Making thinking visible
This page introduces Visible Thinking routines from Harvard Project Zero.
Approaches to learning focus
Reflection skills > Try new AtL skills and evaluate their effectiveness
Creative-thinking skills > Practise visible thinking strategies and techniques
Visible thinking routines intend to help you think more deeply about learning. There are many routines designed by researchers at Harvard University in the USA.
These routines become more effective the more you use them. While many of the resources on this site include Visible Thinking routines, you can also just use them whenever you feel it might be helpful to stop a moment and think more deeply about what you are learning!
One routine you can use this way is called think-pair-share. To use this routine you simply…
On your own, think about the question or problem for a few minutes. Your teacher will suggest a time and you should stick to it.
Now pair with another student and…
… share your ideas about the question with them, and they will share their ideas with you.
Did you have similar ideas? Did you have different ideas?
You can find information about all the Harvard Project Zero Visible Thinking routines at the Project Zero homepage .
Harvard Project Zero offer public domain learning resources to deepen and enrich thinking and learning. ‘Think-Pair-Share’ is one of the learning routines proposed. They are ‘routines’ in the sense that students benefit most when they are embedded naturally into their learning engagements.
You can find information about all the Harvard Project Zero Visible Thinking routines at the Project Zero homepage and a handy video explainer:
There are a free downloadable resources with guidance for teachers on the various routines - for example, for the Think-Pair-Share routine here.