COMPLEX THINKING

WELCOME Complex Thinking: DOE: TS 167844 BRANDMAN: EDDU 9193 COMPLEX THINKING

Quickly answer this question. If 5 men can make 5 pizzas in 5 minutes…how long does it take 100 men to make 100 pizzas? COMPLEX THINKING

Before we give you the answer, let’s talk about what could have been going on in your mind when you answered the question. Nothing…you’re still asleep or just wondering why you signed up for a class on Saturday morning. COMPLEX THINKING

2. Or how did I end up at this table? Who is Dave Dunaway and why is he smiling so much? COMPLEX THINKING

3. I’ll just go with the obvious answer as there is no penalty for getting it wrong, so 100 sounds good. 5-5-5 makes sense to go 100-100-100 COMPLEX THINKING

4. Joe is a really nice guy and honest, but Dave is a bit of shady character. He’s probably attempting to trick us, so the obvious answer is probably wrong. I need to think about this for a moment. COMPLEX THINKING

What you experienced in this exercise was either “Fast” or “Slow” thinking. Fast thinking involves coming up with an answer quickly and with little or no thought. Slow thinking is what we will be referring to in this class as “Complex Thinking.” It requires using some or all of 10 specific skills. COMPLEX THINKING

Fast Thinking When the decision isn’t important or have significant consequences (getting the answer to our opening question correct), fast thinking is fine. Fast thinking is not a bad thing, in fact it is needed at times. COMPLEX THINKING

COMPLEX THINKING This situation requires fast thinking!

When a car stops in front of you and you see those red lights, it is not to your advantage to ponder what actions you should take…. Hit the brakes!!!!!! COMPLEX THINKING

Deciding where to go to lunch today is an example of where fast thinking is probably a good strategy. You may in fact be frustrated by someone who wants to make it a slow thinking process. COMPLEX THINKING

That person who wants to weigh all the options related to price, geographical proximity, type of food, cleanliness of the restaurant, speed of service, how healthy the food is, who should drive, look up the reviews on Yelp, etc…. The problem could be, that your one hour lunch is over before you factor in all the variables and make a decision. COMPLEX THINKING

Fast thinking can also be complex thinking. This is possible when the individual is presented with a situation they have seen many times before and spent time (slow thinking) coming up with an answer or solution. COMPLEX THINKING

From the outside, it appears that they put little time or effort into the solution, when in fact they have. One example of this is a chess master. They have studied the strategy of chess and played countless games. They can walk up to a board and quickly assess who has the advantage and what move should be made. COMPLEX THINKING

Have you ever participated in an exhibition where a chess master plays numerous people at the same time? COMPLEX THINKING

COMPLEX THINKING Joe had the opportunity to play in one of these events. Not this one…

He was beaten in 6 moves. Joe made very predictable moves and the chess master, with little thought, knew exactly what to do to beat him. Joe’s ego was bruised and only after a number of appearances on the Dr. Phil show was he able to go out in public again. COMPLEX THINKING

You have all experienced this while driving. There is car ahead of you and by the way they are driving, you anticipate them cutting in your lane without looking. You back off and next thing you know they are in your lane. COMPLEX THINKING

New drivers haven’t had this experience before and/or are too focused on their own driving to observe or anticipate the driving of others. They cannot “fast” think at a complex thinking level while driving. They have not had enough experience behind the wheel. COMPLEX THINKING

Veteran teachers also have the ability to be complex fast thinkers. They can tap into previous knowledge and experience related to a situation they have seen many times before and quickly make a decision on what needs to be done. For example… COMPLEX THINKING

They can see two students discussing an issue and know that if they don’t intervene, the situation could escalate into a physical confrontation. A new teacher may know to intervene lonely after the first punch is thrown. COMPLEX THINKING

Slow Thinkers Others of you were slow thinkers related the question. You were “thinking”…100 is the easy answer so they won’t be asking us the question if that was correct. There must be some point to this activity and I can either spend some time reflecting on the problem or not. COMPLEX THINKING

You might have decided that it wasn’t worth the effort…which was okay. Or you might have decided you wanted to get it right and put some thought into the problem. Your motivation might have been to show the others at your table how smart you are…or you wanted to get it right for yourself. You enjoyed the challenge! COMPLEX THINKING

Whatever the reason, you had some motivation to become a complex thinker in this situation. The correct answer is 5 minutes. The issue for those of you that got it wrong was not lack of knowledge, but rather the speed (fast thinking) with which you answered the question. COMPLEX THINKING

If you would have used slow thinking, you all would have gotten the question correct. You would have figured out that it takes 5 minutes to make a pizza. So the number of people can change, but the time it takes will always remain the same. COMPLEX THINKING

Next question….do this individually. Also I want you to write down your answer on a piece of paper that you will later show to the people at your table. We are providing you some motivation to get the answer correct. COMPLEX THINKING

A bat and ball costs $1.10. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? SLOW THINK!!!! Write down your answer. COMPLEX THINKING

Your fast thinking said this is easy, the ball costs $.10 But you knew the obvious answer would be wrong in this situation. The correct answer is $.05. The ball costs $.05 and the bat (costing $1.00 more than the ball) costs $1.05. Together they cost $1.10 COMPLEX THINKING

COURSE OBJECTIVES Identifying for you the 10 skills research has shown as essential for complex thinking. Providing you strategies on how to integrate the teaching of those skills into your existing lessons. COMPLEX THINKING

We don’t need you to create new lessons, but rather enrich your existing lessons by making your students use the 10 complex thinking skills. COMPLEX THINKING

IMPORTANT INFORMATION COMPLEX THINKING

1. We do not use the payment tab on the PDE3 website, we keep our own records. It will always show you as not having paid for the class. 2. After the class is complete, we don’t send you back your portfolios. They will be available next spring at our February classes. COMPLEX THINKING

3. You can download this Powerpoint and all the Powerpoints used in the class, as well as the Portfolio on Joe’s website. JoeLoVerde.com 4. You can turn in your Portfolio in either a hard copy or electronically. Email your electronic Portfolios to: loverdeportfolios@gmail.com COMPLEX THINKING

5. Over the years we have had only a couple of Portfolios that were sent back to teachers for corrections. Many of these were because the reviewer could not read the answers provided. If you handwriting is poor, please type your answers. You can download the pages of the Portfolio at Joe’s website and type on them. COMPLEX THINKING

6. A second reason some Portfolios were sent back is because there were only one word or short phrase answers provided. The reviewer is not looking at whether they agree with you or not, but only that you put some thought and effort into your answers. COMPLEX THINKING

7. We must require that you turn your Portfolio in on time. We have to send the grades in together, so if a Portfolio is late, it is holding up the credit for everyone else in the class. 8. If you can’t complete the class, you won’t lose your $185. You won’t get a refund, but can use it for any future class we teach. COMPLEX THINKING

9. When we submit the grades to the PDE3 and they ask for 10% of the Portfolios to review, the class no longer appears on your record. This is a problem with the PDE3 system and as soon as credit is granted, it appears back on your record. COMPLEX THINKING

Please open your Workbooks to page #1. This Data Sheet contains all the information you need for this class. -Course numbers -Class dates -Due dates for the Portfolio/Practicum -Contact numbers and emails for Joe & Dave -Refund policies COMPLEX THINKING

We have broken this class into 4 parts. The purpose of this is to help you complete the Portfolio on time and make the course work manageable. If you just do each part as we go along, the Portfolio will not be overwhelming and fairly easy to complete. COMPLEX THINKING

Today (Feb. session) we will go over the 10 skills required for complex thinking and what is required in the Portfolio related to those 10 skills. We will give you numerous examples and you’ll have time to share ideas with other teachers in the class. COMPLEX THINKING

March…We will review the 10 skills and what you have completed for the Portfolio to date. We will also explain the 5 activities you’ll need to implement in your class related to complex thinking. COMPLEX THINKING

April…We will review and assess what you have completed related to the 5 activities. You’ll have a chance to work with others in the class to see what they have done and get ideas if you are struggling with any of the concepts. COMPLEX THINKING

May…A complete review of the Portfolio. We will go over page by page of what is required to make sure you are on schedule to complete the Portfolio on time. COMPLEX THINKING

June…Turn in your Portfolio. If at any time you want to review what we covered in any session, the Powerpoint used for each session will be available on Joe’s website. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email or call Joe. COMPLEX THINKING

Turn to page #3 in your Workbooks. COMPLEX THINKING

FACTORS HINDERING COMPLEX THINKING Speed Logic Distractions Ambiguity Effort COMPLEX THINKING

1. Speed As a society we value speed. The faster the better. Unfortunately, speed is a negative when it comes to complex thinking. Speed doesn’t allow us time to use the 10 skills associated with complex thinking. COMPLEX THINKING

But the speed at which an individual solves a problem or makes a decision, impacts our view of that solution or decision. An interesting study supports the idea that the faster you respond to a question, the more credibility you have. COMPLEX THINKING

Participants were shown videos of a person giving directions to a specific location. Half of the participants saw a video where the person giving the directions spoke fast and the other half where the person spoke slowly. COMPLEX THINKING

The directions were exactly the same, the only variable was the speed at which the person on the video gave the directions. The participants were then asked to evaluate how accurate they thought the directions were from the person on the video. What did the researchers find? COMPLEX THINKING

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