Chrysalis Academy Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I posted in the 7th grade thread that my kids will be studying Metacognition in an informal way for as long as they are under my roof. By Metacognition I mean thinking about thinking, learning about learning . . . and so I include both higher-order strategic thinking about such things as study skills, as well as understanding how the mind/brain works (and how it can lead you astray) which can include such things as logical fallacies, statistical reasoning, and the "blink" effect - the two-system view of cognition of Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow) and popularized by Gladwell (Blink). So I'd love to discuss these topics, and have us share resources that we like (or don't like). I think as a first pass I'll divide this into categories - study-skills vs. how the mind works - although I think there will be a lot of overlap and I reserve the right to change my organizational strategy. Anyway, please share your favorite or comment on any of these! I'll add things people share that they like to a master list in this thread, but here are some things to get us started: Metacognition resources for parents/teachers Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman - long and dense, but there is a good audiobook version. Basically outlines the theory and research that led to his Nobel prize in economics about how the mind processes information via two systems, an automatic system and a higher-level, effortful system Blink - Malcolm Gladwell - a popular sci description of the above Why Don't Students Like School - Daniel Willingham Metacognition/How The Mind Works resources for students The Demon-Haunted World – Carl Sagan Freakonomics - Levitt & Dubner Think Like a Freak Why Everyone (else) is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind – Robert Kurzban Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People – Mahzarin Banaji & Anthony Greenwald Coursera: Social Psychology Coursera: Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life Metacognition/Study Skills resources for students The Ten Things Future Mathematicians & Scientist Must Know, but are Rarely Taught – Ed Zaccaro The Five Elements of Effective Thinking – Edward Burger & Michael Starbird How to Become a Problem-Solving Genius – Ed Zaccaro How to Lie With Statistics – Darrell Huff Scammed by Statistics - Ed Zaccaro Art of Argument TC: How to become a Superstar Student TC: Your Deceptive Mind Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning - Peter Brown The Sketchnote Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Visual Note taking - Mike Rohde What Smart Students Know - Adam Robinson IB: Theory of Knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Love your list. Thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I'm not sure this is what you mean, but I've been thinking about doing a unit study approach to social sciences in 8th grade... kind of a one year whirlwind through the study of psychology, cultural anthropology, sociology... Maybe some economics and political science thrown in too? I was envisioning perhaps a month on each topic addressing the question of why humans behave as they do and how it can be studied empirically. My girl has a research oriented kind of mind, and I think she'd love to apply it to the study of people. She loved reading Freakonomics last year and it occurred to me that there are plenty of accessible books in the social sciences that address big questions but are aimed at an audience with no knowledge of the field. It could be just the thing for a bright thinking middle school aged kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 That totally fits with what I'm thinking! Resources that help kids understand how people's minds work - their own, other people's, groups, etc. Freakonomics is a great book for that. I agree, popular sci books that are well-written but addressed to nonspecialist adults would fit in here perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allearia Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I highly recommend Make It Stick by Peter Brown. It is about why a lot of traditional study skills don't work and the ones that work better, with a lot of discussion of research and learning, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 I highly recommend Make It Stick by Peter Brown. It is about why a lot of traditional study skills don't work and the ones that work better, with a lot of discussion of research and learning, This looks interesting! Do you see this as something for middle-school or high school aged kids to read on their own, or as more of a parent resource? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allearia Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 This looks interesting! Do you see this as something for middle-school or high school aged kids to read on their own, or as more of a parent resource? I have been having my middle schooler read it. The last chapter has some very practical recommendations and some examples of how different people have used them, although the examples are from college or adult learners. My son just started reading it, so it probably depends on the student. It talks a lot about how just rereading and highlighting isn't effective and recommends lots of self quizzing (or if you are the teacher using lots of low stakes quizzes), spaced practice, ways of synthesizing information, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Those are all good. Thinking, Fast and Slow took me several months to digest. In addition, I have been working through The Sketchnote Handbook with my dd as she prepares for college, and I am surprised at the great way he summarizes metacognition concepts. Also, the Freakonomics guys have a fairly new book out to help you see the world the way they do: Think Like a Freak. And What Smart Students Know is a classic. And, of course, most books on classical education theory. ;) I remember when dh came home from class and explained the concept of metacognition to me. My oldest was an infant. The timing was amazing; that concept and a lot of research into brain development made me a confident homeschool parent, though I didn't know the homeschool part would even come into play until a half dozen years later. Every time I explain metacognition to a student or homeschool parent, it improves their understanding of learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 Awesome! Added to the list. I actually think Metacognition, broadly understood, is one of the most important thing for kids and for teachers to learn about. It really helped me to create this as a broad category, in which I include self-ed as a teacher, study skills for students, and an understanding of how minds and groups of minds work in the world. So broadly, it encompasses both social sciences and self-education/lifelong learning type stuff. I'm intentionally not making it too specific, I want it to be a catch-all category for all that important "stuff" that doesn't always make it into the standard subject sequence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Have you read any of Dan Ariely's books? He is a behavioral economist, and a very accessible writer for a lay audience. The only book I've read is The Upside of Irrationality, but the other two books look more appropriate for your purposes. http://danariely.com/the-books/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 just saw this on Coursera, it will be offered in August - a short course on Learning How to Learn https://www.coursera.org/course/learning And here's the book that goes with it: A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel in math and science (even if you flunked algebra) http://www.amazon.com/Mind-For-Numbers-Science-Flunked/dp/039916524X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1403215978&sr=8-1 I'm definitely going to check this out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Very cool. Next year my kids are using Brain Builder cdrom program but that is more about brain fitness than about learning how to learn or thinking about thinking. I really like the look of the list in the OP, now to see about how to incorporate some of those titles next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I think that IB's Theory of Knowledge course could fit in here. There are various textbooks available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Wow, you all are so far beyond what I am doing, but this is fascinating. I am rather amazed that I actually have a suggestion: How to Solve It, George Polya I don't know if this would fit the bill, but worth a look: The Joy of X, Steven Strogatz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Rose, this is brilliant. Honestly... I'm learning that my son's head is full of deep thoughts... they're often drowned out by random trivia about video games, but still. ;) I think we're going to pull some of these in. So where would I start if I want to learn and process this more? Maybe with Blink or Freakonomics? Or something else?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted June 27, 2014 Author Share Posted June 27, 2014 I think either one of those would be a good starting point - they are both accessible and interesting and written for a general audience. The Coursera Social Psychology course was just excellent as well - I'm not sure when it will come back around, but I highly recommend it. The Five Elements of Effective Thinking would be another good one to read early on - it's a slim little volume but just packed with good stuff. I read it alone, DH read it, Shannon and I read it together, and I'm thinking of assigning to to her to read every year as a refresher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Rose, I thought of your thread today as we watched the second lecture of How to be a Superstar Student. Michael Geisen introduced DS to the term metacognition:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 :hurray: I watched those lectures this weekend, too, and chuckled when he said that! Shannon will do that class after the current Coursera class, Learning How To Learn, is over. I'm thinking for next year maybe we'll pair Coursera's Think Again: How to Reason and Argue with the book Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking by DQ McInerny. It's a slim volume, reminds me a lot of Elements of Style, but for thinking/logic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velomom Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I would follow Freakanomics up witht their new book "Think Like a Freak", seems like the perfect fit for the rest of your list :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Rose, this is a terrific idea: thank you for this thread! I want to say: "Why Don't Students Like School" has some good ideas, but Willingham's grasp of cognitive science is superficial and his understanding of the IQ literature, and the statistics behind it, appalling. Not to put too fine a point on it. I could trace it out explicitly if you really want, but it'd take a while (and I'd have to get my hands on a copy of the book, which I believe I threw away -- since then I've begun a "banned books" shelf for stuff I detest but might want to refer to, but didn't have this in place at the time :) ) To quickly get a grasp of the IQ stuff that would let you make a more-informed opinion on the Willingham work: Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction. (and there's a VSIntro for Thought, too, right up the metacognitive alley ... ) Heavier-hitting, and not totally perfect but very good, Pinker's Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Pinker may annoy; this is worth reading regardless for those seriously interested in metacognition, but you might want to get it from the library as a first pass). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 :lol: I'm giggling about your Pinker comments, he was at MIT while I was there and . . . IKWYM. 'nuff said. I think all of his books have a place on my shelves, though; The Language Instinct was what drew me to that graduate program, and The Blank Slate and How The MInd Works are on my list for high school. I am interested in your critique of Willingham if you ever get the bandwidth to put something together, however brief. I thought his critique of how schools are *not* set up for learning was devastating and right on, I can't remember what he said about IQ, I'll have to pull that book out again and look at it. I'll check out the ones you linked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 oh, oh Ana - you just got me into a world of trouble. I just learned about the "very short introduction" series that the book you recommended belongs to. Want!!!! All of them!!!! My library has 42 of them. That should get me started. :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 :lol: I'm giggling about your Pinker comments, he was at MIT while I was there and . . . IKWYM. 'nuff said. I think all of his books have a place on my shelves, though; The Language Instinct was what drew me to that graduate program, and The Blank Slate and How The MInd Works are on my list for high school. I am interested in your critique of Willingham if you ever get the bandwidth to put something together, however brief. I thought his critique of how schools are *not* set up for learning was devastating and right on, I can't remember what he said about IQ, I'll have to pull that book out again and look at it. I'll check out the ones you linked. oh, you DO know what I mean! I'll try to get a Willingham critique going -- will check the library for the book -- bandwidth is exactly my limiting factor :) . I do remember that the front bits of the book resonated, and at some point things started going downhill for me and then I just couldn't stand to read more -- I get too annoyed to carry on, sometimes, and throwing babies out with bathwater is something I am probably prone to. Not literally thank goodness! so, so glad you like the looks of the VSI series. The ones I've read really are short enough & clear enough to fit in available bandwidth, if you can take at least a long lunch or something to read through. Maybe a very long lunch. Minus children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 oh, oh Ana - you just got me into a world of trouble. I just learned about the "very short introduction" series that the book you recommended belongs to. Want!!!! All of them!!!! My library has 42 of them. That should get me started. :auto: Am I going to have to battle you through the library system for these? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Am I going to have to battle you through the library system for these? ;) You know it!!! ;) :D ETA: got my first one today - don't you dare put it on hold till I'm done!!! :toetap05: :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Did you do the recent Learning How to Learn course on coursera? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threedogfarm Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 This is a great discussion! Thanks for starting it. I am off to check our library for some of these books. In the mean time, I will mention one that should be of interest: The Paradox of Choice: When Less is More by Barry Schwartz. Prof. Schwartz claims that more choices actually restricts us rather than making us more satisfied with our choices. There's always a better curriculum out there, right? This book is an easy read and very straight forward. It should definitely be accessible to a middle schooler and should be a must-read for high schoolers (and college students!). He has three short TED talks that you might enjoy watching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Did you do the recent Learning How to Learn course on coursera? Yes, I just finished it yesterday, and Shannon is doing the whole thing, a week behind. She's reading A Mind for Numbers, too. She is really enjoying it. I'll be weaving the concepts through our discussions for the rest of the year, especially as we tackle learning to take notes from video lectures and more challenging books. It was an excellent kickoff to the 7th grade year! I highly recommend it. I think they are offering another session starting in October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I'm so glad you started this thread, Rose. I keep glancing back at it and am keeping a bunch of these in mind for the future... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Need to come back and read this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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