UWA SPOT/SET Project

87)  I have been encouraged to think critically

Critical thinking can be explicitly encouraged in students. Sometimes too much course content discourages critical thinking. Assessing critical thinking, and advising students that this will happen is usually a good strategy.

·         ‘Effective Strategies for Facilitating Critical Thinking’, (Brookfield, 1989), gives some useful insights.

·         With respect to assessment, (Nightingale et al., 1996), provides ‘Module1: Thinking critically and making judgements’.

·         The video Thinking Together: Collaborative Learning in Science (The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, 1992), may prove useful for some teachers.

Brookfield, S. D. (1989). Developing critical thinkers, challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting. San Francisco: Open University Press.

Nightingale, P., Te Wiata, I., Toohey, S., Ryan, G., Hughes, C., & Magin, D. (1996). Assessing learning in universities. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.

The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. (1992). Thinking together:Collaborative learning in science [Video]. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.