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Hi Russell,<br>
"Does it belong in the IT curriculum?" It belongs in every curriculum.
As usual IT is leading the way in curriculum development in this state
and we IT teachers are the pioneers "bravely going where no-one has
gone before" . You even say you make notes to 'sift and sort' your
thoughts. This is visualising thinking - putting it on paper or on
screen so you can see what you are thinking. It is often difficult to
put ideas into words and explain relationships succinctly and this is
where the graphic organisers can come in handy. But they are not the
only forms of VT. David Jonassen, one of the gurus, calls them
Mindtools (borrowed it from Papert?) and he identifies several
categories including: databases, spreadsheets, concept maps, computer
conferencing, hypermedia, microworlds, etc ie any tool that can<br>
<a name="intro"> "engage learners in constructive,
higher-order, critical thinking about the subjects they are studying".<br>
<br>
Charmaine Taylor<br>
Sunbury Downs College<br>
<br>
</a>Russell Edwards wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="midE7B12FFB-CA7C-4584-9E11-23A76CD04545@edumail.vic.gov.au"><br>
On 02/08/2007, at 9:49 PM, Charmaine Taylor wrote:
<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"> The idea students should understand is that
by keeping a visual record of your thinking strategies you can better
reflect on how you came up with an idea, why you accepted or rejected
it and can make a judgement about the value of that strategy. Why?
Because humans forget and if its recorded on paper or electronically
we can retrieve it.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
I can agree with this, and you and Paula are certainly correct that
reflection is an extremely important trait. I can see that using some
of these ICT VT tools could certainly help stimulate reflection in
unreflective students. However, I just don't see that many people
would use them on an ongoing basis. Once reflection is initiated, do
the tools remain (*essentially*) useful (for *everyone*)? It is hard
to say since the only mind I truly know is my own. I think I am highly
reflective, yet I mainly do this exclusively mentally. If I do set
something down, it will be in the form of textual notes, mainly to
compensate for a poor memory but also sometimes to sift and sort my
thoughts. Should students like me flunk because they don't think in
fishbones?
<br>
<br>
Yes, reflection is a skill to be highly valued, but (a) does it belong
specifically in an IT curriculum? (b) yes, VT tools may be useful for
stimulating reflection, but should they be expected to be used (by
*all* students) once reflective habits are initiated?, and (c,
related) should a particular framework for reflection (specifically
visual, specifically using software tools) be mandated for
_assessment_ purposes?
<br>
<br>
I would answer (a) no, it belongs in VELS ICT interdisciplinary
strands and could also be woven in a minor, nonprescriptive way into
every VCE subject, (b) unless I am completely unique (doubtful!!), no!
(c) no! assess the skill, not the conformity of learning/thinking
style. Ultimately, to be useful, reflection should be distilled down
in to a logical set of statements that could be expressed in English
prose. IMO this should be the assessable form. Whether VT tools are
used to arrive at that point or not should be up to the student.
<br>
<br>
JMO
<br>
Russell
<br>
Whittlesea SC
<br>
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<br>
</blockquote>
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