6. Resources
• Brenda’s wiki:
http://tech2learn.wikispaces.com
• tc2 The Critical Thinking Consortium
• The Foundation for Critical Thinking
• Howard Rheingold
• Deborah Meier
7. Goals...
• What is critical thinking?
• How do we weave critical thinking into
classroom practice?
• Habits of Mind
• Critical Challenges
• Media Literacy
8. Let’s consider:
• what is a definition of critical thinking?
• use any resources you have at your disposal
• think - pair - share - square
• share out group definitions
9. Let’s consider:
• what is a definition of critical thinking?
• use any resources you have at your disposal
• think - pair - share - square
• share out group definitions
•http://goo.gl/QBGvH
10. Other definitions...
John Dewey
Critical thinking is "active, persistent, and careful
consideration of any belief or supposed form of
knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it
and the further conclusions to which it tends.” (Dewey
1933: 118)."
11. Nickerson, Perkins and Smith (1985)
"The ability to judge the plausibility of specific assertions, to
weigh evidence, to assess the logical soundness of
inferences, to construct counter-arguments and alternative
hypotheses."
12. Moore and Parker, Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking is "the careful, deliberate
determination of whether we should accept, reject,
or suspend judgment about a claim, and the degree
of confidence with which we accept or reject it."
15. Why do we need
critical thinkers?
• to discriminate fact and inference
• to make tentative judgments or decisions
while aware of gaps in understanding
• to ask good questions in situations where
we have little expertise
• to be conscious of the limits of one’s
knowledge and understanding of an issue
16. What do critical thinkers
do?
• have inquisitive attitudes/ask questions
• use effective thinking strategies
• access background knowledge
• understand thinking vocabulary
• apply relevant criteria when making thoughtful
decisions
tc2.ca
17. What might we have to
change, adjust or even
unlearn our classroom
practice?
19. • Embedding the critical thinking process into
content/curriculum
• Teaching students about their own thinking
processes
• Making implicit thought processes explicit
• Visualizing the critical thinking process
23. tc2.ca
Which animal - the seal or the
What did the Inuit traditionally
caribou - contributed more to
use to make tools?
traditional Inuit life?
Assess whether da Vinci,
Write a report on a famous
Newton, or Einstein had the
scientist.
greatest scientific mind.
Write an historical account
using the RAFT format
Role
Write a summary of an
Audience
historical event.
Format
Topic
Strong Verb
24. Habits of Mind
“The mind is like a parachute, it works better when open.”
Frank Zappa
by US Army on Flickr
25. Habits of Mind - tc2.ca
Thinking for one’s self Thinking with others
inquiring mind respectful
open-minded inclusive
critically minded constructive
fair-minded accommodating
independent-minded consultative
persistent
circumspect
empathetic
tolerant of ambiguity
self-reflective
takes initiative
humble
attentive to detail
flexible
26. Examples of prompts - tc2.ca
Decode
Perform
Judge the the puzzle Design to
Rework to specs
Critique better or suggest and specs
the piece perform or
the piece best justify a develop a
Prompts rework in light take action
assess pros which best proposed product that
of new info or that meets
and cons meets the solution, meets specified
focus/bias specified
criteria? explanation or criteria
criteria
interpretation
given the
data on the design a
find a
in Hamlet, who behaviour of create an anti- school wide
is the powerful
is the more an object in smoking media
information metaphor
noble earth’s poster using campaign to
E.g. on this that justifies
character: gravity, four extol the
website some aspect
Laertes or reconstruct persuasive virtues of
credible? of Canadian
Hamlet? the results if techniques school music
life
this object programs
was on Mars
28. Brief recap of the lesson
What were its strengths?
What were its challenges?
How would you adapt this for your class?
29. • Primary - Powerful questions
• Junior/Intermediate - How “globalized” are
our lives?
• Secondary - Should it stay or go?
**NB if you prefer an electronic version go to
tech2learn.wikispaces.com
30. Media Literacy
Media literacy explores the
impact and influence of mass
media and popular culture by
examining texts such as films,
songs, video games, action figures,
advertisements, CD covers,
clothing, billboards, television
shows, magazines, newspapers,
photographs, and websites.
by christinapsych4 on flickr
31. Understanding how media texts are constructed and why they are
produced enables students to respond to them intelligently and
responsibly.
Students must be able to:
✓differentiate between fact and opinion
✓evaluate the credibility of sources
✓recognize bias
✓be attuned to discriminatory portrayals of individuals and
groups, including women and minorities
✓question depictions of violence and crime.
39. Gatorade Challenge
• how are commercials
made (background
knowledge)
• deconstructing examples
of commercials
• What makes a good
commercial? (building
criteria)
• authentic task - judging
better or best
44. Developing a community of thinkers
Habits of Mind from Deborah Meiers - Mission Schools
Evidence: How do we know what's true and false? What evidence counts? How sure can
we be? What makes it credible to us? This includes using the scientific method and more.
Viewpoint: How else might this look if we stepped into other shoes? If we were looking at
it from a different direction? If we had a different history or expectations? This requires the
exercise if informed "empathy" and imagination. It requires flexibility of mind.
Connections/Cause and Effect: Is there a pattern? Have we seen something like
this before? What are the possible consequences?
Conjecture: Could it have been otherwise? Supposing that? What if ? This habit requires
use of imagination as well as knowledge of alternative possibilities. It includes the habits
described above.
Relevance: Does it matter? Who cares?
45. bcsherry@gmail.com
@brendasherry
brendasherry.com
Resources:
http://tech2learn.wikispaces.com
by douglee on Flickr
