Development of thinking skills

Leading team

• Prof. Nir Orion

Project members

Maya Shalom, MSc Student

• Orit Ben-Zvi-Assraf
• Jeff Dodick
• Osher Fishzang
• Yossi Gudovich
• Yael Kali
• Ronit Laub

Summary

This research focuses on the unique contribution of Earth Sciences to the development of various cognitive skills, such as:

• The development of basic scientific skills (observation-hypothesis-conclusion).
• Spatial visualization.
• Cyclic thinking.
• Perception of deep time.
• Systems thinking.

Links for further reading

• project website (in Hebrew)
• Kali, Y. and Orion, N. (1996). Relationship between Earth science education and spatial visualization. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 33, 369-391.
• Kali, Y. and Orion, N. (1997). Software for assisting high school students in the spatial perception of geological structures. Journal of Geoscience Education. 45, 10-21.
• Orion, N., Ben-Chaim, D. and Kali, Y. (1997). Relationship between earth science education and spatial visualization. Journal of Geoscience Education. 45, 129-132.
• Dodick, J. and Orion, N. (2003). Cognitive factors effecting student understanding of geologic time. The Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 40, 415-442.
• Dodick, J., and Orion, N. (2003). Measuring student understanding of geological time. Science Education. 87, 708-731.
• Kali, Y., Orion, N. and Eylon, B. (2003). The effect of knowledge integration activities on students’ perception of the earth’s crust as a cyclic system. The Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 40(6), 545-565
• Ben-Zvi-Assaraf, O. and Orion, N. (2005). The development of system thinking skills in the context of earth system education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 42, 1-43.
• Orion, N. and Kali, Y. (2005). The effect of an earth science learning program on students’ scientific thinking skills Journal of Geosciences Education. 53, 387-393.
• Ben-zvi-Assaraf, O. and Orion, N. (2005). A study of junior high students’ perceptions of the water cycle. Journal of Geosciences Education. 53, 366-373.
• Dodick, J.T. and Orion, N. )2006(. Building an understanding of geological time: A cognitive synthesis of the “Macro” and “Micro” scales of time. In: Manduca, C.A. and Mogk, D.W. (Eds.), Earth and Mind: How Geologists Think and Learn about the Earth. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 413.
• Ben-Zvi Assaraf, O., Orion, N. and Ronen. D. (2008). The Blue-Planet earth systems approach (BEPESA) for the study of water related systems. In: Brebbia, C.A. (ed.), Environmental Problems in Coastal Regions, WIT Press.UK.
• Orion, N. and Trend, R. (2009). Editorial: Thinking and learning in the geosciences. Journal of Geosciences Education. 55, 469–477.
• Ben-Zvi Assaraf, O. and Orion, N. (2010). Four case studies and sixBen-Zvi Assaraf, O. and Orion, N. (2009). A design-based research of an earth systems-based environmental curriculum. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education. 5(1), 197-214.
• years later: Developing system thinking skills in junior high School and sustaining them over time. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 47, 1253-1280.
• Ben-Zvi Assaraf, O. and Orion, N. (2010). System thinking skills at the elementary school level. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 47, 540-563.
• Batzri, O., Ben Zvi Assaraf, O., Cohen, C. and Orion, N. (2015). “Understanding the Earth Systems: Expressions of