Research RehabThinking Critically

About Critical Thinkingby Janice Borland

jborland@garlandisd.net

What does it mean?

Critical Thinking Is

• Thinking that questions assumptions

• A way of deciding whether a claim is always true, sometimes true, partly true, or false

Critical Thinking Is• Reasonable, reflective thinking that

focuses on deciding what to do or what to believe

• Self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way

Critical Thinking Is• A process that begins with an

argument and ends with evaluation• The process of actively and

skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information

Critical Thinking Is Not• Just Thinking• Just Problem Solving• Negative Thinking• Reproduction of someone else’s

thinking• Creative Thinking

Why Is It Important?

• Students must learn to use critical thinking tools to help them analyze, assess, and improve thinking.

Why Is It Important?

• Students must learn to recognize the complexities in developing as thinkers, and commit themselves to becoming life-long learners.

Why Is It Important?

• People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably and empathetically.

Why Is It Important?

• Critical thinkers work diligently to develop the intellectual virtues of integrity, humility, civility, empathy, and a sense of justice and confidence in reason.

Why Is It Important?

• Critical Thinkers strive never to think simplistically about complicated issues and always consider the rights and needs of relevant others.

Why Is It Important?

• Critical thinkers strive to improve the world in whatever ways they can and contribute to a more rational, civilized society.

What Is Your Paradigm?

What you think is a product of • Your age Your sex• Your race Where you live• Your religion Your culture• Your income Your education• Your prejudices Your self esteem

What we think and what we do is a result of our point of view

What Is Your Paradigm?

To Be A Good Critical Thinker, You Must

• Understand your own paradigm

• Recognize that everyone has a different paradigm

Situation: A man lying in the street. What are you thinking?

A Matter of Perspective• Person One:

Situation: “A man is lying in the street.”Assumption: “Only bums lie in the street.”Inference: “That man’s a bum.”

• Person Two:

Situation: “A man is lying in the street.”Assumption: “Anyone lying in the street is in need of help.”Inference: “That man is in need of help.”

A Matter of Perspective

• We cannot gain command of our thinking unless we can recognize, one way or another, the inferences embedded in it and the assumptions that underlie it.

Good Critical Thinkers• Realize that the inferences people make

are heavily influenced by their point of view and the assumptions they have made.

• This puts them in the position of being able to see situations from more than one point of view, to become more open-minded.

We think critically when we have at least one problem to solve or

question to answer. Students must be presented with problems to solve and analytical questions to answer if they are to

become critical thinkers.

Rigor

What is the climate for student questions in your classrooms?

• Do teachers create a climate that opens students up to thinking and questioning?

• Do they wait until the bell is about to ring to ask if there are any questions?

• Are questions viewed as annoyances or digressions?

• Are they tools for learning – toys for playful minds?

What kind of questions do your teachers ask your

students?

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

Memory Level

                                               

                           

Memory level questions are those to which you will most likely find answers in sources such as books, web sites, and other reference materials. Asking this type of question provides background for the subject.

Who?

What?

When?

Where?

Convergent Thinking Questions

• Represent the analysis and integration of given or remembered information

• They lead you to an expected answer

Why?

How?

In what ways?

Divergent Questions• Represent intellectual

operations• Students are free to

generate their own ideas

• Students are free to take a new direction or perspective

                                  (Im

Imagine Suppose

Predict If…then

What are some possible consequences?

Evaluative Questions

• Questions that deal with matters of judgment, value and choice

Defend Judge Justify

What do you think about?

Changing The Questions:“You Get What You Ask For”

Old WayResults in “cut and paste”

• Who was this famous person and why was he/she famous?

New WayResults in application of

information

• If this famous person had lived in this century, how would his/her ideas and talents be viewed and accepted?

Changing The Questions:“You Get What You Ask For”

Old Way

• Choose a country to research. Write a 3 page research paper that describes the government, economy, and culture of this country.

New Way

• Suppose that a law is passed in your chosen country that forces people to retire at the age of 50. What changes do you think this would create from what you found in your research?

The SCAMPER Techinque

• Used for creative problem solving• Is based on the premise that everything

that is new is a modification of something that already exists

• Created by Bob Eberle• Ask the questions and then SCAMPER• http://litemind.com/scamper/

SCAMPER• S = Substitute• C = Combine• A = Add or Adapt • M = Modify or Magnify• P = Put to Other Uses• E = Eliminate (or Minify)• R = Rearrange (or Reverse)

SCAMPER• Forces you to think

differently about your problem

• It helps you come up with new and innovative ideas and solutions

SCAMPER and "Thoreau wrote Walden"

• S "Who else could have written it?'• C "If Thoreau had had a co-author,

who could it have been?"• A "What would Thoreau have written

in the 21st century?"• M "What could we modify in the

work to intensify the theme?"

SCAMPER and "Thoreau wrote Walden"

• P "How does this work apply to the lives of suburbanites?'

• E "What would be the effect of eliminating this work?"

• R "What would be the antithesis of Thoreau's view?"

A Well Cultivated Critical Thinker

• Raises vital questions, formulating them clearly and precisely

• Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively

• Comes to well-reasoned conclusions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards

A Well Cultivated Critical Thinker

• Thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought

• Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems

Tools for Developing Projects That Promote Critical Thinking

Issue Based Databases

Changing the Products

Old• Research Paper• Poster• Book Report• PowerPoint

New• Wiki • Podcast• Debate• Movie• Blog• Newspaper Editorial• Edmodo Discussion• VoiceThread• MuseumBlock

But Be Careful

• Are students spending too much time on technology effort in the presentation and not enough on knowledge building?Where’s the beef?

Now What About Grading?• Rubrics for critical thinking

exercises must evaluate the PROCESS, not the PRODUCT

• If you give students a rubric that dictates every aspect of the project, the project is no longer a critical thinking exercise!

Critical Thinking Rubric Models

• Designing Rubrics for Assessing Higher Order Thinking

• Two Rubrics For Critical Thinking Assessment PDF

This is NOT the product we are looking for!

My only skill is taking tests.

Teach The Skills Before the Project!

• Teachers MUST create mini lessons throughout the year to teach the critical thinking skills necessary to complete major research projects rather than assigning a project and just expecting they know how do to it.

Resources For Creating Meaningful Projects for Students

Research Rehab for Student Projects LiveBinder

Credits

"Defining Critical Thinking." The Critical Thinking Community. Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2011. Web. 13 Aug 2012. <http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766>.

Eberle, Bob. "Creative Problem Solving With SCAMPER." Litemind. N.p., 2012. Web. 13 Aug 2012. <http://litemind.com/scamper/>.

Peirce, William. "Designing Rubrics for Assessing Higher Order Thinking." . Association of Faculties for Advancement of Community College Teaching, 2006. Web. 13 Aug 2012. <http://academic.pgcc.edu/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/Designingrubricsassessingthinking.html>.

Credits"Some Definitions of Critical Thinking." Institute for Learning and Teaching Excellence. Indiana University Southeast, n.d. Web. 13 Aug 2012. <www.ius.edu/ilte/pdf/critical_thinking_handout_fall_02.pdf>

Stonewater, Jerry K., and Susan K. Wolcott. "Two Rubrics for Critical Thinking Assessment: AMini-Training Session." The 2005 Assessment Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 24 Oct 2005. Web. 13 Aug 2012.