Critical Thinking
Encouraging students to use critical thinking is more than an extension activity in science and math lessons, it is the basis of true learning.
Teaching students how to think critically helps them move beyond basic comprehension and rote memorization. They shift to a new level of increased awareness when calculating, analyzing, problem solving, and evaluating.
Another way to view the power of critical thinking – as students learn how to apply and use higher order thinking skills, they learn how to question the accuracy of their solutions and findings.
Students wonder why they got the results they did and not another outcome. This in turn leads to internalization of concepts, along with all important point of making connections with related concepts.
Teaching Critical Thinking
Some students have the natural ability to ask higher cognitive questions. Specifically when evaluating experimental findings in science or solving math problems. However, many students do not have this innate skill and need to learn how to ask higher order questions.
An important point for encouraging students to use critical thinking is by modeling these skills for your students. Students will inherently follow their teacher’s lead; this is why it is important to practice what we preach.
The following are examples of questions to ask your students to encourage them to think critically (Richard Paul).
Probing
- What additional information do you need to solve the problem?
- How does the data relate to your findings?
- How does the evidence support your conclusions?
- What would you need to do to determine if the solution is true?
- How can you compare this with other problems?
- Are their alternative solutions to the problem? If so, what are they?
- What else may be true if this is correct?
- What effect would _______ have?
- What do you mean by that statement?
Implication
- How could you ask that question differently?
- What did you learn from solving this problem?
- Is this the most important question to ask when solving the problem?
- What questions need to be answered before answering this question?
These questions all have one purpose – keeping the train on the track by guiding students through the critical thinking process. When you ask these and similar questions, you are encouraging your students to move from passive to active learning.
Avoiding Questions Easily Answered on the Internet
Questions and problems easily answered through a quick query on the internet are not an effective strategy for teaching critical thinking. Students need questions which require them to create a product to show what they learned. The following examples are referred to “Google-Proofing” in some circles.
- Construct a data table and graph to display a comparison of cost of three competing cell phone companies.
- Design an investigation to determine the best materials for building a hurricane proof house.
- Compare the organs in the human body with other mammals.
- Create a board game based on geometric shapes.
- Redesign an existing product to reduce its carbon footprint.
The goal is to help students learn how to develop higher level questions and make connections when solving math problems or analyzing experimental data.
Quality Thinking In order to support quality critical thinking, the frequency of questions is not as important as the quality of questions. Also, increasing wait-time between teacher-student-teacher is important to success with teaching quality thinking. According to Kathleen Cotton, the following are factors to consider when asking students questions.
- The average level of questions asked by teachers are 60 percent lower cognitive, 20 percent procedural, and 20 percent higher cognitive.
- Increasing the frequency of higher cognitive questions to the 50 percent level produces superior gains in middle and high school student achievement.
- Asking higher cognitive questions does not reduce student achievement on lower cognitive questions.
- With predominate use of lower cognitive questions; students tend toward lower achievement.
The use of higher cognitive questions tends to elicit longer student answers in complete sentences, quality inference and conjecture by students, and the forming of higher level questions. This in turn results in increased student use of critical thinking and classroom participation. There is never a wrong time to begin encouraging your students to use critical thinking skills, so why not start today.
Sources
Cotton, Kathleen, Classroom Questioning, North West Regional Educational Laboratory.
Paul, Richard, Critical Thinking: How to Prepare Students for a Rapidly Changing World, Foundation for Critical Thinking.
The Best Resources in Teaching & Learning Critical Thinking in the Classroom
Alternative Assessments
Alternative assessments provide you opportunities to determine the true level of understanding your students have regarding science and math concepts. These tools improve the learning environment for your students, along with your assessment of their real understanding.
So how does this happen?
The use of an alternative assessment provides students the opportunity to demonstrate their breadth and depth of concept understanding. This moves beyond the traditional multiple choice tests in which many students pass with good guesses or an innate ability to eliminate options.
Although these alternatives often require more work on your part, you will not be unpleasantly surprised with many of your student’s outcome on standardized testing. Why? You have already discovered their weak areas and addressed them in advance.
Technology Based Assessments
The important point to consider when using technology is that it’s only used as a means for students to demonstrate their concept knowledge. The emphasis must not be placed on the quality of a technology based project. Weight in the alternative assessment must be on the concept application and understanding.
Student Blogs – are used in lieu of a hand written journal. Blogs provide a venue for students to reflect on their understanding of concepts, by requiring them to:
- critically analyze ideas in science or math
- provide resources (images, references, websites, etc.) to support their position regarding their understanding of a concept
- provide instructions for how to solve math problems or conduct a scientific investigation
Presentations – are used in lieu of common presentation tools, traditional posters, or works of art. Students use the following alternatives to express their understanding of concepts.
- Voice Tread – provides five tools to communicate with group members, teachers, and students in other schools. Voice Thread provides the ability to share knowledge gained during science or math project based learning activities or data collection activities. These tools are webcam, voice, documents, audio, and images.
- Glogster – provides four methods of communicating content knowledge through interactive posters using images, videos, music, and documents.
- Prezi – allows students to embed videos, vocabulary, websites, mind maps, graphic organizers, and images to provide supporting evidence regarding their knowledge and understanding of concepts.
- One approach is allowing students to create their Prezi throughout a science or math chapter/unit. Then present their Prezi presentation at the end.
- Wall Wisher – students demonstrate their understanding of math concepts through a collection of images or present a reflection of their understanding scientific concepts by showcasing their research.
- Podcasts – used to create a “how to” or instructions for solving a problem in science and math.
- math problem and solution which requires proof the answer is correct or wrong
- environmental issues in science
- developing step by step procedures for completing a scientific investigation
- writing a series of questions or statements using a term in proper context
- draw pictures to explain a math of science term
Non-Technology Based Assessments
As with technology, they are only used as a means for students to demonstrate their concept knowledge. Weight of alternative assessment must be on application of concept(s)
Mental Math – students must have the opportunity to solve problems without the use of pencil, paper, or technology (computers/calculators). This ability is becoming a lost art for many students today. I have come across few students who can add, subtract, multiply, or divide without the aid of calculator or pencil and paper. Mental math activities not only apply to mathematics, they also apply to areas in science which rely heavily on math. Provide students with activities on a regular basis, for example two days a week, in which they solve problems using mental math techniques.
Problems – task students to create a problem related to a concept and then present ways to solve the problem.
Math and Science Terminology – students write a story which includes vocabulary words in the proper context. Application I do not recommend total reliance on these assessment techniques to evaluate your students. However, I do not support of using traditional methods as the only method for student evaluation. I recommend a mixture of both alternative and traditional assessments to develop a learning community in your classroom.
These are only five examples of alternative assessments you can use to accurately understand your students understanding science and math concepts. Naturally there are many more.
Your Turn. Do you have additional recommendations?
Online Organization Tool
LiveBinders is a free web 2.0 tool which offers educators the ability to save and organize materials for any class. One advantage of this online service the capability to update a binder anywhere an educator has internet access.
This benefit offers teachers a convenient online location for their students find information during and after school. Examples include: resources placed in a binder help students complete homework assignments, complete research, review project rubrics, listen podcasts, and student homework submission.
Another advantage of LiveBinders for teachers is the update features designed in each binder. The design offers educators the ability to rapidly update information in any lesson, unit, or project as new information or procedures become available. Also, there are no design or layout issues to contend with because everything uploaded to the binder is organized in tabs and sub-tabs.
The tabs and sub-tab, similar to pages in a book, organize information and resources for ease of students access. Labeling these tabs and sub-tabs is straight forward process.
Additional design features allow teachers to upload resources in the form of PDFs, images, presentations, videos, podcasts, documents, and more to a binder. Also, if links are desired to online resources, all that is needed is to create a special tab for these links.
Strategies for Using this Online Tool in Any Class
The following are strategies for how to use LiveBinders to support teaching and learning in science and math education.
Student Assignments/Projects
This is a collection of assignments and projects for students to complete as the year progresses. All information students need to complete their work is provided such as rubrics, web based resources, and assignment or project requirements.
One example is creating a LiveBinder for a specific assignment or project for students to upload their finished work. This design feature allows students to present their work in class.
Lessons/Units This free online tool provides an excellent method for saving online materials such as websites, images, interactive sources, and documents related to a specific lesson or unit. Examples include:
- Units which involve two or more subject areas, such as a Thematic Unit on data collection and analysis of geometric shapes in nature.
- A collection of mobile learning Apps for the iPod Touch, Smart Phones, or iPad related to the lesson or unit for student use.
- A collection of project- or problem-based learning activities.
Student Resources These are resources students can use throughout the year or for specific periods of time such as a study guide for a test or final. Examples of these resources include:
- Guides for using online tools such as Google Search, Google Docs, Skype, Wordle, Glogster, online calculator, and digital storytelling.
- Guides for using digital devices such as an iPod Touch, iPad, Kindle, probeware, flip camera, and digital camera.
- Science and math interactive manipulatives, games, and other online resources to help reinforce concepts taught in class.
- Study guides for writing math equations, algebra, rainforests, balancing chemical equations, bibliography procedures,and more.
- Links to online interactive games and other web based resources.
General Benefits and Advantages of LiveBinders The following is a summary of the benefits and advantages of using LiveBinders to support teaching, learning, and professional development.
- Material and resources are up loadable from any computer, anytime, and anywhere with internet access.
- Educators can use a class blog or wiki to provide students’ access to a binder.
- Total storage per account is 100 MB, providing the opportunity to create multiple binders.
- A bookmark tool is available a browser’s toolbar to quickly upload new resources to a binder.
- A binder is invaluable for creating a library of resources for students and educators to use.
These strategies, techniques, and tips provide just a sample of the many ways LiveBinders support teaching and student learning. The use of this web 2.0 tool replaces a physical notebook or binder for educators. In support of the value this online tool provides – the American Association of School Librarians has selected LiveBinders as one of their Top 25 Best Websites for teaching and learning in July of 2010.
