Observation: The Earliest Critical Thinking Skill

Steve Coxon, Ph.D.Assistant professor and director of gifted programs

Maryville University of St. Louis

Session Overview

This concurrent session will provide a background on the development of observational skills in early childhood, connections between observation and critical thinking, and challenging activities to improve observational skills among elementary school students.

More questions are raised than answered; the existing literature provides few answers.

7/30/14

10:55-11:55 p.m.

Premise

Careful observation is fundamental to a fair-minded understanding of the world and is important to continue to develop in elementary students through increasingly challenging learning activities.

That is, observation is a skill set that underlies and is very important to critical thinking.

Definition

Using the senses carefully to gain information

Observation is important across disciplines

• Beatrix Potter and Charles Darwin• Most early scientists were also artists (Lohman, 1993)• Most STEM innovators are also interested in the arts

(Snow, 1999)• Another benefit of STEAM?• Other great observers?

Importance to Critical Thinking

Careful observation is needed for well-developed habits of mind including clarity, accuracy, precision, depth, and breadth.

Strong observational skills underlie such critical thinking concepts as comparing and contrasting viewpoints, evaluating evidence, and noting the sometimes subtle differences between fact and opinion.

A case study

Trumbull, Bonney, and Grudens-Schuck (2005) discuss problems with elementary students’ observational skills in the FeederWatch program:

• Students were unable to identify birds in flight• Students were unable to identify individual birds

Due to these issues, students were unable to collect accurate data on species representation or do population counts. A lack of accurate evidence restricts later opportunities for critical thinking.

Developmental nature

In her book, Emergent Science, Johnston (2014, p. 8) refers to observation as the “first and most important scientific skill” and suggests it begins to develop in the womb as the fetus learns to recognize familiar voices.

Parents and quality early childhood programs tend to offer a multitude of observational activities. Children tend to become better observers as they age.

BRACKEN BASIC CONCEPTS

• Colors• Comparisons• Shapes• Direction/Position• Social/Self-Awareness• Size

• Texture/Material• Quantity• Time/Sequence• Letter Identification• Numbers/Counting

Observational development• Young children make observations to learn about their

everyday world (Rogoff, 2003).• Young children observe and emulate others to learn

cultural norms and practices, including developing language, human behavior, and the use of tools (Falk & Dierking, 2000).

• Observation among children is cultural (Rogoff, 2003).• Children tend to notice nearby, medium-sized, familiar

objects (Gopnik, 1996).• Understanding systems helps deepen observation (e.g.,

within an aquarium) (Hmelo-Silver, Marathe, & Liu, 2007).• Making connections deepens observation (Tomkins &

Tunnicliffe, 2001).

Proposed hierarchy

Reasoning

Observing

Sensing

Developmental stagnation?

However, while preschool curricula often focus on improving observational skills in early childhood, researchers Eberbach and Crowley (2009) note that elementary classrooms neglect purposeful further development in middle and late childhood.

This is unfortunate as it takes increasingly challenging experiences to improve any skill.

Developmental trajectory

“Accidental” development

Purpose

ful deve

lopment

Does failure to purposefully offer increasingly challenging observational tasks after preschool lead to developmental stagnation?

That is,

“Students look at phenomena without developing new knowledge” (Eberbach & Crowley, 2009).

Sherlock Holmes:

“You see, but you do not observe.”

-A Scandal in Bohemia

Is children’s ability to observe deeply decreasing?

• Deep observation takes time and is related to attention.• It is similar to elaboration in these needs.• Kim’s (2011) landmark Creativity Crisis study found a 37%

decrease in the ability for children to elaborate upon their ideas from 1984-2008.

• This could be related at least in part to reduced attention spans due to heavy television, video game, and other electronic media use (Kim & Coxon, 2013).

Television and attention, etc.• The average U.S. child age 2-5 years consumes 31 hours

of television per week—not including other electronic media (McDonough, 2009).

• Television has very strong negative associations with children including:• Decreased school performance, health, and body image

(American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001), • Delayed literacy (Rideout, Vandewater, & Wartella, 2003), • Diminished creativity (Anderson et al., 2001; Kim & Coxon, 2013;

Vandewater, Bickham, & Lee, 2006)• Decreased attention (Lillard & Peterson, 2011).

NGSS examples

Observation is fundamental to all scientific disciplines.

Observation is reasonably represented in the Next Generation Science Standards. For example:

• Scientific Knowledge: Kindergarten: Scientists look for patterns and order when making observations about the world.

• Scientific Investigation: Middle School: Science investigations use a variety of methods and tools to make measurements and observations.

Wheel ofScientific

Investigationand

Reasoning

Javits Project Clarion, Center for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary

·Use your curiosity·Find something of interest to study.·Use your senses to learn.

Make Observations

Ask Questions

Learn More·Find what you need to know·Find what others know.·Learn more through observations.·Re-examine your question.

Design and Conduct the Experiment

·Form a hypothesis·List experiment steps.·Identify materials you need.·Conduct experiment.·Record data.

·Organize your data.·Analyze data.·Make inferences and draw conclusions.·Check to see if you answered your question.·Think of related questions.

·Select an audience.·Decide on the best way to communicate.·Include data tables.·Report conclusions.

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND

REASONING

·Identify all the questions you have.·Select ONE question you want to answer.

Create Meaning

Tell Others What Was

Found

Research

While there is a wealth of research on teacher observations of children; qualitative research methods with observation; classroom observation forms for teachers, principals, and researchers; and observing children’s developmental and academic progression, no controlled studies could be located on how to improve observational skills among elementary children.

Research• Observation is related to culture• Knowledge of the field helps deepen observation (e.g.,

observing seeds more deeply when dispersal methods are understood) (Alberdi, Sleeman, & Korpi, 2000)—that is, observation may be best taught within domains and in a reciprocal nature with content.

Ideas from the literature• Have students make

realistic drawings and diagrams, including pre- and post-assessments (Carlisle, 2012)

• Ask higher order questions to elaborate upon student observations (“Why do you think frogs sit so still?”) (Weiss, 2013)

Ideas from the literature• Use of notebooks to record

observations • The use of scientific tools

(e.g., magnifying glasses)• Have students develop

testable questions based on observations and collect data (Turgeon, 2012)

Ideas from the literature• Descriptive paragraphs• Finely detailed poems• Creating visual arts• Noting evidence provided

in an article or argument (Paul & Elder)

• Finding fallacies in an argument (Paul & Elder)

Other ideas?• Ties in observation to science• Any observation tied to science: to other disciplines with

the word why• Explicit observation—noting where it is embedded in your

field and ensuring there is increasing challenge, point it out to students

• Developing experience: difference between sensing (perception) vs. observing (conceptual)

• Perception with music• Perceptual experience by SES• Varied perceptual experience

How is observation important to critical thinking?

• Gathering info and data, from which we can apply the intellectual standards

• They are the concretes

Relationships?

Is observation related to…• Curiosity• Aesthetics• Flow• Spatial ability• Creativity• Concentration/attention• STEM/STEAM/Innovation• Gardner’s naturalistic intelligence

• Is it transferable between disciplines?

Activity 1: Rock Observation

Observation subject

Measurements(Length, volume,

weight)

Senses(Color, texture, smell,

sounds)Do NOT taste

Other features

Draw Subject 1

Draw Subject 2