By Elisa S. Baccay

The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. “The thirst to think is the desire that is never fulfilled.” - Thomas A. Edison

 Uses performance assessment techniques and strategies that measure high – order thinking skills and continues to build a repertoire of realistic projects and problem – solving activities designed to assist all students in demonstrating their ability to think creatively. Performance Indicators The teacher...  Uses a variety of active learning strategies to develop students’ thinking, problem – solving, and learning skills.

Fundamental Principles  FP 1 To help students understand and know what they have learned, they should be able to engage in higher-order thinking skills such as critical thinking. In critical thinking, students ask why, why not, what if, etc... leading to further questions.

What is critical thinking?  “Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication as guide to belief and action.” (Scriven and Paul 1996).

 Critical thinking is the intentional application of rational, higher order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, problem recognition and problem solving, inference and evaluation” (Angelo, 1995).  Critical thinking is the ability to reach sound conclusion based on observation and information” (Paul, 1988).

 According to Norris (1985) critical thinking helps students to apply everything they already know and feel, to evaluate their own thinking, and especially to change their behaviour.  Ennis (1987) suggest that critical thinking refers to a purposeful means of reasoning.

Aspects of Critical Thinking Critical thinkers are skeptical and open – minded. They respect evidences and reasoning, look at different perspectives, and will change positions according to reason. Dispositions Conditions must be met for something to be judged as believable. Criteria

Critical thinking involves identifying, involving, evaluating, and constructing arguments with supporting evidence.  Argument Critical thinkers have the ability to infer a conclusion after examining logical relationships among statements and data.  Reasoning

Critical thinkers use many procedures such as asking questions, making judgements, and identifying assumptions.  Point of View Critical thinkers look at phenomena from different points of view.  Procedures for applying criteria

To help students develop and improve their thinking and performance skills, they should be able to construct and reconstruct information (Constructivist theory, Brooks and Brooks 1993). FP 2

In constructivism, students construct their meanings and understandings as they actively gather, generate, process, and personalize information rather than simply passively receive knowledge from teachers and other resources. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting one’s mental models to accommodate new experiences.

Learning is viewed as “knowing how to organize information – the key to understanding them.”

How can I look at this information? How could reorganizing the information change its meaning? How can I arrange the information to shed new light on the problem? How can I put the information in a different context? Guide questions for organizing information

Eventually, the habit of inquiry makes learners ask thoughtful questions of themselves, of others, of what they read, hear in lectures, and encounter in class. Asking probing questions to understand the world around us is what critical thinking is all about.

Experiences to Develop Critical Thinking CATS (Classroom Assessment Techniques) Cooperative learning strategies Case study / discussion method Using questions (after a lecture, after a reading assignment) Use writing assignments Dialogues (Written, group)

1.Why is critical thinking significant to learning? 2.Define critical thinking. 3.What are the characteristics of critical thinking? 4.List several classroom strategies that help students develop critical thinking. Activity: On Critical Thinking Directions: Answer the following questions for reflection.

Course Requirements Due date: ________________TBA 1.Attendance 2.Participation in class 3.Submission of requirements 3.1 One book review on classroom management 3.2 Five (5) reaction papers on journal articles on management of mathematics education 4.Reflection on critical thinking (Submit of Nov. 30, 2010) 5.Detailed Lesson Plan on a selected topic in Mathematics 6.A feedback report on classroom intervisitation