Dimension of Learning: Extend and Refine Knowledge

1. Dimension 3 Dimension of Learning: Extend and Refine Knowledge Presented by Denise Tarlinton Quality Teaching Conference Kurwongbah State School 13 August 2003

2. How’s your thinking? If the day before the day before yesterday was Tuesday, what is the day after the day after tomorrow?

3. Solution!

4. Dimensions of Learning Framework

5. Dimensions of Learning: … is about thinking strategies

6. Dimensions of Learning: …is a model/framework that provides a common understanding and language related to learning.

7. 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- called the five dimensions of learning, are essential to successful learning.  The Dimensions framework helps teachers to: • maintain a focus on learning • study the learning process • plan curriculum, instruction and assessment that takes into account the five critical aspects of learning.

8. Implicit in the Dimensions of Learning model, or framework, are five basic assumptions: • Instruction must reflect the best of what we know about how learning occurs. • Learning involves a complex system of interactive processes that include various types of thinking- represented by the five dimensions. • Curriculum programs should include the explicit teaching of attitudes, perceptions and mental habits that facilitate learning. • A comprehensive approach to instruction includes both teacher directed and student directed instruction. • Assessment should focus on students' use of knowledge and complex reasoning processes rather than on their recall of information.

9. Dimension 3 Habits of Mind Use Knowledge Meaningfully Extend and Refine Knowledge Acquire and Integrate Knowledge Attitudes and Perceptions

10. “We learn by doing, if we reflect on what we have done.” (John Dewey)

11. Why extend and refine? • The most effective learning takes place when students extend and refine the knowledge they acquire in order to develop in-depth understanding of that knowledge. • By making new connections, restructuring the knowledge and experiencing new insights students understand their learning at a deeper level. • Students analyse what they have learned by applying reasoning processes that will help them extend and refine the information. 

12. Extend & Refine Knowledge: Reasoning Processes • Comparing • Classifying • Abstracting • Inductive Reasoning • Deductive Reasoning • Constructing Support • Analyzing Errors • Analyzing Perspectives

13. Explicit teaching of reasoning processes: • Help students understand the process. • Give students a model for the process, and create opportunities for them to practice using the process. • As students study and use the process, help them focus on critical steps and difficult aspects of the process. • Provide students with graphic organisers or representations of the model to help them understand and use the process. • Use teacher-structured and student structured tasks.

14. As a result… • Students should see knowledge in new ways and be able to express insights, understandings, ideas or discoveries related to that knowledge. • Students deepen their understanding of content. • Students increase their understanding of learning as a process

15. “A basic principle of learning is that once acquired, knowledge changes”. (Robert Marzano)

16. Comparing

17. BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMYCreatingGenerating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing thingsDesigning, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.EvaluatingJustifying a decision or course of actionChecking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judgingAnalysingBreaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationshipsComparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, findingApplyingUsing information in another familiar situationImplementing, carrying out, using, executingUnderstandingExplaining ideas or conceptsInterpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explainingRememberingRecalling informationRecognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding

18. ComparingThe process of identifying and articulating similarities and differences among items. • Select the items you want to compare. • Select the characteristics of the items on which you want to base your comparison. • Explain how the items are similar and different with respect to the characteristics you selected.

19. ComparingThe process of describing how things are the same and different • What do I want to compare? • What is it about them that I want to compare? • How are they the same? And how are they different

20. Venn Diagram Object One Object Two

21. Use a Venn to compare… • Illustrations or illustrators • Holidays • Celebrations • Religions • Farms • Food • Plants etc. • Numbers • Animals • Places • People • Land forms • Weather • Books • TV programs

23. T-Bar Analysis Object One Object Two (Frangenheim, 2002, p. 62)

24. Language of Comparison • Explicit teaching of the vocabulary that students can use when sharing their thinking and learning: • In comparison • Compared to • Similarly • Whereas • Alternatively • But • Although • On the other hand • However • In contrast

25. Key Points: Comparing • Because the process of comparing can be overused, it is important to ask if it is the best process to use to help students extend and refine the identified content knowledge. • Students need extensive modeling, practice and feedback in order to become skilled at identifying meaningful and interesting characteristics to use in comparison tasks. • Students should understand that the purpose of doing a comparison task is to extend and refine knowledge. A question such as “What did you discover?” helps to reinforce this understanding.

28. Classifying

29. BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMYCreatingGenerating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing thingsDesigning, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.EvaluatingJustifying a decision or course of actionChecking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judgingAnalysingBreaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationshipsComparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, findingApplyingUsing information in another familiar situationImplementing, carrying out, using, executingUnderstandingExplaining ideas or conceptsInterpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explainingRememberingRecalling informationRecognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding

30. ClassifyingThe process of grouping things into definable categories on the basis of their attributes • Identify the items you want to classify. • Select what seems to be an important item, describe its key attributes and identify other items that have the same attributes. • Create the category by specifying the attribute(s) that the items must have for membership in the category. • Select another item, describe its key attributes and identify other items that have the same attributes. • Create this second category by specifying the attribute(s) that the items must have for membership in the category. • Repeat the previous two steps until all items are classified and the specific attributes have been identified for membership in each category. • If necessary, combine categories or split them into smaller categories and specify the attribute(s) that determine membership in the category.

31. ClassifyingThe process of grouping things that are alike into categories • What do I want to classify? • What things are alike and could be put into a group? • How are these things alike? • What other groups can I make and how are the things alike in each group? • Does everything now fit into a group? • Would it be better to split up any of the groups or put any groups together?

32. Graphic Organisers for Classifying Categories

34. Exercise: Life and Death

35. Geography Terms

36. Key Points: Classifying • Categories should be related to one another or parallel. • It is important to focus on attributes that are important and meaningful to the content. • Students must understand the defining characteristics of the categories well enough to justify placement of the items - which gets more difficult with complex content. • Having students classify and then reclassify is a key to helping them notice unique distinctions and connections that they might not have noticed had they classified the items only once.

37. References www.mcrel.org (accessed 10 August 2003) Frangenheim, E. (2002). Reflections on classroom teaching, 4th ed. Loganholme, Qld: Rodin Educational Planning. Langrehr, J. (2003). Thinking Lessons: Critical and Creative Thinking for the Middle Years. Ballarat, Vic: Wizard Books. Marzano, Robert J., Pickering, Debra J., et al.,  (1997).  Dimensions of Learning Teacher's Manual, 2nd ed. Aurora, Colorado: McREL. Marzano, Robert J., Pickering, Debra J., et al.,  (1997).  Dimensions of Learning Trainer's Manual, 2nd ed. Aurora, Colorado: McREL.