This essay offers a comprehensive vision for a higher education program incorporating critical thinking across the curriculum (CTAC) at hypothetical Alpha College, employing a rigorous detailed ...conception of critical thinking called “The Alpha Conception of Critical Thinking”. The program starts with a 1-year, required, freshman course, two-thirds of which focuses on a set of general critical thinking dispositions and abilities. The final third uses subject-matter issues to reinforce general critical thinking dispositions and abilities, teach samples of subject matter, and introduce subject-specific critical thinking. Subject-matter departmental and other units will make long-range plans for incorporating critical thinking in varying amounts in subject-matter courses, culminating in a written Senior Thesis/Project involving investigating, taking, and defending a position, which reinforce critical thinking abilities and dispositions and increase subject-matter knowledge. Teaching approaches used in the program are involving and based on the principle, “We learn what we use.” Both summative and formative assessment are employed as appropriate. Coordination and support are extensive. Objections and concerns are discussed, and alternatives, including possible transitions, are considered. An extended review of research supports moving toward CTAC.
Critical Lessons concentrates on the critical, reflective thinking that should be taught in high schools. Taking seriously the Socratic advice, 'know thyself', it focuses on topics that will help ...students to understand the forces - good and bad - that work to socialize them. This book argues why critical thinking is necessary in schools because it requires the discussion of critical issues: how we learn, the psychology of war, what it means to make a home, advertising and propaganda, choosing an occupation, gender, and religion.
Critical thinking (CT) is purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanations of the considerations on which that ...judgment is based. This article summarizes the available empirical evidence on the impact of instruction on the development and enhancement of critical thinking skills and dispositions and student achievement. The review includes 341 effects sizes drawn from quasi- or true-experimental studies that used standardized measures of CT as outcome variables. The weighted random effects mean effect size (g+) was 0.30 (p < .001). The collection was heterogeneous (p < 001). Results demonstrate that there are effective strategies for teaching CT skills, both generic and content specific, and CT dispositions, at all educational levels and across all disciplinary areas. Notably, the opportunity for dialogue, the exposure of students to authentic or situated problems and examples, and mentoring had positive effects on CT skills.
Critical condition Finn, Patrick
Critical condition,
2015., 2015, 2015-06-18
eBook
"Should we stop teaching critical thinking? Meant as a prompt to further discussion, Critical Condition questions the assumption that every student should be turned into a "critical thinker." The ...book starts with the pre-Socratics and the impact that Socrates' death had on his student Plato and traces the increasingly violent use of critical "attack" on a perceived opponent. From the Roman militarization of debate to the medieval Church's use of defence as a means of forcing confession and submission, the early phases of critical thinking were bound up in a type of attack that Finn suggests does not best serve intellectual inquiry. Recent developments have seen critical thinking become an ideology rather than a critical practice, with levels of debate devolving to the point where most debate becomes ad hominem. Far from arguing that we abandon critical inquiry, the author suggests that we emphasize a more open, loving system of engagement that is not only less inherently violent but also more robust when dealing with vastly more complex networks of information. This book challenges long-held beliefs about the benefits of critical thinking, which is shown to be far too linear to deal with the twenty-first century world." -- Publisher's description.
Whether it's building a rocket, learning to take turns, or forgetting a teaching material at home, both children and adults learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. Help children find ...solutions and learn to problem solve using teachable moments. Young children encounter problems, mistakes, and accidents that challenge them daily. Helping children conquer everyday frustrations fosters the creativity, critical thinking, and resilience that enables children to thrive in a formidable world. The ultimate guide to thinking on your feet, Problem Solving with Young Children will coach early childhood teachers, child care providers, and parents to develop a range of strategies to help young children become creative problem solvers, including: * Questions to ask * Ways to listen * Strategies for brainstorming and trying solutions * Suggestions for using the scientific method or design thinking to test ideas * Methods for reflecting on what worked and what still needs improvement Featuring anecdotes and advice, and incorporating research on how children learn, emergent curriculum methods, problem-based learning, developmentally appropriate practices, and responsive pedagogies, this book will help you lead children through meaningful problem-solving processes and prepare tomorrow's critical thinkers.
Computational thinking--a set of mental and cognitive tools applied to problem solving--is a fundamental skill that all of us (and not just computer scientists) draw on. Educators have found that ...computational thinking enhances learning across a range of subjects and reinforces students' abilities in reading, writing, and arithmetic. This book offers a guide for incorporating computational thinking into middle school and high school classrooms, presenting a series of activities, projects, and tasks that employ a range of pedagogical practices and cross a variety of content areas. As students problem solve, communicate, persevere, work as a team, and learn from mistakes, they develop a concrete understanding of the abstract principles used in computer science to create code and other digital artifacts. The book guides students and teachers to integrate computer programming with visual art and geometry, generating abstract expressionist-style images; construct topological graphs that represent the relationships between characters in such literary works as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Romeo and Juliet"; apply Newtonian physics to the creation of computer games; and locate, analyze, and present empirical data relevant to social and political issues. Finally, the book lists a variety of classroom resources, including the programming languages Scratch (free to all) and Codesters (free to teachers). An accompanying website contains the executable programs used in the book's activities. This book was written with Robert Snapp.
