by Jerrid KruseDrake University
During my years teaching science in middle school, high school and college, some of my students have resisted teaching that educators call higher-order thinking. This includes analysis, creative and critical thinking, and problem-solving.
For example, when I asked them to draw conclusions from data or generate a process for testing an idea, some students replied, “Why don’t you tell us what to do?” or “Isn’t it the teacher’s job to tell us the right answers?”
In other words, my students had developed a strong preconceived notion that knowledge comes from authority. After investigating, my colleagues and I concluded that these beliefs about learning were influencing how they approached our lessons – and thus what they were able to learn.
All students come to class with a range of beliefs about what it means to learn. In the field of education, perhaps the most sought-after belief is what we call having a growth mindset. Students with a growth mindset believe they can improve and continue to learn. In contrast, students with a fixed mindset struggle to believe they can become more knowledgeable about the topic they’re studying. When students say, “I’m bad at math,” they exhibit a fixed mindset.
As teachers, we not only try to help students understand the topic at hand but also aim to instill accurate beliefs about learning so nothing interferes with their ability to take in new information.
Other than the growth mindset, I argue that five other beliefs are particularly important to promote in classrooms to help students become better learners and more prepared for the modern world.
Learning is understanding
Some students and teachers equate learning to memorizing.
While memorization has a role in learning, deep learning is about understanding. Students will be well served recognizing that learning is about explaining and connecting concepts to make meaning.
Too much focus on memorizing can hide gaps in learning.
For example, I was once working with a preschool student when they proudly demonstrated their ability to recite the numbers 1 through 20. I then asked the student to count the pencils on the desk. The student did not understand my request. They had not connected these new words to the number concept.
To help students recognize the importance of understanding for learning, teachers and parents might engage students in questions such as, “Why is connecting a new idea to an old idea better than just trying to memorize the answer?” or “Why is an explanation more useful than just an answer?”
Learning is complex and requires challenge
Students’ belief that learning is akin to memorization may reflect a related belief that knowledge is simple and learning should be easy.
Instead, educators want students to embrace complexity and its challenges. Through wrestling with nuance and complexity, students engage in the mental effort required to form and reinforce new connections in their thinking.
When students believe knowledge is simple and learning should be easy, their engagement in higher-order thinking, which is required to embrace complexity and nuance, suffers.
To help students who are struggling grasp a complex idea, teachers and parents might ask questions that help students see why learning is complex and requires challenge.
Learning takes time
When students believe learning is simple and easy, educators should not be surprised they think learning should be fast as well.
Instead, students ought to understand that deep learning takes time. If students believe learning is quick, they are less likely to seek challenge, explore nuance or reflect and make connections among ideas. Unfortunately, many curricula pack so much intended learning into a short amount of time that beliefs in quick learning are subtly reinforced.
While teachers can get creative with curricular materials — and spend more time challenging students to explore complexity and make connections — just spending more time on a concept may not be enough to shift a student’s beliefs about learning.
To help students shift their thinking about the speed of learning, I ask them to discuss questions such as, “Why do you think understanding complex concepts takes so much time?” or “Why would only covering this concept for one lesson not be enough?” With these questions, my colleagues and I have found students start to recognize that deep learning is slow and takes time.
Learning is ongoing
Students should also recognize that learning doesn’t end.
Unfortunately, many students believe learning to be a destination rather than an ongoing process. Yet, because knowledge contains an inherent level of uncertainty, and increased learning often reveals increased complexity, learning must be continuous.
To help students reflect on this belief, teachers and parents might ask their students, “How do you think your knowledge has changed over time?” and “How do you think your learning will change in the future?”
Learning is not only from teachers
I remember one high school student telling me that “teachers are supposed to tell us the answers, so we know what to put on the test.”
This student had apparently figured out the “rules of the game” and was not happy when their teacher was trying to engage them in higher-order thinking. This student was holding onto a transmission model of learning in which learning comes from authority figures.
Instead, students should recognize that learning comes from many sources, including their experiences, their peers and their own thinking, as well as from authority figures.
While teachers and parents may hesitate to undermine their own authority, they do students a disservice when they do not prepare them to question and go beyond authority figures.
To help students shift their thinking, teachers might ask students to consider, “Why might learning from multiple sources help you better understand the complexity and nuance of a concept?”
Building better beliefs about learning
Often, teachers and parents believe opportunities to engage in higher-order thinking are enough to help their students develop better beliefs about learning.
But such beliefs require explicit attention and must be planned for in lessons. This is done by asking reflective questions that target specific beliefs, such as the questions noted in the final sentence of each of the previous sections.
In my experience, the conversations I’ve had with students using the questions noted above are highly engaging. Moreover, helping kids develop more robust beliefs about learning just might be the most important thing teachers can do to prepare students for the future.
Jerrid Kruse, Professor of Science Education, Drake University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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