Module EFPM916 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
EFPM916: Thinking Skills and Creativity in the Internet Age
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
This module will enable you to develop your own understanding of what thinking skills and creative thinking are, whether and how we can teach for thinking and creativity and how teaching thinking relates to dialogue and networked technologies. You will also learn about the implications of the Internet Age for teaching and learning. The module will equip you with knowledge and understanding of a range of different theories and contemporary approaches to thinking skills. It will also introduce you to research on teaching thinking and creativity within the context of the internet age. It will be an excellent preparation for either developing and applying your own approach to teaching thinking in your own educational context or for continuing to further research and you will gain a good understanding of issues around thinking skills and creativity.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate the ability to reflect on and critically evaluate claims that have been made about teaching thinking, and creativity; 2. Demonstrate the ability to examine and critically evaluate various accounts of the relationship between cognition, networked communication technologies and social context; 3. Demonstrate a systematic conceptual understanding of theories of social and meditational aspects of learning; 4. Demonstrate the ability to relate this knowledge in a critical and self-aware way to the practice of teaching and learning and furthermore of thinking as a subject in its own right; 5. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and critique the arguments and the ideas around the development of dispositions, habits, skills and strategies in the context of the Internet Age (or 21st Century skills) in order to form your own original synthesis; 6. Demonstrate your originality and self-direction in dealing with complex issues by identifying dispositions, habits, skills and strategies for the Internet Age and applying these to other curriculum areas and to 'real-world' problems; 7. Demonstrate your originality and self-direction in dealing with complex issues by identifying dispositions, habits, skills and strategies for the Internet Age and applying these to other curriculum areas and to 'real-world' problems; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 8. Demonstrate the ability to review and evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship relevant to the module content through close analysis of practice and theory; 9. Demonstrate awareness of ethical issues in relevant areas of the study and be able to discuss these in relation to personal beliefs and values; 10. Demonstrate the ability to critique theory, policy and research orally and in writing, drawing on relevant reading and research; 11. Demonstrate the ability to apply research-informed knowledge to evaluate ongoing school-based programmes; |
Personal and Key Skills | 12. Demonstrate the ability to make sound judgements in the absence of complete data based upon critical reflection; and 13. Demonstrate the independent learning ability required for continuing professional development. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
The first cluster of sessions will focus on several theories underlying the idea of teaching thinking in the context of the Internet Age. You will engage with theories of thinking and teaching thinking, as well as theories in creativity and creative thinking, including theories linking communications technology and social networks, group learning theories and theories of cognition and meta-cognition.
In the second cluster of sessions, you will be introduced to a number of approaches to teaching thinking, including group thinking, and creative thinking and you will be asked to consider the relationship between teaching thinking and the wider school culture. You will also be able to discuss and reflect on possible education futures in relation to teaching thinking and creativity and focus on new directions in teaching thinking and new research on thinking skills and cognition.
There will be plenty of opportunity to discuss ideas with peers, both through online media and face-to-face in seminars.
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
30.5 | 269.5 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 30.5 | 10 sessions of 3 hours each. Face-to-face seminars (Campus) and online moderated seminars or webinars (Online) 1 x 0.5 hour tutorial |
Guided Independent Study | 10 | Reading or viewing tasks given as preparation before sessions |
Guided Independent Study | 10 | Commenting online in response to specific tasks given in sessions. |
Guided Independent Study | 100 | Supervised research for the essay task |
Guided Independent Study | 30 | Supervised research for the presentation to peers |
Guided Independent Study | 50 | Participation in wiki |
Guided Independent Study | 69.5 | Guided online research and discussion |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Outline plan for the essay | 500 words | 3,4,5 | Written/ verbal feedback from tutor |
Presentation of work to peers | 10 minute oral presentation (500 word equivalent) 10 minutes questions | 1-8 | Peer or tutor feedback |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Theorised essay | 60 | 4000 words | 1-13 | Written |
Collaborative digital assessment | 30 | 2500 words | 1-13 | Written |
Reflective summary of contributions to online discussions | 10 | 500 words | 1-13 | Written |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
---|---|---|---|
Theorised essay | Theorised essay (4000 words) | 1-13 | 6 weeks |
Individual digital assessment | Collaborative wiki (2500 words) | 1-13 | 6 weeks |
Reflective summary of contributions to online discussions | 500 words | 1-13 | 6 weeks |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Banaji, S. & Burn, A. (2010) (2ndedition) The Rhetorics of Creativity: A Review of the Literature, London, Arts CouncilEngland. http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/research-impact/exploreresearch/the-rhetorics-of-creativity-a-literature-review,58,RAR.html
Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2007). Toward a broader conception of creativity: A case for 'mini-c' creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 1(2), 73-79
Boden, M. (2004) The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms, (2nded) London: Routledge
Brown, John Seely and Douglas Thomas. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. CreateSpace.
Craft, A. (2005). Creativity in Education: tensions and dilemmas. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer
Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential. London: Constable & Robinson Limited.
Flynn, J. R. (2009). What Is Intelligence: Beyond the Flynn Effect(expanded paperback ed.). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Larkin, S. (2010). Metacognitionin Young Children. London: Routledge
Lucas, B. and Claxton, G. (2010) New Kinds of Smart; How the science of learnable intelligence if changing education. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Littleton, K. and Mercer, N. (2013). Interthinking: Putting talk to work. Abingdon: Routledge.
Perkins, D. N. (1995). Outsmarting IQ: The Emerging Science of Learnable Intelligence. New York: Free Press.
Salomon, Gavriel (1997). Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations. Cambridge University Press.
Sternberg (ed). Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Trilling, B & P. Hood, (2001) “Learning, Technology and Education Reform in the Knowledge Age, or ‘We’re Wired, Webbed and Windowed, Now What?’”, in C. Paechter, R. Edwards, R. Harrison, & P. Twining, (Eds.), Learning, Space and Identity, Paul Chapman Publishing & The Open University, London, UK, 2001. Also at: http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/654
UNESCO (2005). Towards Knowledge Societies: Unesco World Report. [www.unesco.org/en/worldreport]
Wegerif, R.B. (2011). Towards a dialogic theory of how children learn to think. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 6(3), 179-190.
Wegerif, R. (2013). Dialogic: Education for the Internet Age. London and New York: Routledge.
Wegerif, R, Kaufman, J. C. & Li , L., (2015) Routledge International Handbook of Research on Teaching Thinking. Routledge.