BENEFITS OF A 3-D PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR COORDINATING CLASSROOM-BASED INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING
A 3-D model of classroom practice organized around concept, topic and skill…
- Is a concrete model based in cognitive research for teaching higher order thinking to all students: problem solving, critical thinking, and reasoned decision making.
- Teaches students flexible thinking – how to apply a scaffold of generic concepts to a wide variety of questions, topics and situations, particularly ones that they have not previously practiced or experienced. The concepts are universal and timeless as well as carefully defined so that student comprehension can be evaluated.
- Produces long-term memory and recall of factual information that is accessed through the connections provided by the conceptual scaffold. The conceptual scaffold becomes part of the student’s permanent way of thinking about and perceiving the world.
- Begins with a foundation of a few fundamental, inter-related scientific concepts that constitute a “language of science” with which students may comprehend scientific text as well as understand and communicate the more complex and abstract concepts.
- The language of science conceptual structure mirrors algebraic problem solving, providing strong connections and reinforcement between math and science learning.
- Organizes the traditional core knowledge of science taught in K-12 schools (the canon of science) and tested by standardized and college entrance exams according to cognitive and learning theory in order to greatly enhance the efficiency of learning – students can learn far more and far beyond what is conventionally expected with the same time and effort.
- Incorporates a hands-on, experimental approach to discovering the generic concepts and explaining phenomena through their application.
- Accommodates and encourages students’ individual interests and strengths by using this variety as a primary source of questions, topics and contexts to which the generic concepts can be applied. Students share their particular insights or applications through the common “language” of the conceptual structure, thus experiencing first-hand the flexibility of thought and application possible through the concepts.
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