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Critical Thinking
Significance:
Critical thinking is an active state of mind in which the
learner asks himself some inner questions to reach
the solution to a problem. Such questions start with
the following questions words ( what, who, why, how,
how come, where, when....).
Let's transfer from the stages of comprehension,
knowledge and applicability to other high levels of
thinking like analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
When I hear I forget,
when I see I remember,
when I practice, I learn,
When I learn, I analyze,
When I synthesize, I evaluate,
When I create, I innovate.
In the revised taxonomy, knowledge is at the basis
of these six cognitive processes, but its authors
created a separate taxonomy of the types of
knowledge used in cognition:
Bloom's taxonomy:
Here are the authors’ brief explanations of these
main categories in from the appendix of Taxonomy
of Educational Objectives (Handbook One, pp.
201-207):
Knowledge “involves the recall of specifics and
universals, the recall of methods and processes, or
the recall of a pattern, structure, or setting.”
Comprehension “refers to a type of understanding
or apprehension such that the individual knows
what is being communicated and can make use of
the material or idea being communicated without
necessarily relating it to other material or seeing its
fullest implications.”
Application refers to the “use of abstractions in
particular and concrete situations.”
Analysis represents the “breakdown of a
communication into its constituent elements or
parts such that the relative hierarchy of ideas is
made clear and/or the relations between ideas
expressed are made explicit.”
Synthesis involves the “putting together of
elements and parts so as to form a whole.”
Evaluation engenders “judgments about the value
of material and methods for given purposes.”
Why Bloom's Taxonomy?
The authors of the revised taxonomy suggest a multi-
layered answer to this question, to which the author
of this teaching guide has added some clarifying
points:
1-Objectives (learning goals) are important to
establish in a pedagogical interchange so that
teachers and students alike understand the purpose
of that interchange.
2-Organizing objectives helps to clarify objectives for
themselves and for students.
3-Having an organized set of objectives
helps teachers to:
“plan and deliver appropriate instruction”;
“design valid assessment tasks and strategies”;and
“ensure that instruction and assessment are aligned
with the objectives.”
A formula for thinking more effectively:
(1.) Develop smarter habits -- Habits are formed wheneve
r we repeat an action in a specific context. Habits are not
stopped, they are replaced.
(2.) Acquire high quality knowledge -- the core
knowledge for smart thinking is causal knowledge, which
is what we use to answer the question “why?”
Unfortunately, the quality of our causal knowledge is
often less good than we think it is.
(3.) Need to be able to use that knowledge when we
need it-- to use knowledge effectively, we need to master
the art of analogy. To that end, we need to learn to see the
essence of the problems we are trying to solve. We also
need to improve our memory, or ability to remember things
to access knowledge when we need it. -- to use knowledge
effectively, we need to master the art of analogy. To that
end, we need to learn to see the essence of the problems
we are trying to solve. We also need to improve our
memory, or ability to remember things to access
knowledge when we need it.
Examples
This team-building game is flexible. You simply have to
divide students into teams and give them equal amounts
of a certain material, like pipe cleaners, blocks, or even
dried spaghetti and marshmallows.
Then, give them something to construct. The challenge
can be variable (think: Which team can build the tallest,
structurally-sound castle? Which team can build a castle
the fastest?).
You can recycle this activity throughout the year by
adapting the challenge or materials to specific content
areas. Apart from critical thinking students also learn to
collaborate and to work in groups.
In this activity first asks students to consider a question
on their own, and then provide them an opportunity to
discuss it in pairs, and finally together with the whole class.
The success of such activities depends on the nature of
the questions posed.
This activity works ideally with questions to encourage
deeper thinking, problem-solving, and/or critical analysis.
The group discussions are critical as they allow students
to articulate their thought processes.
Advantages of the think-pair-share include the engagement
of all students in the classroom (particularly the opportunity
to give voice to quieter students who might have difficulty
sharing in a larger group), quick feedback for the instructor
(e.g., the revelation of student misconceptions),
encouragement and support for higher levels of
thinking of the students.
Construct a scenario in which students would need to
work together and solve problems to succeed, like being
stranded on a deserted island or getting lost at
sea/jungle/town. Ask them to work together and
come out with a solution that ensures everyone
arrives safely.
You might ask them to come up with a list of 10 must-have
items that would help them most, or a creative passage
to safety. Encourage them to vote everyone must agree
to the final solution.
This game is similar to the “If you build it” game:
Teams have a common objective, but instead of each
one having the same materials, they have access to a
whole cache of materials.
For instance, the goal might be to create a contraption
with pipes, rubber tubing and pieces of cardboard that
can carry a marble from point A to point B in a certain
number of steps, using only gravity.
This open-ended concept is simple and serves as an
excellent segue into problem-based learning.
Challenge students to identify and cooperatively solve
a real problem in their schools or communities.
6. Gap Fill In
Students are shown a picture, projected in the front of
the room, if possible. At the top of their paper, students
should write: "What is happening in this picture?"
At the bottom of the page, they should answer with
what they believe is happening in the photo simply
in 1-2 sentences or according to the age/grade this
activity is being done with.
In the middle of the page students write down all of the
steps they took to arrive at that answer. Students are
encouraged to write down the evidence they see that
supports their conclusion.
This activity not only uses evidence, but supports
Meta cognition skills by asking what prior knowledge
brought you to your conclusion. This is a good activity
to Bell Work or "Do Now."
Set up an inner circle and an outer circle in your
classroom. Students should not be sitting in this setup
yet, but rather in their regular classroom seats.
The class should be presented with a question or
a statement and allowed to reflect individually for
a few minutes.
During this reflection period, count the class off into
small groups by 3s, 4s, or 5s.Students should now
transition to the fishbowl setup. In the numbered
groups, have students facilitate a conversation while
others on the outside observe without comment.
(For example, a teacher may have all 1s go to the
fishbowl, while the rest of the class sits in the outer
ring.)
Once the inner group has discussed for a bit, have the
outer group evaluate two things: Their process is they
actually listened to one another and their content from
knowing whether they are providing evidence or just
opinions.
Writing (or drawing) and silence are used as tools
to slow down thinking and allow for silent reflection,
unfiltered. By using silence and writing, students can
focus on other viewpoints. This activity uses a driving
question, markers, and Big Paper. Students work in
pairs or threes to have a conversation on the Big
Paper.
Students can write at will, but it must be done in
silence after a reflection on the driving question.
This strategy is great for introverts, and provides a
ready made visual record of thought for later.
When posed with a thought-provoking prompt,
students line themselves up along a U-shaped
continuum representing where they stand on that
issue. The sides of the U are opposite extremes,
with the middle being neutral. The teacher starts a
discussion by giving equal opportunity for individuals
in each area of the continuum to speak about their
stand. The students use “I” Wstatements when
stating their opinion.
Other Examples
1-Venn Diagram:
A-Down, a diagram where learners can learn
about synthesis:
B-Down, a diagram where learners can find the
similarities and differences between 2 things, 2
characters or 2 phenomenon.
2-Subsequent events series:
Learners can use it in talking about a story events in its
natural times subsequently.
Example:
(Prisoner of Zenda), Chapter 1. The chapter "Feed back":
1- First,...................................the first event...........
2-Next,....................................the second event..........
3-Next,....................................the third event............
4-Then,...................................the fourth event.........
5-Later,...................................the fifth event.......
6-Finally,.................................the last event........
3-The range of solving problems:
Solving problem Exercise:
1-Situation 1:
“A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer.
There was one drug that the doctors thought might save
her.
It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had
recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but
the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him
to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged
$2,000 for a small dose of the drug.
The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he
knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together
about $1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the
druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it
cheaper or let him pay later.
But the druggist said: “No, I discovered the drug and I'm
going to make money from it.” So Heinz got desperate
and broke into the man's laboratory to steal the drug
for his wife.
2-Situation 2:
There is a trolley coming down the tracks and ahead,
there are five people tied to the tracks who are unable
to move. The trolley will continue coming and will kill the
five people. There is nothing you can do to rescue the five
people except that there is a lever.
If you pull the lever, the train will be directed to another
track, which has only one person tied to it.
You have two choices:
Do nothing and the five people will die
Pull the lever and save the five people, but let one
person die.
Did you make your choice?
Situation 3:
to move.
The trolley will continue coming and will kill the five people.
However, in this situation, you are standing on a bridge
above the train tracks and you can see the train coming.
There is a man standing next to you, who is so enormous
and heavy that if he places himself in front of the oncoming
train, it will hit and kill him but the train will stop.
So you have two choices
Do nothing and the five people will die.
Push the big guy down the bridge.
He will be killed but will stop the trolley and save the
five people.
12- Using technology in teaching.
English Teaching Forum 2014,
Volume 52, Number 4
13-Education with a good qualit
14-Human resources management
15-Goup work and playing role
13-Classsroom work rules
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