STRATEGIES FOR
PROCESSING RESEARCH
KWPL, the 4 Cs, and CEC
KWPL
BEFORE READING
Know: what do you already know about this topic?
Want to know: what do you want to know?
Predict: what do you think you will learn?
AFTER READING
Learn: what did you learn?
THE 4 C’S
From Ritchhard, Church, and Morrison. Making Thinking Visible. Jossey-Bass, 2011, p. 140.
After reading a text:
Connections: What connections do you draw between this source and
your own life or your other learning (e.g. other sources)?
Challenge: What ideas, positions, or assumptions do you want to
challenge or argue with in this text?
Concepts: What key concepts or ideas in this source do you think are
important and worth holding on to?
Changes: What changes in attitudes, thinking, or action are suggested
by this source, either for you or others?
MAKE CONNECTIONS
Find passages from the text that
you can identify with (from
experience, learning, opinions, or
beliefs).
Passage?
Make some brief notes.
Then in groups read the passage
you have chosen and explain the
connection.
How do I connect with it?
RAISE CHALLENGES
Find ideas or positions in the text
that raised a red flag for you for
some reason: do you disagree,
want to challenge it, or simply
need more information?
Passage(s)?
Take a few notes.
Read your chosen passage and
explain what questions or
challenges came to mind.
Questions or
challenges?
NOTE CONCEPTS
Briefly review the text and
note any key concepts or
ideas in your own words.
Be prepared to identify the
passages in the text on
which your explanations
are based.
key ideas and
concepts?
brief quotation
or paraphrase
(cite the page)
IDENTIFY CHANGES
Reflect on the text and think
about its overall implications: if
we take this text seriously, what
does it suggest or encourage as
actions or positions?
Have any changes in thinking or
behaviour occurred for you as a
result of reading?
Suggested changes?
What has changed for me?
REFLECT ON THIS STRATEGY
The 4 Cs:
Did this strategy help deepen your understanding of the
text?
Was it difficult to find material for any of the 4 Cs?
Were there things that came up in the discussion that
surprised you?
CEC
From Ritchhard, Church, and Morrison. Making Thinking Visible. Jossey-Bass, 2011, p. 132.
Connect: How are the ideas and information presented
connected to what you already knew?
Extend: What new ideas did you get that extended or
broadened your thinking in new directions?
Challenge: What challenges or puzzles have come up in
your mind from the ideas and information present?
CEC EXAMPLE
Connect: How are the ideas and information you gathered in the
survey connected to what we learned in the Ikea article?
How is this information useful to us regarding our big question?
Extend: What new information or ideas did you get that extended
or broadened your thinking in new directions?
Challenge: What challenges or puzzles have come up in your
mind from the ideas and information present?
REFLECT ON THIS STRATEGY
CEC:
Did this strategy help deepen your understanding of the
text?
Was it difficult to find material for any of the questions?
Were there things that came up in the discussion that
surprised you?