Teaching Critical Thinking

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Teaching Critical Thinking

• Dr. Terri Prodoehl
• Health and Physical Activity Institute
• James Madison University
• 7/26/2006

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Critical ThinkingSome Things to Think About

• What is it?
• Can we teach it?
• Why should we teach it?
• How do you teach it?

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What is Critical Thinking?Center for Critical
Thinking - The Critical Thinking Community

• .

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A variety of definitions http//www.utc.edu/TRC/F
acultyDevelopment/CriticalThinking/index.html

• Making reasoned judgments (Beyer, 1995)
• Using criteria to judge the quality of something
  (Beyer, 1995)
• The ability to think about thinking, to recognize
  its strengths and weaknesses (Center for Critical
  Thinking, 1996)
• Intentional application of rational higher order
  thinking skills (Angelo, 1995)
• A mode of thinking in which the thinker improves
  the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully
  taking charge of the structures inherent in
  thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon
  them (www.criticalthinking.org)

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Essential Aspects of Critical Thinking

• Ask questions
• Define problems
• Examine evidence
• Analyze assumptions and biases
• Avoid emotional reasoning
• Avoid oversimplification
• Consider other interpretations
• Tolerate ambiguity
• (Wade, 1995)

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Components of Critical Thinking

• Questioning Assumptions
• Detecting Bias
• Analyzing Context
• Seeking Alternative Points and View and Sources
  of Information

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Oversimplification, Generalizations, Biases

• Tall people are likely to be extroverts.
• Religious people are friendlier than
  non-religious people.
• I know boys raised by single mothers are
  effeminate, because thats what happened to my
  cousin Michael
• No one has proved that animals dream so it must
  be true
• Once someone uses an illegal drug like marijuana,
  they will become heroin addicts eventually

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Assumptions and Biases

• A guest expert on a TV talk show claims
• that the divorce rate for interracial
• marriages is five times higher than the
• divorce rate for same-race marriage
• partners and urges the viewers to
• avoid marrying someone of a different race.

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Can We Teach It?

• Yes, but we must plan for it.
• Research demonstrates that nearly all of the
  thinking skills programs were found to make a
  positive difference in achievement levels of
  students.

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Controversies in Thinking Skills Instruction

• Infused vs Separate program
• Evidence says both ways work
• Students must be made aware of the skills to
  apply them
• Direct vs Inferential Learning
• Both work but a blend is better
• Time Requirements
• Not certain of time requirements for actual skill
  development
• Specific programs do require many hours
• Cotton, K (1991). Teaching thinking skills
• http//www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/6/cu11.html

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Specific Skills and Techniques to Teach

• Study Skills-
• Paraphrasing, outlining, etc.
• Creative and Critical Thinking
• Decision making, problem solving, observation,
  exploration, classification, generating
  hypotheses
• Metacognition
• Self awareness, self-monitoring, self-regulation
• Inquiry Training
• Give a discrepant event, practice information
  gathering skills to solve the discrepancy
• Cotton, K (1991) Teaching Thinking Skills

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Instructional Approaches

• Redirection, reinforcement, probing
• Ask higher order thinking questions during class
• Lengthening wait-time
• Cotton, K (1991) Teaching Critical Thinking.
• Building Categories
• Finding Problems
• Enhancing the Environment
• http//www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Teaching-Critical-T
  hinking.htm

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Articles on Critical Thinking and Teaching Ideas

• http//www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Critical-Thinking.h
  tm
• http//www.utc.edu/TRC/FacultyDevelopment/Critical
  Thinking/index.html
• www.criticalthinking.org
• www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html
• NEA Brain Development in Young Adolescents