Franz,
Good approach because you are helping them to develop their own problem solving strategies through practice and experience. This knowledge will serve them when they are out in the workplace as you mention.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like to tell the student to think and reason out what they know about the problem. In the end they find out they know the answer that they did not think they know. All they had to do is brake down what they did know and understand. That lead to the answer
Don,
This is such a valuable way to teach problem solving to your students. I am sure when they complete their training that have a number of different attack strategies they can use when faced with problem situations.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In our advanced training classes we have many activities that require critical thinking skills. We give the student raw data to analyze.They separate the data that is normal from data that indicates a problem. After verifying that they have all the data needed, they use it to come to a conclusion as to the problem. No one piece of data gives them the answer, it is the process of putting all the pieces together to come to the right conclusion.
Marshall,
Like the process you take your students through to help them develop their critical thinking skills. These steps require effort and reflection which many students do not want to do. Self discipline as developed through your efforts and the course activities will increase these skills. Keep up this valuable service in terms of helping your students to become critical thinkers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think people can develop CTS in a variety of ways.
1: reading. I think reading is the fundamental skill for all things. For Critical thinking, I think reading is essential because through reading we gather more knowledge. This will allow people to see mistakes or questionable material.
2: understand to take information lightly first. We should not read or watch TV and believe the information initially. This is, I think, a difficult one to overcome because we have for so long been taught to believe authorities. If it is in print, it must be authority. But this is false; therefore, we must wait to believe after review.
3: Build the skills by starting with easier material. When I think of teaching a class, I think I can start with internet satire. So much of it all over the place and so many fall for it all the time. I don't know how many times, I've seen upset about something they read in The Onion. By starting with these easier materials, we can build confidence and other skills: how to look at a piece, how to see signs of satire or false information. Then we build up from there.
4: reading opposing views. It is essential to read opposing views on topics. If a topic is to close to us, pick another. Start with topics we have very little feelings about so that we have a more open mind.
5: listening or reading others who are good critical thinkers. Debates are excellent as well.
I think that's about it for me right now. Maybe more later.
Diane,
This is such an important phase of their training. By knowing how to break down a problem into segments and then working toward solving the problems within those segments the students are able to become big picture thinkers and problem solvers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
A sponge can only pick up so much at one time.
Breaking the problem down I believe is the answer for alot of students. I take the time with them and on a white board I evaluate the problem with them step by step so they can get a more clearer picture as how to solve the issues.
Lisa,
Thank you for sharing your strategies with us. These are some very creative ways to get students involved in the problem solving and critical thinking process. The use of the various organizers gets them to exploding their ideas and laying them out so they can see how the different parts fit together or in some cases do not fit which leads them to successful conclusions in their work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Jasen,
This is why we need to slow them down and have them work on some exercises that force them to think, analyze and then complete projects in class. I use several problem solving activities using legos. This way they have to work in a group to come up with a design and solution to a problem Gets them to realizing that they can actually problem solve without having a piece of technology in their hand that gives the access to the internet.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Most of my students are not cognizant of the vast amounts of information that they already have in their brain. It is easy to say, "I don't know" or "can I google it." I teach English, and for all of my papers, students have to use graphic organizers for the "brainstorming" section. This allows the students to take a prompt like, "What are the challenges of Low Wage Workers, and be able to use visual guided charts to help work out their ideas. I use graphich organizers like: time lines, Venn Diagrams, clustering, K-W-L charts, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and argument. This helps guide the student to develop appropriate critical thinking skills based on the type of paper that we are writing in class.
Sincerely,
Lisa McGoldrick
English Instructor
Not only is the younger generation impatient they also have been raised with instant access to info via the internet. They are to quick to jump online instead of looking for the answers using critical thinking and what they have learned. They are also so quick to give up if the problem is tough or is going to take some effort.
Karla,
They do need a foundation upon which to build. This is why they need to see the value of learning the basics in an area because this gives them knowledge upon which they can call when asked to solve problems.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Developing Critical thinking skills, a student must use previous knowledge as a tool. If that knowledge is not there, a student should be able to research some information to help him make a decision of the outcomes.
Aisling,
This is a very good point because it has been my experience over the years that your point is right on in terms of how individuals acquire the skills and expertise needed to be problem solvers. There are steps that need to be followed and skills developed so the end result will be problems solved in a way that is consistent with resources and needed outcomes.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I believe that to get our students to develop as critical thinkers they must pass through stages of development in critical thinking. I believe that skilled critical thinking develops, only when properly cultivated, and only through predictable stages. We have to start our students on these stages and nurture the Unreflective Thinker and start them on their way.
David,
You make a good point about how younger learners see problem solving. A quick search is enough to get the information needed rather that spending the time to think through possible solutions and theories that will get them to the desired outcome.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I believe the first step should be to explain to the students ( especially Gen "Y" and younger)exactly what critical thinking is. Unfortuantly we live in a society that has groomed the younger generation to be impatient and desire info quickly rather than develope it themselves. Therefore, it seems necessary to teach them how to "think".
Victoria,
I use a lot of case studies for the reasons you state. They need to see what kinds of problems they are going to face out in the work world and then learn how to solve such problems. The more they do in class the more expertise they are going to carry with them out into their positions.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
