MENTAL ING:

Thinking (Critically) in the Classroom

Rob Yost (SS)Laura Yost (DL/SS)

Watch the video:1. What are several key ideas?2. Is critical thinking demonstrated?3. How would you use the clip to teach critical thinking?

[Un]Critical Thinking From the “Real” World

What Is “Critical Thinking”?

What Is NOT “Critical Thinking”?

Underlying Assumptions

1. Be realistic2. Expect resistance (at all levels)3. Even reasoning has its limits4. Maintain high expectations5. Don’t blame yourself

Are All Interpretations Equal?

You will be shown several sources that historians might examine.

Interpret each source to the best of your ability.

What types of questions will you want to answer?

What characteristics will determine better from worse interpretations?

1) Absolutely perfect answers do not exist. Every answer can be improved.

2) There are stronger and weaker answers and clear criteria for making judgments about them. It’s not just opinion.

3) Writing a good answer first requires being able to recognize what good answers look like.

4) Writing only improves by practicing it and by asking questions and getting feedback.

Basic Assumptions

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum, si þin nama gehalgod. Tobecume þin rice. Gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg. And forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum. And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfele.  Soþlice. 

The Great Inflation: The Weimar Hyperinflation

German marks per one U.S. dollar

12 marks (April 1919)47 marks (Dec. 1919)263 marks (Nov. 1921)

1922493 marks (July)1,000 marks (August)3,000 marks (October)7,000 marks (December)

192317,000 marks (January)24,000 marks (April )353,000 marks (July)4,621,000 (August)98,860,000 (September)25,260,000,000 (October)2,193,600,000,000 (November)4,200,000,000,000 (December)

Moses (1515)

Who wrote the Five Books of Moses?

1) Why do most biblical scholars think that Moses is NOT the author of the Torah?

2) What alternative explanations have been offered to answer the question?

3) Why do we need to know how & why the Bible came about in order to interpret it?

Ancient Greek Philosophy

Socrates (ca. 469-399 B.C.)

Plato (ca. 429-347 B.C.)

Aristotle (384 -322 B.C.)

How does this detail from Raphael’s School of Athens (1509-1511) illustrate differences between the thought of Plato & Aristotle? Explain

The year is 1553, ten years after the publication of De revolutionibus, you are a university scholar who has carefully read Copernicus’ book.

Will you accept or reject his arguments? Explain. Be specific.

Heliocentrism or geocentrism?

How would an Aristotelian explanation of the motion of the juggling bags differ from a Newtonian description?

Transmutation

Both Lamarck & Darwin believed in transmutation or evolution, but they did not believe in the same explanation (mechanism) for how it worked.

1) How would Lamarck and Darwin differ in their explanations of how the giraffe came to be?

2) How would they contrast with or Cuvier’s or Paley’s explanations?

Man is But a Worm

Punch’s Almanack for 1882

1) Who opposed Darwinism?

2) Why did they oppose it?

Evaluate the historical validity of the following:Reaction to Darwinism was very simple: Science versus Religion. On the one hand, were scientists who believed in evolution, and on the other, were Christians who retained a literal belief in the Bible.

scientific

religious

political

philosophical

“ Um, . . . unfortunately, people that don't know Bolivia very much think

that we are all just Indian people from the west side of the country, it's La Paz all the image that we reflect,

is that poor people and very short people and Indian people. I'm from the other side of the country, the east side and it's not cold, it's very hot and we are tall and we are white people

and we know English so all that misconception that Bolivia is only and ‘Andean’ Country, it's wrong, Bolivia has a lot to offer and that's

my job as an ambassador of my country to let people know much

diversity we have,“ Miss Bolivia at Miss Universe Pageant (2004)

• HONG KONG ($345 B/year in USD) Electrical machinery & appliances, textiles & apparel, footwear, watches & clocks, toys & plastics, precious stones, & printed material • JAPAN ($516 B) Transport equipment, motor vehicles, semi- conductors, electrical machinery, & chemicals• SOUTH KOREA ($466 B) Semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, & petrochemicals

• COSTA RICA ($6 B) Coffee, sugar bananas, textiles, electronic components, & electricity• COLOMBIA ($32 B) Petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emeralds, bananas, & apparel• PANAMA ($11.4 B) Bananas, coffee, clothing, shrimp, & sugar

AVG INCOME LATIN AMERICA = $43 BILLION AVG INCOME ASIA = $422 BILLION

Promoting Critical Thinking

1. Encourage unexpected connections2. Engage with ideas you’re against3. Move beyond comfort zones 4. Avoid giving “the answer”5. Tolerance for ambiguity

[Un]Critical Thinking From the “Real” World

Watch the video:1. What are several key ideas?2. Is critical thinking demonstrated?3. How would you use the clip to teach critical thinking?