Are we really serious about critical thinking? Are we really serious about higher order thinking? And are we serious about teaching students to think? And to evaluate, integrate, synthesise, compare and contrast? Some would say yes and some would say no, and others would hedge their bets and provide a long diffuse answer which rambles and circumvents the issue. Critical thinking is much like the weather; people talk about it, but very few people do anything about it. However, the authors of this edited book are out in the field, in classrooms, colleges, universities and libraries across the world trying to enhance critical thinking, promote it and assess and measure its growth and development.
In this book, we try to provide a practical, down-to-earth guide for those who are involved in language learning and teaching. We hope that this book will be a useful reading for those who would like to incorporate higher-order thinking skills (HOTS)-enhancing techniques in their teaching practice. We set out from the position that, although it is hardly doubtful that it is at the heart of education, critical thinking is in reality often not given its due attention in pedagogy, particularly in language education. This book offers readers some practical advice on how to implement HOTS in their own practice. It has been written to take the reader through each technique with the ultimate goal of promoting HOTS step-by-step. In the introductory chapter, we present an overview of the theory behind HOTS, its definition, its relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy, its two dimensions (critical thinking and reflective thinking), and the ideas of some influential thinkers in this area. The subsequent chapters present six HOTS-enhancing techniques that classroom teachers can draw from, namely graphic organizers, critical discourse analysis, argumentation, emotion regulation and emotional intelligence enhancing techniques, reflective journals, and mindfulness-based strategies. As the book draws on a wide-ranging review of literature with exercises for direct use with language learners, we hope that this provides both theoretical and practical support for the teaching process to help language learners become effective critical thinkers. The compilation of the ideas in this book took us a long time, over a decade. Something that takes such a long time requires much engagement and life experience; so did this book.
Covers how to develop and use test questions and other assessments that reveal how well students can analyze, reason, solve problems, and think creatively.
This volume examines the assessment of higher order thinking skills from the perspectives of applied cognitive psychology and measurement theory. The volume considers a variety of higher order thinking skills, including problem solving, critical thinking, argumentation, decision making, creativity, metacognition, and self-regulation. Fourteen chapters by experts in learning and measurement comprise four sections which address conceptual approaches to understanding higher order thinking skills, cognitively oriented assessment models, thinking in the content domains, and practical assessment issues. The volume discusses models of thinking skills, as well as applied issues related to the construction, validation, administration and scoring of perfomancebased, selected-response, and constructed-response assessments. The goal of the volume is to promote a better theoretical understanding of higher order thinking in order to facilitate instruction and assessment of those skills among students in all K-12 content domains, as well as professional licensure and cetification settings.
Uses practical and research-based approaches to improve students' higher-order thinking skills and includes strategies for differentiating higher-order thinking skills and developing them in English language learners.
Learning strategies for critical thinking are a vital part of today’s curriculum as students have few additional opportunities to learn these skills outside of school environments. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for pre-service teachers to learn how to infuse critical thinking skill development in every academic subject to assist future students in developing these skills. The Handbook of Research on Critical Thinking Strategies in Pre-Service Learning Environments is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of critical thinking that highlights ways to effectively use critical thinking strategies and implement critical thinking skill development into courses. While highlighting topics including deep learning, metacognition, and discourse analysis, this book is ideally designed for educators, academicians, researchers, and students.
Taxonomy-- 'Classification, esp. of animals and plants according to their natural relationships...'Most readers will have heard of the biological taxonomies which permit classification into such categories as phyllum, class, order, family, genus, species, variety. Biologist have found their taxonomy markedly helpful as a means of insuring accuracy of communication about their science and as a means of understanding the organization and interrelation of the various parts of the animal and plant world.
Develop your students' critical thinking skills and prepare them to perform competitively in the classroom, on state tests, and beyond. In this book, Moore and Stanley show you how to effectively instruct your students to think on higher levels, and how to assess their progress. As states implement the Common Core State Standards, teachers have been called upon to provide higher levels of rigor in their classrooms. Moore and Stanley demonstrate critical thinking as a key approach to accomplishing this goal. They explore the benefits of critical thinking and provide the tools you need to develop and monitor critical thinking skills in the classroom. Topics include: The Difference Between Higher-Level and Lower-Level Thinking Writing Higher-Level Thinking Questions Assessing Critical Thinking Strategies to Develop Higher-Level Thinking Skills
Explore the game-changing technology that allows mobile learning to effectively reach K-12 students Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Developers, Educators and Learners provides research-based foundations for developing, evaluating, and integrating effective mobile learning pedagogy. Twenty-first century students require twenty-first century technology, and mobile devices provide new and effective ways to educate children. But with new technologies come new challenges—therefore, this handbook presents a comprehensive look at mobile learning by synthesizing relevant theories and drawing practical conclusions for developers, educators, and students. Mobile devices—in ways that the laptop, the personal computer, and netbook computers have not—present the opportunity to make learning more engaging, interactive, and available in both traditional classroom settings and informal learning environments. From theory to practice, Mobile Learning explores how mobile devices are different than their technological predecessors, makes the case for developers, teachers, and parents to invest in the technology, and illustrates the many ways in which it is innovative, exciting, and effective in educating K-12 students. Explores how mobile devices can support the needs of students Provides examples, screenshots, graphics, and visualizations to enhance the material presented in the book Provides developers with the background necessary to create the apps their audience requires Presents the case for mobile learning in and out of classrooms as early as preschool Discusses how mobile learning enables better educational opportunities for the visually impaired, students with Autism, and adult learners. If you're a school administrator, teacher, app developer, or parent, this topical book provides a theoretical, well-researched discussion of the pedagogical theory and mobile learning, as well as practical advice in setting up a mobile learning strategy.
