Thinking

Critical and Creative Thinking Defined Critical and Creative Thinking are characteristics of good thinking processes, or types of thinking. Critical thinking has to do with evaluation of ideas, creative thinking, with generating them.

Critical and Creative Thinking “Me CRITICAL”

“Me Creative”

Analyse facts

Generate ideas

Make comparisons Evaluate arguments Draw conclusions

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Critical and Creative Thinkers? • “I don’t really like to think too much. I just want to do what the boss says”. • “Why waste time wondering if he’s right?” • “I would rather make smart decisions than prove that I’m right”. • “I would like to hear everyone’s opinions, even if I take a different stand”.

Ways of Fostering Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) 1. Make students realise the importance of knowledge for its own sake (students will be more willingly to increase their knowledge) 2. Use vocabulary words describing such thinking processes, e.g., ‘what can you conclude…’, ‘in your analysis…’, ‘looking at all points of view…’, ‘how can you defend your point of view?’ 3. Include activities that foster CCT, e.g., discussions, debates, role plays of possibilities, solving of real-life problems with multiple solutions 4. Get them to read material outside their textbooks; these would give them other viewpoints of an event

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Marzano’s Dimensions of Learning To learn, students must 1. Have positive attitudes 2. Acquire knowledge 3. Extend knowledge 4. Use knowledge meaningfully 5. Have productive habits

Thus: 1. “Yes, I want to learn!” 2. “I am absorbing information!” 3. “See, I’m using concept maps and KNLs!!” 4. “I can apply my knowledge of photosynthesis to explain why oxygen levels drop at night” 5. “I must have good mental habits such as organising my information into categories so that I can remember easily”

How can we promote learning according to Marzano’s dimensions? 1. How can generate positive attitudes/ or make students feel that the tasks are valuable? 2. How can we help students experience information such that they learn? 3. What kind of activities will help students to extend their knowledge? 4. How can we help students to be able to reason in complex ways? 5. How can we teach them good mental habits?

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Ways to promote learning according to Marzano’s dimensions 1. Positive attitudes 2. Experience information 3. Extend their knowledge 4. Reason in complex ways 5. Teach good mental habits

• Build curiosity and commitment to learn • Use interesting, hands-on, applicationbased, real-life, and longer-term activities • Such as experiments, problem-solving activities, and inventions

• Get students to take charge of their own learning • Teach explicitly (tell them exactly what they are to do) and model mental habits of thinking

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