Big Ideas
Helping the passage from concrete to abstract thinking
This app is designed to help young teenagers (13–16) in their transition from concrete to abstract thinking.
At this stage, it's an experimental beta. Comments, criticisms and suggestions are more than welcome.
The app is still in development, so please be forgiving of technical glitches — but let us know! (Contact information below.)
Overview
The app begins with a dashboard that introduces the distinction between concrete and abstract thinking. This leads to a series of three exercises:
Match
The student is presented with a list of concrete sentences and a list of abstract terms. Their task is to match the right sentence with the right term.
Sort
The student is given a list of eighteen words and asked to place them in groups. They then name the groups. This is an exercise in categorization. In a follow-up, they deploy only the categories.
Connect
The student explores three situations and finds something in common with at least two of them. This common factor becomes a principle that is then applied in a new situation.
AI coaching
The app provides AI coaching, giving the student limited feedback at each step to help them correct and improve their responses.
Testing the app
Please test out the app yourself, and if you are satisfied try it with a few students and let us know how they experience it.
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