CRITICAL THINKING AND BLOOM’S

TAXONOMY

Material recopilado por:

Mg Beatriz Cuestas Robladillo
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Contacto

1. Prof. Jacobo Miranda C.

Subgerente de capacitaciones y proyectos especiales
Correo electrónico: [email protected]
Cel: 946043976

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 Introduction

The aim of Critical Thinking is to promote independent thinking, personal autonomy

and reasoned judgment in thought and action. This involves two related dimensions:

1. the ability to reason well and

2. the disposition to do so.

Critical thinking involves logic as well as creativity. It may involve inductive and
deductive reasoning, analysis and problem-solving as well as creative, innovative and
complex approaches to the resolution of issues and challenges.

Critical Thinking and Education

One of the significant aims of education is to produce learners who are well informed,
that is to say, learners should understand ideas that are important, useful, beautiful
and powerful. Another is to create learners who have the appetite the appetite to think
analytically and critically, to use what they know to enhance their own lives and also to
contribute to their society, culture and civilization.

These two aims for education as a vehicle to promote critical thinking are based on
certain assumptions.

1. Brains are biological. Minds are created. Curriculum is thus a mind-altering

device. This raises the moral requirement to treat learners as independent
centres of consciousness with the fundamental ability to determine the contours
of their own minds and lives.

2. Education should seek to prepare learners for self-direction and not pre-
conceived roles. It is, therefore, essential that learners be prepared for thinking
their way through the maze of challenges that life will present independently.

3. Education systems usually induct the neophyte into the forms-of-representation

and realms of meaning which humans have created thus far.

4. Careful analysis, clear thinking, and reasoned deliberation are fundamental to

democracy and democratic life.
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 WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or
what to believe. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent

thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following :

 understand the logical connections between ideas

 identify, construct and evaluate arguments
 detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning

 solve problems systematically

 identify the relevance and importance of ideas
 reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values

Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information. A person with a good

memory and who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily good at critical thinking. A
critical thinker is able to deduce consequences from what he knows, and he knows
how to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of
information to inform himself.

Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or being critical of
other people. Although critical thinking skills can be used in exposing fallacies and bad
reasoning, critical thinking can also play an important role in cooperative reasoning
and constructive tasks. Critical thinking can help us acquire knowledge, improve our
theories, and strengthen arguments. We can use critical thinking to enhance work
processes and improve social institutions.

Some people believe that critical thinking hinders creativity because it requires
following the rules of logic and rationality, but creativity might require breaking rules.

This is a misconception. Critical thinking is quite compatible with thinking "out-of-the-

box", challenging consensus and pursuing less popular approaches. If anything, critical
thinking is an essential part of creativity because we need critical thinking to evaluate
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and improve our creative ideas.

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 BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Objectives classifies a number of skills which
can be used to teach critical thinking. The six skills are often depicted as the
triangle shows.

However, representing the skills like this gives the impression of a hierarchical
approach to critical thinking. It seems to suggest that the Lower Order Thinking
Skills (remember, understand and apply) must be acquired before the Higher
Order Thinking Skills (analyze, evaluate and create) can be learnt.

But what do the six skills really mean?

Remember:

 can students recall information they have read or heard?

Understand:
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 can students explain the ideas or concepts they have read or heard about?
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Apply:

 can students use the information in another context or a different situation

or for a different task?

Analyse:

 can students break the information down into its component parts?

Evaluate:

 can students assess the value of the input information?

Create:

 can students use the input to create something new?

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 Critical Thinking: Teaching Methods & Strategies
Mark Jon Snyder
CEO, MSA Consulting Group
Adjunct Professor, Elon University

OVERVIEW
 In Review … Research and Definition
- Requirements of Analyzing and Evaluating
- Why We Don’t Critically Think
- Instructional Design of Critical Thinking
- IDEALS – Six Steps to Critical Thinking
 Goals of Critical Thinking (CT)
 The ABC’s of CT Lesson Plans
 Questioning Techniques
 The CT Classroom Environment

CRITICAL THINKING IN REVIEW

The Research on Faculty Indicates…

 89% Claim Critical Thinking is a Primary Objective

 78% State Students Lack Critical Thinking Skills
 19% Can Clearly Define “Critical Thinking”
 9% Can Describe How to Teach Critical Thinking in their Discipline
 8% Use Critical Thinking Standards in Their Assessment Techniques

Definition of Critical Thinking…

 Informed Decision-Making
 Thinking About Thinking & How to Improve It
 Actively Analyzing, Synthesizing, & Evaluating the Thinking Process
 A Product of Education, Training, & Practice
 Mental Habit & Power

GOALS OF CRITICAL THINKING

Encourage Students To…

 ASK Questions and LOOK for Answers

- What questions could someone have about this?
- What information answers these questions/concerns?
 APPLY What They Learn to SOLVE Problems
- Based on the material, how would you …?
Now that you know ___, how do you solve ___?
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-

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LISTEN to Each Other and DEBATE Ideas

 QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES
Avoid Low-Level Questions…

 Address Details (facts, figures, etc.)

 Useful for Short-Term Memory Only
 Based on Memorization, Not Understanding
 Examples…
 What are Word’s default margins settings?
 What does B2B stand for?
 Define an asset.
 What is a trademark?

Apply High-Order Questions…

 Ask How or Why Something Happens

 Requires Application of Details to Larger Context
 Go “Beyond Facts” to Constructing a Rationale
 Requires Critical Thinking
 Examples…
 How would you change the margins to accommodate a short letter?
 How do B2B marketing strategies apply to EDI technologies?
 Explain how assets depreciate. How does this impact a balance sheet?
 What are the consequences of improperly using a trademark?

Strategies for Effective Questioning Techniques… (Gibbs, 2001)

 Ask questions that invite more than one plausible answer.

 Provide wait time after asking a question to give less confident students time
to think.
 Ask follow-up questions, such as, “What can you add?” or “What is your
opinion?”
 Provide feedback that neither confirms nor denies students’ responses to
ensure the discussion remains open. Examples are: “Interesting.” or “I hadn’t
thought of that.”
 Request a summary. “Who can make the point in different words?”
 Survey the other students: “Who agrees with Max? Who disagrees? Why?”
 Encourage students to direct questions to other students.
 Play devil’s advocate: “How would you feel if…?”
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To Teach Critical Thinking…
 Create a Culture of Inquiry by Supporting Students’ Thinking Process
 Model Critical Thinking Skills
 Actively Question Students’ Thinking
 Guide Reflecting on the Thinking Process
 Why do you think that?
 What is your knowledge based upon?
 What does it imply and presuppose?

THE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
(Mathews, 2003)

1. Students share in the responsibility for classroom environment

 cooperative learning techniques
 group or class discussion leaders
 project-based learning

2. Teachers model thinking and support students as they share their thinking
strategies
 Demonstrate by …
- Approaching ideas tentatively
- Using questioning techniques
- Promoting respect for different points of view
 Question conclusions and encourage student to do likewise
- Not only … What? Where? When?
- But also … Why? What if? Why not?

3. The classroom has an atmosphere of inquiry and openness

 Students make predictions, gather info, organize it, and question
conclusions
 Teachers provide corrective advice rather than criticism and evaluation

4. Students are supported, but also challenged to think independently

 Pay attention to HOW students are thinking
 Encourage students to investigate and communicate as they go

5. The classroom arrangement allows students to work together

 Focus should be on the students, not the teacher
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 Arrange desks in horseshoe or grouped clusters

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 TEACHING METHODS & STRATEGIES

Learning Information from Text (KWL)

1. Structured Overview – Anticipation (5 minutes)

a. Short discussion about the topic (ask questions and encourage

comments)
b. Raise students’ curiosity (relate to current knowledge)
c. Use visual aids (maps, charts, samples, objects, etc.)

2. Paired Reading / Paired Summarizing – Building Knowledge

a. KWL – Know, Want, Learn …

 What do we KNOW about this topic?
 What do we WANT to know about this topic?
 What did we LEARN about this topic?
b. In pairs, students list what they know about the topic – DISCUSS
c. In pairs, students list what they want to know about the topic –
DISCUSS
d. Paired groups read prepared material to answer questions
e. Teacher circulates among the pairs to monitor and question their
progress
f. If most pairs are struggling, remind the class how to summarize and
questio
3. Consolidation

a. Students reflect on the activity and apply ideas to discussion questions

b. Students reconsider what they already knew before in light of what they
learned
c. Complete the last column … what did we learn about this topic?
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 TOPIC: How to Teach Critical Thinking Skills

What do we know? What do we want to What did we learn?

know?

1. 1. 1.

2. 2. 2.

3. 3. 3.

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 REFERENCES

1. Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills (Webliography of Sources)

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/critical.htm

2. The National Center for Teaching Thinking – ”All Students Can Be Good Thinkers”
http://www.nctt.net/

3. The Critical Thinking Community

http://www.criticalthinking.org/

4. The Thinking Classroom – A Journal of Reading, Writing and Critical Reflection

http://ct-net.net/ct_tcp

5. Teaching Critical Thinking – The Dartmouth Writing Program

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/faculty/pedagogies/thinking.shtml

6. An Introduction to Critical Thinking (by Steven D. Schafersman)

http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html
7. Research Support Provided by Lisa E. Gueldenzoph, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Business EducationNorth Carolina A&T State University

8. http://videa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/81-Fun-critical-Thinking-
Activities pdf

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 Annex

Constant Confusion

Mr. and Mrs. Dinkledorff have a problem. They have identical quintu-plets—
Jessica, Jennifer, Justina, Judith, and Jackie—and they can’t tell them apart.
Read the clues below. Then give the Dinkledorffs a hand by writing each baby’s
name in the space provided.

CLUES
A. Judith is sitting between Jessica and Justina.
B. Jessica has no one on her right-hand side.
C. Jackie, the firstborn, always sits in front.

2. ________________________

1. ________________________ 3.
________________________

4.
________________________
5. ________________________
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 Anagram Adventure
An anagram is a word that is made by rearranging the letters of anoth-er
word. For example, here are four anagrams from the word post:

stop pots tops spot

Can you form at least two anagrams from each of these words?

1. dare 2. teas 3. meat

4. pear 5. stale 6. pans

7. snail 8. acre 9. slap 14

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 Wordplay
Imagine you live in a world with only 20 words. You can use these 20 words
as much as you want, but you cannot use any other words at all. In the
space below, list the 20 words you’d pick:

1. ___________________ 11. ___________________

2. ___________________ 12. ___________________

3. ___________________ 13. ___________________

4. ___________________ 14. ___________________

5. ___________________ 15. ___________________

6. ___________________ 16. ___________________

7. ___________________ 17. ___________________

8. ___________________ 18. ___________________

9. ___________________ 19. ___________________

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10. ___________________ 20. ___________________

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