Sear

SEE-I

SEE-I is a met hod of clarificat ion and underst anding.[1] It st ands for St at e, Elaborat e, Exemplify,
and Illust rat e. This met hod provides a way t o bet t er underst and and/or clearly communicat e a
concept or t opic. SEE-I also lends it self t o a nat ural descript ive st yle of writ ing where import ant
concept s or t opics are described in a clear, repet it ive manner. This same met hod is somet imes
referred t o as t he “C-I paradigm”.[2] SEE-I was originat ed by Richard Paul and Linda Elder and
furt her refined int o t he current form by Gerald Nosich.

Overview

SEE-I has t he following four st eps:

1. State t he concept or idea in a single sent ence or t wo.

Clearly and succinct ly st at e t he concept .
2. Elaborate on t he concept in your own words. Explain it at great er lengt h in a paragraph or
t wo.
Clarify t he concept in your own words. "In ot her words,. . ."
3. Exemplify t he concept by giving concret e examples (and count er examples) of t he
concept .
Specify t he concept by giving specific examples. "For example, . . ."
4. Illustrate t he concept wit h a pict ure, diagram, met aphor, or analogy.
Draw somet hing, find an exist ing pict ure, or creat e a pict ure-in-words, such as wit h a
met aphor or analogy. "It 's like ..."
As a process, SEE-I st art s wit h a clear st at ement of t he concept , followed by clarificat ion in t he
person's own words. Next , t he person goes t o t he specific wit h examples and count er examples
of t he concept . Finally, t he person ends wit h a generalizat ion of t he concept , t ypically in t he
form of a met aphor or analogy. This illust rat ion oft en represent s a mapping t o a more common
domain of knowledge and helps t he reader fully lat ch ont o t he concept . As t he person works his
or her way t hrough t he st eps, previous st eps oft en require revision. So t he process as a whole is
it erat ive, refining, and self-correct ing, if explicit revision is employed. SEE-I is also an amenable
met hod for small groups. A handful of individuals can work t hrough t he process t o bet t er
underst and t he given concept and creat e a clear descript ion for ot hers.

Examples

SEE the concept "learning".

St at e
Learning is t he gaining of knowledge, underst anding, or abilit y.
Elaborat e
In ot her words, learning is a process by which a person gains specific knowledge,
underst anding of t his knowledge, or a specific skill (abilit y). Oft en learning involves gaining
all t hree t o varying degrees. The process occurs t hrough a st ressful repet it ive percept ion
t hat allows t he underlying neural net works of t he mind and body t o adapt t o t he
repet it ive input . True learning involves int ernalizat ion of t he knowledge being learned.
When I have learned somet hing, I can not only say it back, I can also explain it , use it , and
int egrat e it wit h my ot her knowledge.
Exemplify
For example, a child slowly learns t o ride a bike by being guided, by pract icing, and
occasionally by falling down.

A count er example is someone t hat cont inues t o repeat t he same mist akes over and over
again.
Illust rat e
Learning is like a sponge t hat absorbs what ever liquid it comes in cont act wit h, but
hopefully never get s sat urat ed.

Learning is like eat ing: what we eat becomes part of us.

SEE the concept "cellular metabolism".

St at e
 Cellular met abolism is t he set of chemical react ions inside a cell t hat maint ain life.
Elaborat e
Cellular met abolism is t he set of chemical react ions represent ing t he flow of mat t er and
energy t hrough t he cell. These chemical react ions maint ain homeost asis, allow growt h,
and keep a relat ively const ant level of ent ropy in t he cell.
Exemplify
The cit ric acid cycle is a part of cellular met abolism.

Cellular respirat ion is anot her part of cellular met abolism.

A count er example is t he product ion of humus in t he soil.

Illust rat ion
Cellular met abolism is like t he act ivit y of t he bees in a beehive. The worker bees, drones,
and queen perform t heir separat e t asks t hat t oget her maint ain a hive and enable it t o
grow.

SEE the concept "diffusion".

St at e
Diffusion is t he dispersal or spreading out of somet hing like mat t er, energy, or even ideas.
Elaborat e
In ot her words, diffusion is a t ime-dependent delocalizat ion of a collect ion of ent it ies
t ypically via a random (st ochast ic) process.
Exemplify
For example, when someone put s a drop of food coloring in a cup of wat er, t he
molecule(s), providing t he color, spread out in t he wat er via Brownian mot ion unt il an
equilibrium concent rat ion is reached.
Illust rat e
Diffusion is like my roommat e's clot hes t hat disperse from his drawers across our dorm
room bet ween his quart erly laundry runs.

Notes

1. Nosich (2009) pp. 33-38

2. Paul and Elder (2005)

References
 Nosich, Gerald M. (2009, 2005, 2001) Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical
Thinking Across the Curriculum. Published by Pearson Prent ice Hall. 3rd edit ion, pp. 33–38.
ISBN 0-13-813242-9

Paul, Richard, and Elder, Linda. (2005) Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning
and Your Life. Published by Prent ice Hall. ISBN 0-13-114962-8

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