Rose Mince, Linda De La Ysla, Mel Berry, Nancy
Parker, and Michael Venn
Innovations Conference 2012
Philadelphia, PA
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The Community College of Baltimore County
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Welcome and Introductions
Opening Activity
Overview
Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines
Sharing Best Practices
References
Questions and Answers
FIRST QUESTION:
YOU ARE A PARTICIPANT IN A RACE. YOU
OVERTAKE THE SECOND PERSON.
WHAT POSITION ARE YOU IN?
ANSWER :
IF YOU ANSWERED THAT YOU ARE FIRST, THEN YOU
ARE ABSOLUTELY WRONG! IF YOU OVERTAKE THE SECOND
PERSON AND YOU TAKE HIS PLACE, YOU ARE IN SECOND
PLACE!
TRY TO DO BETTER NEXT TIME.
NOW ANSWER THE SECOND QUESTION, BUT DON'T TAKE AS
MUCH TIME AS YOU TOOK FOR THE FIRST QUESTION, OK?
SECOND QUESTION:
IF YOU OVERTAKE THE LAST PERSON, THEN YOU
ARE…?
ANSWER:
IF YOU ANSWERED THAT YOU ARE SECOND
TO LAST, THEN YOU ARE..... WRONG
AGAIN. TELL ME SUNSHINE, HOW CAN YOU
OVERTAKE THE LAST PERSON??
YOU'RE NOT VERY GOOD AT THIS, ARE
YOU?
THIRD QUESTION: VERY TRICKY ARITHMETIC!
NOTE: THIS MUST BE DONE IN YOUR HEAD ONLY. DO
NOT USE PAPER AND PENCIL OR A CALCULATOR. TRY IT.
TAKE 1000 AND ADD 40 TO IT... NOW ADD ANOTHER
1000. NOW ADD 30. ADD ANOTHER 1000. NOW ADD
20 .NOW ADD ANOTHER 1000.
NOW ADD 10.
WHAT IS THE TOTAL?
DID YOU GET 5,000?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS ACTUALLY 4,100...
IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IT, CHECK IT WITH A
CALCULATOR! - WE’LL WAIT!!!!
TODAY IS DEFINITELY NOT YOUR DAY, IS IT? 
MAYBE YOU'LL GET THE LAST QUESTION
RIGHT... MAYBE...
FOURTH QUESTION:
MARY'S FATHER HAS FIVE DAUGHTERS:
1. NANA, 2. NENE, 3. NINI, 4. NONO, AND ???
WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE FIFTH DAUGHTER?
DID YOU ANSWER NUNU?
NO! OF COURSE IT ISN'T.
HER NAME IS MARY!
READ THE QUESTION AGAIN!
OKAY, NOW THE BONUS ROUND,
YOUR FINAL CHANCE TO REDEEM YOURSELF…
A MUTE PERSON GOES INTO A SHOP AND WANTS TO BUY A
TOOTHBRUSH. BY IMITATING THE ACTION OF BRUSHING HIS
TEETH, HE SUCCESSFULLY EXPRESSES HIMSELF TO THE
SHOPKEEPER AND THE PURCHASE IS DONE.
NEXT, A BLIND MAN COMES INTO THE SHOP WHO WANTS TO
BUY A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES. HOW DOES HE INDICATE WHAT
HE WANTS?
IT'S REALLY VERY SIMPLE
HE OPENS HIS MOUTH AND ASKS FOR IT!
DOES YOUR EMPLOYER ACTUALLY PAY YOU TO THINK??
IF SO, DO NOT LET HIM/HER SEE YOUR ANSWERS FOR
THIS TEST!
You see, critical thinking is not as easy at it looks, right?
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Critical Thinking is:
Teachers and writers are often referring to very different
things when they use the term thinking—partly because of
the complexity of the concept and partly because people
use it to describe their favorite kind of learning, whatever
that is. (Fink)
Critical thinking can be defined as the process of analyzing
and evaluating something (criteria play an especially
important role). (Fink)
Use question words such as: compare, evaluate, in what
ways were, how did, how is (the mathematical proof flawed),
compare and contrast….
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Theory and Practice:
o The goal is for students to take ownership of their learning.
o To learn a subject well, students must master the thinking that defines
that subject, and instructors must design activities and assignments
that require students to think actively within the concepts and
principles of the subject. Students should master fundamental
concepts and principles before they attempt to learn more advanced
concepts. (Paul & Elder)
o The most intensive and demanding tool for eliciting sustained critical
thought is a well-designed writing assignment on a subject matter
problem. Writing is closely linked with thinking. In presenting students
with significant problems to write about—and in creating an
environment that demands their best writing—we can promote their
general cognitive and intellectual growth. (Bean)
o “Professors who successfully integrate writing and critical thinking
tasks into their courses often report a satisfying increase in their
teaching pleasure: class discussions are richer, students are more
fully engaged in their learning, and the quality of their performance
improves.
o This does not happen through serendipity—teachers must plan for it
and foster it throughout the course. (Bean)
o Get students engaged with a problem to solve. Problems evoke
students’ natural curiosity and stimulate learning and critical
thought. Students must seek their own solutions.
o Critical thinkers are actively engaged with life. (Brookfield)
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http://www.ets.org/proficiencyprofile/about
Assesses four core skill areas — critical thinking, reading,
writing and mathematics — in a single, convenient test that
the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA) has selected
as a gauge of general education outcomes.
Informs teaching and learning with actionable score reports
we can use to pinpoint strengths and areas of improvement
Provides comparative data on more than 400 institutions
and over 500,000 students nationwide
Reading/Critical Thinking
To be considered Proficient:
At level 1, a student should be able to:
 Recognize factual material explicitly presented in a reading
passage
 Understand the meaning of particular words or phrases in
the context of a reading passage.
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Synthesize material from different sections of a passage
Recognize valid inferences derived from material in the
passage
Identify accurate summaries of a passage or of signification
sections of the passage
Understand and interpret figurative language
Discern the main idea, purpose or focus of a passage or a
significant portion of a passage
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Evaluate competing casual explanations
Evaluate hypothesis for consistency with known facts
Determine the relevance of information for evaluating an
argument or conclusion
Determine whether an artistic interpretation is supported by
evidence contained in the work
Recognize the salient features or themes in a work of art
Evaluate the appropriateness of procedures for investigating a
question of causation
Evaluate data for consistency with known facts, hypotheses or
methods
Recognize flaws and inconsistencies in argument
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English
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In the writing classroom, critical thinking is enhanced
through
o problem-driven writing assignments that start out with
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A question
A doubt
A puzzling over
An uncertainty
o You will write a research (I-Search) paper of 1,500-1,750
words based on issues related to the history of your
family or ethnic/religious group: e.g., immigration,
cultural adaptation, issues of socioeconomics, human
rights, etc. … Research must utilize five (5) credible
sources; two (2) sources should be primary and three (3)
sources should be secondary …The paper will be due in
stages, with point values assigned …
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Perception of a problem
Exploration
Incubation
Writing the first draft
Response and re-vision
Editing
Publication
Metacognitive reflection
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Construction of family tree
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Letter to ancestor
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First interview of family member or other “expert”
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“Topic chooses you” and writing of a rationale (why it
matters to know more about x or y)
 Who
are the family members or ancestors about
whom you have always been curious?
 If
you could, what questions would you ask them?
 Writer
…
o meets with me for an I-Search paper conference
o discusses interview experience and “problems”
with group members and with me
o may revise initial topic for exploration
 First
I
draft-in-progress shared in writing group
comment on draft and meet with students
 Students
think things through
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Students revise through more research:
o Two hands-on instructional sessions with reference
librarian
o Continue interviewing to gather missing data
o May turn in another draft to me
Students
edit and format, helping each
other and asking me
All students do a reading at end of
semester, sharing what they learned
“Final” draft turned in: “Is the jury still
out?”
 At
end of semester, students write a Final
Analytic Essay for their portfolios, in which
they describe the experience of writing the
Family History I-Search Paper
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“…for the I-search paper, I began the writing process by
asking myself what I wanted to know most about my family
… and then … I had the idea of asking my parents about the
(El Salvadorian) dictatorship … I agree with my professor
and I believe that all writing begins with some thinking.” –
Leticia
“At first I was nervous … this particular assignment was big
and would consist of a lot of hard work … I did my project on
my grandfather, a Seabee veteran … The question of “am I
enjoying this because it’s on my family?” or “has my
professor pushed me to the pace of college?” was a
mystery in my head.” – Ian
 “I
feel as though I have a different perspective on
my life, and I feel bookended by other men and
women’s experiences … I would encourage anyone,
whether for an assignment … or simply as a means
of better understanding themselves and their
families, to take the time to mine these stories
before the storytellers are no longer alive. As
George Bernard Shaw said, every single person has
a family skeleton, or a good story, but it is up to us
to do the shaking.” - Michael
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The assignment discourages plagiarism;
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I enjoy reading the papers; no two are the same!
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Students begin conversations with family members that
they never had before, changing (improving) the
relationship; and
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Students begin to understand that “his-tory” is both “his”
and “her”- story.
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English
Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and
skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or
evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation,
experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and
action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that
transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency,
relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.
Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, 1987
A statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul for the
{presented at the 8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education
Reform, Summer 1987}.
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766
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Six Essential Elements of Critical Thinking
These elements of critical thinking often implied but unacknowledged, but they are
no less important.
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Rationality
It emphasizes reason over emotion It requires evidence, ignores no
evidence, and follows evidence where it leads. It is concerned with “truth”
(best explanation) more than being “right.”
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Self-awareness
It weighs the influence of our motives, biases, and recognizes that we have
subjectively formed points of view that can influence our perspectives.
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Honesty
It recognizing that we and others have emotional impulses, selfish motives,
and sometimes even nefarious purposes that may affect our perception of
material.
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Six Essential Elements of Critical Thinking
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Open-mindedness
It evaluate all possible inferences and is willing to consider alternate points
of view, perspectives, and interpretations—essentially it means being a
“learner” and “searcher.”
Also, it is having an attitude that doesn’t reject unpopular positions simply
because they are in the minority.
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Discipline
It is being meticulous, comprehensive, and exhaustive; avoiding “snap
judgments,” or manipulation and irrational appeals.
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Judgment
It is recognizing the merit and relevance of alternative assumptions and
perspectives and the weight and extent of the evidence for any and all
perspectives.
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Is inspiring critical thinking hard work?
Hooking Students –
It’s important to meet students on their “ground” and to be familiar
with issues that are important to them. Why? Because when you use
their songs, their movies, or their books, they are automatically
“interested” and that’s the first step in critical thinking—that they
know the material—or are at least willing to delve into it.
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Using films to illustrate the concepts of critical
thinking…
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12 Angry Men – 1997 Version
The film is about a boy on trial for murdering his father and the
whole thing takes place in the jury room where the jurors must
hammer out their verdict. The characters themselves must engage
in critical thinking and thus their actions often illustrate the
following:
The three Appeals: Logos (factual), Pathos (emotional)
Ethos (ethical / credibility).
 Logical Fallacies: So many to choose from –
“bandwagon,” “slippery slope,” “post-hoc,” etc.
 The Stages of Critical Thinking: Observation, Analysis,
Synthesis, and Evaluation
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The Stages of Critical Thinking:
(Observation), Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation
What are the Three Appeals?
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Logos = The factual appeal, stressing information that can be verified and corroborated
and thus have a high degree of reliability
Pathos = The emotional appeal, playing upon someone’s emotions: positive emotions –
love, sense of belonging or negative emotions: fear or revulsion, etc.
Ethos = The ethical appeal, appealing to one’s credibility as a source, e.g. one’s high
ethical resolve or standards are the guarantor for the issue.
What are Logical Fallacies?
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A logical fallacy is simply, “a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning”, and
there are many ways to reason incorrectly, right? “Stereotyping “ (Hasty Generalization)
is a logical fallacy because its user is reasoning from the group to the individual. Another
common fallacy is the “Post Hoc “(after this because of this) fallacy. It is a fallacy
because the user supposes that since one thing has happened after another the thing,
the prior thing caused the second thing to happen. A third fallacy is “Bandwagon” and it
is what it sounds like, reasoning that says that if a group is or is not doing something
then that something must be right!
A scene in 12 Angry Men that illustrates the appeals and logical fallacies.
See if you can pick out a logical fallacy or the appeal that juror ten makes.
Questions:
1. What is the first clue that Juror #10 is not a “critical thinker”?
“All these picky points don’t mean anything…” In other words breaking down
evidence, looking for contradictions and consistencies, don’t matter that they
cannot help us come to an understanding of the truth.
2. Did you detect any (many?) logical fallacies?
There are plenty!
 Hasty Generalizations – stereotyping
“They’re born liars,… life doesn’t mean as much to them as it does to us,” etc.
Instead of dealing with the boy, Juror #10 lumps the boy in with a group and rails
against the group but ignores the individual.
 Ad Hominem – attacking the person rather dealing with the argument
Juror #10 attacks his fellow jurors when they disagree with him—calling them
names and making other derogatory comments, “clean your ears out…” etc.
3. Did you notice the kind of appeal Juror #10 was making?
 The Pathos Appeal – He appealed to those he “thought” he’d get some
sympathy from—his fellow African-Americans and he tried to get them to
“fear” this boy and what he represents. “They’re going to breed us out of
existence! Let’s get his kind before they get us!”
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Reading
Developmental Reading:
Being able to interpret, analyze, evaluate, and infer. Good critical
thinkers can do two more things. They can explain what they think and
how they arrived at that judgment. And, they can apply their powers of
critical thinking to themselves and improve on their previous opinions
(self-regulation)…”
(Peter Facione, 1998)
In Developmental Reading, students practice and apply critical
thinking skills in all aspects of the course:
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Skill Reviews
Novel Activities
Article Evaluations
Political Cartoon Analyses
Website Critiques, and many more!
Skill Review
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In Developmental Reading, our students are in need of a refresher on
the basic college reading skills.
This review does not have to consist of “skill and drill” activities. With
proper scaffolding techniques, I am able to push my students beyond
basic skills work and help them to think critically about the content we
cover.
Example: (See hand-outs)
o “Leave Your Name at the Border” /“Home at Last” Tone Activities
Novel Activities
The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
• Students are assigned a section of the novel to be read before
the next class. I utilize the discussion board on Blackboard or
a very short “Chapter Check” quiz at the start of class to
ensure that the students have completed the reading.
• This allows more time for the students to work on higher –
level, critical thinking questions during class.
• Students meet with their “Novel Networks” in order to discuss
a critical thinking question about the reading.
• I can then have students report out to the whole class about
their discussion/findings or utilize the discussion to help them
answer a journal/written response question independently.
• Example:
See sample questions on The Other Wes Moore hand-out.
Article Evaluations
• I try to expose my students to a wide variety of articles throughout the
semester. We read articles from various disciplines, news outlets, etc…
• We then work as a group to complete an “Elements of Thought” organizer. This
is based on Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder’s work: “The Miniature Guide
to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools.”
• The students may utilize the Resource Sheet as a reference for future articles.
• We revisit this organizer periodically. The organizer can be used
with whole group, partner, and independent tasks.
• I can also tailor the assignment in order to focus on certain
“elements of thought” depending on the students’ needs.
• Example:
See hand-outs for “Elements of Thought”
Political Cartoon Analyses
• I have found that political cartoons are a “less intimidating”
method for teaching critical thinking skills. Students are more
motivated to jump in and share their thoughts on what they see.
• After briefly discussing the make-up of political cartoons, we
analyze several as a group. These “think-alouds” provide a
model for students to follow when they work on their own.
• Students then have the opportunity to work in groups/partners
to analyze cartoons and to then share with the class.
• You could even assign homework in which students are asked
to find and analyze cartoons on their own.
Let’s try one!
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Mathematics
How many different
four-letter radio station call
letters can be formed if the
first letter must be a W or K?
 Hint: You can use any resource available
to you to solve this problem.
2 x 26 x 26x 26 = 35,152
What resources did you use?
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For mathematical settings,
critical thinking is knowing:
• what to do
• when to do it
• how to do it and
• why to do it
Individual Integrated
Resource Review
What is it?
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A graded problem set similar to the
upcoming test
• Distributed to the class before the test
• Due the day of the test
1. Students may use any resources but me* to
solve the review problems: classmates, books,
notes, etc.
2. Students may stay in the classroom or go; they
may work alone or in groups.
3. Students must disclose any people they worked
with on the review, both members and nonmembers of the class.
* I will not help students specifically with any problems in the
problem set, but I stay during the review session to help
individuals with concepts or to go over a homework problem
similar to the those on the problem set.
1.
Individual Integrated Resource Review technique used in
Ideas in Mathematics, a liberal arts mathematics course,
and Intro to Statistics.
2.
Useful for mathematics courses that cover material with
detailed, multistep, and complexly worded problems.
3.
Fosters critical thinking by encouraging
students to articulate the steps, employ
the tricks, and understand the theory
behind the mathematics in preparation
for the test.
•
•
•
•
what to do
when to do it
how to do it and
why to do it
Mean Score Before Mean Score After
P-Value
Final Exam
75.89%
82.51%
0.178
Exam 3
59.42%
82.27%
<0.001
Exam 2
74.37%
72.86%
0.092
Exam 1
76.50%
73.73%
0.427
Barkley, E. (2010). Student engagement techniques: A
handbook for college faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bean, John C. (2001). Engaging ideas: The Professor’s Guide
to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in
the classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Chickering, A. & Gamson, Z. (1987). Seven principles of good
practice in undergraduate education. American Association
for Higher Education Bulletin.
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Dixon, D. (1983) Writing your heritage: A sequence of thinking,
reading, and writing. Berkeley, CA: National Writing Project.
Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kuh, G. (2009). The national survey of student engagement:
Conceptual and empirical foundations. New Directions in
Institutional Research, 2009 (141), 5-20.
Macrorie, K. (1988) The I-Search paper: Revised edition of
searching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton-Cook.
Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2011). How to improve student learning: 30
practical ideas. Tomales, CA: The Foundation for Critical
Thinking Press.
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Share one strategy, activity, or idea that you have about
critical thinking that you think would be useful to the other
participants in the session.
Barkley, E. (2010). Student engagement techniques: A
handbook for college faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bean, John C. (2001). Engaging ideas: The Professor’s Guide
to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in
the classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Chickering, A. & Gamson, Z. (1987). Seven principles of good
practice in undergraduate education. American Association
for Higher Education Bulletin.
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Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning
experiences. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kuh, G. (2009). The national survey of student
engagement: Conceptual and empirical foundations. New
Directions in Institutional Research, 2009 (141), 5-20.
Moore, Wes. (2011). The Other Wes Moore. New York:
Spiegel & Grau.
Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2011). How to improve student
learning: 30 practical ideas. Tomales, CA: The Foundation
for Critical Thinking Press.
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Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2008). The Miniature Guide to Critical
Thinking Concepts and Tools. Tomales, CA: The Foundation
for Critical Thinking Press.
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http://www.ets.org/proficiencyprofile/about/sample_questions/
http://www.ets.org/s/proficiencyprofile/pdf/sampleques.pdf
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Contact Information:
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Rose Mince, Dean of Instruction for Curriculum and Assessment,
rmince@ccbcmd.edu
Linda De La Ysla, Assistant Professor, Department of English,
ldelaysla2@ccbcmd.edu
Mel Berry, Assistant Professor, Department of English,
mberry@ccbcmd.edu
Nancy Parker, Instructor, Department of Reading,
nparker@ccbcmd.edu
Michael Venn, Instructor, Department of Mathematics,
mvenn@ccbcmd.edu
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