Articles - The Critical Thinking Community Interviews on critical thinking Diversity Sample Teaching Strategies for critical thinking, Moral Integrity, and Citizenship Teaching for the http://www.criticalthinking.org/resources/articles/
Extractions: view cart / checkout Critical Thinking Home Resources Articles We have categorized the articles from our library under the following headings. Each category contains multiple articles. Either click on a category, or scroll through the list of articles to read or download articles. Fundamentals of Critical Thinking For Students Fundamentals of Critical Thinking A Brief History of the Idea of Critical Thinking Defining Critical Thinking Sumner's definition of Critical Thinking A Critical Mind is a Questioning Mind ... Bertrand Russell on Critical Thinking Documenting the Problem Research Findings and Policy Recommendations Why Students and Teachers - Dont Reason Well Pseudo Critical Thinking in the Educational Establishment: The Need for a Substantive Concept of Critical Thinking A Professional Development Model for K-12 Schools: Critical Thinking as the Key to Substantive Learning A Professional Development Model for Colleges and Universities that Fosters Critical Thinking ... The Center For Critical Thinking Mentor Program The
The Role Of Questions - The Critical Thinking Community The Role of Questions in Teaching, thinking and Learning {In critical thinking Handbook Basic Theory and Instructional Structures}. Go to top http://www.criticalthinking.org/resources/articles/the-role-of-questions.shtml
Extractions: view cart / checkout Critical Thinking Home Resources Articles The Role of Questions The Role of Questions in Teaching, Thinking and Learning One of the reasons that instructors tend to overemphasize "coverage" over "engaged thinking" is that they assume that answers can be taught separate from questions. Indeed, so buried are questions in established instruction that the fact that all assertions-all statements that this or that is so-are implicit answers to questions is virtually never recognized. For example, the statement that water boils at 100 degrees centigrade is an answer to the question "At what temperature centigrade does water boil?". Hence every declarative statement in the textbook is an answer to a question. Hence, every textbook could be rewritten in the interrogative mode by translating every statement into a question. To my knowledge this has never been done. That it has not is testimony to the privileged status of answers over questions in instruction and the misunderstanding of teachers about the significance of questions in the learning process. Instruction at all levels now keeps most questions buried in a torrent of obscured "answers".
Extractions: Source : ERIC Clearinghouse for Science Mathematics and Environmental Education Columbus OH. Teaching Critical Thinking through Environmental Education. ERIC/SMEAC Environmental Education Digest No. 2. The ability to think critically is essential if individuals are to live, work, and function effectively in our current and changing society. Students must make choices, evaluations, and judgments every day regarding (1) information to obtain, use and believe, (2) plans to make, and (3) actions to take. As adults they will be living in a complex world and in a democracy where both individual and collective actions will require effective selection, processing, and use of information. State and local curriculum guides contain goal and objective statements regarding the importance of critical thinking skills. National, state association, business and industry reports on education produced since 1983 have called for increased emphasis on higher-order learning skills, including critical thinking skills. At the same time national and state evaluations have indicated a high percentage of students in American schools are not able to use critical thinking skills effectively. Business and industry continue to report that many employees are not able to think critically in job situations.
Freewriting: A Means Of Teaching Critical Thinking To College Freshmen Freewriting is a means of teaching freshmen critical thinking skills, as well as getting them to write at all. There is also evidence to support the concept http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/major_freewriting.htm
Extractions: by Wendy Major Freewriting is a means of teaching students Freewriting fosters uninhibited thought, because students know that they are not going to be "graded" on their emotional responses to a particular topic. They also realize that there are no "rules" per se to worry about, such as style, grammar, specific organization, etc. Whereas with academic writing, students are faced with a million worries. They must adhere to strict guidelines, in format, mechanics, organization, style, etc., and there is no time to "think" of what they are writing about, because so much time is spent focusing on the "correct" way to write. It seems that the aspects of critical thinking are obvious in the above passage as the reader can see the logical steps that the writer goes through to reach her conclusion. She asks herself questions, then reflects on several possible answers, instead of rushing or forcing a conclusion as many students do (Hammond 72). Not only does freewriting foster critical thinking skills, but it also adheres to certain organizational guidelines. Richard Haswell states that "the same piece of writing can be both 'chaotic' and 'coherent' because not everyone shares the same definition of organized" (35). Haswell points out that organization is always predetermined or presupposed by the reader, which is certainly true with freewritings. If the reader knows the genre of the work he/she is reading then they will automatically predetermine what type of writing they expect to read. For example, if one is reading a freewrite than a certain amount of chaos would be expected. On the other hand, if one is reading Hemingway or Steinbeck, than a different presupposition will takeover, because the reader expects a certain organization, style, and language.
Teaching Thinking Skills Bass, GM, Jr., and Perkins, HW Teaching critical thinking Skills with CAI. Hudgins, B., and Edelman, S. Teaching critical thinking Skills to Fourth http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/6/cu11.html
Extractions: (SIRS) Research You Can Use Close-Up #11 Kathleen Cotton Perhaps most importantly in today's information age, thinking skills are viewed as crucial for educated persons to cope with a rapidly changing world. Many educators believe that specific knowledge will not be as important to tomorrow's workers and citizens as the ability to learn and make sense of new information. D. Gough, 1991 INTRODUCTION Throughout history, philosophers, politicians, educators and many others have been concerned with the art and science of astute thinking. Some identify the spirit of inquiry and dialogue that characterized the golden age of ancient Greece as the beginning of this interest. Others point to the Age of Enlightenment, with its emphasis on rationality and progress (Presseisen 1986, p. 6). In the twentieth century, the ability to engage in careful, reflective thought has been viewed in various ways: as a fundamental characteristic of an educated person, as a requirement for responsible citizenship in a democratic society, and, more recently, as an employability skill for an increasingly wide range of jobs. Deborah Gough's words quoted at the beginning of this report typify the current viewpoint in education about the importance of teaching today's students to think critically and creatively. Virtually all writers on this subject discuss thinking skills in connection with the two related phenomena of modern technology and fast-paced change. Robinson, for example, states in her 1987 practicum report:
Critical Thinking In An Online World An instructional design project for teaching critical thinking skills in the Teaching the learner how to think critically means more than critical http://www.library.ucsb.edu/untangle/jones.html
Extractions: Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA In a rapidly evolving information technology era, librarians find their foundations of professionalism shaken. Critically evaluating the intrinsic role of the librarian reveals our responsibility for the education of independent information seekers. Using the model of the expert and apprentice, librarians need to focus on the teaching of critical thinking skills, over and above the more mechanistic skills of evaluation of resources and mastery of search tools. The design of instruction in a situated learning environment, utilizing constructivist tenets and a self-directed inquiry based approach leads to higher order cognitive skills and applicable, transferable learning. An instructional design project for teaching critical thinking skills in the evaluation of online resources is described as an example curriculum? The integration of the Internet into our daily lives affects no single profession as completely as that of the librarian. For centuries, information has been archived and accessed through a single location, the library. Instantaneous access to online information, direct dissemination of information as it is created, and interaction and creation of information online, all from the home or office- these are revolutionary and anarchical concepts. Very few among us still deny the pervasiveness of online information access, yet how do we see ourselves leading, and not just reacting, to this revolution?
Extractions: Email CTAC Welcome to the Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum (CTAC) Website at Albuquerque TVI Community College. This website is a work in progress, put together by the CTAC Initiative as a way of archiving and advertising its efforts to encourage a free exchange of good ideas to promote "thoughtful teaching for thoughtful learning." What is critical thinking
Extractions: Email CTAC Compiled by Patrick Houlihan This page, a work in progress begun in February 1999, contains a growing list of websites created by other colleges, universities, individuals, and commercial organizations that foster and/or support critical thinking. A Brief Summary of the Best Practices in College Teaching An interesting challenge to college teachers to continually learn to improve their teaching effectiveness. Many, if not most, professional teachers at the college level lack explicit ongoing training in how to teach. This interactive site, compiled by Tom Drummond of North Seattle Community College, contains twelve categories of broadly applicable pedagogies with a brief but useful bibliography. Activities/Teaching Aids Part of an extensive annotated bibliography compiled by Montclair State University in New Jersey, this page lists games and activities that promote critical thinking. "A Reform Strategy That Is (Quietly) Working"
CriticalThinking.NET Teaching critical thinking. For some brief advice about teaching critical thinking, click on Teaching critical thinking A Few Suggestions. http://www.criticalthinking.net/
Extractions: Definition of Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is here assumed to be reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. This rough overall definition is, we believe, in accord with the way the term is generally used these days. Under this interpretation, critical thinking is relevant not only to the formation and checking of beliefs, but also to deciding upon and evaluating actions. It involves creative activities such as formulating hypotheses, plans, and counterexamples; planning experiments; and seeing alternatives. Furthermore critical thinking is reflective and reasonable. The negative, harping, complaining characteristic that is sometimes labeled by the word, "critical", is not involved
Extractions: Tutorials Tour Search Feedback ... Links "If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."Lewis Carroll Mission: Critical is an interactive tutorial for critical thinking, in which you will be introduced to basic concepts through sets of instructions and exercises. Formal instructional materials have been kept to a minimum, in order to take advantage of Mission: Critical's interactive format. Through immediate reinforcement for right and wrong answers to a series of increasingly complex exercises, you will begin to utilize the essential tools of intellectual analysis. Mission: Critical has gone through several major revisions since it first came online in January, 1996. Below are three links: to the original version (1996-1998), to the first version as an online course (1998-99), and to the current version (1999-2000). Though the original is probably the most accessible for the casual user, from its Main Menu , it has not benefited from some of the revisions and additions of subsequent iterations. For a brief overview of Mission: Critical , you are invited to take a tour, (originally constructed for the 1998 GII Awards). You may also do a keyword search of the tutorial sections.
Critical TEACHING TIPSCenter for critical thinking, A range of articles on critical thinking. The Elements of critical thinking, Two essential dimensions of critical thinking. http://www.iusb.edu/~msherida/topics/critical.html
Extractions: Internet Education Topics Hotlink Page Marcia Sheridan, Ph. D. Teaching Critical Thinking Critical Thinking Resources California Academic PressResources on Critical Thinking Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why it Counts by Peter A. Facione The Disposition Toward Critical Thinking A Quick Reference Critical Thinking Reading List Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum Project Math and Science ... Critical Thinking Community , Center for Critical Thinking Content is Thinking: Thinking is Content , by Richard Paul and Linda Elder Helping Students Assess Their Thinking , by Richard Paul and Linda Elder Universal Intellectual Standards , by Linda Elder and Richard Paul Valuable Intellectual Traits , by Richard Paul and Linda Elder Critical Thinking: Basic Questions and Answers . by Richard Paul and Linda Elder , Resources from the Center for Critical Thinking Bellingham Public Schools On the cutting edge, this school system has constructed a web site to "help explore the potential of new technologies to empower student reasoning, problem-solving and decision-making." Building virtual museums and designing effective school home pages are topics of interest. This would be a good starting point for a design class beginning to explore the Internet or a class that is designing a school home page. (Notes by H. Geglio) Return to: Internet Education Topics Hotlink Page
University Of Virginia Teaching Resource Center Printerfriendly Version Book Review Teaching Students to Think critically Professor Meyers bills his book on critical thinking as A Guide for Faculty http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Spring_1993/TC_Spring_199
Extractions: Reviewed by Victoria Voytko, Graduate Student Associate, TRC and Department of Philosophy Professor Meyers bills his book on critical thinking as "A Guide for Faculty in All Disciplines." At first glance, this description is discouraging, as it implies that the author intends to propound a single method for developing students' critical faculties that is indifferent to the idiosyncratic natures of academic disciplines. Any moderately reflective university teacher knows that no such method is either feasible or desirable. Happily, readers who make it past the subtitle of this book will find such trepidation unfounded. Meyers in fact adopts an approach to critical thinking that is not only highly sensitive to the varieties of intellectual culture in contemporary academia, but also mercifully short on jargon. In Teaching Students to Think Critically There is much more of interest in Teaching Students to Think Critically , including a defense of subjectivity, personal opinion and even emotion as aids in (rather than obstacles to) the fostering of critical abilities in undergraduate students. Because Meyers keeps his use of empirical studies and social-scientific models to a minimum, disparate readers looking for practical advice will find much to assist them in this small book. Meyers has written a useful and sensible volume for teachers eager for a guide to effective educational practices.
Strategies For Teaching Critical Thinking In this digest, we discuss skills related to critical thinking and three specific strategies for teaching these skills 1) Building Categories, http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Teaching-Critical-Thinking.htm
Extractions: Critical thinking skills figure prominently among the goals for education, whether one asks developers of curricula, educational researchers, parents, or employers. Although there are some quite diverse definitions of critical thinking, nearly all emphasize the ability and tendency to gather, evaluate, and use information effectively (Beyer, 1985). Finding and evaluating solutions or alternative ways of treating problems Just as there are similarities among the definitions of critical thinking across subject areas and levels, there are several generally recognized "hallmarks" of teaching for critical thinking (see, for example, Beyer, 1985; Costa, 1985). These include:
Rethinking Thinking Csmonitor.com But if not teaching thinking, then what are colleges doing? Pressure for colleges to cultivate critical thinking is growing, however, http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1014/p18s01-lehl.html
Rethinking Thinking Csmonitor.com Classes with critical thinking in the title are abundant. But if not teaching thinking, then what are colleges doing? Patricia King and her colleagues http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1014/p18s01-lehl.htm
Extractions: Critical Thinking What do your professors assess when it comes to research assignments? They are looking for how skillfully you demonstrate critical thinking concerning a specific topic. What you have to say and the way you are going to say it depends upon your abilities to identify a question or problem, apply concepts or theories within this context, analyze and assemble facts or ideas to address it, synthesize from general theories or concepts to ones specifically relevant to your needs, and come to some conclusion based on carefully considered evaluation against a frame of reference or criteria. Have a look below at the UofT Grading Regulations and critical thinking scheme. At what levels are you engaging with the information of your research assignments? Grades, their definitions and Critical Thinking Skills - Bloom's Taxonomy:
Aspects Of Critical Thinking, 1 | Teaching Backgrounder A critical thinking approach to television and the media based on the four key concepts of critical thinking. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teaching_backgrounde
Extractions: var gMenuControlID=0; var menus_included = 0; var jsPageAuthorMode = 0; var jsSessionPreviewON = 1; var jsDlgLoader = '/english/resources/educational/teaching_backgrounders/media_literacy/loader.cfm'; var jsSiteID = 1; var jsSubSiteID = 770; var kurrentPageID = 21862; document.CS_StaticURL = "http://209.29.148.33/"; document.CS_DynamicURL = "http://209.29.148.33/"; A. Key Concepts of Critical Thinking We often hear the term "critical thinking" used in relation to media and Web literacy. The following excerpt, from Think TV: A Guide to Managing TV in the Home , is based on the work of Dr. Stephen Brookfield and offers a critical thinking approach to television that can be applied to all media. 1. Critical thinking is a productive and positive activity Many people think that the purpose of thinking critically about television is to find all the faults and eliminate them. Television can pose problems for people, especially for parents. It can be intrusive, inappropriate and time wasting. However, television also provides enjoyment and information that can enhance lives. Thinking critically about television, or any other aspect of life, can increase our understanding of itso that something positive can be done or learned.
Critical Thinking Instruction - CSU Chico About Teaching and Learning critical thinking. critical thinking ability develops This course will help prepare one for teaching critical thinking, http://www.csuchico.edu/phil/ct/ct_program.html
Extractions: Critical thinking ability develops gradually as we learn to organize our world logically and gauge probabilities with increasing success. Instruction in particular subject areas almost always includes an element of teaching critical thinking by example. Our courses in critical thinking examine formally and informally the logics that give structure to thinking itself. In this way, we continue the lifelong project of becoming more aware of our own thinking and the thinking of others. Descriptions of Critical Thinking Courses at CSU Chico Descriptions of Critical Thinking Courses at CSU Chico Best Practice Points of Departure for Instruction and Assessment Electronic Syllabi ... Views and Reviews of Critical Thinking Textbooks and Ancillaries There's a lot of interesting material out there to further teaching and learning of critical thinking. Authors are invited to discuss their work. Instructors, students, and others anywhere on the Net are invited to share their thoughts about what they are using or not using. This is an edited facility. PHIL 002 - Logic and Critical Thinking - 3.0 units