Articulating Your Thinking

Dr. Mok, Y.F.

Novice & Expert Thinking Patterns
Novice
Expert

Read
Analyze
Explore
Plan
Implement
Verify

Schoenfeld, 1987
Thinking

is
usually

invisible & silent.
Automaticity
Certain thinking practised so extensively


automaticity

executed
with little or no
conscious awareness
Knowledge Categories
Tacit set of categories of knowledge is for
thinking about the world
But there is little
awareness of categorization
And tacit knowledge is difficult to teach.
Difficulties in Teaching




Steps fused together

Cannot capture tacit categories

Teachers Thinking
In sum, teachers thinking:
is usually invisible & silent
is executed with little or no conscious awareness
(this is called automaticity which is due to extensive practice
over the years & certain thinking has become automatic)
is characterized by his own tacit categories of knowledge
which are formulated for his own thinking & hence difficult to
capture or be taught
steps are fused together
Learning from Teachers Thinking

Teachers ways of thinking are valuable to students.

Particularly for solving problems in the subject
domain.

One way of articulating your thinking is to verbalize it.
Thoughts


the stream of consciousness

put into words as they occur
Verbalization

Having to say it
forces you

to figure out

exactly what your thinking process is.
Direct Instruction ?
There are disadvantages in using direct instruction to
teach problem-solving methods:

Students will simply follow your methods like following
a recipe.
Students will have difficulty to understand the reasons
behind a specific course of action.
They will not know under what conditions in which the
solution applies.
Or conditions for the procedure.
Articulate Your Thinking
It is better to verbalize your thinking (not the solution
method) while you problem-solve. Show and tell
students how you:

find out traps & blockages & means for resolving them

make assumptions about unknown information

integrate large amounts of information

consider & reject alternatives that are wrong but tempting
Articulate Your Thinking
how you formulate specific solution paths

how you use your own heuristicsrules that
guide search but do not guarantee a result
Articulating Experts Power
Also, you may take reference of experts problem solving
strategies & incorporate some of them while you show and
tell your students your thinking:

The ability to see typicality

The ability to see distinctions

The ability to see antecedents & consequences

The ability to plan & monitor their problem-solving
attempts
e.g.
Experienced doctors:

distinguish between relevant & non-
relevant data

screen unnecessary data that can be
confusing, unhelpful or sometimes
dangerous
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MathNum
ReasoningProbSolvingThinkAlouds69.htm