2007 CCRI
Critical Thinking Conference
Coming to Terms
With
Critical Thinking
Presented By:
Daniel J. Donovan, J.D.
Professor
Legal Studies
Coming to Terms with
Critical Thinking
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History of Idea of Critical Thinking
Bloom’s Taxonomy Revised
Critical Thinking Definitions
Elements of Reasoning
Educational Terms Definitions
Sample Rubrics
History of Idea of
Critical Thinking
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Socrates – The Unexamined Life is not worth
living – Plato’s Apology – 399 BCE
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Socratic Questioning teaching strategy
Francis Bacon – Advancement of Learning 1605
concept of “idols” – bad habits of thought
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John Dewey – How We Think 1910 (rev. 1933)
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Reflective or Scientific Thinking
Bloom’s Taxonomy Revised
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Original taxonomy of Educational Objectives
- Cognitive Domain 1956 (page 12)
Revised Taxonomy – 2001
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Cognitive Domain – 6 processes (page 13)
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Switched order of top two processes
Knowledge Domain – 4 types (page 15)
Taxonomy Table - two dimensional (page 16)
Law of Torts – Example Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify the four elements of all tort actions
Explain the concept of vicarious liability in business
Apply the elements of the tort “intentional infliction
of emotional distress” to given fact patterns
Write an evaluation of the law on “social host
liability” as it exists in Rhode Island and compare it
with Massachusetts law
Write a Career Paper detailing your strengths and
weaknesses in pursuing your future career as a
Paralegal
Putting Objectives on
the Taxonomy Table
Knowledge
Dimension
A. Factual
Knowledge
B. Conceptual
Knowledge
C. Procedural
Knowledge
D. Metacognitive
Knowledge
The Cognitive Process Dimension
1.
Remember
2.
Understand
3.
Apply
4.
Analyze
5.
Evaluate
6.
Create
E.O. #1
E.O. #2
E.O. #4
E.O. #4
E.O. #5
E.O. #5
E.O.#3
Critical Thinking Definitions
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Short definition – connects to Bloom’s taxonomy
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Critical Thinking is the process of analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information
gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication, as a guide to belief and action.
Delphi Report Definition ( 1990) – page 19
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Full report on CT Committee website:
http:/www.ccri.edu/learningevidence/ct
Contains both cognitive & affective processes
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that
counts can be counted - Albert Einstein
Elements of Reasoning
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Purpose of the Thinking
Question at Issue
Assumptions – when you assume…
Points of View
Information – Relevancy
Concepts
Inferences or Interpretations (Conclusions)
Implications and Consequences
See The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking for template
Briefing a Court Decision
1. Citation - start with the proper citation to the case - include parallel citations if there are
any.
2. Parties - list all parties to an action - the name of the case might not include all the
persons involved - “et al.” in the name of a case indicates “and others”.
3. Issues - set forth the legal questions (issues) that the court was addressing in the
case.
4. Facts - set out the relevant facts that were needed by the court to come to its opinion.
The facts are the events that occurred prior to any court proceeding that led to the
prosecution or civil lawsuit involved.
5. Prior Proceedings - set out how this case got to this point - prior proceedings refers to
prior court action so essentially the question is what happened in the lower court.
6. Holding - this is the answer or answers the court gave to the issue or issues raised in
the case - often the court will use the words “we hold....” but not always. If there is
more than one issue in the case then there will be more than one holding.
7. Reasoning - this section will set out the reasons the court gave for reaching its holding
or holdings in the case. The holding tells us what legal rules was applied while the
reasoning answers the question why this legal rule was applied in this case. If there
are two issues, there will be two parts of the reasoning - one for each issue
8. Disposition - what happened to this case on appeal - did the court affirm the lower
court decision or did the court reverse the lower court and remand it (send it back) to
the lower court for a new trial or entry of judgment?
Selected Educational Terms
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Student Learning Outcomes
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The student will learn, or be able to, “verb” “noun”
For verb, use the Cognitive Domain
For Noun, use the Knowledge Domain
Information Literacy
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Stella Awards – bad information replicated on 114 websites
Websites – 30 reputable websites on my Law Links
Wikipedia – should students we using it for research?
Active Learning
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Do students really have an 8 minute attention span?
Keep them busy but employ higher order thinking tasks
Rubrics or Checklists
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Rubrics is a scoring tool that lays out your
expectations for an assignment
Four parts of a standard rubric:
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A description of the task to be performed
A scale of levels of achievement
Dimensions of the assignment
Descriptions of what constitutes each level of
feedback
Sample Rubric Grid
Description of the Task
Excellent
Dimension 1
Dimension 2
Dimension 3
Dimension 4
Dimension 5
Dimension 6
Competent
Needs Work Unacceptable