How can critical thinking be taught?

[rsaavedra]

The quality and pertinence of the evidence is certainly critical. One interesting approach to teach critical thinking would be to show examples of some simple phenomenon involving causal connections, but presented in such a way that the phenomenon is not completely explained by the available evidence. Kids can then speculate and put forth hypothesis to explain the phenomena, at the same time exercising the kinds of questions to ask in order to seek the missing evidence, to identify and distinguish necessary vs. sufficient evidence, and in general to evaluate the quality or appropriateness of anything presented as "evidence."

Here's an example. There was a famous beach where hundreds of people use to sunbathe and swim. It was well known that at this beach there had been shark sightings and also shark attacks over decades. Researchers evaluated historical data, and observed that the more ice cream sold on the beach was always associated to higher numbers of shark sightings and shark attacks. Because of this correlation, people started speculating wheter eating ice cream increased your changes of being attacked by a shark, because sharks are known to have a very sensitive sense of smell, and this correlation was "evidence" that ice cream eaters attract more sharks.

But... is a correlation between ice cream sales and shark attacks adequate evidence to claim that eating ice cream will make it more likely for you to become a victim of a shark attack?

As it turns out, the actual explanation of that correlation involves a hidden variable: heat. For a given number of people at the beach, the hotter the day the more ice cream gets sold, and also, the more people goes in the water. And the more people in the water, the more likelyhood of shark attacks; hence the correlation. But the increase in ice cream sales was not at all attracting more sharks or causing more shark attacks.

That is just an example. Another one could use detective stories a la Sherlock Holmes. This kind of exercise in different contexts I think could be good training for the critical thinking muscles, so to speak, teaching them the habit of not jumping to conclusions too quickly.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

How does one go about encouraging the development of critical thinking to students? On the web I've not encountered much research on this. Perhaps you could point me to some relevant research or give an opinion? My interest is as an aspiring elementary school teacher.

Thank you.

Easy, use the scientific method to develop (including a lit review of what has already been developed) the best ways to teach critical thinking to individuals and groups.

The mistake I see so often on this forum and in other discussions of this topic is the mistake of winging it. People give their opinions, qualified or not. They guess and often declare certain groups of people are unreachable.

How do you know that? Have you considered the vast amount of research already done in marketing, persuasion, and education? Have you considered treating this problem the same way we treat other problems? That is you gather the known data, you formulate hypotheses, you test them, revise them and continue testing and refining. You develop new hypotheses as your data base grows and original thinkers join the task.

Use the scientific method. This problem is no different than other problems. The scientific process is going to be the most productive means to your end.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

For example:

The Critical Thinking Community

Research in Critical Thinking
The Center conducts advanced research and disseminates information on critical thinking.

Each year it sponsors an annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Educational Reform. It has worked with the College Board, the National Education Association, the U.S. Department of Education, as well as numerous colleges, universities, and school districts to facilitate the implementation of critical thinking instruction focused on intellectual standards.

The following three studies demonstrate:

1. the fact that, as a rule, critical thinking is not presently being effectively taught at the high school, college and university level, and yet
2. it is possible to do so.

To assess students' understanding of critical thinking, we recommend use of the International Critical Thinking Test as well as the Critical Thinking Interview Profile for College Students. To assess faculty understanding of critical thinking and its importance to instruction, we recommend the Critical Thinking Interview Profile For Teachers and Faculty. By registering as a member of the community, you will have access to streaming video, which includes a sample student interview with Dr. Richard Paul and Rush Cosgrove.

THE THINKING SKILLS RESEARCH

This summary is based on a review of 56 documents. Thirty-three of these are reports of research studies or reviews and are cited, with annotations, in the Key References section of the bibliography. Twenty-three are descriptive, theoretical, or guidelines documents or are concerned with research in areas other than the effectiveness of programs and practices. These reports are itemized in the General References.

Of the 33 key documents, 22 are research studies or evaluations, and 11 are reviews or syntheses of research. Subjects of these investigations include: general (or unspecified) student populations - 12 reports, elementary students - 9, secondary students - 9, and both secondary and postsecondary students - 3. The research involved regular, gifted, EMR, and Chapter 1 student populations; a representative range of racial/ethnic groups; and a balance of urban, suburban, and rural settings. Only three of the reports deal with student populations outside the United States. Five of the reports have teachers as well as students as their subjects.

Critical Thinking Research Abstracts


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[rsaavedra]

...includes a sample student interview with Dr. Richard Paul and Rush Cosgrove.

Off topic, but from your post just remembering that one of the first things that got me interested in Critical Thinking as a subject in itself was a book by Richard Paul that I came across in a library several years ago.

 

[athon]

Off topic, but from your post just remembering that one of the first things that got me interested in Critical Thinking as a subject in itself was a book by Richard Paul that I came across in a library several years ago.

Richard Paul's research is pretty extensive and well conducted IMO, however it fails to take into account the reality of existing systems and the amount of change that would be required to adapt to his measures. In a perfect world, sure, they'd be great...but unless you can build an educational system from scratch, it ain't going to happen.

Athon

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Richard Paul's research is pretty extensive and well conducted IMO, however it fails to take into account the reality of existing systems and the amount of change that would be required to adapt to his measures. In a perfect world, sure, they'd be great...but unless you can build an educational system from scratch, it ain't going to happen.

Athon

For the record, I wasn't advocating any specific research or researcher. I was merely pointing out we should address this problem like we do others, that is with the scientific method.

 

[athon]

For the record, I wasn't advocating any specific research or researcher. I was merely pointing out we should address this problem like we do others, that is with the scientific method.

Hey, no arguments here. I fully agree. It links in with what I was saying earlier - people don't tend to see pedagogy as a science like any other. Deanna's Kuhn's research (Skills of Argument is a good book to have on your shelf) has gone into perceptions of expertise in fields such as education. It's frustrating when you go to great lengths to gain a better understanding of such a field, and you get groups who tout themselves as an educational foundation who see little need to inform themselves on it.

Athon

 

[thinkingman]

To teach people to think, one needs to allow them to think. Open ended questions and brainstorming sessions can help.

 

[NewtonTrino]

I still think that regularly tricking the students is what will really teach them.

 

[Cynic]

Wrong, tricked again. Wrong, tricked again.

(You can't have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!)

I dunno, I mean, the problem is that people are easy to trick.

 

[jakesteele]

How does one go about encouraging the development of critical thinking to students? On the web I've not encountered much research on this. Perhaps you could point me to some relevant research or give an opinion? My interest is as an aspiring elementary school teacher.

Thank you.

Kids like to learn when you make it fun. Have them watch this and be amazed and you can use it as a spring board.

http://viscog.beckman.illinois.edu/flashmovie/15.php

 

[athon]

I still think that regularly tricking the students is what will really teach them.

Actually...no. It is a fast way to have kids distrust you, and therefore not subscribe to either your methods or the content of your lessons. It's not going to have the effect you think, which is make them think more critically about all of the information they receive.

Deliberately misleading students will only create further confusion and make them disconnect from your class.

Athon

 

[quixotecoyote]

I try to encourage it a little in my public speaking classes by asking 'why' type questions a lot.

Today we had an oral quiz where they had to correctly cite a source given to them (pity the poor student I gave the timecube excerpt to ) and if it was one of the three kinds of supporting material discussed in the book.

Since matching a given source to example/statistic/testimony/none of the above can be a bit of a grey area, if they could make a rational argument to defend their choice, they got points.

This happens a lot in classes with essays, but I think the critical thinking aspect (however small) comes across better in a group/discussion context.

 

[Clare Swinney]

I know of a teacher in New Zealand who sharpens the children's discernment by showing them Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' and 'The Great Global Warming Swindle.'

It makes the children realise that while Gore's presentation seemed powerful and convincing on initial inspection, that this film is in reality, so steeped in blatant errors and misrepresentations, that it should be categorized as a political melodrama and renamed: The Biggest Lie Of The Century.

I think it really helps to show children the 2 sides of the coin, particularly in light of the rise of fascism - show them the version the government wants us to see, and the other, valid one.

He advised that the children loved 'The Great Global Warming Swindle'.

 

[Prometheus]

I know of a teacher in New Zealand who sharpens the children's discernment by showing them Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' and 'The Great Global Warming Swindle.'

It makes the children realise that while Gore's presentation seemed powerful and convincing on initial inspection, that this film is in reality, so steeped in blatant errors and misrepresentations, that it should be categorized as a political melodrama and renamed: The Biggest Lie Of The Century.

I think it really helps to show children the 2 sides of the coin, particularly in light of the rise of fascism - the one the government wants us to see, and the other, true one.

He said the children loved 'The Great Global Warming Swindle'.

Was this teacher attempting to teach critical thinking or irony?

 

[Clare Swinney]

Was this teacher attempting to teach critical thinking or irony?

It could have been irony too I suppose, if the children looked up to politicians. When 'The Great Global Warming Swindle' shows the scenes from 'An Inconvenient Truth' in which Al Gore is on a stage displaying the temperature and CO₂ graphs separately saying: “When there is more carbon dioxide, the temperature gets warmer,” and this is followed by footage of Professor Ian Clark showing that when Gore’s two graphs are put together, it can be seen that the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide follows temperature -this really wakes people up to the fact that the fundamental assumption of global warming theory – that carbon dioxide causes the temperature to rise, is NOT supported by the evidence.
All children should be shown both as a lesson in critical thinking about politicians.

 

[quixotecoyote]

It could have been irony too I suppose, if the children looked up to politicians. When 'The Great Global Warming Swindle' shows the scenes from 'An Inconvenient Truth' in which Al Gore is on a stage displaying the temperature and CO₂ graphs separately saying: “When there is more carbon dioxide, the temperature gets warmer,” and this is followed by footage of Professor Ian Clark showing that when Gore’s two graphs are put together, it can be seen that the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide follows temperature -this really wakes people up to the fact that the fundamental assumption of global warming theory – that carbon dioxide causes the temperature to rise, is NOT supported by the evidence.
All children should be shown both as a lesson in critical thinking about politicians.

Except that reading on Milankovitch cycles and the interaction of CO₂ and temperature would have explained that. In other words, yes CO₂ lags temperature, that doesn't mean CO₂ doesn't affect temperature.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature.htm

In other words, teaching critical thinking would teach avoiding the non-sequitor of this premise not leading to the conclusion. It would also be a good moment to teach that when an argument isn't sound, the conclusion may still be true, and the position on climate change should be reached based on the overwhelming evidence rather than whether Al Gore presented his graphs correctly or not.

 

[Clare Swinney]

Except that reading on Milankovitch cycles and the interaction of CO2 and temperature would have explained that. In other words, yes CO2 lags temperature, that doesn't mean CO2 doesn't affect temperature.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-...emperature.htm

Who wrote about the "Milankovitch cycles"? Someone paid to come up with "evidence."
Dr Coffman, CEO of Sovereignty International, who headed a multi-million dollar research effort in the early-1990’s that studied the effects of global warming on ecosystems in the US, says there’s a cadre of scientists on “soft money” who are out of a job if they “don’t show a global-warming connection.” He says the US government is pouring an astronomical US$4 billion per annum into this research because on an elite political level, where the real power lies, there’s an agenda to establish a fascist one-world government, [1].
The UN, which is controlled by the elite, is preparing to take over as the government for all the world’s nations under the pretext of saving the planet from “global warming.” It aims to implement Agenda 21, which is supposedly about “sustainable development.” On cursory inspection, 21 looks reasonable, however, as Dr Michael Coffman who has taken the time to read UN documents, pointed out that the intention of the 40-chapter document is to reorganize the world around socialist, command and control regulation, as the elite view humans as earth’s primary contaminants. It will be a living nightmare for us if the elite have their way, which is why waking children up to the facts and getting them to engage in critical thinking where so-called "man-made global warming" is concerned is important.

[1] Global Warming or Global Governance?, (2007), documentary by Dr M. Coffman http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4860344067427439443#

 

[jayman]

How does one go about encouraging the development of critical thinking to students? On the web I've not encountered much research on this. Perhaps you could point me to some relevant research or give an opinion? My interest is as an aspiring elementary school teacher.

Thank you.

Maybe this would help. Some of the content maybe for older audiences like junior high or high school, but maybe something in there would be usable for elementary kids. Maybe you could show them "Here Be Dragons" by Brian Dunning if it's not too advanced for that age group.

 

[quixotecoyote]

Who wrote about the "Milankovitch cycles"? Someone paid to come up with "evidence."
Dr Coffman, CEO of Sovereignty International, who headed a multi-million dollar research effort in the early-1990’s that studied the effects of global warming on ecosystems in the US, says there’s a cadre of scientists on “soft money” who are out of a job if they “don’t show a global-warming connection.” He says the US government is pouring an astronomical US$4 billion per annum into this research because on an elite political level, where the real power lies, there’s an agenda to establish a fascist one-world government, [1].
The UN, which is controlled by the elite, is preparing to take over as the government for all the world’s nations under the pretext of saving the planet from “global warming.” It aims to implement Agenda 21, which is supposedly about “sustainable development.” On cursory inspection, 21 looks reasonable, however, as Dr Michael Coffman who has taken the time to read UN documents, pointed out that the intention of the 40-chapter document is to reorganize the world around socialist, command and control regulation, as the elite view humans as earth’s primary contaminants. It will be a living nightmare for us if the elite have their way, which is why waking children up to the facts and getting them to engage in critical thinking where so-called "man-made global warming" is concerned is important.

[1] Global Warming or Global Governance?, (2007), documentary by Dr M. Coffman http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4860344067427439443#

Ahh, right off into conspiracy theory wacko land then. I misread you as possibly being simply confused. Sorry to take up your time.