Assignments and their cognitive aspects
Different kinds of writing tasks stimulate different parts of the brain.
David Kolb (1985) identifies four phases in an individual's cognitive
style: concrete experience (feeling); reflective observation
(watching); abstract conceptualisation (thinking); and active
experimentation (doing).
These are the characteristics of each phase:
And these are assignments that stimulate those phases:
Kolb's Learning Style Phase
Suggested writing assignments
Concrete experience phase
Feeling
Learners introduced to new concepts and issues through
watching a film or demonstration, playing a game, doing field
observations etc.
Reflective observation phase
Non-graded personal writing that records the learner's
personal obervations, thoughts and feelings during the
initial experience.
Watching
a) Personal exploratory writing such as journal entries that
allow the students to connect new materials to their
personal experiences and previous knowledge.
b) Personal pieces based on autobiographical experiences
with a topic or concept.
c) Personal reflection papers that encourage a
questioning, open-ended thinking-aloud-on-paper
approach.
Learners consider the concepts again after doing readings,
listening to lectures, participating in class discussions, and
hearing different points of view.
Abstract conceptualisation phase
Thinking
Learners try to achieve abstract understanding of the concepts
and issues by mastering and internalising their components
and seeing the relationship between new material and other
concepts and issues.
Active experimentation phase
Formal academic papers calling for thesis-based analyses
and arguments.
Doing
Learners actively use the new concepts to solve problems by
applying them to new situations.
Source: Engaging Ideas, by John C. Bean. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2011, (63-64)
a) Position papers based on cases that use the new
concepts.
b) Write-up of a student's field research using the
concepts.
c) Proposals applying new concepts and knowledge to
solve real-world problems.
d) Creative pieces demonstrating understand of new
material.