批判性思维对法律逻辑的启示

批判性思维的产生是源于现实的需求和人们渴求把握与认识同现实密切相关的那些论证；它旨在通过智力训练提高人们思维的严整性和论证的纯粹性。这些特征与法律逻辑应用性特征颇为相似。本文试图找出两者的结合。     

Identities, social representations and critical thinking

This comment on L. Simonneaux and J. Simonneaux paper focuses on the role of identities in dealing with socio-scientific issues. We argue that there are two types of identities (social representations) influencing the students’ positions: On the one hand their social representations of the bears’ and wolves’ identities as belonging to particular countries (Slovenia versus France for bears, France and Italy for wolves), in other words, as having national identities; on the other hand representations of their own identities as belonging to the field of agricultural practitioners, and so sharing this socio-professional identity with shepherds and breeders, as opposed to ecologists. We discuss how these representations of identities influenced students’ reasoning and argumentation, blocking in some cases the evaluation of evidence. Implications for developing critical thinking and for dealing with SSI in the classrooms are outlined.

Executive functions as predictors of critical thinking: Behavioral and neural evidence

Theories of critical thinking suggest that executive functions play crucial roles in students’ critical thinking performance. However, very little empirical research has examined the potential confounding factors of fluid intelligence and thinking dispositions on the relationship between executive functions and critical thinking. Study 1, based on a large sample of university students, filled this gap by exploring how three core executive functions (updating, inhibition, and shifting) predicted critical thinking after controlling for fluid intelligence and thinking dispositions. The results showed that updating and inhibition predicted critical thinking over and above fluid intelligence and thinking dispositions. In Study 2, we explored the neural basis of the relationship between executive functions and critical thinking. We found that low-level critical thinkers exhibited higher P3 amplitudes than their high-level counterparts when completing updating and inhibition tasks. These results suggest that critical thinking relies on both updating and inhibition processes indexed by the P3 ERP components.     

Cognitive load of critical thinking strategies

Argument–counterargument integration (Nussbaum, 2008) refers to the process of evaluating, refuting, and synthesizing arguments on two sides of an issue when creating justification for an overall conclusion. This study compared the cognitive load of two critical thinking strategies related to argument–counterargument integration: (a) constructing design claims that minimize disadvantages of an alternative, and (b) weighing refutations (which weaken an argument by arguing that there are more important values at stake). College students (N = 285) first completed the Need for Cognition (NFC) scale and were then presented with materials summarizing arguments and counterarguments on the topic of grading class participation. Participants completed a small, integrative essay justifying a stand on the issue, and completed the Mental Effort Rating Scale (Paas, 1992). Participants who generated complex weighing refutations reported more mental effort than those constructing complex design claims (and the control group), with a stronger relationship with those high in NFC. The need to coordinate disparate elements in working memory may explain the higher load associated with constructing weighing refutations. Students may need more (and different types of) scaffolding in using this strategy than when constructing a design claim, which is a more sequential process.     

The relationship between culture and the development of critical thinking abilities of prospective teachers

The emphasis placed on the individualistic and universal nature of cognitive development in some cognitive development models has resulted in the neglect of the cultural context in the development of cognitive abilities. Consequences of this approach for cognitive development are the strong emphasis which is placed on age-dependent patterns of growth and uniformity. Furthermore, the occurrence of changes in the relationship between an individual and the surrounding environment as crucial for the development of cognitive abilities are neglected. In this paper, a cultural approach to the development of critical thinking abilities is proposed in contrast to the traditional, individualistic approach.     

What stands and develops between creative and critical thinking? Argumentation?

Creative and critical thinking have been traditionally considered as involving independent skills and dispositions. However the definition of critical thinking has been gradually reconsidered to include skills and dispositions through which one opens new links instead of scrutinizing existing links in a closed analysis. Experimental studies have rarely focused on bonds between creative and critical thinking. The present study concerns the antilogos ability, the ability to critically evaluate whether specific information may support different claims. This ability pertains to critical thinking. One hundred and eight male adolescents from Grades 8, 10 and 12 participated in antilogos evaluation and answered tests measuring creative thinking and dispositions to critical reasoning. The study shows rich bonds between creative thinking and antilogos evaluation and between their developments. Analytical skills involved in antilogos evaluation were shown to develop, so that older adolescents could uncover unexpected aspects for interpreting given information, or could challenge the credibility of the given information. In contrast, heuristic biases may hamper older adolescents to free themselves from holding one meaning to given information, the meaning to which their heuristics is directed. We found that in order to free themselves from holding one meaning, adolescents need a high level of a particular aspect of creative thinking which does not develop during adolescence. The study shows then that effective antilogos evaluation involves both critical and creative thinking. We conclude that antilogos evaluation is archetypical in the sense that tasks involving both critical and creative thinking must be of argumentative nature.     

Improving critical thinking: Effects of dispositions and instructions on economics students' reasoning skills

This experiment investigated the impact of critical thinking dispositions and instructions on economics students' performance on reasoning skills. Participants (N = 183) were exposed to one of four conditions: critical thinking instruction, critical thinking instruction with self-explanation prompts during subsequent practice, critical thinking instruction with activation prompts during subsequent practice, or no critical thinking instruction or prompts (control). In all conditions, practice was a within-subjects factor, some task categories present in the test were practiced on a business case, others were not. Participants in the instruction conditions significantly outperformed participants in the control condition on the immediate and delayed post-test, but only on the practiced task categories – with the exception of the self-explanations condition, which also showed a better performance than the control condition on not-practiced categories, though only on the immediate post-test. Dispositions (i.e., Actively Open-minded Thinking and Need for Cognition) predicted reasoning skills at pre-test but did not interact with instructions on post-tests performances.     

The effects of a critical thinking oriented instructional pattern in a tertiary EFL argumentative writing course

ABSTRACT

This study introduced an instructional pattern that integrated the framework of the International Critical Thinking Reading and Writing Test (ICTRWT), designed by Paul and Elder, into a tertiary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) argumentative writing course. To measure the effects of the instructional pattern, a mixed methods approach was adopted. Two groups of students were involved in the experiment, with the treatment group receiving the instructional intervention and the control group receiving regular instruction in a tertiary argumentative writing course. A critical thinking test and a writing test were used to investigate the effects of the treatment, and questionnaires and interviews were also employed to examine students’ attitudes toward the instructional pattern. The quantitative statistic data reveals that students who received the instructional treatment outperformed the students in the control group in terms of overall critical thinking skills and skills of identifying and evaluating the elements of thoughts. Meanwhile, the treatment group also performed better with regard to overall writing ability, organization and coherence. Additionally, the data gained from the questionnaires and interviews suggest students’ general positive attitudes toward the instructional pattern.     

The effects of communication medium on argumentation and the development of critical thinking

The aim of this paper is to compare the effects of different communication media on the quality of arguments and the development of argumentative reasoning. The study involved 73 undergraduate students. It consisted of a pre-test, an intervention session consisting of either an asynchronous online discussion or a face-to-face discussion, and a post-test. The pre-test consisted of a mini essay to ascertain participants’ opinion of smacking, and a 21-point smacking scale, where participants indicated how much they agreed or disagreed with smacking. The online group participated in a seminar discussion over a period of 2 weeks. The face-to-face group participated in the seminar discussion for a 1-h period. The seminar discussion was about the detrimental effects of smacking on children's development. One week after the seminar discussion, the post-test was administered. No statistically significant differences were found between the two conditions in terms of improvement in the quality of the students’ arguments. However, the quality of the argumentation used in face-to-face was higher than that used in the online discussions. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of collaborative activity are discussed.     

A comparison of a subject-specific and a general measure of critical thinking

The majority of studies reporting gains in college students’ critical thinking due to instructional process variables measured critical thinking with subject-specific questions rather than general or decontextualized questions. However, it is uncertain whether these gains were attributable to the use of subject-specific questions or to other distinctive aspects of these studies (e.g., methodological). The present study provides a direct, controlled comparison between general and subject-specific test questions in the context of a laboratory-based true experiment assessing the effect of higher order review questions on gains in critical thinking. A stronger effect was found when the tests of critical thinking contained questions that were subject-specific (e.g., introductory psychology) rather than questions that focused on general topics.     

Teaching critical thinking: Cultural challenges and strategies in Singapore

Among the challenges faced by educators in promoting critical thinking is that of cultural compatibility. Using Singapore as an illustrative case study, this paper explores the cultural challenges and recommended strategies for the teaching of critical thinking in schools. The research for this study is based on a theoretical framework that focuses on two dominant practices of critical thinking: confrontational and individualistic on the one hand, and collegial and communal on the other. Research data shows that the main cultural challenges are the social expectations of teachers as knowledge transmitters and a perception that critical thinking is essentially adversarial. The recommended strategies are the utilisation of cooperative learning strategies and the provision of a safe learning environment. There are two major implications arising from this research study. The first is a need for policymakers and educators to be cognisant of cultural constraints in the teaching of critical thinking. The second is the significance of teacher efficacy to engender student engagement and successful learning within socio‐cultural constraints. The Singapore experience adds to the existing literature by highlighting the existence and significance of communitarian practices of critical thinking in an Asian context.     

The complexities in fostering critical thinking through school-based curriculum innovation: research evidence from Singapore

Abstract

Singapore’s strong performance in international benchmarking studies – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) – poses a conundrum to researchers who view Singapore’s pedagogy as characterized by the teaching of facts and procedures, and lacking in constructivist learning principles. In this paper, we examine the impact of different curriculum innovations on critical thinking as measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Assessment – UK (WGCTA-UK). This includes two innovations that are subject-specific and short-term, one that strongly infuses the arts into the curriculum throughout the whole course of study, and the innovation of the Integrated Programme (IP) which allows academically stronger students to skip the GCE “O” Levels and enter directly into the next level of education, with the time previously allocated to exam preparation now spent on greater breadth in the academic and non-academic curriculum. This paper takes the sociocultural approach to investigate the contexts, process, and outcomes, reports the state of critical thinking, and sheds light on how critical thinking is being promoted. Through our analysis, we find support for the claim that only curriculum that is rigorously designed to foster critical thinking competencies will reap the intended student outcome.     

Assessing students’ critical thinking performance: Urging for measurements using multi-response format

The current paper discusses ambiguities in critical thinking assessment. The paper first reviews the components of critical thinking. It then discusses the features and issues of commonly used critical thinking tests and to what extend they are made compatible to the conceptualization of critical thinking. The paper argues that critical thinking tests utilizing a single multiple-choice response format measures only recognition or level of knowledge, and do not adequately capture the dispositional characteristics of test-takers. Multiple-choice response format does not reveal test-takers’ underlying reasoning for choosing a particular answer, nor does it reflect test-takers’ ability to think critically under unprompted situations. Whereas measurement that allows for responses in both multiple-choice and open-ended format makes it possible to assess individuals’ spontaneous application of thinking skills on top of their ability to recognize a correct response. Assessment consists of multi-response format should be pursued for effective evaluation of students’ critical thinking performance.     

The dynamic relationship between response processes and self-regulation in critical thinking assessments

Our aim was to explore higher education students’ response and self-regulatory processes plus the relationship between these, as evidenced in two types of performance-based critical thinking tasks included in the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+) International instrument. The data collection consisted of 20 cognitive laboratories. The data were analyzed using a qualitative approach. The tasks were found to trigger different response and self-regulatory processes. Overall, the performance task evoked more holistic processes than the selected-response questions, in which students’ processes were more question-oriented. The results also indicated the entanglement of students’ response and self-regulation processes. Three self-regulation groups were identified. Students with versatile self-regulation skills were able to complete the task thoroughly, whereas students with moderate self-regulation skills faced challenges in monitoring and evaluating their performance. Students who were lacking in self-regulation struggled both with the task as a whole and their own progress. Implications for higher education are discussed.     

Criticality's affective entanglements: rethinking emotion and critical thinking in higher education

ABSTRACT

Critical thinking is often understood as a set of tangible, transferrable and measurable skills and competencies. Yet, it is also an intensely affective experience that is complex, contingent and contextualised. Using interview, focus group and observation data conducted with 15 first-year undergraduate social science students at a UK research-intensive university, this paper explores how students negotiate the complex knowledge practices that constitute critical thinking, particularly the affects of being and becoming critical. The theoretical tools offered by Karen Barad and Sara Ahmed allow a conceptualisation of critical thinking as a complex phenomenon of socio-material and affective practices. This paper turns to Barad and Ahmed to explore the potential of their clashing theorisations for thinking through the affective territories of critical thinking. It will argue that acknowledging the way(s) critical thinking feels (as well as what it is and what it is for) opens up new imaginaries for feminist scholarship about criticality.     

教师批判性思维倾向量表(TCTS)的修订

本研究的目的在于以分析教师批判性思维倾向(Teacher Critical Thinking)的结构为基础,制订教师批判性思维倾向的测量工具。原始问卷根据台湾学者朱苑瑜、叶玉珠编制完成的《批判性思考倾向量表》及教师批判性思维倾向的理论定义而构造。489位中小学教师参加了测验。要求被试在6点量表上评定问卷的每一个条目是否适合描述他们自己,“1”代表非常同意,“6”代表非常不同意。测验结果得到了一个由12个条目构成的四因素结构的教师批判性思维倾向量表,该因素解释总变异的74.2%,量表平均分为27.12,标准差为10.98,无显著性性别差异(t=.336,P=.737)。统计分析还表明:该量表具有较好的内部一致性信度(a=.9496)和折半信度(r=.9384)。本量表适合在中小学教师中使用,稳定性较强,项目较少,简便易行。     

A computational model of student cognitive processes while solving a critical thinking problem in science

Critical thinking when engaged in science problem solving around even simple tasks such as the Piagetian volume conservation task is a complex endeavor. Tasks such as the conservation task often require the interaction of multiple cognitive systems. Parity judgment, retrieval, and lateral thinking are three examples of such systems interacting with critical thinking during a student’s attempt to solve the Piagetian task. The purpose of this computational ablation study is to establish the role of critical thinking as a necessary component of a system of cognition used for the completion of the Piagetian volume conservation task. This ablation study consists of three phases. The confidence interval between the ablation model and the elementary students do not overlap, indicating they are not statistically significantly different. This provides evidence that the model successfully emulates aspects of human cognition and the model can provide a robust picture of science student cognitive processes.     

Patterns of student writing in a critical thinking course: A quantitative analysis

Two studies assessed student writing in a critical thinking course. The first study examined initial and final versions of a term paper. Linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) analyses of essays revealed significant differences in linguistic variables and some differences in cognitive variables. The second study examined student essays at the beginning and end of the semester. Taken together, the studies indicate that students express themselves with less tentativeness at the end of the semester, and are consistent with the suggestion that students move from relativism to commitment during the course of a semester. In addition, the results indicate that the LIWC may detect differences between different writing genres.     

Teaching thinking on a national scale: Israel's pedagogical horizons

Like other countries, Israel had its share of projects that see the implementation of inquiry and higher order thinking in schools as their main goal. However, although many of these projects were quite successful, they did not succeed in changing the bulk of teaching and learning in Israeli schools. This article describes a new national educational policy called “Pedagogical Horizons for Learning”. The goal of this policy is to move the whole educational system towards a focus on higher order thinking and deep understanding. Such a move must consider the knowledge gained from previous projects but it must also lean on strategies for implementing systemic educational change. Implementing the goals of the “Pedagogical Horizons for Learning” on a national scale requires simultaneous work on three-dimensions: (a) curriculum, learning materials and standards; (b) professional development; and (c) assessment. The article outlines the plan for each of these three-dimensions and provides some accounts of the first stages of the implementation process.     

批判性思维研究概述

批判性思维研究在一些基本问题上还存在分歧。本文在相关文献、资料的基础上,对批判性思维的涵义、本质、研究现状、相关理论及批判性思维的培养等方面进行了综述。