Designing Courses that Foster Critical Thinking

Professional Development InstitutionJanuary 8th, 2009

Presented by: Shaun BeatyDirector of Course Design and Instructional TechnologyThe Institute for Learning and Teaching

The Institute for Teaching and Learning

Overview of Presentation

Look at some components of course design that foster critical thinking Syllabus

▪ Expectations▪ Time Management

Course Interaction▪ Student to Instructor▪ Student to Student▪ Student to Content

Course Content▪ Active Learning▪ Activities

Learning Styles▪ Three defined learning styles

Use of technology

Using Interactive Exercises made with Adobe Captivate

Question and Answer session

Syllabus

The foundations of the course are outlined within the course syllabus

Components of course design: Syllabus

Establish High Expectations: An instructor who holds high expectations will encourage high expectations from students.

Clearly state your expectations regarding ▪ quality and quantity of work▪ depth of understanding the course content and concepts▪ importance of critical thinking and analysis▪ frequency of interaction during course discussions▪ etiquette/netiquette▪ response time for course-related communication

Content expectations ▪ statements of course goals ▪ grading and evaluation criteria (e.g., grading rubrics)▪ examples of student work

Model high standards and quality through example

Components of course design: Syllabus

Emphasis of Time Management: Student learning takes place through active engagement with course content and concepts. Help students understand the importance of

time on task and time management Suggest an appropriate amount of time

students should budget for each activity Provide important due dates in a calendar or

content outline Syllabus example

Course InteractionThere are three types of interaction that can foster criticalThinking

• Student to Instructor• Student to Student• Student to Content

Components of course design: Interaction

Student – Instructor: Consistent and frequent student-faculty interaction is one of the most important factors motivating students.

▪ Support multiple modes of contact▪ Face to face (classroom, office hours)▪ Email▪ Phone▪ Chat/instant messaging (IM)▪ Collaboration tools (e.g., whiteboards, WebEX, Adobe Connect Pro,

Facebook, Google docs, YouTube, Flickr)

▪ Provide general messages to the whole class through announcements, email, course web site, course blogs, wiki’s or discussion forums.

▪ Try to get to know your students on an individual basis

Components of course design: Interaction

Student – Instructor cont:

▪ Participate and/or facilitate class discussions▪ Model appropriate participation in discussions▪ Encourage student questions▪ Encourage and support the expression of multiple points of view▪ Foster respect for the expression of differences in perspectives,

backgrounds, and experiences

▪ Provide frequent and thorough feedback

▪ Identify and follow up with students who are not participating

▪ Conduct office hours for students to discuss their graded work, student questions or provide guidance or clarification.

▪ Face to face, email, chat, phone, collaboration tools

Components of course design: Interaction

Student – Student: Cooperative learning can engage students more deeply in the process of learning, allowing them to deepen their understanding of course content.▪ Design activities that promote and support cooperation and

networking▪ Group discussion forums▪ Study groups▪ Peer review activities ▪ Email lists▪ Course blogs, ▪ Course Wikis, ▪ Other social networking features (MySpace, Facebook,

Second Life)

Components of course design: Interaction

Student – Content: Students should engage with the course content. They should discuss and write about it and when possible, relate it to their personal experiences. Some learning will be “passive”, i.e. reading and listening, however, to fully

integrate critical thinking, provide active learning situations.

Active Learning: Active learning takes place when students are provided the chance to form an interactive relationship with the subject matter, encouraging them to discover, process and apply rather than simply receive the knowledge.

  In an active learning environment, students learn in the classroom with the help

of the teacher and other students, rather than on their own. Teachers facilitate and coach rather than dictate the students’ learning.

Components of course design: Interaction

Active Learning cont: There may be some resistance to active learning by students who are used to lectures, students who prefer passive learning, or students in large classes. Thus, instructors should prepare students.

Suggestions for successful active learning activities:

Explain teaching objectives and the benefits of the active learning techniques explicitly to students.

Solicit feedback from students for improving the activity in the future.

Active learning techniques can occur in class or outside of class (e.g., computer simulations, internships, web assignments, class internet discussion lists, independent study, research).

Active learning can be used with all levels of students from first year through graduate students.

Components of course design: Course Content

Active Learning Tools: There are a variety of tools that can foster critical thinking through active learning and implemented into your course design

Check for Understanding: pre-test/pop quiz, concept discussion, review, assessment.▪ Background Knowledge Probe: Prepare 2-5 open ended

questions, ask students to write 3-4 sentence answers. Discuss answers and possibly adjust lectures.

Components of course design: Course Content

Discussions: Design class discussions that…▪ Pose questions that encourage students to consider the

implications of issues raised in the course▪ How did Mexico’s movement for independence from Spain impact people in

neighboring countries?

▪ Use open-ended questions to allow the expression of multiple points of view▪ The Amazon River impacts many regions in Brazil. How is its impact

different for those regions near the Atlantic coast and those in the central part of Brazil?

▪ Allow time to reflect, respond and share opinions and experiences.

Components of course design: Course Content

Activities:▪ Activities should be structured in a sequence such that earlier

classes lay the foundation for complex and higher level learning tasks in later classes.

▪ Develop activities that employ demonstrations, simulations, case studies, scenarios, problem solving

▪ All active learning activities should provide goals/objectives for each activity.

Examples of activities:▪ Think-Pair-Share▪ Give students a task such as a question, concept or a problem to

solve. Have them work for 2-5 minutes alone (think). Then have them discuss their ideas for 3-5 minutes with the student sitting next to them (pair). Finally, ask or choose student pairs to share their ideas with the whole class (share).

Components of course design: Course Content

Examples of activities cont:▪ Collaborative learning groups

▪ These may be formal or informal, graded or not, short-term or long-term. ▪ Assign students to groups of 3-6 students and given a task to work on together. The

group produces a group answer, paper or project.

▪ Student-led review sessions▪ Instead of the traditional instructor-led review session

▪ Games▪ Games such as crossword puzzles and jeopardy can be adapted to course

material and used for review, assignment and exams.

▪ Analysis or reactions to videos▪ Video’s offer an alternative presentation and should be relatively short (5-15

minutes).▪ Have students create discussions or review questions▪ Discuss or write a reaction journal entry or paper.

Components of course design: Course Content

Examples of activities cont:▪ Student Debates

▪ These may be formal or informal, individual or group, graded or ungraded.▪ Allow students to take a thesis or position, gather data and logic to critically support view

or opposing view.

▪ Student generated exam questions▪ Used for review or actual exam. Help students actively process and review material, as

well as providing practice for exam or evaluation.

▪ Analyze case studies▪ Students discuss and analyze cases, applying concepts, data and theory from the class.

▪ Journals or logs▪ Require brief critical reflection or analysis of concepts, materials, lecture etc.

Components of course design: Course Content

Examples of activities cont:▪ Write and produce a newsletter

▪ Groups of students produce a newsletter on a specific topic related to class.▪ Share newsletter with students and faculty in related courses, major or

department.

▪ Quotations▪ Provide a number of quotes taken from the text or person(s) being studied.

Students identify a quote, analyze it, establish their own opinions and then share it with class members or instructor.

▪ Concept mapping▪ Students create visual representation of models, ideas and relationships between

concepts.

Components of course design: Course Content

For students to know if they are “getting it”, provide frequent and immediate feedback.

“Immediate” refers to same class or the next class session.

Allows students to analyze and retain information, acting as a foundation for relating it to new content.

Offer short and recurrent activities that provide immediate feedback (e.g., self-checked or automatically graded quizzes/tests, simulations/demonstrations)

Use class period, announcements, email lists, discussion forums, or course blogs to answer frequently asked questions

Return assignments and assessments, projects, etc. within a week

Regularly post grades or provide avenues for students to identify their grades

Supply a wrap-up announcement or review to discuss common findings and results of content, assignments, projects, surveys etc.

Learning Styles

There are three ways individuals can learn.

• Auditory• Visual• Kinesthetic

Components of course design: Learning Styles

Auditory Learners

Benefit most from traditional teaching techniques

Succeed when directions are read aloud, speeches are required, or information is presented and requested verbally

Lecture is geared primarily to auditory learners.

Components of course design: Learning Styles

Visual Learners Benefit most from diagrams, charts, pictures,

films and written directions

Value to-do lists, handouts, and written notes

Many techniques that benefit visual learners also benefit kinesthetic learners.

Components of course design: Learning Styles

Kinesthetic Learners Touching, feeling, experiencing the material at

hand are all highly desirable by these types of learners

Learners are most successful when engaged with the learning activity.

Retain information quickly by participating.

Components of course design: Learning Styles

To encourage critical thinking opportunities,respect diverse talents and ways of learning…

Provide a variety of methods for learning to support different learning goals and learning styles (auditory, visual and kinesthetic).

Design more than one method of learning for students

Recognize, respect, and reward creativity

Be sensitive to cultural differences

Allow students to choose from different modes of project presentation

Understand and allow for different pacing

Effective Use of Technology

Use technology that helps accomplish course goals, meet student needs and allows for students to engage with the content presented by the technology.

Components of course design: Technology

Effective Use of Technology: The technology should:

Motivate: Students want to discover the outcome Guide: Students should have some way of knowing what

they should do next, based on discovery, analysis, personal results

Scaffold: keeps students on task, checks for understanding Feedback: Student should have some way of knowing

whether the activity was successful or appropriate.

Use Technology that is appropriate for the task and pedagogical purpose

Interactive Exercises

There are a variety of softwares available to create and distribute interactive exercises.

Interactive Exercises

Adobe Captivate: “Show How” and “Do Now” Is a software that can create demonstrations,

interactive simulations, branched scenarios and problem solving activities (Soft Skills)

Create interactive quizzing features (immediate feedback), mastery learning

Example: http://learning.colostate.edu/courses/twt/

Discussion (Q/A)

What questions can I answer?

Review of Presentation

Discussed some components of course design to help foster critical thinking

Syllabus Expectations Time Management

Interaction▪ Student to Student▪ Student to Instructor▪ Student to Content

Course Content▪ Active Learning▪ Examples

Learning Styles▪ Three defined learning styles

Effective use of technology

Using interactive exercises made with Adobe Captivate

Question and answer session