A Message from Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination Imagination

Benjamin S. Bloom, Arthur Costa and Destination Imagination

Hello everyone.

As we are approaching Global Finals 2012, I thought I would share with you some of my recent reflections. Since joining DI in June 2009, I have been raising awareness of how important our Challenge-Based Learning Program is to a child’s development. I would like to highlight some of the educational benefits resonant in our programming.

Have you ever heard of Bloom’s Taxonomy? Benjamin S. Bloom was an educational psychologist and professor at the University of Chicago. During his career, he proposed a classification of six levels of thinking and learning, ranked from lowest to highest. There were:

• Knowledge: The ability to remember some information but not necessarily understand it.
• Comprehension: Understanding the information.
• Application: The ability to use the information – calculate, demonstrate, illustrate, examine, or relate the information to a task or problem.
• Analysis: The ability to break down material into its parts to understand organizational structure.
• Synthesis: The ability to combine options, design, or compose.
• Evaluation: The ability to measure, rank, appraise, evaluate, or to explain the advantages or disadvantages of the solution or invention.

The last three categories are considered higher-order thinking and learning, a goal of our educational system.

Have you ever heard of Arthur Costa? He developed a spectrum of 16 habits of mind. Again, they have to do with thinking:

• Thinking about Thinking
• Remaining Open to Continuous Learning
• Thinking Flexibly
• Persisting
• Finding Humor
• Striving for Accuracy
• Listening with Understanding and Empathy
• Gathering Data through All the Senses
• Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision
• Thinking Interdependently
• Creating, Imagining, and Innovating
• Responding with Wonderment and Awe
• Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
• Questioning and Posing Problems
• Managing Impulsivity
• Taking Responsible Risks

So, learning how to ask questions, make inferences, test or predict outcomes, evaluate solutions, and work in a collaborative environment are educational principles. Our programming uses inquiry and solution based learning to teach students the creative process, which includes the ability to think creatively and critically.

I wish each of you the best as your prepare for your regional, state, and country tournaments, and I hope to see you at GF12.

My best,
Chuck Cadle