teaching critical thinking an operational framework

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Title: teaching critical thinking.

Abstract: The ability to make decisions based on data, with its inherent uncertainties and variability, is a complex and vital skill in the modern world. The need for such quantitative critical thinking occurs in many different contexts, and while it is an important goal of education, that goal is seldom being achieved. We argue that the key element for developing this ability is repeated practice in making decisions based on data, with feedback on those decisions. We demonstrate a structure for providing suitable practice that can be applied in any instructional setting that involves the acquisition of data and relating that data to scientific models. This study reports the results of applying that structure in an introductory physics lab course. Students in an experimental condition were repeatedly instructed to make and act on quantitative comparisons between datasets, and between data and models, an approach that is common to all science disciplines. These instructions were slowly faded across the course. After the instructions had been removed, students in the experimental condition were 12 times more likely to spontaneously propose or make changes to improve their experimental methods than a control group, who performed traditional experimental activities. They were also four times more likely to identify and explain a limitation of a physical model using their data. Students in the experimental condition also showed much more sophisticated reasoning about their data. These differences between the groups were seen to persist into a subsequent course taken the following year.

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A Short Guide to Building Your Team’s Critical Thinking Skills

  • Matt Plummer

teaching critical thinking an operational framework

Critical thinking isn’t an innate skill. It can be learned.

Most employers lack an effective way to objectively assess critical thinking skills and most managers don’t know how to provide specific instruction to team members in need of becoming better thinkers. Instead, most managers employ a sink-or-swim approach, ultimately creating work-arounds to keep those who can’t figure out how to “swim” from making important decisions. But it doesn’t have to be this way. To demystify what critical thinking is and how it is developed, the author’s team turned to three research-backed models: The Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment, Pearson’s RED Critical Thinking Model, and Bloom’s Taxonomy. Using these models, they developed the Critical Thinking Roadmap, a framework that breaks critical thinking down into four measurable phases: the ability to execute, synthesize, recommend, and generate.

With critical thinking ranking among the most in-demand skills for job candidates , you would think that educational institutions would prepare candidates well to be exceptional thinkers, and employers would be adept at developing such skills in existing employees. Unfortunately, both are largely untrue.

teaching critical thinking an operational framework

  • Matt Plummer (@mtplummer) is the founder of Zarvana, which offers online programs and coaching services to help working professionals become more productive by developing time-saving habits. Before starting Zarvana, Matt spent six years at Bain & Company spin-out, The Bridgespan Group, a strategy and management consulting firm for nonprofits, foundations, and philanthropists.  

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COMMENTS

  1. Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework

    This chapter presents an operational framework for teaching critical thinking and illustrates its application in an educational setting. Download to read the full chapter text ... (2015). Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework. In: Davies, M., Barnett, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education ...

  2. PDF Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework

    Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework 99 A brief elaboration of each thematic group and its relationship with the other component groups follows. Skills and critical thinking Critical thinking involves a number of cognitive skills. Although there are vary-ing descriptions, we suggest there is a general consensus around three ...

  3. (PDF) Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework

    Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework. January 2015. DOI: 10.1057/9781137378057_6. In book: The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education (pp.93-105) Authors: Keith ...

  4. Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework

    Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework. Critical thinking has attracted considerable focus in recent years in both high school and tertiary curricula (Ku 2009). While the concept has a long tradition and both philosophers and educators agree on its importance, there is a reported lack of agreement on what the concept involves ...

  5. Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework

    Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework. March 2015. DOI: 10.1057/9781137378057.0010. Authors: Keith Thomas. Victoria University Melbourne. Beatrice C-Y Lok. Caritas Institute of ...

  6. Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework

    Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework. Critical thinking has attracted considerable focus in recent years in both high school and tertiary curricula (Ku 2009). While the concept has a long tradition and both philosophers and educators agree on its importance, there is a reported lack of agreement on what the concept involves ...

  7. PDF Critical Thinking: Frameworks and Models for Teaching

    Critical thinking has become the focus of attention since 1960s notified and tracked by the educators' becoming thoughtful about students' incapability ofhigher order thinking or critical thinking. Followed that, there was a secondly rated concern, which was about a definite framework or a model to teach critical thinking that was well

  8. PDF The Palgrave Handbook of

    5 Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework 93 Keith Thomas and Beatrice Lok 6 Teaching Critical Thinking for Lifelong Learning 107 ... 5.1 An operational framework 98 11.1 A map of an argument 184 12.1 Illustrating the concept of a hierarchy of goals in

  9. Teaching critical thinking

    Teaching critical thinking. The ability to make decisions based on data, with its inherent uncertainties and variability, is a complex and vital skill in the modern world. The need for such quantitative critical thinking occurs in many different contexts, and although it is an important goal of education, that goal is seldom being achieved. We ...

  10. [1508.04870] Teaching Critical Thinking

    The ability to make decisions based on data, with its inherent uncertainties and variability, is a complex and vital skill in the modern world. The need for such quantitative critical thinking occurs in many different contexts, and while it is an important goal of education, that goal is seldom being achieved. We argue that the key element for developing this ability is repeated practice in ...

  11. PDF The Palgrave Handbook of

    5 Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework 93 Keith Thomas and Beatrice Lok 6 Teaching Critical Thinking for Lifelong Learning 107 Paul Green 7 Teaching Critical Thinking as Inquiry 123 Sharon Bailin and Mark Battersby 8 Debate's Relationship to Critical Thinking 139 Stephen M. Llano 9 Thick Critical Thinking: Toward a New ...

  12. Critical Thinking: Frameworks and Models for Teaching

    Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education. 141. Critical Thinking: Frameworks and Models for T eaching. Mansoor Fahim & Samaneh Eslamdoost1. 1 Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran ...

  13. When big ideas meet critical thinking in lesson study: Insights from a

    Thomas K., Lok B. (2015). Teaching critical thinking: An operational framework. In Davies M., Barnett R. (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of critical thinking in higher education ... Rethinking the infusion approach to teaching critical thinking in reading in Chinese tertiary English classes. RELC Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi ...

  14. A Short Guide to Building Your Team's Critical Thinking Skills

    Using these models, they developed the Critical Thinking Roadmap, a framework that breaks critical thinking down into four measurable phases: the ability to execute, synthesize, recommend, and ...

  15. Teaching Critical Thinking- A Task-Based Approach: Work in Progress

    Critical thinking (CT) is considered one of the key skills that citizens need in the globalized, digitalized societies. Although CT is frequently mentioned in society, business, research, and education, there is no consensus among experts on its definition. According to Lai [ 1 ], the definition of CT depends on the field in which the ...

  16. The Safe Care Framework™: A practical tool for critical thinking

    The Safe Care Framework ™ is an innovative pedagogy for critical thinking. •. Greater organization and understanding of complex acute care patients. •. Guiding of assessments and priorities. •. Better communication with others. •. Cognitive support for novice nurses to understand complexity.

  17. Enhancing critical thinking in operations management education: a

    Critical thinking; interdisciplinary thinking; systems thinking; mapping tool; operations management 1. Introduction Critical thinking is concerned with the ability to engage in purposeful and self-regulatory judgement to comprehend a problem innovatively, and to develop effective solutions for

  18. (PDF) Critical thinking: Definition and Structure

    Critical thinking is a vital skill for the 21st century, involving using rational standards to analyze and evaluate information, thoughts and situations. It aims to create new knowledge ...

  19. A proposed framework for teaching and evaluating critical thinking in

    This article presents a beginning framework developed by a faculty task force at the Indiana University School of Nursing for teaching and evaluating critical thinking. The conceptual definition of critical thinking underlying the framework reflects the efforts of several hundred experts from various disciplines, is maximally inclusive, and ...

  20. Critical Thinking for Teachers

    3.1 Critical Thinking as Cognitive Processes and Skills. The emphasis on teaching thinking led to an initial conceptualization of critical thinking as cognitive processes and skills. In the book Developing Minds, by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in the US, which is an early effort to provide a resource guide for educators to teach "thinking," Pressesien ...

  21. What is it to be Critical?: Teaching a Critical Approach to Management

    There is an interesting analysis of this case through the framework of Clegg's (1989) `circuits of power model' in Introna (1997). ... `Alternative Teaching Strategies: The Case for Critical Thinking', Teaching Sociology 24: 189-194. Google Scholar. Willmott, H. (1997) `Critical ... A review of the recent contribution of systems thinking to ...

  22. Enhancing critical thinking in operations management education: a

    1. Introduction. Critical thinking is concerned with the ability to engage in purposeful and self-regulatory judgement to comprehend a problem innovatively, and to develop effective solutions for the problem (Abrami et al., Citation 2008; Sosu, Citation 2013).Many studies have emphasized the significance of critical thinking skills in preparing students to cope with future challenges in both ...

  23. Teaching Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework

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