Teaching History in the Digital Classroom by D.Antonio Cantu Wilson J. Warren

Author:D.Antonio Cantu, Wilson J. Warren [D.Antonio Cantu, Wilson J. Warren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780765609939
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2002-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

A Primer on Teaching Thinking

The pedagogical literature on thinking exhibits a startling lack of consistency in definitions but reasonable agreement about the ways to teach for improved cognitive ability. The contradictory definitions perhaps result from the very complex and highly varied nature of thinking; and the somewhat paradoxical accompanying circumstance of agreement on methods for teaching thinking, might simply mean that thinking in all its forms, however described, improves when teaching is done in certain fairly apparent ways.

The muddle of definitions will pose no particular problem in teaching for cognitive growth if the teacher and her or his students have a clear idea about the meanings they attach to several important words. Teachers could use the following statements to guide their planning, or do enough reading in the literature to write their own:

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Thinking is the use of the brain and related nervous-system structures to process imaginary concepts or information gained from the external environment through the senses. Thinking may take the form of simple contemplation of whatever is perceived or recalled, in which case the mental activity is not directed toward a particular kind of processing or result. Much contemplation, however, is one of two types, either critical or creative thinking.

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Critical thinking is contemplation in the form of evaluative processing, the purpose of which is to judge the quality of an object, device, idea, theory, source of information, problem solution, or any other focus of attention. Creative thinking is contemplation, the intention of which is to produce a mental image that is new to the thinker and that will be viewed as innovative when communicated to other qualified observers.

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The two special forms of thinking are closely related. There might be much that is creative in the way critical thinking is done, and the conclusions drawn in the process of evaluation might be innovative. In critical thinking, however, the emphasis is on the process of discrimination rather than on the creative product. Similarly, in creative thinking much evaluative processing probably occurs, but the primary objective is the innovative result.

Teachers need general definitions of the kind offered above, but success in cognitive instruction will depend even more on having an understanding of thinking strategies and skills. Fortunately, experts on cognition usually agree in their descriptions of these aspects of thinking. Barry K. Beyer, for example, identifies three strategies—problem solving, decision making, and conceptualizing—with a list of steps involved in each. In problem solving, Beyer suggests that a person tends to proceed in this way: he or she becomes aware of the problem, expresses it, decides how to solve it, carries out the solution, and evaluates the results. Beyer describes a similar sequence of steps in thinking through goal oriented alternatives to arrive at a decision (decision making) and working through the attributes of a concept to imagine a new version of it (conceptualizing). Beyer groups recall, interpretation, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and several other mental processes under the heading of “micro-thinking skills.” He includes inductive, deductive, and analogical reasoning in the micro skills category as well.

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