Critical and Creative Thinking - Bloom's Taxonomy What are critical thinking and creative thinking? What's Bloom's taxonomy and how is it helpful in project planning? How are the domains of learning reflected in technology-rich projects? Benjamin Bloom (1956) developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior in learning. This taxonomy contained three overlapping domains: the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. Within the cognitive domain, he identified six levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Critical Thinking Critical thinking involves logical thinking and reasoning including skills such as comparison, classification, sequencing, cause/effect, patterning, webbing, analogies, deductive and inductive reasoning, forecasting, planning, hypothesizing, and critiquing. Creative thinking involves creating something new or original. Knowledge Examples: dates, events, places, vocabulary, key ideas, parts of diagram, 5Ws Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation Other Sites
A proposed framework for teaching and evaluating critical thinking ... Critical thinking Critical thinking is a type of clear, reasoned thinking. According to Beyer (1995) Critical thinking means making clear, reasoned judgements. While in the process of critical thinking, ideas should be reasoned and well thought out/judged.[1] The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking defines critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.'[2] Etymology[edit] In the term critical thinking, the word critical, (Grk. κριτικός = kritikos = "critic") derives from the word critic, and identifies the intellectual capacity and the means "of judging", "of judgement", "for judging", and of being "able to discern".[3] Definitions[edit] According to the field of inquiry [weasel words], critical thinking is defined as: Skills[edit] In sum:
249 Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs For Critical Thinking Bloom’s Taxonomy’s verbs–also know as power verbs or thinking verbs–are extraordinarily powerful instructional planning tools. In fact, next to the concept of backwards-design and power standards, they are likely the most useful tool a teacher-as-learning-designer has access to. Why? They can be used for curriculum mapping, assessment design, lesson planning, personalizing and differentiating learning, and almost any other “thing” a teacher–or student–has to do. For example, if a standard asks students to infer and demonstrate an author’s position using evidence from the text, there’s a lot built into that kind of task. Though the chart below reads left to right, it’s ideal to imagine it as a kind of incline, with Knowledge at the bottom, and Create at the top. 249 Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs For Critical Thinking
Vialogues, a Web 2.0 tool supporting 21st Century learning skills Address: Vialogues is a Web 2.0 tool providing a platform for asynychronous discussions centered around videos. While videos can engage students, the addition of meaningful commentaries increases student learning. This Web 2.0 teaching tool is easy to integrate into the curriculum. You simply upload an appropriate video (even one from YouTube), make the discussion public or private, and begin the discussion. The video is seen on the left side of the page and comments appear on the right side. The "Q&A" tool lets you add a poll to the discussion - an easy way to assess student learning. 21st Century Skills This Web 2.0 teaching tool allows asynchronous discussion that develops viewers' communication skills. In the Classroom What makes video effective for learning? Ways to Use Vialogues in the Classroom This lesson is an excellent example of using this Web 2.0 tool in the classroom. In-Class Activity for High Schoolers: 9/11 Ten Years Later Tutorial Video Tutorial
16 Flipped Classrooms In Action Right Now Flipped classrooms require educators to reconstruct traditional classrooms by sending lectures home and providing more face-to-face time at school, but elementary- through university-level instructors are finding good reasons to try them out. Frequently traced back to Colorado teachers Aaron Sams and JonathanBergmann, who were quick to experiment with posting videos online in 2008, the flipped classroom concept is small, simple and has shown positive results. The general idea is that students work at their own pace, receiving lectures at home via online video or podcasts and then devoting class time to more in-depth discussion and traditional “homework.” Where: Clear Brook High School, Harris County, Texas At the beginning of the school year, geometry teacher Leticia Allred told her Pre-AP Geometry class at Texas’ Clear Brook High School that their only homework would be watching 15-minute YouTube videos and taking notes. Where: Wausau West High School, Wasau, Wis.
3 Tips to Make Flipped Classrooms Effective 3 Tips to Make Flipped Classrooms Effective Flipped classrooms have become a concept in today’s education environment. One can see the impact that flipped classrooms are posing on classroom learning and teacher-student relationship. Today’s classroom is focussed towards learning rather than giving out information. You will find that teachers are no longer central to the classroom environment. To make flipped classrooms effective, students and teachers will need to understand the importance of inclusive learning and interactive environment. Difficult Things Dealt in Schools Flipped classrooms make learning impactful and deep because the difficult subjects or things are taken care of the teachers at schools. Removing Misconceptions Flipped classrooms are created with the idea of removing all sorts of miconceptions that the student may have regarding certain concepts. Ask Questions Before the Class A flipped environment is worth adopting as it drives education in the perfect manner.
Flipped-Learning Toolkit: 5 Steps for Formative Assessment Editor's Note: This post was co-authored by Aaron Sams, Managing Director of FlippedClass.com and founding member of the Flipped Learning Network. If you flip your class, you might be able to rid yourself of the bane of many teachers: grading papers late at night. Since the flipped classroom model moves teachers away from the "front of the room," they have more time to interact with students and implement a wide variety of instructional strategies -- including formative assessment. 5 Steps to Check for Mastery One formative assessment strategy has the side benefit of not taking papers home to grade. 1. Assign students work to complete based on one specific objective. 2. Students are told to solve either the even or the odd problems, or perhaps some other combination. 3. Once a student has completed his work, he asks the teacher to complete a check for mastery. They get it. 4. 5. Watch this video clip of Aaron's classroom in action. Flexibility, Efficiency, and Accountability
Flipped classroom empowers students : Schools Think of most any classroom, from primary to high school and through college and you’ll likely picture one thing: neat rows of desks facing the same direction. Maybe instead of desks there are tables, but the seating grid system likely persists. This arrangement has been a cornerstone of learning environments for 100s of years, and yet, when else is life so neatly arranged? And how does this orderliness prepare a student for the increased freedoms of high school and college, or the self direction required by many jobs? One Chadron Primary School classroom is shaking up the status quo by offering an array of seating options, and empowering students to choose where to sit day to day and sometimes assignment to assignment. Libby Uhing’s classroom has the feel of second grade, a white board, colorful decor, big bold words, and stacks of books. “Sometimes at this age we don’t give kids enough credit for what they can make work when we give them the power to choose,” Uhing said.