Blog Posts
#5 How Can We Teach for Critical Thinking?
Are We Providing Opportunities for Critical Thinking in Classrooms?
In an earlier blog (Does Teaching Make a Difference?), I summarized studies demonstrating positive effects of challenging instruction on students’ reasoning and academic achievement. Given this evidence, we might expect today’s classrooms to routinely engage students in more critical and creative thinking.
Yet it has been reported that fewer than 25 percent of…
ContinuePosted by Margie Kitano on March 14, 2012 at 2:42pm
#4 How Do Dispositions Contribute to Critical Thinking?
In 2011, California sought to pass legislation requiring large out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax on internet purchases made by California customers. My initial reaction was annoyance; not paying taxes for Amazon purchases supported my selfish best interests. I had the skills to rationally consider the arguments favoring this legislation but not the motive. Eventually I had to acknowledge fairness to within-state retailers and benefits to the…
ContinuePosted by Margie Kitano on March 1, 2012 at 3:30pm
The Common Core Standards and CTCTC
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) rolling out in 2014-15 show every indication of aligning very nicely with the goals of Linked Learning. The overall number of standards has been reduced to allow for a noticeably heightened emphasis of depth of skill and conceptual understandings. And, while the CCSS are titled “English Language Arts” and “Mathematics” standards, it is important to understand that the way the standards are written requires the integration of…
Posted by Carla Mathison on February 17, 2012 at 4:38pm
#3 How Can We Assess Critical Thinking? Part II: Informal Measures for Classrooms
What are some informal measures I can use in my classroom?
In addition to performance assessment (blog post #3 Part I), there are several informal strategies that might be useful to teachers. See Costa & Kallick (2001) and Brookhart (2010) for more information and examples.
- Mind Maps. A mind map, or concept mapping, asks students to make their thinking visible. The Artful Thinking report (Tishman & Palmer,…
Posted by Margie Kitano on December 6, 2011 at 11:11am — 1 Comment
Latest Activity
Current and Upcoming Events and Activities
Applications for 2012-13 Teacher Fellows Program.
Applications are available for the CTCTC Fellows program for practicing teachers committed to enhancing critical and creative thinking in their classrooms with support from a faculty mentor. Applications are due by March 19.
Spring Research & Development Symposium. On April 26, 2012, Dr.Carla Mathison and Kitty Gabriel will explore augmented reality experiences developed for 3rd-5th graders for use at zoo and museums.
Dr. Carol Robinson-Zañartu will share the MICOSA model she developed collaboratively with teachers.The model addresses thinking skills within classroom and 21st Century contexts.
Follow-Up and Critical Thinking in Sciences.
On February 1, 2011, Joyce VanTassel-Baska, College of William and Mary, reviewed curriculum and instructional models and strategies for supporting students' critical thinking and achievement in language arts and social studies. February 2, she conducted a workshop on critical thinking in science for middle school teachers. Co-sponsored by San Diego Unified and the Center.
Fall Research and Development Symposium.
On Nov. 15, 2011, Dr. Bernie Dodge demonstrated applications being developed as part of Project mGage with support from Qualcomm. The first, WHex, turns the table on test-taking by engaging students in a game based on questions they create and edit themselves. The second, WonderPoints, encourages students to look at the world outside of class with fresh eyes and enables them to create a webpage of geotagged images on a topic provided by their teacher. Both applications make use of smartphones, a technology that sooner or later will become the dominant tool in K-12. Bernie also discussed the Question Formulation Technique as described in the recent book Make Just One Change [http://www.hepg.org/hep/book/144/MakeJustOneChange]. A 3-part video of his presentation appears under the Media tab.
2011-12 Center Fellows. In May 2011, the Center identified nine practicing teachers as Fellows of the Center. They are implementing projects to support critical and/or creative thinking in their classrooms. Each received a $1000 award and support from a faculty mentor. They will share the results of their projects on April 20, 2012.
Instructional Video. The Center is producing video examples of teachers implementing research-supported practices in their classrooms. Two appear under the Media tab above. Also available are clips of Dr. VanTassel-Baska describing reasoning models for language arts and a teacher using one of them. The graphic organizers appear in the Links tab under "Wm and Mary Resources."
About the Center
We partner with others to achieve our goals, including:
The Center's endowment was established with a gift from a San Diego high school biology teacher. He was a WWII vet and engineer. He later earned a taching credential at SDSU, became an elementary teacher, then gravitated to high school Biology and Life Sciences. He was a tinkerer, creating wonderful and zany inventions (e.g., chairs hanging from pulleys attached to the ceiling of his house). He wished to create a legacy to help young people learn to think critically and creatively.
Center Faculty
Ric Hovda, Dean
Margie Kitano, Director
Cristina Alfaro
Jose Luis Alvarado
Cristian Aquino
Marva Cappello
Bernie Dodge
Luke Duesbery
Nancy Farnan
Leif Fearn
Anne Graves
Sandy Kay
Carla Mathison
Alan McCormack
Lionel Skip Meno
Valerie Pang
Carol Prime
Carol Robinson-Zañartu
Alberto Rodriguez
Fernando Rodriguez-Valls
Volunteers
Ann MacDonald
Karen Moffitt
Katie Pedersen
To learn more about our faculty, click here for a brief description.
© 2012 Created by Margie Kitano.
Powered by 
.
