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For example, Nines (1987) developed a taxonomy of critical thinking skills which contained over 100 subcategories. For ease of SE in the classroom, I have adopted the definition in the Delphi Report (Faction et al, 1990). Faction’s panel Of experts concluded that critical thinking consists of the following steps (although these may not necessarily be undertaken in a linear fashion): * interpreting information * analyzing information * using deductive reasoning * recognizing assumptions * evaluating argument * inference * self-reflection These are useful starting points.
However, Scrivener and Paul (2011) state that critical thinking does not just consist of acquiring the abovementioned skills and being able to apply them appropriately, but also developing the habit of sing critical thinking skills in appropriate situations to guide one’s behavior. Glasses (1941) extends this to add a disposition to consider one’s experiences and problems in a thoughtful way: you need to possess the skills, know when to use them and be willing to use them whenever you can.
Bearing this in mind, I have found Faction’s steps ideal for structuring lessons where critical thinking practice can be incorporated and a number of my CIT students now use the above headings to help them develop merit and distinction level assignment work, which relate to the higher level cognitive tasks in Bloom’s taxonomy. This builds on research from as far back as the sass, when William Browne (CB Glasses, 1984) suggested that low level learning (such as that required by the pass criteria in the level 2 curriculum) could be achieved through simple repetition of tasks whilst higher level learning (I. . Merit and distinction work) requires more meaningful learning. Polyp (2008) also noted an improvement in students’ ability to solve more complex (mathematical) problems when they were taught a structured “critical thinking” approach, similar to Faction?s model. Skunk’s (1991 ) four argumentative critical thinking skills strengthen the above benefiting to provide a classroom “ethos” of critical thinking when used as part of active questioning and class discussions.
Skunk’s four key argumentative critical thinking skills are defined as: providing evidence for one’s own theory * envisioning alternative theories * providing counter-arguments * rebutting Encouraging these skills facilitates students’ epistemological growth (Weller, 2005), moving from William Perry Jar’s (CB Rapport, 2011) dualist perspective towards a relativist approach to learning. It also helps learners to question perceived truths and reflect on their own assumptions (Anderson et al, 2001).
There is a wide range of research into how critical thinking skills can be facilitated in the classroom (Browne and Freeman, 2000; Mayer and Weinstein, 1983; Done and Proctor, 2001 Their findings include the use of active (rather than passive) learning (Mayer and Weinstein, 1983), the introduction of structured controversy (Done and Proctor, 2001 ) and a spirit of open-mindedness (Browne and Freeman, 2000). I personally have found Socratic questioning to be a particularly effective method of reinforcing critical thinking skills of students in my classes.
If managed carefully, it also alps to foster an environment where students feel it is safe to test out new theories and ideas (Chin, 2007). It is unfortunate that, although we acknowledge the importance of our students’ critical thinking skills, many students who begin vocal education do not appear to have progressed to the stage where HTH apply critical thinking skills to their work (Glasses, 1984; Anderson et Savannah, 2010). Anderson et all’s (2001:5) study of Level 3 BITE SST found that “behaviors indicative of critical thinking were in fact ear students were specifically taught critical thinking as part of their cue
They went on to state that “Our observations suggested that both t and students were more concerned to satisfy the Scottish Qualified Authority’s written guidelines for what they should do than to exert disposition to think critically’ (Anderson et al, 2001 : 5). This proper focus on formal objectives rather than learning skills is discussed if in this paper. For now, it is important to understand why critical ITIL essential for our students. Why is Critical Thinking Important?
Our society is changing at a faster pace than ever before (Toffee, 1! Anemic, 201 1). Teenagers today have a plethora of information sol heir fingertips via their mobile phones, tablets and personal chomp However, a number of educational researchers (Gullah, 2001; 2005) have observed that individuals often struggle to distinguish useful amongst the huge volume of information (“infringe’) available In order to be able to work with all this information, students need information literate.
The National Research Council (CIT, 1999) stats are three elements to making individuals information literate: * Contemporary skills – knowing how to use the latest applications Foundational concepts – understanding the basic concepts of how work (networks, hard disks, etc. * Intellectual capabilities – engage level thinking to manipulate information as required Vocational courses such as the NV and the BITE in CIT have Deere of contemporary CIT skills and assessment of understanding of off concepts built explicitly built into the curriculum (Deduced, 2010).