I endeavor to help my students develop their CT skills but using current new articles, stories from my years in the field of their program, and situations that arise in daily life for each of, and then lead them through an analysis of it. The students seem to enjoy this more, than trying to use the book we currently have. We do use our book for the basics, but try te enlarge to what is currently going on in our lives.
Roxsie,
I have found them to be great teaching tools plus fun for the students to do.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I really like your idea of using puzzles to develop and/or improve critical thinking skills. It is easy to discount these as just games. But they do require critical thinking. Thanks for the reminder.
RAJINI,
Good point. Students need to be able to analyze the problem and review it from a number of different perspectives. The more experience they have in using this approach the wider their range of problem skill development will be. Keep up your efforts in this area because both your students and their future patients will benefit.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
By analyzing the problem situations, student can develop critical thinking skills. Example to teach a diabetic patient, nursing student must know the definition and risk factor of diabetes and also why the patients blood sugars are not in control. Once the analysis is completed, then student will be able to teach .
Laurel,
This is a great approach because it helps to focus the students on developing their critical thinking skills by looking at material with which they are not familiar yet are transferring a process that involves some reflection.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In art history, I use slides that the students have never seen before so that they can take the knowledge they've learned in class and through readings, and then apply it to something totally unknown. In this way, it's not a matter of memorizing or recognizing a slide, but taking information and applying it to something totally new. They have to think and look critically.
Jennifer,
Scenarios, case studies and role playing are all great ways to help students to expand their understanding of how critical thinking will help them in their careers. I commend you for using these strategies because they are so valuable for your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
As an educator I need to create a collaborative learning environment that fosters critical thinking. Articulating objectives and my pedagogy with my students establishes my credibility while informing my students 'what's in it for them'.
I have various majors in my courses, I cease the opportunity to establish cohesion with a fundamental introduction to interdisciplinary education. Using the metaphor of a lens, in which we are going to approach a problem or scenario introducing new materials but also introducing various perspectives.
Joshua,
I am sure the students like this approach because they get to think and problem solve under your guidance. This helps them to see different alternatives and options to solving the problem.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I always try to throw different scenarios at my students to help them think more about the situation than they normally would. That seems to help quite a bit.
Monica,
I agree. I use case studies (based upon my experiences in the field) a lot in my classes. My students really like working through these studies because they know they will get the outcomes of the studies since they are real situations. As you have learned they are real motivators.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Instructors can encouarage critical thinking in the classroom by incorporating case studies. The student needs to have a knowledge base of the topic being presented in the case and encouraged to pull information from it to answer questions. In nursing, we use case studies on various patient scenarios. The students needs to understand lab values (normal and abnormal), treatment measures, medications, normal versus abnormal assessment, etc. in order to know how to care for the patient in the case study. We also incorporate simulation lab for the student to increase his/her critical thinking skills regarding patient care, physican communication, teamwork, etc.
Thanks for the reply. I think common sense may be antithetical to the way people's minds go about perceiving the everyday world.
Bill,
There are many different definitions of common sense but one that makes "sense" to me is the ability to step back, review the situation or problem and then propose solutions that will work in that setting. It may be more of a strategy that helps the problem solver work through the steps of solution in a sequential way.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I seem to keep hearing the phrase "common sense." I once read that common sense does not apply to complex systems. Yet, it would seem that common sense is important to critical thinking. What do you mean by common sense?
Miriam,
Good list and steps that can be taught in classrooms and labs. By teaching these elements of critical thinking I know your students are leaving your class with ideas about how they can be problem solvers in their careers. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Critical thinking skills can be developed by:
1. learning research skills
2. practicing communication skills
3. role playing
4. asking questions
5. role playing
These are all activities that educators can apply in the classroom to help their students develop critical thinking skills.
Kevin,
Right you are. It is fun to see them develop their critical thinking skills and realize that they in fact can be problem solvers if they use their common sense and a sequence of thought.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Certainly from a student’s perspective if they can see the instructor (through student questioning) model critical thinking the process becomes contagious.
Kevin
