stewart distinguished teaching award recipients, 2011 karin st. pierre teaching critical thinking...
TRANSCRIPT
Stewart Distinguished Teaching Award Recipients, 2011
Karin St. Pierre
Teaching Critical Thinking Through
Literature
Nick Larocca
Building a Thesis
Professor St. Pierre: Teaching Critical Thinking
Through Literature
LIT 2090 Contemporary Literature
Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate improved critical thinking skills; students will demonstrate an increased
willingness to think critically.
Lesson Plan
Stage One, Pre-Reading
First month of the semester:
a. Require students to work collaboratively and individually, addressing questions about major life themes that appear in the novel.
b. Train students to use a set of generic question stems (see Wolcott; Lynch, 2001) to create their own questions appropriate for the content to be learned.
c. Require students to answer each other’s questions in small groups.
Lesson Plan
Stage Two, During Reading
Second Month of Semester
a. While students are reading outside the classroom, require them to answer questions more narrowly focused on novel.
b. Share with students previous responses generated during stage one. Students, during this stage, should begin to generate their own critical thinking questions about the text.
Lesson Plan
Stage Three, Post-Reading
Third Month of Semestera. Assign students the task of evaluating published, critical perspectives.b. Require students to compare/contrast the novel with other works of fiction studied during the semester.c. View, in class, the award-winning, critically acclaimed movie adaptation and encourage discussion of the differences between the novel and film.
Teaching Methods Used…
Lecture
Research
Group Work
Online Research
Student Presentation
Discussion
Socratic
PowerPoint
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
William Perry, (1913-1998) Professor of Education, Harvard
Perry’s Stages, Simplified
Dualism Multiplism Relativism Commitment
Timing and Types of Assessments
Month 1 Month 3 Month 4Month 2
LEGEND
Short Essay: Topic Choices are “The Best Class or Worst Class I Ever Had” or “How I Learn Best”
One-Minute Essay: Topic Choices are “What’s the Most Important Think I Learned in Class Today? Or “What One Question Still Remains”?
“Critical Thinking Disposition Self-Rating Form”
Evidence of Student Learning
Brian (Pseudonym) 1/5/12 : DUALISM 1/19/12 : MULTIPLISM
Evidence of Student LearningBrian (Pseudonym)
1/31/12: DUALISM 2/28/12: MULTIPLISM
“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ast. And that in wondering bout the big things and asting ‘bout the
big things, you learn about the litte ones, almost by accident…The more I wonder, he say, the more I love.”
Albert, The Color Purple
Alice Walker
Professor LaRocca – Building a Thesis
ENC 1102: College Compostion II
Learning Outcomes
Demonstrate original writing using standard written English, including accepted standards of grammar and punctuation.
Use critical thinking skills to develop a clear, focused thesis and content that are appropriate to purpose of the assignment, including argument
Provide coherent, organized support for ideas using relevant, specific details and concrete examples
Maintain a style, tone, and language appropriate for an academic audience Understand and avoid plagiarism as defined in the Palm Beach State College Student
Handbook
Recognize the possibilities to strengthen writing through revision and editing
Overview of Project
Design Four
Research
Questions
Regarding
Intended Major
Choose Researc
h Questio
n
Design Working Thesis
Statement
Compare
Working Thesis
to Evidenc
e
Alter Thesis
Statement
Draft Essay
Utilizing Thesis
Statement
Feedback
Feedback
Feedback
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
Thesis Construction
Knowledge• Multimedia Lesson on Thesis Statement• Reading(s)
Comprehension• Quiz• Discussion Question
• What is the purpose of a good thesis in terms of...• The reader• The writer
Steps Three and Four
Application• Weekly Assignment• Create Thesis Statement
Analysis• Discussion Question Two• How do you intend to create a good,
strong thesis that can serve as the backbone for your essay?
Steps Five and Six
Synthesis• Alteration during Research• Inclusion in Final Project
Evaluation• Success of Final Project
Student Skills Practiced
Demonstrate original writing using standard written English, including accepted standards of grammar and punctuation.
Use critical thinking skills to develop a clear, focused thesis and content that are appropriate to purpose of the assignment, including argument
Provide coherent, organized support for ideas using relevant, specific details and concrete examples
Maintain a style, tone, and language appropriate for an academic audience
Understand and avoid plagiarism as defined in the Palm Beach State College Student Handbook
Recognize the possibilities to strengthen writing through revision and editing
Student Example – Working Thesis
Nosocomial infections in hospitals develop because of issues related to visitors and staff hygiene; the improper handling of breathing machines and ventilators; the
improper insertion or maintenance of catheters and intravenous lines; the
failure to follow use of sterile protocol during surgery and transfusions; and the opportunity that bacteria endogenous to the patient find when the patient is in a
weakened state.
Student Example – In Essay
Hospitals are generally known as places of remedy. Persons who are ill go there with the expectation that they will receive treatment and recover. Unfortunately however, many of those individuals develop an infection as a direct consequence of their stay in the hospital. Infections that are acquired while a patient is in the hospital are referred to as nosocomial infections; a term derived from nosos the Greek word for 'disease'. Nosocomial infections occur worldwide and affect both developed and resource-poor countries. Even though many strides have been made in the progress of public health and hospital care, infections continually develop in patients admitted to healthcare facilities.
There are many factors that promote the increase in infection rates among patients. These include: the decreased immunity among patients that gives bacteria endogenous to the patient the chance to develop; poor infection control practices that facilitate transmission of pathogens to the patient and their environment; bacteria that become drug-resistant, rendering antibiotics ineffective; the improper insertion or maintenance of catheters and intravenous lines; the improper handling of breathing machines and ventilators; and the failure to follow sterile and aseptic protocol during surgical procedures.
Teaching Methods Used
Lecture
Multimedia
Video
Discussion
Research
Socratic Method Questioning
Assessments
Voice Feedback• Thesis Statement
Voice Feedback, Rubric• Essay