KP Mohanan
K. P. Mohanan, a co-founder of ThinQ, did his PhD in Linguistics from MIT, and has taught at the University of Texas at Austin; MIT; Stanford University; and at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He has made significant contributions to linguistic theory; he co-designed with Tara Mohanan an Inquiry-Oriented undergraduate program in Linguistics at NUS; and has worked extensively with the nature of academic knowledge and inquiry, against the backdrop of human beliefs. He joined the IISER-Pune Faculty in 2011, where he continued his work till he retired at the end of 2016.
Articles by KP Mohanan
The What and How of Learning
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
By and large, most discourses on educational reform focus on pedagogies: how teachers teach and learners learn. They implicitly assume that learners need to learn a body of knowledge and the skills of application associated with that knowledge. What kinds of learning outcomes should we focus on beyond knowledge content and application? This question hardly ever gets any attention. ThinQ departs from this tradition by focusing on two strands of learning — inquiry and integration — as valuable learning outcomes of any education.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
learning inquiry
The What and How of Learning
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
By and large, most discourses on educational reform focus on pedagogies: how teachers teach and learners learn. They implicitly assume that learners need to learn a body of knowledge and the skills of application associated with that knowledge. What kinds of learning outcomes should we focus on beyond knowledge content and application? This question hardly ever gets any attention. ThinQ departs from this tradition by focusing on two strands of learning — inquiry and integration — as valuable learning outcomes of any education.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
learning inquiry
Exploring Patterns in Language Structure
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
This book is an exploration of the structure of human language. It uses the scientific mode of inquiry, that of building an integrated and interconnected understanding of the information we gather by observing the world. In working through this book, we hope student readers will learn something about language structure as well as about scientific inquiry.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
education patterns linguistics
Exploring Patterns in Language Structure
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
This book is an exploration of the structure of human language. It uses the scientific mode of inquiry, that of building an integrated and interconnected understanding of the information we gather by observing the world. In working through this book, we hope student readers will learn something about language structure as well as about scientific inquiry.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
education patterns linguistics
Linguistics Education and Cognitive Liberation
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
We concluded the article, “Education and Cognitive Liberation”, with a plea to incorporate deep understanding, critical understanding, critical thinking, and independent inquiry as essential instructional goals — the desired learning outcomes — of education. In this article, we focus on critical understanding as a prerequisite to critical thinking, and explore ways to accomplish such understanding in an introductory course in Syntax, as an example of the ‘liberating’ approach to education in linguistics.
Photo by Rowan Heuvel on Unsplash
liberal education linguistics
Linguistics Education and Cognitive Liberation
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
We concluded the article, “Education and Cognitive Liberation”, with a plea to incorporate deep understanding, critical understanding, critical thinking, and independent inquiry as essential instructional goals — the desired learning outcomes — of education. In this article, we focus on critical understanding as a prerequisite to critical thinking, and explore ways to accomplish such understanding in an introductory course in Syntax, as an example of the ‘liberating’ approach to education in linguistics.
Photo by Rowan Heuvel on Unsplash
liberal education linguistics
Indoctrination in Linguistics Education
By KP Mohanan
The transmission of a body of knowledge from one generation to the next is an important function of institutionalised education. This function is usually satisfied by pedagogical texts, that is, the spoken and written text of educational instruction, found in classroom lectures and textbooks. This article provides a close scrutiny of the discourse of pedagogical texts in the language sciences.
Photo by Mike Hindle on Unsplash
inquiry linguistics indoctrination
Indoctrination in Linguistics Education
By KP Mohanan
The transmission of a body of knowledge from one generation to the next is an important function of institutionalised education. This function is usually satisfied by pedagogical texts, that is, the spoken and written text of educational instruction, found in classroom lectures and textbooks. This article provides a close scrutiny of the discourse of pedagogical texts in the language sciences.
Photo by Mike Hindle on Unsplash
inquiry linguistics indoctrination
Validity and Soundness of Arguments
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
An argument may make a logical conclusion given a set of premises, but the premises themselves may not be considered acceptable. Similarly, an argument may happen to reach a logical conclusion, but the reasoning used to get there may be invalid. This article explores the notions of validity and soundness, concepts crucial to reasoning and arguing effectively.
exposition conceptual inquiry textbook chapter
Validity and Soundness of Arguments
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
An argument may make a logical conclusion given a set of premises, but the premises themselves may not be considered acceptable. Similarly, an argument may happen to reach a logical conclusion, but the reasoning used to get there may be invalid. This article explores the notions of validity and soundness, concepts crucial to reasoning and arguing effectively.
exposition conceptual inquiry textbook chapter
Straw Shape Geometry
By KP Mohanan
The attached documents are an example of a mathematical inquiry class. This is an example of a class which can be taken with students who are not yet ready for the rigour of proofs. It requires students to come up with conjectures after being exposed to curated examples of shapes made of a straw.
mathematical inquiry lesson plan conjecturing justifying proving
Straw Shape Geometry
By KP Mohanan
The attached documents are an example of a mathematical inquiry class. This is an example of a class which can be taken with students who are not yet ready for the rigour of proofs. It requires students to come up with conjectures after being exposed to curated examples of shapes made of a straw.
mathematical inquiry lesson plan conjecturing justifying proving
Introduction to Mathematical Inquiry
By KP Mohanan
Mathematics is the study of possible worlds. This article explores, through examples and exposition, the nature of mathematical inquiry as well as the concepts involved in the study of mathematics, namely axioms, definitions, conjectures, proofs and theorems.
education mathematical inquiry exposition conceptual inquiry
Introduction to Mathematical Inquiry
By KP Mohanan
Mathematics is the study of possible worlds. This article explores, through examples and exposition, the nature of mathematical inquiry as well as the concepts involved in the study of mathematics, namely axioms, definitions, conjectures, proofs and theorems.
education mathematical inquiry exposition conceptual inquiry
Teaching Moral Inquiry
By KP Mohanan
The attached document is a guide to preparing classroom material and scenarios for a course on Moral/Ethical Inquiry, involving the construction of moral theories. It contains examples of scenarios which can be introduced to students in order to get them to think about how they ought to live their lives.
humanistic inquiry ethical inquiry lesson plan conceptual inquiry textbook chapter
Teaching Moral Inquiry
By KP Mohanan
The attached document is a guide to preparing classroom material and scenarios for a course on Moral/Ethical Inquiry, involving the construction of moral theories. It contains examples of scenarios which can be introduced to students in order to get them to think about how they ought to live their lives.
humanistic inquiry ethical inquiry lesson plan conceptual inquiry textbook chapter
Introduction to Conceptual Inquiry
By KP Mohanan
Conceptual Inquiry involves the investigation of abstract concepts such as parallel lines, species, free will and democracy. It cuts across disciplines and is important in order to understand where disagreements really exist and where words just have different meanings for different people. The attached document and the embedded playlist explore Conceptual Inquiry through case studies including parallel lines and democracy.
mathematical inquiry workshop humanistic inquiry conceptual inquiry
Introduction to Conceptual Inquiry
By KP Mohanan
Conceptual Inquiry involves the investigation of abstract concepts such as parallel lines, species, free will and democracy. It cuts across disciplines and is important in order to understand where disagreements really exist and where words just have different meanings for different people. The attached document and the embedded playlist explore Conceptual Inquiry through case studies including parallel lines and democracy.
mathematical inquiry workshop humanistic inquiry conceptual inquiry
Paper Folding Geometry
By KP Mohanan
This article contains tasks to introduce mathematical thinking to students, including defining objects, forming conjectures, stating axioms precisely, and proving conjectures from axioms and definitions.
mathematical inquiry lesson plan conjecturing justifying textbook chapter
Paper Folding Geometry
By KP Mohanan
This article contains tasks to introduce mathematical thinking to students, including defining objects, forming conjectures, stating axioms precisely, and proving conjectures from axioms and definitions.
mathematical inquiry lesson plan conjecturing justifying textbook chapter
The Product of Two Negative Numbers
By KP Mohanan
This article explores various ways of intuitively understanding negative numbers, especially the product of two negative numbers. When working with positive numbers, repeated addition and scaling are ways to understand multiplication. However, the same techniques do not work in explaining the product of negative numbers.
mathematics exposition conceptual inquiry
The Product of Two Negative Numbers
By KP Mohanan
This article explores various ways of intuitively understanding negative numbers, especially the product of two negative numbers. When working with positive numbers, repeated addition and scaling are ways to understand multiplication. However, the same techniques do not work in explaining the product of negative numbers.
mathematics exposition conceptual inquiry
Introduction to Newton
By KP Mohanan
An introduction to the concepts of classical mechanics including Newton's laws, circular motion, and gravitation. Grounded in observation and thought experiments, this can be used as a lesson plan for middle-schoolers.
theoretical inquiry scientific inquiry lesson plan textbook chapter
Introduction to Newton
By KP Mohanan
An introduction to the concepts of classical mechanics including Newton's laws, circular motion, and gravitation. Grounded in observation and thought experiments, this can be used as a lesson plan for middle-schoolers.
theoretical inquiry scientific inquiry lesson plan textbook chapter
Notes on Circumscription
By KP Mohanan
There are various problematic concepts which students and teachers tend to accept without thinking critically. The concept of circumscription is one such concept. This article outlines a concept clarification session on circumscription.
mathematical inquiry lesson plan conceptual inquiry
Notes on Circumscription
By KP Mohanan
There are various problematic concepts which students and teachers tend to accept without thinking critically. The concept of circumscription is one such concept. This article outlines a concept clarification session on circumscription.
mathematical inquiry lesson plan conceptual inquiry
What is Science?
By KP Mohanan
An ostensibly simple question, defining science turns out to be much harder when enough examples are taken into consideration. Astronomers do not perform controlled experiments, yet astronomy is widely considered a science. On the other hand, historians who make systematic observations about the world and make claims about the past—just as Darwin did—are not considered scientists. This article explores the scope of science as an enterprise, and re-classifies the fields of academia traditionally accepted by schools and universities.
historical inquiry scientific inquiry exposition conceptual inquiry
What is Science?
By KP Mohanan
An ostensibly simple question, defining science turns out to be much harder when enough examples are taken into consideration. Astronomers do not perform controlled experiments, yet astronomy is widely considered a science. On the other hand, historians who make systematic observations about the world and make claims about the past—just as Darwin did—are not considered scientists. This article explores the scope of science as an enterprise, and re-classifies the fields of academia traditionally accepted by schools and universities.
historical inquiry scientific inquiry exposition conceptual inquiry
Introduction to Justification
By KP Mohanan
Providing students with the ability to justify claims is one of the basic commitments of Inquiry Oriented Education. This article explores the concepts involved in justification along with exercises and examples for students to engage with.
mathematical inquiry scientific inquiry humanistic inquiry justifying textbook chapter
Introduction to Justification
By KP Mohanan
Providing students with the ability to justify claims is one of the basic commitments of Inquiry Oriented Education. This article explores the concepts involved in justification along with exercises and examples for students to engage with.
mathematical inquiry scientific inquiry humanistic inquiry justifying textbook chapter
Region of Inexactness
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
Most knowledge claims about the world are inherently inexact. In quantitative research, the 'region of inexactness' is captured by confidence intervals, but can inexactness be used in qualitative research as well?
qualitative research scientific inquiry conceptual inquiry
Region of Inexactness
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
Most knowledge claims about the world are inherently inexact. In quantitative research, the 'region of inexactness' is captured by confidence intervals, but can inexactness be used in qualitative research as well?
qualitative research scientific inquiry conceptual inquiry
Light and Vision
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
An investigation into different theories of light and vision, with the goal of demonstrating the importance of engaging learners in the process of scientific inquiry instead of disiminating the currently accepted conclusions of the scientific community.
light theory construction scientific inquiry
Light and Vision
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
An investigation into different theories of light and vision, with the goal of demonstrating the importance of engaging learners in the process of scientific inquiry instead of disiminating the currently accepted conclusions of the scientific community.
light theory construction scientific inquiry
The Logics of Scientific Inquiry
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
A detailed introduction to various types of logics including Classical Deductive, Inductive, Speculative Deductive, Causal, Abductive and Analogical. It explores their veracity and their domain of applicability.
logic reasoning textbook
The Logics of Scientific Inquiry
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
A detailed introduction to various types of logics including Classical Deductive, Inductive, Speculative Deductive, Causal, Abductive and Analogical. It explores their veracity and their domain of applicability.
logic reasoning textbook
Experimental Inquiry in the Kitchen
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
An illustration of how to design experiments. Beginning with an observation about the hotness of chillies, siblings Miko and Jomo formulate their own hypotheses and design experiments to test each one, being careful to control for different variables.
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Experimental Inquiry in the Kitchen
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
An illustration of how to design experiments. Beginning with an observation about the hotness of chillies, siblings Miko and Jomo formulate their own hypotheses and design experiments to test each one, being careful to control for different variables.
experiment design scientific inquiry experimental inquiry dependent independent variable observational inquiry lesson plan
Constructing Economic Theory
By KP Mohanan
The attached document involves the construction of an Economic Theory through a series of thought experiments in a village with no money and a barter system. Students are expected to come up with laws and evaluate those laws in the light of more and more information.
economics theory construction textbook scientific inquiry
Constructing Economic Theory
By KP Mohanan
The attached document involves the construction of an Economic Theory through a series of thought experiments in a village with no money and a barter system. Students are expected to come up with laws and evaluate those laws in the light of more and more information.
economics theory construction textbook scientific inquiry
What Makes a University 'Great'?
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
What makes an undergraduate program of a university a great liberal education program is very different from what makes it a program for specialization in, say, neuroscience, philosophy, or mathematics, and both are different from what makes it great for nurturing future researchers. This article reflects on how to evaluate the quality of an educational program depending on what the program sets out to achieve.
liberal education research university ranking
What Makes a University 'Great'?
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
What makes an undergraduate program of a university a great liberal education program is very different from what makes it a program for specialization in, say, neuroscience, philosophy, or mathematics, and both are different from what makes it great for nurturing future researchers. This article reflects on how to evaluate the quality of an educational program depending on what the program sets out to achieve.
liberal education research university ranking
Perceiving, Counting, Measuring, and Calculating
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
The process of scientific inquiry begins with our observations of the world. This article explores the ways in which we can make systematic observations, and through the process of scientific inquiry, construct knowledge.
perceiving calculation counting measurement
Perceiving, Counting, Measuring, and Calculating
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
The process of scientific inquiry begins with our observations of the world. This article explores the ways in which we can make systematic observations, and through the process of scientific inquiry, construct knowledge.
perceiving calculation counting measurement
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
By KP Mohanan
Various resources on research methodology make a distinction between Qualitative and Quantitative Research. This video seeks to clarify that distinction by looking at what is encoded into different kinds of data, and how these data can be used in subsequent analyses.
research quantitative qualitative data interpretation
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
By KP Mohanan
Various resources on research methodology make a distinction between Qualitative and Quantitative Research. This video seeks to clarify that distinction by looking at what is encoded into different kinds of data, and how these data can be used in subsequent analyses.
research quantitative qualitative data interpretation
Thinking Like a Chef
By KP Mohanan, Madhav Kaushish and Tara Mohanan
In this episode, we are joined by Suvir Saran. Suvir is a Michelin starred chef for his restaurant Devi in New York. The focus of this episode is on thinking like a chef. However, the podcast goes far beyond that.
podcast transdisciplinarity inquiry thinking
Thinking Like a Chef
By KP Mohanan, Madhav Kaushish and Tara Mohanan
In this episode, we are joined by Suvir Saran. Suvir is a Michelin starred chef for his restaurant Devi in New York. The focus of this episode is on thinking like a chef. However, the podcast goes far beyond that.
podcast transdisciplinarity inquiry thinking
Thinking like a Theoretical Linguist
By KP Mohanan, Madhav Kaushish and Tara Mohanan
This first episode is titled ‘Thinking Like a Theoretical Linguist’. In this episode John Schettman Marko, who interned with ThinQ in summer 2019 and Madhav Kaushish, a ThinQ member, will be interviewing two other members of the ThinQ team, KP. Mohanan (who we refer to as Mo) and Tara Mohanan. They are both professional theoretical linguists and educators.
podcast transdisciplinarity inquiry thinking
Thinking like a Theoretical Linguist
By KP Mohanan, Madhav Kaushish and Tara Mohanan
This first episode is titled ‘Thinking Like a Theoretical Linguist’. In this episode John Schettman Marko, who interned with ThinQ in summer 2019 and Madhav Kaushish, a ThinQ member, will be interviewing two other members of the ThinQ team, KP. Mohanan (who we refer to as Mo) and Tara Mohanan. They are both professional theoretical linguists and educators.
podcast transdisciplinarity inquiry thinking
Syntax and Semantics Part 1
By KP Mohanan
This is a course on Syntax and Semantics for non-linguists taught by K.P. Mohanan (PhD, MIT in Linguistics, former Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University, founder of the Linguistics program at the National University of Singapore (NUS) along with Tara Mohanan (also a member of ThinQ), and currently Professor of Integrated Studies at IISER, Pune).
Photo by Dakota Roos on Unsplash
Syntax and Semantics Part 1
By KP Mohanan
This is a course on Syntax and Semantics for non-linguists taught by K.P. Mohanan (PhD, MIT in Linguistics, former Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University, founder of the Linguistics program at the National University of Singapore (NUS) along with Tara Mohanan (also a member of ThinQ), and currently Professor of Integrated Studies at IISER, Pune).
Photo by Dakota Roos on Unsplash
Intellectual Independence
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
This is the second of a series of dialogues between Rafa and his mother Samira. Samira loves troubling Rafa by asking him difficult questions. This dialogue focuses on authority vs intellectual independence.
dialogue inquiry conceptual inquiry
Intellectual Independence
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
This is the second of a series of dialogues between Rafa and his mother Samira. Samira loves troubling Rafa by asking him difficult questions. This dialogue focuses on authority vs intellectual independence.
dialogue inquiry conceptual inquiry
Education and Cognitive Liberation
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
Education, even the best possible kind we can dream of, won’t solve all the problems of humanity. But it surely has the potential to help us make the world better than it is. And flawed education can make it worse. This article is an attempt to diagnose the failure of modern education to address a configuration of natural weaknesses in the human mind and society and suggest a solution.
inquiry critical thinking critical understanding deep understanding education integration
Education and Cognitive Liberation
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
Education, even the best possible kind we can dream of, won’t solve all the problems of humanity. But it surely has the potential to help us make the world better than it is. And flawed education can make it worse. This article is an attempt to diagnose the failure of modern education to address a configuration of natural weaknesses in the human mind and society and suggest a solution.
inquiry critical thinking critical understanding deep understanding education integration
Inquiry and Integration: Conceptual Inquiry
By KP Mohanan and Madhav Kaushish
In this series of dicussions, Mohanan and Madhav explore Conceptual Inquiry across disciplines. Conceptual Inquiry is the form of inquiry concerned with the meanings of concepts and aims at answering questions such as 'what should we mean by 'x'?'
concept clarification inquiry conceptual inquiry
Inquiry and Integration: Conceptual Inquiry
By KP Mohanan and Madhav Kaushish
In this series of dicussions, Mohanan and Madhav explore Conceptual Inquiry across disciplines. Conceptual Inquiry is the form of inquiry concerned with the meanings of concepts and aims at answering questions such as 'what should we mean by 'x'?'
concept clarification inquiry conceptual inquiry
Questioning Authority
By KP Mohanan
Intellectual skepticism ought to be one of the most important aspects of our education system. Our experiences in the education system show us that this is not the case. In this talk, Mohanan explores what education aiming at rational skepticism would look like.
talk skepticism education
Questioning Authority
By KP Mohanan
Intellectual skepticism ought to be one of the most important aspects of our education system. Our experiences in the education system show us that this is not the case. In this talk, Mohanan explores what education aiming at rational skepticism would look like.
talk skepticism education
Introduction to Representational Systems
By KP Mohanan and Madhav Kaushish
An understanding of representations and representational systems is crucial for anybody looking to understand or create knowledge. In this first video, Mohanan and Madhav go over various different types of representational systems.
representation classification inquiry
Introduction to Representational Systems
By KP Mohanan and Madhav Kaushish
An understanding of representations and representational systems is crucial for anybody looking to understand or create knowledge. In this first video, Mohanan and Madhav go over various different types of representational systems.
representation classification inquiry
Cells, Humans, Nations, and the Planet
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
The concept of analogy is extremely useful in academic inquiry. Yet, it is often overlooked in education. This article explores the concept in relation to cells, humans, nations, and the planet.
analogy education transdisciplinarity
Cells, Humans, Nations, and the Planet
By KP Mohanan and Tara Mohanan
The concept of analogy is extremely useful in academic inquiry. Yet, it is often overlooked in education. This article explores the concept in relation to cells, humans, nations, and the planet.
analogy education transdisciplinarity