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EDUCATION AND LEARNING
TO THINK
LAUREN B. RESNICK
Co~r~rnittee on Mathematics, Science, and
Technology Education
Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1987
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National Academy Press 2101 Constitution Avenuc. NW Washington. OC 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the
Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn
from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy
of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee
responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with
regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the author according
to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members
of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering,
and the Institute of Medicine.
-
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating
society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research,
dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the
general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress
in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal
government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of
the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under
the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of
outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection
of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility
for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also
sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages
education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers.
Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy
of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions
in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public.
The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of
Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government
and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and
education. Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy
of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology
_
·., .~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ .1 - 1 1 1 ~ _ ~ L I_ ___ 1
with the Academy7s purposes of turther~ng knowledge and advising the ~ecleral
government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by
the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both
the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering
in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and
engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies
and the Institute of Medic ne Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M White are
chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 87-43107
ISBN 0-309-03785-9
Fiat Printing, October 1987
Second Printing, January 1989
Third Printing, May 1989
Fourth Printing, November 1989
Fifth Printing, January 1991
Sixth Printing, July 1991
Seventh Printing, January 1992
Eighth Printing, July 1992
Printed in the United States of America
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COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICS,
SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
1984-1986
JAMES G. MARCH (Chair), Stanford University (political science)
ARNOLD B. ARONS, University of Washington (physics)
W. O. BAKER, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., retired
(chemistry)
MICHAEL COLE, University of California, San Diego (psychology)
MARGARET B. DAVIS, University of Minnesota (biology)
FREDERICK ERICKSON, University of Pennsylvania
(anthropology)
ROBERT GL`ASER, University of Pittsburgh (education,
psychology)
ANDREW M. GLEASON, Harvard University (mathematics)
MICHAEL A. GUlLLEN, Harvard University (mathematical
physics)
JILL H. LARKIN, Carnegie-Mellon University (psychology and
educational computing)
CORA B. MARRETT, University of Wisconsin (sociology)
SAMUEL 3. MESSICK, Educational Testing Service, Inc.,
Princeton, N.J. (psychometrics)
PAUL E. PETERSON, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.
(political science)
MARE TAAGERERA, University of California, Irvine (chemistry)
DAVID E. WILEY, Northwestern University (education)
SENTA A. RAlZEN, Study Director
ROLF K. BLANK, Research A ssociate
. . .
111
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Foreword
The Committee on Research in Mathematics, Science, and Edu-
cation was established in the Cornrnission on Behavioral and Social
Sciences and Education of the National Research Council in 1984 in
response to a request from the U.S. Department of Education. Its ini-
tial tasks, for that department and the National Science Foundation,
were to develop a set of research priorities and to consider the role of
multidisciplinary research for science, mathematics, and technology
education. That work resulted in two reports, Mathematics, Science,
and Technology Education: A Research Agenda (National Academy
Press, 1985) and Interdisciplinary Research in Science, Mathematics,
and Technology Education (National Academy Press, 1987) .
While preparing the first report, the committee became inter-
ested in exploring in more depth two issues: how the school envi-
ronment can be manipulated to maximize opportunities for children
to succeed in learning science and mathematics, and how children
learn reasoning and other complex thinking skills. Work on the first
issue was carried out by Michael Cole, Peg Griffen, and their col-
leagues at the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition at the
University of California at San Diego; their monograph Contextual
Factors in Education: Improving Science and Mathematics Edluca-
tion for Minorities and Women was published by and is available
from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Madison, Wis-
consin. Work on the second issue was undertaken by Lauren Resnick
at the Learning Research and Development Center of the University
of Pittsburgh and resulted in this special monograph. Carnegie Cor-
poration of New York is generously supporting the distribution of
both volumes.
v
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Preface
This paper addresses the question of what American schools can
do to more effectively teach what have come to be called Higher
order skins." Unlike most National Research Council documents, it
is not so much a report as the result of extended reflection upon a
set of questions raised by and about the nation's educational system.
This reflection has received the guidance and critique of a splendid
working group of psychologists, educators, computer scientists, and
philosophers:
Carl Bereiter, Department of Applied Cognitive Science, Ontario
Institute for Studies in Education
John Bransford, Department of Psychology and Director, Learning
Technology Center, Vanderbilt University
Ann L. Brown, Center for the Study of Reading, University of
Blmois
Jerome S. Bruner, Department of Psychology, New School for Social
Research
Susan Carey, Department of Psychology, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
AlIan CoBins, Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.
Robert H. Ennis, College of Education, University of Illinois
David Perkins, Graduate School of Education, Harvard UniversitY
and
Roger Schank, Department of Computer Science, Yale University.
The working group exchanged written statements and partici-
pated in a two-day meeting in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 1984,
during which the issues raised in the written statements were dis-
cussed at length. Members of the group also provided guidance in
·-
V11
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· . .
V111
PREFA CE
finding and interpreting information relevar~t to its concerns. Most
important, members of the working group responded to drafts of this
paper; these responses have been of great value in shaping the final
version. However, what follows ~ not a group report, but a personal
distillation of the working group's wisdom and advice. It should be
read and used with that understanding.
Several individuals in addition to members of the working group
have been generous with their time and ideas. ~ would like to mention
two in particular, Carol Dweck of the University of Illinois and Mark
Lepper of Stanford University. Thanks are also due to the many
who sent materiab about their own ant! others' work on the teaching
of higher order skins and who were willing to talk with me and, in
many cases, to comment on an early draft of this paper. A list of
the individual who responded to requests for information and ideas
appears in the appendix.
Finally, special thanks are due to Senta Razzed, study director of
the Committee on Research in Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Education, for her organization of the initial working group and
overall management of the project. Not least among her contributions
was securing support for this effort from the Carnegie Corporation
of New York, whose contribution ~ hereby thankfully acknowledged.
LAUREN RESNICK
Learning Research and
Development Center
University of Pittsburgh
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Contents
INTRODUCTION
HIGHER ORDER SKILLS: A WORKING DEFINITION
AND A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 2
THE NATURE OF THINKING AND LEARNING
GOING BEYOND THE ROUTINE.......
Reading as a Higher Order Skill, 8
Meaning Construction in Mathematics, 12
GENERAL REASONING: IMPROVING INTELLIGENCE...
Past Research, 16
Current Programs for Teaching Higher Order Skills, 19
Problem Solving in the Disciplines, 20
General Problem-Solving Skills, 21
Reading and Study Strategies, 23
Self-Monitor~ng Skills, 25
Components of Intelligence, 27
Informal Logic and Critical Thinking, 30
Problems of Assessment: Some General Cornrnents, 32
...15
THINKING IN THE CURRICULUM 34
Embedding Thinking Skills In Academic Disciplines, 35
Higher Order Approaches to the Enabling Disciplines, 37
CULTIVATING THE DISPOSITION TO HIGHER
ORDER THINKING
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
What Are Higher Order Skills?, 44
Can Higher Order Thinking Be Directly Taught?, 46
How Should Instruction in Higher Order Thinking
Be Organized?, 48
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
L'C
40
....... 44
... 51
..59
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