How Do We Define Critical Thinking? Textbook Evaluator -- April 25, 2007 Independent Evaluations of Instructional Materials From Edvantage Consulting by Mark Montgomery "Educators and just about everyone else
insist that one
of the most important goals of education is to foster “critical
thinking” in
young people. Can anyone please define what that means? ... How much
knowledge
of facts and mastery of information must one have in order to think
critically
about something? For example, how much math must one master
before he can
think critically about it? ... Is “critical thinking” the same as
“criticizing”? ... is one’s ability to “think critically”
predicated
on a discrete knowledge base? ... To me, the phrase “critical thinking”
is
empty. Let’s give it some shape or toss it in the lexical garbage can."
-- Read
the Full Article Commentary by Hunter Finch There is an interdependence between thought and learning. You don't acquire one without the other because it's impossible to know what you haven't thought. Beyond memorization and recall, students who come to understand math learn how to think mathematically to grasp the underlying correlational concepts and therories of math. Critiical reason is what makes that understanding possible. One might just as appropriately ask, "How much critical thinking must one master before he can learn math?" ###
How
They'll Learn
Unit Structure -- April 23, 2007 by Fred Stutzman "Think about the role of
instant messenger as children work together on
math homework. Kids have adopted and internalized uses of these
technologies to
make the learning process more efficient - ad hoc networks of
peer-teachers
emerge. The only problem here is that we'd generally call this cheating
... The assignments coming from teachers are built on short-tail
models.
That is, everyone gets the same questions, they work on them alone, and
they
turn them in. Teacher has limited time for grading and answering
questions
... What if each student in the class got individual assignments,
and they were encouraged to work on the homework collaboratively via
instant
messenger. This solves the cheating problem, and it encourages
peer-to-peer
learning and teaching ...The future of our knowledge economy is built
on
collaboration. If we are always in touch, then we are always able to
work
together. Why then do our schools not work to optimize collaboration
skills? In
this collaboration economy, the most successful participants will be
the ones
who combine knowledge and critical thinking skills with an ability to
extend
their knowledge via the network. Under our current scheme, the student
who can
sit alone in the library studying for hours may get the best grades,
but they
may be missing a critical skill for operationalizing their ability." --
Read the Full Article ###
DNI
Leverages Personal Powers ###
Religious
Inconsistencies
Frederick News Post -- April 18, 2007 by D.C. Rice "We’ve come a long way since the days when one-room schoolhouses were scattered throughout the countryside, a time when community instructors not only carried Bibles into the classroom, but also actually taught from them ... Kris Helphinstine, a part-time high school biology teacher from Oregon, probably longs for those days ... Helphinstine found his class permanently dismissed after opting against teaching all of the approved “facts” of evolution, choosing instead to raise questions that most students typically aren’t allowed the opportunity to hear, let alone answer. Though he did sprinkle his lectures with biblical references, Helphinstine says he stopped short of specifically teaching creationism ... The ousted teacher attempted to defend his decision, stating, “Critical thinking is vital to scientific inquiry. My whole purpose was to give accurate information and to get them thinking ... But the school board didn’t see it that way, and they felt they had no choice but to fire him. Critical thinking must not be in the curriculum, but force-feeding students an unproven ideology apparently is ... It was a severe contradiction of what we trust teachers to do in our classrooms,” said one of the school board members ... That’s right. Who wants America’s youth thinking for themselves? They might actually want to hear more about opposing viewpoints, and we can’t have that." Commentary by
Hunter Finch ###
Education
Charlatans and Quacks
WorldNet Daily --April 15, 2007 by Walter E Williams "So
many Americans graduate … having learned what to think as opposed
to
acquiring the tools of critical, independent thinking … they fall prey
to the
rhetoric of political charlatans and quacks ... it's tempting to think
America's charlatans, quacks and demagogues are in cahoots with the
teaching
establishments” ###
Is
Critical Integration Possible in Politics?National Review -- April 15, 2007 The Mark Levin Blog "I'm disheartened by conservatives who … lecture that we must ignore serious defects in a Republican candidate's record …When a pundit or candidate demands that conservatives limit their critical thinking to one or two subjects or positions, that's self-serving. They're usually putting their own political preferences and motivations ahead of serious analysis." Commentary by Hunter Finch This blog calls for critical thinking throughout all political positions and issues as opposed to a policy of overlooking serious defects and applying critical thinking to a handful of key issues. Issues have different appeal and should have different priorities in a campaign. Yet, critical integration across all issues for the purpose of envisioning and defining visions of what a society is capable of becoming (and inherent consequences of becoming) is at the heart of a politician's, and a party's, intellectual integrity. Critical integrity is at the very core by which candidates are ultimately elected and through which social institutions are ultimately transformed. There's perhaps no defect more serious than a lack of critical integrity. ###
Don
Imus’ Comments Reflect a Larger
ProblemPoynterOnline (Everything You Need to be a Better Journalist) -- April 13, 2007 by Jill Geisler "The Don Imus story
makes me
uncomfortable -- and I hope it makes news
leaders queasy, too. The ad hominem attack has become so much a part of
our
media culture that I suspect Imus was acting within the bounds of what
he
thought his audience wanted and his bosses valued. ...The most
comforting
example of leadership I witnessed during this whole mess didn't come
from the
NBC or CBS executives who dropped the Imus show ... It came from the
members of
the Scarlet Knights team in their news conference, who spoke in
thoughtful,
measured tones about anger and pain. They stood their ground and never
took a
cheap shot at their assailant. Without so much as a raised voice, these
young
women demonstrated the value of reason in the face of outrage." ###
Q&A
Explores Best PracticesEducation Week News — April 12, 2007 Q&A Discussion on Making the Curriculum Meaningful with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Marsha Ratzel, & Mark Clemente "I often hear the issue of what to teach being framed as a choice between “teaching to the test” and “deep, meaningful learning”. Why can’t we have both? What I try to do is simply break the standards into learning objectives (especially higher-order thinking ones) then bring students to master them. If I’ve done a good job ensuring the students master those objectives, which were intensely keyed to the standards, then they should do fine on the state test. Meanwhile, they’ve completed projects, written essays, created plays, debated, engaged in critical thinking, and produced PowerPoints, along with a host of other activities that facilitate “deep, meaningful learning”. So my question is, doesn’t this “objectives mastery” approach do both things – ensure success on the test and provide deep, meaningful learning?" -- Read the full Article Commentary Testing goals and comparing Zscores are fine, but they have little to do with learning. Universal intellectual standards (purpose, clarity, accuracey, precission, relevance, breadth, depth, etc. grounded in the best practices of critical thought, on the other hand, have everything to do with learning. We think the question one needs to ask is, "Can you teach to a test with significance without first laying a clear foundation of intellectual standards by which such test outcomes and objectives become meaningful? ###
The
Sage of ReasonSunday Star Times — April 12, 2007 by Margo White "The University Of Auckland's stage-one philosophy paper, Critical Thinking, could be seen as a modern manifestation, and clearly students are still keen on the art of good arguing. Almost 700 students have enrolled in the paper this year, three times the number who enrolled in 2003. This is partly because it is now offered as a general education course, which means anyone can do it. But at least part of its appeal can be attributed to the reputation of the course and the lecturer who has designed it." --Read the Full Article Commentary by Hunter Finch This piece celebrates Jonathan McKeown-Green — a blind philosophy professor — for having "made philosophy fashionable." No easy task! Indeed, we all have our blind spots, and who better to see this than one who practices and teaches critical thinking? The introduction of critical thinking to students in their general education experience is essential, yet one wonders if critical thinking is also being taught integral to other subjects at the University of Aukland. The seminal concept of critical thought finds and improves on itself in application through other subjects and, therefore, it also needs to be carried into and assessed integrally from within the contexts of all domains and disciplines across the curriculum. ###
Journal
of Peacebuilding Calls for PapersCenter for Strategic & International Studies PCR Project — April 11, 2007 Synopsis:
The Journal of Peacebuild and Development , International Peace
Academy,
call for papers. Critical thinking is seen as the common denominator
for
building understandings and peace in this forum.-- Read
the Full Article by Hunter Finch "The Journal of Peacebuilding and Development and its issue partner, the International Peace Academy, are calling for papers. JPD is a bi-annual refereed journal providing a forum for the sharing of critical thinking and constructive action on issues at the intersections of conflict, development, and peace." Peace through critical thinking is a process we support. ###
Stanford
President Emeritus Calls for Critical ThinkingStanford News — April 11, 2007 by Chelsea Ann Young Synopsis: The Issue is Faith vs Reason. Creationism is "a religious concept that attributes the creation of life and the universe to a supernatural deity," and thus, it is inconsistent with the purpose of science. Donald Kennedy argues "that teaching creationism discourages students from applying the scientific method." Commentary by Hunter Finch "High school students who are taught creationism instead of evolutionary theory lack the critical thinking skills that are necessary for college, according to Stanford President Emeritus Donald Kennedy ... Kennedy is currently serving as an expert witness for the University of California Regents, who are being sued by a group of Christian schools, students and parents for refusing to allow high school courses taught with creationist textbooks to fulfill the laboratory science requirement for UC admission. After reading several creationist biology texts, Kennedy said he found "few instances in which students are being introduced to science as a process — that is, the way in which scientists work or carry out experiments, or the way in which they analyze and interpret the results of their investigations." ###
Report
Reveals Economic Competitiveness
Mena Report — April 11, 2007 Synopsis: The
profound change in the UAE's competitiveness is attributed to policies
that
embrace critical thinking within its academic and economic
institutions. This
report illustrates what people and societies can do to reinvent
themselves with
critical thinking concepts and best practices at the core of their
policies and
actions.-- Read the Full Article ###
Bad
Politics or Bad Research?ColoradoDaily.Com -- April 11, 2007 by Rachel Berns (Staff Writer) Synopsis: Is it driven by bad politics or by bad research? Colorado University has dismissed a professor whose Internet-published essay was controversial. As noted scholars and "intellectuals" come to his defense, the University's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct has recommended that the dismissal stand due to repeated acts of "serious research misconduct." The article calls for a reversal of this dismissal. -- Read the Full Article Commentary by Hunter Finch A CU professor has been facing an ongoing battle with his employers. In early 2005, his Internet-published essay regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- where he questioned the innocence of many killed that day -- became a focus of criticism. The University's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct recommended that (he) be penalized for repeated acts of “serious research misconduct.” Critical thinking should help us to recognize that any professor receiving accolaids from distinguished scholars, such as Noam Chomsky, is not doing bad research. This looks like a classic case of censorship. ###
Taiwan's
Academic Credibility Linked to
Critical Thinking
Taipei Times — April 10, 2007 by Michael Mauss Synopsis: Taiwan's credibility is linked to critical thinking. "A real democracy requires a real education system, an ability to discern between true and the false and to arrive at creative solutions through critical thinking."-- Read the Full Article Commentary ###
No
Child Left Behind: A Threat to National Security Commentary ###
China,
U.S. Taking Notes on EducationLos Angeles Times – April 8, 2007 by Mitchell Landsberg Synopsis: China is embracing critical thinking as a "bottom up" path to become a "nation of innovation." When government realized China's explosive growth couldn't be supported without an exponentially larger, better educated and innovative workforce, it adopted the U.S. model for critical thinking and initiated an aggressive plan to build schools in rural communities and to quintuple the size of its university system. Commentary by Hunter Finch Given the long up-hill struggle for recognition, understanding and acceptance of critical thinking in government, media, business and academic constituencies in the United State, we think it's somewhat ironic China would wish to hold the American Education System up as its ideal. Yet, having routinely worked with educators from China over the past two decades, we recognize the thirst for independent critical thinking in China and respect the rate at which its people are grasping, adopting, and applying it in plans to transform their institutions and society. ###
Intelligence
Workers to be Paid Based on
Critical Thinking Performance
Federal
Times.Com — April 6, 2007 ###
Famed
Philosopher Talks Critical Thought
The Dartmouth -- April 6, 2007 by Emily Weisburst Synopsis: Jacques Ranciere
Critiques
Critical Thinking. He has devoted much of his life to exploring
political
discourse and society's conception of class and aesthetic theory. More
recently, he has focused his attention on what types of situations
justify
human rights interventions and war.--Read
the Full Article ###
Here
Come School Musicals
The Arizona Republic -- April 4, 2007 by Rachael Quattrini Synopsis: High
school musicals are teaching creative and critical thinking through
their extra
curricular activities. Musical productions are galvanizing Intellect,
talent,
creative and critical thinking in teachers as well as in students
who
"want to be here, which is not always the case in high school
classrooms." -- Read
the Full Article ###
Forensics
Class Teaches Kids How to Think CriticallyNorthJersey.Com — April 4, 2007 by Joseph Ax Synopsis: High school forensic class is a natural domain to teach critical thinking across disciplines. Commentary by Hunter Finch The Forensic Class at Emerson High School is teaching critical thinking through forensic processes. The teacher, Elizabeth McClafferty administrates a journey of mystery, clues and discovery in her class room that could compete with any of the prime time thrillers making forensics a popular subject in today's culture. And that's just enough to engage student participation in Critical thinking across a number of disciplines. ###
Overselling
Literacy
The International News -- April 4, 2007 by Dr Shahid Siddiqui Synopsis: It is necessary to
revisit what is meant
by "literacy," long held by economists and educators as
a panacea to economic development in under developed countries.-- ###
Why
Are So Many Americans Afraid of the Truth?
TownHall.Com -- April 4, 2007 by Michael Johnson Synopsis: Issues such as homosexuality and
faith
are facts that impact our potential of
becoming a critical society. The National Education
Association's stance in these matters should be to foster
open
discourse in the context of critical thinking, rather than to acquiesce
in
politically correct affectations of silence. ###
Ohio
State GRE Test Dates Delayed Again
The Lantern (The Student Voice of Ohio State University) - April 4, 2007 Changes
in the new GRE involving the move away from memorization-based
questions and emphasis on critical thinking has been delayed.--
Read
the Full Article ###
Quality
Care Comes from Questioning, Nurse
SaysThe Daily Skiff (Texas Christian University) --April 4, 2007 by Kailey Delinger Synopsis:
Good nurses ask
questions. TCU is
becoming a focal point for critical care applications based in critical
thinking concepts and best practices, of which asking essential
questions is an
applied art. With the
emphasis on "evidence-based practice," there's a need for nurses who
have mastered the art of asking essential questions. In a
presentation
to nursing faculty and other Ft. Worth nurses, Alyce Schultz, associate
director of the Center for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice,
"enumerated instances in which asking questions about why things are
done
the way they are has improved the quality of care in hospitals." TCU's
Center for Evidence-Based Practice and Research is initiating
critical
thinking as a foundation for training nursing students. ###
Tales
of a Stranded Tory - Day 8University College London Conservative Society — April 4, 2007 by Luca Synopsis:
American
Television Debates Need Critical Thinking. Americans are exposed to
both sides
of the debate, including the extremes, but frequently choose to tune to
one
channel and take its broadcast words for pure gold."-- Read
the Full Article ###
Try
to Save Intramural Sports
Warwick Daily Times — April 3, 2007 Synopsis: Gordon Jr. High School
faces a
possibility their intramural sports budget may be cut. The community is
considering installing two cell towers to offset revenue. -- ###
What
Our Society Sorely Lacks -- Critical Thinking Skills
Gilroy Dispatch - April 3, 2007 by Lisa Pampuch by Hunter Finch Concerned parents with exposure to critical thinking -- better yet, who have no formal academic exposure to it but recognize their children are not sorting out and integrating information to make better, more accurate and informed decisions in school and in their daily lives -- have a responsibility to speak out. The earlier, the better, because learning how to learn well is best acquired early in life. The social implications of not speaking out, as this heart felt articles suggests, affects us all. When something's missing in education, teachers, school administrators, local government, et al need to hear about it. ###
Is
Feminism Finshied? TownHall.Com — April 2, 2007 by Jennifer Roback Morse Synopsis: Is feminism still viable? Should Virginia taxpayers fund gender based idealogies or gender studies? --Read the Full Article Commentary by Hunter Finch As people and societies evolve through their issues and social programs, critical consensus is often reached inadvertently. As consensus builds on some issues, other issues replace those that have preceded. New issues need to be redefined periodically. The author's article is reflective of this "settling" of idealogical positions as it recognizes that feminism has evolved beyond the question of equality between sexes. But then it advances "you don't need Women's Studies" to proselytize an idelology at taxpayers expense or to "feel good about yourself ... Students learn logical and critical thinking through philosophy, math and economics classes ..." True. But, critical thinking is a set of intellectual tools best taught across the curriculum in all domains and disciplines when, and only when, there is a well defined purpose; id est, philosophy, math, economics, and gender studies are defined purposes. Unlike the debate this article critiques -- where two sides square off red shirts against the blue shirts defending positions they've already taken playing to an audience which ultimately decides who "wins" -- critical thinking is a "dialectic" argument (with well defined purpose) between people of good faith (no political axes, thank-you-very-much) who move a problem down the path together towards a solution. When consensus is reached and the problem resolves itself, the argument, and everyone who takes part in it, "wins." ###
For
Chinese Schools, a Creative SparkInternational Herald Tribune -- April 1, 2007 by Ann Hulbert Synopsis: An ancedotal article on the current reformation of the Chinese Educational system from the perspective of a Harvard freshman from mainland China.-- Read the Full Article Commentary by Hunter Finch While the irony hardly escapes anyone pushing for critical thinking across social institutions and across the curriculum in the United States, the Chinese are embracing it in plans to modernize their own social institutions. "Even as American educators seek to emulate Asian pedagogy — a test-centered ethos and a rigorous focus on math, science and engineering — Chinese educators are trying to blend a Western emphasis on critical thinking, versatility and leadership into their own traditions. To put it another way, in the peremptorily utopian style typical of official Chinese directives (as well as of educationese the world over), the nation's schools must strive "to build citizens' character in an all-round way, gear their efforts to each and every student, give full scope to students' ideological, moral, cultural and scientific potentials and raise their labor skills and physical and psychological aptitudes, achieve vibrant student development and run themselves with distinction." ###
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