Engaging_Students_to_Think_Critically_final_copy.ppt

Engaging Students to
Engaging Students to
Think Critically
Think Critically
A workshop presented by:
Ashraf Ali Khaled
E.L.T. Supervisor
Supervised by:
Mrs. Huda AL-Amar
E.L.T. Senior Supervisor

The griney grollers
The griney grollers
grangeled in the granchy
grangeled in the granchy
gak
gak

 The griney grollers grangled in the
granchy gak.
 1. What kind of grollers were they?
 2. What did the grollers do?
 3. Where did they do it?
 4. In what kind of gak did they
grangle?
 Place one line under the subject and
two lines under the verb.

The griney grollers grangled in
the granchy gak.
 5. In one sentence, explain why-the
5. In one sentence, explain why-the
grollers were grangling in the granchy gak.
grollers were grangling in the granchy gak.
 6. If you had to grangle in a granchy gak,
6. If you had to grangle in a granchy gak,
what one item would you choose to have
what one item would you choose to have
with you and why?
with you and why?

The Moral of the Griney Grollers Story
The Moral of the Griney Grollers Story
 Students can answer low-level questions
Students can answer low-level questions
without thinking.
without thinking.
 Students enter/exit classrooms with no
Students enter/exit classrooms with no
more understanding of what they’ve
more understanding of what they’ve
learned than “The Griney Groller” taught
learned than “The Griney Groller” taught
you!
you!

Try the following
Try the following
 Thinking provides the
Thinking provides the………
………for the
for the
mind. (twoarefs)
mind. (twoarefs)
 Thinking provides the
Thinking provides the software
software for
for
the mind.
the mind.
 Education
Education’
’s purpose is to replace
s purpose is to replace
an empty mind with an/a
an empty mind with an/a ……
……one.
one.
 Education
Education’
’s purpose is to replace
s purpose is to replace
an empty mind with an/a
an empty mind with an/a open
open one.
one.

Try the following
Try the following
 Critical thinking is:
Critical thinking is:
…………
…………about your
about your ………
………while
while
you are
you are …………
………… in order to make
in order to make
your
your …………
………… better.
better.
 Critical thinking is:
Critical thinking is:
Thinking
Thinking about your
about your thinking
thinking while
while
you are
you are thinking
thinking in order to make
in order to make
your
your thinking
thinking better.
better.

 A good teacher makes you think even
A good teacher makes you think even
when you
when you ………
………
 A good teacher makes you think even
A good teacher makes you think even
when you
when you don
don’
’t want to
t want to.
.

 Engaging Students to Think Critically
Engaging Students to Think Critically
 Definition
Definition
 Purpose & rationale
Purpose & rationale
 The status quo
The status quo
 Fostering CT skills
Fostering CT skills
 Bloom’s CT Questioning strategies
Bloom’s CT Questioning strategies
“
“A Guide to Higher Order
A Guide to Higher Order
Thinking”
Thinking”

Thinking analytically is a skill
Thinking analytically is a skill
like carpentry or driving a car.
like carpentry or driving a car.
It can be taught, it can be
It can be taught, it can be learned
learned,
,
and it can
and it can improve
improve with
with practice
practice.
.
But like many other skills, such as
But like many other skills, such as
riding a bike, it is not learned by
riding a bike, it is not learned by
sitting in a classroom and being
sitting in a classroom and being
told how to do it.
told how to do it.

“ Every day thinking, like ordinary
walking, is a natural performance we
all pick up. But good thinking, like
running the 100-yard dash, is a
technical performance...

Sprinters have to be taught
how to run the 100-yard dash;
good thinking is the result of
good teaching, which includes
much practice.”
David Perkins, Howard University

 In recent years, there's been a shift toward
teaching critical thinking, a skill that
elevates thinking beyond memorization or
regurgitation of information into the realm
of analysis and logic.
 The rationale for this change in emphasis:
students need to be equipped with the
ability to navigate the world and to think
independently, not just recite facts.

Definition of Critical Thinking
Critical thinking means:
 Correct thinking in the pursuit of
relevant and reliable knowledge
about the world.
It is reasonable, reflective,
responsible, and skillful thinking
that is focused on deciding what to
believe or do.

 Critical thinking is not being able to
process information well enough to know
to stop for red lights or whether you
received the correct change at the
supermarket. Such low-order thinking,
critical and useful though it may be, is
sufficient only for personal survival;
most individuals master this.

 True critical thinking is higher-order
thinking, enabling a person to, for
example, responsibly judge between
political candidates, evaluate
society's need for nuclear power
plants, and assess the consequences
of global warming.
 Critical thinking enables an
individual to be a responsible citizen
who contributes to society.

 A person who thinks critically can:
1. Ask appropriate questions
2. Gather relevant information
3. Efficiently and creatively sort through this
information
4. Reason logically from this information, and
come to reliable and trustworthy
conclusions about the world that enable one
to live and act successfully in it.

But
 Don't we automatically teach critical
thinking when we teach our subjects,
especially mathematics and science,
the two disciplines which supposedly
epitomize correct and logical
thinking?

The answer,
The answer,
sadly, is often
sadly, is often
no
no

Please consider these two quotations:
 "It is strange that we expect students to
learn, yet seldom teach them anything
about learning." Donald Norman
 "We should be teaching students how to
think. Instead, we are teaching them what
to think." Clement and Lochhead

Perhaps you can now see the problem
.
 (1) the subject matter or discipline
content of the course ("what to think").
 (2) the correct way to understand and
evaluate this subject matter ("how to
think").
 It's important for your child to know his
multiplication tables, but it's just as
vital for him to know how, and when, to
use them.

 We do an excellent job of transmitting the
content of our respective academic
disciplines.
 But we often fail to teach students how to
think effectively about this subject matter,
that is, how to properly understand and
evaluate it.
 This second ability is termed:
 Critical Thinking

• The answer is simple:
• Five dots
• Marks in chalk or ink marker.
They hold no inherent meaning
individually

The patterns we see come from our minds.
The space on which they are written, and us.
Their meaning is derived from their relationship to each other.

F
A
C
T
S
What to think
How to think
to analyze, evaluate, assimilate
information
.
facts are synthesized into a
coherent body of knowledge
.
It is the process of
putting A plus B
together to equal C.
“Making connections,”
“seeing the big picture”

Educators and parents
Educators and parents
commonly see the
commonly see the
following list of academic
following list of academic
problems:
problems:

Reading
Reading
 Students read well,
Students read well,
but fail to
but fail to
understand what
understand what
they have just
they have just
read. They cannot
read. They cannot
draw inferences
draw inferences
from written
from written
material
material
 Reading
Reading
comprehension is
comprehension is
simply
simply “Depth of
“Depth of
Analysis.”
Analysis.” Students
Students
with poor thinking
with poor thinking
skills have poor
skills have poor
reading
reading
comprehension
comprehension
skills.
skills.

Writing
Writing
 Students
Students
cannot present
cannot present
or relate
or relate
written ideas
written ideas
logically
logically.
.
 To communicate an
To communicate an
idea clearly, a student
idea clearly, a student
must have a solid
must have a solid
understanding of
understanding of
what he or she wants
what he or she wants
to say and the ability
to say and the ability
to outline a
to outline a logical
logical
sequence
sequence and
and
structure to his or her
structure to his or her
audience.
audience.

Mathematics
Mathematics
 Students fail to
Students fail to
reason
reason
mathematically.
mathematically.
They struggle with
They struggle with
word problems. They
word problems. They
cannot
cannot solve
solve a
a
mathematics
mathematics
problem
problem requiring
requiring
several steps.
several steps.
 Students can’t
Students can’t
comprehend the
comprehend the
problem well. Higher
problem well. Higher
level math requires
level math requires
several thinking skills
several thinking skills
including
including deductive
deductive
reasoning
reasoning,
,
classification
classification,
,
identifying sequences,
identifying sequences,
and inferential
and inferential
reasoning.
reasoning.

Science
Science
 Students cannot
Students cannot
apply
apply the
the
scientific
scientific
method to their
method to their
analysis of
analysis of
scientific
scientific
studies.
studies.
 Critical thinking
Critical thinking
is the very
is the very
foundation of the
foundation of the
principles of
principles of
science.
science.

Social studies
Social studies
 It is said, “Those
It is said, “Those
that do not learn
that do not learn
their history are
their history are
doomed to repeat
doomed to repeat
it.” Students
it.” Students
frequently fail to
frequently fail to
see analogous
see analogous
events in social
events in social
studies.
studies.
 Students have
Students have
poor analysis
poor analysis
skills and the
skills and the
inability to
inability to
reason by
reason by
analogy.
analogy.

Testing
Testing
Students fail to perform
Students fail to perform
well on the growing
well on the growing
number of tests that
number of tests that
assess their ability to
assess their ability to
think.
think.

Many students cannot develop critical
Many students cannot develop critical
thinking skills. Why?
thinking skills. Why?
 The first goal of education, "what to think,"
The first goal of education, "what to think,"
“The dots”
“The dots” is so traditionally obvious that
is so traditionally obvious that
teachers and students may focus all their
teachers and students may focus all their
energies and efforts on the task of transmitting
energies and efforts on the task of transmitting
and acquiring basic knowledge.
and acquiring basic knowledge.
 The second goal of education, "how to think"
The second goal of education, "how to think"
“Connecting the dots”
“Connecting the dots” or critical thinking, is
or critical thinking, is
often so subtle that teachers fail to recognize it
often so subtle that teachers fail to recognize it
and students fail to realize its absence.
and students fail to realize its absence.

 Didactic (or fact-focused teaching).
Didactic (or fact-focused teaching).
 Learning for the moment, or for the
Learning for the moment, or for the
test.
test.
 A teachers is “the sage on the stage”
A teachers is “the sage on the stage”
who dispenses knowledge and expects
who dispenses knowledge and expects
passive and uncritical acceptance of it.
passive and uncritical acceptance of it.
 Not talking about the whole in
Not talking about the whole in
relation to the parts and the parts in
relation to the parts and the parts in
relation to the whole.
relation to the whole.

 Didactic
Didactic teaching
teaching
The focus and responsibility is
The focus and responsibility is
on the teacher.
on the teacher.
Students are taught content in a form
Students are taught content in a form
(generally lecture style) that does not
(generally lecture style) that does not
require them to think things through.
require them to think things through.
Students are rarely challenged to grasp
Students are rarely challenged to grasp
the logic or theory of the content.
the logic or theory of the content.

Being a mother robin-chewing up the
information for the students and
putting it into their beaks through
lecture.

 To give our students what might be called
To give our students what might be called
"artificial cogitation" ;the intellectual
"artificial cogitation" ;the intellectual
equivalent of (artificial respiration).
equivalent of (artificial respiration).
 “
“Minds resuscitation”
Minds resuscitation”
What do we need then? How
What do we need then? How
?
?

To
To unleash
unleash the full
the full
potential of our students
potential of our students’
’
brains
brains

 By applying a critical thinking approach to
teaching.
 By Shifting responsibility away from
teachers and onto students.
 By fostering an environment of honest and
open inquiry, specifically by:
1. Modeling inquisitive behavior and utilizing
critical thinking ourselves.
2. Asking the right questions through a better
understanding for Bloom’s Taxonomy.

The Role of Questions in Teaching,
The Role of Questions in Teaching,
Thinking and Learning
Thinking and Learning
 Thinking is not driven by answers but by
questions. Questions express problems.
 Answers on the other hand, often signal a
full stop in thought. Only when an
answer generates a further question does
thought continue its life.
 Only students who have questions are
really thinking and learning.

Feeding students Content to Remember
Feeding students Content to Remember
 Is akin to repeatedly stepping on the brakes in
a vehicle that is, unfortunately, already at rest.
Instead, students need questions to turn on
their intellectual engines and they need to
generate questions from our questions to get
their thinking to go somewhere.
 Thinking is of no use unless it goes
somewhere, and again, the questions we ask
determine where our thinking goes.

Dead Questions Reflect dead Minds
 Unfortunately, most students ask virtually none
of the thought-stimulating types of questions.
They tend to stick to dead questions like "Is this
going to be on the test?", questions that imply
the desire not to think.
 Most teachers in turn are not themselves
generators of questions and answers of their
own.
 Rather, they are purveyors of the questions and
answers of others-usually those of a textbook.

 No questions equals no understanding.
 Superficial questions equals superficial
understanding.
 Students have no questions. They sit in
silence, their minds are silent as well. This
demonstrates that most of the time they are not
thinking through the content they are
presumed to be learning.
 This demonstrates that most of the time they
are not learning the content they are presumed
to be learning.

If we want thinking we must
If we want thinking we must
stimulate it with questions that
stimulate it with questions that
lead students to further questions.
lead students to further questions.

But what kind of questions?
But what kind of questions?

 Questions that demand that the
Questions that demand that the
student do more than simply
student do more than simply
regurgitate isolated facts
regurgitate isolated facts (Lower-
(Lower-
order thinking)
order thinking) but at the very least
but at the very least
demonstrate an understanding of
demonstrate an understanding of
their context. The best of these
their context. The best of these
questions requires students to
questions requires students to
analyze
analyze and
and synthesize
synthesize these facts
these facts
and discuss their implications
and discuss their implications
(Higher-order thinking)
(Higher-order thinking) .
.

Here, we need a better
Here, we need a better
understanding of Bloom
understanding of Bloom’
’s
s
Taxonomy
Taxonomy

SYNTHESIS
ANALYSIS
KNOWLEDGE
EVALUATION
SIMPLE
COMPLEX
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY–
–A HIERARCHICAL
A HIERARCHICAL
CLASSIFICATION OF THE LEVELS OF THINKING
CLASSIFICATION OF THE LEVELS OF THINKING
COMPREHENSION
APPLICATION
each level builds upon the preceding level(s)
each level builds upon the preceding level(s)

Knowledge: starting point, includes both the
acquisition of information and the ability to
recall information when needed (define, label,
list, memorize, order, relate …)
Comprehension: basic level
of understanding, the ability
to know what is being
communicated in order to
make use of the information
(classify, describe, discuss,
explain, identify, report,
review)
Application: the ability
to use a learned skill in a
new situation (apply,
demonstrate, employ,
illustrate, interpret,
sketch, solve, use, write)
Analysis: the ability to
break content into
components in order to
identify parts, see
relationships among
them, and recognize
organizational principles
(analyse, appraise,
calculate, categorize,
compare, contrast,
criticize, differentiate,
distinguish, examine,
question, test)
Synthesis: the ability to
combine existing elements in
order to create something
original (arrange, collect,
compose, construct, design,
develop, organize, plan,
propose)
Evaluation: the ability to make a
judgement about the value of
something by using a standard
(appraise, argue, assess, attach,
compare, defend, estimate,
judge, predict, rate, select,
support, evaluate)
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
(1956)

 Knowledge
 List main characteristics for each of the main
characters.
 Match statements with the characters who said
them.
 Comprehension
 Draw a picture showing what happened before
and after a passage or illustration.
 Predict what could happen next in the story before
the reading of the entire book.
 Application
 Think of a situation that occurred to a character
and write how you would have handled it differently.
 Give examples of people you know who have the
same problems as the characters in the story.

 Anaysis
 Differentiate fact from opinion.
 Distinguish what could happen from what couldn't
happen in the story in real life.
 Synthesis
 Create an original character and weave him/her
into the existing story.
 Restructure the roles of the main characters to
create new outcomes in the story.
 Evaluation
 Decide which character in the story you would
most like to spend a day with and why
 Write a recommendation as to why the book
should be read by others or not.

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,
The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn,
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He’s under the haystack, fast asleep
.
• Do you know someone like Little Boy Blue?
• Application (Solving)
• Can you describe his coat in your own words?
• Comprehension (Understanding)
• In this picture, what is the colour of the boy’s coat?
• Knowledge (Remembering)

 I wonder how he will explain to the
I wonder how he will explain to the
farmer how the cow got into the corn?
farmer how the cow got into the corn?
 Synthesis (Creating)
Synthesis (Creating)
 Why might he have fallen asleep?
Why might he have fallen asleep?
 Analysis (Reasoning)
Analysis (Reasoning)
 Does it matter if he falls asleep if no
Does it matter if he falls asleep if no
one ever finds out?
one ever finds out?
 Evaluation (Judging)
Evaluation (Judging)

The Link Between the Taxonomy
The Link Between the Taxonomy
and Critical Thinking
and Critical Thinking
Critical thinking occurs when
Critical thinking occurs when
students achieve these more
students achieve these more
complex cognitive objectives:
complex cognitive objectives:
application, analysis, synthesis,
application, analysis, synthesis,
and evaluation.
and evaluation.

 As long as they are able to respond
effectively to your questioning, continue
asking leading, open-ended questions.
If they become frustrated or seem lost,
you will want to provide more guidance.
If basing questions on Bloom’s
Taxonomy, you might need to drop back
to a lower level of questioning until the
student becomes comfortable with
information at that level, then
progressing to higher levels.

 Encourage specific responses and reasons for
students’ viewpoints with questions such as:
Can you be more specific? Why do you think
that? What exactly do you mean by that?
 Encourage students to see the problem,
situation, or concept from a different
viewpoint. If working on a math problem,
for example, ask the student if he or she can
think of another way to solve the problem.
What would happen if we changed the order
in which we solved the problem? When
working on a history issue, ask How might
this issue have looked to the opposing side?

 Help students talk through problems.
Encourage them to think out loud and model this
yourself by vocalizing your own thought processes,
trying to implement specific reasoning skills as you
do so. This fosters better thinking in students by
enabling them to evaluate their own process and
serves as a means to understand the student’s
thought process. It also enables you to discover
where errors in thought occur. Some questions to
ask might include: What would you do first? What
would you do next? Is there another way to do
this? How would you change this? What
conclusions can you draw?

 Lengthen your response time. Remember
that it takes time to think. Remember, too,
that students may become anxious,
particularly if they feel they are put on the
spot, are unprepared, or have low self-
esteem; this sometimes causes the mind to go
blank. Be sure they feel comfortable and
unhurried.

Let them know what they're in for. On the
first day of class, spell out as completely as
possible what your philosophy of education
is, how you are going to structure the class
and why, why the students will be required
to think their way through it, why standard
methods of rote memorization will not work,
what strategies you have in store for them to
combat the strategies they use for passing
classes without much thinking, etc.

 Remember that your most important
teaching goal should be empowering
students, enabling them to trust their own
abilities. Remember that thinking—real
thinking—is hard work. Be gentle with
those you are teaching and give lots of
positive support, praise, encouragement, and
reinforcement. An added benefit is the
increase in your own skills as a critical
thinker. The more you help others learn, the
more you will learn.

Engaging_Students_to_Think_Critically_final_copy.ppt

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