Developing Student Thinking Skills, Its what sets us apart.

Teach Me to Think:

Dr. Orvil L. White

The State University of New York at Cortland, New York

(SUNY Cortland)

Introduction

What is Critical Thinking? Why we need Critical thinking students.

Critical Thinkers & Critical Thinking Using Critical Thinking The Goals of Critical Thinking Developing Problems Solving problems

Practice

Questions for Assessment

What is Critical Thinking?

Focused thinking Thinking with a definite purpose (goal)

Can be a complex & involved process

An active process that involves constant questioning

Why we need Critical Thinking students

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
An Albert Einstein Quote on Creativity

Critical Thinkers & Critical Thinking

Critical thinkers: distinguish between fact and opinion; ask questions; make detailed observations; uncover assumptions and define their terms; and make assertions based on sound logic and solid evidence. Ellis, D. (1997) Becoming a Master Student.

Critical thinking is best understood as the ability of thinkers to take charge of their own thinking. This requires that they develop sound criteria and standards for analyzing and assessing their own thinking and routinely use those criteria and standards to improve its quality.

Elder, L. and Paul, R. (1994, Fall) "Critical thinking: why we must transform our teaching." Journal of Developmental Education.

How far have we come?

One of the largest and most neglected responsibilities in school is to develop in each child the ability to think well. Materials used in schools must be worthwhile, but their main function is to furnish the means for practice in thinking. Critical thinking is most sorely needed in the world today.

Lee, J.M. and Lee, D.M. (Eds.) (1950) Guiding life in the school: The child and his curriculum. (2 Ed.) New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts,Inc. (1st Edition 1936)

Critical reflection of our courses indicates that many of us are victims of the traditional approach to the teaching of exact sciences.

Our sequence of presentation of subject matter, as outlined in current secondary school texts, follow an order of presentation that has been in mode for at least twenty years A fair criticism of our present courses is that they are too nearly limited to a giving back by students of information which we, or our textbook writers, deem essential.
Many times we fail to distinguish between learning and memorizing.
David Aptekar, Mackensie High School, Detroit, 1945

When, Where, and How is Critical Thinking Used?

Everyday & Everywhere

Academics, professionals, scientists, teachers , & students, and everyone who makes choices

Decision making, solving problems & puzzles, making connections, understanding issues, evaluating evidence and discovering new information

What are the Goals of Critical Thinking?

Finding Meaning Seeking Logic Searching for reason Looking answers Developing facts and opinions Appreciating different points of view

What Challenges Will I (and my students) Face?

Keeping and open mind Being objective Keeping yourself subjective Avoiding looking for the easy answer Having sound, verifiable evidence Using different perspectives (even if you disagree with them)

What Challenges Will I (and my students) Face?

(continued)

Admitting there may be more than one right answer Asking yourself Am I willing to change my mind? Knowing this can be a time consuming process Understanding that in the process there will be new challenges

How Can I develop my Critical Thinking Skills?

Think about your thinking Think about why you make your choices and decisions Think about why the world is the way it is Practice every day!

Word problems Math problems Puzzles Games of strategy

Developing Problems

Start with basic, ordinary problems and then add additional requirements. Good critical thinking problems should cross content areas and require the student to recall information from other curriculum areas.

Math & Logic Science (Chemistry, Biology, Physics, etc.) Geography History Connect to students everyday lives (to a social context)

Problem solving set-up.

If Tepporn has three times as many apples as Sumalee and Sumalee has one/forth as many as Kemmawadee, who has four, how many apples does Kanchulee have if she has two more than Tepporn? Kanchulee = Tepporn +2 Tepporn = 3 Sumalee Sumalee = Kemmawadee Kanchulee = (3 x 4 ) + 2 4 Kanchulee = 5

4
Kemmawadee = 4

Give them a way to solve problems that works

For any problem list:

What you know What you need to find (usually a single answer) What tools you have to help solve the problem What else do I need to find out to solve the problem?

What do I Know?

What must I Find?

What Tools do I have?

What else do I need to find out? *

1
2 3

1
2 3

1
2 3

* Where do I need to go to find this information if I dont remember it?

Always Draw a picture

Trains

A train leaves New York City, NY and is traveling to San Diego, Ca. Another train leaves San Diego, Ca and is traveling to New York City, NY.

How long before they meet? What time is it when they meet?

US Trains

What do I need to know?

What is the distance? How fast are the trains traveling? What time did they leave?

Distance

4517.1 m (2806.8 miles)

Speed

160 Km ph (100 mph)

10:00 Oclock local time

Departs at

U. S. time zones
There are 4 different time zones in the U.S.

They meet at ~12:0 pm in Dodge City Kansas

New York train travels 15+ hours

San Diego train travels 12+ hours

Problems with an Undefined Answer

The solution to some problems are influenced by many factors

Background, experience, and education The social context Subjectivity of the problem solver

The personal beliefs, values, assumptions, and preferences of the problem solver

What Do You Think?

Problems with No Real Answer

Some critical thinking problems need not have a set solution. In this case the way a problem is solved in the important factor. Each student may come up with a different way to solve the problem and a different answer.

The solution must be possible and the answer must be plausible.

How many.?

How many 5 Baht coins, stacked flat, will it take to reach the top of the Empire State Building in New York City?

What do I need to know?

How tall is the building? How thick is a 5 Baht coin?

Height
Antenna/Spire 449 m (1,472 ft) Roof 381 m (1,250 ft)

How many 5 Baht coins in an:

cm? Meter? inch? Foot?

Technical Details Floor count 102

1 floor = ~ 3 m (10 ft)

_5__ 5 Baht coins = 1 cm _~13__ 5 Baht coins = 1 inch

Consider the Spherical Cow

How many pair of shoes can you make from a spherical cow?

What do I need to know?

How big is the cow?

How much leather is needed for a pair of shoes?

The spherical cow has a radius of 1 meter.

One shoe can be made from a piece of leather that is 40 cm x 60 cm.

Surface = 4pr2

(S = 4pr2)

We all go round and round

Standing on the equator how fast are you traveling around the earths axis?

Give answer to the question in miles per hour and Kilometers per hour

Standing one meter from the North Pole how fast are you traveling around the earths axis?

Give answer in Kilometers per hour.

1042 mph / 1670 km ph

0.0026 km ph

and the world goes round & round.

How fast is the earth traveling around the sun.

Give answers in; miles per hour and Kilometers per hour.

and the world goes round & round, but how fast is it going?
1 AU = 9.3 x 107 miles / 1.5 x 108 km

1 Astronomical Unit (AU)

10616 mph / 5377 Km ph

Which came first?

Which event took place first? Last?

Students practice this in the classroom in order to understand what has happened in the real world.

Order of Events
Puzzles 1 5 In what order did the events occur?

Each block will be numbered. Use the number 1 for the oldest rock layer

Bonus: In puzzle #5 The earthquake occurred between numbers ______ & ________? 6 7

The relationships of the parts are important to problem solving

O

F 180 : 100

100 100

212 180

18 : 10
1.8 : 1

32
Bonus: At what temperature are they the same?

The relationships are important to problem solving

180 : 100 18 : 10 1.8 : 1 (OC x 1.8) + 32 = OF (OF x - 32)
_______________________________________________________

1.8

= OC

(OC x 2) 10% + 32 = OF [( OF 32) + 10%]

_____________________________________

= OC

The Questions We Ask

Avoid:

Yes or No questions Double questions Personal questions What.. When. How. Please.

How do the questions we ask affect the answer we get?

Use:

Defend Expand Elaborate Rephrase Explain another viewpoint

What Questions Promote Critical Thinking?

Socratic Questions

Four Types of Questions 1 Summary & definition 1 Ask for clarification 2 Probe assumptions 2 Analysis questions 3 Probe reasons & evidence 3 Hypothesis questions 4 About views & perspectives 4 Evaluation questions

5 Probe implications & consequences 6 Questions about the questions

The Jeopardy Approach: Is an answer the answer?

Normal assessments

Multiple choice True / False Fill in the blank

Can we give students an answer and have them ask the question?

Yes!

The Jeopardy approach can be applied to all curriculum areas.

Biology

If the answer is the cell what are the questions? If the answer is water pollution what are the questions?

If the answer is habitat what are the questions?

Earth science

If the answer is Plate tectonics what are the questions?

If the answer is the solar system what are the questions? If the answer is volcanoes what are the questions?

Physical Science (physics)

If the answer is friction what are the questions?

Chemistry

If the answer is ionic and covalent bonding what are the questions?

The social aspects

Some activities need a team of people to be accomplished.

What types of activities are these (examples)? What makes a good team? What makes a good team member?

How is the body like a team? How is a machine like a team? What other things are like a team? List all you can think of, share them with your partner.

Suggestions for your students

Start each day (class) with a thinking problem. Allow students to challenge each other with problems. Use problems that require logical thinking

Logic problems Logic puzzles Lateral logic problems

Requires the most abstract thought

Logic Problems
TRUE STATEMENTS: A. The number of false statements here is one. B. The number of false statements here is two. C. The number of false statements here is three. D. The number of false statements here is four. Which of the above statements is true?
1.

THREE BOXES: There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges.

2.

The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly. Which box did you open and how can you be sure to label all boxes correctly?

3.

Logic Problems
TRUE STATEMENTS: Option "C" is the answer: three statements are false. Since each statement concludes that there is a different number of false statements, that proves that only one statement can be correct (hence the object is to decide which statement is true). Given that one statement is true, by definition, the other three must be false!
THREE BOXES: The box that must be opened is the one labeled "apples and oranges." By definition, whichever fruit is inside, is the only fruit type that that box contains. Let's say that you found an apple in that box that was labeled with both apples and oranges; because you know it must therefore only contain apples, then you conclude that the box that is labeled "oranges" cannot contain only oranges, as all boxes have been said to be mislabeled. Thus, the box labeled "oranges" must contain both apples and oranges, leaving the box labeled "apples" to contain only oranges.

Which switch is which?

Only one switch works, Which one?

You may only turn on one switch at a time. A You may only turn each switch on one time. You may only leave the switch building one time to check on the lights (the door locks behind you). There are no windows and you have no helpers. How do you tell which switch works? There is more than one answer

Door Lights
B C

Switches A B Door C

Logic Puzzles
1.CIRCLES: Using six contiguous straight lines, connect all of the sixteen circles shown below. 2. TEAPOTS: If teapot A holds 32 ounces of tea, about how many ounces does teapot B hold?

1. 1.

Logic Puzzles
1.CIRCLES:
CIRCLES:

2. TEAPOTS:
16 ounces (about half of pot A). The amount of tea that can Be kept within each pot is determined by the height of the spout opening. The tea level cannot rise above the spout opening since any extra tea would merely spill out from the spout. A simple visual estimate would conclude that the spout of teapot B is approximately half the height of that of teapot A, therefore providing only half of the capacity, or 16 ounces.

Using six contiguous straight lines, connect all of the sixteen circles shown below.

1. 1.

Area of an Odd Shape

Find:

The area of the red shaped triangle

Area of the square Area of the circle / 4

Blocks

How many blocks are in the picture?

Ask: What is the best way to solve this problem? What is the basic size block?

Is there only one answer?

Blocks

How many blocks are in the picture?

1 @ 8x8 8 @ 1x1 18 @ 2x2 9 @ 4x4 + 4 @ 6x6

Ask: What is the best way to solve this problem? What is the basic size block? Is there only one answer?

40

blocks

Think Tube

Whats going on inside?

Lateral Logic Problems

AVOIDING THE TRAIN: A man was walking along a railway track when he spotted an express train speeding towards him. To avoid it, he jumped off the track, but before he jumped he ran ten feet towards the train. Why? THE LOCKED ROOM: A man is dead in a puddle of blood and water on the floor of a locked windowless room.

What happened?

Lateral Logic Problems

AVOIDING THE TRAIN: The man was walking through a train tunnel (or on a bridge) and was almost at the end when he heard a whistle and spotted the train coming towards him. He therefore had to move forward, towards the train, so that he could jump clear safely.
THE LOCKED ROOM:

The man committed suicide with an icicle.

And now, Just for fun

Sometimes we need to teach with humor and give our students a chance to have some fun

? -ectomy

Removing an appendix is called an appendectomy, removing tonsils is called a tonsillectomy. What is it called when they remove a growth from your head?

Answer A haircut

Word Puzzles

German English French Spanish

English as a second language

Need Your Help!

"Welcome back to the show. Before the break, Mr Ixolite here made it to our grand finale! How do you feel Mr.Ix?" "Nervous." "Okay, now to win the star prize of five million Baht all you have to do is answer the following question in 90 seconds." "Okay, I'm ready." "Right. In 90 seconds name 100 words that do NOT contain the letter A. Start the clock!"

Hint: Mr. Ix says hes counting on you for help.

Answer: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, . .... One Hundred!

Dr. Whites Trip to Thailand

The weather during Dr. White s trip to Thailand was normal. It rained on 15 different days, but it never rained for a whole day. Rainy mornings were followed by clear afternoons. Rainy afternoons were preceded by clear mornings. There were 12 clear mornings and 13 clear afternoons in all. How long was the trip?

Dr. Whites Trip

Hint: 1) One whole day can be clear!

Answer: 5 totally clear days and 15 half and half. In the 15 half and half days: 7 <= 12 of the clear mornings were followed by rain, 8 <= 13 of the clear afternoons were preceded by rain.

20 days of the vacation.

How and what our students learn is a reflection of how and what we teach!

Earth Facts I Need to Know

Average Distance from the Sun Metric: 149,597,890 km 8 English: 92,955,820 miles Scientific Notation: 1.4959789 x 10 km (1.000 A.U.) Perihelion (closest) Metric: 147,100,000 km 8 English: 91,400,000 miles Scientific Notation: 1.471 x 10 km (0.983 A.U.) Aphelion (farthest) Metric: 152,100,000 km 8 English: 94,500,000 miles Scientific Notation: 1.521 x 10 km (1.017 A.U.) Equatorial Radius Metric: 6,378.14 km 3 English: 3,963.19 miles Scientific Notation: 6.37814 x 10 km Equatorial Circumference Metric: 40,075 km 4 English: 24,901 miles Scientific Notation: 4.0075 x 10 km

I should know this

AREA FORMULAS CIRCLE: RECTANGLE: pr2 ab (p=constant=3.142(approx), and r = radius) (a = width and b = height of rectangle) (b = base width and h = height of triangle) SURFACE AREA CYLINDER: CUBE: 6a2 2pr2 + rh) (p=constant=3.142(approx), r = radius, h = height)

SQUARE:
TRIANGLE:

a2

(a = width = height of square, all sides equal)

1/2(bh)

(a=length of each side of the cube)

RECTANGULAR PRISM: 2(ab + ac + bc) (a, b, and c are the lengths of the 3 sides) SPHERE: 4pr2 (p=constant=3.142(approx), and r = radius) VOLUME FORMULAS CUBE: CONE: CYLINDER: PYRAMID: a3 (a = length = width = height of square, all sides equal) (p=constant=3.142(approx), r = radius, h = height) (p=constant=3.142(approx), r = radius, h = height) (b = base width and h = heght of pyramid) (a = length, b = width and c = height of rectangular PERIMETER (p=constant=3.142(approx), d = diameter and r = radius) (a = length of each side of square ) (a = length, b = height of rectangle)

1/3pr2h pr2h

1/3(bh)

RECTANGULAR PRISM: prism ) CIRCLE: SQUARE: RECTANGLE: pd or 2pr

abc

4a or a + a + a +a

2(a + b) or a + b + a + b