Approaches to learning

Thinking
Critical thinking skills Creative thinking skills Transfer skills
• Identify problems and • Generate impossible ideas • Use your knowledge,
develop aims, goals and • Brainstorm and map understanding and skills across
objectives thoughts to create ideas and subjects to create products or
• Make inferences and draw questions solutions
conclusions • Consider all alternatives • Make connections between
• Identify gaps in knowledge • Consider the seemingly learning gained in different subject
and formulate key questions impossible areas
• Consider ideas from other • Create novel solutions to a • Apply skills and knowledge in
perspectives and points of view problem unfamiliar situations
• Develop contrary arguments • Evaluate solutions to • Inquire in different contexts to
• Break down large concepts problems gain a diverse perspective
and projects into component • Make connections between • Create projects and products
parts and combine parts logically random things using knowledge and skills gained
as appropriate • Consider opposites to renew across different subject areas
• Formulate provocative and perspective • Use familiar learning skills with
relevant questions and goals • Apply strategies of unfamiliar content
• Plan to achieve goals, guesswork • Transfer current knowledge to
including identifying targets and • Generate “what if?” learning of new technologies
outlining steps questions • Demonstrate personal
• Consider consequences of • Transfer and apply existing responsibility for lifelong learning
events knowledge to generate new • Change the context of your
• Identify obstacles and ideas, products or processes project to gain different perspectives
challenges • Utilize old ideas in new ways • Make decisions
• Make logical, reasonable and combine parts in new ways
judgments and create • Make intuitive judgments
arguments to support them • Create original works and
• Design improvement to ideas and visualize alternatives
existing machines, media and • Practise imitation of works
technologies with a focus on the creative
• Identify and define authentic process
problems and significant • Practise flexible thinking—
questions for investigation arguing both sides of an idea or
• Use multiple processes and issue
diverse perspectives to explore • Practise metaphorical
alternative solutions thinking, generating questions
• Identify trends and forecast and challenging conventions
possibilities • Challenge one’s own and
• Troubleshoot systems and others’ assumptions
applications • Seeing possibilities, problems
and challenges positively
• Playing with ideas and
experimenting
• Recognizing when an original
idea has value and pursuing it

Projects teacher support material 1

Self-management
Organization skills Affective skills Reflection skills
• Keep to class schedules and • Demonstrate persistence and • Consider ethical, cultural and
project deadlines perseverance environmental implications of
• Set appropriate • Practise focus and concentration issues
management goals and plan to overcome distractions • Consider personal
strengths to achieve them • Make informed choices on relationships to people, ideas
• Structure information behaviours and course of action and concepts
appropriately in written, oral • Seek out criticism and feedback • Build understanding of
and visual work from others and make informed personal learning strengths and
• Arrive to class with the choices about including it in one’s weaknesses
appropriate equipment work • Be aware of areas of
• Keep an organized and • Practise being aware of mind– perceived limitation
logical system of information body connection • Develop awareness of the
files/notebooks • Practise positive thinking process of effective learning
• Find and select information • Practise dealing with • Analyse one’s own and
via different media disappointment and unmet others’ thought processes to
• Use different information expectations think about how one thinks and
organizers for different • Practise dealing with change how one learns
purposes • Practise strategies to prevent and • Pause to reflect at different
• Plan strategies to guide your eliminate bullying stages in the learning process
personal project inquiry • Practise strategies to reduce • Implement and measure the
• Plan and manage activities stress and anxiety effectiveness of different
to develop a solution or learning strategies
complete a project • Demonstrate a preparedness
• Select and use applications to make changes to ineffective
effectively and productively learning strategies
• Make informed choices to • Seek out constructive
achieve a balance in nutrient, criticism
rest, relaxation and exercise • Keep a reflective
journal/portfolio of personal
learning experiences focused on
both process and content
• Create a record of personal
learning change and
improvement

Projects teacher support material 2

Research
Information literacy skills Media literacy skills
• Access information to be informed and inform • Evaluate and select information sources and
others digital tools based on their appropriateness to
• Find information in different media specific tasks
• Read critically and for comprehension • Locate, organize, analyse, evaluate, synthesize
• Read a variety of source for information and for and efficiently use information from a variety of
pleasure sources and media
• Collect research from a variety of print and • Use and interpret a range of content-specific
digital sources terminology
• Collect and verify data • Underline ways in which images and language
• Make connections between a variety of sources interact to convey ideas, values and beliefs
• Utilize different media to obtain different • Identify different points of view
perspectives • Demonstrate awareness of different media
• Utilize appropriate multimedia technology to interpretations of events and ideas, including social
create effective presentation and representation media
• Reference accurately and construct a • Critically analyse various text forms for
bibliography according to recognized conventions underlying meaning
• Understand and implement intellectual property • Use a variety of technologies and media
rights and the value of academic honesty platforms to source information including social
• Identify primary and secondary sources media and online networks
• Demonstrate awareness of the effects of • Utilize different media to obtain perspectives
different modes of information representation and • Communicate ideas effectively to multiple
presentation audiences using a variety of media and formats
• Collect and analyse data to identify solutions • Actively make connections between different
and/or make informed decisions media resources in presentations
• Process data and report results • Advocate and practise safe, legal and responsible
use of information technology

Projects teacher support material 3

Social Communication
Collaboration skills Communication skills
• Respect and accept sociocultural difference • Use active listening techniques to understand
• Consider, respect and analyse different opinions, others
points of view, ideas and preferences • Give and receive appropriate feedback
• Be empathetic • Interpret meaning through cultural
• Respect different opinions and the points of view understanding
of others • Use a variety of speaking techniques to make
• Delegate and take responsibility as appropriate meaning clear for different audiences and purposes
• Help others: facilitate the success of others • Use appropriate forms of writing for different
• Take responsibility for own actions purposes and audiences
• Resolve conflicts and work collaboratively with • Use a variety of media to present to an audience
appropriate roles in a team • Interpret non-verbal communication techniques
• Understand when and how to build consensus and use them purposefully
• Make decisions based on fairness and equality • Negotiate ideas and knowledge with peers and
• Negotiate goals and limitations with peers and teachers
teachers • Interact, collaborate and publish media with
• Help others when appropriate and encourage peers, experts or others employing a variety of
contribution from others digital environments and media
• Drive change through an understanding of others • Develop cultural understanding and global
and especially of group dynamics awareness by engaging with learner of other
cultures
• Write for different purposes
• Make effective notes, in class and for studying
• Summarize and transform information
• Use structural writing planners for different
academic tasks
• Organize information logically
• Structure information correctly in summaries,
essays, reports and presentations

Projects teacher support material 4