Strategies Phase 3
During phase 3, the focus is on the integration and combination of different perspectives to stimulate critical thinking, cognitive flexibility and creative problem solving. Central questions during this phase are: How do I make sure all students learn from different perspectives? How do I guide group collaborations in such a way that students truly capitalize on their differences? How can I help my students to make what they learn from each other explicit?
Focusing on the following strategies and supporting concrete learning activities will help answer those questions.
What strategies can be focused on during this phase?
Combining perspectives in a structured way: This strategy builds upon “structuring interaction with other perspectives” in phase 2. If one of our learning goals for students is that we want them to be able to not only interact with other perspectives constructively, but also combine and integrate them to come with new insights and solutions, they need to practice doing so. By implementing learning activities that explicitly ask students to do this (instead of depending on it to happen incidentally), we stimulate their learning in this area.
Switching between perspectives to stimulate cognitive flexibility: Research shows that students with a bicultural background display more cognitive flexibility. One reason for this is that switching constantly between two frames of reference builds skills that enable them to adjust quickly and to consider things from fresh and different perspectives; vital skills for adaptation and creativity. A condition for this augmentation of cognitive flexibility however, is that students value both frames of reference equally (Benet-Martinez et al, 2006; Spiegler and Leyendecker, 2017). To practice and stimulate cognitive flexibility amongst all students, it is therefore important to incorporate learning activities that ask students to switch between perspectives. To do so, they must to a certain extent integrate both (or more) perspectives. In phase 1, students have placed their own perspective in context. In phase 2, they have practiced interaction and collaboration with students with other perspectives. Now, during phase 3, they practice combining different perspectives. The process of switching between them will help stimulate cognitive flexibility.
Reflecting on learning process: Actively reflecting on the learning process concerning the Mixed Classroom will help student-learning in this area. Activities that ask them to make their learning explicit are especially helpful. An example could be to ask students, after a discussion where different viewpoints were brought forward, to write down which different perspectives they heard, and what it is they can learn from them, and how they can integrate them into their own perspective. An activity like “One-minute Paper” as described below can be useful.
Rewarding students for capitalizing on perspectives: The alignment between learning goals, learning activities and assessment is essential to good educational design. In phase 1, assessment will most likely be formative[1], and consist of feedback, since assessing students’ ability to reflect on their assumptions summatively will probably have a negative effect on their feeling of safety. In phase 2, assessment can have a more formal role. Assessing collaboration in groups for example, or assessing group process as well as outcome. In phase 3, students’ ability to combine and integrate perspectives can be assessed.
[1] The goal of formative assessment to monitor student learning. Summative assessment has as goal the evaluation of student learning by comparing it to a benchmark (i.e. grades)