Creative and Critical Thinking Handbook

Critical & Creative Thinking Program Student Handbook

Table of Contents
The information in this handbook updates and supplements the latest Graduate Bulletin entry for CCT. It is arranged in an order that takes you through the sequence of issues you may have from when you are first interested in the program to when you are ready to complete your studies. If you are reading a printed version of this handbook there will be some slightly mysterious text that indicates links on the web-version to material located elsewhere in the handbook. Search for info within the handbook: Overview of Program Go
Joining the CCT Program

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Welcome letter to new or prospective students Programs of Study r Master of Arts, with student-defined specialty areas such as: s "creative thinking at work," "science in a changing world," "gifted and talented education," "critical and creative thinking in literature/arts/music," "dialogue and collaboration in organizational change." Areas of specialization may be constructed through cooperation with other UMass Boston graduate programs, such as Instructional Design, Special Education, Public Policy, and Dispute Resolution. r Graduate Certificate, which accommodates general studies as well as the following targetted themes or foci: s Creative Thinking at Work | Science in a Changing World | Gifted and Talented Education r Students may begin with the certificate and apply to transfer later to the Master's program, or vice versa. Scheduled course offerings (see below) Taking single courses before applying or matriculating (= registering for a "non-degree course") Application Procedures, Info, Tuition & Fees, Graduate Assistantships Profiles of CCT Faculty (with rooms & office hours)
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The Program Coordinator is the faculty member who directs and oversees all aspects of the program. (The Program Coordinator is the same person as the Program Director or GPD = Graduate Program Director.) Program Ofice cct@umb.edu, Wheatley Hall, Second Floor, Room 143-09, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125-3393 ( Directions)
Moving along through the programs of study

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Notes for Newly Admitted Students r CCT Community Directory | Information Form for CCT Community Directory | Registering for courses | Student advising | Transfer Credit Approval Form for graduate courses taken elsewhere or at UMB before matriculating Resources and Assistance: r Graduate Assistantships | Student services (ID, online grades, email, etc.) | Facilities Course Descriptions, Foundation Courses, Electives, and final Required Courses (with syllabi linked to website) Scheduled course offerings r Winter/Spring 2009 | Summer 2009 | Fall 2009 r Future offerings of courses (provisional) Entrance interview with your general advisor and other faculty members (before or soon after admission), At this time we encourage you to r Explore and become familiar with the resources available in the website (http:// www.cct.umb.edu), handbook (http://www.cct.umb.edu/handbook.html), and wiki (http://cct.wikispaces.com) r Submit provisional plan , for taking courses r Make your own connections among ideas and experiences from different courses by starting a Reflective Practice/Metacognitive Portfolio, http://cctrpp.wikispaces. com/ r Participate in monthly CCT Community (aka CCT Network) activities r Join the social network site ("ning") in order to connect with alums and other members of the wider CCT community whose interests you share or are intrigued by r Take steps to acquire Research and Study Competencies progressively over the course of your studies r Make use of writing support groups, tutors, coaches, and editors so you can develop and convey your ideas strongly on paper (unless you already do). Academic Policies and Procedures (on leave, incompletes, etc.) r Program Fee must be paid for students to keep their file active in semesters when they are taking a course. You"register" for this before add/drop date; after then,
submit form and check including late fee.

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Forms Mid-program check-in r Two weeks after the end of the semester in which you take their fifth course towards the CCT M.A. you should submit your Reflective Practice/Metacognitive Portfolio thus far and evidence of Research and Study Competencies you have acquired. s The CCT faculty will review these and meet with you to make recommendations (which may include suggesting that you put a hold on taking courses in order to finish incompletes and/or spend a semester improving writing skills and acquiring more Research and Study Competencies) r A set of steps to prepare CCT students to complete a synthesis during their final semester (or very soon after), including s Options and rationale for pre-capstone courses and capstone synthesis. s Forms and information related to the steps involved in synthesis projects r The Rs of the CCT experience, to help reflect on Your Developing Practice Exit self-assessment Graduation
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Overview--Critical & Creative Thinking Graduate Program, UMass Boston
Graduate Program in Critical and Creative Thinking

using critical and creative thinking to develop reflective practice as we change our schools, workplaces, and lives
Overview: The Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) program at the University of Massachusetts Boston provides its students with knowledge, tools, experience, and support so they can become constructive, reflective agents of change in education, work, social movements, science, and creative arts. Critical thinking, creative thinking, and reflective practice are valued, of course, in all fields. In critical thinking we seek to scrutinize the assumptions, reasoning, and evidence brought to bear on an issue-by others and by oneself; such scrutiny is enhanced by placing ideas and practices in tension with alternatives. Key functions of creative thinking include generating alternative ideas, practices, and solutions that are unique and effective, and exploring ways to confront complex, messy, ambiguous problems, make new connections, and see how things could be otherwise. In reflective practice we take risks and experiment in putting ideas into practice, then take stock of the outcomes and revise our approaches accordingly. The rationale for a distinct Masters and Certificate program of study in CCT is that an explicit and sustained focus on learning and applying ideas and tools in critical thinking, creative thinking, and reflective practice allows students involved in a wide array of professions and endeavors to develop clarity and confidence to make deep changes in their learning, teaching, work, activism, research, and artistry. By the time CCT students finish their studies they are prepared to teach or guide others in ways that often depart markedly from their previous schooling and experience. In these processes of transformation and transfer, CCT students have to select and adapt the ideas and tools presented by faculty with diverse disciplinary and interdisciplinary concerns. Although each CCT course is self-contained and is open to students from other graduate programs, students matriculated in CCT benefit from extended relationships with core CCT faculty and fellow students that support their process-learning-experimenting and taking risks in applying what they are learning, reflecting on the outcomes and revising accordingly, and building up a set of tools, practices, and perspectives that work in their specific professional or personal endeavors. Content of Studies: Traditionally, the foundational knowledge emphasized in Critical and Creative Thinking has included psychological studies of the scope, limits, and techniques of critical and creative thought, information processing, and conceptual learning in children and
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young adults; philosophical studies of reasoning, argument, logical thinking, valuing, and judging; and work with cognitive structures and metacognitive techniques for stimulating creativity and critical thought. In the CCT Program this knowledge base is expanded through elective courses that take students into areas of specialization and through required courses in research, implementation, evaluation, and communication that introduce a range of tools for students' own personal and professional development and for helping others develop equivalent processes. In recent years required and elective CCT courses have delved further into inter- and intra-personal dimensions of critical and creative thinking and reflective practice, involving empathy, listening, dialogue, and facilitation of other group processes [certificate with these themes]. An interest in contributing to constructive social change has also led CCT faculty and students to address anti-racist and multicultural education and to promote the involvement of teachers and other citizens in debates about science in its social context [certificate with science in society theme]. The Program's long-standing emphasis on creativity has also been complemented by the newer courses on workplace and organizational change [certificate]. Like the students in the Program, CCT faculty members are engaged in ongoing personal and professional development, which builds on, but extends some distance from, their original disciplines of education, philosophy, psychology, mathematics, and the life sciences. Indeed, faculty members value teaching in CCT as an opportunity for innovation and process-learningideas incubated with input from the diverse practitioner-students of CCT can then be brought back into the faculty's home disciplines and undergraduate teaching. In turn, students' experience of the faculty as reflective practitioners in their own work is an essential part of the content of CCT studies. Students and intended impact of studies: The CCT Program appeals to students looking for professional and personal development who are interested in learning from and with others of diverse backgrounds and interests. Many are mid-career educators: teachers and college professors, curriculum specialists, teacher educators, museum educators, or school administrators. Others are policy makers or personnel trainers in government, corporate, or non-profit settings. Some are artists, musicians, or writers. Through course projects, independent studies, pre-capstone research courses, and the capstone synthesis projects, CCT students explore issues they have not had much chance to address before and translate what they learn into strategies, materials, and interventions for use in diverse educational, professional, and social settings. Given the range of practitioners that choose to undertake studies in CCT, the Program cannot measure its impact in terms of numerical production of, say, certified teachers, principals, or nurses. Instead, the Program's success in fulfilling its mission has to be read from the capstone projects, exit self-assessments, and subsequent reports and testimonials. These outcomes demonstrate that graduates leave CCT well equipped for ongoing learning, addressing the needs of their schools, workplaces, and communities, adapting and contributing to social changes, and collaborating with others to these ends [syn/thesis abstracts, exit self-assessment and feedback from alums and testimonials].
Programs of study: Most students in CCT seek a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree (11 courses/33 credits). Others study for a Graduate Certificate (5 courses/15 credits), and some of these students then apply to transfer their credits into the M.A. program. The Certificate may be completed through online courses and the M.A. through a combination of online courses and regular courses taken at a distance.. CCT courses also allow students from other graduate programs to fulfill requirements for courses in critical and creative thinking and in teaching in the different subject areas, especially in mathematics and science. In particular, students in the non-licensure and professional Teacher Education tracks who want to build a specific area of interest in CCT should contact the Program to be assigned a CCT faculty advisor. Non-degree students can also take CCT courses; this opportunity, together with workshops, summer institutes, open house activities, forums, and other outreach activities further extend the range of educational experiences offered by the Program [Publicity Brochure]. To accommodate the schedules of teachers and other professionals, courses are offered after 4 pm as well as in intensive sessions during the summer, and the Program can be completed on a part-time or full-time basis. The elective courses allow students to define specific areas in which they explore their CCTrelated interests -- for example, "creative thinking at work", "science in a changing world", "gifted and talented education", "critical and creative thinking in literature/arts/music", "dialogue and collaboration in organizational change." Areas of specialization may be constructed through cooperation with other UMass-Boston graduate programs, such as Instructional Design, Special Education, Public Policy, and Dispute Resolution.
M.A. students complete four foundation courses, four electives*, and three final required courses including a capstone synthesis. The elective courses offered specifically address four areas in which students apply critical and creative thinking skills: moral education; literature and arts; mathematics, science, and technology (including sub-specialities in science in society, and environment, science, and society); and workplace and organizational change. Additional areas of specialization can be constructed through cooperation with other UMass Boston graduate programs, such as Instructional Design, Special Education, Educational Administration, and Dispute Resolution. (*Three electives for students matriculated before Fall '08.) A Handbook for CCT Students provides more detail about joining CCT and moving through the program (PDF version). The extensive website can be searched for more information about the Program and allied activities in the wider world.
Welcome letter to new or prospective CCT students
Dear Incoming or Prospective CCT Student,

Welcome to the Critical and Creative Thinking Program, a unique and innovative interdisciplinary graduate program offered only at UMass Boston [see overview of the program]. The CCT Handbook provides a step-by-step guide to joining and moving through the Program. The most current information about CCT activities and updates on future semesters' courses can be accessed via the CCT website (www.cct.umb.edu), which has links to a calendar, wiki, and regular news bulletins. Prospective and new students and others interested in CCT are encouraged to email the Program office to get added to the email distribution list and to keep us informed of any changes in your email address. As an interdisciplinary, cross-college program CCT has to be critical and creative in the way it secures its resources and uses them, especially in times of state budgets cuts and shifting institutional priorities. For several years we have worked to build more "horizontal" exchanges and support among students and "vertical" exchanges between students and the larger community of CCT aums and associates. These have coalesced into monthly events of the CCT network and an online social network (or "ning"). Through these you can extend your learning beyond the formal classes by hearing about the range of ways alums, faculty, and students put critical and creative thinking into practice and reflect on how their current work builds on their CCT experiences. Every CCT Network event has time for socializing, but there are also occasional social gatherings organized by the graduate students' group, the CCT Forum. Each matriculated student is assigned a general CCT advisor, but should feel free to ask other faculty members for advice. We want the time students spend consulting with faculty to focus as much as possible on issues of personal, professional, and intellectual development, so we have designed the web-based handbook to enable students to handle most bureaucratic matters on their own. (Students recently admitted should take note of the guidelines about advising.) We would also value help getting CCT's website (http://www.cct.umb.edu) linked in appropriate places and any good old word of mouth about CCT would be appreciated. To reach our target of new students each year, we need to reach out and find people who might not know we exist but are thrilled when they find us. Finally, we view the CCT program as works-in-progress, which means that we encourage members of the CCT community to find opportunities to affirm what is working well and to suggest directions for further development. It helps our spirits to know that others are thinking about how the Program can move ahead.
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Welcome letter to new or prospective CCT students
Sincerely, Peter Taylor, Program Coordinator Return to home | handbook | search Last update 3 Apr 09
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Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking
Master of Arts
For completion of the M.A. degree thirty-three graduate credits or eleven courses are required -- 4 required foundation courses, 4 electives, and three final required courses in research and engagement that result in a capstone synthesis.
The elective courses allow students to define specific areas in which they explore their CCT-related interests -for example, "creative thinking at work", "science in a changing world", "gifted and talented education", "critical and creative thinking in literature/arts/music", "dialogue and collaboration in organizational change." Areas of specialization may be constructed through cooperation with other UMass-Boston graduate programs, such as Instructional Design, Special Education, Public Policy, and Dispute Resolution.
Mode of delivery: Several courses are offered in both face2face and online sections (including foundation courses CrCrTh 601 and 602). Some of the face2face courses are designed to bring in a small number of students from a distance by speakerphone (or "voice over the internet") during regular class meeting times. (Contact the Program for details and the Program Director for approval.) It is possible to complete the entire M.A. at a distance by: undertaking the Certificate through online and distance courses; getting approval to transfer to the M.A. program; and participating in the remaining regular classes at a distance. Online sections and the distance option are intended primarily for students outside the Boston area. Local M.A. students need permission of their advisors to take them in place of face-toface sections. In no case may students count more than five on-line courses from UMass Boston toward their CCT M.A. degree. Because different people visualize and plan in different ways, you should choose the kind of advice that helps you best to plan your CCT course sequence-course descriptions, the course planning worksheet, conversations with your CCT advisor, or some combination of the preceding. We welcome comments on the advice given.
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Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking

The objective of the fifteen-credit certificate program is to provide a coherent and substantial course of study resulting in an understanding of the skills needed in teaching, training, or designing curriculum for critical and creative thinking and an enhanced ability to use and communicate these skills in professional practice. Students seeking the certificate take a total of five courses: a sequence of two foundation courses, Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking; and three other CCT courses, chosen after consultation with their faculty advisor and with the approval of the Program Director.
Certificate students may count CCT courses that they have taken towards completion of their M.Ed. or another UMass Boston Masters degree. Students entering the certificate program must meet the same admissions criteria as students entering the Master's program, except their statement of intent can be shorter and one fewer letter of recommendation will be acceptable.
CCT Certificate with a Special Focus

For each of the following foci CCT Certificate students take CrCrTh 601 and CrCrTh 602, three other courses from a recommended list of electives, and complete an exit performance as part of one of the courses taken. On-line sections are available for several courses.
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Creative Thinking at Work Science in a Changing World Gifted and Talented Education
For more information, please contact the Program Office, email cct@umb.edu.
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Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston
Creative Thinking at Work

This 15 credit graduate certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking trains people to tackle challenging real-life problems, generate new ideas, and take them through to realization in their various educational, professional, artistic, and social settings. Innovative and inspiring teachers introduce a variety of approaches to invention, dialogue, listening, and teamwork that promote creativity. Certificate students learn to confront ambiguous and complex problems, reflect deeply and bring insights to the surface, transform the giving of feedback into a mutual learning experience, build relationships of trust and enthusiastic acceptance of diverse perspectives, articulate a practical vision, and collaborate in bringing it to fruition. CCT Certificate students take CrCrTh 601 and CrCrTh 602, three other courses, and complete an exit performance as part of one of the courses taken. CCT Masters students, graduate students from other programs, advanced undergraduates, and special students are welcome to enroll in individual courses. (CCT Masters students need permission of their advisors to take on-line sections and may count no more than five on-line courses from UMass Boston towards their degree.) This certificate is offered through a partnership between the Graduate Program in Critical & Creative Thinking and Continuing Education.
Courses
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For timing and frequency of course offerings, see upcoming semesters' schedulesand provisional longer-term plan. F2F = face-to-face sections; OL = online sections; F2FD = distance ed option to join in face-to-face sections
Required courses
CrCrTh 601 Critical Thinking, F2F, OL CrCrTh 602 Creative Thinking, F2F, OL
Electives
CrCrTh 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking (Problem-based learning focus) CrCrTh 612 Seminar in Creativity (focus varies), F2F, OL CrCrTh 616 Dialogue Processes, F2F, OL CrCrTh 618 Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Organizational Change, F2F, OL CrCrTh 630 Creativity in the Literature and Arts, F2F
Additional courses in which to undertake exit performance

CrCrTh 692 Processes of Research and Engagement, F2F, F2FD CrCrTh 693 Action Research for Educational, Professional and Personal Change, F2F, F2FD For more information, please contact the Program Office, email cct@umb.edu, or view the CCT Program handbook. Return to home | handbook | search Last update 7 May 09
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Science in a Changing World

This 15 credit graduate certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking is designed for educators and other concerned citizens who want to explore the relationships among new developments in scientific knowledge, in education, and in society. Innovative and inspiring instructors arrange course material, classroom activities, and teaching/learning interactions that provide students an opportunity to learn about science in its social context, to gain a set of models for their own educational or activist work, and to discuss practices and philosophies of education and social change. CCT Certificate students take CrCrTh 601 and CrCrTh 602, three other courses, and complete an exit performance as part of one of the courses taken. CCT Masters students, graduate students from other programs, advanced undergraduates, and special students are welcome to enroll in individual courses. See description of CCT M.A. degree with a "Science in a Changing World" emphasis. This certificate is offered in partnership with Continuing Education.
Courses
For timing and frequency of course offerings, see upcoming semesters' schedules and provisional longer-term plan. F2F = face-to-face sections; OL = online sections; F2FD = distance ed option to join in face-toface sections
Required courses
Electives
CrCrTh 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking (Problem-based learning focus), F2F CrCrTh 619 Biomedical Ethics, F2F CrCrTh 640 Environment, Science, and Society, F2F, F2FD CrCrTh 645 Biology in Society, F2F, F2FD CrCrTh 649 Scientific and Political Change (formerly: Science, Technology and Public Policy) (crosslisted as PPol 749), F2F, F2FD CrCrTh 652 Children and Science, F2F
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PPol 753 Epidemiological Thinking & Population Health, F2F, F2FD WoSt 597 Gender, Race, and the Complexities of Science and Technology, F2F, F2FD (see listing of related courses from other graduate programs)

CrCrTh 692 Processes of Research and Engagement, F2F, F2FD CrCrTh 693 Action Research for Educational, Professional and Personal Change, F2F, F2FD For more information, please contact the Program Office, email cct@umb.edu, or view the CCT Program handbook. Return to home | handbook | search Last update 7 May 09
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Focus on Gifted and Talented Education
The 15 credit graduate certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking provides an opportunity for teachers and parents to become innovative, inspiring teachers of the gifted, and advocates in their classrooms, schools, and communities. While students from a diversity of programs take any CCT course, course projects can accommodate the specific interests of students taking this certificate. To this end, students meet with the certificate advisor - Nina Greenwald, Ph.D., a specialist in gifted education - to plan a course of study that best suits their professional needs. CCT courses provide training in state-of the-art thinking and practice necessary for meeting the educational needs of gifted students. Electives include cutting edge courses in problembased learning, invention, humor and thinking, education and psychology of the gifted, children and science, math thinking skills, creativity in literature and the arts, teambuilding and collaboration and dialogue processes (detailed course information). Courses from the Program in Special Education provide training that addresses the special psychological and educational needs of gifted and talented students. CCT Certificate students take a total of five courses and complete an exit performance as part of one of the courses taken: two foundation courses, Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking, plus three electives from a roster of exciting choices taught by a distinguished faculty who model effective teaching for thinking. Graduate students from other programs and special students are welcome to enroll in individual courses. This certificate is not designed to meet requirements for licensure with the Mass. Department of Education.
Courses
For timing and frequency of course offerings, see upcoming semesters' schedulesand provisional longer-term plan. F2F = face-to-face sections; OL = online sections; F2FD = distance ed option to join in face-to-face sections
Required foundation courses

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Electives
CrCrTh 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking (Problem-based learning focus), F2F CrCrTh 612 Seminar in Creativity (focus varies), F2F, OL CrCrTh 630 Creativity in the Literature and Arts, F2F CrCrTh 646 The Gifted and Talented Student (crosslisted as Spe G 646), F2F Other electives may be taken from CCT and other programs with permission of the certificate advisor.

CrCrTh 692 Processes of Research and Engagement, F2F, F2FD CrCrTh 693 Action Research for Educational, Professional and Personal Change, F2F, F2FD For further information about this certificate program, please contact Nina Greenwald (617-2876523; nlgreenwald@comcast.net), or view the CCT Program website. CCT looks forward to hearing from you! Return to home | handbook | search Last update 26 Sept 08
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Non-matriculated registration for Critical & Creative Thinking Program courses
Non-matriculated registration for Critical & Creative Thinking Program courses

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For non-matriculated students to register in courses offered through Continuing Education, visit http://ccde.umb.edu/moreinfo/registration/how/. No form is needed. (All on-line, winter, and summer courses are offered through Continuing Education; some other fall and spring courses may also be.) Alternatively, go directly to the shopping cart for the semester, e.g., for spring 09 the link is http://ccde.umb.edu/credit/spring09/gr/crcrth/. (Note: "UMass Boston prerequisites and eligibility requirements" means that you have an undergraduate degree.)
To register before classes start for all other courses, get the required form signed at the Graduate Collge of Education Office of Student Services, Wheatley 2-119. (Call 617-287-7625 or email to ensure someone is there.) Then go to One Stop in the Campus center to complete the registration process. q You may also go to the first class and have the professor sign you in or see the Program Director during his office hours. q If you already have a student UMS number, you can register without a form through WISER starting about 2 weeks before the semester starts. q See also University website (= registering for a "non-degree course") + the form to be used
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Application to M.A. Program and Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking, UMass Boston
Application Procedures
CCT offers a 33*-credit Master of Arts degree and a 15-credit Graduate Certificate. Officially, students applying to the certificate program must meet the same admissions criteria (described below) as students entering the Master's program. In practice, a shorter statement of interest and intent and only two letters of recommendation suffice for a certificate applicant. Students matriculated into the Certificate Program may apply to switch to the M.A. Program, in which case their original application plus their progress in the Certificate are taken into account. If approved, all certificate credits count. (*30 credits for students who matriculated before Fall '08.) Information and application forms may be obtained on line or from the Office of Graduate Admissions (617)287-6400. The office is located in the Campus Center, floor UL (uppper level), Room 00320, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, Massachusetts 02125. The application form can be completed ( on-line (follow links)), but supporting application materials must be submitted to the Graduate Admission Office with a fee of $40 for in-state residents and $50 for out-of-state and international residents. Graduate Admissions microfilms the student's application material when it arrives and sends to the Program. The Program is allowed to sign the official acceptance form only when the application is nearly complete, that is, when transcripts, most of the letters of recommendation, and the statement of intent have been submitted. Applicants to the Program are advised to check with Graduate Admissions to make sure that all the needed documents have arrived and the file is complete. (This can also be done online at https://www.umassadmin.net/isis/checkstatus/login.asp? inst=umbos&career=grad using a personal code mailed to you by the Admissions office.) Do not send any admissions materials to the Critical and Creative Thinking Program unless specifically requested. However, please feel free to contact the Critical and Creative Thinking Program for any information you might have regarding specific program application procedures, for information interviews, and to schedule meetings with the Faculty Advisors for the Program. Applications received by the official deadlines of Nov. 1 and April 1 will reviewed by the CCT Admissions Committee and decisions made by Nov. 15 and April 15. Late applicants are welcome and will be reviewed as soon as they are received, but admission will be subject to existing CCT students having priority in registration for CCT courses. (Students are welcome to take up to 2 courses as non-matriculated students while they are waiting to be admitted.) The University admits students regardless of sex, race, cultural background, religion, ethnic group, or disabled status.
1. Undergraduate Transcripts
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The CCT Program looks for a generally distinguished undergraduate transcript with an average of at least 3.0 in advanced undergraduate work. For students with a strong record of accomplishment in other areas, the CCT Admissions committee will recommend provisional admission with the stipulation that the student completes two courses in the program with a course grade of B+ or better. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Program, we do not require that you come from any specific program of study.
2. Letters of Recommendation
Three letters are required from people who have worked closely with you and who have direct knowledge of your abilities. The people you ask to recommend you should be able to comment in detail about your academic strengths, work experience, or life experience.
3. Statement of Interest and Intent

The Program's admissions requirements call for an essay of at least 1200 words in which you explain your intellectual, artistic, professional or personal reasons for wanting to pursue a degree in Critical and Creative Thinking. Your essay should include specific accounts of your past work and current direction. You should provide a detailed discussion of your specific interests and priorities as a student (or scholar, teacher, artist, computer wizard, philosophizer); the projects you have completed in the past; the problems and topics you want to focus on in future study; and how and why you believe the CCT program can help you accomplish your goals. The CCT Admissions Committee will read your essay as a demonstration of how you write and how you think about issues, as well as determine if your interests and goals match those of the Program.
4. Test Scores
GRE scores are optional to apply for our program. Foreign students, please check with Graduate Admissions to inform you of your required tests.
Transfer of Courses
With the approval of the Graduate Program Coordinator/Director, the University allows graduate students to transfer up to 6 credits of graduate work from outside UMB and up to 6 credits of UMB courses taken before matriculating into the Program. Grades must be a B or higher, and an official transcript is needed for courses taken outside UMB. Students starting
their coursework in the summer do not matriculate until the fall but may submit a prematriculation waiver so that all credits taken in the summer count. If the Program Coordinator approves your transfer, s/he will submit the proper paperwork to Graduate Records.
5. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

Required from students from countries where English is not the primary language
6. Declaration and Certification of Finances

Required from all International Students before an I-20 is issued, with which the student applies for a student visa. For current financial support requirements and other information, visit www.uac.umb.edu or direct questions about this requirement directly to the Graduate Admissions Office (617-287-6406).
Course Waivers
If you bring an unusually strong background in a particular subject area and have written documentation to verify this, it may be appropriate to have a course waived and have another course substituted in its place in your program. If you wish to apply to have a course waived, write a clear letter of request to the Program Coordinator, attaching copies of the appropriate documentation and identifying the course you wish to substitute. Allow at least one month for such requests to be processed and responded to.
Non-Degree Students
(a.k.a. Special students, Non-matriculated students)
Non-degree students who have an undergraduate degree may enroll in CCT courses on a space available basis. Non-degree students can enroll in courses during the registration period set aside by the University. Please contact the CCT Office for procedure, dates, and fees. If your experience as a non-degree student leads you to decide to apply to the Program, please do so before you take a third course because only 6 credits of UMB courses taken before matriculation can be counted toward your degree. Any exceptions to this policy must be addressed by submitting a Pre-Matriculation Waiver Form which must be approved by the Program Coordinator.
Tuition and Fees, Graduate Programs, U. Massachusetts Boston
Residency:
Foreign students, with or without a green card, are never considered residents. Determination of residency for U.S. citizens is made on a case by case basis. This determination emphasizes MA residency in tax returns, employment in a position in MA (other than as a student employee), and MA sources of income for the 12 months prior to entry [matriculation] as a student. For full details see the Graduate Bulletin.
Graduate Tuition
Tuition and Fee schedule
Waivers
Various categories of students get tution and/or fee waivers, such as state employees, vets, Graduate assistants. It is important to note that the waiver policy is more limited for courses offered through Continuing Education, which include all online sections, winter and sumemr sections, and occasionally other courses during the regular spring and fall semesters (see Cont. Ed. waiver policy). Return to home | handbook | search Last update 7 May 09
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Resources and Assistance for Students in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston
Resources and Assistance

Graduate Assistantships Student Services
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Student ID Student Online Registration and Information Student E-Mail Accounts Graduate Writing Center UMB Academic advising website Healey Library Information Technology Adaptive Computing Lab and the Center for Disability Services Housing Referral
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Professional Development Grants
Graduate Assistantships
The Office of Graduate Studies and Research, via the Graduate College of Education, allocates to the Department of Curriculum and Instruction a very small number of graduate assistantships. (Assistantships with other departments are posted at http://www.umb.edu/hr/ employment/search.html.) Five hour/week assistantships pay $1625 per semester and carry a tuition waiver. The waiver covers 25% of the activities, curriculum and other fees. Assistantships, once awarded, are renewable for up to, but not more than, three semesters. To hold an assistantship, a student should be enrolled in at least six credits of graduate work (two or more classes) and must maintain a satisfactory average. Under the conditions of the Assistantship, the student is responsible for 5 hours of work per week from the first week of classes through to the due date for submission of final grades as defined by the academic calendar, unless a different term of employment is identified. No work is expected during spring break and intersessions (see details of contract with graduate student union). If you're working in another job, studying, and attending to the usual ups and downs of life, this commitment may be hard to fulfill. Faculty members are usually flexible, but
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please think seriously about competing demands in your life before taking on a GAship. It complicates your student-teacher relationships if you let professors down as a an assistant. The duties of assistantships range from office support, teaching assistance in the core courses, and research assistance. To apply for an assistantship, complete the application form and send it to the CCT Program Coordinator with a CV or resume indicating your skills, time availability, and the classes you hope to be taking. A copy will be forwarded to the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, which makes the final decisions about assistantships. It is imperative that you get this material in as soon as possible before the semester in which you need the assistantship. April 15 is a safe target date for the next academic year. The awarding of an assistantship is based on a student's academic achievement and qualifications in relation to the needs of the Department, as well as financial need. If you are awarded an assistantship, the Program Coordinator will informally notify you of the decision, and you will receive official notification from the Office of Graduate Studies. When you receive notice, check with Graduate Studies about paperwork required. Once the semester is about to start check with them at regular intervals until you receive your checks, because, from past experience, it is possible for the process to get stalled.
Student Services
Student I.D. A Student ID is a photo identification card given through the university and are available from the Student Life office (Campus Center 3rd floor, Room 3401 In The Student Activities & Leadership Office). You must show a valid picture ID ready (license, passport, etc) or three printed proofs of address (utility bills, university correspondence, etc) to obtain a student ID. Your first ID is free; however replacements cost $15. With your ID, you have access to all UMass Boston computer labs and can take advantage discounts offered through Student Life (such as museum and movie discounts). To use your ID for Healey Library resources, you must have a valid library bar code, which can be obtained at the library Circulation Desk. Class Registration, Add/Drop, Course Grades, and Financial Information WISER is UMass Bostons on-line system for student accounts; all registered students are issued a WISER account. Students logging-in for the first time can go to the following link for step-by-step instructions: http://www.umb.edu/it/info/wiser/documents/InitialWISERSign-inv3. pdf. Additional information about WISER can be found at http://www.umb.edu/it/info/wiser/ index.html.
Student E-mail UMass provides a free, web-based e-mail service for students that is (in theory) available for life. To use the student e-mail, connect to https://webmail.umb.edu and enter your user name and password. If you do not know your user name and password contact ITservicedesk@umb. edu. The University will notify students regarding University business through this e-mail system. If you choose not to use your student account as your primary e-mail, you can arrange to have messages forwarded from the UMass account to the account you prefer. For additional information on student e-mail visit http://www.umb.edu/students/webmail.html. Graduate Writing Center Workshops and Individual tutoring are available free of charge for UMass students. Students who want to develop their writing process, research skills, and/or an understanding of the general expectations associated with graduate study may sign up for individual tutoring. Generally, students meet with their tutor for weekly one-hour appointments over several weeks. (Note: Students have to sign up. There is often a waitlist after the semester gets started. The tutors are not allowed to work on final projects. Online students cannot be helped unless they can come for face2face meetings.) Academic support is located on the first floor of the Campus Center in room 1-1300 and can be reached at 617-287-6550. (Campus Center offices typically close by 6pm.) For more information about the Graduate Writing Center visit http://www.academicsupport.umb.edu/ graduatewritingcenter.htm.
Healey Library The University's Library has a number of physical and electronic resources available, including books, computer labs, interlibrary loans, electronic course reserves, and extensive on-line database, among other resources. A valid student ID and barcode (barcode obtainable at the Circulation Desk) are required to use most services off campus. Details on Healey Library resources can be found at http://www.lib.umb.edu/services. Information Technology The University's IT department, with Help Desk located on the third floor of the Healey Library, can assist students with a range of issues and questions, including but not limited to help with Student e-mail and WISER accounts, connecting to the UMass Boston wireless network, and software problems. IT manages an accessible on-line help platform at http://www.umb.edu/it/
index.html and provides workshops for students. For a list of current IT workshops visit http:// www.umb.edu/it/tech/workshops.html. Adaptive Computing Lab and the Center for Disability Services The Adaptive Computing Lab and the Center for Disability Services make available auxiliary aids and related support services for students with disabilities such as sign language interpretation, note taking, testing accommodation, advocacy, adapted computer equipment, and counseling. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 offer guidelines for curriculum modifications and adaptations for students with documented disabilities. If applicable, students may obtain adaptation recommendations from the Ross Center (617-287-7430). The student must present and discuss these recommendations to each professor within the first few weeks of class, preferably by the end of the Drop/Add period. The Ross Center provides additional information at http://www.rosscenter.umb.edu/. Housing Referral UMass Boston does not provide campus housing; however, a housing referral service is offered by the Office of Student Housing. Their office is located on the 3rd floor of the Campus Center in Room 3400, or you can consult their website at http://www.umb.edu/students/ housing/ or call 617-287-6011.
Professional Development Grants

The Graduate Student Assembly (using fees from students) offers these grants to "assist with the economic burden of attending academic and professional conferences. This is a post travel reimbursement program. Approval occurs prior to travel. " more details and forms Return to home | handbook | search Last update 7 May 09
Faculty of Critical and Creative Thinking Program, U. Massachusetts Boston
Profiles of CCT Teachers and Advisors

Core faculty, part-time faculty, and associates from other Departments are important members of the CCT Community. Here are their profiles, contact info, office hours, and syllabi.
Core faculty
Lawrence Blum (Professor of Philosophy and Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Education) has written two books in moral philosophy (Friendship, Altruism, and Morality; and Moral Perception and Particularity), dealing with issues of compassion, friendship, moral motivation, moral development, community, and morality during the Holocaust. Currently he works in race studies and multicultural education, especially the moral dimension of those areas, and is the author of the 2002 book, "I'm Not a Racist, But...": The Moral Quandary of Race. Larry teaches "Issues and Controversies in Antiracist and Multicultural Education" (CCT 627) and gives workshops on antiracist education to K-12 teachers in a variety of settings. CV Phone: 617-287-6532 Email: lawrence.blum at umb.edu Office: W-5-012 Office hours: CCT Syllabi: CCT 627
Nina Greenwald (Professor, CCT Program) is an educational consultant, national teacher trainer and keynote speaker with specializations in critical and creative thinking, problem-based learning, multiple intelligences, and gifted education. An elected member of the Danforth Associates of New England, an
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organization of selected higher education faculty distinguished for excellence in teaching, she has taught courses in creative thinking, critical thinking, and humor for the program for over a decade. Her publications include articles on teaching thinking and problem-based learning (PBL), teaching gifted children, and teaching thinking through multiple intelligences. She is former director of K-8 programs to develop critical and creative thinking for a Massachusetts educational collaborative, and an advisor to the exhibits department of the Museum of Science, Boston, on the development of innovative exhibits that engage visitors in thinking and problem solving. Nina is a founding member and past president of The Massachusetts Association for Advancement of Individual Potential (MA/AIP), an advocacy organization in behalf of gifted education. Her published articles include instructional models for teaching thinking and curriculum for gifted students. Curriculum publications include those which promote thinking and problem solving in science for the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research, The National Institute of Health, The American Medical Association,The New England Aquarium, and NOVA. She is co-author of a chapter on cultural impediments to creative development in Fostering Creativity in Children, Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Her book, Science in Progress, containing authentic issues and dilemmas in biomedical science, and a PBL model for guiding students in the use of this material, has been adopted by the Pennsylvania State Department of Education as a basis for promoting instructional reforms in science education. Currently, she is collaborating on a new book focused on concept-based teaching of biology with two colleagues from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. CV Phone: 617-287-6523 Email: nlgreenwald at Comcast.net Office: W-2-142-03 Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:30-3:30 CCT syllabi: CCT602
Arthur Millman (Associate Professor of Philosophy) teaches in the Philosophy Department as well as in the CCT Program. For CCT, he regularly teaches "Critical Thinking" (CCT 601) as well as "Foundations of Philosophical Thought" (Phil 501). He is in the process of developing a new course that explores recent developments and controversies and relates critical and creative thinking to applied and professional ethics. Arthur's research is in both the philosophy of science and applied ethics, and he has worked to help students with the integration and application of critical and creative thinking in a wide range of areas including elementary and secondary education and business. CV Phone: 617-287-6538 Email: arthur.millman at umb.edu Office: W-5-020 Office hours CCT Syllabi: Phil 501 Carol Smith (Associate Professor of Psychology) I joined the Critical and Creative Thinking Program in 1980, when I was hired as an assistant professor in Psychology who would participate in the CCT program. Over the years, I have taught several
courses in CCT: Advanced Cognitive Psychology (Psych 650) a required course in the CCT Program; Children and Science course (CCT 652) a specialty course in the science track of CCT, and the Seminar on Scientific thinking (another specialty course in the science track of CCT co-taught in the past with Prof. Arthur Millman in the Philosophy Department.) My research focuses on characterizing student intuitive theories (in particular, student matter theories and epistemologies of science) and understanding the dynamics of conceptual change both in children and adults. My research with children has examined the role of models, analogies, and metaconceptual understanding in facilitating the process of conceptual change within schooling contexts as well as the general impact of schooling on metacognitive development. I have also collaborated with Arthur Millman in the Philosophy Department in doing a case study of the reasoning processes used by Darwin in the development of his theory of natural selection, based on an analysis of his scientific notebooks. In my work with CCT and M.Ed. students, I have taught them how to devise and analyze clinical interviews in order to assess student thinking and conceptual understanding. I have also worked with them in creating curriculum interventions that would enhance both students' domain specific knowledge and their metacognitive understandings of how knowledge is created and justified in science. CV Phone: 617-287-6359 Email: carol.smith at umb.edu Office: McC 4-265 Office Hours: on leave 2008 CCT Syllabi: CCT 652
Peter Taylor (Professor, CCT Program) I joined the Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) Program in the Graduate College of Education (GCOE) at UMass Boston in the fall of 1998 and have been enjoying new challenges teaching experienced educators, other mid-career professionals, and prospective K-12 teachers. Working in the CCT Program also provides opportunities to promote reflective practice in ways that extend my contributions to ecology and environmental studies (ES) and social studies of science and technology (STS). In those fields I focus on the complexity of, respectively, ecological or environmental situations and the social situations in which the environmental research is undertaken. Both kinds of situation, I argue, can be characterized in terms of "intersecting processes" that cut across scales, involve heterogeneous components, and develop over time. These cannot be understood from an outside view; instead positions of engagement must be taken within the complexity. Knowledge production needs to be linked with planning for action and action itself in an ongoing process so that knowledge, plans, and action can be continually reassessed in response to developments -- predicted and surprising alike. In this spirit, ES, STS, and critical pedagogy/reflective practice have come together for me in a project of stimulating researchers to selfconsciously examine the complexity of their social situatedness so as to change the ways they address the complexity of ecological and socio-environmental situations. (See my book Unruly Complexity: Ecology, Interpretation, Engagement, U. Chicago Press, 2005.) Recently, I have begun to take these interests in a new direction through historical and sociological analysis of social epidemiological approaches that address the intersections of environment, health, and development. Through collaborations in and beyond the GCE* I also seek to promote a vision of critical science and environmental education that extends from improving the teaching of scientific concepts and methods
to involving citizens in community-based research. (* See Program in Science, technology & values, Intercollege faculty Seminiar in Science and Humanities, New England Workshop on Science and Social Change This project had its beginnings in environmental and social activism in Australia which led to studies and research in ecology and agriculture. I moved to the United States to undertake doctoral studies in ecology (Harvard 1985), with a minor focus in STS. Subsequently I combined scientific investigations with interpretive inquiries from the different disciplines that make up STS (working, among other places, at U. C. Berkeley and Cornell), my goal being to make STS perspectives relevant to life and environmental students and scientists. (This is evident in my contributions to a book I co-edited, Changing Life: Genomes, Ecologies, Bodies, Commodities, U. Minnesota Press, 1997.) Critical thinking and critical pedagogy became central to my intellectual and professional project as I encouraged students and researchers to contrast the paths taken in science, society, education with other paths that might be taken, and to foster their acting upon the insights gained. Bringing critical analysis of science to bear on the practice and applications of science has not been well developed or supported institutionally, and so I continue to contribute actively, to new collaborations, programs, and other activities, new directions for existing programs, and collegial interactions across disciplines. CV Phone: 617-287-7636 Email: peter.taylor at umb.edu Office: W-2-143-09 (opposite Dept. School Counseling & Psychology Office hours: Mondays by signup, or by arrangement CCT Syllabi: CCT649 (PPol 749)CCT692 | CCT694 | CCT693 | CCT640 | CCT645
Website: www.faculty.umb.edu/peter_taylor
Part-time faculty
Allyn Bradford (part-time instructor of CCT616 and 618 online, CCT Program) regularly teaches CCT616, Dialogue Processes, through Continuing Education and the Teamwork part of CCT618, Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Organizational Change (plus the whole course on-line). Allyn has a strong background in organizational and human resource development. A Congregational Minister for 12 years, he worked at Synectics Inc. for 6, and then became an Independent Consultant and Trainer. In addition, he is currently teaching at both the college and graduate levels, using a highly innovative approach which makes extensive use of group process and action learning.
Among the education centers where he has designed and conducted training are the American Management Association, the American Society of Training Directors, the Association of Field Service Managers, the Mecuri Institute in Sweden and the Accelerated Management Institute in England. In the private sector he has designed and conducted training for such companies as Block Drug, General Foods, Avon Products, Honeywell, Digital, Stop & Shop, Johnson & Johnson, Warner Lambert, Monsanto, New England Electric, Telex, Fidelity Trust, Kodak, New England Nuclear, Burger King, FW Faxon, Becton Dickenson, Semicon, The First Years and Matritech. In the public sector he has designed and conducted training for the Personnel Commission of the State of Idaho, the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, the Office of Personnel Services of the United Nations, the Boston Neighborhood Development and Employment Agency, and Massachusetts Half-Way Houses, Inc. Publications: He is the author of "Freedom of Information Changes the Rules" published in the Journal of Management Consulting,"Team Communications" in the Honeywell USMG Mgr. "Suspending Judgement: How to Build Teams Through Critical and Creative Thinking" in The New England NonProfit Quarterly Journal, "Modern Art and Modern Organizations" in Context, an on-line publication and co-author of Transactional Awareness, a book published by Addison-Wesley. Allyn teaches Leadership and Management and Effective Team Building at Wentworth Institute of Technology and Dialogue at U-Mass, Boston and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. CV Email: allynb at aol.com CCT Syllabi: CCT616
Suzanne Clark Wally Clausen (part-time online instructor of CCT618) has been an Independent Facilitative Consultant, Clausen Associates, Weston, Massachusetts, since 1967 Practices include assessment, research and planning (including surveys, culture studies, needs analyses, and interim reviews or evaluations of change projects); strategic planning and team building, including process design and the facilitation of planning meetings; programs for self-assessment, feedback and training; and systems work in organizational and community planning, management and related areas. Public and nonprofit clients have included Federal agencies (US Fish and Wildlife
Service, Customs Service, Departments of Education and Commerce, military agencies, and others), state and local agencies (Massachusetts State Departments of Education, Public Welfare and Public Health; Quincy Public Schools; and others), and associations such as American Baptist Churches and the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company. Corporate work has included pharmaceutical, high technology, utility, financial services and franchise organizations. Illustrative projects: * Design, promotion and leadership of an arts-based event that gathered citizens and representatives of civil society to deliberate on global challenges and explore responses, including new forms of collaboration. * Evaluation of a Massachusetts Department of Public Health Federally-funded project to support development of a strategic plan for improving integration of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse services aimed at vulnerable populations in the African American and Latino communities. * Evaluation of an electrical utility cooperative that provides power and services to 25 - 30 towns. Initiated as a traditional utility "management audit" under circumstances of dissension and bad feeling among the towns and the 200 staff members, the project was transformed into a future-oriented planning project. "Evaluation" was reframed as a step on the path toward positive change. Email: wclausen at comcast.net Delores Gallo (Professor Emerita, CCT Program and co-instructor of CCT602 online) one of the three original founders of the CCT graduate program, was a central member of the Program since its inception. Her interests include Creativity and Learning, Professional Development, Curriculum Design, Elementary and English Education, and Invention. She led a six year staff and curriculum development process and an Invention Convention involving over 1000 students at the Quincy Public Schools. She has been widely sought after as a speaker or as a consultant on Professional Development workshops in educational and corporate settings. Email: delores.gallo at umb.edu Renae Gray is executive director of the Boston Women's Fund. A founding member, she has been involved with the fund for more than 20 years. She has more than 30 years of nonprofit experience, having worked with the Haymarket Peoples Fund, the Women's Theological Center, and the Cambridge Algebra Project; for the past several years she has been a consultant with Visions Inc., a nonprofit consulting organization that deals with issues of race and multiculturalism. Renae has served on the boards of many groups in the Boston area. She was also involved in creation of the Funding Exchange, a national funding organization in New York. Olen Gunnlaugson (part-time online instructor of CCT616) is an integrally-informed educator and coach with an eclectic mix of life, travel and career experiences. More recently serving as a program coordinator, lecturer, personal coach and integral visionary at Holma College of Integral Studies (Sweden), Olen played a number of roles initiating the transition from a Holistic to Integral College. Funded by a full Canadian Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC), Olen is completing graduate studies at UBC, Vancouver, Canada where his research focus is how generative dialogue & presencing foster transformative learning in groups. Olen is also presently serving as an
advisor and contributing member of the Integral Education domain of Integral University (Boulder, Colorado) and "The Undergraduate Semester of Dialogue" signature program at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver). Additionally, Olen has become a recent adjunct faculty member at Langara College (Vancouver) where he co-teaches seasonal courses on generative dialogue. Finally, Olen is presently developing an online course on dialogue to begin delivery in February 2006. Olen is delighted to be joining the Critical and Creative Thinking Program at U. Mass. and looks forward to hearing from students who are interested in taking the CRCRTH 616 course. Email: gunnlaugson at hotmail.com David Martin (part-time instructor of CCT601 & CCT655) has served as a teacher, school administrator, director of curriculum and instruction, professor of education, and dean of education (at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.) before joining the UMass/Boston faculty in 2001. He holds the title of Professor/Dean Emeritus from Gallaudet University. He has carried out teacher education in critical thinking since 1978, and is a proponent of the Mediated Learning model used by the followers of psychologist Reuven Feuerstein. He has published articles, books, and chapters in the areas of social studies education, educational leadership, teacher education, deaf education, and critical thinking. His published research in the field of critical thinking has focused on the effects of critical thinking strategies on the learner, and he has investigated those effects with special populations in the USA and several other countries. Email: davidmartindr at aol.com
Bob Schoenberg (part-time online instructor of CCT601) is a graduate of the Critical & Creative Thinking Program at UMASS, Boston. He created and teaches the online course in Critical Thinking. Prior to teaching at UMASS, Boston, he taught Critical Thinking at MassBay Community College in Newton, MA. He has also served as a consultant and trainer to the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), where he has given workshops in Critical Thinking and has taught at Regis College. Prior to teaching Critical Thinking, Mr. Schoenberg served as a software trainer and stress management consultant. He incorporates stress management into his course in Critical Thinking based on the premise that one cant think critically if one is stressed. Bob has an extensive background in training and curriculum development. Combining his background as a software trainer, educator and curriculum developer, he provides a comprehensive and highly effective online experience for his students. He brings practical business experience to the online classroom as well. Believing that all professions can benefit from critical thinking skills he is especially interested in promoting those skills in the business world. An entrepreneur and trainer, himself, Mr. Schoenberg is writing a book entitled, Critical Thinking in Business.
Email: bobsch3 at gmail.com CCT Syllabi: CCT601 (online) (follow links) Ben Schwendener is a pianist, composer, and educator who has been a part of the vital Boston music scene since the early 1980's. A former student of jazz legends George Russell, Ran Blake, Jimmy Guiffre, Miroslav Vitous and Joe Maneri, Schwendener is currently on the jazz faculties of both New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music. In addition to his jazz teaching and work as a leading lecturer on Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, Schwendener teaches courses on Creative and Critical Thinking at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and directs the arts education non-profit, Gravity Arts, which he founded in 1997. Gravity Arts provides customized music and dance education opportunities for individuals and various groups, and oversees the independent label, Gravity Records. A critically acclaimed performer, Schwendener has appeared throughout the United States, Europe and Japan with his group, as a sideman and solo pianist, produced commissioned works for dance companies, independent film, and television commercials and released three recordings as a leader. He is currently supporting his two newest releases, 'Road Trips', with his quintet, Falling Objects, and a recording of piano duets with fellow Boston pianist Marc Rossi, 'Living Geometry', while working on forthcoming recordings, volume II of George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept, and the publication of original children's music. Ben has taught Creativity courses as an adjunct since Spring 2000. His website is http://gravityarts. org. Email: ben at gravityarts.org CCT Syllabi: CCT 630 Jeremy Szteiter (part-time instructor CCT670) is a 2009 graduate of the CCT program and instructor of Thinking, Learning, and Computers. His interests include adult and community education, implications of technology on learning and living, and lifelong learning through teaching. Jeremy has worked in a number of non-profit and other organizational settings as a trainer, instructor, and program manager, mostly related to technology education and workplace development. Gregg Turpin (part-time instructor CCT618) has taught at Boston Latin since 1985, where he is a Mentor Teacher, and an Instructor of Foreign Policy and World History. He also teaches Communications technology at Framingham State and has served as a Lead Teacher for the Center for Leadership Development in the Boston Schools Department. Luanne Witkowski (part-time instructor CCT602 online) Studio artist in Boston & Wellfleet with works in collections throughout the United States. She represented by: Kingston Gallery, Creiger-Dane Gallery, & J.P. Art Market Gallery, Boston, MA; Hutson Gallery, & Provincetown Art Association & Museum, Provincetown, MA. Luanne is Communication Design Studio Manager and instructor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Faculty at UMass/Boston, and an independent curator/art consultant (www.lewstudio.com). Other credits include: Founder/Director, Efka Project: artists pursuing further experience, exposure & education.
Basic Training: courses & workshops in the (w)holistic approach to the studio experience. Studio Management Development: Fine Art and Communication & Environmental Design Studios, Massachusetts College of Art Creativity 602 Online: Co-Faculty with Delores Gallo Memberships include: Kingston Gallery, United South End Artists, Provincetown Art Association, Mission Hill Artists Collective, Boston Open Studios Coalition, Community Alliance of Mission Hill M.A. Critical & Creative Thinking, University of Massachusetts/Boston(UMB) B.F.A. Art History & Fine Arts/Printmaking, Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt)/Boston Special & Art Education, Lesley College/Cambridge Workshops: Provincetown Art Association; Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown; Art New England, Bennington,VT; Haystack Mountain School, Deer Isle, ME; Harvard University Museums. Luanne's work will be shown in a solo exhibition at Kingston Gallery, Boston in October 2009. A summer 2009 exhibition at Hutson Gallery in Provincetown is also planned. She shows regularly with the Provincetown Art Association, United South End Artists, Mission Hill Artists Collective, and other groups.
Abby Yanow Facilitator, Trainer, Consultant Boston Facilitators Roundtable (BFR), President, 2001-Present Trainer - Design and deliver paid workshops: Current Jewish Vocational Service (JVS), Trainer 1999-Present Dept. of Public Health / AIDS Bureau 1995-2001
Associates from other Departments

Janet Farrell Smith (Philosophy Department, deceased) Ted Klein a Professor of Theology and Philosophy at the Swedenborg School of Religion, teaches Moral Education (CCT620) for CCT as well as courses in ethics and philosophy of education for the UMass
Boston Philosophy Department. Among his accomplishments, Ted has: taught a variety of adult learners, including prison inmates, adults returning to school, and adults involved in career changes; developed ways to relate abstract concepts to life decisions, career concerns, and social issues; and authored a wide variety of accessible publications relating abstract concepts to practical concerns. Email: TKlein3388 at aol.com CCT Syllabi: CCT620 Brian White (Biology Department) has interests in Biology Education, and in Educational Software and Multimedia. CV Phone: 617-287-6630 Email: brian.white at umb.edu Website: www.faculty.umb.edu/brian_white Return to home | handbook | search Last update 7 May 09
http://www.cct.umb.edu/director.html
Peter Taylor is program coordinator (peter.taylor@umb.edu, 617 287 7636). For inquiries about the Critical & Creative Thinking Program, first visit the CCT program website: http://www.cct.umb.edu, especially the online handbook to guide prospective and current students: http://www.cct.umb.edu/handbook.html. Return to home | handbook | search Last update 27 Sept. 07
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Directions to CCT Program, UMass-Boston
Directions to the Program in Critical and Creative Thinking

Once on campus, Wheatley Hall is the building to the left of the Campus center where the bus lets you off. In bad weather you can get up to the enclosed second floor walkway inside the Campus center (or any other building) and follow signs to Wheatley. You can also climb the outside stairs to the plaza level and enter Wheatley on the first floor. Once in Wheatley Hall, the offices of the two full-time CCT faculty members are on the second floor, in corridors paralleling the main corridor (Peter Taylor: 2-143-09; Nina Greenwald: W-2142-03). The room numbers won't lead you there, so keep asking for help until you find the office. It is best to call in advance to make an appointment, because CCT no longer has a staffed office. On the T: Take the red line to JFK/UMass station. A free shuttle bus will carry you to the campus and lets you off in front of the Campus Center. MBTA buses following routes 8 & 16 also stop at the campus. By car from the west and north: Take the Mass. Turnpike (I-90) to I-93 south and follow directions below. By car from the north: Take I-93 south through Boston to exit 15 (JFK Library/South Boston/ Dorchester) and follow the University of Masachusetts signs along Columbia Road and Morrissey Boulevard to the campus. By car from the south: Take I-93 north to exit 14 (JFK Library/South Boston/Dorchester) and follow Morrissey Boulevard to the campus. Parking: Outdoor parking is available for $6.00/day. Make your way from the parking lot to the Campus Center. Then follow directions above. Return to home | handbook | search Last update 10 Oct 07
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New Admits, Info for
Notes for Newly Admitted Students

Now that you have joined the Program, we hope you become immersed in your learning, enjoy the intelligent and diverse student body, and, along with faculty and alums, contribute to knowledge and practice that builds on critical and creative thinking.
Checklist of links for new students to followup on CCT Community Directory

The directory is available by request to all CCT students and alums who submit updates of their addresses and other information (form). It is designed to foster on-going support, communication, and the sharing of resources among current and former students, and others who have been associated with the Program. To include you in the CCT community, we ask students to send us notes about yourself as soon as you are admitted. You might write this as a precis of your application to the CCT, including: General background (e.g. teacher education, curriculum development, science for middle school education); Specific interests and priorities you have as a student, scholar, teacher, artist, computer wizard, philosophizer; Work experience and projects you have completed in the past; Problems and topics you want to focus on in future study/work; Workshops you can offer; Other resources you can offer CCT or other CCT'ers. These notes will also be forwarded to your CCT advisor and other CCT faculty to help them get to know you.
Registering for courses

When you are ready to register for fall and spring courses, you can do so on-line via http:// wiser.umb.edu. Follow the instructions on the page if you need to look up your User ID or if you are logging on for the first time and do not know your password. Adding and dropping courses and registering for summer/winter courses can also be completed through WISER. Matriculated students MUST get the permission of the Program co-ordinator to take online versions of courses that are also offered face-to-face. We want our M.A. students to be part of the face to face community, so permission will be granted only in exceptional circumstances (such as the student has moved to California and needs that course to graduate).
Student advising
Individual advisor: Once you are admitted you will be assigned a general advisor to help you plan your program of study. Please contact the Program's Coordinator if you have not been
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informed who your advisor is, or if you want to change your advisor for any reason. New Student Orientation: Just before or during the first week of the fall and spring semesters there is usually an Orientation for new students combined with a CCT Community Gathering. Please make every effort to attend. News from CCT: New students will be added to the distribution list for periodic news related to CCT and should email the program office (cct@umb.edu) to keep us informed of any changes in your email address. (The news takes the form of a wikipage with links to additional information.) CCT Program Coordinator: Early in 2001 the College of Education eliminated its Program Director title, but the Coordinator for CCT continues to undertake the duties of the Program Director. It can be hard without support staff for this person to find time to follow up on completion of incompletes, coach students who need to wrap up their syntheses to graduate, and check in with students who have not registered for courses, have taken official or unofficial leave, have deferred their matriculation, and so on. In these stretched circumstances, please respect the following guidelines to help CCT faculty serve students: 1. For advice on your studies, consult the CCT handbookor websitebefore contacting your advisor or the Faculty Coordinator. Submit a course planas soon as you are admitted and use this as a basis for discussions with your advisor. 2. Make explicit written contracts for incompletes. If you don't finish the incomplete before a year has gone by, remind the faculty member to submit a grade based on the work you did finish. Otherwise the incomplete gets automatically turned into an "IF" (which stays on your record and means you have to pay to take the course again). If you have 4 or more Incompletes and/or IFs the Graduate School bars you from registering for further classes. 3. Once you have matriculated you should register for the following semester's courses during the official registration period in November/December and April/May. If you have not registered by the end of that period, the Program coordinator may register you for a course you planned to take or an independent study so you don't get charged late fees. You can drop this at any time before the first class without any cost. 4. If you take leave from studies for a semester, the Program Coordinator will register you for the program fee, which will appear on a bill from the bursar. If you don't pay this, you will have to petition for readmission and pay all the back program fees and late fees. If there is some hold on your record, the Program Coordinator will let you know and you will have to submit the program fee formwith the required payment before the end of the add/drop period in order to avoid a late fee of $50.
5. Inform the Program immediately if your phone, address, or email changes. 6. When you get a notice from the Program inquiring of your situation or plans, please respond - don't put us in the situation of having to chase you up. 7. Before the start of the synthesis semester, finish the Processes of Research & Engagement course (CCT692), arrange a reader for the synthesis, and get a proposal approved -- or postpone taking the synthesis course for another semester. Don't use pressure of getting your studies finished (e.g., for a pay raise) as a reason to pressure faculty to waive requirements/ reduce expectations. Jumping ahead always lead to backfill that involves more work for your synthesis advisors/readers. 8. View the resource constraints on CCT as an opportunity to develop peer and other horizontal relationships -- to seek support and advice from peers (and alums), and to give support and advice to them when asked for.
Curriculum & Instruction Advising: You are also welcome to visit the Student Services Office for the Curriculum & Instruction Department (W-2-119) to ask for advice or forms. Visit the office or call 617-287-7625 for information and to confirm open hours. Return to home | handbook | search Last update 7 May 09
Information for CCT Community Directory
Information for CCT Community Directory

Please complete/update and return to CCT Program by email (cct@umb.edu) or by regular mail (U. Mass. Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., MA 02125) (The directory is available by mail to all CCT students and alums who submit updates of their addresses and other information. It is designed to foster on-going support, communication, and the sharing of resources among current and former students, and others who have been associated with the Program.) Name: Current Address: Current Phone: Current Email: Information & Resources to Share with Other CCTers General (e.g. teacher education, curriculum development, science for middle school education)
Specific interests and priorities I have as a student, scholar, teacher, artist, computer wizard, philosophizer, ...
Work experience and projects I have completed in the past
Problems and topics I want to focus on in future study/work
Workshops I Can Offer:
Services I Can Offer The Program:
Testimonials or Other comments/info

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TRANSFER CREDIT APPROVAL FORM (This form is to filled out and signed by the Graduate Program Director)
From: ______________________________________, Graduate Program Director To: Registrars Office This is to inform you that ________________________________ - __________________________
name student id #
may transfer the following course(s), not to exceed 6 credits, from the indicated status below towards his/her graduate degree. I have made sure that these course(s) meet all the criteria regarding transfer credit as stated on the back of this form. For off-campus courses, this office must have an official transcript on file. _____ U/Mass Boston non-degree graduate student _____ U/Mass Boston undergraduate student _____ Courses taken off-campus at: _____________________________ (list UMB equivalent below) Dept. Course # 1. 2. Signature of Graduate Program Director: ______________________________________ Graduate Program: _______________________________________________________ Date: __________________________________________________________________ Title Credits Sem./Yr. Taken UMB EQUIVALENT
1. Course(s) must be taken at an accredited institution. 2. Course(s) must be graduate level. 3. Grade must be B or better. Pass/Sat grades are unacceptable unless it is stated on the official transcript that the Pass/Sat notation is equivalent to B or better. 4. Course(s) were earned no more than seven (7) years prior to the students matriculation at U/Mass Boston. 5. Course(s) were not used for a previous degree. 6. Maximum amount of transfer credit is six (6). 7. An official transcript must be on file in this office for processing.
Critical and Creative Thinking Course Offerings, Descriptions & Syllabi
Critical and Creative Thinking Course offerings and descriptions (with links to syllabi)
Scheduled course offerings Winter/Spring 2009 | Summer 2009 | Fall 2009 | Winter/Spring 2010
Past years' courses Future years' courses (provisional through 2012)Course planner
Foundation Courses (All required for M.A.; 601 & 602 required for certificate)
CrCrTh 601 Critical Thinking (fall or spring; summer; on-line) CrCrTh 602 Creative Thinking (fall; on-linein spring) PHIL 501 Foundations Of Philosophical Thought PSYCH 550/CrCrTh 651Advanced Cognitive Psychology (See substitution option for students specializing in Science in Society or in Environment, Science, and Society)
Elective Courses (4 required for M.A.; 3 for certificate)

CrCrTh611 Seminar In Critical Thinking (theme: Problem-based learning) CrCrTh612 Seminar In Creativity (fall or spring onlinein summer) CrCrTh615 Holistic and integrative education CrCrTh616 Dialogue Processes (winter; fall or spring on-line) CrCrTh618Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Organizational Change (summer; fall online; spring on-line) CrCrTh619 Biomedical ethics (summer) CrCrTh620 Moral Education CrCrTh627 Issues In Antiracist And Multicultural Education CrCrTh630 Creativity And Criticism In Literature And Art CrCrTh640 Environment, Science and Society: Critical Thinking CrCrTh645L Biology in Society: Critical Thinking CrCrTh646L The Gifted and Talented Student (spring) CrCrTh649L Scientific and Political Change
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CrCrTh650 Mathematics Thinking Skills CrCrTh652 Children And Science CrCrTh655 Metacognition CrCrTh688Reflective Practice Special Topics Courses offered in recent years Courses from other programs
Required Final Courses for M.A.

CrCrTh 692 Processes of Research and Engagement (formerly 698, Practicum) (fall) CrCrTh 693 Action Research for Educational, Professional and Personal Change (formerly Evaluation Of Educational Change) (spring) CrCrTh 694 Synthesis Of Theory And Practice (fall [subject to enrollment; spring)
Descriptions
Required Foundation Courses
CrCrTh 601 Critical Thinking This course explores issues about the nature and techniques of critical thought, viewed as a way to establish a reliable basis for our claims, beliefs, and attitudes about the world. We explore multiple perspectives, placing established facts, theories, and practices in tension with alternatives to see how things could be otherwise. Views about observation and interpretation, reasoning and inference, valuing and judging, and the production of knowledge in its social context are considered. Special attention is given to translating what is learned into strategies, materials, and interventions for use in students' own educational and professional settings. Key Text: Costa, Developing Minds 2007 fall on-line syllabus 1999 syllabus online section; Schoenberg Tagline: Applying critical thinking skills in one's professional life. This section provides critical thinking skills that can be applied to various professions, such as education, business, nursing and many other occupations.
CrCrTh 602 Creative Thinking

This course explores approaches to "How might we proceed when confronted by problems, situations too ambiguous, complex, or messy or impossible to be addressed directly through logical strategies?" It seeks to increase the participants' understanding of creativity, to improve their creative problem-solving skills and to enhance their ability to promote these skills in others, in a variety of educational settings. Students participate in activities designed to help develop their own creativity, and discuss the creative process from various theoretical perspectives. Readings are on such topics as creative individuals, environments that tend to enhance creative functioning, and related educational issues. Discussions with artists, scientists and others particularly involved in the creative process focus on their techniques, and on ways in which creativity can be nurtured. Key texts: Sherkejian, Uncommon Genius, Cameron, The Artist's Way 2008 syllabus PHIL 501 Foundations of Philosophical Thought By discussing four or five substantive problems in philosophy -- morality, the nature of knowledge, freedom of the will, the nature of mind, and social organization -- we will attempt to derive a common approach that philosophers bring to these problems when developing their own solutions to questions such as, "How do we know what we know?" or when criticizing the solutions of other philosophers. In the course of this discussion we will consider some of the ways that substantive issues and debates in philosophy relate to contemporary nonphilosophical issues in our society and can be introduced into a broad range of educational environments outside standard philosophy courses. In connection with the latter, we will examine curriculum materials and discuss questions about the ability of children and adolescents to think philosophically. Key texts: Bowie, et al., Twenty Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy, Matthews, The Philosophy of Childhood 2006 syllabus CCT651/PSYCH 550 Advanced Cognitive Psychology This course offers the most up-to-date knowledge on perception, memory, imagery, and problem solving to enhance one's approach to problem-solving. It provides a survey of the field of cognitive psychology from an information-processing viewpoint. This course will consider how people encode, organize, transform and output information. Emphasis will be placed on such topics as concept formulation, problem solving, and creative thinking. Key text(s): Reisberg, Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind 2007 syllabus Substitution Option: Students who choose a specialty area of Science in a Changing World (aka, Science in Society or Environment, Science, and Society) may petition to substitute PolSci 348, Science and Public Policy or CCT 649, Scientific and Political Change for Phil 501 and/or to substitute CCT652, Children and Science, for Psych550/CCT651 Cognitive
Psychology.
Elective/Specialty area/theme Courses

Following or in conjunction with the required foundation courses, you choose three electives and can tailor your learning to your specific needs. We recommend that you identify a focused area of interest to facilitate development of in-depth knowledge and practice. From this study should emerge a question to pursue through the last three required courses.
The elective courses allow students to define specific areas in which they explore their CCT-related interests -for example, "creative thinking at work", "science in a changing world", "gifted and talented education", "critical and creative thinking in literature/arts/music", "dialogue and collaboration in organizational change." Areas of specialization may be constructed through cooperation with other UMass-Boston graduate programs, such as Instructional Design, Special Education, Public Policy, and Dispute Resolution. With prior permission of the Faculty Advisor, courses offered by other Graduate Programs or up to two upper level undergraduate courses may be taken where appropriate as electives within a specialty area. CrCrTh 611 Seminar In Critical Thinking(3 Credits) Topic changes from year to year. Recent topics include:
Making Sense of Numbers Current Theme: Authentic Problem Solving Using Inquiry-Based Approaches The best way to understand the process of problem solving is to engage in it - most especially, to experience the thought, habits of mind, and actions associated with using inquiry-based approaches to tackle sticky problems in different domains. Problem-based learning (PBL) is a powerful vehicle for conducting inquiry that simultaneously develops problem solving strategies and disciplinary knowledge bases and skills by placing individuals in the active role of problem solvers confronted with an ill-structured real world problem of their choosing. This robust, collaborative CrCrTh process is shaped and directed by students with the instructor as metacognitive coach. Students, not instructors, take primary responsibility for what is learned and how. Instructors are "guides on the side" or metacognitive coaches, raising questions that challenge students' thinking and help shape self-directed learning so that the search for meaning and understanding becomes a personal construction of the learner. In this "thinking action" course that can be applied as an elective in all concentrations, students will use a PBL model that has been field-tested and published by the instructor to investigate interest-based "murky" problems. Corroborating strategies for inquiry and problem solving will also be incorporated into students' thinking toolboxes. 2009 syllabus
CrCrTh 612 Seminar In Creativity This course delves deeply into the theory and practice of promoting creativity, using a specific theme, such as invention and innovation, humor, realizing creative aspirations, building creative communities, as a focus for the readings, discussions, class activities, and semesterlong student projects. The course materials, which are drawn from a variety of sources to match the instructor's speciality, student interests, and evolving trends in the literature, include biographies, intellectual histories, psychological studies, educational research, the popular media, guest speakers, and outside mentors. Details for the specific semester are publicized in advance by the Program. q Theme for Fall '09: Ideas, Action, Context New ideas come not simply from individual inspiration, but from borrowing and connecting. The more things in your tool box the more likely you are to make a new connection and see how things could be otherwise, that is, to be creative. Yet, in order to build up a set of tools that works for you, it is necessary to experiment, take risks, and reflect on the outcomes. Such reflective practice is like a journey into unfamiliar or unknown areas-it involves risk, opens up questions, creates more experiences than can be integrated at first sight, requires support, and yields personal change. In short, ideas are related to action and take place in a context (of support and reception). Through the course activities, we will compile a state of art tool box for creative endeavors.
q
Theme for Fall '08: Humor. Welcome to what should be a required course in every college and university! In the process of exercising our capacity for humor, we'll delve into how it works and why it's one of our greatest survival tools. In this extremely engaging seminar students decide what's interesting to find out about humor, enlighten us with what they find out and, finally, demonstrate how they would apply this to their lives. For the first several weeks the instructor leads an exploration of some basic tenets for understanding humor such as the nature of humor, its origins, theoretical bases and its relationship to creativity,among some ideas for consideration. Then students take the lead and, based on specific interests, work in pairs to present perspectives on humor and also individually to explore a related and/or different domain of humor. The aha /ha ha relationship is front and center in this dynamic, fun course of study! 2008 syllabus
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Invention and Innovation theme for Spring '02-'04 2004 syllabus Summer online section; Clark Tagline: "Inside the Creative Process: Exploring Blocks and Finding Creative Ground" The creative process is a journey through your inner world, where sights along the way
are channeled into a product and eventually are shared with the outer world. Because it is a process that relies on self-perceptions, self-truths, beliefs and values, it implies that a system be in place in order to acquire, express and ultimately share this selfknowledge. The personal nature of this process can give rise to creative works, yet at the same time, it can become the weight that causes a fracture in the process. This course will examine the tensions that exist while creating and the blocks they can give rise to. Throughout the course, students will gain a clearer understanding of the creative individual and his/her creative process. The course will look at some of the commonalities, both good and bad, that occur for creative artists and explore ways to maintain a healthy approach in your own creative process. Through the use of reflective practice, students will learn to identify obstacles to their creativity as well as learn a number of tools to work through such blocks. Students will experiment with the skills that lead to meaningful creative works and employ these skills in their daily living and creative life. Understanding and supporting the link to your inner world will enhance your ability to nurture your own creative spark and strengthen your ability to sustain your creative work. By establishing a deeper awareness of the self and incorporating this into your creative endeavors, you might more readily fan the spark that helps kindle your creativity.
CrCrTh 615 Holistic and Integrative Teaching This course explores approaches which tap both teachers' and students' potential for learning, thinking, and creativity. Its primary focus is on integrative, holistic strategies to engage students creatively in literature, writing and the arts. Participants are actively involved in preparing practical applications and demonstrations of concepts emerging from the class. CrCrTh 616 Dialogue Processes Genuine dialogue provides a creative social space in which entirely new ways of thinking, learning, and relating to others may emerge. Dialogue involves a shared process of collective inquiry where people work together to understand the assumptions underlying their individual and collective views that limit their thinking and responses to the world. Course participants learn and experience approaches to dialogue inspired by Bohm, Isaacs, Scharmer, Weissglass and others in the interest of bringing about significant educational, organizational, social, and personal change. Key Text(s): Isaacs, Dialogue Note: The face2face and online sections described below differ considerably in style and emphasis. Do not take the syllabus for one as an indication of what the other would be like. Winter section; Bradford Tagline: The Dialogue Process in the tradition of Bohm and Isaacs. Mastering the Dialogue process requires learning a variety of communication skills including a tolerance of paradox (or opposing views), the suspension of judgment and empathic listening. It also requires making the entire thought process visible, including
tacit assumptions. In this process, instead of imposing our views on others, we invite others to add new dimensions to what we are thinking. We also learn to listen to the voice of the heart-our own and others--and strive to find ways to make that voice articulate. 2009 syllabus online section; Gunnlaugson Tagline: Exploring the Transformative Practices of Dialogue in Learning Communities & Organizations Structured as an online learning community, the core objective of this course is to cultivate theoretical and practical knowledge of generative dialogue. Building from Bohm and Isaacs' conception of dialogue, this course will focus on Scharmer's subsequent work on generative dialogue and presencing. The course offers a range of dynamic learning spaces designed to develop our individual and collective capacities for bringing significant changes in how we think, communicate and learn together. In addition to theoretical inquiry, there are skill and capacity building exercises, coaching triads, collaborative assignments, and a real-world component where participants conduct a dialogue-based project within their own organization or community. The course will be delivered through multiple mediums including web-based audio and video files, WebCT, conference calls, phone coaching, and other possibilities that draw on students' insights, wisdom and novel ideas. 2006 syllabus
CrCrTh 618 Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Organizational Change Through interactive, experiential sessions and structured assignments students learn critical and creative approaches to working in organizations. Skills addressed include: communication and team-building; facilitation of participation and collaboration in groups; promotion of learning from a diversity of perspectives; problem-finding and solving; and reflective practice. Students apply these skills to situations that arise in business, schools, social change groups, and other organizations with a view to taking initiative and generating constructive change. Note: The face2face and online sections described below differ considerably in style and emphasis. Do not take the syllabus for one as an indication of what the others would be like. Summer face-to-face section; Turpin/Gray, Bradford, Yanow Consists of three two-day workshops:Diversity Awareness, Effective Teambuilding, Facilitating Participatory Planning and Design 2004 syllabus Fall online section; Bradford
Tag line: Build a sense of trust, teamwork and accomplishment as class members work together on a variety of creative endeavors in virtual space. Spring online section; Clausen Tagline: Theories and Tools for Creative Change in Organizations, Communities and the World This course explores alternative ways of finding and leveraging emergent opportunities for change. Drawing on both traditional approaches and innovations from science concerning complexity and evolution/ecology, we look at the whole systems within which communities, organizations, teams and individuals create ideas, processes and products. We experiment collaboratively as a class on a set of challenges that face all of us, while individuals concurrently pursue personally relevant workplace or community projects.
CrCrTh 619 Biomedical Ethics Contemporary moral conflicts in cloning, genetic technology, end of life rights, embryos and prenatal screening plus selected policy questions. Exploration of basic methods in reasoning and classic philosophical methods through critical thinking about medical ethics dilemmas. Students of all backgrounds are welcome. CrCrTh 620 Moral Education A comprehensive analysis of the basic issues in moral education from an interdisciplinary perspective. Philosophical studies of the nature of morality and the moral life will be integrated with psychological studies of moral development and human motivation and brought to bear on issues in teaching morality. Topics covered will include: rationality, emotion, and the moral development of children; moral education. indoctrination; socialization, the "hidden curriculum," and moral education. Throughout this course theoretical insights will be applied to an examination of materials, programs, and practices in moral education, both in schools and the wider community. 2002 syllabus (pdf version) CrCrTh 627 Issues In Antiracist And Multicultural Education The course will explore two related forms of education -- (a) antiracist education, (b) multicultural education -- approaching them as issues in moral and value education and exploring controversies in the theories and practices of antiracist and multicultural education. Some specific topics include: race and school achievement; ethnic identity and self-esteem; racial and ethnic stereotypes; Afrocentrism; religious pluralism; multiculturalism -- a unifying or divisive force?; antiracist and multicultural curricular approaches. Also, some attention will be paid to sexual orientation controversies. Key text(s): Beauboeuf-Lafontant & Augustine (eds.), Facing Racism in Education, Feinberg, Common Schools/Uncommon Identities
2001 syllabus (pdf version) CrCrTh 630 Creativity And Criticism In Literature And Art Expression and evaluation, freedom and discipline, creative production and the critical response to it -- how do these dualities relate to visual and verbal imagination as they are demonstrated in literature and the arts? Specific strategies for eliciting imaginative work in these areas will be demonstrated, as will specific strategies for evaluating imaginative works. Finally, this course will focus on ways to help others (including children) develop critical and creative skills and on ways to effectively use strategies for eliciting and evaluating imaginative work. Current Emphasis: The course is directed to center the student on framing the question: 'What do you want to create for yourself and your students?' - and then actualizing the product, in real life. The instructor facilitates dialogue and discussion of elements and structure used in the creative process of each of the individual class participants and in the unique products themselves. "An understanding of the objective nature of the elements available in one's art is essential in manifesting one's inherent creative abilities." - Ben Schwendener 2007 syllabus CrCrTh 640 Environment, Science and Society: Critical Thinking Current and historical cases are used to examine the diverse influences that shape environmental science and politics. This exploration, in turn, leads to new questions and alternative approaches for educators, environmental professionals, and concerned citizens. 2002 syllabus. CrCrTh 645 Biology in Society: Critical Thinking Current and historical cases are used to examine the political, ethical, and other social dimensions of the life sciences. Close examination of developments in the life sciences can lead to questions about the social influences shaping scientists' work or its application. This, in turn, can lead to new questions and alternative approaches for educators, biologists, health professionals, and concerned citizens. Spring 2003 syllabus. CrCrTh646L The Gifted and Talented Student Gifted and talented students are one of our most underserved populations of learners.This state-of-the-art course is designed for teachers, and others (curriculum coordinators, administrators, parents) responsible for meeting the special needs of high potential learners in the regular and/or special classroom and at home. A broad spectrum of contemporary views on definition, identification, and characteristics of high potential learners are explored through lively critical and creative thinking activities and discussion. Included is examination of further individual differences such as ethnicity, gender, misdiagnoses and dual diagnoses, underachievement and learning disabilities. Creation of learning environments and curriculum and instructional strategies that motivate and
challenge high potential learners of any developmental age is also a major focus. This includes problem and inquiry-based learning, creative problem solving, invention, and humor and thinking which are specializations of the instructor. The course culminates with a unique opportunity for participants to practice what they learn with small groups of gifted students who join us in class for this purpose! Taught by Nina Greenwald,Ph.D. Specialist in Gifted Education: teacher trainer; workshop leader; keynote presenter; published author; co-founder of MAGE (Massachusetts Association for Gifted Students). 2009 syllabus CrCrTh 649 Scientific and Political Change (formerly: Science, Technology and Public Policy) Although relatively few Americans have backgrounds in science or engineering, they are increasingly confronted with issues that are technically complex. This course explores the resulting tensions and asks how the needs for scientific expertise and democratic control of science and technology are reconciled. The first half of the course traces the historical development of American science policy and situates this development comparatively. The second half focuses on contemporary controversies, including those over the nature of university-industry relations, patent policy, and the cases of expert/lay disagreements over risk. 2005 syllabus. CrCrTh 650 Mathematics Thinking Skills This course explores several types of mathematical thinking in the context of number theory, algebra, geometry, and introductory calculus, and relates them to critical and creative thinking skills. Developmental and experiential factors in learning and teaching mathematics are considered, as well as techniques for determining a learner's mathematical abilities and learning styles. Readings, discussion, research, and problem-solving are used to provide a historical context, and to suggest connections with other disciplines. Individual and small-group projects are adapted to student interests. No formal mathematical background beyond high school algebra and geometry is required. Syllabus from Spring 2000 (pdf version) CrCrTh 652 Children And Science This course explores the ways children think about their natural and social world and how this affects their learning of science. We will be particularly concerned with identifying and describing the organized conceptual frameworks children have prior to instruction (which typically are different from the scientists' conceptualizations) and with understanding the general processes by which conceptual frameworks can be changed. One important question concerns in what ways children are fundamentally different learners and thinkers than adults and in what ways they are fundamentally similar. Key text: Osborne & Freyberg, Learning in Science 2005 syllabus (2002 pdf version)
CRCRTH 655 Metacognition This course considers various aspects of metacognition and how they influence behavior in children and adults. Topics include the individual's knowledge of his or her own cognition, selfawareness, the monitoring of conscious thought processes, inferences about unconscious thought processes, metacognition as a decision process, metacognitive strategies, the development of metacognition, and metacognition as a source of individual differences in children. CrCrTh 670 Thinking, Learning and Computers This course considers the consequences of using computers to aid our thinking, learning, communication and action in classrooms, organizations, and social interactions. Class activities acquaint students with specific computer-based tools, the ideas and research behind them, and themes for critical thinking about these ideas and tools. Key Text: Edwards, The Closed World 1998 syllabus See also related computers in education syllabus CrCrTh 688 Reflective Practice Reflective practitioners in any profession pilot new practices, take stock of outcomes and reflect on possible directions, and make plans to revise their practice accordingly. They also make connections with colleagues who model new practices and support the experimenting and practice of others. Students in this course gain experiences and up-to-date tools for reflective practice through presentations, interactive and experiential sessions, and, optionally, supervised pilot activities in schools, workplaces, and communities. syllabus CrCrTh 696 Independent Study (1-3 Credits) The comprehensive study of a particular topic or area of literature determined by the student's need; the study is pursued under the guidance, and subject to the examination, of the instructor. An application or outline of study should be agreed by the instructor and program director before you register. Electives may be chosen from other programs. Related to specialty in Literature and Arts EDC G 647, Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults ENGL 611, The Teaching of Literature ENGL 623, The Nature of Narrative ENGL 660, Multi-ethnic literature in the United States EDC G 647 and ENGL 611, 623, 660 have been recommended for CCT students, but a number of courses from the English Department graduate program would be suitable for CCT students specializing in Literature and Arts. Visit the English Department, 6th. floor, Wheatley for listings of courses offered in upcoming
semesters, which include special one-time offerings not listed in the Graduate Catalog. Consult with the instructor to check whether the course is suitable for and open to you. Related to Science in a Changing World Non-CCT electives taught by a CCT instructor PPol 753L/ Nursing 753L Epidemiological Thinking & Population Health syllabus WoSt 597 Gender, Race, and the Complexities of Science and Technology Explore the wikito see that "students from all fields and levels of preparation are encouraged to join." Because it is open to graduates students beyond UMass, you have to apply (http://web.mit.edu/gcws/ apply/index.html) and then register for WoSt597, section 1
Required Final Courses

The last three required courses -- two precapstone courses, Action Research for Educational, Professional, and Personal Change, and Processes of Research and Engagement, together with the capstone Synthesis Seminar -- are designed to facilitate your development as reflective practitioners in some focused area of interest, with a special emphasis on an engagement or change in education that promotes critical and creative thinking. Refer to options and rationale for pre-capstoneand capstonecourses. CrCrTh 692 Processes of Research and Engagement(previously CCT698, Practicum) In this course students identify issues in educational or other professional settings on which to focus their critical and creative thinking skills. Each student works through the different stages of research and action-from defining a manageable project to communicating findings and plans for further work. Supervision is provided when the student's research centers on new teaching practices, workshops in the community, or other kinds of engagement as an intern or volunteer. The classes run as workshops, in which students are introduced to and then practice using tools for research, writing, communicating, and supporting the work of others. (Compared with CrCrTh 693, this course allows more exploration of your own direction and questions, especially through dialogue around written work and class presentations.) Key Text(s): Elbow, Writing with Power 2008 syllabus CrCrTh 693 Action Research for Educational, Professional, and Personal Change (previously Evaluation of Educational Change) This course covers techniques for and critical thinking about the evaluation of changes in educational practices and policies in schools, organizations, and informal contexts. Topics include quantitative and qualitative methods for design and analysis, participatory
design of practices and policies in a framework of action research, institutional learning, the wider reception or discounting of evaluations, and selected case studies, including those arising from semester-long student projects. "Evaluation" does not mean assessment of students' work, but systematic evaluation of the effect of changes in educational practices and policies in schools, organizations, and informal contexts. The course uses the discipline of evaluation as part of the practice of action research. The larger issues facing a practitioner as change-agent, over and above the evaluations, cannot help but enter class discussions and your projects. Unless the educational or professional engagement/change you're concerned about has already been instituted, you will spend time designing it in conjunction with designing how you will evaluate it. Key Text(s): Calhoun, Action Research in the Self-Renewing School, Schmuck, Practical Action Research for Change 2009 syllabus CrCrTh 694 Synthesis Seminar(offered whenever we can get sections of six students) The synthesis seminar is a structure within which to meet deadlines and get assistance in completing the written product of the synthesis project or thesis. There are many specific options for syntheses, from the development of a traditional theoretical paper, to a curriculum or professional development series, to writing a business plan, to the creation of a Web Page. Fall 2008 syllabus Return to home | handbook | search Last update 7 May 09
Spring 2009 Courses Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Program, U. Mass Boston
Winter and Spring 2009 Course Offerings

Before you attend your first class check this site to confirm the room -- when there is a late change to accommodate the actual enrollment, this site may be updated more quickly than the University website. Contact the CCT office, cct@umb.edu for further information.
Winter 2009
(through Continuing Education) M-Fr; Classes start 5 Jan. and end 23 Jan. Holiday 19 Jan. 6-8.30pm Dialogue Processes CrCrTh 616 Allyn Bradford Room McCormack-2-419 Sched # 1177
Spring 2009
Classes start Mon. 26 Jan. and end Weds. 12 May. Holidays Mon. 16 Feb., Mon-Fri. Mar. 1620, Mon. Apr. 20. Monday 5-7:30 pm Synthesis of Theory and Practice Seminar CrCrTh 694 Arthur Millman Room: Wheatley 5-018 Sched. #1262 Tuesday 4-6:30 pm Cognitive Psychology CRCRTH 651L (crosslisted as PSYCH 550L, #17413) Carol Smith
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Room: TBA Sched. #17412 6.45-9.15pm (Note time change from Monday) Action Research for Educational, Professional, and Personal Change (previously Evaluation of Educational Change) CrCrTh 693 Peter Taylor Room: McC2-628C Sched. #5879 Wednesday 4-6:30pm The Gifted and Talented Student CrCrTh 646L (Crosslisted as SPE G 646L) Nina Greenwald Room: Wheatley W01-0031 Sched. #6838 7-9.30pm Seminar in Critical Thinking (Theme: Problem-based Learning) CrCrTh 611 Nina Greenwald Room: Wheatley W01-0012 Sched. #17416 Thursday 5-8pm, 1/29-5/14 WoSt 597: Gender, Race, and the Complexities of Science and Technology (By application through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies) Peter Taylor, with Anne Fausto-Sterling, Brown University Meets at MIT, 56-114 (excepy 1/29 meeting at Bldg 32-144 Sched. #18770
Varying days & times

Reflective Practice (1 credit Special Topics course) CrCrTh 697 Peter Taylor, in conjunction with CCT Network
Room varies: see link above for info Sched. #18338 --------"CRCRTH 1000" = Program Fee, for students not taking any courses. (Sched # 17150, 17151. Contact program coordinator to "register" before end of add/drop period.) Independent study-by arrangement with instructor and Program Coordinator CRCRTH 696 1 credit for synthesis completion, Sched. #18336 (through Continuing Education) 3 credits Taylor: Sched. #5880 Greenwald: Sched. #6839 Millman: Sched. #17505 Smith: Sched. #17506
On-line courses Matriculated students MUST get the permission of the Program co-ordinator to take on-line versions of courses that are also offered face-to-face. We want our M.A. students to be part of the face to face community, so permission will be granted only in exceptional circumstances (such as the student has moved out of state and needs that course to graduate).] Critical Thinking CrCrTh 601 Bob Schoenberg Sched. #17675 Creative Thinking CrCrTh 602 Delores Gallo and Luanne Witkowski Sched. #17676 Dialogue Processes CrCrTh 616 Olen Gunnlaugson Sched. #18261 Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Organizational Change CrCrTh 618
Wally Clausen Sched. #17881
Other courses The following courses offered by the English Department may be of interest to CCT students: TBA
Return to home | handbook | search Last update 31 Jan 09
Summer Courses in Critical and Creative Thinking
Summer 2009 Courses in Critical and Creative Thinking

Summer students can enroll through Continuing Education (http://www.ccde.umb.edu) for any of the June-August CCT courses listed in the summer bulletin:
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Seminar in Creative Thinking, theme: "Inside the Creative Process: Exploring Blocks and Finding Creative Ground," ONLINE, May 26-Aug 20, Class #1501
Three-week summer institute

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CRCRTH 601 "Critical Thinking," M-Th 9-12noon, July 13-30, Class #1500 CRCRTH 655 "Metacognition," M-Th 1-4pm, July 13-30, Class #2565 CRCRTH 618 "Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Organizational Change," Fr, Sa July 17-August 1, 9am-4.15pm, Class #1055 consisting of three two-day workshops: r Diversity Awareness (July 17-18) r Effective Teambuilding (July 24-25) r Facilitating Participatory Planning and Design (July 31-August 1)
You can use these course to work towards a Graduate Certificate or MA degree, or participate for the pleasure of thinking and reflecting with others. The 15 credit Graduate Certificate can be completed by taking additional CCT courses in the fall or spring semesters (including online options). Certificate students must meet the same admissions criteria as students entering the Master's program (except that a shorter statement and one letter of recommendation fewer are required) and should apply to Graduate Admissions by Aug. 15th. Course Descriptions CrCrTh 612 Seminar in Creative Thinking Theme: "Inside the Creative Process: Exploring Blocks and Finding Creative Ground" Suzanne Clark, Assoc. Prof. Berklee College ONLINE, May 26-Aug 20, Class #1501 The creative process is a journey through your inner world, where sights along the way are channeled into a product and eventually are shared with the outer world. Because it is a process that relies on self-perceptions, self-truths, beliefs and values, it implies that a system be in place in order to acquire, express and ultimately share this self-knowledge. The personal
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nature of this process can give rise to creative works, yet at the same time, it can become the weight that causes a fracture in the process. This course will examine the tensions that exist while creating and the blocks they can give rise to. Throughout the course, students will gain a clearer understanding of the creative individual and his/her creative process. The course will look at some of the commonalities, both good and bad, that occur for creative artists and explore ways to maintain a healthy approach in your own creative process. Through the use of reflective practice, students will learn to identify obstacles to their creativity as well as learn a number of tools to work through such blocks. Students will experiment with the skills that lead to meaningful creative works and employ these skills in their daily living and creative life. Understanding and supporting the link to your inner world will enhance your ability to nurture your own creative spark and strengthen your ability to sustain your creative work. By establishing a deeper awareness of the self and incorporating this into your creative endeavors, you might more readily fan the spark that helps kindle your creativity. CrCrTh 601 Critical Thinking David Martin Room W-2-125 Class #1500 This course explores issues about the nature and techniques of critical thought, viewed as a way to establish a reliable basis for our claims, beliefs, and attitudes about the world. We explore multiple perspectives, placing established facts, theories, and practices in tension with alternatives to see how things could be otherwise. Views about observation and interpretation, reasoning and inference, valuing and judging, and the production of knowledge in its social context are considered. Special attention is given to translating what is learned into strategies, materials, and interventions for use in students' own educational and professional settings. CrCrTh 618 Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Organizational Change Abby Yanow (lead instructor), Gregg Turpin , Allyn Bradford Room W-1-30 Class #1055 Through interactive, experiential sessions and structured assignments students learn critical and creative approaches to working in organizations. Skills addressed include: communication and team-building; facilitation of participation and collaboration in groups; promotion of learning from a diversity of perspectives; problem-finding and solving; and reflective practice. Students apply these skills to situations that arise in business, schools, social change groups, and other organizations with a view to taking initiative and generating constructive change. This course is presented in 3 two-day workshops: 1. Diversity Awareness; 2. Effective Teambuilding; and 3. Facilitating Participation and Collaboration in Groups --------Workshop Descriptions
Diversity Awareness Greg Turpin Participants in this workshop experience and learn approaches aimed at enabling groups and organizations to: become more diverse; address tensions arising from lack of awareness of differences and inequalities; and undertake coalition work that dismantle traditional barriers. Dimensions of diversity addressed include race, class, gender, and sexuality. Effective Teambuilding Allyn Bradford, Critical & Creative Thinking Program, U. Mass Boston This workshop introduces creative communication strategies for teamwork that really addresses workplace problems and issues. Through simulations of typical organizational situations you develop skills in giving and getting feedback, presenting your ideas and opinions, and ensuring shorter and more productive meetings. The course takes the form of a two day interactive, experiential workshop, which will make you more aware of your communication style, its effect on others, and options for improvement. Facilitating Participation and Collaboration in Groups Abby Yanow, Boston Facilitators' Roundtable This workshop introduces students to a number of different techniques of group participation, such as working in small groups and stakeholder groups, and World Cafe or Open Space. The topics of discussion within each technique will be chosen in an effort to make the learning experience as close as possible to real-life situations, within our workplaces and our communities. We will focus on the art of careful listening and the crafting of effective questions. You will experience the generativity of the participatory process, in which the wisdom comes from the group. You will be encouraged to consider ways of implementing these techniques into your practice, with your colleagues and in your communities.
CrCrTh 655 Metacognition David Martin Room W-2-125 Class #2565 This course analyzes various dimensions of metacognition and how they influence behavior in learners of all ages. Topics include the individual's knowledge of her or his own cognition, selfawareness, how one monitors conscious thought processes, inferences about unconscious thought processes, metacognition as a decision process, metacognitive strategies and their development, and metacognition as a source of individual differences in children. Specific classroom cognitive and metacognitive exercises in a developmental sequence will be used to illustrate these dimensions. Return to home | handbook | search Last update 8 Apr 09
Fall '09 Courses, Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Program, U. Mass Boston
Fall 2009 Course Offerings Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Program
*Subject to confirmation, approval, and change Before you attend your first class check this site to confirm the room -- when there is a late change to accommodate the actual enrollment, this site is updated more quickly than the University website. Contact the CCT office, 617-287-6523, cct@umb.edu for further information. Classes start Tues 8 Sept. and end 14 Dec. Holidays 12 Oct, 11 & 26-27 Nov.
Tuesday
4:00-6:30 pm Foundations of Philosophical Thought PHIL501 Arthur Millman Room TBA Sched. #13108 7:00-9:30 pm Creative Thinking CRCRTH 602 Nina Greenwald Room W-2-123 Sched. # 6405
Wednesday
7:00-9:30 pm Ideas, Action, Context (Seminar in Creative Thinking) CRCRTH 612 Peter Taylor Room W-2-123 Sched. # 7155
Thursday
4:00-6:30 pm
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Criticism and Creativity in Literature & Arts (subject to confirmation) CRCRTH 630 Denise Patmon Room McC2-616 Sched. #14646 4:00-6:30 pm (subject to change to suit participants) Synthesis of Theory and Practice Seminar CRCRTH 694 Arthur Millman Room W-1-51 Sched. #6756
Varying days & times

Reflective Practice (1-3 credit course) (subject to confirmation) CrCrTh 688 Jeremy Szteiter in conjunction with CCT Network Room varies: see link above for info Sched. 15449 "CRCRTH 1000" = Program Fee, for students not taking any courses. (Students mat register themselves before end of add/drop period. After that, they must contact the program coordinator and will be charged a late fee by the University.) #TBA Independent study-by arrangement with instructor and Program Coordinator CRCRTH 696 1 credit for synthesis completion, Sched. #TBA (through Continuing Education) 3 credits Taylor: Sched. #6406 Greenwald: Sched. #6730 Smith: Sched. #12778 Millman: Sched. #6731
On-line courses Matriculated students must get the permission of the Program co-ordinator to take on-line
versions of courses that are also offered face-to-face Non-matriculated students can register through Continuing Education. Critical Thinking CrCrTh 601 Bob Schoenberg Sched. #13618 Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Organizational Change CRCRTH 618 Allyn Bradford Sched. #13619 Thinking, Learning and Computers CrCrTh 670 Jeremy Szteiter Sched. #14774
Other courses of potential interest Epidemiological Thinking and Population Health Public Policy/Nursing 753 Peter Taylor Weds 4-6.30pm Sched. #12798 Room TBA Return to home | handbook | search Last update 6 May 2009
CCT future years' courses and instructors
REQUIRED CORE COURSES CRCRTH 601 Critical Thinking CRCRTH 602 Creative Thinking Phil 501 Foundations of Philosophy Psych 550/ CRCRTH 651 Advanced Cognitive Psychology FINAL REQUIRED COURSES CRCRTH 692 Processes of Research and Engagement (formerly 698) [d] CRCRTH 693 Action Research for Educational, Professional, and Personal Change [d] CRCRTH 694 Synthesis of Theory and Practice ELECTIVES
Su09 F09
WSp10 Su10 F10
WSp11 Su11 F11 WSp12 Su12 AM, BS (o) DG (o)
DM
BS (o)
AM
TBA
BS (o) TBA, DG(o) AM
TBA
TBA
NLG DG(o)
AM
CS
CS
PT
PT
TBA
PT
AM/ CS
CS
TBA CS
AM
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CRCRTH 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking themes: NLG=Problembased learning CRCRTH 612 Seminar in Creative Thinking themes: NLG=humor; SC=Inside the PT? Creative SC(o) Process: (d) Exploring Blocks and Finding Creative Ground; PT=ideas, action, context CRCRTH 616 Dialogue Processes CRCRTH 618 Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Organizational Change CRCRTH 619 Biomedical ethics CRCRTH 620 Moral Education CRCRTH 627 Multicultural and anti-racist education
NLG?
SC(o)
SC(o)
TBA
SC(o)
AB(w), OG(o)
AB(w), OG(o)
AB(w), OG(o)
AY
AB (o)
WC(o)
AY
AB (o)
WC(o)
AY
AB (o)
WC(o)
AY
LB
CRCRTH 630 Criticism and Creativity in the Literature and Arts CRCRTH 640 Environment, Science and Society: Critical Thinking [d] CRCRTH 645 Biology in Society: Critical Thinking [d] CRCRTH 646 The gifted & talented student CRCRTH 649 Scientific & Political Change (formerly: Science, Technology and Public Policy) [d] CRCRTH 650 Mathematics Thinking Skills CRCRTH 652 Children and Science CRCRTH 655 Metacognition CRCRTH 670 Thinking, Learning and Computers DM
DP? NLG?
TBA
PT?
PT?
TBA
PT
PT
TBA
CS
JS(o)
JS (o)
WoSt 597 theme=Gender, Race & Complexities of Sci & Tech [d]
PT?
Instructors AB = Allyn Bradford; AM = Arthur Millman, AY = Abby Yanow, Gregg Turpin, Allyn Bradford; CS= Carol Smith; DM = David Martin; DG = Delores Gallo & Luanne Witkowski; JS = Jeremy Szteiter; LB = Larry Blum; NLG = Nina Greenwald; OG = Olen Gunnlaugson; PT = Peter Taylor; SC = Suzanne Clark; TBA = to be arranged Codes d = regular classes can be taken at a distance; g = thru grad. consortium in women's studies; o = online; w = winter Return to home | handbook | search Last update 15 Mar 09
Course planning
Course planning in CCT

Ideal sequence/ Check-off list
Foundation Courses First 2-3 semesters: Critical Thinking CCT 601 (fall 08, spr 10 & usually in the summer) Creative Thinking CCT 602 (fall 08, 09) Taken any time before Synthesis: Philosophy 501 (fall 09, spr 11) Psychology 550/ CrCrTh 651 (spr 09, fall 10) Electives -- These should be taken when they match your interest, even if this it at the same time as the foundation courses Description of specialization/interest addressed in electives: 1 2 3 4* (* elective 4 is required for students who matriculate in fall '08 & beyond) Final Required Courses Before synthesis: Processes of Research & Engagement, CCT 692 (formerly Practicum CCT698) (Fall 08, Spr 10) Before or at same time as synthesis: Action Research for Educational, Professional and Personal Change (formerly, Evaluation of Educational Change), CCT693 (Spr 09, Fall 10) Last semester: Synthesis of theory and practice, CCT 694 (Offered most semesters, if need be by combining students from two semesters into one section's worth, even if that means that some students have to be supervised more like in independent studies.)
It is possible to start in the summer, when a second section of Critical Thinking and some electives are traditionally offered, and finish the next spring, but most students take four or five regular semesters. To see which CCT electives are to be offered, check website for upcoming semesters'
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Course planning
offerings and provisional longer-term plans. Matriculated students MUST get the permission of the Program co-ordinator to take online versions of courses that are also offered face-to-face. We want our M.A. students to be part of the face to face community, so permission will be grantedonly in exceptional circumstances (such as the student has moved to California and needs that course to graduate). Please complete and submit the following. You will not be bound by this plan, but it will help the Program plan well and avoid cancellation of courses. Keep a copy for yourself. Name: Courses already taken: ---Future plans Fall Winter Spring Summer Fall Spring Summer &beyond
Return to home | handbook | search Last update 9 Dec 08
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Policies and Procedures

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Leave Incompletes Appealing grades Academic Probation Governance Policies Not Covered in This Web Site
Leave
Each semester that you do not take courses, you must submit a Program Fee form and pay a fee to keep your file active before the end of the add/drop period at the start of the semester. Otherwise, you will have to pay a late fee or apply for readmission later, for which there is a larger fee! Please keep the Program informed of your plans.
Incompletes
CCT instructors want every student to complete their courses, but our experience is that the desired learning rarely takes place during a drawn out incomplete, despite the best intentions of student and instructor. There is no substitute for the development of teaching/learning interactions that happens in a class over the course of the semester. Students who ask for incompletes in CCT courses should, therefore, take note of the following: 1. Before granting an incomplete CCT instructors will require an explicit signed contract in which the student indicates when the work will be completed and the instructor specifies what the grade will be if the work is not complete by the specified date. A copy should be submitted to the CCT Faculty Advisor for the student's file. 2. Students should not assume faculty will be ready to comment on work during the breaks between semesters, a time when faculty have to concentrate on research, writing, and course preparation. 3. The Graduate Registrar converts an incomplete to an IF (incomplete-fail) after one year. 4. The Graduate Registrar will not allow students to register for the next semester who have three or more incompletes or IFs. A leave of absence must be taken until the incompletes are made up. 5. The guidelines 1-4 are not inflexible, but the instructor and/or Faculty Advisor will be less likely to bend them and write supporting petitions if the student has let the course end without explicitly arranging the terms of the incomplete with the instructor (see 1 above).
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Appealing grades
The Graduate Bulletin specifies the process to be followed when students believe a grade has been assigned unfairly. The instructor has full responsibility for grading. The process gives Program Directors -- in CCT's case, the Program Coordinator -- a mediating role, which means they must be very careful lest they be seen as taking one party's side. This means that students who want advice about whether to pursue the matter should, after acquainting themselves with the formal process, consult someone other than the Program Coordinator. The Program Coordinator has to limit his/her role to neutral acts, such as ascertaining the facts as both parties see them, sharing those accounts so each party can respond to the other's version, and convening a meeting where both parties can experience the other person listening to their concerns.
Academic Probation
Students are automatically placed on academic probation when their cumulative grade point average falls below 3.0. A letter will be sent informing students of their probationary status and strongly urging consultation with their graduate program director/faculty advisor to review the forthcoming semester's program. While on academic probation, students shall not be eligible to hold office in any recognized student organization or recognized professional association, or to represent the University in any sense on or off campus. Students will be removed from academic probation either when their cumulative GPA exceeds 3.0 or upon the request of the Faculty Advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
Governance of Program
In 1996 the home college for CCT became the Graduate College of Education (GCE) (after more than fifteen years within the College of Arts and Science, CAS). CCT's administrative home is now formally in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the focus of which is Teacher Education and Special Education, and the chair of C&I has power over staffing, funds, new courses, and so on. Almost all of the CCT faculty members still reside in Liberal Arts Departments outside the GCE and the core faculty members meet and consult with each other before making recommendations or taking initiative concerning new courses, admissions, student concerns, measures for recruitment and outreach, development of the Program. To get questions and suggestions discussed by the core CCT faculty bring them to the attention of CCT's Program Coordinator.
Early in 2001 the College of Education eliminated its Program Director title and the course release that went with those positions, but the Program Coordinator (a.k.a. Faculty Advisor or Program Area Leader) continues to undertake the duties of the Program Director. A departmental constitution that acknowledges the intercollege makeup of the Program's faculty was approved in Spring '06, but is now in limbo. In the fall of 2007, some course load reduction for the Program Area Leaders was initiated but is now under review.
Policies Not Covered in this Website

For university Requirements and Policies not covered in this Handbook, students should consult with the general information contained within the Graduate Bulletin which stipulates all University rules and regulations regarding admissions requirements; tuition fees and payments; assistantships and financial aid; general academic regulations; degree requirements; and students' rights and responsibilities. You should also procure a Student Handbook which is available from the Office of Student Affairs, as well as The Graduate Handbook, which may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies. Return to home | handbook | search Last update 7 May 09
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON PROGRAM FEE FORM Each degree-seeking graduate student is required to maintain continuous registration until the degree that the student is seeking has been formally awarded. If a graduate student does not register for course, thesis, or dissertation credits during any semester, the student must pay a program fee to maintain continuous registration. Payment of the program fee does not extend the time limit for completion of the degree. $175.00 FEE PER SEMESTER
NAME: _____________________________________________ LAST FIRST MI
_________________ DATE
____________________________ SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
_________________ PROGRAM
Please check the semester/year for which you are paying and the reason for nonenrollment during that semester. FALL_____________ YEAR SPRING _____________ YEAR
REASON: ______ Research ______ Comp Exam ______ Approved Leave of Absence
______ Other (please specify) _____________________________________________________
Please indicate the month/year when you expect to resume enrollment or complete your degree requirements ________________________ MONTH/YEAR Graduate Program Advisor's Signature: __________________________________________ Send check or money order by the last day of the Add/Drop period for the semester in which you are paying to: University of Massachusetts Boston Graduate Admissions & Graduate Registrar's Office 100 Morrissey Blvd Boston, MA 02125-3393
Forms related to the Program in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston
Forms
On-line
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Non-degree registration form Information and application forms Readmission form after absence from the program Information Form for CCT Community Directory Graduate Assistantship application form Transfer of credit for graduate courses taken elsewhere or at UMB before matriculating Course planning guide and worksheet Incomplete agreement Independent Study Learning Contract Internship arrangement Program Fee form for students to keep their file active in semesters when they are taking a course (Only used if after add/drop. Before then, contact the Program coordinator to "register" for program fee) Leave of Absence to take a semester off under some serious circumstance Prematriculation transfer waiver to count courses taken between the date of acceptance and the official date of matriculation Statute of Limitations extension to extend your time to complete your degree. Attach your plan for completion of your studies with a brief explanation of how this plan addresses whatever has delayed you. Extensions beyond one year are reviewed by Graduate Studies. Transferring from Certificate to M.A., or vice versa, or adding CCT certificate if already matriculated in another program Forms and handouts related to synthesis (capstone) projects, including r Application to Graduate for Certificate r Application to Graduate for M.A. r Exit self-assessment
Note: Most forms also available from Teacher Ed. Advising Office (Wheatley 2nd floor, Grad. College of Ed. Open M-F, usually till 7pm; earlier on Frid) or University Registrar
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Forms related to the Program in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston
Grade change forms for professors to submit grade changes
Return to home | handbook | search Last update 2 Apr 09
http://www.cct.umb.edu/forms.html (2 of 2)5/12/09 7:13 AM
revised 23 August 08 & 16-23 Nov 08)
A set of steps to prepare CCT students to complete a synthesis during their final semester (or very soon after) (version 12/09/08) The CCT faculty thinks the Program needs to do better in helping students complete their capstone syntheses in a timely manner. To this end, we want to institute or affirm the practices and requirements to follow. Please peruse the various links to appreciate the rationale for these practices. 1. Entrance interview with your general advisor and other faculty members (before or soon after admission) At this time we would encourage you to Explore and become familiar with the resources available in the website, handbook, and wiki: http://www.cct.umb.edu , http://www.cct.umb.edu/handbook.html , http:// cct.wikispaces.com Submit a provisional plan for taking courses, http://www.cct.umb.edu/planner.html Make your own connections among ideas and experiences from different courses by starting a Reflective Practice/Metacognitive Portfolio, http://cctrpp.wikispaces.com/ Participate in monthly CCT Community activities, http://cct.wikispaces.com/ CCTNetwork Join the social network site ("ning") in order to connect with alums and other members of the wider CCT community whose interests you share or are intrigued by, http://cct.wikispaces.com/CCTNetworkNing Take steps to acquire Research and Study Competencies progressively over the course of your studies, http://www.cct.umb.edu/competencies.html 2. Mid-program check-in Two weeks after the end of the semester in which you take their fifth course towards the CCT M. A. you should submit your Reflective Practice/Metacognitive Portfolio thus far and evidence of Research and Study Competencies you have acquired. The CCT faculty will review these and meet with you to make recommendations (which may include suggesting that you put a hold on taking courses in order to finish incompletes and/or spend a semester improving writing skills and acquiring more Research and Study Competencies) 3. Advance preparation for Capstone Use an elective to take a specialized course outside CCT (if appropriate) or do an independent study to complete literature review for the synthesis project. (The change, effective for students starting fall 2008 and beyond, to require 4 rather than 3 electives was made with this in mind.)
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Graduate Assistant as writing guide, coaching you to get access to writing-improvement resources and courses available on and off campus, including Graduate Writing Center, paid editors, and (possibly) CCT alums who will serve as buddies Look ahead and take note of the wide range of options for the capstone synthesis, http:// www.cct.umb.edu/capstone.html. These options are starting points only. See examples of previous students' projects, http://www.cct.umb.edu/abstracts-TOC.html, to appreciate the ways that students stretch or reconfigure the options to match the kind of project that is most helpful for their personal and professional development. Continue to update Reflective Practice/Metacognitive Portfolio, so that reflection/ metacognition on CCT experience can enter your synthesis project. Encourage more "practice" to be synthesized in the "synthesis of theory and practice," through a supervised experience in a school, workplace, or community setting in the Reflective Practice course (http://www.faculty.umb.edu/pjt/688-xx.html ; approval pending)
4. Prerequisites for taking the Capstone Seminar Completion of CCT 692, Processes of Research and Engagement No more than one incomplete left and not on academic probation Synthesis proposal submitted with advisors arranged before the semester starts, http://www. cct.umb.edu/synthforms.html . Readers can be drawn from a wide range of part-timers and faculty from other departments, http://www.cct.umb.edu/synthadvisors.html 5. Capstone completion during final semester Students start the synthesis project with a meeting at the end of the previous semester, or even at the start of the previous semester if the instructor has time to advise you during that pre-synthesis semester. CCT tries to run the synthesis seminar every semester, if need be by combining students from two semesters into one section's worth, even if some of you have to be supervised more like independent studies. Students form buddy pairs to coach each other before and during the synthesis semester Marathon day at the end of the semester* to provide faculty and peer support for students to focus and bring the pieces together and to complete the final steps (see " When you can see the end in sight," at http://www.cct.umb.edu/synthforms.html ). (* Saturday before Memorial Day and, if needed, two Saturdays before Xmas). 6. Capstone completion afterwards Incompletes for the synthesis course are coded as "Y," which means they do not turn into
incompletes after a year. However, before CCT synthesis students are given an incomplete, we ask you to sign forms that allow you to be graduated with a Certificate if you "disappear" (i.e., stop paying program fees and communicating with your advisors) or run beyond the allowed five years for an M.A. degree. (If you want to reactivate your M.A. studies at a later date, all of the Certificate and other CCT credits can count.) For the first semester of incomplete completion, you register for 1 credit independent study. After that you can pay program fees, which keep your student status active. The synthesis instructor takes responsibility for followup and coaching/coaxing their students through to completion CCT 692 is open to participation of non-enrolled synthesizers as a structure and support system to complete the synthesis project. Marathon day (see above) is strongly recommended for incomplete synthesizers. Option of a one-month intensive, in which incomplete synthesizers are given a question to guide you in producing a Reflective Practitioner's Narrative and Portfolio in a way that weaves in work done throughout the program of study and in the synthesis project. (This is an option for 1st semester after the synthesis seminar; strongly recommended for 2nd semester.)
Precapstone Courses, CCT
Precapstone courses
Before you undertake the Thesis or Synthesis project, you must complete CCT692, Processes of Research and Engagement. This does not necessarily involve supervised practice. This course provides an opportunity for students to research, design, and pilot an application of your learning to your own professional or personal needs in the form of, say, a workshop series, a curriculum unit, or a business plan. The other required pre-capstone course is CCT693, "Evaluation of Educational Change," which addresses practices of evaluating and facilitating growth in critical and creative thinking in oneself and others. Permission may be granted to take this course at the same time as the Synthesis seminar.
Planning your use of the Processes of Research and Engagement, Evaluation, and Syn/thesis Sequence
These courses are flexibly structured so as to be used by you in a variety of ways, depending on your background, your work outside CCT, and when you take the courses. To organize your thoughts about how best to use the courses, consider the following ideal sequence of a CCT student's development. Some of you will proceed through all the steps during your CCT program, but others might aim to get as far as, say, steps v or viii. The letters in parentheses indicate which courses are the most suitable context for undertaking each step (P = Processes of Research and Engagement; E = Evaluation; S = Synthesis). From these letters it will be clear that the Practicum, Evaluation and Synthesis courses can serve overlapping purposes.
i. Research into background of some issue; report on this. (P) ii. Design a trial or "pilot" engagement or educational change to promote critical and creative thinking in your area of interest; report on this design. (P, E) iii. Implement the pilot engagement. (P, E) iv. Evaluate the success or effectiveness of the pilot engagement; report on this. (E) v. Report on the whole process (i-iv) and directions for further work. (P, S) vi. Technical training through other courses or extra-curricular work (independent study) vii. Additional research into background of some issue; report on this. (P) viii. Design actual educational engagement/change; report on this. (P, E, S) ix. Implement the engagement/change. (P or independent study) x. Evaluate the success or effectiveness of the pilot engagement; report on this. (P, E) xi. Report on the whole process (i-x) and directions for further work. (P, S) Some other notes towards designing your Practicum, Evaluation, Syn/thesis sequence: * The Processes of Research and Engagement and Evaluation of Educational Change courses are designed to accommodate a range of students, and so might not match the specific needs of some of you. If you have a
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Precapstone Courses, CCT
clear conception of your work, the expectations and requirements of the two courses can be negotiated and adjusted. * Few students have time to actually carry out more than a trial or pilot engagement and evaluation during the Evaluation course, but there is an opportunity to do more during the Practicum semester. * If the Processes of Research and Engagement is done early in your program, it serves as an introduction to processes of research and engagement, and the project undertaken need not be the same as your synthesis project. If you take the Practicum in the middle of your CCT Program, it makes sense to use the course to complete a proposal for your synthesis project. If you take it late in your CCT program, it makes sense to use the course to complete the literature review or first version of your synthesis project. In all cases, the Practicum course must be completed before the Synthesis.
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Capstone Course CCT
Capstone Course
Students enroll in CRCRTH 694: Synthesis of Theory and Practice Seminar to undertake a supervised synthesis project and exit self-assessment, through which they review and reflect on the integration into their professional lives of critical and creative thinking skills and strategies and demonstrate competencies appropriate and relevant to their disciplines. The synthesis project has two parts: a written essay and an oral presentation. The synthesis project essay follows the Office of Graduate Studies Guidelines for the Preparation of Theses & Dissertations and is expected to incorporate an appropriate theoretical framework and references to relevant scholarly work in its field. The 30- to 60-minute oral presentation is given before members of the CCT faculty. Both the essay and the oral presentation are evaluated by at least two members of the CCT faculty. The essay (20-40 pages) may integrate exhibits from the student's work during the program, which may take a variety of forms, such as, Original Curriculum Materials, a Professional Development Workshop series, a Video case study, a Practitioner's Portfolio, or a Prospectus for future research and engagement. The form and length of the essay depends on the particular nature of the project. For example, an extended essay that reviews and critiques relevant literatures would be expected with the Prospectus, but a shorter essay may accompany a Video case study. (Greater detail on suggested options is given below, but the exact form of the synthesis can be crafted by students in consultation with their advisor.) There are two required pre-capstone courses, CCT692 and CCT693. Before CCT 694 can be undertaken CCT 692 must be completed and a 500-1000 word proposal by the student must be approved by the advisor and Program Coordinator. With permission of the Program Coordinator, CCT693 may be taken at the same time as CCT694. CCT696 provides a framework for completion of your capstone experience, a synthesis or thesis project, in which you synthesize previous theory and practice and extend your learning in your chosen area of interest. All Capstone Projects must demonstrate knowledge and integration of critical and creative thinking skills, processes and strategies. There are many specific options for these projects, listed below, from the development of a traditional theoretical paper to a curriculum or professional development series, to the creation of a Web Page. Notes in Preparation for Synthesis Project
(Handouts and forms related to Synthesis projects) * The Synthesis project should begin well before the synthesis seminar semester. During the semester before the synthesis seminar semester, either a semester of thesis research/independent study or the Practicum should be taken. The deadlines for writing the synthesis product make it next to impossible to do any new research during the synthesis seminar semester, beyond what is needed to complete the literature review and subsequent write-up. The time between semesters should also be used to complete
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Capstone Course CCT
research prior to the synthesis seminar. * The main advisor for the synthesis project will be the instructor for the syntheis seminar. If the instructor is not a specialist in your area of interest, the other reader(s) should be so they can assist you in identifying and addressing the relevant literature. * A proposal for the synthesis project should be presented to the adviser and reader(s) by the latest at the start of the synthesis semester, but ideally by the end of the previous semester. * Given the tight deadlines for writing during the synthesis semester and the teaching and advising load of faculty members, you should not rely on readers to do detailed copy-editing on your writing. That relationship between student and reader usually gets in the way of dialogue around the content and overall organization of your synthesis. Assistance from some outside party, skilled in copy-editing, should be arranged, even if it costs some money.
Capstone Options
Portfolio option (approved by CCT Faculty, 3/25/02): Students may combine a
practitioner's narrative related to your development during your CCT's studies (option 2b) with a reduced length version of any of the other options. The practitioner's narrative "is an occasion for the writer to think deeply about his/her own practice-its origin, dynamic nature, influences, commitments, and future directions-to yield useful insights and discoveries." The recommended way to undertake this kind of practitioner's narrative is to prepare a "process review portfolio" consisting of exhibits with one-page annotations and an overall introduction, afterword, and a paragraph overview (to be included with your synthesis abstract). These exhibits should be selected to convey your process of development during your studies, not only your best work or your final products. For this option ot be meaningful, you should save material for exhibits all through your studies. More details 1. A Position Paper addressing a question or set of questions through review and critique of the appropriate literatures, and concluding with a set of recommendations or reframed/reinterpreted questions. (E.g., How is transfer of learning currently understood? How can transfer of learning be facilitated in middle school math classes?) Students are encouraged to write the essay as a publishable article for a specific professional journal.
Capstone Course CCT
2a. A Practitioner's Narrative in which teachers or other practitioners describe and reflect on the implementation of a change process in their setting. Including an account of initiatives, consequences, obstacles, problem solving, and project redesign, as well as reflections on the change process itself. 2b. A Practitioner's Narrative in which the reflective narrative is not focused on a particular event or change but is an occasion for the writers to think deeply about their own practice-its origin, dynamic nature, influences, commitments, and future directionsto yield useful insights and discoveries. 3. An 18-20 lesson Curriculum unit or Professional Development Workshop Series reflecting the integration of recommendations from the CCT Program, including a rationale of its design and structure, detailed plans, and assessment procedures. 4. A set of Original Curriculum Materials; the accompanying paper explains how and why the materials were developed, what need they meet, and specifically how they are to be used for instruction and assessment. 5. A set of Curriculum materials in another form (e.g. software) supported by an essay as in (4). 6. A Video case study in 5 to 8 scenes designed to promote reflective dialogue and analysis of how the teacher/ leader functions; focusing on some aspects of teaching for thinking, and presenting reflections by the subject themselves and two others (for example, a student, colleague, parent). (The video might be used in CCT classes to provoke more subtle discussions of practice.) The video case study is to be accompanied by a supporting essay. 7. An Arts option, comprising a work of literature or a video piece; the accompanying essay describes the work's evolution, and locates it in an appropriate theoretical framework. 7a. Literature or visual product -- a piece of fiction, poetry or drama of appropriate scope (e.g. a one act play, a poetry chapbook, a short story or 2-3 short, shorts) polished and publication ready. 7b. A Video Enactment -- a vignette, extended dramatic monologue, poetry reading, dance, musical performance, recorded (edited) with reasonable professionalism.
Forms and handouts related to CCT Syntheses

(Most are downloadable as word documents) Before you get started r Hybrid option: Process Review + reduced version of other options -- If interested start compiling material all through your CCT studies r Proposal form, with description of options r Example of a Proposal r Overview and information for advisors and readers r Potential readers and their interests r Advice from former students Once you get going r Buddy check-in log form r Guidelines for Syntheses r Formatted template for a Synthesis (RTF file; replace examples with your own text) r Citing references, a short guide r Syllabi PT's Fall 08 (past syllabi: NG's Spring 05, CS's Spring 07) including Target dates r Things to plan at the outset including submission of application to graduateform by deadline. (Also available from C&I advising office or graduate registrar, 617 287 6400) r Potential editors -- Arrange someone early so you do not draw your advisor and readers into this role r Contact info for synthesis students (email Peter Taylor for this) r Thinking aid r Phases of synthesis r Phases of research and engagement (from 692/698 course) r SCAMPER r Other graphic organizers to develop and focus thinking (available on request from Nina Greenwald) r Guides to conducting and writing literature reviews, 1, 2 r Words to organize literature review in interesting ways; see also this list. r Developing the main body of the synthesis r Online guide to writing When you can see the end in sight r Please do not ask to graduate if you have run out of time for thorough
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revisions. r Writing an abstract r Abstracts from past CCT syn/theses r Required exit self-assessment word versionand an example r Binding instructions with checklist for finishing, including s Specify your synthesis code(s) for the online abstract s Decide whether to submit the full text of your synthesis to be linked to the online abstract r Please do not ask to graduate without completing all these final steps. Past experience is that once students get the OK to graduate, life takes over and the steps don't get completed (or only get completed after the CCT faculty breathe down the graduates' necks). At graduation: academic hood velvet is White (because the degree ia an M.A.)
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The Rs of the CCT experience

(personal, professional, and intellectual development through the CCT Program)
journeying inquirer
focusing in opening out
Reading Review Reasoning w/ respect to evidence & alternatives Relationship w/ oneself (moving towards autonomy) Reflection & metacognition wRiting Relationships w/ peers & allies (dialogue & collaboration) Risk & experiment Rest Rearrange, adapt & create Reception: being Read, heard, & Reviewed Relationships w/ authority (negotiate power & standards) Revision (incl. dialogue around written work) Relaxation Research & evaluation (learning from the work of others & your own) Respect (explore difference) Responsibility (concern w/ aims, means & consequences) Repose Recursion & practice (address same concern from many angles & in variety of settings) Reevaluation (of emotions at root of responses) so as to better take initiative Reconstruction (personal/organizational/social change)
reflective practitioner
wholehearted, responsible engagement with others "Head, Heart, Hands & Human Connection"
Suggested use of chart: At the end of each semester for as many Rs as you are ready to, provide an example and your current sense of the R's meaning(s). Indicate cross-connections among examples and Rs. Expect the later terms to have more meaning as you progress through the program.
CCT Program Exit Self-Assessment
Exit Self-Assessment
The assessment centers on your Synthesis experience, but allows room for you to review your CCT experience as a whole. A copy will be kept in your CCT file to help document the Program's effect on students. This assessment also serves as stock-taking to inform your future work; and to provide insight for the instructor, advisors, and for other interested parties. (Word version) The assessment, which is adaptable to any project of research and engagement, addresses two sets of goals:
q
My Synthesis Product Shows That... Developing as a Reflective Practitioner
Describe for each goal

q q
a) something that reflects what you have achieved well related to this goal, and b) something you have struggled with/ need more help on/ want to work further on. (Even though you may have many examples for some items, one is enough. Download the handout from the website so you can prepare your own document.)
I. "My Synthesis Product Shows That..." (adapted from the "Phases of research and engagement" in the Practicum course because these are also relevant goals for students' work in moving towards the synthesis product) A. I can convey who I want to influence/affect concerning what (Subject, Audience, Purpose).
B. I know what others have done before, either in the form of writing or action, that informs and connects with my project, and I know what others are doing now.
C. I have teased out my vision, so as to expand my view of issues associated with the project, expose possible new directions, clarify direction/scope within the larger set of issues, and decide the most important direction.
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D. I have identified the premises and propositions that my project depends on, and can state counter-propositions. I have taken stock of the thinking and research I need to do to counter those counter-propositions or to revise my own propositions.
E. I have clear objectives with respect to product, both written and practice, and process, including personal development as a reflective practitioner. I have arranged my work in a sequence (with realistic deadlines) to realize these objectives.
F. I have gained direct information, models, and experience not readily available from other sources.
G. I have clarified the overall progression or argument underlying my research and the written reports.
H. My writing and other products Grab the attention of the readers/audience, Orient them, move them along in Steps, so they appreciate the Position I've led them to.
I. I have facilitated new avenues of classroom, workplace, and public participation.
J. To feed into my future learning and other work, I have taken stock of what has been working well and what needs changing.
II. Developing as a Reflective Practitioner, Including Taking Initiatives in and Through Relationships 1. I have integrated knowledge and perspectives from CCT and other courses into my own inquiry and engagement in social and/or educational change.
2. I have also integrated into my own inquiry and engagement the processes, experiences, and struggles of previous courses.
3. I have developed efficient ways to organize my time, research materials, computer access, bibliographies, etc.
4. I have experimented with new tools and experiences, even if not every one became part of my toolkit as a learner, teacher/facilitator of others, and reflective practitioner.
5. I have paid attention to the emotional dimensions of undertaking my own project but have found ways to clear away distractions from other sources (present & past) and not get blocked, turning apparent obstacles into opportunities to move into unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory.
6. I have developed peer and other horizontal relationships. I have sought support and advice from peers, and have given support and advice to them when asked for.
7. I have taken the lead, not dragged my feet, in dialogue with my advisor and other readers. I didn't wait for the them to tell me how to solve an expository problem, what must be read and covered in a literature review, or what was meant by some comment I didn't understand. I didn't put off giving my writing to my advisor and other readers or avoid talking to them because I thought that they didn't see things the same way as I do.
8. I have revised seriously, which involved responding to the comments of others. I came to see this not as bowing down to the views of others, but taking them in and working them into my own reflective inquiry until I could convey more powerfully to others what I'm about (which may have changed as a result of the reflective inquiry).
9. I have inquired and negotiated about formal standards, but gone on to develop and internalize my own criteria for doing work--criteria other than jumping through hoops set by the professor so I get a good grade.
10. I have approached the CCT synthesis course and the CCT program as works-in-progress, which means that, instead of harboring criticisms to submit after the fact, I have found opportunities to affirm what is working well and to suggest directions for further development. Return to home | handbook | search Last update 25 Aug. 02
Graduation with Masters or Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking
Graduation
The Degree Application Form must be submitted by late September for an expected December degree or certificate and by mid-February for an expected May/June or August degree or certificate. To be safe, get this done by 9/24 and 2/10, respectively. (For exact dates, call Office of Graduate Studies, 617-287-5700.) M.A. students, but not certificate students, must include the $150 commencement fee. When students have completed all of their requirements -- all courses, the Synthesis, the oral presentation, and the exit self-assessment -- the Program Coordinator informs Graduate Records and the diploma is issued. The Synthesis Project requires a thirty to forty-five minute presentation before the student's advisor and reader(s), the Synthesis Seminar Participants, and any guests. Information on Commencement is at http://www.umb.edu/commencement. CCT graduates should get a white hood because they are M.A. students, even though the program is housed in the College of Ed. and M.Ed. students get a light blue hood. (The hood is the neck thing, not that hat.) Return to home | handbook | search Last update 23 Apr 09
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Search and Sitemap for CCT website
Sitemap for CCT website

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Overview of program (+General Information)

Overview of program Text-based portalto the website Visual portalto the website Bulletin Plans Faculty Program Coordinator Office Directions
Info for prospective & current students (incl. Online handbook)

Overviewof program Impactof program on students Handbook Joiningthe program Moving throughthe program Applications Academic calendar Course planning Forms Synthesis-related forms and handouts Exit self-assessment
Courses & Programs

Courses FoundationCourses ElectiveCourses Capstone and pre-capstonecourses MastersDegree
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Search and Sitemap for CCT website
Certificate General Focus on Creative Thinking at Work Focus on Dialogue and Collaboration in Organizational Change Focus on Science in Changing World Focus on Gifted and Talented Education Online options (including) Reports from Online courses Summer Institute Tuition and Fees
News and Outreach Activities

News from CCT Archivesof past activities Outreachactivities Thinking for Change Publicity material
Resources
(Table of Contents of) Syn/theses by Subject area Abstracts of syn/theses Allied Organizations Bibliography Thinking for Change Fieldbook
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Creative and Critical Thinking Handbook

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Critical & Creative Thinking Program Student Handbook

Critical & Creative Thinking Program Student Handbook

Joining the CCT Program

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Critical & Creative Thinking Program Student Handbook

Moving along through the programs of study

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Critical & Creative Thinking Program Student Handbook

submit form and check including late fee.

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Overview--Critical & Creative Thinking Graduate Program, UMass Boston

Graduate Program in Critical and Creative Thinking

Overview--Critical & Creative Thinking Graduate Program, UMass Boston

Overview--Critical & Creative Thinking Graduate Program, UMass Boston

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Welcome letter to new or prospective CCT students

Dear Incoming or Prospective CCT Student,

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Welcome letter to new or prospective CCT students

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Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking

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Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking

Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking

CCT Certificate with a Special Focus

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Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston

Creative Thinking at Work

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Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston

Additional courses in which to undertake exit performance

Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston

Science in a Changing World

Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston

Additional courses in which to undertake exit performance

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Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston

Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking

Required foundation courses

Graduate Certificate in Critical and Creative Thinking, U. Massachusetts Boston

Additional courses in which to undertake exit performance

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Non-matriculated registration for Critical & Creative Thinking Program courses

Non-matriculated registration for Critical & Creative Thinking Program courses

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3. Statement of Interest and Intent

5. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

6. Declaration and Certification of Finances

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Tuition and Fees, Graduate Programs, U. Massachusetts Boston

Resources and Assistance

Professional Development Grants

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Professional Development Grants

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Faculty of Critical and Creative Thinking Program, U. Massachusetts Boston

Profiles of CCT Teachers and Advisors

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Faculty of Critical and Creative Thinking Program, U. Massachusetts Boston