Engaging Students to Think Critically

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Engaging Students to Think Critically

• David E. Balk
• Director, Graduate Studies in Thanatology
• Brooklyn College

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Let Us Begin with the Following Assertion

• Our responsibility as teachers is to promote
  student learning.

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How do effective teachers promote student
learning?

• By using methods whereby students think
  critically about the subject matter of the
  curriculum.

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How do effective teachers promote student
learning?

• Students think critically when they become
  actively involved in the subject matter, connect
  ideas from various sources, and gain insight by
  comparing and contrasting their own experiences
  with the course material.

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How do effective teachers promote student
learning?

• The challenge for faculty is to identify how they
  will engage students in active involvement,
  connecting ideas, and making use of experiential
  contexts.

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A Foundation and a Starting Point

• The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
• A cognitive domain
• An affective domain

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Cognitive Educational Objectives

• Knowledge of Facts
• Comprehension of Information
• Application of Information
• Analysis of Information
• Synthesis of Information
• Evaluation of Information

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Knowledge of Facts

• Examples Answering correctly such questions as
  Who was the 16th President of the United
  States?, What is the abbreviation for
  chlorine?, Name the known planets in our solar
  system, and Who wrote the book On Death and
  Dying?

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Comprehension of Information

• Examples Answering correctly such questions as
  Tell briefly what Lincoln primarily wanted to
  accomplish in the War Between the States, State
  in your own words how the planets in our solar
  system were formed, and Tell in your own words
  what Kubler-Ross meant by bargaining.

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Application of Information

• Examples Answering such questions as How do
  Lincolns ideas about a house divided apply to
  understanding the battle over civil rights in the
  United States in the 1960s? and Use Bowlbys
  notions of phases of mourning to explain
  childrens reactions to the divorce of their
  parents

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Analysis of Information

• Answering such questions as Examine Lincolns
  first inaugural address and see if it forecasts
  his determination to keep the Union together and
  to end slavery and Interpret the following case
  study of a terminally ill woman in terms of
  Kubler-Rosss stages of dying.

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Synthesis of Information

• Examples Write a biography of Lincoln or
  Devise a model for grieving by examining
  information from major writers in the field of
  thanatology.

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Evaluation of Information

• Examples Assess the impact of the Emancipation
  Proclamation as a factor in ending the War
  between the States and Judge the value of
  Kubler-Rosss stages of dying as a therapeutic
  tool for counselors working with the bereaved.

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The Link Between the Taxonomy and Critical
Thinking

• And here is my link to critical thinking, the
  goal I believe college teaching is supposed to
  reach
• Critical thinking occurs when students achieve
  these more complex cognitive objectives
  application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

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A Dilemma, Perhaps a Paradox

• The gap separating many college teachers stated
  intents to promote critical thinking and their
  actual performance when assessing student
  learning.

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Actual Experience Supporting These Ideas

• Based on some valuable committee work in which I
  participated at Kansas State University when
  devising a university-wide change in general
  education

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Aye, heres the rub

• It is one thing for a faculty member to say
  attaining certain critical thinking objectives
  are part of the curriculum.
• It is something altogether different to form a
  curriculum that challenges students to attain
  those critical thinking objectives.

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What Did My KSU Colleagues Teach Me?

• My KSU colleagues persuaded me of the wisdom of
  requiring faculty to spell out specifically and
  clearly in their syllabi at least one example of
  how they will promote active learning.

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What Did My KSU Colleagues Teach Me?

• To spell out specifically and clearly in their
  syllabi at least one example of how they will
  provide an opportunity to connect ideas

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What Did My KSU Colleagues Teach Me?

• To spell out specifically and clearly in their
  syllabi at least one example of how they will
  make use of experiential context.

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A Specific Set of Ideas Using Reading and Writing

• A way I have endeavored to promote critical
  thinking is through students intensive reading,
  writing, and discussion of student papers -- with
  timely, concise written feedback from the
  instructor on each paper.

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Using Reading and Writing to Promote Critical
Thinking

• I always incorporate this approach in any course
  I teach.

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Logistics to This Group Work

• Four to five students comprise a group.

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Logistics to This Group Work

• The students review papers are 4-6 pages long
  (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, 1
  margins).

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Logistics to This Group Work

• Each person reads aloud his/her paper while the
  other group members follow along with their own
  copies.

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Logistics to This Group Work

• Once the students have read their papers, the
  groups do three things
• Discuss the summaries and identify what could be
  done to strengthen each summary as a clear and
  reliable presentation of the personal account.
• Discuss the questions and the various answers
  given.
• Complete in writing a discussion worksheet

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Six Points to a Discussion Worksheet

• Point 1 What are the strengths in each persons
  review and what are some ways each student can
  improve his/her review to provide a clear and
  reliable presentation of the personal account?

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Six Points to a Discussion Worksheet

• Point 2 What were the various points discussed
  about the personal account?

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Six Points to a Discussion Worksheet

• Point 3 What personal experiences and
  observations of group members were mentioned as
  experiences and observations that confirm or call
  into question the personal account?

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Six Points to a Discussion Worksheet

• Point 4 What are areas on which people reach
  consensus?

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Six Points to a Discussion Worksheet

• Point 5 What are areas on which people disagree?

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Six Points to a Discussion Worksheet

• Point 6 How could the personal account be
  strengthened as an introduction to one or more
  topics about this course?

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One More Point about a Discussion Worksheet

• Discussion worksheets are graded and each person
  in the group gets the grade for the worksheet.

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Another Issue about Group Work

• Parasites

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An Answer I Have Found

• Student assessment of group members performance.
• A copy of a group assessment form is included
  with your materials.

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Traditional Means to Pull Off Such a Radical
Endeavor

• Tradition provides the means to make your course
  one that engages students to think critically
  Your syllabus

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Some Examples

• I have included two syllabi I have used with
  undergraduates one at Oklahoma State University
  and one at Brooklyn College.

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Concluding Remarks

• My talk is aimed at structuring a course to
  promote critical thinking.
• Some of these very ideas can be taken as a means
  to develop and carry out evaluation of an
  educational program or assessment of a course.
• But that is another workshop.

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Concluding Remarks

• Thank you for your attention.