Cognitive acceleration stages (concrete preparation, cognitive conflict, metacognition, bridging) as the LC's structure for developing critical thinking¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article structures the LC's critical-thinking development after cognitive acceleration (Adey & Shayer, 1993) "through stages of concrete preparation, cognitive conflict, metacognition and bridging". Concrete preparation came from connections to real situations such as the psychic demonstration; cognitive conflict was generated through readings, discussions, and media exposing students to multiple perspectives; the writing component provided opportunities for metacognition; and parallels among situations and common ways thinking goes wrong served as a bridge throughout the course.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

Writing assignments to make metacognition manifest
Readings, discussions, and media presenting multiple components and perspectives to generate cognitive conflict

Constraints¶

The article applies this structure specifically to a first-year interdisciplinary science learning community

Target Learners¶

first-year undergraduate science and mathematics students

Learning Goals¶

critical thinking
scientific reasoning
metacognition

Claims¶

The Four Noble Truths (FNT) method: a four-stage Buddhist-principled instruction method comparable to the scientific method

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

Franz, T. M., & Green, K. H. (2013). The impact of an interdisciplinary learning community course on pseudoscientific reasoning in first-year science students. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 13(5), 90–105.

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`cognitive-acceleration-stages-lc-structure`
`title`	`Cognitive acceleration stages (concrete preparation, cognitive conflict, metacognition, bridging) as the LC's structure for developing critical thinking`
`description`	`The article structures the LC's critical-thinking development after cognitive acceleration (Adey & Shayer, 1993) "through stages of concrete preparation, cognitive conflict, metacognition and bridging".`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-11-03`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `franz-2013`

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