Chapter 6 The Developing Concept-Based Student
1 What about thinking?
Lipman describe critical thinking is skillful, responsible thinking that facilitates good judgement because it relies upon criteria, is self-correcting, and is sensitive to context.
• Ordinary thinking is guessing, assuming, and believing something to be so without supporting evidence.
• Critical thinkers are able to offer reasons to support their opinions using relevant evidence, criteria, and defined standards.
2 The relationship between critical thinking and concept-based teaching and learning
The tenets of concept-based curriculum and instruction are consistent with Zull’s suggestion.
- James E. Zull(2002) suggests that if we want students to retain concepts, we must allow them to put things into their own words, verbally and in writing. Giving students the opportunity to discuss questions, reflections, and connections with others can provide support to students as they organize and visualize their thoughts.
3 Developing critical thinking
- First, Concept-based curriculum and instruction develop a conceptual vocabulary for students to discuss their thought processes so that students’ thinking is made visible. //概念为本的课程与教学首先通过构建概念性话语体系，使学习者能够系统描述思维过程，从而显性化其认知路径
- Next, critical thinking cannot be nurtured in a learning environment
where a teacher always lectures, tells students how to think, or solves problems for them. Concept-based learning experiences are designed to capitalize on an inquiry approach that requires students to frequently explore vaguely structured or deliberately unstructured problems and situations that depend on the ability to recall useful knowledge, use pattern recognition, discern pertinent information, think ahead, anticipate outcomes, and come to a statement of
understanding.// 基于概念的学习体验旨在依托探究式方法，要求学生频繁探索那些结构模糊或刻意非结构化的难题与情境。这种方法需要学生具备以下能力：有效调用已有知识储备、运用模式识别技巧、甄别关联信息、进行前瞻性思考、预判可能结果，并最终形成对理解的陈述。 - Finally, a concept-based curriculum fosters and requires critical thinking
because critical thinking is integral to conceptual understanding. students must go beyond the level of thinking in associating concepts to the critical thinking required in grasping and extending generalizations. //学生不能仅仅停留在概念关联的思维层面，必须转向掌握并拓展普遍规律所需的批判性思维。
4 The developing concept-based student
• US CCSS：http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards
5 Why these categories?
The stages in the process of becoming a concept-based student span multiple areas:
• Task Commitment
Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis:
Task commitment is movtivation turned into action. Engagement, perseverance, endurance, and hard work are all elements of task commitment, as are self-confidence, self-efficacy, perceptiveness, and a special fascination with a particular subject.
• Synergistic Thinking
Erickson:
Synergistic thinking is an interacive thinking process between the lower levels and the conceptual levels of mental processing. It is at the heart and soul of concept-based instruction.
• Depth of Understanding
It is the end goal of task commitment and synergistic thinking. Streamlining factual content and the long lists of discrete skills to be mastered allows students more time todevelop their conceptual minds and to dig into interesting and engaging
tasks and problems that require the application and practice of key skills and factual knowledge.
