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Pedagogical proposal for the application
of Mind Lab’s Methodology in high schools
using digital technology for the development
of cognitive, social, emotional and ethical
skills through mind games.
Mind Lab
’s HigH scHool
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SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
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• Mind Lab’s Methodology 5
• Overview of Mind Lab’s Methodology 8
• Objectives of the Methodology 10
LEARNING ASPECTS
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MIND LAB
’S HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM
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MIND LAB
’S HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM - GOALS
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• General Goals 17
• Specific Goals 17
• Curriculum 18
PROJECT’S RESOURCES
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• Didactic Resources 22
• Operational and Pedagogical Support 23
Proprietary and confidential
this document contains confidential and proprietary information belonging exclusively to galena ltD. any reproduction, copying or modification of this document, in whole or in part,
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INTRODUCTION
ind lab developed an innovative methodology and achieved genuine results around the world on the development of cognitive, emotional, social and ethical skills in children and young people between 4 and 14 years old. our methodology is based upon three fundamental pillars:
1. mind games
2. meta-cognitive methods
3. teacher-mediator
in 2011, the mind lab group innovated once more: we have broadened our curriculum to include high schools and the use of technological and multimedia resources. We believe that these digital tools will improve the methodology’s results in three aspects, namely:
1. aligning the standard classroom format with the current intrinsic interests of High school students (15 to 17 years old).
2. Helping us to monitor results and to construct analytical data bases.
3. extending the resources available for the teachers’ on-going training.
MIND LAB’S METHODOLOGY
The originsmind lab group carried out the first studies and applications of a methodology for the development of cognitive, social, emotional and ethical skills through reasoning games in 1994. a decade later, thousands of educational institutions all over the world started to apply our methodology to improve the skills and abilities of more than two million students. mind lab’s positive
results have benefited schools, community centers, educators, children and families in more than 35 countries, including: United states, Brazil, United Kingdom, spain, italy, Hungary, turkey, china, Japan and others.
Methodology’s principle
the methodology’s central concept is that mind games are very powerful educational tools because they help to develop cognitive skills and to raise awareness of the thinking process.
mind games also help students to better cope with emotional and social situations. the game-playing experience is at the heart of the program: it is delightful, captivating and exciting – therefore, it generates great motivation and enthusiasm among children and young people underpinning a broader learning process.
Achievements
in the academic field, educational research projects were conducted in renowned universities, such as Yale in the United states and northumbria University in england. mind lab Brazil has been carrying out since 2009, together with inaDe (institute of evaluation and educational Development), a number of studies that confirm and expand the results of the international studies. Both the experience in the field and the research conducted by these entities show that the methodology significantly improves students’ performance in math and verbal test scores as well as other important thinking abilities such as reading, writing, interpreting and analyzing texts which are of great help on students’ daily lives. For more information about our research please visit our website: www.mindlab.com.br.
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The Methodology around the world
the mind lab Project is present in more than 30 countries, from kindergarten to high school. mind lab has become a world leader in the field of research and improvement of methodologies for the development of cognitive, social, emotional and ethical skills and abilities, using thinking games, meta-cognitive methods and intentional interventions from the teacher mediator. the project started in Brazil in 2006 at both private and public schools including the project in their curriculums, reaching thousands of children and young people. the results leave no doubt: teachers are extremely satisfied, parents notice the difference in their children and students love the classes.
OVERVIEW OF MIND LAB’S METHODOLOGY
since the dawn of civilization, strategy games have played an important role in human culture. teachers would draw lines in the sand upon which their pupils would place the game pieces, as part of an engrossing, mind-sharpening activity. Family members of all generations would sit together and enjoy the challenges inherent in the strategy games.
much knowledge has since been forgotten and lifestyles have changed. the fast pace of our lives has given rise to other types of games. Violent and action-packed computer games, intense videos and a plethora of television programs have replaced the traditional activity of sitting together around the game board; an activity which requires deep thought, patience, perseverance, and social cooperation.
Following a tested and proven methodology, the mind lab team in Brazil is engaged in one of the greatest educational challenges of our day.
at the heart of the method, there is the notion that the most effective way to learn is through an immediate and authentic experience that leaves one wanting more.
We emphasize the game as a mediating tool and as an intentional action from the teacher in order to mediate the relationship between youngsters and games. the game is a privileged didactic resource because it provides living experiences which represent real-life challenges. Besides, it is entertaining, engaging, exciting and therefore it stimulates eager involvement.
our proposal is to create, within the curriculum, a space for the reflection, discussion the understanding of cognitive, social, emotional and ethical processes. thus, we will enable children and adolescents to identify links
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Not by force shall
the children learn,
but through play.
between different fields of knowledge and to transfer that knowledge to other situations.
in our view, when we place thinking games in a privileged position in the school’s curriculum we turn them into significant educational tools which speak to the heart and minds of children and adolescents.
We believe that our mission is to promote skills which focus on the transposition of knowledge into other situations of everyday life and help future generations to maximize their potential and become more reflective and successful individuals. that way we are helping people to be happier, to act with more respect towards other people, to overcome challenges and to go beyond…
OBJECTIVES OF THE METHODOLOGY
• developing awareness: awareness of thinking processes is essential for personal enhancement in every walk of life. the methodology emphasizes the meta-cognition and explores the potential of thinking reflectively. When examining their thinking process, young people progressively develop their autonomy. this awareness of the thinking process increases students’ possibility of developing new ways of thinking about themselves.
• imparting Thinking Skills: in our information-rich age, an ever-increasing emphasis is being placed on the importance of basic thinking skills. the methodology develops a great variety of these skills: problem-solving strategies, decision-making models, investigative thinking, verbal and communication skills, etc.
• Strengthening Social Skills: the game-playing experience is an extraordinary simulator of emotional and social processes. it obliges us to deal with situations involving cooperation and competition, victory and defeat, trial and error, the acceptance of rules, working together and it reinforces our ability to effectively manage and control our emotions and to improve our determination, perseverance and self-discipline.
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• interdisciplinary Transference – the ability to perform transcendences and to establish relations between different areas of the knowledge is considered, by many researchers, to be one of the most important learning abilities. through the methodology, young people develop their abilities to build connections between different and various fields of human thinking and experience, transcending theses relations to daily life.
LEARNING ASPECTS
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the conceptual domain that guides our methodology and the description of how it works in practice is underpinned by three aspects: learning a thinking game; learning the appropriate meta-cognitive method; applying it to real life situations.
During the process, connections are established between these aspects via a mediated construction, considering the young person, the abilities around the game and the teacher-mediator. the process begins with the contextualized game and it finishes with the applicability of those abilities in daily life situations.
1 - Playing Thinking Games
thinking games create a stimulating learning environment for children, in which they deal with cognitive, emotional, social and ethical challenges. the mind lab methodology presents children with tools for coping with these challenges. it helps them gain familiarity with game strategies and learn important concepts
in thinking games such as strategic key points, resource management, deferred gratification, the use of tactics and stratagems, methodical thinking, cooperation, harmony, and more. students apply these strategies, improve their level of play, and internalize the new concepts they have learned in the process.
2 - Meta-cognitive methods – Mind Lab’s Methodology
students learn methods, guiding tools and thinking organizers drawn from the strategies and concepts they learned while playing the game. these methods allow us to think about our own actions, about our own thinking and improve our cognitive, social, emotional and ethical skills:
Cognitive
- Problem solving - Decision making
- establish logical conclusions - investigate, comprehend,
communicate and contextualize information in a problem
Emotional
- manage emotions - Defer gratification - Patience, Perseverance - learn from mistakes - self Discipline Social
- cooperation & collaboration - Deal with rules
- teamwork
- act in a competitive environment - communicate clearly and coherently Ethical
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3 - Transference to everyday situations
Parents and teachers serve as facilitators of the methodology, mediating the method’s transference to different areas of our lives. the understanding is thus extended beyond the boundaries of the realm of game-playing and takes on wider significances. this process, “transference,” is the psychological basis enabling what is learned from thinking games to be applied more broadly to life situations.
MIND LAB
’S
HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM
in order to adapt to the reality of Highschool students, we developed a digital project based upon the same pillars of mind lab’s methodology as well as integrating technological resources (tablets) in this teaching-learning process, optimizing the preparation and development of young people and teachers to face the demands of the 21st century.
therefore, understanding the need to think,
create and plan a course that really makes a difference and helps young people to become critical citizens and to face the job market, we present
Mind Lab’s High School Program which includes the development of cognitive, social, emotional and ethical skills. We are aware that this challenge is now the focus of several educational institutions and it has also been targeted by intense academic and public agencies’ studies, as shown by official documents about this topic.
We present bellow excerpts from some official documents (national curriculum guidelines) that guided the development of the project (bold added).
1. THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL
in Brazil, the ministry of education has organized a project of general reform in social development that prioritizes actions in the educational field. (…) regarding High school, two factors began to determine the urgency in rethinking the curricular guidelines that instruct education levels.
(…)
the “technological revolution” promotes changes in the areas of knowledge that begin to occupy a central spot in the general process of development. it is possible to affirm that, in the next decades, education will undergo transformations quicker than other areas because of new theoretical comprehension about the role of school, stimulated by the incorporation of new technologies.
(…)
at High school level, a general formation is proposed in opposition to a specific one: the development of abilities such as researching, searching for information, analyzing and selecting them; the ability to learn rather than to memorize.
these are the most general principles guiding the reformulation of High school’s curriculum and they are expressed in the new national educational Bases and guidelines law (law no. 9.394/96)
(…)
a new high school curriculum is needed in light of two factors:
(1) structural changes arising from the “knowledge revolution”, which changed the forms of work and the organization of social relationships; (2) the increasing expansion of public schools, which must respond to quality standards that incorporate the demands of society.
i. cUrricUlUm reForm anD HigH scHool organization (Based on the Delors report from Unesco)
1. Learning to know
(…)This type of learning is concerned with the mastery of learning tools. It may be regarded as both a means and an end: looking at it as a means, people have to learn to understand the world around them, at least as much as is necessary for them to lead their lives with some dignity, develop their occupational skills and communicate with other people; regarded as an end, it is underpinned by the pleasure that can be derived from understanding, knowledge and discovery.
2. Learning to do
The development of abilities and an encouragement to the acquirement of new skills have become essential processes since they create the necessary conditions to face new situations that have arisen.
3. Learning to live together
It is about learning to live together, discovering other people and raising an awareness of the similarities and interdependence of all people, allowing common projects and an intelligent management of inevitable conflicts.
4. Learning to be
Education should contribute to every person’s complete development. All people should receive in their childhood and youth an education that equips them to develop their own independent, critical way of thinking and judgment so that they can make up their own minds on the best courses of action in the different circumstances in their lives.
according to the organization for economic cooperation and Development (oecD), teaching to think and to develop abilities are among the most important actions in education. Between september 15th and october 15th, 2010, around 27000 people from more than 90 different countries participated in the global ideas marketplace “raise your hand”, answering the following questions:
• “What are the most important actions we need to take in education today?” • “What are the top five priorities for action to take in education today?” the thousands of teachers, students, parents and education experts who took part voted for these top 5 actions to take in education today:
1. Teach to think, not to regurgitate.
2. Commit to education as a public good and a public responsibility.
3. Focus more on creating a long-term love of learning and the ability to think critically than teaching to standardized tests.
4. Ensure all children have the opportunity to discover their natural abilities and develop them.
5. Ensure that children from disadvantaged background and migrant families have the same opportunity to quality education as others.
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MIND LAB
’S HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM
- GOALS
GENERAL GOALS
1. to provide students with a wide comprehension of several concepts related to “Problem solving”, “Decision making”, “companionship abilities”, “self Knowledge”, among others.
2. to enrich students with meta-cognitive methods that will help them comprehend interactions between themselves and other human beings. students will also understand the problems they will face and the tools at their disposal to solve those problems.
3. to build with students a wide set of strategies and techniques that can be used to solve several types of problems: make decisions, face new challenges, make better choices, deal with successes/failures and with emotions that are inherent to human experience. also, we aim to improve skills related to teamwork, respect, dealing with difference, etc…
4. to use technological resources for the development of multiple abilities for both students and teachers, promoting ideal conditions for their personal and professional improvement.
SPECIFIC GOALS
1. to witness a significant increase in students proficiency in other disciplines due to the use of meta-cognitive methods (for more information, please read the articles related to our studies available on the website: http:// www.mindlab.com.br)
2. to improve of teachers’ pedagogical practices through the application and use of the methodology and the ongoing training (monthly supervisions).
3. to strengthen the teacher-student relationship thus, improving teachers’ pedagogical practices (teacher-mediator)
4. to improve the student-student and student-school relationships (development of social, emotional and ethical skills)
5. to promote the digital inclusion of students and teachers through the use of tablets.
CURRICULUM
Here an excerpt from one of the courses for Mind Lab’s High school Program:
Problem solving teamwork Harmony and Balance
Decision making self-confidence and resilience ethics and citizenship
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Courses comprised of 16 sessions One 50-minute session per week Detailed lesson plans
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COURSE 2 – DECISION MAKING - OVERVIEW
Lesson Session Game Activity Method/Strategy
1 Why Is Decision Making Hard?
1 What Is Decision Making?
2 Types Of Decisions Conceptual Map
3 Our Decision Mechanism One Hundred Dollar Auction
2 How Can We Make Good Decisions? 4 Following and Creating Rules · Olympus Follow a Rule Create a Rule
5 Paving A Route Paving a Route
6 Self-block Self-block
7 The Stoplight Method The Stoplight Method
3 Examining Our Surroundings
8 I Can Read Your Mind · Montezuma The Red Light 9 Walking In Their Shoes The pirate puzzle Step into their shoes 10 Read Between
The Lines · Montezuma
Reading non-verbal expressions
4 Examining Our Plan
11 Plan Of Action
· Matrio on Ice
The Yellow Light 12 The Thinking Tree
Method
The Thinking Tree Method
13 Satisficing Pruning
5 “Festina Lente”
14 Green Light Go?! The Green Light
15 Red Light Biases Polling Red Light Biases Cognitive Biases
LESSON 1 Topic
Welcome to Decision making course
Description Lesson 1 it focuses on introducing students to the course topic. the lesson’s time frame across the three sessions that gradually broaden students’ perspective of the types of decisions people make. the lesson also introduces the idea that people have two thinking mechanisms that help them to make decisions. Session 1 (What is decision Making) it opens the course with a bold statement stressing the fact that the decisions we make in our lives eventually define who we are. Session 2 (Types of decisions) it develops students’ perspective on the topic by constructing a conceptual map of types of decisions (identifying small vs. big decisions, decisions impacting only ourselves vs. those impacting others, decisions made in situations of certainty vs. those made in situations of uncertainty, and spontaneous vs. deliberate decisions. Session 3 (Our decision Mechanism) it presents the notion that we have two decision-making mechanisms; one spontaneous and unconscious, and the other deliberate and planned. the session also points to the fact that the decisions we make can be deliberate and rational, but at the same time may bind us emotionally and lead to unexpected, unwanted, or even illogical outcomes.
Goals • Broadening learners perspective on the topic of decision making • constructing a conceptual map of types of decisions
• Presenting the idea that there are two mechanisms for decision making; one spontaneous and the other deliberate.
• Underlining the gap that can develop between the decisions we make and their outcome.
• introducing the topic of rational and irrational decisions
Concepts, Tools and Methods
• Decision making [concept]
Games and Activities
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Sessionssession 1 – What is Decision making? session 2 – types of decisions session 3 – our decision mechanism
Session Flow
session 1 session 2 session 3
What is Decision making? types of Decisions our Decision mechanism
Part 1- Welcome to the decision Making Course introduction to the course’s topic (starting with a short video). What is decision making and why is it difficult?
general assembly 10 min.
Part 1- identifying types of decisions
a class discussion constructing a map of types of decisions people make in their lives. general assembly 15 min.
Part 1- The history of two systems
a class discussion introducing two decision making mechanisms: intuitive / spontaneous and conscious / deliberate.
general assembly 15 min. Part 2- decide your future
a group activity illustrating the profound outcomes that can come from a series of life decisions
groups 25 min.
Part 2- How do you make decisions?
a group activity focusing on the decisions that arise in our daily life in different professions. students identify the decisions and then characterize them in order to learn more about themselves and how they make decisions.
groups 20 min.
Part 2- One hundred dollar auction
an engaging Brainstorm app activity demonstrating the negative escalation of what initially seems to be a rational decision
general assembly 10 min.
Part 3- Your decisions define who you are
Presenting the results of the activity and reflecting upon them.
general assembly 10 min.
Part 3- Why should we cha-racterize decisions?
summarizing the session’s main activity and allowing student’s thoughts and ideas general assembly 10 min.
Part 3- Was it worth $100? a class discussion summarizing the “one hundred dollar auction’ activity and a space for students to keep records of their conclusions
PROJECT’S RESOURCES
the methodology adopted by our project brings tools – games and methods – that, when used intentionally by the teacher, organize pedagogical actions to achieve the proposed goals.
DIDACTIC RESOURCES
Mind Lab’s high school program presents itself as a curriculum which was developed to be inserted in the school’s curriculum.
Pedagogical Materials
We understand that a curriculum is the product from a selection of cultural portions transformed into school content – learning, knowledge information, attitudes, experiences, behaviors, etc – guided by established social and historical criteria.
in the curriculum, we find several routes; paths through which knowledge flows, ways of walking through these paths and those who are able to do that. in the curriculum, we find objects and subjects of knowledge; therefore, it is possible to think the curriculum as an embodiment; as the materialization of the connections among knowledge, power and identity.
Mind Lab’s High school Program’s curriculum is organized into courses which are suitable for the needs of high school students and they also meet the necessary demands to prepare young people to take their place in society. the use of tablets and other
technological resources are a current worldwide educational tendency. We are at the forefront of this movement, as we can see in the document
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about the tendencies for the use of technology in schools. this report is divided into three periods (1, 3 and 5 years) and it introduces the main tendencies for the adoption of new didactic resources by american Universities. the report presents the justification, relevance, practical experience and references appropriate to each topic.
the report primarily discusses six new technologies with an educational focus and their adoption deadlines. it is divided into those that will be implemented in one year or less (eBooks and mobile technologies), between two to three years from now (augmented reality, game-based learning), four to five years from now (gesture-based computing and learning analytics). the full report can be found on http://www.nmc.org/publications/2011-horizon-report
mobile technologies and their ubiquity are part of the tendencies for the future of education along with the development of a new educational paradigm called mobile learning.
M-learning is the distribution of content through mobile devices providing new learning experiences. it is the combination of wireless technology and mobile computing, which allows teachers and students to be interconnected both in and outside the classroom, ensuring that learning becomes increasingly ubiquitous, transforming the student into a nomad learner who can learn in several places at the same time.
OPERATIONAL AND PEDAGOGICAL SUPPORT
schools will have all the necessary support for the application of the project in the classroom:
• initial and on-going training for teachers (monthly meetings) • technological qualification
• tablets and other technological resources
• exclusive internet website with interactive spaces, resources for self-improvement, tools for evaluation, logic challenges, videos, games, among others.
Interactive learning environment
Digital Class
Formative Evaluation
Online Content
(mobile laboratory with tablets, digital games and interactive content)
(an intelligent tool for evaluation)
(a learning mediator outside the classroom)
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DIGITAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
the educational software includes different digital games,
interactional tools and multimedia content – videos, images, and
animations. this software was developed for teachers, students
and parents and it provides meaningful and exciting learning
experiences.
