questions that require them to think at successively more complex levels with less and less prompting. These are important features ofscaffolded instruction.
Study and Thinking Skills
Communities Resolving Our Problems (CROP)
http://www.ceap.wcu.edu/Houghton/Learner/learnerhomeEasy2.html
Communities Resolving Our Problems (CROP) is a general model for problem processing from K-12 into adulthood. This web site introduces and demonstrates all the components of this model.
MindTools
http://www.mindtools.com/index.html
Simple presentation of several good techniques for problem solving and analytical thinking.
Creativity Web
http://www.ozemail.com.au/%7ecaveman/Creative/index.html
This site is a sort of resource center where readers can find information to help them become more creative. Techniques, books, software, people, and other Internet resources are some of the things that can be found here.
Study Guides and Strategies
http://www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/index.htm
Advice for college level students on ways to study in 15 different languages. The advice is based on sound theoretical principles, and it is broken down by specific sub-topics for easy access.
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