Dimensions of Learning (DOL) - Ascot State School

Ascot State School
ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
and
DIMENSIONS OF LEARNING
Presenter
Angela Dawson

DoL AND ENRICHMENT
A FOCUS ON THINKING
• KNOWLEDGE IS POWERFUL!
• IN ORDER TO USE THAT KNOWLEDGE
POWERFULLY YOU NEED THE ABILITY TO
THINK!
• THINKING PROVIDES THE SOFTWARE FOR
THE MIND.
• HIGHER ORDER THINKING ALLOWS
STUDENTS’ MEMORY TO BE USED
EFFECTIVELY.

How’s your thinking?
If the day before the day before yesterday was
Tuesday, what is the day after the day after tomorrow?

Solution
Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Mon
DB DB
yesterday
DB
yesterday
yesterday today tomorrow DA
tomorrow
DA DA
tomorrow

THINKING STRATEGIES
To engage in higher order thinking such as:
• Problem Solving
• Decision Making
• Comprehending –
we commonly use strategies.
In order for our students to be able to engage in
these activities Ascot has implemented
Dimensions of Learning and an Enrichment
Program.
To enable our students to become life long
learners, we are providing learning
experiences which encourage complex and
creative thinking.

COORDINATOR
ROLE
• In-service new staff/staff changing grades
(Hot Skills, differentiation, DoL)
• Model strategies in classrooms
• Support classroom teacher’s in designing and
developing differentiated/DoL programs
• Coordinate resources for classroom teachers
• Select and train children for a variety of
competitions and tournaments
• Participate in GEM Network Meetings.

BACKGROUND TO
ENRICHMENT
• Ascot State school has been involved in
various enrichment and extension programs
to enhance the needs of all learners;
• We have taken a whole school approach to
enrichment and extension.
• All students need access to programs that
facilitate extension and enrichment to
nurture the talents of every individual child.

BACKGROUND (cont)
• Ascot encourages learning environments that
are supportive and stimulating. Our program
encourages a climate which allows risk taking
and acceptance of children‘s individual
needs.
• HOT skill program was devised and has been
implemented across all grade levels. Staff
regularly receive PD on ways to differentiate
the curriculum.

PROVISION FOR
ENRICHMENT
Provision for Enrichment and Extension is
developed at the following levels:
• WHOLE SCHOOL
• CLASS LEVEL
• INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

WHOLE SCHOOL
• HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILL PROGRAM
• DIMENSIONS OF LEARNING (DIM. 3&4)
• OPTIMINDS
• CHESS CLUB
• DEBATING
• DRAWING CLUB
• ROBOTICS
• SCIENCE CLUB
• GIDGETS/GADGETS

CLASS LEVEL – HOT
SKILL PROGRAM
Key purposes for developing HOT SKILL
program:
• To enhance learners knowledge and use of
HOT skills in context;
• To empower students with the language,
tools and strategies to engage in a wide
range of analytical, critical, and creative
thinking tasks;

CLASS LEVEL (CONT)
• To create a classroom environment
which encourages and fosters Thinking
and Learning;
• To assist in the transfer of skills to
everyday life and everyday situations
as tools for life-long learning.

CLASS LEVEL (CONT)
• DIFFERENTIATION –Teachers are trained to
differentiate the curriculum.
• Learning Centres
• Tiered Projects
• Multiple Intelligence work
• Contracts
• Using Taxonomies
• Questioning Techniques
• Independent Projects

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
Within the classroom:
• Alternatives within tasks
• Small groups of children working with
class teacher to work on problem
solving, creative thinking etc

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL CONT
Individual opportunities
• Children are encouraged to develop
their talents by entering competitions
• Children are welcome to join clubs
• Trial for OPTIMINDS-years 5 to 7
• Children work on Independent Projects
related to their talents and interests

DIMENSIONS OF LEARNING
… is about thinking
strategies

What is DoL?
• Dimensions of Learning (DoL) is a
comprehensive model that uses
what researchers and theorists
know about learning, to define
the learning process;
• DoL’s premise is that five types of
thinking ~ the five dimensions of
learning are essential to
successful learning.

DoL at Ascot State School
• 1999, 5 staff received in-service training by Jane
E.Pollock (McREL Institute).
• 2000, these trained teachers began programme
implementation.
• 2001, Years 4 and 5 implemented programme.
• 2003, all staff attended one day workshop and are
now implementing the DoL model in their
classrooms.
• New staff are in-serviced each year.

The DoL framework will
help you to . . .
• Maintain a focus on learning;
• Study the learning process;
• Plan curriculum, instruction, and
assessment that takes into account
the five critical aspects of learning.

Implicit in the Dimensions of Learning model, or
framework, are five basic assumptions:
1. Instruction Five Basic Assumption must reflect the best of what we know
about how learning occurs.
2. Learning involves a complex system of interactive
processes that include various types of thinkingrepresented
by the five dimensions.
3. Curriculum programs should include the explicit
teaching of attitudes, perceptions and mental
habits that facilitate learning.
4. A comprehensive approach to instruction includes
both teacher directed and student directed
instruction.
5. Assessment should focus on students' use of
knowledge and complex reasoning processes
rather than on their recall of information.

Habits of Mind
DoL Framework Graphic
Use Knowledge
Meaningfully
Extend and Refine
Knowledge
Acquire and
Integrate
Knowledge
Attitudes and Perceptions

DoL # 1
Attitudes and Perceptions
I. Climate
A. Acceptance
1. Teacher
2. Peers
B. Comfort and order
II. Task
A. Value
B. Ability
C. Clarity

DoL # 2
Acquire and Integrate Knowledge
I. Declarative
A. Construct meaning;
B. Organize;
C. Store.
II. Procedural
A. Construct models;
B. Shape;
C. Internalize.

DoL # 3
Extend and Refine Knowledge
• Comparing;
• Classifying;
• Abstracting;
• Inductive reasoning;
• Deductive reasoning;
• Constructing support;
• Analyzing errors;
• Analyzing perspectives.

DoL # 4
Use Knowledge Meaningfully
• Decision making;
• Problem solving;
• Invention;
• Experimental inquiry;
• Investigation;
• Systems analysis.

ASCOT STATE SCHOOL
HOT SKILL PROGRAM
• YEAR ONE De Bono’s Thinking Hats;
• YEAR TWO Extended Brainstorming;
• YEAR THREE Questioning Techniques;
• YEAR FOUR Thinkers Keys;
• YEAR FIVE Graphic Organisers / Multiple
Intelligences;
• YEAR SIX Bloom’s Taxonomy;
• YEAR SEVEN Decision Making and Creative
Problem solving.

SIX THINKING HATS

BRAINSTORMING
Extended brainstorming encourages students to
develop both cognitive and affective
components of thinking
• Fluency
• Flexibility
• Originality
• Elaboration
• Curiosity
• Complexity
• Risk taking
• Imagination

Extended Brainstorming

QUESTIONING
• Term one
Open and Closed Questions
• Term two
Fat and Skinny Questions
• Term three and Four
The Question Matrix

Tony Ryan's Thinker's Keys
• The Reverse Listing Key
• Place words such as cannot, never or not in a sentence.
• Eg. Name 10 things that you could not clean.
• The Disadvantages Key
• Choose an item and list a number of its disadvantages. Then list some ways
of correcting or eliminating these.
• Eg. An umbrella, a computer, a hairbrush.
• The Combination Key
• List the attributes of two dissimilar objects, then combine the attributes into a
single object.
• Eg. The telephone and a lounge chair.
• The BAR Key
• Make an item BIGGER, ADD something to it, REPLACE something on it.
• Eg. A skateboard, an umbrella, a freezer.

Graphic Organiser - Venn Diagram
Whales and Fish
Whale
Breathe with
lungs
Are mammals
Some hair on
skin
Suckle young
Swim
Live in water
Have a brain
Fish
Breathe with
gills
Scaly skin
Lay eggs
Do not care for
young

Mind Map

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
Creating
• Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things
• Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.
Evaluating
• Justifying a decision or course of action
• Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging
Analysing
• Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and
relationships
• Comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding
Applying
• Using information in another familiar situation
Implementing, carrying out, using, executing
Understanding
• Explaining ideas or concepts
• Interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining
Remembering
• Recalling information
• Recognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding

Creative Problem Solving Model
1. Mess finding;
2. Data finding;
3. Problem finding;
4. Idea finding;
5. Solution finding;
6. Acceptance finding.
It is important to follow the above sequence
as each step is an outgrowth of the preceding step
and follows in sequential order.

DoL # 5
Habits of Mind
Critical Thinking
• Be accurate and seek accuracy;
• Be clear and seek clarity;
• Maintain an open mind;
• Restrain impulsivity;
• Take a position when the
situation warrants it;
• Respond appropriately to
others’ feelings and level of
knowledge.

DoL # 5 Habits of Mind con’t
Creative Thinking
• Persevere;
• Push the limits of your
knowledge and abilities;
• Generate trust, and maintain
your own standards of
evaluation;
• Generate new ways of viewing a
situation that are outside the
boundaries of standard
conventions.

DoL # 5 Habits of Mind con’t
Self-Regulated Thinking
• Monitor your own thinking;
• Plan appropriately;
• Identify and use necessary
resources;
• Respond appropriately to
feedback;
• Evaluate the effectiveness of
your actions.

Hands On Activities
• At your table have a go at an activity.
• We’ll share at the end.

How’s Your Thinking?
O S
* *
M
E
I R
R
D
E
E
*
*
I
E
If the missing letters in the two circles are correctly
inserted they will form synonymous words.
The words do not have to be read in a clockwise direction.
What are the words and missing letters?

Solution
P
M
O
I
S
R
E
T
R
D
E
E
V
C
I
E
Imposter and deceiver.
The missing letters are:
P and T (imposter), and
C and V (deceiver).