32 Animated Videos by Wireless Philosophy Teach You the Essentials of Critical Thinking Do you know someone whose arguments consist of baldly specious reasoning, hopelessly confused categories, archipelagos of logical fallacies buttressed by seawalls of cognitive biases? Surely you do. Perhaps such a person would welcome some instruction on the properties of critical thinking and argumentation? Not likely? Well, just in case, you may wish to send them over to this series of Wireless Philosophy (or “WiPhi”) videos by philosophy instructor Geoff Pynn of Northern Illinois University and doctoral students Kelley Schiffman of Yale, Paul Henne of Duke, and several other philosophy and psychology graduates. What is critical thinking? “A good reason for a belief,” Pynn says, “is one that makes it probable. In abductive arguments (or what are also called “inductive arguments”), above, we reason informally to the best, most probable explanation. Find more helpful resources in the Relateds below. Related Content: How to Spot Bullshit: A Primer by Princeton Philosopher Harry Frankfurt
Refining A Google Search Query Refining a query means changing or adding to the set of search terms to do a better job of returning the pages you’re seeking. Successful researchers frequently enter several queries to find what they’re seeking. The search boxes at the top and bottom of the results page show the query for the current results page. If the query uses special operators that you entered either directly or indirectly through the advanced search form, they will appear in the search box as well. Let’s look at a few examples. Get ideas for subsequent searches by reviewing your results, including the snippets that Google returns and the pages they came from. Search within resultsYou can get the same results in one step fewer by simply specifying additional terms to your previous query.On Internet Explorer and on some other browsers, you can change a term or an entire query easily. For a tutorial on how to use Advanced Search, visit www.lib.monash.edu.au/vl/google/goog06.htm. Exercises
Oxford's Free Course Critical Reasoning For Beginners Will Teach You to Think Like a Philosopher When I was younger, I often found myself disagreeing with something I’d read or heard, but couldn't explain exactly why. Despite being unable to pinpoint the precise reasons, I had a strong sense that the rules of logic were being violated. After I was exposed to critical thinking in high school and university, I learned to recognize problematic arguments, whether they be a straw man, an appeal to authority, or an ad hominem attack. Faulty arguments are all-pervasive, and the mental biases that underlie them pop up in media coverage, college classes, and armchair theorizing. Want to learn how to avoid them? Talbot builds the course from the ground up, and begins by explaining that arguments consist of a set of premises that, logically linked together, lead to a conclusion. Critical Reasoning For Beginners is currently available on the University of Oxford website in both audio and video formats, and also on iTunesU and YouTube. Related Content:
Classrooms for the Modern Learner: ISTE Field Trip - Alan November's Digital Learning Farm Many of us would all agree that students learn best when they have a vested interest, a desire or passion in what they are learning. As educators, we are forever working toward capturing that passion in our students by providing learning experiences that are authentic, challenging and relevant to the lives of those we teach. Alan November would take that one step farther, reminding us about the human need to make community contribution and encouraging us to bring this concept to the forefront of lesson planning. This was the backdrop to his ISTE session: Digital Learning Farms - Students as Contributors and it was amazing. Creating digital learning farms instead of school classrooms comes from the idea that children used to contribute to the family farm via chores. Curriculum ReviewersTutorial DesignersCollaboration CoordinatorsOfficial ScribesResearchersContributors to Society Notes: Digital Learning Farms - Alan November Search Operators Cheat Sheet For Search Operators A Google A Day
10 Team-Building Games That Promote Critical Thinking | TeachThought 10 Team-Building Games That Promote Critical Thinking by TeachThought Staff One of education’s primary goals is to groom the next generation of little humans to succeed in the “real world.” Yes, there are mounds of curricula they must master in a wide breadth of subjects, but education does not begin and end with a textbook or test. Other skills must be honed, too, not the least of which is how to get along with their peers and work well with others. This is not something that can be cultivated through rote memorization or with strategically placed posters. Students must be engaged and cooperation must be practiced, and often. 10 Team-Building Games That Promote Collaborative Critical Thinking You can purchase a classroom-ready version of team-building games that promote critical thinking here. 1. This team-building game is flexible. Then, give them something to construct. You can recycle this activity throughout the year by adapting the challenge or materials to specific content areas. 2. 3.
Students as Researchers A word about Students as Researchers and the Students as Researchers Toolkit from Mary Jean Gallagher. Assistant Deputy Minister, Ontario Ministry of Education. Students as Researchers Conference Toronto – February 2012 The Students as Researchers Conference was a response to students' suggestions about the importance of learning life skills like research and critical thinking. 150 students and teachers from around the province came together in a two day workshop and learned how to conduct collaborative inquiry research. Students as Researchers Forums 2012-13 This effort to involve students in research is not meant to exclude an adult presence. young people to organize around issues of their choice, youth and adults to come together in intergenerational partnerships. By making students and adults equal partners in collaborative inquiry we can support active engagement of students in questions of interest to them. Check out an overview of Students as Researchers by students and teachers.
3 Simple Strategies to Develop Students’ Critical Thinking – Education to Save the World This week we’ve focused on critical thinking using the model developed by the Foundation for Critical Thinking. By now you’re probably excited about the incredible potential that these tools hold…and a little overwhelmed. Where to start? Simple. 1) TELL students that you want them to work on their thinking. You might start this way: “In this class we will learn to be better thinkers. Students should know that you are interested in their thinking and that improved critical thinking is a goal of your classroom. 2) Choose ONE element of thought, intellectual standard, or intellectual trait and teach students what it means. 3) Give students something to think about and ask them to practice improving their thinking. Here are some easy ways to help kids practice: — A and B: Ask students to work in pairs. Image credit: Foundation for Critical Thinking — Telephone: Ask all students to write out answers to your question. — Make it better: Ask one student to share his or her answer with the class.
More Games — Breakout EDU Game Designer: Emma MorganAges: Middle GradesIdeal Group Size: Large GroupContent Area: Math Game Designer: Lisa ButlerAges: Middle GradesIdeal Group Size: Whole ClassContent Area: Social Studies Game Creator: Karen SwingAges: High SchoolIdeal Group Size: Whole ClassContent Area): Late Algebra 1 or Early Algebra 2 Math Rocks Game Creator: Chad SussexAges: ElementaryIdeal Group Size: Whole ClassContent Area: Math Game Creator: Trever ReehAges: High SchoolIdeal Group Size: 10-15Content Area: Math (Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2) Game Creator: Carrie HillmanAges: 8 -11 (may be adapted)Ideal Group Size: 5 - 10Content Area (optional): General Game Creator: Leasha Wolterman and Travis KlienowAges: ElementaryIdeal Group Size: Whole ClassContent Area (optional): Math Game Creator: Leasha WoltermanAges: ElementaryIdeal Group Size: Whole ClassContent Area: Math Game Creator: Micah ShippeeAges: Middle SchoolIdeal Group Size: 3 groups of 4-8 studentsContent Area: Social Studies, American History DR. The Swamp
The Questioning Toolkit - Revised The first version of the Questioning Toolkit was published in November of 1997. Since then there has been substantial revision of its major question types and how they may function as an interwoven system. This article takes the model quite a few steps further, explaining more about each type of question and how it might support the overall investigative process in combination with the other types. photo ©istockphoto.com Section One - Orchestration Most complicated issues and challenges require the researcher to apply quite a few different types of questions when building an answer. Orchestration is the key concept added to the model since its first version. orchestrate: To combine and adapt in order to attain a particular effect: arrange, blend, coordinate, harmonize, integrate, synthesize, unify. As the researcher moves beyond mere gathering to discovering and inventing new meanings, the complexity and the challenge of effective orchestration grows dramatically. --- Essential Questions ---
edutopia Editor's note: This post is co-authored by Nancy Frey, a Professor of Literacy in Educational Leadership at San Diego State University and a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator. Questions are a common way for teachers to check for understanding, right? The answer we’re looking for is "yes." Who hasn't questioned a group of students to determine whether or not they understood the content? What does the text say? What does the text say? The questions in this category require students to think literally about the text. The amount of time that teachers spend at the literal level will vary based on student responses. Questions at this level could include: What is the relationship between the narrator and the main character? How does the text work? When students have a grasp of the text at the literal level, we move to the structural level. For example, questions at the structural level could include: What is the _______ referenced by the narrator?
Overcoming Obstacles to Critical Thinking The ability to think critically is one skill separating innovators from followers. It combats the power of advertisers, unmasks the unscrupulous and pretentious, and exposes unsupported arguments. Students enjoy learning the skill because they immediately see how it gives them more control. Yet critical thinking is simple: It is merely the ability to understand why things are they way they are and to understand the potential consequences of actions. Devastating Consequences, Tremendous Opportunities Young people—without significant life experience and anxious to fit in—are especially vulnerable to surface appeal. Every educator is in a position to teach students how to gather information, evaluate it, screen out distractions, and think for themselves. A World of Illusions Seeing beyond superficial appearances is especially important today because we are surrounded by illusions, many of them deliberately created. Making a Start in Teaching Critical Thinking
Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Verbs [Infographic] When using Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy (a revised take on Bloom’s devised by educator Andrew Churches), it helps to have a list of verbs to know what actions define each stage of the taxonomy. This is useful for lesson planning, rubric making, and any other teacher-oriented task requiring planning and assessment strategies. The Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy verbs in this handy infographic apply specifically to each stage of the taxonomy. According to Churches on his wiki Edorigami, “Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy describes many traditional classroom practices, behaviours and actions, but does not account for the new processes and actions associated with Web 2.0 technologies …” This means the verbs listed below are applicable to facilitating technology use in the modern classrooms. A Quick Reference Tool for Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs We hope you find this infographic of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy verbs useful in your classroom practices. Poster Files For You