Mind Map: Kekuatan Fisik Menunjang Kekuatan Mental

Penelitian dan penemuan-penemuan dalam bidang psikologi dan kedokteran menyatakan bahwa orang-orang yang aktif secara fisik memiliki ketrampilan mental yang lebih baik daripada mereka yang tidak bugar.

Beberapa teori menyatakan bahwa sikap tubuh yang tidak sempurna, seperti posisi duduk yang sembarangan, posisi tidak berdiri tegak, dan sebagainya dapat menyebabkan penyempitan aliran darah ke otak, kemudian kurangnya asupan oksigen ke paru-paru, jantung dan otak, sehingga menyebabkan konsentrasi kurang maksimal, kemampuan mengingat menjadi tidak baik, dan sebagainya.

Oleh karena itu, dibutuhkan senam kebugaran (aerobik), berenang, berlari, berjalan cepat dan sebagainya.

Manfaat yang diperoleh, yaitu kebugaran otak kita- Mens sana in corpore sano- akal yang sehat di dalam tubuh yang sehat. Bila tubuh kita bugar maka kinerja otak juga membaik.

Manfaat psikologis yang diperoleh adalah cenderung lebih percaya diri, optimis, teguh, pada umumnya lebih mencintai pekerjaan dan profesi mereka, memiliki tingkat energi yang lebih tinggi, dan semangat hidup yang lebih tinggi.

Kualitas makanan menentukan Intellectual Quatient dan Emotional Quatient seseorang, dengan kata lain, kandungan nutrisi pada makanan sangat berpengaruh pada tumbuh kembang mental dan kecerdasan seseorang.

Selain itu, waktu istirahat yang cukup sangat berguna bagi sistem penyimpanan data atau informasi yang diserap oleh otak. Otak akan mampu menyerap lebih banyak lagi informasi yang diterima bila otak mengalami waktu rehat.

Memperoleh Pikiran Kreatif dengan Mind Map

Apa yang dibutuhkan untuk memunculkan ide-ide terbaik? Kreativitas. Apakah Kreativitas itu? Kreativitas adalah kemampuan berpikir dengan cara baru - menjadi orisinil. Pemikiran kreatif termasuk:
Kefasihan - Seberapa cepat dan seberapa mudah kita melepaskan ide-ide baru yang kreatif.
Fleksibilitas - Kemampuan kita melihat sesuatu dari sudut pandang lain, mempertimbangkan sesuatu dari sudut pandang berlawanan, mengambil konsep-konsep lama dan mengaturnya kembali dalam cara yang baru.
Orisinalitas - Kemampuan kita menghasilkan ide-ide yang unik, tidak biasa, eksentrik (menjauh dari pusat), asli.

Mind Map dapat mendorong kita memiliki pikiran yang kreatif. Dalam hal ini Mind Map berfungsi memberi asosiasi atau kegunaan suatu tema bagi sub-sub tema yang lain dan berpikir ke luar batas dengan menggunakan imajinasi.

Bila kita sungguh-sungguh ingin membuat lompatan ke depan dan memajukan daya ingat kita, maka kita perlu menggunakan imajinasi dan asosiasi secara aktif ketika kita ingin mengingat sesuatu.

Peran Penting Istirahat Belajar
Hal yang tak kalah penting yakni kita akan lebih mudah mengingat informasi jika kita istirahat secara teratur di antara periode belajar. Selama istirahat otak akan secara alami memadukan apa yang telah dipelajarinya dan otomatis membangun peta pikiran internal.

Kegagalan & Keberhasilan dalam Mind Map

Pola kerja otak antara lain dapat melakukan pengulangan guna menyimpan ingatan yang lebih baik.

Pertanyaan praktis. Apakah setiap orang pernah mengalami kegagalan? Tentu saja. Apakah setiap orang memiliki lebih dari satu kegagalan? Tentu saja. Apakah setiap orang pernah melakukan kesalahan yang sama? Tentu saja.

Kegagalan merupakan reaksi global, namun banyak ditemui kegagalan selalu ditandai dengan dampak negatif, antara lain penurunan motivasi, kecil hati, malu, dan sebagainya. Pribadi-pribadi yang mengalami situasi ini seringkali menyerah dan menyimpulkan bahwa kegiatan yang gagal dilakukannya itu bukanlah untuk mereka.

Ciri pembelajaran yang benar terhadap kegagalan = TEFCAS

Trial - Percobaan

Kemajuan pembelajaran ditandai oleh jumlah percobaan yang kita lakukan.

Event - Peristiwa

Jika kita mencoba, selalu akan ada sebuah peristiwa. Peristiwa yang tidak terelakan ini akan memberi kita:

Feedback - Umpan Balik

Otak kita akan menyerap setiap informasi yang ada pada peristiwa itu pada tingkat sadar dan pra-sadar. Dengan masuknya semua umpan balik ini, maka otak kita kemudian:

Check - Memeriksa

Mengintrospeksi terhadap respon yang diterima, setelah itu kita akan melakukan apa yang kita anggap sebagai penyelarasan yang tepat untuk percobaan selanjutnya.

Success - Sukses

Apapun yang kita lakukan, tujuan otak kita diarahkan kepada aspek positif, yakni keberhasilan atau sukses melakukannya.

Albert Einstein mengatakan: "Orang yang tidak pernah melakukan kesalahan, tidak pernah mencoba sesuatu yang baru"

Landasan TEFCAS
Hal yang mendasari sistem TEFCAS sebagai pembelajaran yang benar terhadap kegagalan adalah ketekunan. Dibutuhkan ketekunan untuk melakukan aktivitas secara terus-menerus hingga mencapai tujuan yang diinginkan.

Otak: Serebrum

Otak Kiri:

Kata, logika, angka, urutan, linieritas, analisis, daftar.

Otak Kanan:

Irama, kesadaran ruang, dimensi, imajinasi, melamun, warna, kesadaran holistik.

Serebrum dapat dikatakan sebagai bagian terakhir dari otak yang dapat berkembang. Bila seseorang memiliki kelemahan pada area tertentu, kemudian ia dilatih oleh pakar, maka kekuatannya pada area tersebut akan meningkat.

Contohnya: Seseorang yang lemah dalam ketrampilan menggambar, kemudian dilatih menggambar dan melukis, maka kinerja akademisnya akan meningkat secara menyeluruh, terutama pada bidang seperti geometri dimana persepsi dan imajinasi berperan penting.

Sayangnya, sistem pendidikan yang ada sekarang ini memiliki kecenderungan untuk lebih memilih ketrampilan-ketrampilan otak kiri -matematika, bahasa, dan ilmu pengetahuan- daripada seni, musik, dan ketrampilan berpikir secara kreatif. Pada akhirnya, ketika kita hanya berfokus pada setengah bagian otak, maka sistem pendidikan kita hanya menciptakan orang-orang yang setengah pintar.

Perlu diketahui, bahwa otak bekerja secara sinergis, yakni ketika informasi diterima maka aktivitas otak kiri dan kanan saling bekerja. Selain itu, otak juga melakukan aktivitas pengulangan.

Otak dapat mengingat objek denga baik ketika ia terus melakukan proses pengulangan. Contoh, Jika "X" adalah ingatan; semakin baik kita melatih penggunaan ingatan, maka semakin mudah kita mengingat. Jika, "X" adalah kreativitas; semakin kita berlatih menjadi kreatif, maka semakin banyak kita akan mencipta dan pemikiran kratif akan semakin mudah.

Mind Map disebut sebagai alat yang ramah otak karena mind map melibatkan kedua sisi otak. Ia melibatkan gambar, warna, dan imajinasi (wilayah otak kanan) bersamaan dengan kata, angka, dan logika (wilayah otak kiri). Mind map dapat membantu otak membuat pengertian dan imajinasi melalui asosiasi (hubungan).

Otak: Cara Bekerjanya

Pada paruh pertama abad ke-20 ditemukan bahwa jumlah sel otak bukan saja beberapa juta melainkan satu triliun (1.000.000.000.000). 1687 kali jumlah manusia di planet ini. Makna dari jumlah ini sangat luas, bahkan setiap sel hanya dapat melakukan beberapa aktivitas mendasar. Tetapi, jika setiap sel otak beraktivitas maka jumlah mereka akan membawa kita kedalam realisme yang nyaris supranatural.

Cara Kerja Otak

Sel otak beraktivitas dengan membentuk kaitan (hubungan) yang sangat kompleks. Pertama-tama, kaitan-kaitan ini terbuat ketika cabang utamanya membuat ribuan hubungan dengan cabang dari ribuan sel otak lainnya.

Di dalam otak terdapat beberapa bagian yang masing-masing memiliki fungsi yang berbeda-beda, antara lain:

1. Batang otak: penyangga kehidupan, misalnya ia memberikan ruang untuk pernapasan dan laju denyut jantung.


2. Serebelum: disebut otak kecil, menyimpan ingatan untuk respons-respons dasar yang telah dipelajari.


3. Serebrum: disebut korteks serebral, bagian terbesar dari otak dan bertanggung jawab atas berbagai ketrampilan termasuk ingatan, pemahaman, komunikasi (bicara), pembuatan keputusan, dan kreativitas.

Area terpenting otak yang perlu dipahami dalam mengenali kekuatan otak adalah serebrum, atau sering disebut sebagai otak kiri dan kanan.

Mind Map

Mind Map: Definisi

Tony Buzan: Mind Map adalah sistem penyimpanan dan penarikan data (informasi) yang sangat luar biasa yang terdapat di dalam otak kita.

Secara umum mind map dapat diartikan sebagai suatu alternatif pemikiran keseluruhan otak terhadap pemikiran yang terputus-putus. Dalam arti, mind map merupakan suatu cara berpikir yang menghubungkan satu subjek dengan subjek yang lain kemudian menghimpunnya menjadi satu kesatuan yang utuh.

Secara khusus, mind map adalah suatu bentuk atau cara menempatkan informasi ke dalam otak dan mengambil informasi ke luar dari otak secara visualisasi. Dengan kata lain, mind map adalah cara memetakan pikiran-pikiran kita secara tergambar atau kasat mata (menggunakan gambar dan warna).

Dengan mind map, setiap potong informasi baru yang kita masukan ke otak kita otomatis dikaitkan ke semua informasi yang sudah ada di sana. Semakin banyak ingatan yang melekat pada setiap potong informasi dalam kepala kita, akan semakin mudah kita mengaitkan ke luar.

Contextual Teaching & Learning

Elaine B. Johnson mengatakan: “Jika otak hanya belajar, mengutip dan berlatih, ngebut sebelum ujian, maka dalam waktu 14 sampai 18 jam otak akan melupakan sebagian besar informasi baru tersebut”



Pendidikan tradisional menekankan penguasaan dan manipulasi isi. Para siswa menghafalkan fakta, angka, nama, tanggal, tempat, dan kejadian; mempelajari mata pelajaran secara terpisah satu sama lain; dan berlatih dengan cara yang sama untuk memperoleh kemampuan dasar menulis dan berhitung. Pendidikan tradisional dipengaruhi oleh pandangan yang muncul pada abad ke-18 bahwa kenyataan terdiri dari objek-objek yang bebas. Dalam pandangan ini pembelajaran teoritis dipisahkan dengan pembelajaran praktis, di mana pembelajaran teoritis dianggap lebih tinggi tingkatannya dibanding pembelajaran praktis.

Pendidikan tradisional bertujuan mengajari kepala, bukan tubuh. Mereka mengajak para siswa untuk menyerap, tetapi tidak menggunakan; mendengar, tetapi tidak bertindak; berteori tetapi tidak mempraktikan. Tugas para siswa adalah mengingat fakta dan gagasan, bukan mengalami gagasan itu dalam tindakan.

Pandangan baru yang dikembangkan oleh ilmu pengetahuan modern melihat kenyataan sebaliknya, yaitu kenyataan timbul dari kesaling-terhubungan antarobjek. Dari hubungan-hubungan tersebut terciptalah kenyataan. Bisa dikatakan hubungan-hubungan adalah kenyataan. Pandangan modern terhadap kenyataan ini menggarisbawahi pentingnya hubungan-hubungan dalam pengalaman manusia. Tujuan utama pendidikan pada abad ke-21 adalah untuk mempersiapkan anak agar dapat hidup mandiri, produktif, dan bertanggung jawab.

Pesan pokok dari Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) adalah ’learning by doing’ menyebabkan kita membuat keterkaitan-keterkaitan yang menghasilkan makna, dan ketika kita melihat makna, kita menyerap dan menguasai pengetahuan dan ketrampilan. CTL menghilangkan pemisahan antara pembelajaran teoritis dan praktis. CTL memadukan gagasan dan tindakan, mengetahui dan melakukan, berpikir dan bertindak.

Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) adalah sebuah sistem belajar yang didasarkan pada filosofi bahwa siswa mampu menyerap pelajaran apabila mereka menangkap makna dalam materi akademis yang mereka terima dan mereka menangkap makna dalam tugas-tugas sekolah jika mereka bisa mengaitkan informasi baru dengan pengetahuan dan pengalaman yang sudah mereka miliki sebelumnya.

CTL cocok dengan cara otak berfungsi. CTL adalah sebuah sistem yang merangsang otak untuk menyusun pola-pola yang mewujudkan makna. Otak mencari makna dan ketika otak menemukan makna, ia belajar dan ingat.

Ada tiga prinsip ilmiah dalam CTL, yaitu prinsip kesaling-bergantungan, prinsip diferensiasi, dan prinsip pengaturan diri. Prinsip kesaling-bergantungan menuntun pada penciptaan hubungan, bukan isolasi. Prinsip diferensiasi menyatakan bahwa setiap orang adalah unik, tidak sama. Kesamaan akan membuat hidup jadi datar dan gersang. Tanpa prinsip diferensiasi, alam semesta akan menjadi gumpalan sejenis yang rapuh dan siap runtuh. Prinsip pengaturan-diri mengungkapkan bahwa segala sesuatu diatur oleh diri sendiri, dipertahankan oleh diri sendiri, dan disadari oleh diri sendiri. Prinsip pengaturan-diri meminta para pendidik untuk mendorong setiap siswa untuk mengeluarkan seluruh potensinya.

CTL terdiri dari delapan komponen: Membuat Keterkaitan yang Bermakna, Pembelajaran Mandiri, Melakukan Pekerjaan yang Berarti, Bekerjasama, Berpikir Kritis dan Kreatif, Membantu Individu untuk Tumbuh & Berkembang, Mencapai Standar yang Tinggi, dan Menggunakan Penilaian Autentik.

1. Membuat Keterkaitan yang Bermakna
Keterkaitan yang mengarah pada makna adalah jantung dari CTL. Ketika murid dapat mengaitkan isi dari mata pelajaran akademik seperti matematika, ilmu pengetahuan alam, atau sejarah dengan pengalaman mereka sendiri, mereka menemukan makna, dan makna memberi mereka alasan untuk belajar.

2. Pembelajaran Mandiri
Pembelajaran mandiri membutuhkan pengamatan aktif dan mandiri. Pembelajaran mandiri memberi kebebasan kepada siswa untuk menemukan bagaimana kehidupan akademik sesuai dengan kehidupan mereka sehari-hari. Pembelajaran mandiri memberikan antusiasme yang sama pada anak-anak dari TK hingga universitas. Bebas menggambarkan gagasan, minat dan bakat mereka, para siswa bersemangat mengajukan pertanyaan, mengadakan penyelidikan, dan melakukan berbagai percobaan.

3. Melakukan Pekerjaan yang Berarti
Pekerjaan yang memiliki tujuan, berguna untuk orang lain, yang melibatkan proses menentukan pilihan, dan menghasilkan produk, nyata atau tidak nyata.

4. Bekerjasama
Membantu siswa bekerja dengan efektif dalam kelompok, membantu mereka memahami bahwa apa yang mereka lakukan memengaruhi orang lain; membantu mereka berkomunikasi dengan orang lain.



5. Berpikir Kritis & Kreatif
Menganalisis, melakukan sintesis, memecahkan masalah, membuat keputusan, menggunakan logika dan bukti.

6. Membantu Individu untuk Tumbuh & Berkembang
Tahu, memberi perhatian, dan meletakkan harapan yang tinggi untuk setiap anak. Memotivasi dan mendorong setiap siswa. Siswa tidak dapat sukses tanpa dukungan dari orang dewasa. Para siswa menghormati teman sebayanya dan orang dewasa.

7. Mencapai Standar yang Tinggi
Mengidentifikasi tujuan yang jelas dan memotivasi siswa untuk mencapainya. Menunjukkan kepada mereka cara untuk mencapai keberhasilan.

8. Menggunakan Penilaian Autentik
Penilaian autentik berfokus pada tujuan, melibatkan pembelajaran secara langsung, mengharuskan membangun keterkaitan dan kerjasama, dan menanamkan tingkat berpikir yang lebih tinggi. Pengujian standar (ujian nasional, ulangan umum, dll.) dan penilaian dalam bentuk angka bersifat ekslusif dan sempit, sementara penilaian autentik bersifat inklusif.

CTL adalah sebuah metode belajar mengajar terbaru dan paling mutakhir yang sesuai dengan cara kerja otak manusia. Sistem CTL berhasil karena sistem ini meminta siswa untuk bertindak dengan cara yang alami bagi manusia.

Questioning

Matthew Allen also wrote that questioning is the key analytical skill that enables us to develop complex knowledge about the world in the form of structures of related ideas, so as to communicate with other people.

It is not the answers to these questions (questions in the Thinkers with Attitude) that matter, but the very fact that we ask them of ourselves, the willingness no to 'take things for granted' or to be satisfied with the 'obvious answer' . Indeed, it is one of the great failures of our school system that, by and large, we are educated as children to believe that someone has the answer and all we have to do is develop a clever way of finding that answer. In fact, the key skill thay you need to be an effective and thoughtful adult, who is able to engage with and understand the world, is not an ability to find the answers: it is the ability to ask the right questions. If you can ask the right questions, then most of the answers will come very easily. Moreover, you will also understand why others do not seem to understand your answers but have their own views.

Thinkers with Attitude

Matthew Allen in his book Smart Thinking wrote: remember, smart thinking always has a social dimension: we humans are doing the reasoning. As a result, one of the key ingredients of succesfull thinking and analysis, and of the effective use of reasoning, is our own attitude. For most (if not all) of us, our knowledge will usually consist of both the basic information or 'facts' we know, as well as a framework or structure of broader ideas with which we interpret these facts. Many of us are quite capable of assimilating and 'knowing' the facts, but smart thinkers constantly asses their structures and frameworks. In the process, they develop a much deeper and more effective appreciation of situations and events. Smart thinkers can be confident in their reasoning, precisely because they do not rely on too many unexamined or unquestioned assumptions.

First of all, we should always be willing to reflect on our own views and positions - to scrutinise the way we think about the world. We might ask ourselves, from time to time:

• are my views consistent with one another


• what assumptions underpin them


• am I open to new ideas and alternative conclusions


• can I look at this issue from another perspective

We should also be constantly asking ourselves, in relation to the issues that matter to us:

• why did this happen


• what should we do next


• what does it mean

The Competent Teacher

Janet Fine wrote: Teachers are often viewed as competent if they are living up to the standards the school has established. Keeping up with the competition by publishing the required papers or lecturing on different panels does make a teacher better known but does not make a better teacher. Arthur Combs wrote in an essay “The Personal Approach to Good Teaching” that “If we know what the expert teachers do, or are alike, then we can teach the beginners to be like that.”

According to Combs many investigations on the competency of a good teacher have been made, but basic results show that good teaching can not simply be defined in terms of any particular trait. One study demonstrated that a number of general classes of behaviour seemed to be characteristic of good teachers.

“The creation of long lists of competencies is likely to be deeply discouraging and disillusioning to the young teacher,” says Combs. “Evaluations of ‘goodness’ or ‘badness’ become attached to method, and students there after are expected to judge their own adequacies in these terms. The net effect is to set such impossible goals of excellence that no one can ever hope to reach them.”

Teacher: Mental Health

Teacher: Important of Mental Health
By: Janet Fine


All teachers must be emotionally well-balanced. Bad temper and impatience are quickly sensed by students and can destroy the delicate child-teacher relationship. Of course, there are worries and anxieties which affect all of us, and teachers have their share of them. Yet, an emotionally healthy teacher will take the daily frustrations for what they are. A good teacher will not magnify their importance.

It certainly is unfair for teachers to unburden themselves in the classroom. The fear and terror created by the moody, prejudiced, over-strict, or otherwise emotionally unstable teacher endangers the psychological health of the pupils, just as a teacher suffering from tuberculosis endangers their physical health. School principals and superintendents are working hard to devise procedures for screening out unstable personalities from among teacher candidates.

Teacher Qualifications

The Well-Adjusted Teacher
By: Angelo Patri


A well-adjusted teacher is one who can laugh, easily and often. There is no tension anywhere in his body, he swings along easily, with a light step, a shinning happy look in his eyes. He takes the mistakes, the annoyances that are daily occurrences in the life of any teacher, with a smile and shrug and says, Well, well, tomorrow is another day. We’ll begin again tomorrow.

The healthy-minded teacher never bears a grudge. When there is something going wrong he goes directly to the source and says, How Come? What’s to do here? Tell me about it, and if necessary speaks clearly, even sharply, what is in his mind, a free, clear mind. Once having done so the matter is settled as far as he is concerned. He does not brood over wrong, either real or fancied. Nor does the healthy-minded teacher lose self-control in times of stress.

Teaching: The Personality of the Teacher

Teaching: The Personality of the Teacher


The teacher’s personality is what makes school a vital experience. When a radio program conducted a poll in which thousands of children were asked to write about the teacher who had been most helpful to them, letter after letter indicated that it was the qualities of the teacher’s character which meant more to the student than the subject matter which was taught.

The “best teachers” were given high ratings in: cooperation, democratic spirit, kindness, consideration for the individual pupil, patience, wide interests, personal appearance, fairness, sense of humour, interest in students’ problems, and disposition. An interesting note: at the very end of the list was “skill in presenting the subject matter!”

A teacher possessing all these traits will have no trouble providing a healthy, secure atmosphere for his or her class, an atmosphere suited to learning.

It is sometimes said that good teachers are those who have a natural ability for teaching. Yet often a teacher preparation institution screens teacher for their practical knowledge rather than their instinct for teaching. Demonstrated success in working with students is essential for a good teacher. Many students do not discover that they have no teaching ability until they begin practice teaching.

Janet Fine in
Opportunities in Teaching

Teaching: Questions for Teacher

Teaching: Questions for Teachers

Whether you decide to teach in the elementary grades, in high school, or in college, there are certain basic personal qualities you should have if you want to be successful in your job. Answer these questions:

1. Do you enjoy good physical and emotional health?
2. Do you enjoy working with other people – children, young adolescents, adults?
3. Do you like to study? In college teaching this is a must, since your chances for advancement will depend upon your capacity for independent research.
4. Do you become enthusiastic about new ideas, and do you like to discuss them with others?
5. How well do you express yourself and explain things to others?
6. Do you have a sense of humour?
7. Are you interested in what happens in your community, in your city, in your nation, and in the rest of the world?
8. Do you care about your personal appearance?

Every great teachers since Socrates knows that you learn through questioning. If you are a good teacher, you will get your students to respond to you. As a good teacher, you will need enthusiasm, a love of learning, and what former Harvard president James Bryant Conant called “the passion to learn and to understand.”

The good teacher treats each child as an individual ready to gain inspiration as well as knowledge. The good teacher is willing to explore the unknown, seeking to contribute new knowledge about the nature of the universe itself. By preserving the best values of the past, a good teacher can make the future a better place in which to live.


Janet Fine in
Opportunities in Teaching

Thinking about Thinking

Thinking about Thinking
By: Matthew Allen


Reasoning is something we already do: all of us have learnt, in one way or another, to think and to reason, to make connections and see relationships between various events and attitudes in our world. So, being a smart thinker is not about becoming a different sort of person, but about improving skills that you already have. The way to achieve this goal is to become explicitly aware of the analytical process involved in reasoning. If you do, then you will be able to analyze complex issues more deeply, understand and process information more effectively, and communicate your ideas convincingly.

Learn a way of talking and thinking about reasoning that allows us to understand and use reasoning better. Analytical structure of ideas, essentially, the clearest expression of reasoning. We usually encounter such structures ‘embedded’ in the words we read and hear, or in so-called ‘natural language’. We must learn to distinguish more effectively between the structures and the natural language through which it comes to us. We will also encounter the idea of ‘analytical questions’, which can guide the way we think about and develop the relationships that comprise our analytical structures.

Reasoning

Reasoning

By: Matthew Allen


Reasoning is the basis of much of our thinking. It is often described simply as the process of thinking through and communicating our reasons for holding certain views or conclusions. Reasoning is a process of understanding and exploring the relationships between the many events, objects, and ideas in our world. An item can only be understood in relation to other ones. Reasoning enables us to get beyond a world of innumerable separate events, objects, and ideas. Using reasoning, we see that all these separate items are interconnected, and what we know about any particular object depends on our knowledge of other objects. Reasoning does not come naturally but must be learnt and improved.

Reasoning as a form of communication, are:
1. arguing
2. explaining
3. making decisions
4. predicting the future
4. exploring issues
5. finding answers
6. justifying actions

Motivation to Learn Part 2

The ARCS Model of Motivational Design
By: Connie Frith

Keller’s model of motivational design views motivation as a sequence. First, gain the attention of the learner, and then provide relevance of what you are teaching to their personal goals and needs. The learner gains confidence as the learning process unfolds. The satisfaction of the new knowledge provides motivation to continue learning (Driscoll, 1994).

Attention
Often it is easy to gain attention at the beginning of a lesson. Provide variety in presentations through media, demonstrations, small group discussions, or whole class debates.

Relevance
Keller includes familiarity as a component of relevance. Instruction is relevant to the learner if it is related to concrete examples with the learner’s experience. Metaphors, analogies and stories relate information to something the student is familiar with, and helps students understand new concepts.

Once the student sees the relevance they are then in a position to set goals. Self imposed goals provide relevance for the student. Actively setting goals can be an important source of motivation. When individual set goals, they determine an external standard to which they will internally evaluate their present level of performance. Goals must be explicit and attainable to sustain motivation.

Confidence
Confidence and self-efficacy are closely aligned. Three strategies for developing confidence by Driscoll (1994):
1. Create a positive expectations for success by making it clear just what is expected of students. Break complex goals into small chunks.
2. Provide success opportunities for students. Learners gain confidence if they are given enough assistance to perform a task they are not quite capable of doing on their own.
3. Provides learners with a reasonable degree of control over their own learning. Help them to recognize that learning is a direct consequence of their own efforts.

Satisfaction
Satisfaction can be enhanced in a learner by celebrating successes. Publicly celebrating success provides reinforcement for the learner receiving the acknowledgement but also motivates other learners to strive for this acknowledgment.

In a classroom setting it is important to find something to celebrate with all students. At times in an educational environment a learner’s satisfaction can be influenced when he/she compares themselves to others who may have done as well or better. It is important to point out to students that their learning outcomes are individual and must be consistent with their own expectations.

Motivation to Learn

Motivation To Learn
by: Connie Frith

Motivation can be defined as the internal drive directing behaviour towards some end. Motivation helps individuals overcome inertia. Inertia is a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force. External forces can influence behaviour but ultimately it is the internal force of motivation that sustains behaviour.

Components of the Motivation to Learn

1. Curiousity
People are naturally curious. They seek new experiences; they enjoy learning new things; they find satisfaction in solving puzzles, perfecting skills and developing competence. A major task in teaching is to nurture student curiousity and to use curiousity as a motive for learning.

2. Self-Efficacy
The term self-efficacy can be said the power of positive thinking. Always ask student to believe in their ability to win. Students that harbor doubts of their ability to succeed are not motivated to learn.
Dividing tasks into chunks and providing students with early success is a method of developing confidence in the students. Driscoll call this method as performance accomplishments. There are four possible sources of self-efficacy said Driscoll (1994): performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. Vicarious experience is when the learner observes a role model attaining success at a task. Verbal persuasion is often used as others persuade a learner that he or she capable succeeding at a particular task. Physiological states are the “gut feeling” that convinces a student of probable success or failure. For example a student may feel physically sick when they arrive at an exam.

3. Attitude
Every educator has encountered students who are labeled as having a bad attitude. Attitude is an illusive commodity. The attitude of a student toward learning is very much an intrinsic characteristic and is not always demonstrated through behaviours. The positive behaviours exhibited by the student may only occur in the presence of the instructor, and may not be apparent at other times. The behaviour is contrary to the attitude.
Three approaches to attitude change by Fleming and Levie (1993): providing a persuasive message, modeling and reinforcing appropriate behaviour and inducing dissonance between the cognitive, affective and behavioural components of the attitude. They suggest that if a person is induced to perform an act that is contrary to that person’s own attitude, attitude change will result.

4. Need
There are five levels of needs according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. (1) Physiological –lower level – (2) Safety – lower level – (3) Love and belongings – higher needs – (4) Esteem – higher need – (5) Self-Actualization – higher need. Students will not be ready to learn if they have not had their lower level needs met. Children who are sent to school hungry, are not able to learn. Their lower need must be met first.

5. Competence
Competence is an intrinsic motive for learning that is highly related to self-efficacy. Success in a subject for some students is not enough. For students who lack a sense of efficacy teachers must not only provide situations where success occurs but also give students opportunities to undertake challenging tasks on their own to prove to themselves that they can achieve.
Learning a skill without an understanding of the process is doomed to be lost. External support, respect and encouragement are important for the student to achieve competence. The achievement of competence itself becomes the intrinsic motivating factor.

6. External Motivators
Learning strategies should be flexible, creative and constantly applied. Reinforcement is another form of an external motivator. The value of reinforcement as a motivator is questioned from those who suggest that once the reinforcement is removed the behaviour stops. Critics suggest students must have intrinsic motivation to accomplish certain activities. In intrinsic motivation the “doing” is the main reason for finishing an activity. With extrinsic motivation the value is placed on the ends of the action.
The value of reinforcement is on the road to intrinsic motivation. Students need confidence building reinforcement such as praise and encouragement to guide them. Students can also provide their own self rewards for accomplishing goals they have set.
External motivators must be accepted, valued and endorsed by students. They must feel that their perspectives are valued, and they have opportunities to share their thoughts and feelings.
External conditions that support these internal conditions include; provisions for relevancy, choice, control, challenge, responsibility, competence, personal connection, fun, and support from others in the form of caring, respect and guidance in skill development.” (McCombs, 1996)

Connie Frith
Educational Communications and Technology
University of Saskatchewan

Multiple Intelligences
(Sample Student Products Based)


Give students the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and evidence of their learning strength by allowing them to choose how they will present their individual products. Students could combine different intelligences in order to develop a product.


Linguistic Intelligence

Give an oral presentation
Write a report, a letter, a journal or diary
Create and write a poem, fairy tale, legend, myth or short play
Conduct an interview
Conduct a radio interview or program
Develop a slogan, an advertisement, a speech
Create a pun, riddle or joke
Develop a panel discussion around a theme
Develop a travel brochure
Plan a debate to discuss a particular issue
Write a book review, an article, a script
Tell a story
Use an audiotape as part of a presentation

Spatial Intelligence

Make a model
Create an invention
Draw a mind map
Draw an attribute web to explain the topic, concept, theme
Design a structure
Draw a pattern, a puzzle, a diagram
Create a chart, a flowchart, a diorama
Develop a video to present
Use overheads to demonstrate
Create a cartoon
Use photographs to develop a sequence

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

Develop a timeline
Categorize information into appropriate sections
Identify the patterns
Classify the information
Develop a strategy game
Analyze the information
Present a chart that demonstrates the findings on
Rank the information
Develop an experiment
Organize, compare and contrast data
Survey, hypothesize, and present the evidence
Use deductive/inductive reasoning to solve
Make a calendar
Design a computer program for

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence

Choreograph a dance or movement
Perform a play/role-play
Conduct an experiment
Develop a game
Construct a model
Plan and attend an excursion
Use technology to present the concept
Build a sculpture
Mime/Use body language to communicate
Use concrete materials to demonstrate
Model the behaviour.

Musical Intelligence

Compose a piece of music
Use words and rhythm to present the idea
Listen to a piece of music then create a song
Listen to a piece of music while you write a story
Sing a rap
Create a musical based around the theme
Listen to a piece of music while painting
Create a dance sequence which represents a scientific concept

Intrapersonal Intelligence

Choose a topic, concept or theme and report on it
Reflect on what you have learned and write in point from what you learned
What would you still like to learn on this subject
Write a journal of your weekly activities
Keep a diary
What goals would you like to achieve
Draw a picture, write a poem or share your thoughts with a friend
Self-evaluate your work
Explain your personal philosophy
Develop a personal analogy
Evaluate an independent project you have been working on

Interpersonal Intelligence

Working in a co-operative group, write a play
Give a joint presentation
Interview, discuss, collaborate
Brainstorm the topic
With a partner, present a research report
Do a simulation
Read an autobiography or a biography of a famous person in the last century and present a report to the class

Naturalist Intelligence

Classify objects, articles, categories
Organize things in a way that explains events
Create a class plant museum
Share and explain a collection of cards, objects, events
Develop a collection of rocks or other items from the natural environment
Undertake a field trip to a nature preserve
Walk the local neighbourhood noting both natural and man-made patterns
Keep a observational notebook
Sort items from nature
Use magnifiers/microscopes
Draw/photograph natural objects
Label and mount specimens
Learn the names of natural phenomena

Questioning for Understanding

Questioning for Understanding


Explanation
What is the key idea in ………………………?
What are examples of …………………………?
What are the characteristics/parts of ………………….?
How did this come about …………….? Why is this so ………?
What caused ……………? What are the effects of …………..?
How might we prove/confirm/justify …………………..?
How is ……………………..connected to ……………………?
What might happen if ……………………..?
What are common misconceptions about ………………….?

Interpretation
What is the meaning of …………………………………….?
What are the implications of …………………………………?
What does ………………….reveal about ………………..?
How is …………………….. like ………….(analogy/metaphor)?
How does ………………………………. relate to me/us?
So what? Why does it matter?

Application
How and when can we use this (knowledge/process)?
How is …………. applied in the larger world?
How might ………………….. help us to …………………?
How could we use ……………… to overcome …………….?

Perspective
What are different points of view about ………………….?
How might this look from ………………..’s perspective?
How is …………. similar to/different from ………….?
What are other possible reactions to ……………..?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of ……………..?
What are the limits of …………………………?
What is the evidence for ………………….?
Is the evidence reliable? Sufficient?

Empathy
What would it be like to walk in ………………’s shoes?
How might ………….. feel about …………………?
How might we reach an understanding about …………?
What was …………………… trying to make us feel/see?

Self-Knowledge
How do I know …………………………….?
What are the limits of my knowledge about ……………..?
What are my “blind spots” about …………………….?
How can I best show …………………………?
How are my views about ……………….shaped by (experiences, habits, prejudices, style)?
What are my strengths and weaknesses in ………………….?