Learners are actively engaged and/or involved in critical thinking.

• involves learners

• is a high level/quality of learner participation in learning activities

• suggests more than simple on-task behavior

• can be estimated by periodic scanning (systematic observation) of the class

Involvement:

• is deep immersion in a learning activity

• can be enhanced when learners:

  • interact with each other

  • are asked for comments and assistance

  • roles are involved and detailed

  • access prior knowledge

  • can process and construct new knowledge in meaningful ways

Different contexts include past experiences, new learning opportunities, other topics and/or subject matter, different learning tasks, imaginary settings, and personal reflections and introspection.

Techniques used to extend learning to different contexts are

• questioning

• group and/or individual tasks

• brainstorming and negotiating

• self-analysis 

• constructing models and creating other objects

In a social studies class on values, learners are actively involved in discussing the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk. Individual elaboration occurs when learners reflect on personal values to determine similarities and differences. Thinking skills are developed as learners use their own value system to recreate scenarios taken from the text. As an extension, using parallel theme to the same story, learners create a fairy tale in small groups.

Secondary

In a language arts class, learners are completing a literature piece about the complexity of family relationships. Learners are asked to share past experiences of their families and to compare them to the story. Using the literature piece and past experiences, learners then write their own version of the ending of the literature piece and subsequently share them with the class.

New

Secondary

In a social studies class, learners previously viewed the movie and are now reading the novel Dragonwings by Lawrence Yep. The teacher and the learners proceed to cluster topics introduced by the film version prior to group formation and research on the Internet. The research is used to provide background knowledge for the novel: basic aerodynamics and kite making instructions, earthquake destruction in San Francisco, and Chinese immigration.