Humans are naturally inclined to think—it’s something we all do, without ever being taught how. From making decisions to expressing ourselves in conversation or writing, thinking is at the heart of everything we do. But because it’s so automatic, we often forget to think about how we’re thinking. And this can be particularly challenging for students learning new concepts.
This blog post shines a light on thinking itself. While thinking happens spontaneously, skillful and visible thinking is something that must be cultivated. As an instructor, especially in an online setting, you have a unique opportunity to help students not just learn course material but also develop better thinking patterns. Metacognition—the ability to stand back and examine our own thoughts while we engage in them—can help us tap into our thinking ability.
So, how can you encourage your students to actively show their thinking? In this post, we’ll explore practical strategies—like creating space for thinking, asking the right questions, and encouraging students to document their thought processes—to foster deeper learning.
Making Space for Thinking
When it comes to students, we need to support their thinking as much as their learning. You can spur thinking by directing students to make their thoughts “visible,” such as having them explain their thinking on a discussion forum, create a video talking about their experience with the learning material, or draw and scan a picture demonstrating their thought processes. This allows you to monitor students’ progress and strategies and to pose new questions to direct their thinking in new ways.
To help students engage, struggle, question, explore, and then ultimately build knowledge, you first need to establish a place for students to express their ideas, thoughts, and concerns. Don’t just assign learning materials and assessments and expect students to have the proper thinking processes to absorb and understand everything. Instead, take time to address how students are thinking about a topic rather than jumping straight to whether they’re meeting the expected learning outcomes.
To create opportunities for thinking, you must treat it like any routine, practice, or ritual you want to implement. Here are some techniques you can use to help create a culture of thinking in your classroom:
- Set expectations. Let students know that you’ll be pushing them to “show” their thinking and what requirements you might put in place to that end.
- Set a time. Build time into discussions and assignments for when students can provide insights, connections, and ideas.
- Model learning. Show students how you approach new concepts and ideas.
- Use positive language. Support and build up students with positive word choices.
- Create a hospitable environment. Dedicate a specific space (e.g., discussion forum, self-reflection, peer work, social media app) for where thinking will take place.
- Facilitate positive interactions. Shape positive student-to-student and student-to-instructor conversations.
Once you create time and routines for thinking, you can start to teach students how to process their thoughts through questioning and documenting.
Questioning and Listening
One of the most important techniques you can use to flesh out students’ thinking is to simply ask questions. But make sure not to ask leading questions that tempt students to just try to guess what you want to hear. You don’t want to do the thinking for them or set them up to think there’s only one “right” answer; instead, you want to lead them to arrive at answers on their own.
To model intellectual engagement, help students clarify their own understanding through open-ended questions. Below is a list of prompts you can use to ask good questions:
| Question Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Seek clarification. |
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| Probe assumptions. |
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| Seek reason and evidence. |
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| Probe implications and consequences. |
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| Seek viewpoints and perspectives. |
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| Seek additional questions. |
|
You can use these types of questions in discussion forums, assessment feedback, or live chats with students. But asking the right question isn’t the end of your job. When students respond, you must pay close attention to their answers to assess whether their thinking strategies are leading them down the path to truly understanding the content. Be careful not to move on too quickly or dismiss “wrong” or unexpected answers. Doing so may signal to students that their contributions aren’t interesting, and you’ll miss a pivotal opportunity to shape the visible thinking process. Instead, follow up with more questions, statements, or praise, and encourage students to elaborate or clarify where their thinking may be misguided or incomplete.
When you adopt this approach, students will become more willing to share their thinking and put forth ideas. This is an important aspect of building the thinking culture in your classroom.
Documenting Thought Processes
Asking questions helps guide thinking, but having students document their thought processes takes it to the next level. When students document their thinking, they’re not just absorbing information—they’re actively engaging with it and making it their own.“Documenting” can take many forms: writing out thoughts in a discussion, creating concept maps, recording a video reflection, or even making screencasts of themselves working through a problem. This act of putting thoughts into a tangible form helps students clarify their thinking and provides you with a window into their learning process.
A particularly effective tool is a concept map—a diagram that shows relationships between ideas. Concept maps encourage students to organize their thoughts visually, connecting key ideas in ways that make sense to them. For example, if the topic is “Russian authors,” one student might connect the names of authors like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky to their major works, while another might create a map exploring thematic elements like “philosophy” or “morality.”
No matter how students choose to document their thinking, be sure to collect and review these artifacts. This allows you to assess their progress and offer targeted feedback that keeps them moving forward.
Summary
Helping students develop visible thinking is a powerful way to deepen their learning experience. By creating a supportive environment, asking meaningful questions, and encouraging students to document their thought processes, you can guide them toward a more reflective, engaged approach to learning. Incorporating these techniques in your online classroom will not only enhance students’ understanding of course material but also equip them with thinking strategies they can carry throughout their education—and beyond.
Resources
Biggs, J. B. (1987). Student approaches to learning and studying. Research monograph. Hawthorn, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company.
Hook, J. (n.d.). Using mind maps in the classroom. Retrieved from https://ed.ted.com/on/DbAxSWbc
Ritchart, R. (2011). Making thinking visible: How to promote engagement, understanding, and independence for all learners. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Ritchhart, R., & Perkins, D. N. (2005). Learning to think: The challenges of teaching and thinking. In K. Holyoak & R. G. Morrison (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of thinking and reasoning (pp. 775–802). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Visible Thinking. (n.d.). Thinking routines. Retrieved from http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03e_FairnessRoutines.html
