Teaching and Assessing Critical Thinking Skills

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• Teaching and Assessing Critical Thinking Skills
• Jon Haber - Executive Editor SAM and Digital
  Strategy

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Facilitator Background

• Executive Editor for SAM and Digital Strategy,
  Course Technology/Cengage Learning
• Founder and CEO of SkillCheck, Inc. (now First
  Advantage Assessment Solutions)
• Creator of the Internet and Computing Core
  Certification (IC3)
• Co-author of National Educational Technology
  Standards (NETSS) Resources for Assessment
  published by the International Society for
  Technology in Education (ISTE)

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• Critical Thinking and Digital Literacy

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Digital Literacy Thought Leadership
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Digital Literacy - Definition
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Global Consensus

• Foundational Knowledge The fundamental
  underlying principles of computers, networks and
  the Internet
• Contemporary Skills The ability to use current
  hardware and software to perform useful functions
• Critical Thinking Ability A set of higher-order
  thinking and reasoning skills required for
  understanding and solving problems as they arise
  in modern technological systems

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Critical Thinking Components

• Information literacy
• Problem solving
• Troubleshooting
• Digital citizenship
• Personal and data security
• Real world interactions between people and
  technology

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Digital Literacy in the Classroom
Digital Literacy
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The Philosophy Course
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Classical Education - Rhetoric




Collecting and Evaluating Information
Invention or Discovery
Organizing Information
Arrangement
Communicating Information
Style, Memory and Delivery
National Educational Technology Standards
(indicators), 2005
Canons of Rhetoric (600 BCE)
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Classical Education - Logic

• Formal Logic
• Syllogisms
• Fallacies
• All dogs are animals
• All cats are animals
• Therefore All cats are dogs

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Modern Logic and Argumentation

• Symbolic Logic
• Truth Tables
• Rogerian Model
• Toulmin Model

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Modern Critical Thinking
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Critical Thinking Components

• Standards
• Clarity
• Accuracy
• Precision
• Relevance
• Depth
• Breadth
• Logic
• Significance
• Fairness

• Elements of Thought
• Question at Issue
• Information
• Interpretation and Inference
• Concepts
• Assumptions
• Implications and Consequences
• Point of View
• Purpose

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Intellectual Traits

• Intellectual Humility
• Intellectual Courage
• Intellectual Integrity
• Intellectual Perseverance
• Trust in Reason
• Fairmindedness

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Important Lessons

• Critical thinking can be taught
• Critical thinking is a skill, not an innate
  ability
• Critical thinking is not necessarily about
  intelligence
• Critical thinking can improve with practice
• Anyone can be a critical thinker
• Everyone should be a critical thinker

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• Teaching Critical Thinking

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Teaching Critical Thinking
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Teaching Critical Thinking
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Teaching Critical Thinking
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Online Resources
www.microsoft.com/education/teachers/guides/critic
al_thinking.aspx
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Online Resources
www.informationliteracy.org
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Technology Education

• Teaching critical thinking skills in the context
  of the technology class will involve
• Information Literacy Finding, evaluating,
  organizing and communicating information
• Solving real world problems Evaluation and
  troubleshooting
• Digital Citizenship Plagiarism, cheating,
  privacy, personal security, online rules of the
  road
• Dealing with controversial issues

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Example
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Approaching Controversial Subjects

• Introduction of the issue
• Background
• Language
• Different sides of the issue
• Locating and evaluating information
• Search strategies
• Primary vs. secondary sources
• Reliability of source material (bias, relevance,
  timeliness, etc.)
• Weighing different sides of the issue

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Comparing Sources
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• Evaluating and Assessing
• Critical Thinking Skills

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Cognitive Assessments
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Subject Matter Assessments
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Hands-on Assessments

• Clearly stated problem/question
• Multiple steps needed to solve the problem
• Reasoning and judgment needed to create final
  result
• Open ended responses
• Work products (artifacts)
• Reflection (writing/results of research)
• Requested result (work product) should be able to
  be evaluated consistently (preferably via a
  high-quality, consistent rubric)

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Student Work Files
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Scoring Rubric
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Summary

• Critical thinking is a vital component of Digital
  Literacy
• Critical thinking skills can and should be taught
• In the context of the technology course, critical
  thinking consists of
• Information literacy
• Problem solving
• Digital citizenship
• Real world interaction between people and
  technology
• Critical thinking can (and should) be assessed
  using creative and consistent assessment
  techniques

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• Questions and Answers
• Jon Haber - Executive Editor SAM and Digital
  Strategy
• jon.haber_at_cengage.com