critical creative & collaboration inquiry for educational engagement

Critical Creative & Collaborative Inquiry

for Educational Engagement

[email protected]

Festival of Learning

June 9th, 2016

mailto:[email protected]

Agenda

• Inquiry problem

• Educational context

• C3I, an overview

• Implementation

• Feedback

• Observations & Discussion

C3I for Educational Engagement

Engagement: connection, self-efficacy & agency

C3I & Educational Engagement

Complies•External rewards, fun

Holds Interest

• Enjoyable, low commitment

Valuable

• Important, useful

• Personally meaningful

Challenged

• “Caught up”• Look for

patterns, themes

Transformed

• Actively engaged• Quality reasoning• Transfer & change

Not engaged •Tasks not completed

Horticulture Apprenticeship

• Technical training in practical & business skills

• Industry-developed curriculum

Diploma of Technology

•Foundation in

horticulture science

& environmental

requirements for

optimum plant growth

• Theory & technique

for best practice &

sustainability

Bachelor of Horticulture Science

• Combines horticulture, business, mathematics, biology, chemistry & general education

• Innovation & creativeprojects that resolvecommunity, industry, & research related problems

Educational context


Shifting realities

20th Century Curriculum 21st Century Curriculum

Prepared students for the knownFocused on knowledge & skill acquisition

Traditional scientific/behaviour model, content transmission

Prepare students for the unknown Civic engagement, innovation

Instill thinking as the foundationTeach/model critical thinking

Push-based for compliance &replication

Lecture & labs Assessment of learning

Nurture curiosity & a questioning disposition

Practice & problem solving & reflection Assessment as/for learning

Knowledgehierarchy

Teacher at the topKnowledge networks

Learning community



The thinking through of a problematic situation about what to believe or how to act where the thinker makes a reasoned judgment that reflects competent use of the intellectual tools of quality thinking. TC2 https://tc2.ca/

Critical, Creative & Collaborative Inquiry

https://tc2.ca/

Critical challenges

Broad concept

Plant identification is a decision making process that integrates domain specific background information with critical observation & thinking strategies used in the accurate and efficient identification of unknown plants.


Plant identification as discoveryBackground

Knowledge

What knowledge would be most useful to Mr. Menzies

for identifying unknown plants in a new place?

Criteria for

Judgment

What criteria would Menzies find most useful for

differentiating among a range of plants?

Critical

Vocabulary

How would Menzies ensure that his descriptions of

unknown plants were accurate?

Thinking

Strategies

What strategies would be best for collecting, classifying,

& conveying specimens to the UK?

Habits

of Mind

What outlooks & attitudes would support this work?

How would “surgeon-botanist” effect Menzies outlook?

Reflection

In what ways does Mr. Menzies’ experience of plant

discovery compare with your own?

What tools/habits of mind would support study in

this course?


Landscape designBroadConcepts

Quality visual appearance can be assessed with appropriate criteria

BackgroundKnowledge

Relevant theory & practicewith principles of design

CriteriaQualities of aesthetic organization - order, unity, rhythm

Critical Thinking Vocabulary

Criteria Performance attributesCritique

ThinkingStrategies

Assessment rubricsAnalyze & formulate designsWrite a letter of critique to a designer

Habits of Mind

Attention to detailAccuracy Open-mindednessFair-mindedness


Critical

Challenge

What makes quality in

landscape design?

Place Mats

Collaborate on criteria used to

assess quality visual

appearance

Create

Rubric

Describe 3 distinct

performance attributes

for each criteria

Use a

Rubric

Collaborate & use a rubric

to assess visual resources

Peer assessment with feedback

Write a

Letter of

Critique

Use a rubric to assess designs

Letter of critique to designer

Present the letter & evidence

Peer assessment & feedback

Sustainable horticultureBroadConcepts

Quality decisions can be assessed w/ appropriate criteria

BackgroundKnowledge

World view, ethics & moralityEthnocentrism, anthropocentrism, eco-centrism

Criteria Claims, assumptions, bias

Critical Thinking Vocabulary

Arguments, evidencePro & con Justification

ThinkingStrategies

Inquiry - Argument table, dialogue, reasoned judgement, debate

Habits of Mind

Multiple perspectives Open-mindednessFair-mindedness


Critical

Challenge

Should pesticides (GMO’s) be

used for food security?

Argument Table

Examine multiple perspectives

Evaluate pros & cons for main arguments

Write a dialogue

Argue issues from multiple perspectives

Reach a reasoned judgment

Debate an issue

Carry out an inquiry

Present cases for & against

Weigh the arguments

Engagement: indicator for quality of learning

environment & predictor for learning outcomes


0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Inquiry increasedmy interest.

Self-directedinvestigationenhanced my

interest.

I felt motivated toinvestigate related

questions.

I used resourcesbeyond those

provided.

Inquiry helped meunderstand

differentperspectives.

Evaluatingarguments helped

me determinewhat to believe.

Inquiry helped meunderstand course

concepts.

Collaborationhelped me with

this inquiry.

I could applyinquiry beyond

this class.

Inquiry-based Learning (19 respondents/25 students)

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree

Comments

“…Exploring the “why” for the existence of the class at all”

“…Holistic learning format”

“…Current problems”

“…Creative thinking and problem solving”

“…Good feedback on assignments”


“…Collaborative activities were enriching”

“…How diverse & complex issues become when combining multiple perspectives”

“…I usually prefer to work on projects alone, but working together in a group really helped fill in the blanks that I may have been missing”

Comments

“…I understand now that different perspectives are not necessarily incorrect. I found it helped me to understand the subject better. It also forced me to keep an open mind”

“…I became very aware of the need to check all sources when investigating sides of such a debate, not being able to easily determine what is right was very challenging, but I learned how important it is to view all sides as evenly as possible”


“… I did however, reformulate my own opinions … It was, as well, interesting to see the same phenomenon occur in other members of the class”

“…Assign special projects to solve problems identified”

“…Address specific & serious horticultural issues head on”

“…The course changed how I think, in many ways”

C3I Strengths Challenges

Create a community of thinkers

Active collaboration in decision making, debating pros & cons, justifying conclusions, & considering multiple views

Time & transfer of learning across various courses & contexts without a collaborative teaching community

Promotecritical challenges

Engaged in solving relevant, curriculum embedded problems based on plausible options & clear criteria

Critical thinking is often addressed only after the subject matter has been taught w/ little time for development

Teach the tools

Practice for improvement & scaffolding tools in curriculum fosters deeper understanding, & nurtures self-efficacy & agency

Critical thinking may be considered one type among many skills or forms of thinking, and of a higher order…

Assess for thinking

Assessment based on clear outcomes w/ self/peer/instructor feedback on multiple items

Emphasis on assessment of learning compared with active assessment “as” & “for” learning


Observations

• C3I has powerful implications for promoting student connection, self-efficacy & agency with a strong likelihood for engagement.

• The strengths of C3I outweigh the challenges of implementation within a traditional context.

• A C3I approach has demonstrated that critical thinking nurtures learner engagement & promotes deeper understanding of curriculum for transfer of learning.

Thank you! For information, contact

[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]