and Arnabile (1983) have identified a number of mental habits that
characterize expertise:
Being sensitive to feedback
Seeking accuracy and precision
Persisting even when answers and solutions are not apparent
Viewing situations in unconventional ways
Avoiding impulsivity
Operating from these mental habits makes learning effective and
efficient. In fact, Lauren Resnick (1987) says that it is operating from
these habits that renders thinking higher-order in nature. And for years
Arthur Costa (1991) has been extolling the virtues of these "intelligent
behaviors." His assertion is that the habits of mind should be at the core
of education. What good does it do students to learn content if they do
not learn to seek accuracy and precision, avoid impulsivity, work at the
edge rather than the center of their competence, and so on? Some
educators are rising to Costa's challenge. At least two schools in Denver,
Colorado, have patterned their report cards after Costa's habits of mind