Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Framework — University of Louisville Ideas To Action Critical thinking is that mode of thinking – about any subject, content, or problem — in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them. (Paul and Elder, 2001). The Paul-Elder framework has three components: The elements of thought (reasoning)The intellectual standards that should be applied to the elements of reasoningThe intellectual traits associated with a cultivated critical thinker that result from the consistent and disciplined application of the intellectual standards to the elements of thought According to Paul and Elder (1997), there are two essential dimensions of thinking that students need to master in order to learn how to upgrade their thinking. Elements of Thought (reasoning) The "parts" or elements of thinking are as follows: Universal Intellectual Standards Clarity Could you elaborate? Could you illustrate what you mean? Could you give me an example?
The Critical Mind is A Questioning Mind Learning How to Ask Powerful, Probing Questions Introduction The key to powerful thinking is powerful questioning. When we ask the right questions, we succeed as a thinker, for questions are the force that powers our thinking. Thinking, at any point in time, can go off in thousands of different directions, some of which, by the way, are dead-ends. Questions define the agenda of our thinking. "By Their Questions Ye Shall Know Them" If there were a bible for critical thinking, "By their questions yea shall know them" would be a salient teaching within it. The Basic Building Blocks for Thinking: One Key To Powerful Questioning For example, one basic understanding essential to critical thinking is based on insight into the basic structures common to all thinking. The Elements of Thought The elements of thinking are as important to thinking as the elements of chemistry are to the composition of every substance. The Elements Enumerated Let us now consider these elements.
40 Alternative Assessment Ideas for Learning When people think of assessment, pencils and bubble sheets may be the first things that come to mind. Assessment does not always have to involve paper and pencil, but can instead be a project, an observation, or a task that shows a student has learned the material. In the end, all we really want to know is that the skill was mastered, right? Why not make it fun and engaging for students as well? Many teachers shy away from alternative assessments because they take extra time and effort to create and to grade. On the other hand, once the assessment guidelines and grading rubric are created, it can be filed away and used year after year. The project card and rubric can be run on card stock (one on each side of the page), laminated, and hole punched with other alternative assessment ideas. Here are 40 alternative assessment ideas to get you started! Alternative Reading Assessments 1. Create a bookmark to match the theme of the last book read. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Alternative Writing Assessments
Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom - H. Lynn Erickson - Google Books Three Categories of Questions: Crucial Distinction Many pseudo critical thinking approaches present all judgments as falling into two exclusive and exhaustive categories: fact and opinion. Actually, the kind of judgment most important to educated people and the kind we most want to foster falls into a third, very important, and now almost totally ignored category, that of reasoned judgment. A judge in a court of law is expected to engage in reasoned judgment; that is, the judge is expected not only to render a judgment, but also to base that judgment on sound, relevant evidence and valid legal reasoning. A judge is not expected to base his judgments on his subjective preferences, on his personal opinions, as such. Here's a somewhat different way to put this same point. Those with one right answer (factual questions fall into this category). Only the third kind of question is a matter of sheer opinion. When questions that require better or worse answers are treated as matters of opinion, pseudo critical thinking occurs.
Brown Bag Exams: A Creative Way to Assess Learning | Unlocking the Past: Reading, Writing, and History for Adolescents & Teens Denise Ousley-Exum, PhD developed the Brown Bag Exam to address the disconnect that she and her students were experiencing between instruction and assessment. She had strategies that engaged students in reading and writing and used instruction to connect the literature to students' lives. However, she lacked assessments that matched the activities students had enjoyed. She knew that the majority of students had gotten the reading, but that same majority of students were failing the test. Her tests showed what students didn't know, not what they had read, learned, or gained. About Brown Bag Exams A Brown Bag Exam uses found objects and images to help students activate prior knowledge and creates a framework for students to express their understanding. A typical Brown Bag Exam follows five steps: First, students open their bags, puzzle for a few seconds over the item(s), and then brainstorm a list of the connections they see among their Brown Bag item(s) and the reading. Back to Top Dr.
ch7think A History of Freedom of Thought Project Gutenberg's A History of Freedom of Thought, by John Bagnell Bury This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License includedwith this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: A History of Freedom of ThoughtAuthor: John Bagnell BuryRelease Date: January 11, 2004 [EBook #10684]Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: UTF-8 Produced by Jeffrey Kraus-yao. Home University Library of Modern Knowledge No. 69 Editors: HERBERT FISHER, M.A., F.B.A. Copyright, 1913, by HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY IT is a common saying that thought is free. At present, in the most civilized countries, freedom of speech is taken as a matter of course and seems a perfectly simple thing. The average brain is naturally lazy and tends to take the line of least resistance. The repugnance due to mere mental laziness is increased by a positive feeling of fear.
edutopia Self-reflection is self-assessment, and one of the most significant learning tools we can model for our students. Ultimately, we want our children and adolescents to be the self-assessors of their work, dispositions, and goals. Research repeatedly reports that the difference between good teachers and superior teachers is that superior teachers self-reflect. The brain is wired for this strategy, and it has been a part of our evolution. When we teach to a child's or adolescent's brain, we empower that student with the "inner resources" that directly affect his or her ability to pay attention, engage, and create meaningful learning experiences. Simply stated, when the brain feels any type of a threat (emotional, social, or cognitive stress) the thinking part shuts down. The following self-assessment survey, created for students and educators, provides questions that address short- and long-term goals. Big Goals Daily Goals Questions for Self-Assessment What do I need?
Metacognition Thinking about One’s Thinking | Putting Metacognition into Practice Thinking about One’s Thinking Metacognition is, put simply, thinking about one’s thinking. Initially studied for its development in young children (Baker & Brown, 1984; Flavell, 1985), researchers soon began to look at how experts display metacognitive thinking and how, then, these thought processes can be taught to novices to improve their learning (Hatano & Inagaki, 1986). Metacognitive practices increase students’ abilities to transfer or adapt their learning to new contexts and tasks (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, p. 12; Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Scardamalia et al., 1984; Schoenfeld, 1983, 1985, 1991). Metacognitive practices help students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses as learners, writers, readers, test-takers, group members, etc. The absence of metacognition connects to the research by Dunning, Johnson, Ehrlinger, and Kruger on “Why People Fail to Recognize Their Own Incompetence” (2003). References
Accelerating Change The Nature of the Post-Industrial World Order The world is swiftly changing and with each day the pace quickens. The pressure to respond intensifies. New global realities are rapidly working their way into the deepest structures of our lives: economic, social, environmental realities — realities with profound implications for teaching and learning, for business and politics, for human rights and human conflicts. These realities are becoming increasingly complex; and they all turn on the powerful dynamic of accelerating change. This chapter explores the general character of these changes and the quality of thinking necessary for effectively adapting to them. Can we deal with incessant and accelerating change and complexity without revolutionizing our thinking? Consider, for a moment, even a simple feature of daily life: drinking water from the tap. Consider also the quiet revolution that is taking place in communications. We can no longer rely on the past to be the guide for the future.
5 Research-Based Tips for Providing Students with Meaningful Feedback In recent years, research has confirmed what most teachers already knew: Providing students with meaningful feedback can greatly enhance their learning and achievement. Professor James Pennebaker from the University of Texas at Austin has been researching the benefits of frequent testing and the feedback it leads to. He explains that in the history of the study of learning, the role of feedback has always been central: “When people are trying to learn new skills, they must get some information that tells them whether or not they are doing the right thing. Learning in the classroom is no exception. Both the mastery of content and, more importantly, the mastery of how to think require trial-and-error learning.” The downside, of course, is that not all feedback is equally effective, and it can even be counterproductive, especially if it’s presented in a solely negative or corrective way. So what exactly are the most effective ways to use feedback in educational settings? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
CriticalThinking.org - Critical Thinking Model 1 To Analyze Thinking We Must Identify and Question its Elemental Structures Standard: Clarityunderstandable, the meaning can be grasped Could you elaborate further? Could you give me an example? Standard: Accuracyfree from errors or distortions, true How could we check on that? Standard: Precisionexact to the necessary level of detail Could you be more specific? Standard: Relevancerelating to the matter at hand How does that relate to the problem? Standard: Depthcontaining complexities and multiple interrelationships What factors make this a difficult problem? Standard: Breadthencompassing multiple viewpoints Do we need to look at this from another perspective? Standard: Logicthe parts make sense together, no contradictions Does all this make sense together? Standard: Significancefocusing on the important, not trivial Is this the most important problem to consider? Standard: FairnessJustifiable, not self-serving or one-sided Do I have any vested interest in this issue? Think About... Gather...
Critical Thinking and Emotional Intelligence In addition to Goleman’s lack of sensitivity to the brain-to-mind translation problem, and his failure to acknowledge that we already know much about the mind through its works and constructs, Goleman’s work is often inconsistent and sometimes incoherent. Let us look at some cases. Two Brains Equals Two Minds Because Goleman’s “theory” of mind is based strictly on his interpretations of data from brain research, he comes to some questionable conclusions about the mind. For example, he states, “sensory signals from eye or ear travel first in the brain to the thalamus and then — across a single synapse — to the amygdala; a second signal from the thalamus is routed to the neocortex — the thinking brain. Based on this description of brain activity (and other similar descriptions), he concludes " . . . we have two minds, one that thinks and one that feels . . . For either we grant that the amygdala has some cognitive capacity, or that it has none. Otherwise all emotions would be identical.