Volume XXXVIII, No. 3 | February 5, 2016 A Tale of Two Disciplines: Lessons in Critical Thinking Background In Daniel T. Willingham's article, "Critical thinking: Why is it so hard to teach?" (2007), he emphasized critical thinking practice and perspective by saying, "…if you remind a student to look at an issue from [...]
Volume XXXVII, No. 16 | August 28, 2015 On Giving Students the Gift of Time Ask any group of students what they wish they had more of and 99.9 percent of them will respond, "Time." This is especially true at the community college level where students struggle to balance academics with work and [...]
Volume XXXVII, No. 9 | March 27, 2015 Strategies to Increase Confidence in the Classroom: A Problem Solver The single best fulfillment that a teacher can witness in a learner is self-confidence. Although many students are capable of solving problems and thinking critically, they often don’t possess the confidence to display those [...]
Volume XXXVII, No. 11 | April 10, 2015 Teaching Critical Thinking Dispositions Mortimer Adler, the founder of the Great Books program at the University of Chicago, once famously wrote that critical thinking could not be taught. In his essay, “Critical Thinking Programs: Why They Won’t Work,” Adler wrote, “I would almost say that, [...]
Volume XXXVI, No. 5 | February 14, 2014 Promoting Critical Thinking and Active Learning by “Teaching Backwards” “Teaching Backwards” is an instructional method that explores cause-and-effect relationships by examining a series of connected events, starting with the last event first and proceeding backwards. Inspired by the movie “Memento,” this method promotes critical thinking [...]
Volume XXXV, No. 18 | September 13, 2013 Teaching Students to Be Active Listeners The simple act of nodding your head in acknowledgment when someone is explaining an idea to you is something we learn at a relatively early age. Saying "yes" in agreement or repeating back what was stated to you to [...]
Volume XXXV, No. 5 | February 15, 2013 The Critical Thinking Biology Final During my first five years of teaching Biology II for majors, I gave my students a typical multiple choice/ matching/short essay comprehensive final exam. The subject matter of the course focused on biological organization from organisms to ecosystems. Each year [...]
