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Derek Cabrera | |
---|---|
Born | 1970 |
Citizenship | United States |
Alma mater | Cornell University (Ph.D.) |
Known for | DSRP theory and method, MetaMaps, ThinkBlocks, |
Awards | National Science Foundation IGERT fellow |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Systems thinking |
Institutions | Cabrera Research Lab, Santa Fe Institute, Cornell University, Outward Bound |
Derek Cabrera (born 1970) is an American systems theorist and cognitive scientist who applies systems-based concepts to the development of models in human development and learning (education), organizational learning design, management and leadership, organizational change. Models he has formulated include DSRP, MAC (for learning design), VMCL and NFST (for organizational design). He is also the inventor of MetaMaps and ThinkBlocks.
Cabrera received a Ph.D. from Cornell University with a dissertation entitled Systems Thinking, [1] a synthesis of his research in complexity science and cognition. Cabrera focused his work on the importance of the intersection of ontology and epistemology in understanding human thought and our interactions with the world around us.
Trained as an evolutionary epistemologist, Cabrera says that knowing how we know things is equally important to what we know, and that humans build knowledge not by merely receiving information but through the interactive, dynamic relationship between information and thinking, which he terms DSRP. His book Thinking at Every Desk expounds upon these ideas in the field of education [2] and was republished by W. W. Norton & Company. [3] His self-published book Systems Thinking Made Simple [4] explains the patterns of DSRP and VMCL for a general audience and is used as a textbook at Cornell University and West Point Military Academy's Systems Engineering Department.[ citation needed ]
Cabrera serves on the faculty at Cornell, where he designed and teaches a graduate-level courses on systems thinking. He received a post-doctoral fellowship at Cornell where he was awarded a large-scale NSF grant to apply his DSRP theory to the evaluation of large-scale science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs. [5] Cabrera's seminal work in the field of systems evaluation led to the development of "netway" models ("networked pathways"). Cabrera's systems and netway models form the theoretical basis of Cornell's Office for Research and Evaluation.[ citation needed ]
He has received several awards and competitive fellowships for his work, including a National Science Foundation IGERT fellowship in nonlinear systems in the Center for Applied Mathematics and the Department of Theoretical & Applied Mechanics at Cornell University and the Association of American Colleges and Universities K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award. [6] [7] He was profiled in a chapter of the book Heroes of Giftedness. [8]
He was a research fellow at the Santa Fe Institute, where he further developed the mathematical basis for DSRP theory, led a team to create multimedia modules about complexity science and Network theory [9] and also developed a new model that applied systems thinking to the field of evaluation of science programs.
Cabrera pioneered the theory of DSRP, which states that distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspectives are foundational patterns to all human thought (cognition). D, S, R, and P are implicit in all thinking and Cabrera believes that people can improve their thinking skills by learning to explicitly recognize and explicate (e.g., metacognition) the distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspectives underlying anything they wish to understand more deeply or with greater clarity. [10] Through his work at Cornell University and Cabrera Research Lab, Cabrera has applied DSRP to various fields, including: education, evaluation, organizational design, leadership and management, STEM, water science, public policy, leadership and management, psychology, pedagogy and andragogy, and network theory.[ citation needed ] He frequently speaks at professional conferences and is a leader in efforts to reform the United States' educational system.[ citation needed ]
In 2008, a special section of the journal Evaluation and Program Planning was dedicated to examining the DSRP theory and method. [11]
Cabrera established several non-profit and cause-based organizations, including leading fundraising for the Aceh Relief Fund after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. [12] He co-founded an organization called Children of Rural Africa, which builds schools and community development projects in rural Nigeria. [13]
In 2007, concerned about his experiences teaching Ivy League students who were not prepared in terms of thinking skills and abilities, Cabrera and his academic colleague Laura Colosi, also a Ph.D. and Cornell faculty, founded a movement to advance research, innovation, and public understanding of systems thinking and metacognition. Much of their early work focused in the area of education and was based on getting thinking into instruction. [2] They created this movement to ensure that thinking skills were taught to every student nationwide and eventually worldwide. Since its founding, numerous offshoots have been created internationally, in South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Cabrera works with educators from K-12 to college and even with organizations to infuse thinking skills into existing curricula using the Patterns of Thinking method (also known as DSRP), which Cabrera created. [14] In the DSRP method, students are encouraged to explore any given concept by recognizing and explicating the distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspectives that characterize the concept. They then physically model the concept using a tactile manipulative Cabrera invented called ThinkBlocks, [15] or graphically represent the concept in terms of DSRP using DSRP diagrams. [16]
In July 2014, Cabrera gave the plenary address for the 58th Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences at the School of Business at George Washington University, Washington DC. [17] [18] In July 2014, Cabrera gave the keynote address, with Sir Ken Robinson, at the E3 Conference honoring Cabrera's work in education. [19] [20]
Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally covers specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and related activities. Psychometrics is concerned with the objective measurement of latent constructs that cannot be directly observed. Examples of latent constructs include intelligence, introversion, mental disorders, and educational achievement. The levels of individuals on nonobservable latent variables are inferred through mathematical modeling based on what is observed from individuals' responses to items on tests and scales.
Instructional design (ID), also known as instructional systems design and originally known as instructional systems development (ISD), is the practice of systematically designing, developing and delivering instructional materials and experiences, both digital and physical, in a consistent and reliable fashion toward an efficient, effective, appealing, engaging and inspiring acquisition of knowledge. The process consists broadly of determining the state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some "intervention" to assist in the transition. The outcome of this instruction may be directly observable and scientifically measured or completely hidden and assumed. There are many instructional design models, but many are based on the ADDIE model with the five phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.
Creativity is a characteristic of someone that forms something novel and valuable. The created item may be intangible or a physical object. Creativity enables people to solve problems in new or innovative ways.
Visual thinking, also called visual or spatial learning or picture thinking, is the phenomenon of thinking through visual processing. Visual thinking has been described as seeing words as a series of pictures. It is common in approximately 60–65% of the general population. "Real picture thinkers", those who use visual thinking almost to the exclusion of other kinds of thinking, make up a smaller percentage of the population. Research by child development theorist Linda Kreger Silverman suggests that less than 30% of the population strongly uses visual/spatial thinking, another 45% uses both visual/spatial thinking and thinking in the form of words, and 25% thinks exclusively in words. According to Kreger Silverman, of the 30% of the general population who use visual/spatial thinking, only a small percentage would use this style over and above all other forms of thinking, and can be said to be true "picture thinkers".
Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process, some social science, and some teaching pedagogy. The standards for science education provide expectations for the development of understanding for students through the entire course of their K-12 education and beyond. The traditional subjects included in the standards are physical, life, earth, space, and human sciences.
Bloom's taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models used for classification of educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. The three lists cover the learning objectives in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. The cognitive domain list has been the primary focus of most traditional education and is frequently used to structure curriculum learning objectives, assessments and activities.
In sociology, social complexity is a conceptual framework used in the analysis of society. In the sciences, contemporary definitions of complexity are found in systems theory, wherein the phenomenon being studied has many parts and many possible arrangements of the parts; simultaneously, what is complex and what is simple are relative and change in time.
This is an index of education articles.
Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one's actions so as to take a critical stance or attitude towards one's own practice and that of one's peers, engaging in a process of continuous adaptation and learning. According to one definition it involves "paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight". A key rationale for reflective practice is that experience alone does not necessarily lead to learning; deliberate reflection on experience is essential.
Reuven Feuerstein was a Romanian-born Israeli clinical, developmental, and cognitive psychologist, known for his theory of intelligence. Feuerstein is recognized for his work in developing the theories and applied systems of structural cognitive modifiability, mediated learning experience, cognitive map, deficient cognitive functions, learning propensity assessment device, instrumental enrichment programs, and shaping modifying environments. These interlocked practices provide educators with the skills and tools to systematically develop students’ cognitive functions and operations to build meta-cognition.
This glossary of education-related terms is based on how they commonly are used in Wikipedia articles. This article contains terms starting with G – L. Select a letter from the table of contents to find terms on other articles.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to thought (thinking):
Inquiry-based learning is a form of active learning that starts by posing questions, problems or scenarios. It contrasts with traditional education, which generally relies on the teacher presenting facts and their knowledge about the subject. Inquiry-based learning is often assisted by a facilitator rather than a lecturer. Inquirers will identify and research issues and questions to develop knowledge or solutions. Inquiry-based learning includes problem-based learning, and is generally used in small-scale investigations and projects, as well as research. The inquiry-based instruction is principally very closely related to the development and practice of thinking and problem-solving skills.
The model of hierarchical complexity (MHC) is a framework for scoring how complex a behavior is, such as verbal reasoning or other cognitive tasks. It quantifies the order of hierarchical complexity of a task based on mathematical principles of how the information is organized, in terms of information science. This model was developed by Michael Commons and Francis Richards in the early 1980s.
Debora Hammond is an American historian of science, former Provost and Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies of the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at the Sonoma State University. She is known as author of the 2003 book The Science of Synthesis: Exploring the Social Implications of General Systems Theory, and as 2005–06 President of International Society for the Systems Sciences.
Analytical skill is the ability to deconstruct information into smaller categories in order to draw conclusions. Analytical skill consists of categories that include logical reasoning, critical thinking, communication, research, data analysis and creativity. Analytical skill is taught in contemporary education with the intention of fostering the appropriate practises for future professions. The professions that adopt analytical skill include educational institutions, public institutions, community organisations and industry.
Garden-based learning (GBL) encompasses programs, activities and projects in which the garden is the foundation for integrated learning, in and across disciplines, through active, engaging, real-world experiences that have personal meaning for children, youth, adults and communities in an informal outside learning setting. Garden-based learning is an instructional strategy that utilizes the garden as a teaching tool.
DSRP is a theory and method of thinking, developed by systems theorist and cognitive scientist Derek Cabrera. It is an acronym that stands for Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives. Cabrera posits that these four patterns underlie all cognition, that they are universal to the process of structuring information, and that people can improve their thinking skills by learning to use the four elements explicitly.
ThinkBlocks are a tactile manipulative educational tool invented by American educational theorist Derek Cabrera. Cabrera invented the blocks as a way to teach his graduate and doctoral students systems thinking at Cornell University. ThinkBlocks are designed to model concepts and build thinking skills based on the DSRP theory and method of thinking. This theory posits that four patterns, Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives, underlie all cognition, that they are universal to the process of structuring information, and that people can improve their thinking skills by learning to use the four elements explicitly. Students assign concepts to blocks by writing on them with dry-erase markers, and then associate them with other concepts by using the multi-nesting, barbell, and looking glass (translucent) properties of the blocks. They were originally white, magnetic dodecahedra in three nested sizes, with one reflective side. In 2012, a new translucent cube-shaped version of the block was introduced.
Daniel J. Pesut is an American nurse educator, academic, researcher and coach. He is an Emeritus Professor of Nursing, Past Director of Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership, and Katherine R. and C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership at University of Minnesota.