Vikky,
Very good. Carefully defining the issue in terms of its elements is a very good initial approach and gathering additional information from a wide variety of sources provides multiple options for solutions. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
When I find the need to do critical thinking, I find the first thing I ask myself is what are the important elements needing to be dealt with . Then I look for the information or experiences that will be of assistance to me in answering those questions
Francis,
This is an energized way to get student engagement. Very nice.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Another aspect to the Socratic method is to take up an extreme and push the student to defend or articulate their ideas. Adult learners will come around and some will look forward to mixing it up. Set the rules and conditions early in the class. Some might be jarred by the apporach but most will come around...almost all will arrive prepared.
Jennelle,
Excellent practice to engage the students. Can you share a couple of your best critical thinking questions with us? Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
A critical thinking skill is like any other skill, you must practice to become good at it. I utilize critical thinking problems in my classes to get the students thinking in a critical manner at the beginning of class. A critical thinking question every day is both fun and motivating.
Leslie ,
This is an excellent point. I don't think you're in the minority. Most people's initial response is the same as yours. Most of those who practice the "rule of thumb" have had to discipline themselves to do so. It is truly a skill to be developed for most of us.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I know that for me personally, when something happens that requires critical thinking skills, I sometimes react sort of reflexively intstead of thinking the problem through. This is especially true of some type of situation that is new to me. I guess a good rule of thumb for me is to slow down and try and assess the situation more thoroughly instead of "reacting."
Faith,
It is so sad that your previous statements are so accurate. Today's critical thinking skills include research about the research sources that did not need to exist a few decades ago.
Our justice system uses an old and outdated oath(yet, I believe it represents the correct paradigm – though it has been abandoned) for witnesses in the courtroom. The determination of "...the whole truth and nothing but the truth" is so distorted by contemporary media and hidden agendas that the objective truth is often very difficult to locate. Many times this is so because the "simple truth" is a rare thing in such a convoluted world where control and power taints so much. Even when you do find someone in whom you may trust their intentions, it is still difficult to trust their understanding and capabilities because they have these same obstacles. You are so very right that even when you check the source, you still must dig deeper to the secondary and tertiary sources to identify the biases and money backing these sources. Thank you very much for your contributions and insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I watch the Charlie Rose program on PBS. He has guests from all walks of life and his questions delve into the depths of the where and why a person made choices and what results transpired. The cadence of the conversation, the ability to wait for the guest to pause before the answer makes the use of silence another interviewer @ the plain table set into a darkened background. When you listen to excellence in vocabulary, sentence structure and extensive resources cited, you are enriched.
Today the statements used on TV do not have to be true and this comes as a shock because we were raised to trust Walter Cronkite, etc. Now, especially in the political spin season, the hot rhetoric is flying with terrible editing to manufacture half-truths into persuasive outrage. Help!
When you read an article or read statistics, you need to check the source and be aware of bias and big money backing.
You know, I think I am going to begin answering the "Is this going to be on the test?" question with "YES, it's on the test of whether your employer will be happy with your performance." : )
Amjad,
In the ultrasound classroom scenario described, providing hands-on practice with a skillful set of questions to be answered before each session will be very helpful with a high number of repetitions. Sometimes creating a specific critical thinking path and requiring the student to answer the questions that follow that thought path can help them understand the value of the critical thinking process as part of the procedure. Even in higher-level thinking scenarios, repetition can be very useful when procedures and diagnoses follow a consistent, logical process.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I face a similar situation in my sonography classes.To be successful students have to think quickly as they scan a patient. Does the liver look normal on ultrasound? Is the mass solid or fluid filled? Could this be the cause of the patient's symptoms?
Many want to know "is this going to be in the test?" It is difficult to get them to analyze a clinical situation.
Heidi,
You are right that taking time to carefully consider the available ideas is an important part of critical thinking.
As you consider multiple perspectives, sometimes acknowledgment of those perspectives can allow the contributors to realize you are considering all that is being said. This "thinking out loud" can also aid in your review as you reflect upon the available perspectives.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I think that as far as critical thinking goes some people come up with a solution to fast. I do understand that some solutionsare easier to come up with then other but I also believe that in thinking about the problem and then going through the incubation period would be helpful to some.
I for one am someone who can sit and listen a wide variety of ideas and them come up with a solution that everyone is usually happy with. I also find that others get very irritated with my approach because the feel I don't listen to what is being said, and in reality I am taking it all in.
William,
you make a very good point. Providing students with the understanding that terms like normal and abnormal are fully dependent on the context. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Practice! I use a common sense approach to my lecture content and let the students find solutions with the information provided. I routinely (almost every lecture) incorporate some kind of case study; some more complex than others and the students are usually right on when it comes to figuring out solutions.
I use the common sense approach most often in anatomy and physiology, and the students seem to understand complex relationships in a deeper way. My personal goal for them is to recognize 'normal' and recognize 'abnormal,' and as you can imagine A&P of animals is routinely completely different between species. Recognition of normal and abnormal seems like an easy enough concept, however, normal is totally variable as something can be normal for an individual and abnormal for a species.
Joel,
I agree and have the same experience with many of my students. This brings to mind the old adage "Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?" and the reply being "I don't know and I don't care." My approach in the classroom is to provide opportunities where the students have as much "skin in the game" as possible for decisions of information uses and source. Making the reliability of the source part of the grading rubric tends to help with this, but not eliminate the difficulty. The Department of Education meta-analysis of 10 years of research that was published back in May of 2009 for online best practices, indicated metacognitive activities had a significant positive impact on student learning. Having students thinking about the source of their information/knowledge, how it was retrieved and how it is used has been (at least partially) researched. Not surprisingly, these activities improve student knowledge and skill.
I guess, in short, my recommendation is to indicate parameters of source documents part of the grading rubric.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Here's what I see and don't have a great answer for - There is a deeply ingrained sense that you accept whatever information floats by - if it is wrong it's not your fault....
A large portion of my students do not have critical thinking skills, do not know what it is, don't see a need for it, and, frankly, don't care! ...and they want to be successful medical billers/coders, which is a highly detailed and accuracy-driven profession.
When I work in class to model a critical thinking process in showing how to answer a question, many students will say, "Just tell me .... IF you ask that question, what should the answer be."
Robert,
I think I understand your concern because I experienced a very similar thing myself. Changing the question to include a restatement of what the student said can be helpful. When you restate for the student, focus on one specific component of the students original statement and ask for an explanation based on course content (textbook, discussion posting, other class assigned reading). For example, ask the student to relate his or her statement to the steps for problem solving described in class reading. I hope this helps.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
