Landamatics Instructional Design Theory and Methodology for Teaching General Methods of Thinking

Lev N. Landa

Goals and preconditions. The primary goal of this theory is to teach general methods of thinking (the highest-order thinking skills). It is intended for all situations which, though different in content, have similar general logical structures (often hidden) that allow one to mentally handle them in the same way by employing the same general mental operations.

Values. Some of the values upon which this theory is based include:

1. general methods of thinking (for success in education, industry, and today's information society),
2. identification of general logical structures of various subject matters which determine methods of handling those structures.

Methods. Here are the major methods (or strategies) this theory offers:

Strategy 1: Guided Discovery

1. Guide the students to discover a system of mental operations underlying a general method of thinking.
   1. Give them a task or problem and have them perform it.
2. Help the student to become aware of what they did in their minds when performing the task and then to formulate a method that corresponds to it.
   1. Ask them to formulate a detailed set of instructions (a method) so that other people will be able to follow them to perform the task.
   2. If they have difficulty, explain how to formulate the method.
   3. Identify an overt or hidden (implicit) logical structure of the task's or problem's content and explicitly describe it.
   4. Show how the content's logical structure determines the method of handling it.
   5. Use a flowchart when it will help the students to graphically represent the method.
3. Help the students to learn to apply the discovered method.
   1. Have them practice using the discovered method (instructions), in a step-by-step manner, on new cases.
4. Help the students to internalize the method.
   1. Have them practice the method on new cases without looking at instructions and using only self-instructions.
5. Help the students to automatize the method.
   1. Require them to perform the task on new cases very quickly, without using even self-instructions.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 to gradually increase the degree of generality of the method the student have discovered.
   1. In step 1, give the students tasks (or problems) that are just outside the subject-matter domain where the method was initially discovered and used, and that require a modification of the discovered method.
   2. In step 2, help the students formulate a single more general method that works in both domains.
   3. Steps 3-5 are unchanged.

Strategy 2: Expository Teaching

1. The same six steps occur, but the first two are provided to the students in ready-made form (with appropriate demonstrations).

Strategy 3: Combination Approach

1. Some steps are taught through discovery and some through expository methods, depending on the teacher's objectives.

Major contributions. The focus on general methods of thinking-the highest-order thinking skills-as an important kind of teaching objective and learning outcome. An instructional method based on stages of mental skill development. Options for discovery and/or expository instruction.