The Eagle on Reading

Teachers

Encourage students to learn critical thinking through writing assignments and problem solving.  Thinking assignments require students to let go of what they know of their lives and the world around them to assume a different truth.  Critical thinking, like critical reading, is the responsbility of all teachers in all content areas.  It is not a skills to be isolated.  Simply asking higher level questions now and then, or setting up cooperative groups now and then, will not develop critical thinking. 

If critical thinking is important, teachers have to make a committment to promoting critical thinking on a continuing basis—ina all classes.

Critical thinking can be taught during:

1. Lectures You may of course directly teach critical thinking principles to your students during lecture, but this is neither required nor advisable. Stay with your subject matter, but present this is such a way that students will be encouraged to think critically about it. This is accomplished during lecture by questioning the students in ways that require that they not only understand the material, but can analyze it and apply it to new situations.

2. Laboratories Students inevitably practice critical thinking during laboratories in science class, because they are learning the scientific method.

3. Homework Both traditional reading homework and special written problem sets or questions can be used to enhance critical thinking. Homework presents many opportunities to encourage critical thinking.

4. Mathematical Exercises Mathematical exercises and quantitative word problems teach problem solving skills that can be used in everyday life. This obviously enhances critical thinking.

5. Term Papers The best way to teach critical thinking is to require that students write. Writing forces students to organize their thoughts, contemplate their topic, evaluate their data in a logical fashion, and present their conclusions in a persuasive manner. Good writing is the epitome of good critical thinking.

6. Exams Exam questions can be devised which promote critical thinking rather than rote memorization. This is true for both essay question exams and multiple-choice exams.

EXAMPLES for classroom: 

HISTORY

How would history have been different if Hitler never came to power?

MATH

Is any law of algebra correct on a calculator?

SCIENCE

In your own words, give at least six ground rules for the collection of clinical specimens for microbiological studies.

QUESTIONS TO BE USED IN ANY CONTENT:

1. What is the purpose, goal, or point? 
2. What is the problem or issue being solved or described? 
3. On what data or evidence is the decision / definition / problem based? 
4. What inferences are being made from what kind of data, and are these inferences legitimate? 
5. What is the solution, outcome, or resolution of the problem or issue? 
6. What are the short-term and long-term implications of the solution / consquences of the outcome? 
7. What are the biases or assumptions behind the inferences, selection or collection of data, or framing of the problem / experiment? 
8. What are the basic concepts or terms being used? How do these definitions affect the framing / understanding of the problem? 
9. What point of view is being expressed? What political / ideological / paradigmatic considerations inform or govern or limit point of view? 
10. How would someone from a related but different discipline look at the problem / solution / issue, and could an interdisciplinary approach improve the analysis / discussion / evaluation?

Critical Thinking Syllabus

Major Donehew

Introduction

Critical Thinking studies a process which is indispensable to all educated persons—the process by which we develop and support our beliefs and evaluate the strength of arguments made by others in real-life situations. In this class, we will explore critical thinking and philosophical concepts. So break the mind-forged manacles of political correctness, and popular assumptions and be ready to express your opinions and listen to the opinions of others. It includes practice in inductive and deductive reasoning, presentation of arguments in oral and written form, and analysis of the use of language to influence thought.

Goals and Objectives

1. Identify, evaluate, and construct inductive and deductive arguments in spoken and written forms.
2. Distinguish the functions of language and its capacity to express and influence meaning.
3. Develop the habits of assessing and defending the reasonableness of your beliefs and values and those of others.
4. Understand the various skills which collectively encompass critical thinking.
5. Distinguishing credible sources from non-credible sources.
6. Identify moral principles as they operate in practical reasoning.
7. Learning and practicing intellectual virtues.
8. Understand the philosophy of “Quality.”
9. Distinguish between several philosophical perspectives and be able to apply them in other content courses.

After you have finished this course, you should be more:

• Self-aware, recognizing your own biases and influences;
• Inquisitive and curious, wanting to learn more about issues before passing judgment;
• Objective, basing your judgments on evidence and avoiding twisting evidence to fit your opinion;
• Open-minded, having the ability to say, “I don’t know” or “I was wrong”;
• Sensitive to language, avoiding slanted language, recognizing ambiguous, vague, emotionally laden language, defining key terms;
• Imaginative, approaching topics and problems from various angles;
• Fair and intellectually honest, avoiding misrepresenting the ideas of others or misinterpreting data and research to fit your own purposes.

Course materials:

• Journal – marble composition book
• Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert M. Pirsig
• The required text for the course is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M. Pirsig). Many supplemental materials will be distributed as needed.  Also, since thinking critically depends largely on your being aware of your world, I recommend that you read a daily paper and familiarize yourself with some of the periodicals available in the library and with news sources available on the Internet.
• www.smazmm.edublogs.org  This is the class blog.  It contains all of your assignments, links to valuable internet sites, and a great deal of information that will be helpful to you for this course.  You will be required to post comments onto the blog, and to respond to other students comments.  All entries for the blog will come to me first for review before they are posted, therefore, it is imperative that you keep your comments and reponse appropriate and relevant.  Any inappropriate entries will be reported to school authorites and parents.  Any irrelevant entries will impact your overall grade with a reduction of 10% for every irrelevant entry.

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:

• Your participation–which means coming to class prepared, expressing and defending your ideas clearly and constructively, contributing relevant points of interest, making connections between course material and material from other classes and from the world outside the school, demonstrating enthusiasm, and completing in-class exercises–will count for 20 points on the final grade.
• There will also be a number of exercises—projects, short essays, worksheets—blog entries and comments—daily journal entries—and quizzes during the semester.  These exercises and quizzes will count for 60 percent of the final grade.  Some exercises will be assigned for homework and collected in class.  Some exercises will be assigned and collected in the same class period.  Homework assignments handed in late will be accepted, although a penalty will be assessed.  In-class exercises cannot be made up.  

A final, cumulative exam will count for 20 points.