March 22, 2017
Hello Jim,
To “everyone who has taught, or is teaching, a critical thinking course” please keep the following in mind when considering critical thinking, reading, and writing materials for classroom use:
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing - What You Should Understand
As a teacher-educator, teacher-candidate, school and college faculty member, student, instructional coach/designer, professional developer, writer/producer of educational materials, principal, or education dean, here is what you need to understand:
~ You cannot think critically of anything unless you employ a critical reasoning strategy.
~You cannot read anything critically unless you employ a critical reasoning strategy.
~ You cannot write of anything critically unless you employ a critical reasoning strategy.
A critical reasoning strategy is the mental view you take of subject matter. It is how you reason when thinking of the facts and ideas within new and revisited subject matter. A critical reasoning strategy is arranging facts and ideas according to some reasoning framework for purposes of (1) understanding, comprehending, and explaining; (2) engaging in argumentation, and (3) solving problems.
Said another way, a critical reasoning strategy is how you have your mind arrange (i.e., organize, systemize, assemble, construct, form patterns for), subject matter facts and ideas when you think, read, and write. It is therefore the mental foundation for how you ask your students to think, read, and write critically when leading them in gaining understanding and comprehension of subject matter.
The consequences of instruction that is not based on a critical, formal, explicit, and shared critical reasoning strategy - one that reflects the innate critical grammar of mind of human beings - is the inducement of rote learning and the defeat of critical thinking, reading/listening, and writing/speaking abilities in all students: disadvantaged, English language learners, general, and special.
For more on critical instruction, see www.criticalthinking.info
Respectfully,
Victor Maiorana
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On 3/9/17, 12:20 PM, "AILACT DISCUSSION LIST on behalf of Peter Facione" <[log in to unmask] on behalf of [log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi Jim,
Thanks for putting out this call. I hope that lots of people respond because there are a great many successful projects out there. I know this because I see a lot of the objective testing data from pre-test/post-test studies, large and small. What you and AILACT are doing is vitally important.
In 1995 we made a similar, but much more limited, call for materials. Back then ours focused on demonstrably successful approaches to developing critical thinking in the health sciences. That resulted in the publication of a teaching anthology of "favorite lessons." Readers, we expected, would see the structure of the lesson and then adapt that structure to fit with their particular course content. Essays by the 25 authors published in that anthology are now available on line at https://www.insightassessment.com/Resources/Teaching-Training-and-Learning-Tools/Training-Critical-Thinking-and-Clinical-Reasoning
Jim, and all who read this, please feel free to survey, link to, reference, or use any or all of the teaching and research materials in the public critical thinking resources library hosted at https://www.insightassessment.com/Resources
Insight Assessment is committed to the international advancement of critical thinking. We believe critical thinking can and should be fostered, developed and assessed. In our public library you will find a selection of resources for those engaged in teaching for and about thinking. You'll find discussions of what critical thinking is, lists of research about critical thinking, and practical strategies that have proven valuable for training excellence in reasoning and judgment. These resources can be applied across disciplines and settings, in teaching and training people of all ages, in all nations around the world.
Importance of Critical Thinking https://www.insightassessment.com/Resources/Importance-of-Critical-Thinking
This section features essays and papers discussing the definition and importance of critical thinking. Highlights include the seminal essay, "Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts," the executive summary of the "Expert Consensus on Critical Thinking (Delphi) Report," and "Characteristics of Strong Critical Thinkers."
Teaching, Training and Learning Tools https://www.insightassessment.com/Resources/Teaching-Training-and-Learning-Tools
This branch links to more than 50 practical strategies and tools that have proven valuable in training excellence in reasoning. Highlights include sample critical thinking questions, developmental rubrics and rating forms, descriptions of training techniques, argument mapping procedures, essay and exam questions, the "Reflective Log" series of exercises, and more.
Measuring Reasoning Skills and Mindset https://www.insightassessment.com/Resources/Measuring-Reasoning-Skills-and-Mindset
This area of the public library includes essays about quality, validity and reliability in measuring thinking. Also featured is a video on interpreting Insight Assessment Group Reports. The that Insight Assessment has been providing for over 20 years to dissertation studies and externally funded research grants is described in this section as well.
Research Findings https://www.insightassessment.com/Resources/Research-Findings
Independent peer reviewed publications about critical thinking have appeared in a broad spectrum of disciplines. This section includes abstracts of published research about the development, measurement and evaluation of methods to train high stakes reasoning and decision making. These abstracts are organized under the topics "Evaluating Training Techniques," "Learning Outcomes Assessment," "Admissions, Retention, and Licensure," "Performance Ratings, and "Leadership, Skills and Mindset."
Wishing you all the best in the important project that you and our AILACT colleagues have undertaken on behalf of the improvement of critical thinking,
Yours respectfully,
Pete
Peter A. Facione, PhD
www.measuredreasons.com
650-743-8632
-----Original Message-----
From: AILACT DISCUSSION LIST [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Freeman
Sent: Friday, March 3, 2017 2:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Callto Critical Thinking Instructors for Critical Thinking Course Materials
Calling all Critical Thinking course instructors!
This is a message to everyone who has taught, or is teaching, a critical thinking course.
We are editing a new kind of resource book for critical thinking instructors.
One feature of this resource book is model instructional materials, on virtually any topic, to which a beginning instructor can turn for guidance. We need experienced critical thinking teachers to contribute model course materials (in return for a share in the royalties).
§ We need tried and true models of lesson plans for units of instruction for a single class on a topic, or a week-long unit on a topic, or a two-week-long unit on a topic.
§ We need effective model practice exercises and/or homework assignments for virtually any topic.
§ We need effective model test or exam questions.
Ideally, you will be able to identify the critical thinking skill(s) or dispositions your submission is designed to teach, and you will have ideas about “real world” applications of the material.
Please contact us for more details if you would like to be included as a contributor to The Critical Thinking Book.
The Editors
Tony Blair [log in to unmask] Ralph Johnson [log in to unmask] We need material on the following topics.
Argument identification, analysis and diagramming or mapping Evaluating and critiquing arguments Using arguments to inquire or investigate Constructing effective arguments; making a case Analyzing reports and recommendations of sources—e.g., appeals to the authority of alleged experts and evaluating their reliability Interpreting and assessing observations and reports of observations; reliability of eyewitness testimony; reliability of our sensory observations Recognizing and using basic deductive logical relations: entailment, contraries, contradictories, necessary and sufficient conditions.
Understanding and assessing reports of various kinds of experimental design and various kinds of studies (covering, e.g., correlation vs. causation).
Recognizing, assessing, and using reasoning and inference to the best explanation Recognizing and assessing generalizations, polls and other sampling, tables and graphs Recognizing, analyzing and assessing the use and misuse of analogies Recognizing different kinds of value judgments and their criteria (including evaluation concepts such as criteria, standards, ranking, grading, marking, formative and summative evaluation, analytic and global evaluation), pro and con reasoning, kinds of rules, consequences and principles.
Recognizing and assessing the merits and appropriateness of different kinds of definitions and skill in composing definitions Assessing and in creating classifications for various purposes Interpreting and assessing information found on the Web Other—suggestions for other topics
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