Transcript Thinking Critically

Research Rehab
Thinking Critically
About Critical
Thinking
by Janice Borland
[email protected]
What does it mean?
Critical Thinking Is
• Thinking that questions
assumptions
• A way of deciding whether a
claim is always true,
sometimes true, partly true,
or false
Critical Thinking Is
• Reasonable, reflective thinking that
focuses on deciding what to do or
what to believe
• Self-guided, self-disciplined
thinking which attempts to reason
at the highest level of quality in a
fair-minded way
Critical Thinking Is
• A process that begins with an
argument and ends with
evaluation
• The process of actively and
skillfully conceptualizing,
applying, analyzing, synthesizing,
and/or evaluating information
Critical Thinking Is Not
• Just Thinking
• Just Problem Solving
• Negative Thinking
• Reproduction of someone else’s
thinking
• Creative Thinking
Why Is It Important?
• Students must learn to
use critical thinking tools
to help them analyze,
assess, and improve
thinking.
Why Is It Important?
• Students must learn to
recognize the complexities in
developing as thinkers, and
commit themselves to
becoming life-long learners.
Why Is It Important?
• People who think critically
consistently attempt to live
rationally, reasonably and
empathetically.
Why Is It Important?
• Critical thinkers work diligently
to develop the intellectual
virtues of integrity, humility,
civility, empathy, and a sense of
justice and confidence in
reason.
Why Is It Important?
• Critical Thinkers strive never to
think simplistically about
complicated issues and always
consider the rights and needs of
relevant others.
Why Is It Important?
• Critical thinkers strive to
improve the world in whatever
ways they can and contribute to
a more rational, civilized
society.
What Is Your Paradigm?
What you think is a product of
• Your age
Your sex
• Your race
Where you live
• Your religion
Your culture
• Your income
Your education
• Your prejudices
Your self esteem
What we think and what we do is
a result of our point of view
What Is Your Paradigm?
To Be A Good Critical
Thinker, You Must
• Understand
your own
paradigm
• Recognize that
everyone has a
different
paradigm
Situation: A man lying in the
street. What are you thinking?
A Matter of Perspective
• Person One:
Situation: “A man is lying in the street.”
Assumption: “Only bums lie in the street.”
Inference: “That man’s a bum.”
• Person Two:
Situation: “A man is lying in the street.”
Assumption: “Anyone lying in the street is in
need of help.”
Inference: “That man is in need of help.”
A Matter of Perspective
• We cannot gain command of
our thinking unless we can
recognize, one way or
another, the inferences
embedded in it and the
assumptions that underlie it.
Good Critical Thinkers
• Realize that the inferences people make
are heavily influenced by their point of
view and the assumptions they have
made.
• This puts them in the position of being
able to see situations from more than
one point of view, to become more
open-minded.
We think critically when we have
at least one problem to solve or
question to answer.
Students must be presented with
problems to solve and analytical
questions to answer if they are to
become critical thinkers.
Rigor
What is the climate for student
questions in your classrooms?
• Do teachers create a climate that opens
students up to thinking and questioning?
• Do they wait until the bell is about to ring
to ask if there are any questions?
• Are questions viewed as annoyances or
digressions?
• Are they tools for learning – toys for
playful minds?
What kind of questions do
your teachers ask your
students?
Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy
Memory Level
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Memory level questions are those to
which you will most likely find answers in
sources such as books, web sites, and
other reference materials. Asking this type
of question provides background for the
subject.
Convergent Thinking Questions
Why?
How?
In what ways?
• Represent the
analysis and
integration of given
or remembered
information
• They lead you to an
expected answer
Divergent Questions
(Im
Imagine
Suppose
Predict
If…then
• Represent intellectual
operations
• Students are free to
generate their own ideas
• Students are free to take
a new direction or
perspective
What are some possible consequences?
Evaluative Questions
• Questions that
deal with
matters of
judgment, value
and choice
Defend
Judge
Justify
What do you think about?
Changing The Questions:
“You Get What You Ask For”
Old Way
Results in “cut and paste”
New Way
Results in application of
information
• Who was this famous
person and why was
he/she famous?
•
If this famous person had
lived in this century, how
would his/her ideas and
talents be viewed and
accepted?
Changing The Questions:
“You Get What You Ask For”
Old Way
• Choose a country to
research. Write a 3 page
research paper that
describes the government,
economy, and culture of
this country.
New Way
• Suppose that a law is
passed in your chosen
country that forces people
to retire at the age of 50.
What changes do you
think this would create
from what you found in
your research?
The SCAMPER Techinque
• Used for creative problem solving
• Is based on the premise that everything
that is new is a modification of
something that already exists
• Created by Bob Eberle
• Ask the questions and then SCAMPER
• http://litemind.com/scamper/
SCAMPER
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
S = Substitute
C = Combine
A = Add or Adapt
M = Modify or Magnify
P = Put to Other Uses
E = Eliminate (or Minify)
R = Rearrange (or Reverse)
SCAMPER
• Forces you to think
differently about
your problem
• It helps you come
up with new and
innovative ideas
and solutions
SCAMPER and "Thoreau wrote
Walden"
• S "Who else could have written it?'
• C "If Thoreau had had a co-author,
who could it have been?"
• A "What would Thoreau have written
in the 21st century?"
• M "What could we modify in the
work to intensify the theme?"
SCAMPER and "Thoreau wrote
Walden"
• P "How does this work apply to the
lives of suburbanites?'
• E "What would be the effect of
eliminating this work?"
• R "What would be the antithesis of
Thoreau's view?"
A Well Cultivated Critical Thinker
• Raises vital questions, formulating
them clearly and precisely
• Gathers and assesses relevant
information, using abstract ideas to
interpret it effectively
• Comes to well-reasoned conclusions,
testing them against relevant criteria
and standards
A Well Cultivated Critical
Thinker
• Thinks open-mindedly within
alternative systems of thought
• Communicates effectively with
others in figuring out solutions to
complex problems
Tools for Developing Projects
That Promote Critical Thinking
Issue Based Databases
Changing the Products
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Old
Research Paper
Poster
Book Report
PowerPoint
New
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•
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•
Wiki
Podcast
Debate
Movie
Blog
Newspaper Editorial
Edmodo Discussion
VoiceThread
MuseumBlock
But Be Careful
Where’s the beef?
• Are students
spending too much
time on technology
effort in the
presentation and
not enough on
knowledge
building?
Now What About Grading?
• Rubrics for critical thinking
exercises must evaluate the
PROCESS, not the PRODUCT
• If you give students a rubric that
dictates every aspect of the project,
the project is no longer a critical
thinking exercise!
Critical Thinking Rubric Models
• Designing Rubrics for Assessing Higher
Order Thinking
• Two Rubrics For Critical Thinking
Assessment PDF
This is NOT the product
we are looking for!
My only
skill is
taking
tests.
Teach The Skills
Before the Project!
• Teachers MUST create
mini lessons throughout
the year to teach the
critical thinking skills
necessary to complete
major research projects
rather than assigning a
project and just expecting
they know how do to it.
Resources For Creating
Meaningful Projects for Students
Research Rehab for Student Projects
LiveBinder
Credits
"Defining Critical Thinking." The Critical Thinking Community.
Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2011. Web. 13 Aug 2012.
<http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766>.
Eberle, Bob. "Creative Problem Solving With SCAMPER." Litemind.
N.p., 2012. Web. 13 Aug 2012. <http://litemind.com/scamper/>.
Peirce, William. "Designing Rubrics for Assessing Higher Order
Thinking." . Association of Faculties for Advancement of Community
College Teaching, 2006. Web. 13 Aug 2012.
<http://academic.pgcc.edu/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/Designingrubricsassessing
thinking.html>.
Credits
"Some Definitions of Critical Thinking." Institute for Learning and
Teaching Excellence. Indiana University Southeast, n.d. Web. 13 Aug
2012. <www.ius.edu/ilte/pdf/critical_thinking_handout_fall_02.pdf>
Stonewater, Jerry K., and Susan K. Wolcott. "Two Rubrics for Critical
Thinking Assessment: AMini-Training Session." The 2005 Assessment
Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 24 Oct
2005. Web. 13 Aug 2012.