1.
The
Reflective Log gives structure
and focus to the journal assignment many teachers use. Coach and
guide meta-cognition,
to develop students' self-monitoring and self-correction skills.
And yet, regardless of the clever strategies one may build into
one's class, a very big part of teaching thinking, or anything
else, is remembering that no matter what you say is important,
you will get only what
you test.
2.
One smart approach to encourage students to read assigned material
and come to class more prepared is the
Learning
Through Discussion strategy. The steps to this process
along with some valuable suggestions for practical ways to prepare
student discussion leaders are contained in the four-page PDF
file. Students approach knowing with different
levels
of cognitive development. Peg your teaching about one
level higher than your students'. Challenge them to come up to
that level, and nurture their efforts. To reinforce your teaching
and support your students and your colleagues in their work, be
sure to survey thecampus
culture of learning and focus students' attention on
the core learning goals of your courses.
3.
Here are some things to think about before you invite students
to evaluate
of the course you are teaching. You
get what you test. If you want your students to think, they
must know that you will test their thinking and problem solving
skills as explicit elements that go into determining their grades.
Any course assignment that can be used to engage students' thinking
can be used to test students' thinking. Review the CT
Course Evaluation Form as one example. Have you thought
of using a course evaluation form based on learning outcomes as
a pedagogical tool? Why not include the same outcomes in your
syllabus and reinforce to students all the times and places in
your course where they should be acquiring the skills, knowledge,
and habits of learning which build toward those outcomes. For
more on course evaluation forms -- validity, reliability, and
how your department can design a set which speaks directly to
the learning outcomes and teaching methodologies of your discipline
-- Click here.
4.
Use them these two sample
exercises to think about how you can build your own
assignments for your own students. Remember in this process to
use the language of thinking by asking students to interpret,
analyze, evaluate, infer, and explain. Encourage them to be systematic,
objective, fair-minded, mature, and truthseeking in judging what
to believe or what to do. Don't just ask them to take a position
and defend it; critical thinking is not about winning an argument
its about making a reasoned judgment. To evaluate student-work,
and to help students to internalize the language and standards
of good thinking, teach them to evaluate their own work and the
work of their classmates.
5.
Use the Holistic
Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric, or fashion you own
evaluation guidelines perhaps guided by these peer
evaluation example standards. You can use our professionally
developed and validated reasoning and critical thinking skills
tests, like The
Test of Everyday Reasoning, and measures of learning
and thinking motivation, like the CM3,
to assess students and evaluate programs.
6.
In your classroom you can
combine
multiple choice and short answer questions.
7.
Improve Thinking by Thinking and Evaluating
Actual Examples Decision-Making and Problem-Solving! Teach
groups and individuals to reflect upon and critically analyze
their problem solving and decision-making processes by asking
themselves systematic and tough questions about their own assumptions,
methodologies, standards, and theoretical frames of references.
"Step-Back" and be sure that you understand the problem
before you try to solve it. Be sure you know what success would
really look like before you set about making things right. Too
often we, and our students, do things just to be doing something,
without knowing what what the problem really is, why we are doing
it, or how we will know when to declare victory. Here are some
questions to ask yourself and your students about critical
thinking.
8.
Download for your students (or create a link in your course's
webpage) the latest update of Critical
Thinking: What It is and Why it Counts. It takes a
Socratic approach to explaining the idea behind critical thinking
and its value to life and living. You might enjoy some of the
other essays on higher
education topics we have gathered for you to download
free.
