Critical Thinking

""Bullshit and the Art of Crap-Detection" by Neil Postman (Delivered at the National Convention for the Teachers of English [NCTE], November 28, 1969, Washington, D.C.)"

One man's version of truth sans evidence.

"As I talk with leaders in the education and librarian communities, I am, particularly bothered by reports of students who just paste information from Wikipedia or Google into their term papers and call it a day. No matter what search brand you are using, these reports mean that a generation of youngsters are growing up accepting that just the first few examples of information they see on their screens are sufficient, and a generation of teachers are spending time struggling to convince them they need good Internet research skills. "

"Boost Your Teaching - With Critical Thinking Part of the series: Boost Your Teaching More to view/download/share: links Part of the series Boost Your Teaching Roy van den Brink-Budgen, a former chief examiner for critical thinking, explains some of the concepts involved in helping your pupils developing critical thinking skills. Learning how to analyse, evaluate and produce arguments can help pupils become enquiring thinkers, and skills can be developed across subjects and key stages. Whatever the subject, critical thinking encourages students to take claims and ask questions about them, whether they are made in conversations, in the classroom, or in the media."

Great video illustrating some important skills.

a recent New York Times piece, "Wasting Time Is New Divide in Digital Era" (or, as Gawker put it, "Poor People Are Wasting Time on the Internet!") asserts that while all kids are spending more time with media, those with lower socio-economic status were spending even more of it, and on activities like Facebook that aren't exactly conducive to learning. In other words: even when you give poor people access to technology, they don't know what to do with it! Might as well give a paleolithic tribe access to a chip fab, pffft. Jessie Daniels, Associate Professor of urban public health at Hunter College and CUNY and author of a forthcoming book on Internet propaganda, tweeted her displeasure at the piece. (There's even a Storify of all her comments on it.)

"One of my favorite professors in college was a self-confessed liar." This was an insidiously brilliant technique to focus our attention - by offering an open invitation for students to challenge his statements, he transmitted lessons that lasted far beyond the immediate subject matter and taught us to constantly check new statements and claims with what we already accept as fact.

"A Brief History of the Habits of Mind HABITS OF MIND ARE･….dispositions that are skillfully and mindfully employed by characteristically intelligent, successful people when they are confronted with problems, the solutions to which are not immediately apparent. The Habits of Mind were derived from studies of effective, skillful problem-solvers and decision makers from, many walks of life. They are synthesized from the works of such leaders from the fields of education, philosophy, psychology and the arts as Alan Glatthorn and Jonathan Baron[i], Reuven Feuerstein[ii], Edward de Bono[iii], Robert Ennis[iv] Arthur Whimbey[v], Robert Sternberg, [vi] and David Perkins[vii]. While each of these authors have different labels for describing the characteristics of thinking, their intentions were similar: to describe how people behave intelligently by becoming more flexible and open in thinking, monitoring one's own thoughts, being curious and having a questioning attitude. Gradually these studies were synthesized by Arthur Costa into what was originally titled, "Intelligent Behaviors" and described 7 behaviors. With further reading and research, the list expanded from the original 7 to 12 then 14 and now 16 and there could be more."

"Assessments of Information Literacy" links to resources for assessing information literacy. Includes portfolio assessments from many different colleges.

What You'll Learn Critical thinking is a vital component of every part of the school day. With each activity that students engage in, they are utilizing critical thinking skills - skills that must be fostered and encouraged by educators so students can perform at the highest level possible. This module will teach educators to employ various strategies and tactics that will ensure that they are continuously cultivating critical thinking skills in their students throughout the day so that student achievement is constantly being emphasized. In this course you'll learn how to encourage critical thinking and active learning, as well as tactical and structural recommendations to enhance your lessons, different approaches to thinking, and how to drive thinking through questions. You will discover: The intrapersonal components involved in critical thinking The role of critical thinking in student interactions How to incorporate critical thinking strategies into every activity and lesson plan The various approaches to thinking

"Jon Stewart Accepts His Award Jon Stewart was awarded a Media Literate media Award in 2005 for the contributions to media literacy made by The Daily Show. Watch Jon's video acceptance of the award below."

"Neil Postman's classic essay Bullshit and the Art of Crap-Detection. Contains a handy taxonomy of forms of bullshit, and some useful "laws" such as: Almost nothing is about what you think it is about-including you.""

"Fundamentals are not "because I said so" facts and figures; they're the tools, the equipment, we need to get to the real stuff, the critical thinking and the creativity in any endeavor. When you hear a jazz musician riffing at a million miles an hour, he is absolutely improvising; he is not winging it. He's giving his brain the freedom to be brave, to explore, unencumbered by the burden of needing to actively cogitate on those fundamentals. He knows his art so thoroughly that he has the discipline to toe the line, the freedom to confidently act outside preconceived parameters, and-most importantly-the wisdom to know when to do one or the other."

"Mike Eisenberg Big 6 1. Task Definition 1.1 Define the information problem 1.2 Identify information needed 2. Information Seeking Strategies 2.1 Determine all possible sources 2.2 Select the best sources 3. Location and Access 3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically) 3.2 Find information within sources 4. Use of Information 4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch) 4.2 Extract relevant information 5. Synthesis 5.1 Organize from multiple sources 5.2 Present the information 6. Evaluation 6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness) 6.2 Judge the process (efficiency) Posted on November 14th, 2007 in About Big6 by The Big6 Staff Mike Eisenberg is a teacher and mentor whose personal motto is, "make it better!" He is the founding dean of the Information School at the University of Washington, serving from 1998 to 2006. During his tenure, Mike transformed the unit from a single graduate degree program into a broad-based information school with a wide range of research and academic programs, including an undergraduate degree in informatics, masters degrees in information management and library and information science (adding a distance learning program and doubling enrollment), and a doctorate degree in information science. Mike's current work focuses on information, communications, and technology (ICT) literacy, information credibility, and information science education K-20. Mike is co-author of the "Big6 approach to information problem-solving" - the most widely used information literacy program in the world. Mike is a prolific author (9 books and dozens of articles and papers) and has worked with thousands of students-pre-K through higher education-as well as people in business, government, and communities to improve their information and technology skills. For more information about Mike Eisenberg here. Mike Eisenberg Dean Emeritus and Professor The Information School of the University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195-2840 Phone: (206) 616-115

"Species diversity refutes the theory of evolution"

"But it is heavy lifting for teachers, administrators, parents, and students to dump high school structures that inhibit reasoning and sustain those changes over time. In the face of actual or threatened budget cuts, there is even less determination to touch those taken-for-granted organizational routines. Yet the lessons of earlier reforms are clear: trying to get students to think without altering basic high school structures, will be no more than washing and waxing a jalopy."

"Child Development Research Child Development Videos » History, Theory & Research » Child Development Research Child development research encompasses a broad range of topics, and included here are titles illustrating some of the many branches of developmental psychology and child development theory. Methods of research and observation have changed dramatically in the past century, allowing for vast amounts of new information to be compiled and assessed. Our collective knowledge of how children grow has grown exponentially, thanks to researchers from around the world. Titles in this section offer an in-depth look at this new and compelling research, and the lives of the individuals who founded them. "

"Welcome to ProCon.org. We promote critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting research on controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, and primarily pro-con format. Our websites are free, unbiased, and updated periodically. ProCon.org is an independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity."

"Top Rationality Blogs " Blogs are organized by category. Some of them are: Skeptic Zoners Sorting out Science Skeptico Fallacy Files Science-Based Pharmacy Bad Science

Dupuy, Muhammad, and many other teachers are using a step-by-step process that we and our colleagues at the Right Question Institute have developed called the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). This technique helps students learn how to produce their o