Habits of Mind

The topic of "habits of mind" was discussed several times this week, so I thought I would share this 2012 article entitled, "Using Engineering Habits of Mind and Signature Pedagogies to Redesign Engineering Education." Although the discipline is engineering, these strategies can be used across disciplines. Using mixed methods, the study identified six distinctive learning dispositions, or “habits of mind” (HoM) that are frequently deployed in the profession. The authors then explored how using HoM could be used to re-design their courses using “signature pedagogies (SP).”

Costa and Kallick identified 16 HoM which describe what “smart people do as they go about their lives successfully dealing with whatever unexpected problems are thrown at them.” [Persisting, ƒ Thinking and communicating, ƒ Managing impulsivity, ƒ Gathering data, ƒ Listening, ƒ Creating, imagining, innovating, ƒ Thinking flexibly, ƒ Responding with wonderment and awe, Metacognition, ƒ Taking responsible risks, ƒ Striving for accuracy, ƒ Humor, ƒ Questioning and posing problems, ƒ Thinking interdependently, Applying knowledge to new situations, Remaining open to continuous learning]

The two driving research questions included:

1. How do professionals in this field think and act?

2. How best can the education system develop learners who think and act like professionals?

The six HoM identified included systems-thinking, adapting, problem finding, creative problem-solving, visualising and improving - many of which are generalizable. The authors then considered instructional strategies that would support each of these HoMs through a lens of SP. Two SP were developed, Design Process and Learning from Professionals.” SPs are types of teaching that organize the fundamental ways in which future practitioners are educated for their new professions.

Lucas, B. & Hanson, J. (2016). Thinking Like an Engineer: Using Engineering Habits of Mind and Signature Pedagogies to Redesign Engineering Education, International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP), 6(2).

[Costa, A. & Kallick, B. (2002). Discovering and exploring Habits of Mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.]