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You want to know more:
-how something happens,
-why it happens, and further
-what will happen if something changes.
Critical thinking therefore requires a
conscious level of processing, analysis,
creation and evaluation of possible
outcomes, and reflection
You are willing to examine your beliefs,
assumptions, and opinions and weigh
them against facts. You are willing to
evaluate the generalizations and
stereotypes you have created and are
open to change, if necessary.
If you’re a critical thinker, you listen
carefully to what others are saying
and are able to give feedback.
You are able to suspend judgment until all
the facts have been gathered and
considered.
If you’re a critical thinker, you look for
evidence to support your assumptions and
beliefs. You examine problems closely and
are able to reject information that is
incorrect or irrelevant.
drawing conclusions, forming opinions
SYNTHESIS—redesigning, recreating, putting back together in a
different way
ANALYSIS—examining, taking apart, breaking down
APPLICATION—using knowledge & comprehension; solving problems
COMPREHENSION—understanding, paraphrasing, interpreting
KNOWLEDGE—naming, recognizing, identifying, recalling, reciting, etc.
EVALUATION—critiquing, rating, grading, assaying, assessing, inferring,
SIMPLE
COMPLEX
. . . a hierarchy is a sequential organization
. . . it progresses upward from simple to complex
. . . each level builds upon the preceding level(s)
. . . an appropriate concept map of Bloom’s Taxonomy is pyramidal in shape, beginning at the base with knowledge and progressing upward
. . . at the highest levels there is no one “right” answer
Ex.: What is your opinion of . . .? What conclusions can you draw from . . .? How would you rate the movie . . .?
Which level of Bloom’s Taxonomy are you thinking on when you . . .
1. Paraphrase information you just read in your history textbook?
2. Summarize a case study presented in clinical psychology ?
3. Write a movie review for English class?
4. Prepare a book review?
5. Recite the Gettysburg Address?
6. Work some problems in math?
7. Make a timeline for the historical period referred to as “The StormySixties”?
8. Use a microscope to see what kinds of markings an onion skin has.
9. Identify a fellow student by name?
10. Translate a story from Polish to English?
1. Comprehension. Paraphrasing is a simple rewording of information. Rephrase the information for clarification or improved understanding.
2. Synthesis. Summarizing requires weeding out of non-essential information then putting the remaining information together sequentially.
3. Evaluation. Requires opinion. Reading and reacting to the “facts” presented.
4. Evaluation. Calls for one’s personal response to ideas presented, style of presentation, etc.
5. Knowledge. Rote memory requires little if any “thinking”. It is simply recall of sequential presentation of information.
6. Application. Paraphrasing in graphic format—a step above comprehension.
7. Synthesis. Requires weeding out and organizing in order to chronologically arrange events.
8. Analysis. Examination—exactly what analysis is!9. Knowledge. Putting name and face together—low-level skill.10. Comprehension. Being able to translate indicates understanding (of
language and material!)
It . . .
. . . underlies reading, writing, listening and speaking—basic
elements of communication
. . . plays an important part in social change. . .
institutions in any society—courts, governments, schools,
businesses—are the products of critical thinking
. . . plays a major role in technological advances
. . . blazes a path to freedom from half-truths and deceptions
By asking pertinent questions (of self as well as others);
By assessing statements and arguments;
By developing a sense of observation and curiosity;
By becoming interested in finding new solutions;
By examining beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weighing them against truth.
By developing a “thinker’svocabulary”.
By listening carefully to others, thinking about what they say, and giving feedback;
By observing with an open mind;
By making assertions based on sound logic and solid evidence;
By sharing ideas with others;
By becoming an open-minded listener and reader;
By engaging in active reading and active listening!
•Critical thinking is “higher level” thinking
•It often requires us to think “outside the box”
•Many occupations/careers require critical thinking
•The things we enjoy in everyday society are the result of critical thinking
•By adopting certain habits and behaviors we can learn to think critically.
In order to read critically, you have to be a
critical thinker…
It’s not just reading between the lines. It’s reading what is stated and unstated by
the author to figure out what the author is saying, interpreting the facts along with the author’s attitude, using implied meaning to make accurate assumptions, and drawing accurate conclusions.
Introductory reminder:
CRITICAL READING IS:
information collection and analysis
with
identification of strengths and weaknesses
D. Gile Critical reading15
Critical reading involves a higher level of
sophistication in reading through: • analyzing facts, opinions, and bias statements
It also involves a higher level of
sophistication in reading by:
Synthesizing groups of supporting
statements to summarize or paraphrase,
bringing individual clarity to the piece read
In addition, it requires the reader to:
Evaluate how the information fits into the his/her
historical perspective and if it meets standards of
critical reading
What are some things
you can do to ensure
you read critically?
Use the SQ3R method everytime you
read
Survey:
Question:
Read
Recall
Review
Survey the document: scan the contents, introduction, chapter introductions and chapter summaries to pick up a shallow overview of the text.
Look at: Titles Pictures Introduction and conclusion Bold or italicized print Questions First and last sentences in paragraphs Footnotes
Make a note of any questions on the
subject that come to mind, or particularly
interest you following your survey. Perhaps
scan the document again to see if any
stand out. These questions can be
considered almost as study goals -
understanding the answers can help you to
structure the information in your own mind.
Talk back to the author. If you have been reading critically, you must have been
thinking; you have something to express in words. If you aren't creating responses to the text as you read,
paragraph by paragraph, you aren't really thinking. You are merely absorbing the text and falling into passive reading for information.
Take the time to jot down responses, even if only a few words, as you write: "Huh?" "Yes!" "I dunno." "Not in the case of...." "I disagree here because...."
When you talk back to the text, you can expand on the author's ideas with original ones.
Ask Questions to the Text: The key to convert yourself from a passive reader to an active one is simple. You must ask questions, and then you must try to answer them.
If I tell you, "Think about starvation," your thoughts probably consist of disconnected images of suffering you've seen on television. There's very little direction implied in that command.
However, if I ask, "How could we prevent starvation?" Your brain probably will start whirring, generating lists, considering various approaches to dealing with the issue.
Questions by their very nature generate thinking, provided that we take the time to try and answer them.
So, as you read, ask "why did the author say that?" Or "What does this part mean?" Asking and answering questions forces you to read actively rather than passively.
It forces you to think, and that's the point of critical reading.
Ask Questions About Yourself: What is your attitude toward the issue? What are your pre-judgments about the issue? Does your attitude affect how receptive you are to the
author's viewpoint? What preconceptions do you have about the topic? What past experiences have you had that are pertinent
to the issue? Monitor your own emotions as you read. Do certain
sections make you feel pleased? Guilty? Angry? Annoyed? Smug? Saddened?
Do you think the author intended to create that effect? If not, where did that emotional response originate?
Ask Questions About Context: Think about the author. Why do you think the
author takes the position he or she does? Is there a personal investment in the matter? What larger social, economic, geographical, or political circumstances might have influenced the creation of this piece of writing?
Read between the lines and think about the context in which the material was originally written and what that might mean today. Are the original conditions so different today that they render the argument invalid in other circumstances? Or does it hold just as true? Why?
Ask Questions About Broader Implications: The author asserts that X is true. What logically follows
if we accept that statement? Ideas do not exist in a vacuum; they spread outward like ripples in pond water.
If an essay asserts that all life is holy, and killing any other living organism is always an absolute wrong, does that imply we should stop using pesticides to kill bugs? We should outlaw fly-swatters? That we should cease washing our hands with soap lest we kill innocent bacteria? That capital punishment is unethical? Euthanasia?
What follows from that statement if you accept it unconditionally? If we can't accept it unconditionally, what exceptions must we take into account?
Seek Relevant Connections: So what? Why does it matter? Why should you care? How does the
argument have personal importance to you? Does it have communal importance for those around you? How does it connect to your life now? Thirty years from now?
Essays on economics have implications for people who aren't economists themselves. Arguments about education and public welfare have implications for anyone who goes to school or who pays taxes. Arguments about raising children one way or another not only have implications for potential parents, they also affect everyone who must live with the next generation of youngsters. It is the sign of a weak or lazy intellect to suggest that such material has no relevance in the individual's life. Apathy is an intellectual sin, and boredom the fruit of that vice. Seek out the relevant connections, and you will find them. If the topic doesn't seem important to you immediately, why does the author think it is important?
Make Notes in the Margin: When you underline or mark important passages, jot down quick reactions like "wow!" Or "huh?" Or "maybe." Yes, it will reduce the resale value of that textbook by ten or twenty dollars at the end of the term, but consider that you are paying thousands of dollars more in tuition in order to extract the information within it. Making notes will help you extract and remember that material more effectively, as well as find the exact passage that confused or dazzled you. Active reading implies a reaction on your part. If you have prejudices against marking up a book (they are, after all, holy objects), use a notepad, or jot down some ideas on stick notes.
Read the document.
Read through useful sections in detail,
taking care to understand all the points
that are relevant.
In the case of some texts this reading may
be very slow – especially if there is a lot of
dense and complicated information.
Take notes in concept map format.
Once you have read appropriate sections
of the document, run through it in your
mind several times.
Isolate the core facts or the essential
processes behind the subject, and then
see how other information fits around
them.
Mark Confusing Sections: Many students read through a tough essay all the way through. When it is complete, they are confused, but they are unable to indicate what confused them. As you read, keep note of whether or not you are understanding the material. As soon as you realize you are lost, make a note in the margin so you can try to remedy your confusion at that moment.
Reread Confusing Sections: Sometimes, rereading the passage after some thought is all it takes to make a confusing passage clear. Take the time to slowly re-read it. Try rewriting the passage in your own words once more.
Talk it over with other Readers: Ask other students who have read the passage to explain it to you. If you are both confused, talking about it may be all you need to break the mental barrier.
Sleep on it: Sometimes putting the essay aside for the day and returning to it fresh in the morning is a good way to cure confusion. It gives your subconscious mind a chance to chew on the problem.
Once you have run through the exercise of
recalling the information, you can move on
to the stage of reviewing it.
Reread the document, expand your notes,
or by discuss the material with colleagues.
A particularly effective method of reviewing information is to parahrase and summarise the ideas
Paraphrase: Ever read through a difficult passage seven times in a row? Find that your eyes slide over the words, but at the bottom of the paragraph you can't remember a single bit of what you read? To avoid this tragedy, make a habit of repeating passages in your own words. Readers do not intellectually possess the subject-matter until they make it their own by translating it into their own, familiar terminology. Do it aloud, or write brief paraphrases of hard passages in the margin.
Summarize: If you are truly reading critically, at the end of each paragraph you should be able to give a one-sentence summary of what that paragraph said. You might also make a two or three word summary at the top of every couple of pages, then a longer two- or three- sentence summary at the end of the reading.
SQ3R is a useful technique for extracting the maximum amount of benefit from your reading time. It helps you to organize the structure of a subject in your mind. It also helps you to set study goals and to separate important information from irrelevant data.
To recapitulate, SQ3R is a five-stage active reading technique. The stages are:
1. Survey
2. Question
3. Read
4. Recall
5. Review
If you use SQ3R, you will significantly improve
the quality of your reading time
Activity:For EACH significant section you should ask
yourself : What is this paragraph about? Where is the writer coming from? Who would agree/disagree with this position? What is the argument? Who would dis/agree? What is the evidence? Is it valid? How do you
know?
TIP: index all sources – re-cycle reading
What is this paragraph about?
What exactly is that?
What is your argument? (Tell me more)
What is the evidence (for & against)?
What does it mean?
How does this relate back to the question
as a whole?
As you read, you transfer what you
understand from the words on the page
into your own words.
Certain aspects of the text come to the
foreground, while others retreat into
insignificance.
Meaning, therefore, is influenced by who
you are as an individual.
It’s not important HOW you annotate, but
that you annotate at all.
The more you interact with a text, the more
your attention and comprehension
increases.
Annotations should reflect your reactions
to the text, questions it raises, new ideas it
suggests, and your
reactions to it.
To non-critical readers, each piece of text
simply includes facts.
Critical readers take interpretation of text
one step further. They ask, “How does this
text convey its main idea?”
They move beyond summary to looking at
how the pieces of the text function
together.
Statement: Mary Had a Little Lamb
Restatement: Mary had a lamb that followed
her everywhere.
Description: The nursery rhyme describes a
pet that followed its mistress everywhere.
You are just paraphrasing or
restating the ideas, nothing more
An image of innocent devotion is conveyed by the story of a lamb’s devotion to its mistress. The devotion is emphasized by repetition that emphasizes the constancy of the lamb’s actions: “everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.”
The notion of innocence is conveyed by the image of a young lamb being “white as snow.” By making it seem that this is natural and good, the nursery rhyme asserts innocent devotion as a positive relationship.
Here you are justifying your interpretation using ‘evidence’ in the text, instead of just paraphrasing
To identify the author’s purpose
Finding the central idea
Identifying pertinent supporting details
To understand tone and persuasive
elements
To recognize bias
Identify Line of Reasoning (angle; viewpoint; position held; case made)
Critically Evaluate Line of Reasoning (logical progression; relevant, contributing & sufficient propositions; flawed reasoning)
Question Surface Appearances (sufficient evidence; other explanations; biases; hidden agendas etc)
Identify Evidence in Text (statistics; case histories; experiences; case histories)
Evaluate the Evidence – Valid Criteria (date of research; source; bias; allure of numbers; emotive language; persuasive language)
Identify the Writer’s Conclusions (therefore; so; hence; thus; must; should; need to; recommend)
Evaluate Whether the Evidence Supports the Conclusions (are the conclusions supported by the evidence and argument presented?)
What is the line of argument here?Who wrote it? When was the research
carried out? How up-to-date is it for the argument put forward?
Statistics – use of percentages with no overall numbers given
Assumes a causal connection between one issue and another
Use of emotive language and isolated incidents (fox) to support argument
When reading a piece
of research article,
what do you look for?
Research question
Hypothesis
Exploratory goals
- Try to understand why the objectives were chosen
- Assessment should be a based on the author's objectives,
Not on the assessor’s interests
D. Gile Critical reading48
- Theoretical development/logical testing/empirical
- Observational/Experimental
-Survey/Interview/Text analysis/Lab experiment
...
What did the author actually do ?
Could you explain the procedure in a few
sentences ?
D. Gile Critical reading49
3. RESULTS OF THE STUDY- Facts
- Categories- Numbers- Opinions
AUTHOR'S CONCLUSIONS(If any)
- Hypothesis strengthened or not- Valuable method or not- Problems discovered
- Other methods/further studies required
50
OBJECTIVES
- Relevant to general issue?
- Useful?
- Feasible?
METHOD
(Design, implementation)
- Appropriate?
- Best under circumstances?
- Can you think of a better one?
D. Gile Critical reading51
5. INFERENCES- Logically appropriate?
(No skipping, over-interpreting, over-generalizing)
- Explicit, including references/explanations?
- Are facts fully exploited?
- Statistics
CONCLUSION
- Based on results?
(inferences OK?)
D. Gile Critical reading52
- Read with a pencil
- Use a pencil to underline and write in margins
- Always write down full references of text
(including place where available)
- Write down verbatim important text segments
- Write synopsis of objectives, methods, results and
conclusion
D. Gile Critical reading53
- Write down verbatim segments that you are going to
criticize
- Read several times any segment that you feel critical
about to make sure your criticism is justified
- Try to get clarification from author by writing to him/her
- Symbols for relative importance (underlining, *)
- Keyword method
(Note keywords in the margins)
D. Gile Critical reading54
“To write better, we must learn to read
better: Reading is primary.”
Dan Kurland
This Powerpoint has been adapted from:
Reach resources for academic achievement: contact Dorothy S. Golden, Seminar Coordinator,
REACH at [email protected]
Halvorsen encouraging critical thought in the EFL classroom.ppt
Nist, Sherrie L. and William Diehl. Developing Textbook Thinking, 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.,
2002.
Ruggiero, Vincent Ryan. Becoming a Critical Thinker, 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1999.
Spears, Deanne Milan. Developing Critical Reading Skills, 5th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill College, 1999.
www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/longview/ctac/definitions.htm
www.criticalthinking.org
www.chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/critthnk.html
www.calpress.com/critical.html
www.coping.org/write/percept/intro.htm
www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/handouts/1414.html
www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/crit.html
For additional information about critical thinking development and other topics included in the on-line
modules, please contact Dorothy S. Golden, Seminar Coordinator, REACH at
[email protected], (502) 852-2320, or (502) 852-6706.
