Field Note · Learning Design

Synthesis

Turning collected knowledge into personal understanding — and five practices we’ve tried.

Tag

Learning Design · Pedagogy

The idea

Teaching students to connect knowledge, not just collect it

Read time

3 minutes

Format

Field Note · Standalone

A word that’s living on our minds for the last few weeks.

By default, synthesis requires an understanding of self. It involves a larger / meta mental or moral framework — one through which we sift and filter information to arrive at a uniquely personal understanding.

The ability to synthesize naturally grows as one grows older — but it can err on the side of either too rigid or too loose. And like all other innate abilities, the ability to synthesize also requires practice, support, and opportunities.

All too often, however, these occasions arise once in a while during our learning years. We believe educators have the responsibility (in a great way!) to create opportunities for learners to practice synthesis.

Here are some ideas we have tried

Connect the dots: This simple kids’ game doesn’t just have to be on paper. Encourage learners to link concepts they have learnt with personal experiences. Questions like “What else does this remind you of?”, “Can you make an imaginary connection between these two concepts?”, “How does this connect to what we did yesterday?”, “Where else might this idea apply?”
Open-ended capstone projects: that integrate themes across different subjects, and jointly evaluated by all subject teachers. While such projects are becoming more visible in key years, we have used them as a regular practice across grade levels — from as early as primary school.
Synthesis Journal: Weekly reflections capturing ‘what did I learn this week?’, ‘what connects across my subjects or experiences?’, ‘what does this mean for me?’. The journal itself becomes part of the formal assessment and evaluation for that course.
After studying a concept make it a practice to invite multiple perspectives. Emotional, ethical, scientific, artistic, historical… For example, “Let’s look at rivers — through the lens of a geographer, a poet, an economist, and a villager.”
A dedicated physical space in class for students to post connections between topics. This can also take the form of a learning circle. It makes connections visible and invites shared learning and synthesis.

Educators are highly creative individuals and will come up with a hundred ideas once the idea gets embedded that these small, intentional practices help learners not just collect knowledge but connect it — turning learning into wisdom.

Tell us some of the ways in which you help learners make connections across their world?

A standalone field note on synthesis — the practice of turning collected knowledge into personal understanding. Part of how we think about learning design at Educai8.