Here’s a list of some practical suggestions taken from a, “miniature guide for those who teach on how to improve student learning.” (Web address below) The guide was prepared by Richard Paul and Linda Elder, both well-known experts on critical thinking.
Posts Tagged ‘critical thinking’
The Inclusive Struggle for Critical Reasoning in the Composition Classroom
Posted Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by maryannCollege composition requires students to think and formulate and express opinions from their own unique points of view. Due to an inability to critically reason what they are writing and why, students often have difficulty performing this “obliged” college writing. In this session the presenter will share the strategies she successfully uses to teach the [...]
Improvisation in the Classroom
Posted Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by maryannImprovisation activities can be considered innovative. They generate a learning outcome environment for students. This session will explore the benefits of introducing basic theatrical improvisation exercises as a means to engage and evaluate students’ critical-thinking abilities and interpersonal communication skills.
Designing Effective Critical Thinking Lessons Using the EASy Method
Posted Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by maryannIn the assessment-driven, outcomes-oriented world of public education today, Bloom’s taxonomy has been forced out of its overlapping and pyramid representation into a hierarchical and linear push toward evaluation (meaning “assessment”) as the end result of higher-ordered thinking. A more authentic repurposing of this taxonomy, using the acronym EASy (Evaluate, Analyze, and Synthesize) will instead [...]
Critical Thinking for a Global Citizenry
Posted Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by maryannThe literature continues to suggest that students often lack critical-thinking skills as they enter college and upon graduation. Barry University faculty in the Schools of Education and Arts & Sciences, respectively, created a one-credit supplemental instruction course that focused on student-centered learning strategies vis-à-vis the adoption of a critical literacy stance. Paul and Elder’s (2006) [...]
Against Critical Thinking
Posted Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerI enjoyed as an especially well-written commentary by Miriam Marty Clark in the current issue of Pedagogy. She confesses to a “growing skepticism” she has come to feel about critical thinking “and the place it holds in discussions of university education.”
How to Wake Up Your Students: Getting Started in Active Learning
Posted Thursday, April 9th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerResearch suggests that active involvement is essential for the practice of higher-level cognitive skills and critical thinking, but lectures remain the predominant mode of instruction in higher education. This workshop is designed for faculty members who are beginning to experiment with active learning. It focuses on low-risk strategies that can easily be employed in any [...]