Mindtools

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This section is based on the following publication:

Computers in the Classroom
Mindtools for Critical Thinking
by David H. Jonassen
1996, Prentice-Hall

Constructivism: knowledge is built by the learner, not supplied by the teacher. The learner is actively engaged in interpreting the external world, but with social negotiation of meaning, i.e. common representations are shared with others. Mindtools facillitate this knowledge construction, in which learners organize and represent what they know. The learning processes of mindtools are active, creative, and student-controlled.
Reflective Thinking: involves inferences, implications, reasoning which requires some deliberation. Opposed to experiential thinking, which occurs automatically or reflexively during one's experiences in the world. Mindtools engage learners in reflective thinking, which leads to knowledge construction.
Constructionism: an extension of constructivism which states that the learner can especially construct his or her own knowledge when building an external or sharable product, such as a sand castle or a hypermedia computer project.

Cognitive Processing Tools: perform lower level operations, thus enabling the learner to devote more time to more meaningful mental processes. More responsibility is placed on the learner, who becomes a more self-reliant thinker and problem-solver.
Unintelligent tools: the learner provides the intelligence, not the computer.
Cognitive Partnership Tools: help learners transcend mental limitations such as memory. Certain tasks, such as unproductive memorizing, can be off-loaded to the computer.

Lack of Software: available Computer Assisted Instruction materials only cover a fraction of the curricula.
Cost: purchasing even just a few CAI programs is very expensive.
Efficiency: a small set of mindtools can be used across the curricula. This is also more time efficient, because less time spent learning to use different programs.

The application can be used to represent knowledge.
Generalizable to content in different subjects.
Engages learner in critical thinking about subject.
Develops skills transferable to other subjects.
Significantly restructures or amplifies thinking (provides alternative simple, powerful formalism for representing ideas).
Software should be learnable in 2 hours or less.

Nonalgorithmic: the steps required to solve a problem are not completely identified in advance
Complex: the complete solution is multi-dimensional
Often yields multiple solutions
Involves nuanced judgement interpretation
Involves multiple, sometimes conflicting, criteria
Involves self-regulation of thinking process (nobody else dictates each step to take)
Requires finding meaning and structure in apparent disorder
Requires considerable mental effort, elaborations and judgements are required

Evaluating: making judgements, measuring against a standard, assessing reliability and usefulness, determining criteria for judging, prioritizing, recognizing fallacies or errors, testing hypotheses
Analyzing:separating whole entity into parts and understanding interrelationships of parts (recognizing patterns, categorization, identifying assumptions, identifying main ideas, sequencing)
Connecting: link wholes (comparing, contrasting, logical thinking, inferring deductively, inferring a principle inductively from data, identifying causal relationships, predicting effects)

Synthesizing: thinking analogically, summarizing main ideas in own words, hypothesizing, process planning
Imagining: visualizing processes, outcomes, possibilities (expressing ideas fluently, predicting results of conditions, speculating, wondering, using intuition)
Elaborating: adding personal meaning (expanding by adding details or examples, changing ideas for different purposes, applying to a different context, assuming different point of view, concretizing general ideas)

Problem Solving: systematically pursuing a goal (sensing, researching, and formulating the problem, finding alternatives, choosing a solution, building acceptance)
Designing: producing new ideas (imagining and formulating a goal, inventing, assessing and revising a product)
Decision Making: selecting between alternatives in a systematic way (identifying an issue, generating alternatives, assessing consequences, making choices, evaluating)

Form Heterogenous Groups: stratify according to cognitive controls: field independence, cognitive flexibility, and cognitive complexity. i.e. Mix global (socially-oriented, better communicators, sensitive) and analytic (better at organizing content, seeing how things fit together) learners.
Clarify Goal: clearly identify the group goal and content domain
Negotiate Member Roles: delegate tasks and sub-tasks to individuals, group brain-storm
Monitor Individual and Group Performance: leadership skills should be modeled by the teacher and then assigned to students.
Reconcile Differences: communication skills are very important, cooperation will be tested (asking for / receiving feedback, paraphrasing without evaluating, negotiating meaning, sharing, accepting, supporting needs and wants of others)