Engaging All Learners Through Critical Inquiry

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Engaging All Learners Through Critical Inquiry

• Garfield Gini-Newman
• Senior Consultant,
• The Critical Thinking Consortium
• ggininewman_at_oise.utoronto.ca

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Wikipedia generation is lazy and unprepared for
universitys rigours, survey of faculty
says Toronto Star, April 6, 2009
The evidence is strong that they Net Geners are
the smartest generation ever. They have been
given the opportunity to fulfill their inherent
human intellectual potential as no other
generation. Don Tapscott, Grown Up Digital, 2009
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Decode the Picture Alberta 1890
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Although thinking is innate, skillful thinking
must be cultivatedArt Costa, 2008
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When is someone thinking critically?

• A person is thinking critically only if she is
  attempting to assess or judge the merits of
  possible options in light of relevant factors or
  criteria.
• Critical thinking is criterial thinking thinking
  in the face of criteria.

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Comparing teaching methods

• In a critical thinking approach . . .
• students figure out a reasonable answer
• we help them develop the tools to do this
  successfully

• In a traditional approach . . . .
• we teach the answer
• students try to remember it

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Critical Thinking Vocabulary
Thinking Strategies
Background Knowledge
Criteria for Judgment
Habits of Mind
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Three Types of Questions
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How would your students respond to the following
task?

• Which lifestyle would you have preferred - that
  of the habitants, priests or nuns, or the
  coureurs des bois?
• From Bain, Colin M., Canadian History 7, Pearson,
  2007

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Working with Critical Challenges

• Critical Challenges defined
• Critical Challenges are problematic situations
  which require learners to consider evidence in
  light of criteria to arrive at a reasoned
  judgment or decision.

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Designing Critical Challenges

• Critical challenges may take one of the
  following six forms
• Critique the piece
• Judge the better or best
• Rework the piece
• Decode the puzzle
• Design to specs
• Perform to specs

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Where does truth lie? Sandy
Danny
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Where does truth lie? Sandy
Danny
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Type of Challenge?

• Help Elphaba plan her year. She wishes to spend 3
  consecutive months in Canada and 3 consecutive
  months in Australia. They need to be the driest
  months.

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Is Canadian diversity the result of or inspite
of government intentions?
Create a Want Ad profiling the ideal immigrant
sought by the Canadian government as reflected in
the 1904 cartoon All Together Now.
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Is Canadian diversity the result of or inspite
of government intentions?
Create a Want Ad profiling the ideal immigrant
sought by the Canadian government as reflected in
the 1904 cartoon All Together Now.
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Can you help out Lou Costello?

• Uncover the conceptual error in Lous
  mathematical thinking
• Design a learning activity that would help Lou
  in understanding this conceptual error by
  providing an alternative solution to the math
  problem being discussed.
• What kinds of prompts are these two
• critical challenges?

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What makes a Hero?
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Selfless
Courageous
Jack Sparrow Hero or Rogue?
Honest
Principled
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What makes a good friend?
Selfless
Kind
Text
Shrek Friend or Foe?
Other?
Caring
Overall Assessment
Foe Friend
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1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4