Lesson 8

Higher Thinking Skills Through IT-Based Projects

A college freshman once thought of taking a rest in a library after
classes by casually taking reference books off the shelf and browsing over their
contents. Being a Liberal Arts student, he lifted a book of St. Thomas Aquinas,
the famous proponent of Scholastic Philosophy. The written words of the Doctor
of Philosophy didn’t come easy in the understanding of the student, but he
nonetheless mulled over each word and phrase, reflecting over ideas leisurely.
After a few minutes, the student felt awakened to the fact that he was engaged
in a very pleasant activity, such that he exclaimed to himself, “Wow, I’m
thinking!”

The story didn’t end there because since that day, reflective study
became the student’s pleasurable and most profitable activity. Unwittingly, he
made an opening for exercising higher thinking skills. As a reward, the student
carried himself through college with the highest honor and achievements.

In this lesson, we shall discuss four types of IT-based projects
which can effectively be used in order to engage students in activities of a
higher plane of thinking. To be noted is the fact that these projects differ on
the specific process and skills employed, also in the ultimate activity or
platform used to communicate completed products to others.

It is to be understood that these projects do not address all of the
thinking skills shown previously in the Thinking Skills Framework. But these
projects represent constructivist projects, containing the key elements of a
constructivist approach to instruction, namely:

(a) the teacher creating the learning environment
(b) the teacher giving students the tools and facilities , and
(c) the teacher facilitating learning.

On the other hand, it is the students themselves who demonstrate higher thinking
skills and creativity through such activities searching for information,
organizing and synthesizing ideas, creating presentations, and the like.

Now let us see four IT-based projects conducive to develop higher thinking
skills and creativity among learners.

I. Resource-Based Projects

In these projects, the teacher steps out of the traditional role of being an
content expert and information provider, and instead lets the students find
their own facts and information. Only when necessary for the active learning
process does the teacher steps in to supply data or information. The general
flows of events in resource-based projects are:

1. The teacher determines the topic for the examination of the class
2. The teacher presents the problem to the class.
3. The students find information on the problem/questions.
4. Students organize their information in response the problem/questions.

Relating to finding information, the central principle is to make the student go
beyond the textbook and curriculum materials. Students are also encouraged to go
to the library, particularly the modern extension of the modern library, the
internet.

Furthermore, the inquiry-based or discovery approach is given importance in
resource-based projects. This requires that the students, individually or
cooperatively with members of his group, relate gathered information to the
‘real world.

Finally, the process is given more importance then the project product. It
doesn’t matter for example, if each group comes up with the different answer to
the problem. What matters are the varied sources of information, the line of
thinking and the ability to argue in defense of their answers.

The table below can provide the difference between the traditional and
resource-based learning approach to instruction.


Traditional Learning Model

Resource-based Learning Model

Teacher is expert and information provider

Teacher is a guide and facilitator

Textbook is key source of information

Sources are varied

Focus on facts information is package in neat parcels

Focus on learning inquiry/quest/discovery

The product the be-all and end-all of learning

Emphasis on process

Assessment is quantitative

Assessment is quantitative and qualitative

II. Simple Creation

Students can also be assigned to create their software materials to supplement
the need for relevant and effective materials. Of course, there are available
software materials such us Creative Writer on writing, KidWork Deluxe on drawing
and painting, and MediaWeave on multimedia.

In developing software, creativity is an outcome should not be
equated with ingenuity or high intelligence. Creating is more consonant with
planning, making, assembling, designing or building. Creativity is said to
combine three kinds of skills/abilities:

• Analyzing – distinguishing similarities and differences/seeing the
project as a problem to be solved
• Synthesizing – making spontaneous connection among ideas, thus
generating interesting or new ideas
• Promoting – selling of new ideas to allow the public to test the ideas
themselves

To develop creativity, the following five key tasks may be
recommended:

1. Define the task. Clarity the goal of the completed project to the students

2. Brainstorm. The students themselves will be allowed to generate their own
ideas on the project. Rather than shoot down ideas, the teacher encourages idea
exchange.
3. Judge the ideas. The students themselves make an appraisal for or against
any idea. Only when students are completely off track should the teacher
intervene

4. Act. The students to do their work the teacher a facilitator.
5. Adopt flexibility. The students should be allowed to shift gears and not
follow an action path rigidly.

III. Guided Hypermedia Projects

The production of self made multimedia projects can be approach into
different ways:

1. As an instructive tool, such as in the production by the students of a
power-point presentation of a selected topic.
2. As a constructivist tool, such as when student do a multimedia
presentation to stimulate a television news show.

IV. Web-Based Projects

Students can be made to create and post webpages on a given topic. But creating
a webpages, even single page webpages, may be too sophisticated and time
consuming for the average student.

It should be said however, that posting of webpages in the Internet allows
the students a wider audience. They can also be linked with other related sites
in the Internet. But as of now, this creativity project may be too ambitious as
a tool in the teaching-learning process.