Platonic Dialogue, Maieutic Method and Critical Thinking

In this paper I offer a reading of one of Plato's later works, the Sophist , that reveals it to be informed by principles comparable on the face of it with those that have emerged recently in the field of critical thinking. As a development of the famous Socratic method of his teacher, I argue, Plato deployed his own pedagogical method, a 'mid-wifely' or 'maieutic' method, in the Sophist . In contrast to the Socratic method, the sole aim of this method is not to disabuse the reader or learner of her false opinions. Rather, its purpose is to supply her with the skills and dispositions as well as the claims and counter-claims she needs to critically evaluate a view, and so facilitate knowledge acquisition, for herself. But the text does not merely teach critical thinking in this indirect manner. One of the strategies its author employed was to encourage the reader/learner to consider under what conditions a claim or idea would be false. To the extent that it achieves this, the Sophist provides both a model and an application of that particular kind of critical thinking in the learning environment that Jonathan Baron has described as 'active open-mindedness'.     

Moving beyond GK-12

The National Science Foundation GK-12 program has made more than 300 awards to universities, supported thousands of graduate student trainees, and impacted thousands of K-12 students and teachers. The goals of the current study were to determine the number of sustained GK-12 programs that follow the original GK-12 structure of placing graduate students into classrooms and to propose models for universities with current funding or universities interested in starting a program. Results from surveys, literature reviews, and Internet searches of programs funded between 1999 and 2008 indicated that 19 of 188 funded sites had sustained in-classroom programs. Three distinct models emerged from an analysis of these programs: a full-stipend model, in which graduate fellows worked with partner teachers in a K-12 classroom for 2 d/wk; a supplemental stipend model in which fellows worked with teachers for 1 d/wk; and a service-learning model, in which in-classroom activity was integrated into university academic coursework. Based on these results, potential models for sustainability and replication are suggested, including establishment of formal collaborations between sustained GK-12 programs and universities interested in starting in-classroom programs; development of a new Teaching Experience for Fellows program; and integration of supplemental fellow stipends into grant broader-impact sections.     

浅析批判思考

近年来,国外教育学者们在继续关注创造性思维培育的同时,也颇为关注对批判思考的研究。本文就批判思考的概念,批判思考与创造性思维之间的关系,批判思考在问题引导式学习模式中的作用等进行阐述与分析,以期有助于丰富我国素质教育的内容。     

From Memorization to Critical Thinking

The essay introduces the author's experiences in the UK and Canada to explain the difference of educational methods in China and western countries:from memorization to critical thinking.The author explains what the critical thinking is and what features should a critical thinker have,then give some suggestions to improve Chinese educational system.     

对中国宗教对话的思考

目前,宗教对话蔚为显学。以对话方式来解决彼此之间的难题以及促进彼此的发展是宗教在现代历史条件下成熟的标志。中国宗教文化源远流长,长期以来,各种宗教互相尊重,互相包容,求同存异,共生共长,为现代宗教对话提供了长期和谐共存的独特经验。从中国宗教文化的传统,论证对话之可能与必需;从中国宗教对话的特色,探讨对话之内容与形式;对话之目标与问题包括＂求同存异＂的相互适应等。     

用批判性思维方法打造批判性思维课程

中国的教育缺少批判性思维的传统,因而在教育中引入批判性思维的课程,加强批判性思维训练,具有特别重要的意义,应该作为目前教育改革的一个重点而引起我们重视。虽然批判性思维已被引入中国的课堂教育,但课程设置仍存在一些不足。本文提倡用批判性思维的方法来打造批判性思维的教学,鼓励学生对事件进行自主分析思考、课堂上组织小组讨论、教学中使用大量真实案例等,以培养学生用批判性思维进行思考的思维习惯。     

Critical Thinking

Abstract

The process of critical thinking enables students to explore, analyze, and evaluate problems, theories, and interventions from divergent views and varying frames of reference. It requires a certain amount of skepticism and curiosity that will reflect upon accepted doctrines and protocols, in order to ascertain their credibility and utility in working with clients. This article presents the obstacles to acquiring critical thinking skills, as well as different strategies that can be utilized by educators to enhance its development and active usage. A theoretical construct and cognitive schema of learning describe the mechanisms of constructing meanings from experiences and advancing to critically assessing broader concepts. In this context, the importance of being introduced to new, empirically-based knowledge and critical thinking in substance abuse courses and practice is discussed, followed by an evaluation of students' advancing critical thinking skills.     

提高批判性思维能力的路径研究

批判性思维是大数据时代人们生存和发展的必备素质,包括自我反思、质疑和多元思维的特点,应成为教育的一般目标,名校虽有一定的实践,却仍然不足。讨论课对于学生批判性思维的培养,有着明显的效果,以提出疑问为起点,以获取证据、分析推理为过程,以提出有说服力的解答为结果,让学生在审辩式、思辨式的评判中,建设性地提高批判性思维能力。     

Assessment matters: Moving beyond surveys

Do our students have survey burnout? Vicki L. Wise and Mary Ann Barham share their suggestions for encouraging student engagement in the assessment process and increasing the validity of the data collected as we do so.     

Moving research beyond the spanking debate

Despite numerous studies identifying a broad range of harms associated with the use of spanking and other types of physical punishment, debate continues about its use as a form of discipline. In this commentary, we recommend four strategies to move the field forward and beyond the spanking debate including: 1) use of methodological approaches that allow for stronger causal inference; 2) consideration of human rights issues; 3) a focus on understanding the causes of spanking and reasons for its decline in certain countries; and 4) more emphasis on evidence-based approaches to changing social norms to reject spanking as a form of discipline. Physical punishment needs to be recognized as an important public health problem.     

Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking

As a philosophy professor, one of my central goals is to teach students to think critically. However, one difficulty with determining whether critical thinking can be taught, or even measured, is that there is widespread disagreement over what critical thinking actually is. Here, I reflect on several conceptions of critical thinking, subjecting them to critical scrutiny. I also distinguish critical thinking from other forms of mental processes with which it is often conflated. Next, I present my own conception of critical thinking, wherein it fundamentally consists in acquiring, developing, and exercising the ability to grasp inferential connections holding between statements. Finally, given this account of critical thinking, and given recent studies in cognitive science, I suggest the most effective means for teaching students to think critically.     

对话教学:为思维而教

思维的价值需要教育的指导,才能充分实现其机能。然而传统教学以内容为中心,是一片思维教学的荒芜地。其根源在于混淆了作为思维结果的逻辑与作为思维过程的逻辑的区别。教学对话是一项为思考而教学的手段,教学对话的核心是有效提问。有效提问指问题既囊括内容又明确提示我们希望学生执行的某种特定的心理操作,用来推动和引导学生回答问题时的思考进程。同时,有效提问还指教师针对学生的回答进行穷追不舍地追问,要求学生通过反思自己的初始回答来解释、验证和支持自己的所思所想。     

如何培养批判反思型教师

本通过概述教师职业发展的历程，就批判反思型教师提出的背景、意义与价值进行分析。在此基础上，笔提出了培养批判反思型教师的四个前提条件，即个性化的解放、教育体制的解放、教师的自我解放和培养体制的解放等。     

问题教学与批判性思维的培养

新课程改革注重学生创新思维的培养,而批判性思维是创新思维的基础,将问题教学和批判思维结合起来,研究在高中物理教学中如何通过精心设问、引导学生发现问题和提出问题,让学生在多向交流中进行思维交锋及消解权威等方式来培养学生的批判精神。     

问题教学与批判性思维的培养

新课程改革注重学生创新思维的培养,而批判性思维是创新思维的基础,将问题教学和批判思维结合起来,研究在高中物理教学中如何通过精心设问、引导学生发现问题和提出问题,让学生在多向交流中进行思维交锋及消解权威等方式来培养学生的批判精神。