The de Bono LAMS sequence series: Template designs as knowledge-mobilising strategy for 21st century higher education

Abstract

In this paper, the five interlocking de Bono LAMS sequences are introduced as a new form of generic template designs. This transdisciplinary knowledge-mobilising strategy is based on Edward de Bono’s attention-directing ideas and thinking skills, commonly known as the CoRT tools. The development of the de Bono LAMS sequence series is an important milestone, signifying the current paradigmatic shift in higher education from a student consumer paradigm to a student-producer paradigm. Surpassing surface and shallow knowledge stages requires the use of multidisciplinary and generic knowledge in new and unfamiliar situations. The LAMS templates as ‘knowledge-in-practice’ models assist disciplinary specialists generate learning designs that make apparent to students that knowledge is always partial, incomplete and coloured by epistemological beliefs and cultural practices.