Chapter 4 Reflections

(http://austhink.com/critical/pages/teaching.html)

I believe one of the most important purposes for education is to learn how to think critically and so it is essential for teachers to know how to foster these skills in their students. Students who can think critically will be better citizens, make better life choices, have an advantage in their careers, and will be able to learn and apply more complex material. Chapter 4 of the text gives practical guidelines and examples for enhancing the critical thinking skills of the students in regular classroom uses and when using technology.


The overall advantages for students to think critically when using technology are:

1. Ability to determine the credibility of electronic sources.
2. Able to identify claims, evidence, assumptions and conclusions.
3. Analyze the quality of the argument.
4. Create and provide evidence for a position on an issue.
5. Ask appropriate questions to clarify.
6. Develop experiments and analyze design.
7. Define terms that relate to the context.
8. Maintain an open mind.
9. Purpose to be well-informed.
10. Draw conclusions with caution when necessary.

(p. 101)


These skills help students to evaluate about the media they use. Then, they are concerned with who is the author, what images were created to attract their attention, other possible views, the type of perspectives, values and cultures represented or excluded, and what is their motivation for promoting this topic. (p. 103)

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Chapter 4 also deals with the critical thinking process and general steps to take. Because students use different methods to think critically, a systematic, overall guideline is helpful for teachers to inform their students of and guide them through the process.


Basic critical thinking steps:

• Review your understanding of the material and identify the problem. Is more information needed?
• Analyze the material --organize it into groups and identify which ones are the most important.
• Synthesize your answers. Why is it important? How can it be used? What are the effects? What parts do not fit into the larger theme?
• Evaluate the decision making process.

(pp. 105-106)


If students follow this guideline for almost every assignment, they will develop the skills to think critically. I think it is important to note that students must have a concrete understanding of the material in order to move on to the critical thinking portion. Therefore, teachers must ensure content (declarative knowledge) is covered first before giving critical thinking assignments or the students may feel overwhelmed and confused.

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Another part of Chapter 4 provides a guide to the teacher's role in the critical thinking process for students.


Teacher's role in critical thinking:

1. Clearly and effectively explain what students need to do and why.
2. Encourage the students to think for themselves.
3. Admit and correct any mistakes made on teacher's part.
4. Remain sensitive to students feelings, capabilities and goals.
5. Allow a democratic system in the classroom.
6. Ask the right questions.
7. Assign work that is an appropriate level of challenge.
8. Teach critical thinking strategies.
9. Encourage curiosity.

(pp. 107-108)


I think the challenge for teachers here is to foster critical thinking skills without doing too much --otherwise the students will not do a lot of thinking on their own and it defeats the purpose. I believe that if teachers stick to these guideline they will remain within the boundary.



For further discovery, read an article from GSU Teacher's Master program by Harvey J. Brightman. Here's the link: http://www2.gsu.edu/~dschjb/wwwcrit.html

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Textbook: Supporting Learning with Technology by Joy Egbert (pp. 101-108)

Pearson Education, Inc. 2009