Description
Book SynopsisThe Partnership for 21st Century Skills states that critical thinking encompasses skills that students and professionals will need to succeed in their careers, school, and life. The demand for critical thinkers will increase in the future to meet the demands of world-wide problems. Educators need to show students how to eliminate errors, such as biases in their reasoning, and to be effective decision makers. To do this, teachers and leaders in schools and businesses need to provide an atmosphere conducive to developing critical thinking skills and dispositions. Meeting this challenge is the goal of the chapters collected in Critical Thinking and Reasoning. This book begins with experts laying out their best current understanding of the skills and attitudes critical thinking requires. Next, the relationship between critical thinking and the psychology of development and learning is explored to understand better how to develop critical thinkers from childhood to adulthood. But how can we best teach for critical thinking? How can we incorporate into the classroom the challenges presented in the workplace? This book provides several extensive examples of current practices from the elementary level through the secondary level to the university level of how to stimulate critical thinking skills and dispositions.
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables Notes on Contributors Introduction Daniel Fasko, Jr. and Frank Fair PART 1: Theories of Critical Thinking 1 Seven Philosophical Conceptions of Critical Thinking: Themes, Variations, Implications David Hitchcock 2 Inquiry: Teaching for Reasoned Judgment Sharon Bailin and Mark Battersby 3 Focusing the Relational Lens on Critical Thinking: How Can Relational Reasoning Support Critical and Analytic Thinking? Denis Dumas and Yixiao Dong 4 Commentary: Theories of Critical Thinking from a Philosopher of Education Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon PART 2: Development and Learning 5 The Semantic Retrieval Model and Divergent Thinking as Critical to Understanding Logical Reasoning in Children Henry Markovits and Pier-Luc de Chantal 6 Adolescent Reasoning and Rationality David Moshman 7 Critical Thinking and Learning in Adults: A Case Study in Transformative Learning on White Supremacy and White Racial Identity Stephen Brookfield 8 Commentary: Perspectives on Development and Learning with a Connection to Philosophy for Children Steven Trickey PART 3: Curriculum and Instruction 9 Critical Thinking in the Elementary School: Practical Guidance for Building a Culture of Thinking Paul Cleghorn 10 The Good Thinker’s Tool Kit: How to Engage Critical Thinking and Reasoning in Secondary Education Amber Strong Makaiau 11 Equipping Students for Success in College and Beyond: Placing Critical Thinking Instruction at the Heart of a General Education Program Amanda L. Hiner 12 Commentary: Critical Thinking – Effusively Touted, But so Rarely Pursued M. Neil Browne PART 4: Assessment 13 Observations from a Long-term Effort to Assess and Improve Critical Thinking Ada Haynes and Barry Stein 14 Assessing Critical Thinking: Challenges, Opportunities, and Empirical Evidence Heather A. Butler 15 What the Data Tell Us about Human Reasoning Peter A. Facione, Noreen C. Facione and Carol Ann Gittens 16 Commentary: Thinking Critically about Critical-Thinking Assessment Donald Hatcher and Kevin Possin Epilogue Frank Fair and Daniel Fasko, Jr. Index
