Session Objectives
• Explain How MUDD works (how humans learn)
• Identify the benefits of good thinking (even though we often don’t
like it)
• Identify the key brain barriers to learning (and thinking)
• Compare and contrast memory and thinking
• Identify the main components of good thinking (critical thinking,
creative thinking, metacognitive thinking)
• Explain how each type of thinking works
• Identify how to improve your thinking capability
“Humans don’t think very often because our brains
are designed not for thought
but for the avoidance of thought”
(Willingham, 2009, p.4)
That’s why many students don’t like school
Are our bodies naturally designed to look like this?
So – what needs to be done to get it like this?
Some things you need to do (LEARN) for your modules
• Chemical Engineering Principles & Simulation
5.7 Apply critical thinking in making recommendation on the choice of utility suitable for the
manufacture of a product
6.3 Compare and contrast the two types of fuel combustion systems: fuel gas and fuel oil
9.5 Compare and contrast the different types of cooling towers
• Introduction to Chemical thermodynamics
3.5 Infer and interpret experimental data to evaluate the behaviour of a solution using solution laws
9.3 Apply critical thinking skill by inferring and interpreting experimental data obtained from
practical activities
9.4 Apply critical thinking skill by analysing and evaluating vapour-liquid equilibrium data for a flash
drum under different operating conditions using simulation software
9.5 Formulate hypothesis and conduct experiment inquiry for knowledge discovery through
practical activities
How do I make sure I can do this?
What do I need to do?
How best to do this?
What Do Chemical Engineers Do?
Diagnose & Predict - so how do they do that?
How do Humans LEARN?
• To learning anything, it must Involve:
• Acquiring the necessary knowledge (Involves Memorization of key facts and procedures)
• Understanding how these facts and procedures are connected (Involves Thinking)
• If a skill is to be learned, it requires practice (Involves Doing the skilled activity
• And, of course, you must be motivated to do all of the above (Involves Desire)
MUDD: A Mnemonic for how we learn
Memory
Understanding
Doing
Desire
Putting things into your memory, keeping
them there and being able to get at them
When you need them
Making meaning of acquired knowledge
and seeing how they fit together –
results from thinking
Developing actual skills through practice
Having the motivation and persistence
to learn
To learn well is to mix MUDD well
But there are problems – lets see what they are
The Serial Position Curve
80
Primacy Effect
70
60
Recency Effect
50
von Restorff Effect
40
30
20
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Position on List
14
15 16
Two more mental teasers for You
• How many capital letters in the English alphabet are curved? (e.g., C)
• A bat and ball cost $1.10
• The ball costs one dollar more than the ball
• How much does the ball cost?
Look carefully at this list for 20 seconds
candy, sour, sugar, bitter, good, taste, tooth, nice, honey, soda,
chocolate, heart, cake, eat, and pie
What do you see, and how do you feel about it?
Magic Eggs - Story
“Mum, Mum, you don’t have to buy eggs anymore coz I’m laying them”
Beliefs
“We forget that beliefs are no more than perceptions,
usually with a limited sell by date, yet we act as though
they were concrete realities”
(Adler, 1996, p.145)
Brain Barriers to Learning (and Thinking)
Restricted Working Memory & Slow processing Speed
Despite Long Term Memory having unlimited capacity for information –
Working Memory can only deal with around 7 bits of information at once.
Furthermore, the actual processing speed of the brain is slow compared to its
capacity and organising ability.
Inherent Design Features
The mind is inherently ‘lazy’ when it comes to mental effort (thinking); it
typically relies on what has already been learned, rather than doing good
thinking and using empirical evidence.
Interference from out Emotions & Beliefs
Our emotions often interrupt or prevent good think and cause us to react
quickly but not necessarily rationally. Equally our beliefs typically shape what
we will think about and how we perceive things
A Model of Human Memory
E
N
V
I
R
O
N
M
E
N
T
Working Memory
Senses
Sight
Hearing
Touch
Smell
Taste
Where Conscious
Thought goes on
Limited Capacity
5-9 bits of
information
Forgetting
Integrated
Consciously,
Subconsciously
&
Unconsciously
Long-Term
Memory
Infinite Capacity
Our Memory Systems are fundamental to all learning – how these are
managed affects the rate and quality of learning
The Importance of Long-Term Memory
Research clearly shows that a major factor that differentiates experts from novices is that expert problem-solvers are able to
draw on the vast knowledge bases in their long-term memory and quickly select the best approach and procedures for solving
a given problem.
We are skillful in an area because our long-term memory contains huge amounts of information
concerning that area. That information permits us to quickly recognize the characteristics of a
situation and indicates to us, often unconsciously, what to do and how to do it. (Kircher et al,2006, p.4)
What is thinking?
Thinking is goal-directed mental activity
we do in order to solve problems
Thinking occurs consciously, subconsciously
and unconsciously
“Thinking occurs when you combine information
(from the environment and long-term memory) in new ways…
That combining happens in working memory
(Willingham, 2009, p.11)
The result of successful thinking is better Understanding
This involves Critical
Thinking – have I seen
this problem before, what
are the likely causes,
what information do I
need to clearly interpret
what’s occurring....?
Good thinking,
what’s that?
I want good
Thinking on
this
A Model of Thinking
Comparison
& Contrast
Analysis
Inference &
Interpretation
Metacognition
Evaluation
Generating Possibilities
21
Analysis
Comparison
& Contrast
What do we do
when we analyse?
Analysis
Inference &
Interpretation
Metacognition
Evaluation
Generating Possibilities
• Identify relationship of the parts to a whole in system /structure/model
• Identify functions of each part
• Identify consequences to the whole, if a part was missing
• Identify what collections of parts form important sub-systems of the whole
• Identify if and how certain parts have a synergetic effect
22
Comparison and Contrast
What do we do when we
compare and contrast?
Comparison
& Contrast
Inference &
Interpretation
Metacognition
Analysis
Evaluation
Generating Possibilities
• Identify what is similar between things objects/options/ideas
• Identify what is different between things
• Identify and consider what is important about both the
similarities and differences
• Identify a range of situations when the different features
are applicable
23
Inference and Interpretation
What do we do when we make inferences
and interpretations?
•
•
•
•
•
Identify intentions and assumptions in
data
Comparison
& Contrast
Separate fact from opinion in data
Identify key points, connections, and
contradictions in data
Make meaning of the
Analysis
data/information available
Establish a best picture to make
predictions
Inference &
Interpretation
Metacognition
Evaluation
Generating Possibilities
24
Evaluation
What do we do
when we evaluate?
•
Decide on what is to be
evaluated
•
Identify appropriate criteria
from which evaluation can be
made
•
Prioritize the importance of the
criteria
•
Apply the criteria and make
decision
Comparison
& Contrast
Analysis
Inference &
Interpretation
Metacognition
Evaluation
Generating Possibilities
25
Generating Possibilities
What do we do when we
generate possibilities?
• Generate many possibilities
• Generate different types of possibilities
• Generate novel possibilities
Comparison
& Contrast
All creative products involve the
combining of old ideas or elements
in new ways
Analysis
Inference &
Interpretation
Metacognition
Generating Possibilities
Evaluation
26
What is Creativity?
A product or response will be judged creative to the extent that it is novel, useful or a
valuable response to the task at hand.
(summarized from Amabile, 1996, p.35)
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One dark foggy night in Halifax, as Percy Shaw was driving home, he saw two
small green lights, very close together near the edge of the road. He was curious
so he stopped and saw the ‘lights’ were a pair of cats eyes reflecting the light from
his head lights.
This triggered off his thinking, making some new connections in his brain – subsequently he
invented a small device involving two marbles placed close together in a rubber casing; this
would then be set in the road at intervals between the lanes of traffic.
After a year of experiments, Percy patented the invention and then, in 1935,
formed his company, Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd. (That’s Innovation & Enterprise)
Creativity: Not Thinking out of the Box
It all happens Inside the Head, it’s just a
question of what’s in there, what you do
with it and how
Little in there, little desire and effort to
keep making new neural connections especially across knowledge areas – expect
little by way of creativity
Creativity results from conscious (and
subconscious) neural restructuring that
results in
NEW PERCEPTIONS
Reframing
“How your perceive something makes all the difference and
you are free to see things from any perspective you wish”
(Adler, 1996, p.145)
Slimy Pond Life
or
Tasty Dinner?
Metacognition
What are we doing when we are metacognitive?
Comparison
& Contrast
Analysis
Inference &
Interpretation
Metacognition
Generating Possibilities
Evaluation
• Aware that we can think in an organized
manner (and the barriers to it)
• Actively thinking about the ways in which we
are thinking
• Monitoring and evaluating how effective we
are thinking (including how our emotions and
beliefs may be impacting the thinking process)
• Seeking to make more effective use of the
different ways of thinking as well as any useful
learning strategies, tools and resources
Metacognition plays a central role in learning by monitoring the quality of the
overall (and specific aspects) of the thinking process, our emotional
dispositions, as well as the choice and application of learning strategies and skills
It operates at both conscious
and sub/unconscious levels.
Good Thinking is…
… the ability to use Critical, Creative &
Metacognitive thinking in an highly competent
manner to solve problems:
This involves:
• Using (and practicing) each type of thinking effectively and
efficiently
• Using them together to get maximum capability
• Managing barriers to the thinking process
BIG TIPS
“If it bleeds we can kill it”
Yes, but you need to make it visible
first:
Ask your teachers to make their thinking
visible - so how do you do that?
Make Your Thinking Visible:
The Power of Questions
“Questions are the primary way we learn virtually everything”
“Thinking itself is nothing but the process of asking and
answering questions”
(Anthony Robbins, 2001, pp.179-8)
“All answers come out of the question. If we pay attention to
our questions, we increase the power of meaningful learning”
Ellen Langer
What’s the difference between Memory and Thinking?
Memory is what’s left after Thinking