Michihiro Sugata: Thinking Aloud

Sugata: Thinking Aloud

2022 Excellence in Teaching Recipient for Tenure Track Faculty

Each academic discipline functions, in part, as a lens through which we can study the world. Each discipline is built on unique questions, theories, methods, frameworks, and scholarly history. As scholars, faculty are those who ask and answer disciplinary questions, create and apply theory, refine and validate methods and frameworks, and contribute to scholarship. As educators, faculty help students learn to use disciplinary ideas and tools to think critically about the world and themselves.  It’s powerful when one’s scholarship directly informs one’s instruction, and is one of the essential elements to transformative learning. Dr. Sugata embraces the power of thinking through disciplinary problems in class as a way to deeply engage student intellects and to challenge himself to see topics in new ways. Pedagogically speaking, Dr. Sugata directly models disciplinary thinking. Stated differently, he models how an intellectually disciplined person thinks through relevant complex problems, which is an intimate and personal process. 

Model the thinking you wish to see

Integrative questioning — questions within an academic discipline are not random. They are part of a broader logic. New questions come from prior questions. Clear questions map out the methods, concepts, and relationships that will be explored. Dr. Sugata teaches students to ask relevant, connected, and clear questions and models doing so. This positions students as active thinkers in the construction of meaning. In short, they are trying to figure things out. 

Invite students into your thinking

When we model intellectual work, when students see us trying to figure something out, they see us as humans, as guides, as mentors. Inviting students into our reasoning processes and conclusions about a course topic takes humility, but it results in respect and deeper attention. 

Map the concepts

When students directly observe us thinking aloud, they witness how a disciplined thinker analyzes, evaluates, and connects concepts. Our questions map out conceptual relationships and complexities. What might have otherwise been viewed as disconnected or simple becomes beautifully challenging and related. Doing so helps students question assumptions and meaningfully connect with the material. 

Make it relevant

If students are not trying to figure something out, what are they doing? Problematizing our content and structuring the learning experiences so that students are trying to reason through the complexities creates an intimate relationship between the thinker (students) and the material. Relevance is a natural consequence because students see themselves within the content through the direct experience of reasoning. It’s a deeper type of relevance than simple connections or appeals to interests. 

Tend to yourself

Instructors are part of the classroom ecosystem. To what extent do we take care of our intellectual needs in the classroom? Dr. Sugata enjoys his discipline and that enjoyment becomes palpable when students see him working through content topics and problems.  It is emotionally and intellectually rewarding, and students can feel that. Teaching is laborious, but is much less so when we are actively engaged in the course material; not as mere disseminators of information, but as people who care deeply about the subject. It’s fun.  

Return to previous page