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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2016

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Critical Thinking

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Education

Using Guided Reflective Journaling Activities To Capture Students’ Changing Perceptions, Joanna Dunlap Mar 2016

Using Guided Reflective Journaling Activities To Capture Students’ Changing Perceptions, Joanna Dunlap

Joanna Dunlap

Many professions are increasingly emphasizing the role of reflection, encouraging educators to look for appropriate ways to help students engage in reflective practice during their professional preparation. Journal writing is an insightful and powerful instructional technology utilizing strategies that foster understanding and the application of concepts, enhance critical thinking, improve achievement and attitude, encourage student reflection and capture changes in students' perception. Examples from three different professional preparation courses illustrate the power of journal-writing activities as a way of encouraging students' reflective thinking, and giving faculty a way to assess students' reflective practice and perceptual changes. Based on the author's …


Quantitative Reasoning For The Social Science Classroom, Maria Aysa-Lastra Feb 2016

Quantitative Reasoning For The Social Science Classroom, Maria Aysa-Lastra

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Twenty five years ago the Mathematical Sciences Education Board (Scheaffer 1990) stated that “Citizens who cannot properly interpret quantitative data are, in this day and age, functionally illiterate” Quantitative reasoning then should not be reduced to the ability to perform arithmetic functions but must be conceived as “a habit of the mind, competency and comfort in working with numerical data” (AACU 2015). Moreover, quantitative reasoning is essential for the development of higher order level skills such as analyzing, evaluating and creating. In a world, in which data is produced more rapidly than it can be analyzed, employers note that …


"Can We Talk?": Strategies For Successful Classroom Discussion, John Bird Feb 2016

"Can We Talk?": Strategies For Successful Classroom Discussion, John Bird

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

We all recognize the value and importance of class discussion for student learning and engagement, but we have probably had uneven results when we try to hold discussions in class. Sometimes it goes great, but sometimes it fails, miserably. In this workshop, we will examine some of the problems with class discussion: students who won’t talk, students who talk too much, students who go off topic, silent classes, and so on. Then we will explore and practice some techniques that can solve those problems, including more effective question design, effective questioning techniques, the use of writing as discussion starters, and …


Critical Reading, Critical Research: Practical Strategies To Develop, Amanda L. Hiner Feb 2016

Critical Reading, Critical Research: Practical Strategies To Develop, Amanda L. Hiner

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Perhaps no other skill affects students’ intellectual achievement more profoundly than the skill of critical reading. The analysis and assessment of written texts requires specific, learned skills in unpacking a text’s meaning, understanding its claims and implications, assessing its logic and coherence, evaluating its evidence, and drawing logical conclusions based on its claims. Both anecdotal evidence and qualitative research suggest that these skills are lacking in many high school and college students, and though teachers are intuitively aware of how crucial such skills are in the research and writing process, they often struggle to help students practice and apply critical …