Critical Thinking Techniques

Darryl WalkerMaryAnn MacKenzie

Mery Rojas-LupoliKemaly Parr

Critical Thinking Critical Thinking TechniquesTechniquesObjectives

◦Discuss the definition of critical thinking.

◦Discuss how to model critical thinking.◦Discuss various ways educators may

facilitate critical thinking including: modeling, critical debate, lecture, critical incident questionnaire, scenario analysis, structured critical conversation, critical reading, and evaluation.

Critical Thinking Critical Thinking TechniquesTechniquesDefinition

◦What does it mean to critically think? Uniquely an adult process?

“I believe that it is in adulthood that critical thinking is learned and lived at its deepest and most significant level” (Brookfield, 2004, p.341)

"An unexamined life is not worth living.” -Socrates

Critical Thinking Critical Thinking TechniquesTechniques

At next recall, if recommendations followed, what progress do you expect to see?

Treatment plan (nutritional counseling, local anesthetic choice, scaling, oral hygiene instruction education, etc.)

What other effects result from HBP?

How does HBP affect oral cavity or treatment choices?

What do the ranges mean? Health/disease

Blood Pressure Ranges

Critical Thinking Critical Thinking TechniquesTechniques

◦Assumptions “…we are our assumptions”

(Brookfield, 2004, p. 341-2)

◦Main Purposes Hegemonic assumptions Power relationships

Modeling Critical ThinkingModeling Critical ThinkingWhat does it mean to model

critical thinking? How is this accomplished?

◦Starts and fits◦“experiential deflowering”◦Hostility◦Builds trust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfC4u5GCy3I

Critical DebateCritical Debate“…a theatrical device with an

element of playful swagger built into it” (Brookfield, 2004, p. 351)

◦Experience?????

Critical DebateCritical Debate

1. Contentious issue2. Propose motion and form teams3. Switch sides4. Conduct the debate5. Debrief

Critical DebateCritical DebateReflection paper

◦Assumptions clarified or confirmed?◦Hidden assumptions?◦Research new assumptions?◦New perspectives?◦Existing assumptions challenged or

changed?

Critical DebateCritical DebatePros?

Cons?

Lectures to Model Critical Lectures to Model Critical ThinkingThinkingLectures

◦Can be used to stimulate or engage the audience in the teaching/learning process.

◦The adult educator must:• Create an atmosphere for

free answers and questions.• Be creative: using examples

to stimulate critical thinking in the audience.

“To teach is to learn twice.” Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)

Lectures can provide an opportunity for critical analysis in the audience by:1. Ending every lecture with a series of questions

that your lecture has raised or left unanswered.

2. Deliberately introducing alternative perspectives.

3. Introducing periods of assumption hunting. (Brookfield, 2004)

How to use the lectures?How to use the lectures?

How it benefits How it benefits students…students…Encourages critical spirit & positive

attitude towards critical thinkingBecomes regular part of

teaching/learning processPromotes cognitive skills, allowing

students to critically analyze

Critical Incident Questionnaires

Definition:◦ weekly inquiry tool about the

subject/topic or program in the class◦ shows how students are

experiencing their learning and how the educator is teaching.

“If everyone thinks the same someone is not thinking.”

General George Smith Patton (1885-1945)

Focused on five questions:1. At what moment in the class this week were

you most engaged as a learner?2. At what moment in the class this week were

you most distanced as a learner?3. What action that anyone in the room took this

week did you find most affirming or helpful?4. What action that anyone in the room took this

week did you find most puzzling or confusing?5. What surprised you most about the class this

week? Brookfield (2004)

Critical Incident Questionnaires

CIQ Process…CIQ Process…Given to the learners 10 minutes

before the end of each week’s classesAnonymousEach student receives a copyThe teacher reads CIQ responses &

addresses them at the beginning of the next class session; this “review” must be done in a discussion environment.

Important facts about CIQImportant facts about CIQAllows students to focus on their

personal experiences with the subject/class/teacher

Opportunity for each student to reflect on topic or lecture

Exposes educators to students’ criticisms

Fosters democratic participationBecomes a useful tool for students

Scenario AnalysisScenario Analysis◦Hypothetical Scenario

Central Character Decision or Action Assumptions on Actions Suggest Alternatives

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Structured Critical Structured Critical ConversationConversation

◦Storyteller – tells the tale (experience/frustration)

◦Detectives – see from the other people’s eyes Provide assumptions Alternative interpretations

◦Umpire – monitor conversation and point out when people are talking to each other in a judgmental way

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Be careful of “assumptions of hegemony”◦Hegemony: leadership, predominant

influence, or domination Widely accepted as being common sense Ends up harming us and working against

our physical, psychological, political health

Serves the interests of another group

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Critical Thinking Critical Thinking TechniquesTechniques Let’s work some examples…

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Critical ReadingCritical Reading

What is Critical Reading and why do we need to do it?

Critical ReadingCritical Reading Critical reading is an analytic activity. The reader reads and rereads a text to identify

patterns of elements -- information, values, assumptions, and language usage-- throughout

the discussion. These elements are tied together

in an interpretation, an assertion of an underlying

meaning of the text as a whole.

When you read between the lines, you can probably come up with a simpler definition being true to yourself. When you have integrity,

you’re honest with yourself and others.Unknown

How to do Critical ReadingHow to do Critical ReadingFive step process to critical

reading◦Pre-Reading◦Interpretive Reading◦Critical Reading◦Synoptic Reading◦Post-Reading

http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/reading_basic.html

Four Categories of Critical Four Categories of Critical Reading QuestionsReading Questions

EpistemologicalExperientialCommunicativePolitical

Epistemological QuestionsEpistemological Questions

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that seeks answers to two main questions: How do we know? and How do we know we know?

Sample◦To what extent does the writing seem

culturally skewed?◦To what extent are the central insights

of a piece of literature ground in empirical evidence?

Experiential QuestionsExperiential Questions

Defined as: The process of making meaning from direct experience

Sample

How do the metaphors for teaching used in a piece of educational literature compare to the metaphors you use to describe your own experience of practice?

For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."

Aristotle

Communicative Communicative QuestionsQuestions

SampleWhose voices are heard in a

piece of academic writing?Does the paper use colloquial

language of adult learners and adult educators?

Political QuestionsPolitical Questions

Sample◦Whose interests are served by the

publication of a text?◦In writing on adult educational change,

to what extent are the political impediments to educational innovations addressed?

Evaluate Critical ThinkingEvaluate Critical Thinking

◦How do you know people are thinking critically

◦How to judge whether adult educators are having any effect?

Critical Practice Audit (Handout)◦Understand how you analyze situations◦How you make decisions◦How to take actions

QuestionsQuestions

How do you teach or model critical thinking in your workplace/classroom?

Critical Thinking Critical Thinking TechniquesTechniquesC o n c l u s i o n … Critical thinking is one of the most vital and

indispensable components for learning. The adult learner may not have all the answers but should posses effective skills for formulating and evaluating the right questions to ask. The CIQ , lectures, debate, critical reading and the Critical Practice Audit presented in this chapter by Dr. Brookfield are tools that provide the user with detailed strategies for inquiry and problem solving.

ReferencesReferences Bloom, B. S. (1984). Taxonomy of Educational

Objectives (1956). Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA. by Pearson Education.

Brookfield, S.D. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Brookfield, S.D. (2004). Adult learning methods: A guide for effective instruction M.W. Gailbraith, (Ed.). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company.

Darby, M. (2007). Debate: A teaching-learning strategy for developing competence in communication and critical thinking. Journal of Dental Hygiene 81(4), 1-10.

Davis, M.W. (1993). Tools for teaching. San Francisco, California: Jossey Bass.

ReferencesReferences Farrah, S.J. (2004). Lecture. In M.W. Galbraith (Ed.),

Adult Learning Methods: A guide for

effective instruction (227-252). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company.

Foundation for Critical Thinking. (n.d.). Our concept of critical thinking. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/ourConceptCT.cfm

Patrick, J.J. (1986). Critical Thinking in the Social Studies. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (Ed.), June 1986. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED272432.pdf

ReferencesReferences Strickland, G. (1991). Critical Thinking: The importance of

Teaching. Proceeding from the Annual Meeting of the Central States Communication Association. Chicago, IL.

Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED336783.pdf

Vaske, J.M. (2001). Critical Thinking in Adult Education. An Elusive Quest for a Definition of the Field. (Doctoral dissertation). Drake University, Des Moines, IA. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED456251.pdf

Wheeler, Dr. L. K.; Carson-Newman College; Critical Reading of An Essay's Argument. Retrieved from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/reading_outline.html

Wilkinson, J.M. (2007). Nursing Process and Critical Thinking. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.