We are the students of

todayattending the schools

of yesterdaysbeing taught
by teachers of the pastwith
methods from the middle
ages to solve problems of
the future Author Unknown
 What will the world be
like 20 years from now?
What skills will students
need to be successful in
that world?
What would learning
look like if it was
designed around your
answers?
 Learning & Innovation Skills
Creativity & Innovation
Critical Thinking & Problem-
solving
Communication &
Collaboration

 Teacher-directed
Learner-centered
Collaborative
Direct Instruction
Instruction
Knowledge Skills
Content Process
Basic Skills Higher-order Thinking
Theory Practice
Curriculum Life Skills
Individual Group
Summative Community
Assessments Formative
evaluations
Learning for
School
Learning for Life
 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
 Focused thinking
There are two basic thinking skills - critical and
creative thinking.
Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly
and rationally.
Creativity is a matter of coming up with new
and useful possibilities. They are both crucial
for solving problems and discovering new
knowledge

Thinking with a definite purpose (goal)

Can be a complex & involved process

An active process that involves constant

questioning
 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: 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.
 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.

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
 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
 FindingMeaning
Seeking Logic
Searching for reason
Looking answers
Developing facts and opinions
Appreciating different points of
view
 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
Lets eat grandma.
Lets eat. Grandma.
 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)

 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
 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)
 For any problem What What What What
do I must I Tools do else do I
list: Know? Find? I have? need to
What you know find out?
What you need to *
find (usually a single answer) 1 1 1 1
What tools you have
to help solve the 2 2 2
problem
What else do I need 3 3 3
to find out to solve
* Where do I need to go to find this
the problem? information if I dont remember it?

Always Draw a picture

 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
 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 5 Baht
coins, stacked
flat, will it take to
reach the top of
the Empire State
Building in New
York City?
 How many pair of
shoes can you
make from a
spherical cow?
 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
Read out (at normal pace) the colour of each word,
not the word itself, without making a mistake.

Red Yellow Blue Green

Yellow Red Green Blue
Green Red Blue Yellow
Yellow Green Red Blue
Yellow Blue Red Green
Yellow Green Red Blue
Red Green Blue Green
Green Yellow
 Sometimes we need
to teach with humor
and give our students
a chance to have
some fun
 Removing an
appendix is called an
appendectomy,
Answer A haircut
removing tonsils is
called a
tonsillectomy.
What is it called
when they remove a
growth from your
head?
 Creative thinking involves creating
something new or original. It involves the
skills of flexibility, originality, fluency,
elaboration, brainstorming, modification,
imagery, associative thinking, attribute
listing, metaphorical thinking, forced
relationships. The aim of creative thinking is
to stimulate
curiosity and promote divergence
 Good teaching is as much about passion as
it is about reason. Its about motivating
students not only to learn, but teaching
them how to learn, and doing so in a
manner that is relevant, meaningful and
memorable.
Good teaching is about substance and
treating students as consumers of
knowledge. Its about doing your best to
keep on top of your field
 Good teaching is about listening,
questioning, being responsive and
remembering that each student and class is
different.
Good teaching is about not always having a
fixed agenda and being rigid, but being
flexible, fluid, experimenting, and having
the confidence to react and adjust to
changing circumstances
 Good teaching is also about style. They
realize that they are the conductors and
that the class is their orchestra. All students
play different instruments and at varying
proficiencies. A teachers job is to develop
skills and make these instruments come to
life as a coherent whole to make music.
Good teaching is about humor.
 Good teaching is about caring, nurturing
and developing minds and talents. Its
about devoting time, often invisible, to
every student. Its also about the thankless
hours of grading, designing or redesigning
courses and preparing materials to still
further enhance instruction.
Good teaching is supported by strong and

visionary leadership
 At the end of the day, good teaching is
about having fun, experiencing pleasure
and intrinsic rewards.
Good teachers practice their craft not for

the money or because they have to, but

because they truly enjoy it and because
they want to. Good teachers couldnt
imagine doing anything else.