In Levels 3 and 4, the curriculum focuses on developing the knowledge, skills and understanding to improve and monitor thinking. Students learn and consider the advantages of different thinking techniques. Students learn there are different ways to respond to problems, visualise thinking and think more effectively.
By the end of Level 4, students explain how to construct open and closed questions and use them for different purposes. Students select and apply techniques to generate a range of ideas that extend how problems are solved.
Students describe and structure arguments with clearly identified aims, premises and conclusions. They use and explain a range of strategies to develop their arguments. They identify the need to make distinctions and apply strategies to make these.
Students use concrete and pictorial models to facilitate thinking, including a range of visualisation strategies. They practice and apply an increased range of learning strategies, including visualisation, note-taking, peer instruction and incubation. Students select and apply a range of problem-solving strategies.
.
In Levels 5 and 6, the curriculum focuses on developing the knowledge, skills and understanding to test the strength of thinking. Students develop their capacity to deliberately manage their thinking. Students explore common errors that can occur in thinking.
By the end of Level 6, students apply questioning as a tool to focus or expand thinking. They use appropriate techniques to copy, borrow and compare aspects of existing solutions in order to identify relationships and apply these to new situations.
Students distinguish between valid and sound arguments and between deductive and inductive reasoning. They explain how reasons and evidence can be evaluated. They explain and apply basic techniques to construct valid arguments and test the strength of arguments.
Students represent thinking processes using visual models and language. They practice and apply learning strategies, including constructing analogies, visualising ideas, summarising and paraphrasing information. Students disaggregate ideas and problems into smaller elements or ideas, develop criteria to assess and test thinking, and identify and seek out new relevant information as required.
In Levels 7 and 8, the curriculum focuses on developing the knowledge, skills and understanding to analyse thinking and the selection and application of a range of techniques to support effective...
In Levels 7 and 8, the curriculum focuses on developing the knowledge, skills and understanding to analyse thinking and the selection and application of a range of techniques to support effective thinking. Students learn strategies to assist them synthesise their thinking. Students develop an understanding that flexibility in thinking is often required and that certainty in thinking can be influenced by a range of factors.
By the end of Level 8, students prioritise the elements of a question and justify their selection. Students demonstrate flexibility in thinking by using a range of techniques in order to repurpose existing ideas or solutions to meet needs in new contexts.
Students explain different ways to settle matters of fact and matters of value and issues concerned with these. They explain and apply a range of techniques to test the strength of arguments.
Students use a range of strategies to represent ideas and explain and justify thinking processes to others. They evaluate the effectiveness of a range of learning strategies and select strategies that best meet the requirements of a task. Students independently segment problems into discrete stages, synthesise new knowledge at intermediate stages during problem-solving and develop and apply criteria to assess ideas, proposals and emerging thinking.
In Levels 9 and 10, the curriculum focuses on developing the knowledge, skills and understanding to recognise and manage what is often implicit in thinking. Students learn and apply techniques to progress, analyse and evaluate thinking. Students develop an understanding that it is often necessary to take a range of perspectives and to challenge assumptions.
By the end of Level 10, students construct and evaluate questions, including their own, for their effectiveness. They demonstrate a willingness to shift their perspective when generating ideas, resulting in new ways of perceiving solutions.
Students structure complex valid arguments. They explain and apply a range of techniques to test validity within and between arguments. Students identify, articulate, analyse and reflect on their own and others thinking processes. They use, monitor, evaluate and redirect as necessary a range of learning strategies. Students develop, justify and refine criteria to evaluate the quality of ideas, proposals and thinking processes.
