Thinking Maps

          In this article the authors first surface the need for reframing formative and summative assessment in this, the cognitive age of the 21st century. The Thinking Maps model is introduced as a theoretical and practical common visual language for teaching, learning and assessment that reflects what we know about how the brain works, learning, and cognition. Thinking Maps--as a language--allows teachers to see student content learning and thinking processes through the same bifocal lens—viewing the content at the surface and cognitive processing more in depth. After this overview and then a discussion of the validity of the model, the investigation turns to look at student work with Thinking Maps as they develop fluency with the tools and the capacity to transfer the tools within and across disciplines. Formative assessment of fluency and transfer are described and then the authors discuss how the maps may also be used within the area of summative assessments, using the MAPPER holistic scale. The authors investigate how our assessment tools need to keep pace with our new understanding about how the brain learns and processes information, offering tools for educators and learners to determine not only “what” is learned but also “how” it is learned.

http://www.thinkingfoundation.org/research/journal_articles/journal_articles.html