June 2023

The environment matters Learners and learning are dynamic, and science educators can strive to be the same (Ritchhart, 2015). During my time as a beginning teacher, I have realised that the cultural force of environment can either diminish or amplify the learning taking place within a classroom. In traditional classrooms, teachers would keep desks separated to restrict peer-to-peer collaboration, which meant classrooms were rigid production lines specifically designed for students to simply mass-produce work. To optimise learning 21st century classrooms can be much more flexible (Ritchhart, 2015). It is important students learn in environments that take a variety of physical formats, as this may positively impact classroom engagement and enhance opportunities for collaboration. For the Generate Sort-Connect-Elaborate thinking routine, my students used laboratory benches at the back of the classroom as collaborative areas. This configuration meant my students were able to share their thinking with their peers, which had a measurable effect on their engagement levels (Byers et al., 2014). I strive to utilise learning experiences that result in such an outcome because if my students are not engaged, it becomes exceedingly difficult to encourage them to be curious thinkers. Zoom-In (Year 12 Biology) Not only are thinking routines transdisciplinary but they can also be used to promote learning at any year level. In my Year 12 Biology class I used the Zoom-In thinking routine to engage students through an image of predation within an ecosystem (refer to Figure 4 below). Prior to this thinking routine, students had briefly been introduced to the Unit 3 topic of species interactions that take place within an ecosystem.

I commenced this thinking routine by emphasising to students the importance of verbalising any interpretations, hypotheses, wonderings, or thoughts they had pertaining to the image (Ritchhart et al., 2011). As more of the image was incrementally revealed and more visual information was available, the students’ thinking evolved. There was a direct correlation between the progression of image visibility and the amount of new information the students verbalised. It was clear this short and simple learning experience activated students’ prior knowledge of species interactions and brought any minor misconceptions to the forefront. Students were puzzled by, and actively motivated, in the attempt to decipher the information and meaning within the ecosystem image (Bybee, 2009). By ‘slow looking’, the students carefully observed the small details within the image to make assertions that linked to the Unit 3 content they had been taught prior to the thinking routine (Tishman, 2018). Doing, reflecting and improving The students who enter our classrooms today are like sponges who are highly capable of absorbing knowledge and thinking deeply under the appropriate conditions. This is why it has never been more important to create, rather than inhibit, a culture of thinking in each learning space. By becoming accustomed to the influence I have as the teacher to leverage the cultural forces within my own learning space, I have been able to develop my teaching practice to create an environment where students are becoming critical and evidence-based thinkers. By trialling thinking routines such as the 3-2-1 Bridge, Generate-Sort Connect- Elaborate and Zoom-In, I have witnessed first-hand how engagement, paired with a genuine interest in thinking, can lead to enhanced fulfilment and academic performance within a subject domain. If there was a manual to becoming a good teacher, I am confident that thinking routines would be a critical component of the toolkit.

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Figure 4: The first image (1) and final image (2) that were shown to my Year 12 students during the Zoom-In Thinking Routine (Cambridge Conservation Initiative, 2022).

School-wide Pedagogy Newsletter June Edition 2023

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