PiXL Thinking Hard Strategy

by Jodie Morton,
Lead Teacher of Science

Over the past half term the science department have been trialling the PiXL Thinking Hard Strategy. This, as it says on the tin, is designed to make the students think, take them out of their comfort zone and enable the deep learning process to occur. PiXL developed this strategy in response to the challenges of the reformed GCSEs.

The strategy requires no new resources – it simply requires you to change the way you ask students’ to complete tasks. There are 13 Thinking Hard Devices that can be used either in isolation, or in tandem with other devices to create a whole lesson. The Thinking hard approach:

• Help teachers to create activities which challenge learners.
• Encourage active thinking which helps students to memorise key information.
• The devices require no new resources – low preparation, high impact.

There is nothing new in terms of Teaching and Learning and we are finding that many of the techniques have been used before, but what it does do is pull all the good practice together and ensure it is at the forefront of our planning.