EDUC43530: Enhancing Teaching and Learning for Purposeful Productive Thought

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• By the end of the module participants should have acquired a critical understanding of issues relating to teaching and learning for the fostering of productive purposeful thought in the classroom.

• The ideas of the module will be taught in blocks, the essence of which follows:
• Knowledge, Understanding and Reasoning
• Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
• Critical Evaluative Thinking and Quality Assurance
• Wise Thinking and Decision Making
• Emotions and Thinking
• Purposeful Thinking in the age of Artificial Intelligence
• Purposeful Productive Thought: Bringing it all together

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• the different frameworks for thinking that exist and the characteristics of and differences between the different types of thinking ( reasoning, critical/evaluative, creative and wise thinking);
• a range of strategies that support purposeful productive thought and their influence in classroom and how to apply the strategies in relevant educational contexts.

Subject-specific Skills:

• applying ideas and strategies derived from educational research relating to practice;
• developing a critical understanding of factors relating to task design and learners' thinking.

Key Skills:

• research analysis (searching, scrutinising and critiquing literature) relevant to developing purposeful productive thinking;
• use of ICT to access research and present information in the tasks and assignment;
• problem formulation, analysis and solution in developing purposeful productive thinking in practice.

• (i) knowledge development through: directed pre-module reading set by tutors (scaffolding); direct presentation of information and ideas during sessions by tutors (teaching); directed reading during the taught sessions (scaffolding); in-session tasks to explore ideas (teaching and scaffolding).
• (ii) construction of understanding through: in-session tasks to apply ideas in new contexts (teaching and scaffolding learning); directed problem-based learning tasks (formative assessment); assignment (summative assessment).
• (iii) development of skills and abilities through: directed reading (analysis and synthesis of evidence; reflection; critiquing); group discussion (critical thinking; argumentation; debate; ethical tolerance); individual tasks (organisation; time management; reflection; critical thinking).

Directed tasks and the assignment title are introduced early in the module to enable ongoing discussion during teaching sessions. The interactive nature of the sessions, with discussion and small group work, is such that there are opportunities for informal feedback. In addition to contact with the tutors during the teaching sessions, they can be contacted by telephone or e-mail for advice.Formative feedback is likely to take the following forms: directed reading (in preparation for lectures and seminars); commentary on reading review reports; directed tasks (e.g. critical thinking skills; problem-based learning tasks as follow up to taught sessions to scaffold learning); commentary on submitted scripts or presentations.

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