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A Comprehensive Approach to Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom

A Comprehensive Approach to Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom. Presented by Dr. Zachary Goodell , Co-Director Center for Teaching Excellence @ VCU. Learning Objectives. Define what Critical Thinking means-both in general terms, and in your own discipline

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A Comprehensive Approach to Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom

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  1. A Comprehensive Approach to Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom Presented by Dr. Zachary Goodell, Co-Director Center for Teaching Excellence @ VCU

  2. Learning Objectives • Define what Critical Thinking means-both in general terms, and in your own discipline • Identify a range of ways in which you can communicate these definitions, your teaching methods and course design, to your students • Develop and integrate CT activities that give students practice and feedback during class • Develop and integrate the evaluation of students’ cognitive abilities into your course

  3. Learning Objectives (cont’d) • Consider how you can use the data generated from these activities / evaluations to inform your teaching, and/or as evidence of your own teaching effectiveness (i.e. for students, colleagues, and administrators)

  4. 5 Steps • Define critical thinking for yourself and your students • Communicate why CT is important and how you plan on promoting , assessing, and evaluating it in your course • Develop Activities that target each dimension of CT in your definition, and that provide students opportunities for feedback • Evaluate CT by developing an activity that reintegrates each of the dimensions. • Assess the effectiveness of 1 – 4, then modify

  5. 1) Define What is Critical Thinking? • What words / phrases come to mind when you think of critical thinking? • What dimensions of critical thinking are central to your own discipline?

  6. Critical Thinking

  7. 1) What is common to most broad definitions? • Going beyond superficial reactions (meta-cog) • Entertaining multiple perspectives • Awareness of one’s own biases / assumptions • Utilizing reasoning / logic (avoiding fallacies) • Evaluating information to reach a conclusion • Disaggregating “things” into their component parts (analysis) • Looking at the big picture (synthesis)

  8. 1) Popular Definitions(Nosich, 2009) • Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe (Robert Ennis) • Critical thinking is skillful, responsible thinking that is conducive to good judgment because it is sensitive to context, relies on criteria, and is self correcting (Matthew Lipman) • Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking, while you are thinking, in order to make your thinking better (Richard Paul)

  9. 1) Other Sources Benjamin Bloom William Perry Dualism Multiplism Relativism Commitment to Relativism • Remembering • Understanding • Applying • Analyzing • Evaluating • Creating

  10. 1) Richard Paul & Linda Elder Elements Standards Clearness Accuracy Importance, Relevance Sufficiency Depth Breadth precision • Question at Issue • Assumptions • Implications and consequences • Information • Concepts • Conclusions / Interpretations • Point of View • Purpose

  11. 2) Communicate • Syllabus • Course Description (Goals, Learning Objectives) • Learning Activities and Feedback (assessment) • The Affective Domain • Evaluation • Teaching Philosophy • Graphic Syllabus

  12. The Graphic Syllabus Sociology 101 Survey Sociology Critical Thinking Life-Long Learning Course Goals Identify, List, Explain Analyze, Evaluate, Synthesize Self-Initiated Self-Guided Self-Correcting Learning Objectives Lecture Active Learning Reflection Activities Teaching Method M/C Test Paper, Project Learning Log Evaluation

  13. 2) Communicate • The First day of class • Talk about the Q’s or issues that gave genesis to your discipline • Ask them a range of T/F questions that expose misconceptions (or declarative statements to which they must agree or disagree) • Present real cases of where the absence of critical thinking led to negative consequences • Give them a problem to solve: first individually, then in groups

  14. 2) Communicate • Before, during and after activities • Provide ample instructions and rationale for the activity (for which learning obj. is it designed?) • Help them understand respective roles / expectations during activity • Instructor = Benign Disruptor, Practical Skeptic • Student = practitioner, patient, client, recorder, etc. • Debriefing is critical, cut activity short if necessary • SEE-I • Consider a Rubric

  15. 3) Develop Activities Activities should target discrete learning objectives (specific dimensions of CT that pertain to your discipline) and should be as authentic as possible. • Identify, list, define assumptions regarding… • Entertain multiple perspectives… • Analyze a social policy… • Compare and contrast 2 policy proposals… • Make a recommendation and justify…

  16. 3) Develop Activities Activities should also have built in mechanisms for feedback and retrial • Self Assessment • Peer Assessment • Expert Assessment

  17. Lecture:Probe, Clarify,Guide, Complicate Lecture:Setup Lecture:Debrief Aaa Authentic Activity Trial & Error Feedback Retrial Lecture7 – 8 weeks M/C Midterm Lecture7 – 8 weeks M/C Final

  18. 4) Evaluate You method for evaluation should mirror what they have done in practice. Final projects / papers should reintegrate the dimensions of CT that are central to your discipline • Be creative • Be authentic • Be flexible • Share the responsibility (self, peer and prof.) • Rubrics!

  19. Integrated Course Design LearningObjectives CourseGoals LearningActivities & Feedback Evaluation

  20. 5) Assess Taking a scholarly approach to your teaching can yield a number of benefits • Better course design • Improved student motivation and engagement • Improved student learning • Others can replicate, build upon • More compelling teaching portfolio • Lead to SoTL • Better satisfaction (less burnout, frustration)

  21. Rubrics • WSU’s Critical and Integrative Thinking Rubric • Links to rubrics for evaluating critical thinking in a wide range of contexts / disciplines • Critical Thinking Rubrics on MERLOT • RubiStar

  22. Web Resources on Critical Thinking • Assorted Links to Resources for Teaching Reasoning and Critical Thinking http://academic.pg.cc.md.us/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/links%7E1.html • The Perry Game http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/suppmat/1401.htm • Models of Cognitive Developmenthttp://www.indiana.edu/~l506/theoryframe/506Model.htm

  23. Web Resources on Critical Thinking • The Socratic Methodhttp://www.goodcharacter.com/Socratic_method.html • The Case Methodhttp://www.hbs.edu/case/ • POGIL – Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learninghttp://www.pogil.org/ • Problem-Based Learning (PBL)http://www.udel.edu/pbl/

  24. References • Kloss, Robert J. (1994). A Nudge is Best: Helping Students Through the Perry Scheme of Intellectual Development • Perry, W. G. 1968. Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme • Browne, M. Neil & Stuart M. Keeley. 1998. Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking • Bransford, John D. et al.2000. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and school • Nosich, Gerald (2009) Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum

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