From my observations, there appear to be three principal avenues to engender critical thinking in education K-12: debate; mathematics, and science.
For some students, all three avenues are relatable and enjoyable. For others, only one or two avenues would work.
In any case, even one avenue can go a long way towards engendering critical thinking.
The ability and habit of thinking critically is an important remedy for the affliction of people accepting fake news and conspiracy theories. It can become the foundation for a well-functioning democracy.
I invite others to describe what has been done along these lines; or what they think should be done and how to install such educational paradigms.
Teaching critical thinking has become an urgent need, and practicing thinking skills helps us become better thinkers.
Information from neuroscience and brain anatomy indicates that the brain is like a muscle, and the more we use it, the more effective it becomes.
New methods of interacting with information during lectures, readings, and group discussions, to enhance learning and understanding, confirm that critical thinking is active, not negative.
Personal interests and tendencies, like the aesthetic and exciting factor, have an effective role in developing the necessary directions for thinking.
An increased interest in logical reasoning processes leads to an interest in knowing how decisions and conclusions are made, and to clarify the nature of such decisions and conclusions.
Focusing on understanding other points of view, and using different perspectives to develop the ability to think logically, thinking minds are not necessarily alike.
The growing conviction that 'there is no single way to a solution' and the notion that 'there is no one right answer' in other words that each answer is correct in its proper context.
Increased recognition of the notion of useful errors, the idea that interim failure is the price of success and development, and conviction of the processes involved in error, which help others avoid the same mistakes.
Developing new strategies that help us take advantage of the mechanism of our brain's work, and this includes how to store information in long-term memory, forming good habits of inquiry .
Development of critical thinking:
In order to develop critical thinking, this requires taking into account a number of related factors, namely:
Critical thinking criteria:
Clarity: If the phrase is not clear, we will not be able to understand it, and we will not be able to know the intentions of the speaker, and therefore we will not be able to judge it in any way.
In order for the teacher to train his students to clearly adhere to the phrases in their responses, he asks them as follows:
Could you express the idea in another way?
Can you elaborate on this point more broadly?
What do you mean by saying: ...?
- Can you give me an example of what you are saying?
Health: the criterion of validity means that the statement is correct, documented; As if we say: Most of the women in Jordan are over 65 years old, without this saying being based on official statistics or documented information, and in order for the teacher to train his students to observe this standard, he asks them as follows, during their responses:
Where did you get this information from?
- Is that really true?
How can this be confirmed?
How can we check that?
Accuracy: Accuracy in critical thinking means that the subject fulfills its right to be addressed, and the expression is without addition or decrease, and the teacher can direct students to this criterion through the following two questions:
Could you be more specific? In case of redundancy.
Could you give more details? In the case of very brief.
Linking: linking means the relationship between the question, intervention, argument, or phrase to the topic of discussion or the problem being raised, and among the questions that help in that are:
Do these ideas or questions give details or clarifications of the problem?
Do these ideas or questions contain evidence supporting or refuting the position?
Depth: The depth required when thinking about the problem or topic, which is commensurate with the complexities of the problem or the bifurcation of the topic.
Breadth: it means taking into consideration all aspects of the problem or topic, and among the questions that can be raised for that are as follows:
Is there a need to consider another point of view?
Is there a party or parties to which this situation does not apply?
Is there another way to address the problem or question?
Logic: One of the important qualities of critical thinking is that it be logical in organizing, sequencing and interconnecting ideas in a way that leads to a clear meaning, or as a result of reasonable arguments, and the following questions can be raised to judge the logic of thinking:
- Is that reasonable?
Is there a contradiction between ideas or phrases?
Do justifications or introductions necessarily lead to this conclusion?
Components of critical thinking:
The process of critical thinking has five components, and if you miss one of them, the process does not complete at all. As each has its close relationship with the rest of the ingredients, so the ingredients are:
1. The knowledge base: It is what the individual knows and believes in, and is necessary for the feeling of contradiction to occur.
2. External events: They are the stimuli that provoke a sense of contradiction.
3. Personal theory: It is the personal character that the individual derived from the knowledge base so that it is a distinctive character for him (personal point of view), and then the personal theory is the framework in which an attempt is made to explain external events, so the feeling of divergence or contradiction or not.
4. Feeling of contradiction or divergence: The mere feeling of this represents a motivating factor that entails the rest of the critical thinking steps.
5. The solution to contradiction: It is a stage that includes all the constituent aspects of critical thinking, where the individual seeks to solve the contradiction, including multiple steps, and so on. This is the basis for the structure of critical thinking.
Teaching critical thinking has become an urgent need, and practicing thinking skills helps us become better thinkers.
Information from neuroscience and brain anatomy indicates that the brain is like a muscle, and the more we use it, the more effective it becomes.
New methods of interacting with information during lectures, readings, and group discussions, to enhance learning and understanding, confirm that critical thinking is active, not negative.
Personal interests and tendencies, like the aesthetic and exciting factor, have an effective role in developing the necessary directions for thinking.
An increased interest in logical reasoning processes leads to an interest in knowing how decisions and conclusions are made, and to clarify the nature of such decisions and conclusions.
Focusing on understanding other points of view, and using different perspectives to develop the ability to think logically, thinking minds are not necessarily alike.
The growing conviction that 'there is no single way to a solution' and the notion that 'there is no one right answer' in other words that each answer is correct in its proper context.
Increased recognition of the notion of useful errors, the idea that interim failure is the price of success and development, and conviction of the processes involved in error, which help others avoid the same mistakes.
Developing new strategies that help us take advantage of the mechanism of our brain's work, and this includes how to store information in long-term memory, forming good habits of inquiry .
Development of critical thinking:
In order to develop critical thinking, this requires taking into account a number of related factors, namely:
Critical thinking criteria:
Clarity: If the phrase is not clear, we will not be able to understand it, and we will not be able to know the intentions of the speaker, and therefore we will not be able to judge it in any way.
In order for the teacher to train his students to clearly adhere to the phrases in their responses, he asks them as follows:
Could you express the idea in another way?
Can you elaborate on this point more broadly?
What do you mean by saying: ...?
- Can you give me an example of what you are saying?
Health: the criterion of validity means that the statement is correct, documented; As if we say: Most of the women in Jordan are over 65 years old, without this saying being based on official statistics or documented information, and in order for the teacher to train his students to observe this standard, he asks them as follows, during their responses:
Where did you get this information from?
- Is that really true?
How can this be confirmed?
How can we check that?
Accuracy: Accuracy in critical thinking means that the subject fulfills its right to be addressed, and the expression is without addition or decrease, and the teacher can direct students to this criterion through the following two questions:
Could you be more specific? In case of redundancy.
Could you give more details? In the case of very brief.
Linking: linking means the relationship between the question, intervention, argument, or phrase to the topic of discussion or the problem being raised, and among the questions that help in that are:
Do these ideas or questions give details or clarifications of the problem?
Do these ideas or questions contain evidence supporting or refuting the position?
Depth: The depth required when thinking about the problem or topic, which is commensurate with the complexities of the problem or the bifurcation of the topic.
Breadth: it means taking into consideration all aspects of the problem or topic, and among the questions that can be raised for that are as follows:
Is there a need to consider another point of view?
Is there a party or parties to which this situation does not apply?
Is there another way to address the problem or question?
Logic: One of the important qualities of critical thinking is that it be logical in organizing, sequencing and interconnecting ideas in a way that leads to a clear meaning, or as a result of reasonable arguments, and the following questions can be raised to judge the logic of thinking:
- Is that reasonable?
Is there a contradiction between ideas or phrases?
Do justifications or introductions necessarily lead to this conclusion?
Components of critical thinking:
The process of critical thinking has five components, and if you miss one of them, the process does not complete at all. As each has its close relationship with the rest of the ingredients, so the ingredients are:
1. The knowledge base: It is what the individual knows and believes in, and is necessary for the feeling of contradiction to occur.
2. External events: They are the stimuli that provoke a sense of contradiction.
3. Personal theory: It is the personal character that the individual derived from the knowledge base so that it is a distinctive character for him (personal point of view), and then the personal theory is the framework in which an attempt is made to explain external events, so the feeling of divergence or contradiction or not.
4. Feeling of contradiction or divergence: The mere feeling of this represents a motivating factor that entails the rest of the critical thinking steps.
5. The solution to contradiction: It is a stage that includes all the constituent aspects of critical thinking, where the individual seeks to solve the contradiction, including multiple steps, and so on. This is the basis for the structure of critical thinking.
اعتقد ان أفضل طريقة لتنمية التفكير النقدي في المراحل الدراسية هي بإعطاء الطلبة مساحة كافية من الحرية لإبداء آرائهم وبيان سبب ميلهم لهذا الرأي دون غيره ، وتشجيعهم بإظهار التقدير والاحترام لآرائهم مهما كانت، وبالطبع مع تقدمهم في المراحل الدراسية سيتعلمون توجيه النقد وفق ضوابط واسس معينة
I think our methodology must probe the higher levels in Bloom's taxonomy......asking students to journal, create, invent experiment etc.
In proofs of theorems in mathematics, one has to: define one's terms, state what assumptions are made, what facts have previously been proven, and what is the justification for each step in the logical deductive process.
In real-world situations, these are necessary for carryout a rational discussion; but in addition it is necessary to describe the context of the discourse - since the real-world is exceedingly complex. Another helpful practice is to answer the question: what are the implications of your conclusion to other contexts or to the future trends.
Sorry Masud, this is nomenclature used in the USA. "K" means kindergarten (age 5), and "12" means last year in high school (age 17). This is typical range of ages for public schools.
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