According to Howard Gardner, the synthesizing mind takes information from a variety of sources, processes it, and puts it back together in a way that makes sense to themselves and others. This type of mind is able to put things together and create a new level of understanding. Project-based Learning (PBL) activities are tailor-made for developing the synthesizing mind.
Interdisciplinary investigation is the hallmark of PBL.This type of activity involves integrating a variety resources, using different disciplines and refitting them together to create something new. The synthesizing mind is motivated by several things. PBL and the types of interdisciplinary investigations that build the synthesizing mind have "a motivating goal, an initial stance taken by the synthesizer, a set of tools or strategies that can be employed, one or more interim syntheses, and at least some criteria by which the success of the synthesis can be evaluated" (p. 58). With PBL, students will find that more than one resource, technique, and skill-set will be needed to solve the problem.
One PBL activity that I worked on in my grad course had students creating a business that served a need in the community. Student objectives included gathering data on the needs of the community, developing a business plan, securing space,and funding for their project. Learning tasks along the way had students learning different skills, such as how to use online survey tools, digital presentation tools, audio and video media tools, and some good old fashioned pavement pounding to provide a solution to their task. Students used these newly learned skills to develop their ideas and create their community-based business.
Through PBL students learn how decide which tools and resources they will need to use in order to find a solution to their problem. This activity has students creating their own learning experiences based on what they need, which allows them to form a deeper connection to both the content and the skills. Building the synthesizing mind is all about creating problem-solvers. We want students to be able to problem solve across the curriculum and transfer knowledge from their own experiences to one content area and another. The genius minds Gardner regards that "tie... together a range of phenomena" (p. 48) to formulate their ideas. Their minds make wholly new concepts from different aspects of the world around them. In the classroom, we want our students to challenge us. Synthesizing minds own their knowledge. We want them to take what is presented and turn it into something that they own.
Gardner, H. (2009). Five Minds for the Future. Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.
Interdisciplinary investigation is the hallmark of PBL.This type of activity involves integrating a variety resources, using different disciplines and refitting them together to create something new. The synthesizing mind is motivated by several things. PBL and the types of interdisciplinary investigations that build the synthesizing mind have "a motivating goal, an initial stance taken by the synthesizer, a set of tools or strategies that can be employed, one or more interim syntheses, and at least some criteria by which the success of the synthesis can be evaluated" (p. 58). With PBL, students will find that more than one resource, technique, and skill-set will be needed to solve the problem.
One PBL activity that I worked on in my grad course had students creating a business that served a need in the community. Student objectives included gathering data on the needs of the community, developing a business plan, securing space,and funding for their project. Learning tasks along the way had students learning different skills, such as how to use online survey tools, digital presentation tools, audio and video media tools, and some good old fashioned pavement pounding to provide a solution to their task. Students used these newly learned skills to develop their ideas and create their community-based business.
Through PBL students learn how decide which tools and resources they will need to use in order to find a solution to their problem. This activity has students creating their own learning experiences based on what they need, which allows them to form a deeper connection to both the content and the skills. Building the synthesizing mind is all about creating problem-solvers. We want students to be able to problem solve across the curriculum and transfer knowledge from their own experiences to one content area and another. The genius minds Gardner regards that "tie... together a range of phenomena" (p. 48) to formulate their ideas. Their minds make wholly new concepts from different aspects of the world around them. In the classroom, we want our students to challenge us. Synthesizing minds own their knowledge. We want them to take what is presented and turn it into something that they own.
Gardner, H. (2009). Five Minds for the Future. Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.
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