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Critical thinking

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Education

Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk Jul 2016

Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk

Adam Kotlarczyk

Why Tolkien? Let us start with the obvious—if cynical—question, almost certain to come from a skeptical administrator or colleague: why would any serious, self-respecting English teacher want to teach an author whose work is about dragons, fairies, and the fantastic? With all the increased attention to standardized testing and with the demand for rigor in read- ings in the average English curriculum, choosing a popular text might raise eyebrows among critics. The question that an English teacher may be asked (or indeed, may ask him- or herself) is: doesn't teaching Tolkien as "serious" literature just fan those flames?


Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk Jul 2016

Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk

Adam Kotlarczyk

Why Tolkien? Let us start with the obvious—if cynical—question, almost certain to come from a skeptical administrator or colleague: why would any serious, self-respecting English teacher want to teach an author whose work is about dragons, fairies, and the fantastic? With all the increased attention to standardized testing and with the demand for rigor in read- ings in the average English curriculum, choosing a popular text might raise eyebrows among critics. The question that an English teacher may be asked (or indeed, may ask him- or herself) is: doesn't teaching Tolkien as "serious" literature just fan those flames?


Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk Jul 2016

Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk

Adam Kotlarczyk

Why Tolkien? Let us start with the obvious—if cynical—question, almost certain to come from a skeptical administrator or colleague: why would any serious, self-respecting English teacher want to teach an author whose work is about dragons, fairies, and the fantastic? With all the increased attention to standardized testing and with the demand for rigor in read- ings in the average English curriculum, choosing a popular text might raise eyebrows among critics. The question that an English teacher may be asked (or indeed, may ask him- or herself) is: doesn't teaching Tolkien as "serious" literature just fan those flames?


Truth, Rhetoric, And Critical Thinking, Lajos L. Brons Oct 2013

Truth, Rhetoric, And Critical Thinking, Lajos L. Brons

Lajos Brons

Despite the extraordinary amount of attention critical thinking has received in the last few decades, the teaching and fostering of critical thinking in higher education is largely failing, and critical thinking has become an empty buzzword. However, given its importance as an aim of education, it needs to be “refilled”, but that is possible only after identifying the causes of the current failure, i.e. the obstacles to fostering critical thinking. Three such obstacles are identified in this paper, two actual and one hypothetical: (1) the lack of clarity and agreement about what critical thinking is, (2) current teaching practice, and …


Promoting Dialogue On The Transgender Experience In College Courses Through Films And Literature, Elizabeth H. Rowell Apr 2012

Promoting Dialogue On The Transgender Experience In College Courses Through Films And Literature, Elizabeth H. Rowell

Elizabeth H Rowell

Although transgender individuals have been part of every culture and society in recorded human history, many people today are unaware of gender variant individuals among them and discussions of rights and equality have usually excluded trans people. This lack of recognition and intolerance often makes being transgender today very difficult. Much work remains to be done to educate the public and improve the safety and well-being of trans people. College professors can help to promote understanding of and advocacy for gender variant individuals. This is an overview of one professor's experiences in weaving critical thinking and dialoguing about the transgender …