Table Of ContentVisual Tools For
Transforming
Information
Into
KNOWLEDGE
SECOND EDITION
Visual Tools for
Transforming
Information
Into
KNOWLEDGE
SECOND EDITION
David Hyerle
PROLOGUE BY
Arthur L. Costa
FOREWORD BY
Robert J. Marzano
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Hyerle,David.
Visualtoolsfortransforminginformationintoknowledge/DavidHyerle.—2nded.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-4129-2426-9(cloth)
ISBN978-1-4129-2427-6(pbk.)
1. Visuallearning. 2. Constructivism(Education) 3. Thoughtandthinking. 4. Criticalthinking.
5. Cognition. I. Hyerle,David.
Visualtoolsforconstructingknowledge.II.Title.
LB1067.5.H942009
370.15’23—dc22 2008017823
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper.
08 09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Foreword
Robert J. Marzano viii
Prologue
Arthur L. Costa x
Acknowledgments xvi
About the Author xviii
Summary Definition of Visual Tools xix
Introduction: Transforming Static Information Into Active Knowledge 1
Blind Insights 1
Right Now: Jumping theAchievement Gap forAll Children 4
Overview of the Book 6
1. The Mapping Metaphor 9
Cognitive Dissonance in Representation Systems 11
The Elephant in the Room 12
The Mapping Metaphor: Terra Incognita 13
Mapping the Brain 15
Visual Tools for Mapmaking 16
The Foundation of the Mapping Metaphor: Seeing 17
2. Facilitating the Networking Brain and the Patterning Mind 20
Nonlinguistic and Linguistic Representations 21
Research Studies on Graphic Organizers 23
Reading Comprehension and Reading First Research 25
Mapping Living Systems 26
The Brain Is a Pattern Detector 27
The Visual Brain 28
The Mind Organizes Into Schematic Patterns 30
Multiple Intelligences asActive Patterns 31
Habits of Mind 32
3. Using Visual Tools 35
Clarifying a Confusion of Terms and Tools 35
Content-Specific Visual Tools 36
Defining Visual Tools 37
Theory-Embedded Tools 38
Types of Visual Tools 39
ReviewingYour Toolkit 39
ChoosingAppropriate Visual Tools 41
The Importance of Student Ownership of Visual Tools 42
Saving Time 44
Constructing Knowledge in Cooperative Groups 44
Beyond Blueprints, Templates, and Blackline Masters 46
4. Brainstorming Webs for Facilitating the Creative Mind 47
Flow of Information and Knowledge 48
Thinking in Pictures 51
The Brain and Brainstorming 52
The MisconceptionsAbout Brainstorming Webs 54
Webs for Facilitating Habits of Mind 55
Software for Brainstorming Webs 58
Brainstorming Webs for Collaborative Reflection, by David Schumaker 61
Mind Mapping 64
Viewing Book Reviews 64
Mindscapes From Metaphors 66
Seeking Personal Growth 68
5. Graphic Organizers for Analytical Tasks 71
An Overview of Graphic Organizers, by Greg Freeman 72
Comparing Graphic Organizers and Brainstorming Webs 73
Organizers for Habits of Mind 76
Chunking, Memory, and the Organizing Brain 77
Content-Specific Graphics as anAdvanced Organizer 80
Process-Specific Maps 83
The Big-Picture Organizers 84
Mapping Lesson Plans 85
Design and Understanding 89
6. Conceptual Mapping for Integrating Creative
and Analytical Thinking 91
Thinking About the Box 91
Habits of Mind and Conceptual Maps 92
When Thinking Became Popular 93
Novak and Gowin’s Concept Mapping Techniques 95
The Inductive Tower 96
Argument Maps and Rationale, by Tim Van Gelder 100
Feedbacks and Flows in the System 103
Connection Circles, by Rob Quaden and Alan Ticotsky 104
Systems Thinking 106
Leaving Tracks 109
An Integration of Visual Representations:
Teaching With Unit Visual Frameworks 111
7. Thinking Maps: ASynthesis Language of Visual Tools 115
AShort History of Thinking Maps 117
Defining Thinking Maps as a Language 119
Five Levels of Thinking Maps Implementation 123
Differentiated Thinking Patterns for English-Language
Learners, by Stefanie Holzman 128
Essential Cognitive Questions Based in Standards 129
Using Thinking Maps Software to Map the Standards,
by Sarah Curtis 131
From Students and Teachers to Leadership Development
and Whole-School Transformations 136
The Role of Thinking Maps in the Process of Becoming a
Professional Learning Community, by Larry Alper 137
Whole System Change 144
8. Thinking Maps for Special Needs
Cynthia Manning 145
Thinking Maps Give Me a Chance to Learn: Learning Prep Student 145
Background on Learning Prep School 146
Developing the Fundamental Psychological
Processes Through Thinking Maps 148
Thinking Maps and High-Stakes Testing 154
Teachers and Students See the Success 156
Thinking Maps and “the Real World” 156
In Conclusion 157
References and Further Reading 159
Index 163
Foreword
I
n Visual Tools for Transforming Information Into Knowledge (2nd edition), David
Hyerle takes the concept of visual tools to new heights. He provides a strong
theoretical base by starting with the mapping metaphor. Just as cartography
increased the speed and efficiency with which new lands and new people could be
identified and connected, so too do visual tools escalate the speed and efficiency
with which an individual can identify new knowledge and connect it to what is
alreadyknown.Hyerlereviewsnotonlythetheoreticalunderpinningsoftheuseof
visual tools but also the research supporting it—some of that research my own.
Specifically, in the book Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Pickering, &
Pollock,2001),IreviewedanumberofstudiesfocusingonwhatIreferredtoasnon-
linguistic representations. This term included instructional strategies such as
graphic organizers, mind maps, and the like. The research I reviewed strongly sup-
portedtheuseofsuchstrategiesaspowerfulinstructionaltools.Inmylatestreview
of the research on general instructional strategies contained in the book The Art and
ScienceofTeaching(Marzano,2007),Ifoundevenstrongerevidencefortheefficacyof
nonlinguistic representations.
In his work on visual tools, David Hyerle has expanded the frontiers of strate-
gies involving nonlinguistic representations far beyond what I and others have
attemptedtodo.Heprovidesnotonlyacomprehensivetheoreticalbasisfortheeffi-
cacyofvisualtoolsbutexpandstheirapplicationtonewandexcitingarenas.Ashort
list of the applications of visual tools Hyerle details includes
•
Brainstorming
•
The use of visual tools for facilitating habits of mind
•
The use of software to enhance nonlinguistic thinking
•
Collaborative reflection
•
Book reviews
•
The creation of mindscapes
•
Traditional graphic organizers
•
Domain-specific graphic organizers
•
Chunking content to aid memory
•
Process maps
•
Mapping lesson plans
•
System maps
•
Feedback loops
Hyerle also addresses five levels of implementing Thinking Maps and pro-
vides criteria for determining whether visual tools are being used effectively by
viii
FOREWORD ix
an individual teacher or by an entire school. In short, David’s work is the most
comprehensive and useful to date on the topic of visual tools and what I have
referred to as nonlinguistic representations. This book will no doubt be consid-
ered a classic for years to come.
Robert J. Marzano
March 2008
REFERENCES
Marzano, R. J. (2007). The art and science of teaching: A comprehensive framework for effective
instruction.Alexandria,VA:AssociationforSupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment.
Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works:
Research-basedstrategiesforincreasingstudentachievement.Alexandria,VA:Associationfor
SupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment.
