Instrumental Enrichment and Metacognition: How to teach intelligence

The Israeli educationalist Reuven Feuerstein developed a hugely successful course for learners with very low academic achievement. His students had very low IQs, and started his course with a mental age three years behind other learners. There was a control group enabling Feuerstein to measure his students progress against the progress of students that were matched for ability but then taught in a more conventional way. !t the end of their two year course Feuerstein s Instrumental "nrichment students had shown modest gains in terms of increased IQ compared to the control group, though they showed a mar#ed ability to transfer learning from one situation to another. Two years after the programme had ended, the students entered the Israeli army on compulsory service. $n a test of general intelligence they were found to be average for the general population, though they had started Feuerstein s programme three years behind% The control group had not shown this development. Feuerstein attributed this gain to the students continuing to learn without aid in the two years after the programme. He had taught them to teach themselves. &ore than this, Feuerstein had taught his students how to teach themselves to become more intelligent% Feuerstein s methods re'uire special training, and are used all over the world. (rofessor &ichael )hayer has produced similar gains with students with moderate learning difficulties aged *+ to *,. In a +- months programme he added an e.tra *+ to +- months gain in the mental age of the students compared to the control group. That is, some students gained as much as /- months in mental age during a +- months teaching programme. !dey and )hayer also developed a programme called 0ognitive !cceleration through )cience "ducation 10!)"2 which was very successful, in it they taught students to thin# li#e scientists, and this improved their science grade, but also their "nglish grades at 30)". )ome students gained as much as two grades improvement. 4ipman in his (hilosophy for 0hildren programme produced a +5 month gain in logical reasoning with 6ust *+ hours of instruction. Feuerstein s curriculum involved teaching metacognition, that is, he taught learners to thin# about their own thin#ing, and to act upon what they conclude in this thin#ing. He did not teach specific s#ills, but the generic s#ills or thin#ing s#ills re'uired to gather information, and then use it to do something useful, and then to e.press this solution to others. )ee the cognitive functions table below. 4ipman and )hayer also made use of metacognition. Feuerstein developed a programme of great comple.ity called Instrumental "nrichment, which re'uires special training for a teacher to use. However it is worth loo#ing closely at his general strategy. This was not to teach the metacognitive s#ills directly by e.plaining how to do it . This is a common approach in teaching thin#ing s#ills and study s#ills, used for e.ample by "dward de 7ono. Instead, he used a guided discovery approach where students had to construct for themselves the higher level thin#ing

re'uired. ! similar process is used in 3raham 3ibbs study s#ills programme described elsewhere. Roughly spea#ing his procedure was8 *.Set Real Tasks: He as#ed students to do something real, that re'uired information, planning, doing, and e.plaining your solution etc. +.Require Reflection on Metacognitive Strategies 9hen the tas# was done, he as#ed his students to reflect on how they did it. 9hat had made them successful: 9hat hindered them or caused difficulty: ,.Esta!lish "earning #oints in the Students $wn "anguage He as#ed students for very general advice on how to succeed with such tas#s. This includes as#ing the students to name the strategies they used. The teacher then used the students names for these strategies. /.%ridging8 )tudents are then as#ed to bridge from this learning to other applications. That is, they were as#ed where else might you be able to apply this principle: The learners are encouraged to see the application of the thin#ing processes that they have 6ust described and named, in other conte.ts. This is called mediation . 4earners often lac# the ability to see the wood for the trees , they are swamped by the detail of the immediate e.perience, and need help to e.tract general principles from concrete e.perience. Then they need to be encouraged to see where else these same principles apply. The four part cycle above follows ;olb s learning cycle8 do, review, learn, apply. 1see the bridging handout2 0an this same four<step strategy be used to help students to develop their own thin#ing s#ills in your sub6ect: It would re'uire ma#ing the metacognitive processes involved in doing wor# in your sub6ect e.plicit. The icedip and diacase or ideas sac processes could be taught in this way rather than e.plicitly.

Instrumental Enrichment &ognitive 'unctions ('euerstein)*

The Table below summarises the cognitive functions focussed upon during the Instrumental "nrichment programme of Reuven Feuerstein 1!dey )hayer *==/2. 0ould you devise a similar set of s#ills for your sub6ect, and focus on these in a guided discovery way: I Gathering all the information we need (Input) * >sing our senses 1listening, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, feeling2 to gather clear and complete information 1clear perception2. + >sing a system or plan so that we do not s#ip or miss something important or repeat ourselves. , 3iving the thing we gather through our senses and our e.perience a name so that we can remember it more clearly and tal# about it 1labelling2. / ?escribing things and events in terms of where and when they occur 1temporal and spatial referents2.

@ ?eciding on the characteristics of a thing or event that always stay the same, even when changes ta#e place 1conservation, constancy, and ob6ect permanence2. A $rganising the information we gather by considering more than one thing at a time 1two sources of information2. 5 7eing precise and accurate when it matters 1need for precision2. II Using the information we have gathered (Elaboration) * ?efining what the problem is, what we are being as#ed to do, and what we must figure out 1analysing dise'uilibrium2. + >sing only that part of the information we have gathered that is relevant, that is, that applies to the problem, and ignoring the rest 1relevance2. , Having a good picture in our mind of what we are loo#ing for, or what we must do 1interiorisation2. / &a#ing a plan that will include the steps we need to ta#e to reach our goal 1planning behaviour2. @ Remembering and #eeping in mind various pieces of information we need 1broadening our mental field2. A 4oo#ing for the relationship by which separate ob6ects, events, and e.periences can be >sed together 1pro6ecting relationships2. 5 0omparing ob6ects and e.periences to others to see what is similar and what is different 1comparative behaviour2. B Finding the class or set to which the new ob6ect or e.perience belongs 1categorisation2. = Thin#ing about different possibilities and figuring out what would happen if you were to choose one or another 1hypothetical thin#ing2. *- >sing logic to prove things and to defend your opinion 1logical evidence2. III Expressing the solution to a problem (Output) * 7eing clear and precise in your language to be sure that there is no 'uestion as to what your answer is. (ut yourself into the CshoesC of the listener to be sure that your answer will be understood 1overcoming egocentric communication2. + Thin# things through before you answer instead of immediately trying to answer and ma#ing a mista#e, and then trying again 1overcoming trial<and<error2. , 0ount to *- 1at least2 so that you do not say or do something you will be sorry for later 1restraining impulsive behaviour2.

/ If you cannot answer a 'uestion for some reason even though you C#nowC the answer, do not fret or panic. 4eave the 'uestion for a little while and then, when you return to it, use a strategy to help you find the answer 1overcoming bloc#ing2. @ 0arrying an e.act picture of an ob6ect in your mind to another place for comparison without losing or changing some details 1visual transport2.
The Table above comes from Really Raising Standards: Cognitive intervention and academic achievement by Philip Adey and Michael Shayer, Ro tledge !"##$%& This boo' is very highly recommended for those (ith an interest in teaching thin'ing s'ills or in raising achievement&

Is all intelligence learned+ ! recent research review by "ricsson on the nature and development of e.pert performance found that our abilities, talents, capacities and e.pertise, however e.ceptional or developed, are the product of learning not of innate genetic gifts. !lso Intelligence only e.plains about /D of the variance of professional attainment in academia and other professions. In the battle between nature and nurture, nurture is winning, and teachers have a huge role here. 'urther Reading: On Feuersteins methods etc try the following book, which has an introduction by Feuerstein: )harron H., 0oulter, &. 1*=B52 0hanging 0hildren s &inds8 Feuerstein s revolution in the teaching of intelligence. ".eterE Imaginative &inds On an overview of cognitivist approaches to learning including a bit on Feuerstien: FReally Raising )tandards8 0ognitive intervention and academic achievementG by (hilip !dey and &ichael )hayer, Routledge 1*==/2. On the development of expertise, talent, IQ etc: The Role of ?eliberate (ractice in the !c'uisition of ".pert (erformance ;. "ricsson, R. ;rampe, 0. Tesch<Romer sychological !eview "##$% Hol *--. Io ,. ,A,</-A I have a summarising paper on this do e<mail me for a copy Internet searches:

(((&icelp&org !This is the )official* site% http:++(((&(ccld&org+Pages+,hat-is-./&htm !this sho(s e0amples of his materials%
)earch 3oogle etc using Feuerstein FInstrumental "nrichmentG

Learning Skills by Bridging

Geoff Petty 2003

This is an immensely po(erf l teaching strategy and it gets far too little attention& .t is a central plan' in 1e erstein* teaching methodology, (hich can add 23 to 43 .5 points to a learner (ith moderate learning diffic lties, giving them an average .5 in fo r years& Adey and Shayer describe similarly s ccessf l strategies of other ed cationalists, incl ding themselves, based on bridging& A case co ld be made for this being the most po(erf l teaching strategy 'no(n& 6ridging is based on 7olb*s learning cycle, (hich is not as simple as it loo's and is often mis nderstood& .t is sed to describe the development of a specific s'ills, s ch as serving at tennis, or (riting and essay& Do (,ctivist)

Apply (#ragmatist)

Review (Reflector)

Learn (Theorist)

The idea is that (e learn by Doing, then Reviewing or reflecting on (hat (e did: for e0ample (hat (ent (ell, (hat badly, and (hy& The res lt of this reflection is to Learn general principles (hich help s to nderstand the original action and ho( it sho ld be carried o t& The ne0t step is to A ly these general principles (ith the aim of doing a better 8ob& .n effect the learner plans an e0periment (ith the aim of doing it better ne0t time& They then carry o t this e0periment and Do it again& Tho gh doing it differently, and hopef lly better of co rse& The cycle then contin es& .t is very rare for this cycle to be satisfactorily applied in everyday life or even in teaching and learning& Teachers often ta'e st dents thro gh to )revie(*, and even then only revie( the st dents* (or' !prod ct%, not the process the st dents sed to prod ce this (or'& Also, emotional bloc's are enco ntered in each of the fo r phases: learners often don*t have the h mility and honesty to revie( acc rately, the patience and mental energy re9 ired to learn the abstract general principles, or the co rage to do things differently& .t is so m ch easier to be g ided by habit and c stom, and to contin e failing in the same old (ay: 1e erstein tho ght that the main reason for failing to learn (ell (ith this cycle is that the learner*s brain is so s(amped by the immediacy of the concrete e0perience that the learner fails to abstract general principles from the e0perience& So if a st dent has 8 st completed an essay on magnetism for e0ample, the st dent*s foc s both d ring the (riting process and in revie(ing it after(ards is the detailed facts abo t magnetism& They notice and thin' abo t (hat they (rote abo t magnetism, their diagrams and so on& The

teacher*s feedbac' (ill be similarly concrete and )prod ct foc ssed*& This foc s on the detail of immediate e0perience, and on the prod ct rather than the process, obsc res the general principles of ho( to (rite a good essay& ,e need to shift their foc s as sho(n in the diagram belo(: St"dent fo)"s w%ile learning. The Prod ct they ma'e The topic+s b8ect+content Their immediate concrete e0perience ,%e fo)"s re-"ired to learn well. the process they sed the s'ills, strategies, and alternatives the general principles

The ideas o tlined above relate to the learning of any s'ill& So ho( do (e create this shift of emphasis, and enco rage learners to move ro nd the 7olb cycle;

!ow do "se bridging

6ridging ta'es place after the st dent has completed a tas', and involves as'ing t(o )'iller 9 estions*& The first 9 estion how did you do that? is sed to foc s the learners attention on the process, s'ills, and general principles they sed& The second where else could you use those principles? is sed to enco rage the learner to see the (idest possible application of the principles& The session ends (ith the learner committing to ma'ing se of these principles in their ne0t piece of (or'& !See )learning loops*% #$ !ow did yo" do t%at& !The st dent states ho( they did it, and then the teacher enco rages the st dent to e0press this in the most general (ay possible& The st dents are as'ed to e0plain (hy these principles, processes or strategies (or', and (hy they are important& The teacher also enco rages the st dent to name these processes, and the stages in the processes& The teacher ses these st dent names, not the teacher*s o(n names for the processes& Clearly the teacher can g ide the learners in Socratic 9 estioning techni9 e to )discover* the processes, s'ills and strategies that the teacher 'no(s in advance are effective& However this takes time and should not be rushed. The goal is to b ild the learning on the learner*s e0perience, and b ild on the learners present s'ills (hich are often nconscio s processes& The analogy of a comp ter is sef l here& ,e don*t (ant to install a ne( application, (e (ant to pdate the old one& .f a ne( and an old application e0ist together on the same machine, then the machine may defa lt to the old one even tho gh the ne( one is better& 6eca se s'ills are often nconscio s learners often defa lt to their old (ay of doing things, especially (hen distracted by stress, e0citement or other factors& 2& '(%ere else )o"ld yo" "se t%ose rin)i les* ro)esses*strategies&+ The teacher enco rages the st dents to thin' of applications in the (idest and most general (ay possible& ,hen first as'ed this 9 estion learners s ally ans(er )the ne0t time . (rite an essay on magnetism, .*ll do it 8 st li'e (e described* the teacher can se Socratic 9 estioning to lead the st dent to see m ch (ider applications& This process is called ind ction&

How to carry out a purposeful tas#

How to write essays

Induction

How to write science essays

Deduction

How to write an essay on magnetism

9hat my essay on magnetism was li#e

.nd ction is the abstraction of general principles from the detail of e0perience& The diagram above sho(s this process& <ote that: The higher the level of abstraction the more applicable the learning, and so the more sef l the learning& =igher levels of abstraction simplify o r description of e0perience into ma0ims, principles, r les, or methods, etc& .t is one thing to learn these principles and another to act ally se them ho(ever& This se involves ded ction& ,e ded ce ho( to (rite an essay on volcanoes from o r e0perience of (riting one on magnetism is not easy tas'& .t re9 ires time and practice& !See learning loops% /ase st"dy >ets loo' at an e0ample of bridging being sed to improve st dents* report (riting on a level 2 =ealth and Social Care co rse& 1irst the st dents (rite a report from a brief given them& .t re9 ires them to (rite abo t the activites that ta'e place in a local health centre& The bridging (ill come later& The teacher ses Socratic 9 estioning to get the st dents to (or' o t the process of (riting a report& ,ea)%er. ,hat shall (e do first; St"dent #. get some information, (e need to visit and? ,ea)%er. hang on, is that the first thing (e need to do;

St"dent 2. <o, (e need to read the assignment brief first ,ea)%er. ,ell done Cindy& Read the brief. ,hy do yo thin' that is important; St"dent 2. 6eca se (e need to thin' it all thro gh, (hat (e have to do& Thin' o t (hat (e (ant before (e get the information& ,ea)%er. So yo *re saying there some planning to do before the visit; St"dent 2. @es& ,ea)%er. Aood& So lets loo' at the brief (e are given& ,hat does this report need to incl de; .n this (ay the teacher steps the st dents thro gh the (hole process of researching and (riting the report& ,hen this all done the bridging begins& ,ea)%er. So (e have 8 st completed o r first report& ,e are going to have to (rite 9 ite a fe( more so let*s see (hat (e can learn from the e0perience& =o( did (e go abo t (riting the report& St"dent 3. ,e visited the centre and ,ea)%er. =ang on& ,as that the first thing (e did; St"dent 0. <o& ,e did o r plan& ,ea)%er. ho( did (e (rite the plan Michael; St"dent 0. ,e read the brief and decided (hat (e needed to 'no( then (e li'e, did o r plan& ,ea)%er. ,hat shall (e call this process; .*ll give yo a min te in pairs to thin' of a title for it& The class agrees to call it )Read, thin' and plan& ,ea)%er: Right& ,hat did (e do after read thin' and plan; /tc The teacher enco rages the st dents to (rite p the process in the most general (ay possible& 1or e0ample (hile disc ssing the information collection process (hich the class event ally called )reasearch and brainstorm* the teacher tried to get the class to thin' beyond collecting information abo t a =ealth Centre only& ,ea)%er. ,ell, (e (on*t al(ays be (riting reports abo t places (e can visit& S ppose (e (ere doing a report on measles; ,here else co ld (e get information; St"dent. .nternet; ,ea)%er. @es: Any(here else; etc .n this (ay the teacher helps the class discover the report (riting process in general, and (rites it p for the class to see& Then she types it p as a help sheet& !see e0ample belo(% Bnce this process is nderstood and agreed it can be sed for self assessment, see the self assessment proforma belo(& 1ses of bridging.

Clearly any s'ills co ld be ta ght this (ay, at any academic level& 1or e0ample yo co ld teach: /reativity. getting st dents to discover* and se the icedip model ! se their terms for the phases tho gh% 2val"ation and )riti)al t%inking skills sing the )ideas sac* model etc Pra)ti)al skills. etc etc

Re ort writing ro)ess. !el S%eet G345 !ealt% and So)ial /are tea6 Cse this process for all reports in all nits& ,hen yo can se this process (ell, (rite yo r report (itho t this helpsheet, but still using the process. Read t%ink and lan Read the assignment brief or title and make sure you understand it thoroughly. Re-read it often. What will it include? Where could you find information? When must you hand it in? Plan the report writing process. Resear)% and brainstor6 Gather information relevant to the topic Use: Library; CD Rom; internet; visits; ask people; etc Re-read the assignment brief! /%e)k relevan)e Check your information for relevance. Reread the assignment brief.

/lassify Use an ordered set of headings or mindmaps to sort your information into groups. E.g: topics and sub-topics, strengths and weaknesses; arguments for, and arguments against etc, The categories you use will depend on the report title, so re-read it before you start classifying. Look at the material with different key spectacles or questions in mind. Draw conclusions and get evidence What do you want your report to say? For example, what are the strengths and weaknesses of what you have been investigating? Summarise your main conclusions Get evidence for each of your conclusions

Plan t%e re ort Make a mind-map or series of headings based on your classification stage. Make notes of what you want to say. Make sure you do all the tasks or questions.

(rite t%e re ort7 then leave it for day or so Proof-read the report making changes where necessary Present the report (one time!)

Self Assess6ent.
!ealt% and So)ial /are. Re ort writing ro)ess

Assign6ent.
Read t%ink and lan Did yo read the assignment often; Did yo Plan the report (riting process; Did yo leave yo rself time to do a good 8ob; Resear)% and brainstor6 Did yo gather eno gh relevant information sing relevant so rces s ch as the >ibraryE CD RomE internetE visitsE as'ing peopleE etc; /%e)k relevan)e Did yo reFread the assignment and chec' yo r information for relevance; /lassify Did yo find an appropriate and logical (ay to gro p yo r material and ideas; /&g& topics and s bFtopics, strengths and (ea'nessesE arg ments for, and against etc, Draw )on)l"sions and get eviden)e Did yo : S"66arise yo r main concl sions; G& Aet eviden)e for each of yo r concl sions; Plan t%e re ort Did yo plan yo r report by ma'ing a mindFmap or series of headings; Did yo note 'ey points nder these headings; Proof8read t%e re ort Did yo leave the report after (riting it and then proof read, and ma'e changes; Present t%e re ort Did yo present yo r report on time;

3a6e. Self8assess6ent. in)l"ding w%at yo" fo"nd 6ost diffi)"lt

Learning points and action plan:

Learning fro6 e9a6 les of good work7 and bad work: @o can bridge (ith prod cts too: The most effective (ay is by as'ing st dents to self assess, peer assess, and spoofFassess& !Spoof assessment is assessing a spoof piece of (or' created for the p rpose& This co ld be (ritten by the teacher, or be a piece of (or' completed by a st dent last year (ith their name removed%& The diagram belo( e0plains his process& Teacher methods are e0plained in detail in )1ormative Teaching Methods*

Bridging to )larify goals and learn %ow to 6eet t%e6

To learn:
the general characteristics of good (or' the meaning of assessment lang age e&g& )describe* )e0plain* )analyse* )eval ate* ? the meaning of goals s ch as assessment criteria and tas's The nstated )tacit* assessment criteria e&g& )describe it before yo eval ate it* different (ays to achieve these goals in practice !especially if the st dent has a variety of pieces of to learn from% the importance of interpreting tas's and criteria caref lly that s ccess depends on )(hat . do*, not )(hat .5*

abstract

So w%en t%e st"dent gets new work t%ey )an.

.nterpret ne( tas's acc rately pay caref l attention to tas's and criteria interpret ne( assessment criteria and other goals correctly g ess the n(ritten criteria plan ho( to meet these goals in practice sing an increased repertories of )moves*

learn

apply

;nd")tion

ded")tion
Do

!1rom concrete to abstract% St dent activity:

Do+revie(

1rom abstract to concrete to%

St dying e0emplar (or', to see ho( tas's and criteria (ere achieved& Csing assessment criteriaE (or'ed sol tionsE model ans(ersE mar' schemes etc: Assess spoof (or' provided by the teacher Peer assessment Self assessment Assess e0emplar (or' Sno(balling assessment criteria etc

So the st dent can se their:

i6 roved inter retation of tasks7 assess6ent )riteria7 and "nwritten )riteria $$and t%eir$$ in)reased re ertories of different strategies to 6eet goals< and t%eir in)reased self8belief

to prod ce better (or'

concrete

The process of )bridging* from a prod ct involves e0tracting the general principles of good practice from a concrete e0ample& This can be enco raged (ith 9 estions (hich move the st dents from bo0 to bo0 in the bridging diagram above& 1or e0ample ,hat are the general characteristics of good (or' here; =o( did this piece of (or' meet the first three assessment criteria; /0plain the assessment criteria in yo r o(n (ords /tc; =o( did these st dents go abo t eval ating their b siness plans; ,hich approaches did yo li'e best and (hy; Can yo thin' of any other approaches; /tc&

Sho(ing st dents (or', and even getting them to assess it is not eno gh& They need to learn from it by being led ro nd the learning cycle& Bnce yo have done this, e0plain to st dents (hat yo did to them: Point o t the strategy (hich is to as': ,hat (or's; ,hy; =o( co ld . se that; As' them (here else they already se, or co ld se this se9 ence of 9 estions& @o co ld even tell them abo t 7olb*s learning cycle: <o( yo are bridging ho( to bridge: =o( po(erf l and ho( generally applicable is that::