I teach all economics in the classroom these days and feel that it more directly requires critical thinking skills than many other courses. I feel as if Bloom Taxonomy is a ladder we climb with each class. The goals of the course are structured to mirror the State's standards for economics. What I have found is that it would be impossible to facillitate student learning of these concepts without large doses of critical thinking occurring. In order to solve many of the problems in this course, students are left to 'think it out' using their prior knowledge to aid them.
Students must gain experience solving problems through critical thinking. It is important for their overall well-being, not just as a student, but as a human being to master critical thinking skills. Experiencing the process and practicing methods of critical thinking will make a difference in an individual's approach to many parts of life's challenges. Everything from challenges on the job to challenges at home, critical thinking is an essential aspect one can not do without.
Finding ways to get students to practice 'thinking' critically is so much the challenge that teachers have. Instead, I would argue that motivating students to think is the tougher challenge. Once students begin experiencing the feeling of solving problems they will gain more appreciation for doing it more and more on their own.
You may also want to use the Questioning strategy where you are always asking the question "why". Not in a way that the students feel they got the wrong answer but that they actually got the right answer and you want to see they got their answer and other students can see as well. This may also demonstrate to you if they got the right answer but in the wrong way and you need to reteach. Or, that they got the right answer and used the proper steps to get to that answer.
ReplyDeleteThe next problem you may have is time. Do you have enough time to cover all the material and take the time to see how your students are thinking critically.
I would totally agree...teaching people to think is the hard part...either they do or they don't! However, I think that giving them interesting topics is a good place to start. Also, the more you incorporate it the better they will get at it! I am sure that your kids think critically more than you think they do! Seeing what you do and what you incorporate will encourage them to think outside the box! So, I think we all can incorporate more...but I think you have a great start!
ReplyDeleteVery good point. Students really need critical thinking skills for the real world. However, sometimes it is hard to fit it in the day when we have so much content to teach. One of the more difficult things is motivating them to think critically and I mentioned that in my blog. It's kind of like writing. It's hard to motivate those certain students that don't want to "think" when it comes to writing.
ReplyDeleteAaron, I agree that it is challenging to both teach and motivate students to think critically. Students are not trained in that way. Since your subject, economics, requires higher-level thinking, I think your class can change your students! I know you have been doing great things in your class. I think that would gradually help students to improve their critical thinking!
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