Ideas to Action (i2a)

College of Business Critical Thinking Workshops Session #1: What is Critical Thinking?

January 15, 2010 1

Welcome and Introductions

• Julia Karcher • Lynn Boyd 2

Session Objectives

1. Articulate the relevance of i2a 2. Precisely define critical thinking 3

Overview of COB CT Workshops

Workshop Goals: • Increase faculty familiarity and utilization of the Paul Elder critical thinking framework.

• Identify and engage faculty in strategies to incorporate critical thinking content and exercises in classes for implementation fall 2010.

• Complete a curriculum map of The Elements of Thought and Universal Intellectual Standards for the business core courses. 4

Overview of COB CT Workshops

Workshop Outputs: • Curriculum map • Common critical thinking sheet for the syllabi with the “wheel” • 1-2 page template for each course that includes a description of the Fundamental & Powerful Concepts, Central Course Question, the Universal Intellectual Standards, and The Elements of Thought.

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Overview of COB CT Workshops:

Structure: • 5 sessions on Fridays from 10-11:30 • Group participants by course to complete activities as a team Dates and Topics: January 15: What is critical thinking February 12: Fundamental and Powerful Concepts, Central Course Question February 26: Elements of Thought March 26: Universal Intellectual Standards April 16: Designing critical thinking strategies and assignments 6

i2a Team

Dr. Patty Payette Executive Director, i2a Associate Director, Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning Dr. Cathy Bays i2a Specialist for Assessment Harry Pickens Special Assistant to the Provost for New Initiatives Dr. Nisha Gupta i2a Specialist for Culminating Experiences Dr. Edna Ross i2a Specialist for Critical Thinking Associate Professor Psychology Thomas W. Evans Graduate Assistant 7

Ideas to Action: the basics

  Ideas to Action (i2a): Using Critical Thinking to Foster Student Learning and Community Engagement is our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) .

Part of our accreditation report to SACS-COC to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to student learning  Our 10-year initiative we created to renew our focus on critical thinking and community engagement and the undergraduate experience.

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Call to action at UofL “Our extensive consultation with all University constituencies yielded a surprisingly strong and clear call for education focused on the

skills and knowledge

needed to deal with

real-world issues and problems

, an education in which

students can see the importance of the parts (the courses) to the whole (their education as citizens and workers)

.” [QEP Report, 2007]

skills and knowledge real-world issues and problems the parts to the whole

9 http://louisville.edu/ideastoaction/files/finalreport.pdf

i2a : connecting classroom, campus and community

Sharpen our existing focus on building critical thinking skills in the

general education

program… …..continuing through

undergraduate major courses

with an emphasis on applying and refining those skills… …resulting in a

culminating undergraduate experience (CUE),

such as a senior thesis, research, service learning project, internship, or capstone project that fosters engagement 10

Critical Thinking is: A=True B= False 1. skilled thinking which meets epistemological demands irrespective of the vested interests or ideological commitments of the thinker.

2. skilled thinking characterized by empathy into diverse opposing points of view and devotion to truth as against self-interest.

3. skilled thinking that is consistent in the application of intellectual standards, holding oneself to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one holds one’s antagonists.

4. skilled thinking that demonstrates the commitment to entertain all viewpoints sympathetically and to assess them with the same intellectual standards, without reference to one’s own feelings or vested interests, or the feelings or vested interests of one’s friends, community or nation.

5. the art of thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking so as to make your thinking more clear, precise, accurate, relevant, consistent and fair.

Paul, R., Binker, A. Martin, D. & Adamson, K. (1995).

Critical Thinking Handbook: High School, Santa Rosa, CA:

Foundation for Critical Thinking, Pages 351-156.

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Critical Thinking is: A=True B= False 6. the art of constructive skepticism.

7. the art of identifying and removing bias, prejudice and one-sidedness of thought.

8. the art of self-directed, in–depth, rational learning.

9. thinking that rationally certifies what we know and makes clear wherein we are ignorant.

10. the art of thinking for one’s self with clarify, accuracy, insight, commitment and fairness.

Paul, R., Binker, A. Martin, D. & Adamson, K. (1995).

Critical Thinking Handbook: High School, Santa Rosa, CA:

Foundation for Critical Thinking, Pages 351-156.

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Activity

• Critical Thinking Quiz 14

Critical Thinking & Faculty

• • Paul, 1996 • 140 randomly sampled California college faculty 89% indicate critical thinking is a primary objective of their instruction – 19% could give a clear explanation of critical thinking – 77% had difficulty describing how to balance content coverage with fostering critical thinking – 8-9% could articulate how to assess critical thinking

Best Faculty Practices in Critical Thinking

• Plan critical thinking activities • Model critical thinking skills • Provide multiple, diverse, unique real-world exercises (novel situations) •

Faculty Speak!

Video

i2a Definition of Critical Thinking

Understanding Concepts Appreciation

Critical thinking is

the intellectually disciplined process

that results in

a guide to belief and action.

(From: Scriven and Paul, 2003) Decisions Synthesize Application 17

Critical Thinking Exercise

Working in groups of 2, you will need a flip chart and a marker to: 1) At the top of a sheet of paper fill in the blank by completing this sentence : “I see or hear critical thinking when my students are_____” 2) At the bottom of the same sheet of paper fill in the blank by completing this sentence : “When my students are not thinking critically, I notice_________”

A Well-Cultivated Critical Thinker:

 Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely  Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively  Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards  Thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as needs be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences  Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems

Miniature Guide

page 2 19

CT Exercise

1. How does the description of a well-cultivated critical thinker (

Miniature Guide

page 2) compare with your descriptions of students who are and are not thinking critically?

2. What do you see in common with the two?

3. How does this fit with your ideas about what students need to be able to do in college and in the world beyond?

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Critical Thinking Framework Adopted for i2a Richard Paul-Linda Elder Framework



Agreed upon by all reviewers (virtually perfect inter-rater reliability)



Most comprehensive (many ‘models’ merely narratives)



Discipline- neutral terminology



Provides a common language/terminology for discussing, modeling and measuring critical thinking that can be readily applied to all disciplines



Has a wealth of discipline specific resource materials

http://www.criticalthinking.org

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Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Framework Intellectual Standards

Accuracy Clarity Relevance Logical Sufficiency Precision Depth Significance Fairness Breadth Must be applied Which leads to deeper Purpose Question Point of view Information

Intellectual Traits

Humility Perseverance Autonomy Fair-mindedness Courage Empathy Integrity Confidence in reasoning to

Elements of Reasoning

Inferences Concepts Implications Assumptions to develop 22

Faculty Perspective

“I think that for decades I have given my students many opportunities to engage in critical thinking, and I have modeled critical thinking in class discussions. But I don’t think I can claim ever to have

taught

critical thinking in a systematic way. The model gives me a way to share a critical thinking vocabulary with students and to chart their progress. I know and can tell my students exactly what I am looking for.”

Spring 2008 Pilot Program Participant, Department of English

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CoB Faculty Perspective

Imad Elhaj, Ph.D., Finance Department, College of Business

“My experience with the FLC has been both affirmative and transformative: it has provided context and clarity to some of the methods I was already using, but also expanded my horizons and deepened my understanding of how students learn.”

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Upcoming Events: Mark your calendars Critical Thinking Workshops by Dr. Stephen Brookfield

Thursday, February 4, 2010 Shumaker Research Building 139

Community Engagement Showcase co-sponsored by Ideas to Action

Monday, April 12, 2010 Red Barn

Celebration of Teaching and Learning, “Engaging Teaching, Engaging Learning”

Keynotes: Dr. Stephen Brookfield Dr. Robert Gonyea Friday, February 5, 2010 Shelby Campus

i2a Institute on Critical Thinking

Keynotes: Dr. Gerald Nosich Dr. Susan Wolcott May 24-27, 2010 25

What’s Next?

• Complete Worksheet I • Read: o

Miniature Guide

o Chapter 3 in the Nosich book • For more information, visit http://louisville.edu/ideastoaction 26