October 2009, Volume 13
The Problem
Students are not engaging with your course content. They show rote learning,
but little ability to reason with the ideas you present. “What do I need to
remember for the exam?” is a more common question than, “How do these
ideas relate to the ideas previously presented?” or “How does this lesson relate
to the objectives of our program?”
The Solution
In our teaching we must pose the kind of questions that drive students to think
critically. In Critical Thinking –Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and
Your Life, Richard Paul and Linda Elder describe critical thinking as thinking
about our thoughts. They contend, “Critical thinking is the disciplined art of
ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of
circumstances…To maximize the quality of your thinking, however, you must
learn how to become an effective critic of your thinking.” 1
In short, the quality of our thinking is enhanced 1) when we realize that our
reasoning is composed of elements, and 2) when we apply intellectual standards
to these elements.
Regarding elements, Paul and Elder believe that “Whenever we think, we think
for a purpose, within a point of view, based on assumptions leading to
implications and consequences. We use data, facts, and experiences, to make
inferences and judgements based on concepts and theories to answer a question
or solve a problem.”2 They go on to suggest that these elements are linked in
chain:



1
2
our purpose affects the manner in which we ask questions;
the manner in which we ask questions affects the information we gather;
the information we gather affects the way we interpret it;
Critical Thinking –tools for taking charge of your learning and your life (full cite?) p.xiii
Ibid p.52. adapted from Figure 4.2




the way we interpret information affects the way we conceptualize it;
the way we conceptualize information affects the assumptions we make;
the assumptions we make affect the implications that follow from our thinking;
the implications that follow from our thinking affect the way we see things, our point of
view.3
By extension, you might get your students asking and answering these types of
questions in conjunction with a particular assignment:








What
What
What
What
What
What
What
What
is the fundamental purpose of the assignment?
is the question you are trying to answer?
information do you need to answer your question?
is the most basic concept in that question?
assumptions are you using in your reasoning?
are your fundamental inferences or conclusions?
are the implications of your reasoning (if you are correct)?
is your point of view with respect to this issue?4
However, it is not enough to know the elements associated with reasoning.
“Thinking critically requires a command of fundamental intellectual standards.
Critical thinkers routinely ask questions that apply intellectual standards to
thinking. The ultimate goal is for these questions to become so spontaneous in
thinking that they form a natural part of our inner voice, guiding us to better
and better reasoning.”5
To guide our students’ capacity to think critically, we also need to ask them the
kinds of questions that apply intellectual standards to the reasoning process.
Those standards, and questions they generate, might include:
Clarity
Logicalness
Could you elaborate on your comment?
Could you illustrate what you mean?
Could you give an example?
Does all of this make sense together?
Does your first paragraph fit with your last?
Does what you say follow from the evidence?
Accuracy
Significance
How could we check on that?
How could we find out if that is true?
How could we verify or test that idea?
Is this the most important problem to consider?
Is this the central idea to focus on?
Which of these facts are most important?
Precision
Breadth
Could you be more specific?
Could you give me more details?
Could you be more exact?
Do we need to look at this from another perspective?
Do we need to consider another point of view?
Do we need to look at this in others ways?
Ibid p.59
Ibid p.54 adapted from Figure 4.4.
5 Paul, Richard and Elder, Linda Critical Thinking tools for taking charge of you learning and
life (2001) Prentice Hall: Upper saddle River, New Jersey p.84
3
4
Depth
Fairness
What factors make this difficult problem?
What are some of the complexities of
this question?
What are some of the difficulties we
need to deal with?
Is your thinking justifiable in context?
Are your assumptions supported by evidence?
Is your purpose fair, given the situation?
Are you using your concepts in keeping with
educated usage or are you distorting them to get
what you want?
Relevance
How does that relate to the problem?
How does that bear on the question?
How does that help us with the issue?
What stimulates student engagement? What drives our students’ reasoning to
a new level? What causes our reasoning to be more precise and accurate? The
answer to these questions is ‘questions’ - and particularly questions that apply
intellectual standards. And, as Paul and Elder suggest, the more we employ
these questions the more they become ingrained in the reasoning patterns of
our audience.
What questions do you ask your students to get them thinking
critically? You might send yours to: Gordon Chutter
(GordonC@twu.ca) or Bill Strom (strom@twu.ca) for future
Teaching Tips.