MENTAL
Thinking (Critically)
in the Classroom
ING:
Rob Yost (SS)
Laura Yost (DL/SS)
[Un]Critical Thinking From the
“Real” World
Watch the video:
1. What are several key ideas?
2. Is critical thinking demonstrated?
3. How would you use the clip to teach
critical thinking?
What Is “Critical Thinking”?
What Is NOT “Critical Thinking”?
Underlying Assumptions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Be realistic
Expect resistance (at all levels)
Even reasoning has its limits
Maintain high expectations
Don’t blame yourself
Are All Interpretations Equal?
You will be shown several sources that historians might
examine.
Interpret each source to the best of your ability.
What types of questions will you want to answer?
What characteristics will determine better from worse
interpretations?
Basic Assumptions
1) Absolutely perfect answers do not exist. Every answer
can be improved.
2) There are stronger and weaker answers and clear
criteria for making judgments about them. It’s not just
opinion.
3) Writing a good answer first requires being able to
recognize what good answers look like.
4) Writing only improves by practicing it and by asking
questions and getting feedback.
Fæder ure
þu þe eart on heofonum,
si þin nama gehalgod.
Tobecume þin rice.
Gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa
swa on heofonum.
Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle
us todæg.
And forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa
we forgyfað urum gyltendum.
And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge,
ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.
The Great Inflation: The Weimar Hyperinflation
German marks per one U.S. dollar
12 marks (April 1919)
47 marks (Dec. 1919)
263 marks (Nov. 1921)
1922
493 marks (July)
1,000 marks (August)
3,000 marks (October)
7,000 marks (December)
1923
17,000 marks (January)
24,000 marks (April )
353,000 marks (July)
4,621,000 (August)
98,860,000 (September)
25,260,000,000 (October)
2,193,600,000,000 (November)
4,200,000,000,000 (December)
Who wrote the Five Books of Moses?
1) Why do most biblical scholars
think that Moses is NOT the author
of the Torah?
2) What alternative explanations
have been offered to answer the
question?
3) Why do we need to know how &
why the Bible came about in order
to interpret it?
Moses (1515)
Ancient Greek Philosophy
Socrates (ca. 469-399 B.C.)
Plato (ca. 429-347 B.C.)
Aristotle (384 -322 B.C.)
How does this detail from
Raphael’s School of Athens
(1509-1511) illustrate
differences between the
thought of Plato & Aristotle?
Explain
Heliocentrism or geocentrism?
The year is 1553, ten years after
the publication of De
revolutionibus, you are a
university scholar who has
carefully read Copernicus’ book.
Will you accept or reject his
arguments? Explain. Be
specific.
How would an
Aristotelian
explanation of the
motion of the
juggling bags differ
from a Newtonian
description?
Transmutation
Both Lamarck & Darwin
believed in transmutation or
evolution, but they did not
believe in the same explanation
(mechanism) for how it worked.
1) How would Lamarck and
Darwin differ in their
explanations of how the
giraffe came to be?
2) How would they contrast with
or Cuvier’s or Paley’s
explanations?
Man is But a Worm
Evaluate the historical
validity of the following:
Reaction to Darwinism was
very simple: Science versus
Religion. On the one hand,
were scientists who believed
in evolution, and on the other,
were Christians who retained
a literal belief in the Bible.
1) Who opposed Darwinism?
2) Why did they oppose it?
 scientific
 religious
 political
 philosophical
Punch’s Almanack for 1882
“ Um, . . . unfortunately, people that
don't know Bolivia very much think
that we are all just Indian people
from the west side of the country, it's
La Paz all the image that we reflect,
is that poor people and very short
people and Indian people. I'm from
the other side of the country, the east
side and it's not cold, it's very hot and
we are tall and we are white people
and we know English so all that
misconception that Bolivia is only
and ‘Andean’ Country, it's wrong,
Bolivia has a lot to offer and that's
my job as an ambassador of my
country to let people know much
diversity we have,“ Miss Bolivia at
Miss Universe Pageant (2004)
• HONG KONG ($345 B/year in USD)
Electrical machinery & appliances, textiles &
apparel, footwear, watches & clocks, toys &
plastics, precious stones, & printed material
• JAPAN ($516 B)
Transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, electrical machinery, & chemicals
• SOUTH KOREA ($466 B)
Semiconductors, wireless telecommunications
equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel,
ships, & petrochemicals
• COSTA RICA ($6 B)
Coffee, sugar bananas, textiles, electronic
components, & electricity
• COLOMBIA ($32 B)
Petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emeralds,
bananas, & apparel
• PANAMA ($11.4 B)
Bananas, coffee, clothing, shrimp, & sugar
AVG INCOME LATIN AMERICA = $43 BILLION
AVG INCOME ASIA = $422 BILLION
Promoting Critical Thinking
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Encourage unexpected connections
Engage with ideas you’re against
Move beyond comfort zones
Avoid giving “the answer”
Tolerance for ambiguity
[Un]Critical Thinking From the
“Real” World
Watch the video:
1. What are several key ideas?
2. Is critical thinking demonstrated?
3. How would you use the clip to teach
critical thinking?