GEOFF PETTY

LEARNING AND TEACHING SEMINARS

IMPROVING GRADES BY TEACHING THINKING, WRITING

AND STUDY SKILLS

Wednesday 26 April 2006 Kensington Close Hotel London

Who will benefit from this seminar:

Teachers from any discipline interested in improving their students’ thinking skills, writing skills, creativity, problem solving, study skills, critical thinking, and learning-to-learn skills.

Teacher trainers with an interest in high-order thinking skills and high quality learning.

Programme managers with an interest in raising retention and achievement by teaching not just content but the skills too.

Students too often struggle to achieve their full potential, particularly when they progress from one level of learning to the next. Teachers are well aware that their students have to master a great deal of new content while at the same time developing more effective learning skills. Too often it seems that there is a stark choice between teaching content and teaching the skills to learn this content. This need not be the case.

The most popular, most engaging, and best-retained teaching strategies involve students in creativity, problem solving, evaluation, critical thinking, writing and debate. But how should teachers use such teaching strategies effectively? And crucially, how can they improve their students’ thinking skills, writing, creativity and learning-to-learn skills? In short, how can we teach our students to think, and to act creatively?

It sometimes seems that the more important the learning the less we teach it. This course redresses the balance, looking at down to earth, practical strategies to improve students’ thinking and writing skills – the most important learning that takes place in your classes.

There is no question that creativity, thinking, writing, and learning-to-learn involve the use of processes which can be taught. But how? Those induction study skills lectures are not the best way! This course looks at integrating study skills and thinking skills into the curriculum, involving students in reflective practice to learn these effectively. Research shows that this strategy improves performance at every level.

Most teachers were not formally taught to analyse, respond creatively, or to think rationally but have had to learn it on the hoof. This can make it hard for them to pass on the skills unless a rational curriculum is devised to teach content with skills, and the skills themselves. These skills are vital to help students leap the divide between educational levels, especially between level 2 and level 3.

If you would like to discuss the content of the seminar please email Martin Smith at

Geoff Petty Seminars 48 Alma Street, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 3AL

Email:

GEOFF PETTY

LEARNING AND TEACHING SEMINARS

IMPROVING GRADES BY TEACHING THINKING, WRITING

AND STUDY SKILLS

Wednesday 26 April 2006 Kensington Close Hotel London

9:30 Arrival and Registration

10:00 Research review on study skills and thinking skills teaching: What works?

Hattie, Biggs and Purdie review and the Moseley review

Evidence that skills, abilities and intelligence are learned

Improving student achievement by integrating study and thinking skills teaching

10:30 Attribution: teaching students self-belief has improved achievement by two grades

11:00 Structural aids: Annotating texts, creating graphic organisers, and using note-making skills to improve student achievement

11:30 Coffee, Tea

11:45 Teaching students to analyse and build understanding from text and ILT resources:

Moseley’s integrated framework

Spectacles: atomistic and holistic analysis

Teaching methods that teach analytical thinking skills and content at the same time.

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Integrating study skills and thinking skills teaching with content teaching:

Snowballing

The skills lesson approach

Teaching skills by bridging

14:00 The double-decker lesson approach:

Backwards planning and learning loops for ‘constructive alignment’

14:30 The creative process and how to teach it:

Three models including the mountain model and the icedip models

15:00 Evaluation and critical thinking as a thinking skill:

Five models to help student evaluate and think critically

Critical thinking and value clashes: Pluralism and beyond

16:00 Close

Geoff Petty Seminars 48 Alma Street, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 3AL

Email:

GEOFF PETTY LEARNING AND TEACHING SEMINARS

IMPROVING GRADES BY TEACHING THINKING, WRITING

AND STUDY SKILLS

Wednesday 26 April 2006 Kensington Close Hotel London

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Booking Conditions

The fee for the event is £205 + vat per delegate. This included the cost of all meals, tuition and papers. Cancellations will only be accepted in writing and the full fee is payable if cancellation is made within 2 weeks of the event or when a delegate does not attend on the day. Substitutions may be made at any time. Please contact us if you have not received email acknowledgement within 2 weeks of sending your booking. Joining details will be emailed 7 days before the day of the event. Geoff Petty Seminars reserves the right to amend the programme in the event of reasons beyond their control.

Venue Details

The event is being held in the Kensington Close London which offers excellent conference facilities. It caters for meat and vegetarian diets. Should you have any additional dietary or mobility requirements, please indicate below so that we can try to help.

Names and address of participants are held on a computer record. If you object to this information being held or do not wish to be advised of future events please tick here q

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Please return completed form to: Martin Smith Education Associates Ltd

48 Alma Street Taunton Somerset TA1 3AL

Tel/Fax: 01823 327326