A Tips-Page
Here are two ways to quickly understand my ideas about education:
• a Talk-PowerPoint (iou – it's being revised, will continue improving in November),
• tips for time-efficient learning in my website about Education for Problem Solving.
about me: My bio-in-Whova isn't really a bio. Most of it — all except the first sentence, "I'm an enthusiastic educator with a PhD in C&I from U of Wisconsin, who wants to find co-enthusiasts [so we can share ideas and do actions]" — is about my talk. But several bios are available, at the end of this page (short) and in the HomePage (even shorter) and longer HomePage (with a little more detail about my PhD work); and there is a full bio-page about my life on a road less traveled with a detailed personal history that explains how my different responses to hearing “we historians” (no, but...) and thinking “we educators” ( Yes ! ) helped me become an enthusiastic educator, and describes my mixed feelings about the uncommon road.
contact email – craigru57-att-yahoo-daut-caum
many iou's:
The main pages in my website – the HomePage and Discovery Page – have many iou's. They're much more numerous now than in early April, because during the past 7 months I've been getting ideas at a fast rate, but writing at a slower rate. I'll continue developing the website, in the “iou places” and elsewhere.
IDEAS and QUESTIONS
The paragraphs below (for ideas in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and questions in A, B) describe pages in my website about Education for Problem Solving, and here are some useful...
tips for viewing: If possible, you should view this pair of pages (on left & right sides) with a computer monitor so the text is large enough to read comfortably. The two-page format is useful because in this page sometimes (e.g. during 1, 2, 3) the internal links (to pages within the website) open in the right-frame, so you still can see this page in the left-frame. But sometimes (during 4, 5, A, B) you're invited to "put page into right-frame" because internal links (to pages within the website) open in the left-frame, so you still can continue seeing this page in the right-frame. / With either "sometimes" your browser's Back-Button will always (AFAIK) return you to “where you were” earlier ; but “in case it doesn't” each main other-page (HomePage & Discovery Page) has an end-of-page link for "Tips Page" that will open this pair of left-and-right pages; or you can proactively make “spare pairs” now. But external links (to pages outside the website) will open in a new tab. / And if you're viewing on a small-screen tablet or phone, a top-of-page link will "open only this page" and then if you click any link it will open in a new tab.
Below is a plan for time-efficient learning of ideas in my website; a “partial plan” is to focus on Parts 2-and-3 to get the main ideas. Another time-efficient option is the PowerPoint for my Talk.
For the reasons explained above, this page is designed to be in a left-side frame, so if necessary (if it isn't there already) you can put it on the left side.
⊡ 1 – Begin with the HomePage but read only its first paragraph. {and maybe the bio-paragraph} Also look at the Table of Contents in a “details” page (just to see the wide range of topics) but don't click any links. Then use the Back-Button to reload the HomePage and move onward to...
⊡ 2 – The best way to understand my model for creative-and-critical Design Process (i.e. for Problem-Solving Process) is to learn by discovery when you study its diagrams, by observing (and thinking about) the words & colors and spatial relationships. You can begin by studying the right-side diagram. Then for deeper understandings, in a Discovery Page read the Page-Introduction (in a “White Box” that indicates its importance) and a second White Box that has questions & comments about the three main diagrams. / Then continue downward for a wider range-of-discovering in "the flexibility of Design Process," illustrated by "three common Action-Sequences" that show how we do Quality Checks & Reality Checks (to ask the Design Question & Science Question) and use Guided Generation; and how people develop-and-use metacognitive mental roadmaps. / But skip the gray box (with "three common Action Sequences – Part 2") until later.
⊡ 3 – scroll downward and read the third White Box (titled "the Two Wide Scopes of Design Process") that describes an important characteristic of Design Process — it has Two Wide Scopes (for Problem-Solving Activities & Problem-Solving Process) — and explains how these wide scopes help make Design Process more educationally useful. / also: • how combining Design Process with other models-for-process can make the combination more effective than either model by itself, and • how Design Process can help students develop-and-use metacognitive Self-Regulated Learning.
Before moving on to ⊡ 4, first I'll describe the...
three kinds of information in my website:
Model Information describes my model for Design Process, as in ⊡ 2. Education Information describes general Educational Principles & Educational Goals that you already know and probably accept, so while reading you will be thinking “yes”. But often I also explain how using Design Process can help us achieve our Educational Goals, and for these claims (they're Education-with-Model Information, are featured in ⊡ 3, ⊡ 4, ⊡ 5) you might think “yes!” or “yes and...” (yes plus adding your own ideas) or “yes but...” (with questions) or “maybe” or “no because...” (with reasons to revise or reject), and all of these responses can be useful when we're discussing possibilities for improving education, and...
"I'm hoping you will see our “common ground” [regarding general Education Info] so you will be thinking “Craig understands education, wants what we want, is similar to us.” And also “he is a little different, with an innovative model [learned with Model Info] — that describes (verbally & visually) human problem-solving actions, to help students understand these actions and improve their own actions — and [based on Education-with-Model Info] this model could contribute useful ‘added value’ for us, so working with him will help us improve our education.” I'm hoping you will want to discuss possibilities, and that – by working with colleagues (who might include me, or maybe not) – you will be able to co-create better education by actualizing strategies for effectively using metacognition, with or without using my model.
iou – before tomorrow morning (November 6) I'll explain why you should put this page into the right-side frame for Sections 4, 5, A, B.
⊡ 4 – Back in the HomePage a long fourth White Box contains related sections that explain – with more depth than in ⊡ 3 – how "the two wide scopes of Design Process increase two Transfers of Learning [Across Areas & Through Time] and help make education Personally Useful" plus our "Logical Evidence-Based Reasons to Expect Transfers" and how we can help students build bridges so they expect school-into-life transfers that produce direct benefits (with better results in their learning & performing) and indirect benefits (with better attitudes in their motivations & confidences)" so a student wants to proactively pursue their own Personal Education, and wisely Design Their Life. We also can motivate students with metaphors (to “drive your brain” & increase its performance, and “be CEO of your thinking”) and promote their adventures with thinking (when they explore web-resources & do activities) that can include Design Process (by studying its logic-and-art, and using it to improve their problem-solving abilities).
Between ⊡ 4 and ⊡ 5, you may enjoy the light-yellow sections with Education Info: Growth Mindset (this won't be new for you) and (with familiar ideas expressed in new ways) having a Performance Objective and/or Learning Objective.
⊡ 5 – a fifth White Box describes metacognition (the what, why, how) and the metacognitive Thinking Strategies that are highly effective for improving student performance-and-learning in academic areas (including standardized exams) and for social-emotional aspects of life. Two effective ways to use metacognition are self-questioning and Cycles of Self-Regulated Learning, and (much better) using both. Design Process can help students develop-and-use SRL, and teaching SRL-with-DP offers three benefits that make it easier-and-better; one benefit is that using DP is “SRL Plus” because DP can help students improve their metacognitive self-regulating skills (with SRL) AND their cognitive problem-solving skills (with DP), and improving both is an effective combination.
My Whova-bio has two related POV-Questions, about the POV s of students and teachers:
⊡ A – Do you think students will be excited-and-fascinated? My claim — that "we should expect gifted students [and many other students] to be excited about using metacognition (generally) and (specifically) to be fascinated with the logic-and-art in my model for problem solving" — is supported by what is known about the motivations of gifted students so it's plausible, but is not proven due to a current lack of observations; hopefully this soon will change. Teachers can motivate all students with strategies like those in ⊡ 4 , by building bridges from school into life, using metaphors of brain-driving & CEO-ing, promoting adventures with thinking. And gifted students tend to be naturally self-motivated, being very interested in thinking and wanting to improve their cognitive-and-metacognitive thinking skills.
⊡ B – How do you think teachers [and administrators] will respond to the possibilities I'm describing? This question is complex in many ways; it's examined in a large set of sections asking "What kind of Knowledge-and-Skills Curriculum will produce optimal Whole-Person Education?" that includes the benefits of starting with gifted students. (⊡ A and ⊡ B are mostly Education Info but also have some Education-with-Model Info)
This is the program-summary (in 50 words) for my talk:
Use Metacognitive Thinking Strategies to improve Learning and Problem Solving
Give students more experiences that are educationally useful, and use metacognitive thinking strategies (self-questionings, reflections, Self-Regulated Learning, my model for Problem-Solving Process,...) to help them learn more from their experiences, improve their knowledge and skills. Use the wide scope of “problem solving” to build motivational transfer-bridges (from school into life) throughout the curriculum. { note: For clarity in the first sentence, this is expanded to 57 words. }
Here is my profile in Whova for my talk at the 2025
Conference of Ohio Association for Gifted Children:
I'm an enthusiastic educator with a PhD in C&I from U of Wisconsin, who wants to find co-enthusiasts.
PowerPoint for Talk: educationforproblemsolving.net/oagc/talk.pdf
In my talk, we'll discuss questions, and I'll explain...
what my verbal-and-visual model for Design Process (i.e. for Problem-Solving Process) IS and ISN'T; it will help you recognize The Design Question & The Science Question.
how its two wide scopes (for PS-Activities & PS-Process) help students "build bridges" from school into life, so they will be motivated to proactively pursue their own Personal Education;
why we should expect gifted students to be excited about using metacognition (generally) and (specifically) to be fascinated with the logic-and-art in my model for problem solving (for "making things better") that's an extension of my PhD work about Scientific Methods;
why researchers have concluded that metacognition is extremely useful for improving learning-and-performing.
During the explaining and after it, we'll discuss two POV-Questions: Do you think students will be excited-and-fascinated? How do you think teachers will respond to the educational possibilities? Is it possible that students will be more “motivated for metacognition” than teachers?
and a longer bio, written for my seminar
(in 2022) with OSU Engineering Education:
I'm an enthusiastic educator who enjoys discussing ideas with other educators, who wants to find co-enthusiasts. Improving our education — by designing better ways to teach & learn, so we can improve our thinking and doing — is one of the most important things we can do. And it's fun!
I've continued studying education after earning a PhD in C&I from U of Wisconsin, following degrees in Chemistry (BS, MS) and History of Science (MA) from U of CA-Irvine, U of WA, and U of WI. My PhD project was developing a model for Scientific Method and using it to analyze science instruction and identify the Opportunities to Learn; later it was generalized into a model for problem-solving Design Process (for Science-Design plus General Design that includes Engineering) and I've developed a comprehensive website – about Education for Problem Solving – to explore ways of using my model (and other models) to help students improve their problem-solving abilities in all areas of life.
One motivation for moving from Madison to Columbus, in May 2022, was my goal of networking with other educators and doing cooperative collaborations to improve our education, so I'm hoping to working with other educators to co-create better education.