In Screaming Eagle we teach the students how to blue print the H-D engine.While reassembling the engine, there are specific steps and procedures involved. I walk around the classroom when they are in lab to observe their work. One of the things that requires critical thinking is the proper order of the steps to assemble the engine. Without critical thinking, the student will have to go back and disassemble the engine a second time to correctly install the part(s).
Hi Kristyn,
Awesome! I love the competition in the assignment. Competition makes most students work harder. What a very creative/fun exercise to help students learn how to think critically.
Patricia Scales
Hi Todd,
What a great way to get students exposed to things that they will encounter in the real world. Scenario learning is a great way to help students learn how to think critically.
Patricia Scales
Hi Mark,
Hands-on activities are great for promoting critical thinking, and these are the types of scenarios that students will have to deal with on the job. Great way to prepare students for the real world.
Patricia Scales
In my health education course I take the students on a grocery store tour. Part of their assignment is to identify items that would make-up a healthy meal. Students have to use critical-thinking to evaluate various food labels. Students get a chance to be creative in selecting their menu items in addition to using math skills to add caloric totals. Students are given the parameters of the assignment to create a meal that meets a set amount of protein without going over total allowable calories. The part that makes it interesting is at the end students get to vote on the best meal using parameters such as taste, cost and ease of preparation. This requires students to really think about there selections and how to build something that would be seen as an award winner to there peers.
In my course the student have a selection of engine parts to put together. They have all the specification for the parts. They are tasked with putting together what they feel will be the best combination of the available parts, which there is a total of 960 outcomes. After running the engine on a dynometer they are asked how their results compared to what they expected for results.
In our automotive body electrical course we have training aids that allow us to place electrical faults in electrical systems like power windows or locks. We do use some conventional lecture to prepare the students by explaining how these systems works, however that only goes so far toward achieving a thorough understanding of the systems. During the lecture I will draw a wiring diagram for a power window circuit on the white board and then give students scenarios like "The driver window only works in the down position" and then I ask the students to work in groups to diagnose the one or two places in the circuit where the fault could exists, and explain what kind of voltage measurements they would expect to find at various test points with this fault.
Later, in our lab, we have the students actually measure the available voltage at all the possible test points while the window system is working properly, then I introduce a fault, and they have to use their meters and critical thinking skills to come to a conclusion regarding the type of fault and its location. This critical thinking exercise really develops their ability to think their way through the circuit and eventually lead them to a correct diagnosis. The only down side, is it is time consuming and requires a significant amount of lab time.
Hi Jason,
When students can do thing methodically, and they understand what they are doing and why they are doing it, it means they have grasped the concept. This is important for the workplace.
Patricia Scales
Hi Thomas,
Love it! Problems solving is crucial. This is the type of situation they will encounter in the real world, and they need to know how to troubleshoot.
Patricia Scales
Hi Wayne,
Students need to know how to think on their own and problem solve on their own. Learning sticks more when students have to figure things out on their own. Our students really do depend on us for too much...they must learn how to think/solve.
Patricia Scales
Hi Elizabeth,
I like the idea of fact-based learning. There is no gray when facts are involved. This is a great way to promote critical thinking.
Patricia Scales
As students are practicing I find it helpfull to ask very specific questions about the procedures they are following, this allows me to assess that the student understands what they are doing, as well as why they they are doing it.
My labs utilize electronic devices that are connected with a co-axial cable. 99 times out of 100 the cable goes bad. I leave bad cables in the lab kits so that the students at some point will see what occurs with a bad cable and can learn what happens and can determine the corrective action.
I have the students explain to me how transaxles and transfer cases work. Students always want to know how they work. Instead of me telling them how they work I make them put the pieces together on the bench and learn how they work.
I give my students the chance to use critical thinking skill during Anatomy and Physiology when debating ethical dilemmas. By requiring them to use only facts to support their opinions this gives them a chance to come to an unbiased decision on what is being discussed.
Hi Jaime,
I can really see how this activity tests one ability to think critically. It is also good that you have the students explain why they chose one algorithm over the other.
Patricia Scales
Hi Ben,
Great way to test critical thinking. Being able to think critically in the auto industry is a must. This type of work is very methodical.
Patricia Scales
Hi Gretchen,
The battle plan is a good way to test one's knowledge and to determine their critical thinking abilities.
Patricia Scales
Hi Donald,
Going through the motion just to pass is never good. Students really do need to fully understand and utilize their critical/analytical thinking skills when they are performing a task at hand.
Patricia Scales
One activity is to review two searching and sorting algorithms and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Once this is accomplished, the students are asked to think about a problem and select the most appropriate algorithm to use in order to solve that problem. They are then to explain why they chose that particular algorithm over the others.
