Lesson 7 : IT for Higher Thingking Skills and Creativity



Higher Level Learning Outcomes

     To define higher level thinking skills and creativity, we may adopt a framework that is a helpful synthesis of many models and definitions on the subject matter. The framework is not exhaustive but a helpful guide for the teacher’s effort to understand the learner’s higher learning skills.

  Thinking Skills Framework

Complex Thinking Skills                    Sub-Skills                                                       

Focusing                                        defining the problem, goal/objective-setting,

                                                        brainstorming

Information Gathering                   selection, recording of data of information

Remembering                               associating, relating new data with Analyzing                                        identifying idea,   constructs patterns

Generating                                     deducing, inducting, elaborating                                      

Organizing                                      classifying, relating

Imagining                                        visualizing, predicting 

Designing                                       planning formulating

Integration                                      summarizing, abstracting

Evaluating                                      setting criteria, testing idea, verifying 

                                                        outcome, revising

The Upgraded Project Method

 

In this modern day, the teachers are now guided on their goal to help students achieve higher level thinking skills and creativity beyond the ordinary.

            We know the fact that the ordinary classroom is awfully lack in instructional tool kits; as a result the teacher might have a difficulty to bring the students to the higher domains of learning and achieving, so the project method is suggested.

Project Method

            Teachers assign the students to work on projects with depth, complexity duration and relevance to the real word.

            Project is utilized because students need to make the most of the decisions about what to put inside their project, how to organize their information and ideas and how to communicate their result effectively.

Upgraded Project Method

            In here, there is a tighter link between the uses of projects for simply coming up with products to have the students undergo the process of higher thinking skills under the framework of the Constructivist Paradigm.

            In this new project method, the students are advised to use computer application and high technology in doing their projects.

Constructivist Paradigm

            It emphasize on how the students construct knowledge. The students, not the teacher are the one who make decisions about what to put into the project, how to organize information, how to package the outcomes for presentation and the like.

            In doing projects, there are two things that are involved: the process and the product.

Process- refers to the steps, effort and experiences in project completion.

Product - is the result or the end point of the process.

Reflection:

                 New challenge has arisen for today's learners and this is not simply to achieve learning objectives but to encourage the development of students who can do more than receive, recall, recite and apply knowledge  they have acquired. Today, students are expected to be not only cognitive, but also flexible, analytical and creative. In this lesson, there are methods proposed by the use of computer-based as an integral support to higher thinking skills and creativity. In spite of this higher thinking methods the teachers, students, schools and administration must know the appropriate computer softwares, hardwares and also their own skills to do this  on applying to the teaching-learning process.