ISD 200 Week 5 CRITICAL THINKING IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTORS: Mari Acob-Nash Ryan Packard
Critical Thinking What is it?
Definitions "reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do“ “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”
Definitions “purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based” From
Definitions “thinking which helps you figure out whether you should believe some claim and how strongly you should believe it” Systematic way of thinking A thinking activity to create confidence in that knowledge. From Tim van Gelder, Teaching Critical Thinking: Lessons from Cognitive Science, www. Austhink.org
Importance Critical thinking is an important element of all professional fields and academic disciplines
Importance Critical thinking includes identification of prejudice, bias, propaganda, self- deception, distortion, misinformation, etc. From:
Importance it enables one to analyze, evaluate, explain, and restructure their thinking, thereby decreasing the risk of adopting, acting on, or thinking with, a false belief
How to gain this skill? skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and meta-cognition.
Skills Evidence through observation Context Relevant criteria for making the judgment well Applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand
How do teachers teach this? Strategies to teach: Reflection Reasons Alternatives
Homework With your limited knowledge on critical thinking in the US classrooms, please reflect on your current classes here at NSCC. Can you name and describe three methods that your teachers use to develop critical thinking in your classes?