Thinking Styles in Learning and Teaching Process

The idea of matching teaching and learning styles is not new. The goal is to offer one way to expand teaching methods and curricula to reach more students. This should be considered in the teaching-learning process, and the theory of mental self-government provides one basis for such a consideration (Sternberg and Grigorenko 1995).

Having a good impression of the learners' thinking styles, as well as capitalizing on this by providing and presenting the appropriate material according to the thinking styles is the job of effective educators. A textbook cannot recognize the student’s thinking style. This creates a gap between the learner and the teaching tool - the book. But with appropriate designed software this problem can be bridged.

The function dimension of the mental self-government theory consists of three thinking styles, legislative, executive and judicial. These three styles are the most representative styles in the theory. Every student is dominated by one or more of the three styles in their self-government. Thus, exploring the dominant style shows the most important and main dimension in a student's cognitive profile and how he likes direct his intelligence and perform tasks. Every style has preferences in regard to instruction, assessment, question, skill, and prompt.

Legislative Style

Legislative learners like to create, invent, design, or do things their own way and require little structure.

Legislative learners tend to do best on independent projects, essays in which they can express their own point of view, and unstructured activities.

Instruction:

Legislative instruction emphasizes projects and creative essays and other activities. Legislative learners prefer creative and constructive planning-based activities, such as writing papers, designing projects, and creating new business or education systems.

Assessment:

Legislative assessment emphasizes creative essays and performances. Queries of instruction and assessment:

• Create… • Invent… • If you … • Imagine … • Design… • How would? • Suppose… • Ideally? Executive Style

Executive learners like to follow directions, implement, and do things and require little structure. Executive students often get along well with their teachers because they willingly accept direction and guidance. These students tend to do best on structured activities, such as multiple-choice tests, short-answer problems, and essays for which the topic is assigned.

Instruction:

Executive instruction emphasizes didactic lectures, reading and group recitation (for factual responses).

Assessment:

Executive assessment emphasizes multiple-choice and short-answer responses.

Queries of instruction and assessment: • Who said? • Summarize… • Who did? • When did? • What did? • How did?

• Repeat back… • Describe…

Judicial Style

Judicial learners are concerned with judging, comparing, and evaluating things and people. Judicial students tend to get along well with teachers so long as they do not start evaluating the teachers' behaviour in front of other students. These students tend to do well on critical essays and analyses.

Instruction:

Judicial instruction emphasizes Socratic discussion, analytical essays and other activities, and group recitation for analysis.

Assessment:

Judicial assessment emphasizes critical essays and performances.

Queries of instruction and assessment: • Compare and contrast… • Analyze…

• Evaluate …

• In your judgment … • Why did?

• What caused?

• What is assumed by? • Critique…

Table 3.1 summarizes the three thinking styles and the corresponding preferences. According to Sternberg (1997) and Renzulli (1997), different prompts in instructional assignments can lead to varying levels of compatibility for different styles. As shown in Table 3.2, prompts like “who said…?”, “Describe…” and “Summarize…” benefit executive students; prompts like “Compare and contrast…” and “Analyze…” benefit judicial students; and prompts like “Create” and “Invent” benefit legislative students.

Table 3.1: Thinking Styles and the Corresponding Preferences

Executive Judicial Legislative

Instruction Didactic lecture, silent reading to remember facts, memorization Analyze ideas, reading for understanding, Socratic discussion Design projects, thought-based questioning

Question Solve a given math

problem

Thought-based questions, questions that require analysis and judgment, multiple choice that require analysis, items that measure reading for understanding Thought-based questions, projects & portfolio

Test Short answer and

multiple choice

Short answer and multiple choice, project and portfolios that require analysis, critical essay Creative essays, no multiple choice Skill Summarize, memorize, describe Compare, analyze, what cause, assumptions, evaluate what is right or wrong with a scientific

experiment

Create , invent, imagine, design, if you

Table 3.2: Varying Levels of Compatibility for Different Styles Executive Judicial Legislative Type of prompt Who said? Compare and contrast

Create Summarize… Analyze… Invent… Who did? Evaluate… If you… When did? In your judgment… Imagine… What did? Why did? Design… How did? What caused? How would? Repeat back… What is assumed by?

Suppose… Describe… Critique… Ideally? Specify Weigh Compose Simplify Consider Animate Interpret Review Develop Clarify Value Write Film Devise

3.8 Summary

The mental self-government theory states that people have preferred ways of thinking, which metaphorically map onto different aspects of the organization of government. The understanding of thinking styles relies on a main idea in the mental self- government theory which states that different kinds of authorities and governments in the world are an outer reflection of what goes on in individuals’ minds and thus represent alternative ways of organizing our thinking. Therefore, the kinds of governments we can see are a mirror of our minds. A style is an individual’s preferred way of thinking and expressing or using one or more abilities. A style is neither a level of intelligence nor a personality trait, but rather an interaction of intelligence and personality that brings the two psychological structures together. Thinking styles are at the interface between the domain of abilities and the domain of personality. Different people with the same level of abilities may have different styles of thinking. Thinking styles refer to the ways in which people choose to use or exploit their intelligence as well as their knowledge. Thus thinking styles are not abilities, but rather how these abilities, and the knowledge acquired through them, are used in day-to-day interactions with the environment.

According to the theory, thinking styles can be divided into five categories: function, form, level, scope and leaning. Each category has its own styles. The theory consists of 13 styles in total and they delineate a cognitive profile of how people direct their intelligence and use their abilities.

Individuals tend to choose the styles with which they feel comfortable with regard to managing their affairs. Some individuals prefer particular styles in a certain stage of their lives, but other styles in a different stage.

Several factors affect the change of thinking styles of individuals. Each plays a role in the progress or stability of the styles which individuals use. These factors are: culture, gender, age, parenting styles, education, and occupation.

Several studies that have explored and analyzed thinking styles within the frame of mental self-government theory have been applied in the USA, South Africa, and Hong Kong (Sternberg and Grigorenko 1995 and 1997, Zhang and Sternberg 1998, Zhang

and Sachs 1997, and Cilliers and Sternberg 2001). These studies addressed both the measurement in relation to other variables and checking its validity. Furthermore, the measurement has been applied on samples from university and high school students, which are similar to the sample of this study. Other studies addressed thinking styles of teachers and students, the interaction between teachers’ styles and students’ styles, and the relations between styles and achievement.

Having an appreciation of a learners' thinking styles, as well as capitalizing on it by providing and presenting the appropriate material according to the thinking styles should be considered in the teaching-learning process, and the theory of mental self- government provides one basis for such a consideration.

CHAPTER 4