Critical Thinkers Wanted: Meeting the Challenge with Evidence-Based Practices

1
Critical Thinkers WantedMeeting the Challenge
with Evidence-Based Practices

• Linda Thomas, Ph.D., Jena Shafai, Ph.D., Dara
  Spivack, CPA
• IACBE Annual Conference Assembly Meeting
• April 13 17, 2015
• Baltimore, MD

2
Note

• This file, when presented at IACBE, had
  multi-media clips (videos) embedded in it.
• Because the videos will not play on your
  computer, I have provided links to websites where
  you may
• view the video
• Use the applet
• You will find the URL links in this PPT file,
  where applicable.

3
Workshop Focus

• Creative activities
• To teach critical thinking
• Across disciplines
• In both cognitive and affective thinking domains

4
Workshop Goals

• Learn how to use common pedagogic methodologies
  in creative, uncommon ways to motivate students
  to think critically
• Practice multiple teaching approaches to excite
  higher order thinking habits (OB, law
  statistics)

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Workshop Goals

• Focus on the most complex categories of cognitive
  and affective domains thinking and feeling --
  richer ground for assessment
• Provide opportunities to share critical thinking
  practices

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Critical Thinking

• Continually
• Questioning assumptions
• Considering context
• Creating and exploring alternatives
• Engaging in reflective skepticism
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  (Brookfield, 1987)

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Critical Thinking

• Acquisition of intellectual resources --
  strategies for thinking about a problem or
  argument -- habits of the mind
  
  
• 
  
  (Bailen
  et al, 1999)

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Teachers play a vital role

• Promoting complex critical practices that embody
  value commitments and further good judgment
• Getting students to become more discriminating
  and self-conscious
• NOT by teaching skills, but by
• Helping them to appreciate the value of
  challenging and changing some of their social and
  emotional interpretations, assumptions and
  perspectives.

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How?

• Design activities which promote engagement with
  the subject while helping learners identify value
  in the outcomes.

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Help motivate students to

• 1. Find a clear and worthy purpose
• Recognize challenge biases, assumptions
  consequences
• Raise clear, context-specific questions
• Judge credibility relevance of data
  experiences, including analogies and metaphors

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Help motivate students to

• Articulate and defend a position on a valuable
  issue
• Judge the quality value of an argument
• Solve a worthy problem using relevant criteria

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Remember

• The mere fact that students are analyzing does
  not mean they are doing it critically... higher
  order operations can be done in a rote and
  thoughtless way, and lower order operations can
  be done in a critically thoughtful manner.
  (Roland Case, 2005, 47)

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Higher Order Cognitive Domain

• Analyzing (appraising, comparing, discriminating,
  deconstructing, questioning, integrating)
• Evaluating (hypothesizing, critiquing, judging,
  testing, defending, supporting, detecting)
• Creating (designing, constructing, formatting,
  planning, writing, inventing)

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Higher Order Affective Domain

• Emotions empathy growing awareness of
  attitudes and feelings
• Valuing (ascribing worth, sharing, subsidizing,
  debating, empathizing)
• Organizing values (putting together ideas and
  information, retrieving, reflecting, theorizing,
  prioritizing values)
• Internalizing values (holding a value or belief
  that influences behavior, managing attitudes,
  resolving, resisting, revising)

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Examples
Approach/Activity ------------------------------ Critical thinking skills ---------------------- Cognitive Domain -------------- Affective Domain -------------- People-driven -------------- Numbers-driven -------------
Jurys Choice 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X  
Socratic Debate -- Negotiate Your Score 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X  
Monty Hall Paradox 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X     X
Paint Yourself Silly 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X  
Graph Design IQ Test 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X     X
Luck of the Draw Heuristic Improvement 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X X X X  
Reflection/Self Correction 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X   X  
Emotional Contagion 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X  
Regression Plotter 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X
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Examples
Approach/Activity Critical ThinkingSkills CognitiveDomain AffectiveDomain People-driven Numbers-driven
Jurys Choice 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X
Socratic Debate Negotiate Your Score 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X
Monty Hall Paradox 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X
Paint Yourself Silly 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X
Graph Design IQ Test 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X
Luck of the Draw 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X
Accounting for Everything 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X
Heuristic Improvement 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X
Reflection/Self Correction 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X
Emotional Contagion 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X X
Regression Plotter 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 X X
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Jurys Choice

• Students study for multiple choice test
• Unexpectedly, take test in groups of three
• Group turns in one test for grading

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Jurys Choice

• Whats happening?

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Critical Thinking

• Questioning assumptions
• Considering context
• Creating and exploring alternatives
• Engaging in reflective skepticism
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  (Brookfield, 1987)

20
Teachers play a vital role

• Promoting value commitments
• Furthering good judgment
• Students More discriminating and self-conscious
• Challenging and changing some of their social and
  emotional interpretations, assumptions and
  perspectives.

21
Motivates students to

• 1. Find a clear and worthy purpose
• Recognize challenge biases, assumptions
  consequences
• Raise clear, context-specific questions
• Judge credibility relevance of data
  experiences, including analogies and metaphors
• Articulate and defend a position on a valuable
  issue
• Judge the quality value of an argument
• Solve a worthy problem

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Accounting is Everything!

• National exams (CMA, CFA, CPA, CFP, CFA, CIA,
  GRE, GMAT, etc.) all use multiple choice format.
• To improve performance, students must provide
  justification for the answer they select.
• Students must also provide justification for the
  rejection of remaining options!
• Grades increased by 5.
• Handout has further details.

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Socratic DebateNegotiate Your Score

• Use tests as a learning device
• Engaging students post-test about covered
  material can develop greater knowledge and
  promote critical thinking, argument, and debate
  skills.

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Socratic DebateNegotiate Your Score

• Objective tests T/F, MC
• Best answer
• Students review, compare, challenge
• Interactive articulate and defend
• Interactive rationale behind best answer
• Points earned back in a variety of ways

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Socratic Debate

• Whats happening?

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Motivates students to

• Create fruitful debate about correct and
  incorrect answers
• Engage because it affects their grade
• Articulate and defend a position
• Judge the quality and value of an argument

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Monty Hall Paradox

• Conditional Probability and Bayes Theorem
• A game contextualizes theory helps learning and
  retention
• Lets Make a Deal Game Show

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Monty Hall Paradox

• TV show in the 1970s host Monty Hall
• Strategy probability Bayes Theorem
• Students discuss in groups (OL and OG)
• Video http//www.youtube.com/watch?vmhlc7peGlGg
• Note the next slide would play part one of the
  video until
• 10 seconds are up. Audience must choose
  Stay/Switch strategy.

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Monty Hall Paradox
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Monty Hall Paradox

• Proof can be
• Analytic (mathematical using probability theory)
• Numeric (using simulation) with Applet found
• http//www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v6n3/applet
  s/letsmakeadeal.html
• Note The next slide would be a screen-capture of
  the presenter using the Monty Hall Paradox Applet
  found at the above URL. Your computers settings
  may have to be adjusted to use this applet which
  uses JAVA.

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Monty Hall Interactive Website
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Video Explanation Part II

• The next slide would play the second half of the
  same video (link was provided earlier).
• In this second half, the explanation is
  provided.

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Video Explanation
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Monty Hall Whats Happening?

• Relevancy
• This is also a great application to see how the
  law of large numbers worked ..
• Relate the experience and knowledge gained to
  definitions/content in textbook

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Monty Hall Whats Happening?

• Recognizing Biases
• .My wife was adamant that it is a 50/50 chance
  .
• Student put theory to practice at party Won
  80!For details, see four slides later in this
  file

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Paint Yourself Silly

• 
  There is a pottery shop in
• 
  Lincoln, NE called
• 
  Paint Yourself Silly.
• You select a piece of bisque that
  inspires you select your colors from 100
  different glazes and then brush, sponge,
  splatter, stamp, stencil or draw your design on
  your piece. The staff helps you get started,
  provides idea books for inspiration, and will
  then clear glaze and kiln fire your piece to make
  it food safe.
• The quality of
  the final
• piece is up
  to you.

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Paint Yourself Silly

• 
  Dr. Shafai suggests that this is very
• 
  similar to what happens in a
• 
  university. The hundreds of pieces of
• 
  unfinished bisque can be thought of
• 
  as students brains. Each student
• enters college (the shop) with the ability to
  select from a plethora
• of majors, disciplines and classes (colored
  glazes). Instructors
• provide ideas, techniques, texts and guidance,
  but it is ultimately
• up to students to establish their own
• combination of techniques needed to design,
• shape and finish their brains -- read, write,
• study, synthesize, analyze and apply.

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Paint Yourself Silly
The amount of time
spent working on this
final product and the
decision to be thorough and
meticulous or fast and sloppy is up to the
student. Either way, the final showpiece (if
not broken) is fired (legitimized with a
degree) and put out there for the world to see
safe for employer consumption.
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Paint Yourself Silly
What is your final showpiece
going to look like?
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Paint Yourself Silly
Why? What do you want to be known for
during your life and after you are gone -- what
might a museum guide tell tourists as they pass
your piece 100 years from now?

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Paint Yourself Silly

• Whats Happening?

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Questions?
Contact Information Linda Thomas
(linda.thomas_at_bellevue.edu) Jena Shafai
(jena.shafai_at_bellevue.edu) Dara Spivack
(dara.spivack_at_bellevue.edu)
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Student Comments Monty Hall

• We had a party for NYE.  Somehow (don't ask) I
  started talking about the video and how your
  chances actually double by swapping...nobody
  believed me.  What happened next is that I won
  about 80!

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Student Comments Monty Hall

• To prove I was right, I grabbed 3 cards out of a
  deck, with one of them being the Queen of Hearts
  (the car).  I let my guest (several tried it)
  serve as the "game show host" so that they knew
  which card was which. 

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Student Comments Monty Hall

• I then picked 1 card (not flipping it over) and
  they flipped over a "goat" card.  I then bet them
  10 that the next card I flipped over would be
  the Queen. keep in mind I had not flipped over my
  first card.  Of course, I swapped every time.

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Student Comments Monty Hall

• I actually won the first 6 times in a row.  The
  Law of Large Numbers then took over a bit. But,
  by the end, I still won 80!
• While pretty much nobody understood how it
  worked, they now believe it does...or at least
  their wallets do )
• All seven critical thinking motivators apply
• Recognizing biases
• Relevancy

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Luck of the Draw

• Written memorandum and
• oral argument project

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Luck of the Draw

• Groups of two
• Create written memorandum analyzing facts and
  applying law to facts in complex scenario
• Analyze both sides of the case draw conclusions
• Articulate findings within those conclusions

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Luck of the Draw

• Right before oral arguments, they are assigned a
  side
• One group argues for plaintiff, one for defendant

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Luck of the Draw

• Whats happening?

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Motivates Students to

• Understand all sides
• Advocate either side Empathy

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Perceptual Blindness

• http//www.metacafe.com/watch/1910717/human_percep
  tion_test/
• (247)
• Next slide is the video which may be accessed at
  the above URL.

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Perceptual Blindness
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Perceptual Blindness

• Whats Happening?

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Emotional Contagion

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vA0ewCD_-jIA
• (401)
• The following slide would play the video which
  may be accessed at the above URL.

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Emotional Contagion
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Emotional Contagion

• Whats Happening?

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Graph Design IQ Test

• Communicating summaries Graphs and Tables
• Color, dimension, bells whistles How
  Effective?
• Must critically think about the characteristics
  of the summary
• Observation and critical evaluation of examples

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Graph Design IQ Test

• Perceptual Edge Web-sitehttp//www.perceptualedge
  .com/files/GraphDesignIQ.html
• OL Take quiz, report back to the discussion
  board
• OG Show each summary and discuss in classroom

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Graph Design IQ Test, Q1
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Graph Design IQ Test, Q2
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Graph Design IQ Test, Q3
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Graph Design IQ Test, Q4
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Q4 Wrong Answer Feedback

• Are you sure about that, Ace?
• Bars work very well for comparing differences in
  magnitude, but when you need to see the shape of
  change over time, nothing is more effective than
  a line.

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Graph Design IQ Test, Q5
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Graph Design IQ Test, Q6
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Q6 Wrong Answer Feedback

• You just like all the pretty colors, don't you?
• Map B you're required to memorize the meanings
  of seven colors (which exceeds the limits of
  short-term memory) or must constantly refer to
  the legend.
• Map A you can remember the meanings of red and
  blue, and the rest is intuitive.

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Graph Design IQ Test, Q7
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Graph Design IQ Test, Q8
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Graph Design IQ Test, Q9
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Graph Design IQ Test, Q10
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Graphs

• Whats Happening?

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Student Comments Graphs

• Going forward in my profession, I will choose to
  use the "less is more" approach to my graphs.
• .It is frustrating when people complicate their
  graphs by trying to spice it up.  I learned
  that simple and to the point is always preferred
  over loud and over the top graphics.

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Student Comments Graphs

• Also when looking at a map for weather, I now
  know why the more the snow the darker the
  purple.  Using the same color but different
  shades are much easier to follow and comprehend.

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Questions?
Contact Information Linda Thomas
(linda.thomas_at_bellevue.edu) Jena Shafai
(jena.shafai_at_bellevue.edu) Dara Spivack
(dara.spivack_at_bellevue.edu)
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How Regression Ruined my Life

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v6SdyOXC6Nbk

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Weighted Mean

• Weighted average is useful in many applications
• Finance Average price per share of a portfolio
• Production Average cost per pound of a blend
• Marketing Average of audience reached in an
  advertising campaign
• Education Average grade earned in a course

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Regression/Correlation Applet

• http//www.people.vcu.edu/rjohnson/regression/ind
  ex.html