Fundamental Goal in Teaching
One of the most
fundamental goals in
teaching
Accurate and consistent
student self assessment
Standards of Reasoning
Clarity: Understandable, the meaning can be grasped
Accuracy: Free from errors or distortions, true
Precision: Exact to the necessary level of detail
Relevance:
Depth:
Relating to the matter at hand
Containing complexities and interrelationships
Breadth: Involving multiple viewpoints
Logic: The parts make sense together, no contradictions
Significance:
Fairness:
Standards of Reasoning
Focusing on the important, not trivial
Justifiable, not self-serving (or egocentric)
CLARITY
1. State:
give a brief explanation
2. Elaborate:
expand on your explanation
3. Illustrate: use metaphor, analogy, picture
4. Exemplify: give a concrete example
Intellectual Standards and
Teaching
Make a list of the standards that are used in
your discipline.
Then make a list of ways in which you can
better bring the intellectual standards into
instruction.
Instead of Intellectual
standards, what are the
standards people most
often use in their
thinking?
Standards Typically
Used in Thinking
“It’s true because I believe it”
(innate egocentrism)
“It’s true because we believe it”
(innate sociocentrism)
“It’s true because I want to believe it”
(innate wish fulfillment)
“It’s true because I have always believed it.”
(innate self-validation)
“It’s true because it is in my selfish interest to
believe it.” (innate selfishness)
Categorize these typical student
beliefs.
 Learning should be fun.
 Learning should be easy.
 If I do what the teacher says, that’s all that matters.
 All I need to do is the absolute minimum to get an A.
 Learning means doing what the teacher says.
 I shouldn’t have to waste my time learning anything I can’t
use.
 Whatever our culture believes is important is important.
 Cheating to get by is fine because all I need is the piece of
paper (the college degree) to get a job anyway.
 I believe that learning biology is a waste of my time.
 I believe in creationist theory.