H I N K I N G

1. Critical H I N K I N G

2. Thinking skills are necessary tools in a society characterized by rapid change, many alternatives of actions, and numerous individual and collective choices and decisions.’ Beyth-Marom et al. 1987( pg 216)

3. Setting up theEnvironment For Success

4. theEnvironment • Set ground rules well in advance. • Provide well-planned activities. • Show respect for each student. • Provide non-threatening activities. • Be flexible. • Accept individual differences. • Exhibit a positive attitude. Source: http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/6/cu11.html

5. theEnvironment • Model thinking skills. • Acknowledge every response. • Allow students to be active participants. • Create experiences that will ensure success at least • part of the time for each student. • Use a wide variety of teachingmodalities.

6. Visual aids in the classroom can encourage ongoing attention to critical thought processes, e.g., posting signs that say,“Why do I think that?“ “Is it fact or opinion?" "How are these two things alike?" "What would happen if...?"

7. The Skills and Traits Of Critical Thinking

8. Examine evidence to see similarities and differences; building or identifying categories. Skills and Traits Sort the items into _________ categories and be prepared to explain why you did so. How could the following statement be completed?______ is part of the _____ family because_________ Students compare their choice of categorization to others and discuss areas of confusion or clarification.

9. Find analogies and other kinds of relationships between pieces of information. Skills and Traits Nurse: hospital ;; scholar ; ________ Student? college? Professor? Exam?

10. Applying analogies to creative problem solving Radiating a Brain Tumour Without destroying Healthy tissue

11. The dazed chicken model to explain “ positron reactions” Applying analogies to creative problem solving

12. The ability to ask good questions. Skills and Traits OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS do not expect a ‘right’ answer and are much more likely to elicit a wider varieties of responses. The familiar hierarchy of Bloom’s questions

13. Questions that focus on the elements of thought • What are you trying to accomplish by saying this? • What is your central aim in this line of thought? • What information are you basing that comment on? • What experience convinced you of this? • How do we know the information is accurate? • How did you reach this conclusion? • Could you explain your reasoning? • Is there an alternative, plausible conclusion? • What is the main idea you were putting forth? Could you explain that idea?

14. Questions that focus on the elements of thought • What exactly are you taking for granted here? Why are you assuming that? • What are you implying when you say that? • Are you implying that___? • From what point of view are you looking at this? • Is there another point of view to consider? • I am not sure exactly what question you are raising. • Could you explain it?

15. Tolerate ambiguity. Skills and Traits “In tolerating ambiguity it is necessary to withstand the uncertainty and chaos that result when the problem is not clearly defined, or when the it is unclear how the pieces of the solution are going to come together…” (Harding & Hale, 2007) “Ambiguity is uncomfortable and anxiety producing” (Sternberg & Lubart, 1995 as quoted by Hale, 2007)

16. Creative thinking and Problem-solving Problem Reversal: Analyze a problem by looking at it from an opposite point of view. Forced Relationships: Gain insights into a problem by comparing it to an unrelated idea, object or concept. Metaphors: Understand a problem by re-explaining it in terms of its similarities to something else. Define a problem.

17. Creative thinking and Problem-solving Six Thinking Hats: Generate ideas about a problem by using six different ways of thinking about a problem, namely, by using facts and  emotions; by focusing on benefits, sense of judgement, need for change, and the metacognitive abilities of the problem solver.  Assumption Smashing: Generate ideas by rejecting what is normally accepted to be true in the real world. Lotus Blossom: Generate new ideas by building upon portions of the central idea. Define a problem.

18. Avoid Oversimplification“Human beings are not naturally critical....homo sapiens evolved to be just logical enough to survive. “ Humans are, “pattern seeking “ thinkers. Van Gelder tells us that people are most comfortable with the first account that seems right and rarely pursue anything further. We seek familiar patterns or narratives that are uncomplicated.

19. Avoid oversimplification Skills and Traits Solutions often are arrived at by looking at the skill or problem from several vantage points. There can also be several solutions.

20. Skills and Traits Be empathetic, considering other points of view/interpretations. Analyze assumptionsand biases. Avoid emotional, biased reasoning. Be open-minded and skeptical. Determine the relevance and validityof information that could be used for structuring and solving problems. Find and evaluate solutions or alternative waysof treating problems. Be consciously aware of one’s limits, knowledge and biases. SOURCES: http://ericae.net/edo/ed385606.htm www.criticalthinking .org

21. Be consciously aware to face one’s own beliefsor viewpoint toward which one has strong negative emotions. Metacognition:Be aware of one’s ownthinkingas one performs specific tasks and then using this awareness to control what one is doing (Jones & Radcliff, 1993)Infer a conclusion from one or many premises and examine logical relationships between data or among statements.Make judgments, evaluations, construct arguments.Learn from one’s own mistakesand those of others. Skills and Traits SOURCES: http://ericae.net/edo/ed385606.htm www.criticalthinking .org

22. “Belief preservation strikes right to the heart of our general processes of rational deliberation. The ideal critical thinker is aware of the phenomenon...and deploys compensatory strategies...putt[ing] extra effort into searching for and against ...those arguments that go against her position….[she] cultivates a willingness to change her mind when the evidence starts mounting against her.” (p.6)

23. Belief preservation When we believe in something very strongly or want it to be true then we tend to try to find evidence that supports what we think and avoid that which does not. We even will rate evidence as valuable or not valuable depending upon whether it supports or conflicts with our belief. Even in the face of evidence that overwhelmingly supports a contrary viewpoint as long as we can find at least some small support within it, we will stick to our beliefs.

24. Reading and Critical Thinking Strategies

25. Reading and critical thinking strategies • Questioning • Reflecting • Outlining and summarizing • Comparing and contrasting • Evaluating an argument • Discerning fact from opinion Using sticky notes, symbolic notes, brackets, skimming, arrows, highlighting, rereading, creating questions, numbering ideas in sequence, using note frames…

26. Critical thinking and students who are‘at risk

27. Students ‘at risk’ • Researchers have found differences between the way ‘at-risk’ and average children view the learning process. (Diener & Dweck 1978). • Students who feel helpless spend less time actually looking for strategies to overcome their failures.

28. Students ‘at risk’ • In addition, another study noted that low achievers often had difficulty detecting if they had or had not understood something in the first place. (Rohrkemper & Bershon, 1984). • Those same students had very low expectations that they would ever be able to solve the task and so they tended to become passive learners.

29. Students ‘at risk’ • In a study dated 1992, to investigate students with learning disabilities could benefit from reading instruction that stressed critical thinking, it was found that while the instructional group could demonstrate their gains verbally, they could not, on paper, show any increase in reading comprehension nor could they answer multiple choice questions about the text any more accurately than they had prior to the instruction.

30. Students ‘at risk’ • A conclusion made by the researchers was that discussion settingsoffered a venue that more effectively matched the learning styles of the learning disabled children. That, in turn, lead to a recommendation that teachers must be more aware of the way in which children with LDs learn best.

31. Students ‘at risk’ • Learning styles • Aboriginal learning styles. • Learn about the communication styles of the children so you know how comfortable they are when you are asking questions, or HOW you ask. for example, observe if a certain level of voice, tone, or use of gesture disturbs a child

32. Aboriginal learning styles • Provide time for observation and practice before a skill must be performed or mastered; teach them it is ok to make mistakes. • Provide processing time. • Remember that some students do not wish to be isolated to perform in front of their group. • Provide immediate feedback that is consistent and private if necessary; give praise that is specific. • Be aware of proximity preferences. • Provide opportunities to work in pairs, small groups and incorporate peer mentors.

33. Aboriginal learning styles • Many native students can be strong visual learners and have a preference for using graphic organizers, movement, model building, and manipulatives. Cooperative learning in small groups can also be effective. • There is also evidence that the students need to see the big picture before focusing on details (i.e gestalt). Provide models, exemplars, examples and explanations as to why a certain thing is being taught.

34. “ It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it” Aristotle

35. William Sumner, in his 1906 book, Folkways, addressed the possibility of critical societies: “people educated in [critical thought] cannot be stampeded...they can wait for evidence and weigh evidence, uninfluenced by the emphasis or confidence with which assertions are made on one side or the other. They can resist appeals to their dearest prejudices and all kinds of cajolery. Education in the critical faculty is the only education of which it can be truly said that it makes good citizens.”

36. Now, in 2008, over a hundred years since Sumner’s book, we have once again understood the importance of nurturing students who might become part of a critical society.

37. Critical H I N K I N G