ARTICLES
Cognitive Acceleration Conference 2018 – a Summary of Highlights (continued)
of each of these, and give advice on how to implement them
effectively.
I thought giving up the last two days of the term break to attend
a conference in Noosa would be fun – after all, the conference
finished at 4pm each day, leaving a number of hours before sunset
to enjoy the beach. However, that part was not to be – rain and
thunderstorms closed the beach and made sheltering indoors
much more appealing. The only thing my beach towel got used
for was keeping my laptop dry! Fortunately, the conference itself
more than made up for the disappointment of the bad weather.
I see overlap between CASE and Guy Claxton’s “Building
Learning Potential” and Harvard’s “Project Zero” thinking routines.
All of these are programs designed to develop the thinking and
learning ability of students. This, much more than content, is
what will prepare our students for the challenges that face them
leaving school in the 21st Century. One of the huge advantages
of Thinking Science, from a busy teacher’s point of view, is the 30
prepared lesson plans with required equipment listed.
A list of suggested readings is below and contact details for Tim
Smith and for us at Oxford Falls are also listed.
Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1958). The growth of logical thinking.
Routledge.
Adey, P., & Shayer, M. (1990). Accelerating the development of
formal thinking in middle and high school students. Journal of
Research in Science Teaching, 27(3), 267–285.
Shayer, M (1999) Added Value from Schools Adopting the CASE
intervention. Kings College London.
Oliver, M., Venville, G., & Adey, P. (2010, June). Thinking Science
Australia: Improving teaching and learning through science
activities and reasoning. Paper presented at the Australasian
Science Education Research Association Annual Conference
(ASERA). Shoal Bay, NSW.
Damian Larkin and Matthew Flinders from Hillbrook Anglican
School working with teachers on a Thinking Science Activity
Contact Details
Oxford Falls Grammar School – Head of Science Jonathon
Pugh – T 02 89780500
[email protected]
My school – Oxford Falls Grammar School – is intending to
implement the program in 2019 and run 30 lessons across
year 7 and 8. Much of what is to be done covers the “working
scientifically” outcomes of the Australian Curriculum, and all of
the teachers at the conference who are using this program say
that the improved ability of the students to think and engage with
learning more than makes up for the time given to these lessons.
Tim Smith
Director, Cognitive Architecture
+61 498 642 192
www.cognitivearchitecture.com.au
[email protected]
The success of this program largely lies with the coaching and
professional development of staff as they implement it, and we
at Oxford Falls would love to discuss with teachers at other
schools who are interested in the program in order to share all
our professional development experiences and opportunities.
The schools involved in the program on the Sunshine Coast have
obviously found great benefits in such a network, and it would be
great to establish something similar in NSW.
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 4