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This book introduces readers to principles and research findings about human learning and cognition in an engaging, conversational manner.
"How We Think" is John Dewey's exposition on the nature of human thinking. Illustrated through numerous everyday examples, Dewey details the varying processes by which one might engage in the critical thinking process. With the aim of making students better at the methods of thought and thus better students, "How We Think" is an essential read for both students and teachers alike.
First released in the Spring of 1999, How People Learn has been expanded to show how the theories and insights from the original book can translate into actions and practice, now making a real connection between classroom activities and learning behavior. This edition includes far-reaching suggestions for research that could increase the impact that classroom teaching has on actual learning. Like the original edition, this book offers exciting new research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. When do infants begin to learn? How do experts learn and how is this different from non-experts? What can teachers and schools do-with curricula, classroom settings, and teaching methodsâ€"to help children learn most effectively? New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to the influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess what our children learn. The book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. This new knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our current education system. Topics include: How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain. How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn. What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach. The amazing learning potential of infants. The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace. Learning needs and opportunities for teachers. A realistic look at the role of technology in education.
Our thought lives have incredible power over our mental, emotional, and even physical well-being. In fact, our thoughts can either limit us to what we believe we can do or release us to experience abilities well beyond our expectations. When we choose a mindset that extends our abilities rather than placing limits on ourselves, we will experience greater intellectual satisfaction, emotional control, and physical health. The only question is . . . how? Backed by up-to-date scientific research and biblical insight, Dr. Caroline Leaf empowers readers to take control of their thoughts in order to take control of their lives. In this practical book, readers will learn to use - The 5-step Switch on Your Brain Learning Program, to build memory and learn effectively - The Gift Profile, to discover the unique way they process information - The Mindfulness Guide, to optimize their thought life and find their inner resilience Dr. Leaf shows readers how to combine these powerful tools in order to improve memory, learning, cognitive and intellectual performance, work performance, physical performance, relationships, emotional health, and most importantly a meaningful life well lived. Each of us has significant psychological resources at our fingertips that we can use in order to improve our overall well-being. Dr. Leaf shows us how to harness those resources to unlock our hidden potential.
Students want to learn and excel as learners. However, a student cannot learn optimally on his or her own especially. If a student had not already learned how to learn, student may be ineffective and/or unproductive in learning independently. Student learns best how to learn from adults that can provide such learning. However, in the name of educating a child an adult may imposed tasks upon student. Here, student learn to pay attention to imposed tasks just enough to get a disciplinarian who imposed tasks off their backs while secretly devoting attention to concerns that are truly of interest to the students. Furthermore, an adult may sugar coat a task in order to shield student from the unpleasant the experience of tasks and in their minds facilitate student learning. Here, student may engage task, but student learns in the task that it is his or her whims that are important; he or she learn to make demands or otherwise fail to do assigned tasks. In both cases, students do not learn to learn well. We cannot say that a student is learning well when all that a student may be doing is pay just enough attention to imposed task to get a disciplinarian off his or her back while secretly devoting attention to concerns that are truly of interest to the students. Similarly, we cannot say that a student is learning when all that students is doing is practicing and/or becoming increased practiced in making demands and failing to do assigned tasks. Some teachers may be moderate when they commit these mistakes, and they convince themselves that because they are not extreme, they therefore do not harm students. This may be right in so far as human limitations prevent us from having an absolute best learning practice/method. However, in terms of having a best focus that would help students to learn well, many teachers fail because they do not learn what to look for in helping students to learn well. In Thinking and Learning, we advance the theory that to help students to learn well, teachers must learn to focus upon student interest. Dewey, 1934 point out that without an understanding of student interest, a teacher may not know the direction a student is heading; without an understanding of student interest a teacher may not be able to help students to learn well, and students grope. In Thinking and Learning, we define interest in terms of tendencies that one expresses when in the midst of objects/problems; we point out that in interest one seeks to extricate self from problems, one thinks. We point out that this type of thinking differs from thinking where one is seeking to secure an object/advantage and gratify self. In the last chapters of Thinking and Learning, we develop an instructional program that focus upon fundamentals of what and how a student does when a student is in the midst of objects or problems and seeking to extricating self from them just as we focus upon fundamentals of what and how a student does in a task situation when a student seeks to accomplish tasks and secure a represented advantage. We point out that the learning that is of significance to student is one in which student learn to generate, develop, and consider their concerns. Accordingly, in the last chapters of Thinking and Learning you will learn about the instructional methods of Goal and Task Thinking and Learning (GTTL); here, Goal Thinking and Teaching refer to student tendencies when a student is determining a direction for self, and Task Thinking and Teaching refer to student tendencies when a student is executing a plan to secure a determined advantage.
This book will get you thinking about thinking. We understand more about the brain than ever before and we also have more tools than ever before to help us think. This book will show you how your brain works, how your mind works, why we all make certain mistakes in thinking and why that's not always a bad thing. In order to understand how people behave, you need to understand how people think. And if you want to understand how people think, you need to have a basic understanding of cognitive psychology, cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience. This book explains cognition and the links between the brain, the mind and behaviour in a clear and straightforward way. Through interesting case studies and research examples, Minda shows how the brain is involved in mental activity, how memory works, how language affects thought, how good (and bad) decisions are made, and why we make predictable errors in our thinking. With practical applications for everyday life, this a book that helps us become better thinkers, better learners and better problem-solvers. In the current era of big data, algorithms and AI, Minda argues that knowing about how humans think-how you think-is more important than ever before.
This book explores a new way of thinking about teaching and learning. Its central goal is to help us understand how we think and learn; it will also help teachers understand children and offers a new and helpful perspective on the role of teaching. The book provides an orientation or way of thinking about the psychological dimensions of teaching and learning. This orientation is discussed in relation to cultural shifts that have influenced all fields of study; in education and psychology, the shift is reflected in the works of such scholars as Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner, and others. Their work marks a change from a mechanical view of learning to a view of learning as dynamic transformation. In Learning Is a Verb, Sherrie Reynolds discusses how thinking about teaching and learning must change so that we can create conditions that help children think and interact with one another in helpful, healthy ways. Her engaging, conversational style, together with many examples and observations, will lead readers from reflection on their experiences to a deeper understanding of the changes needed in our educational system.
