Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Large Classes
Abstract
Developing learners’ critical thinking skills (CTS) has become the goal of education in general and higher education in particular. This is mainly due to the spread of technology, the change in job market requirements and the belief that CTS improve the civic, personal and professional life of individuals. Multiple definitions were given to the term ‘critical thinking’, but Ennis (1985) is adopted here, and Facione’s (1994) classification of CTS is used as a basis. It comprises six major skills, specifically interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation and self-regulation, each of which includes sub-skills. There are three approaches to teaching of CTS: Process, content and mixed approach, and a number of classroom techniques are used, three examples of which are described, especially questioning, argument analysis and problem solving. When CTS are taught in large classes many challenges arise. These are classified under three categories: Pedagogical, organizational and affective, and finally three solutions are suggested, namely changing the teaching method, using Information communication technology (ICT) and working with teaching assistants (TAs).
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Aloqaili, A. S. (2012). The relationship between reading comprehension and critical thinking: A theoretical study. Journal of King Saud University-Language and Translation 24, 35-41.
Airasian, P. W., Cruikshank, K. A., May-er, R. E., Pintrich, P. R., Raths, J., & Wittrock, M. C. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives (complete edition). In L. W. Anderson & D. R. Krathwohl (Eds.). New York: Longman.
Barnett, R. (2004). Learning for an unknown future. Higher Education Research and Development, 23(3), 247-260.
Bishop, J. L., & Verleger, M. A. (2013). The flipped classroom: A survey of the research. In ASEE national conference proceedings. Atlanta, GA.
Block, R. A. (1985). Education and thinking skills reconsidered. American Psychologist, 40, 574-575.
Coleman, H. (1989). Approaches to the management of large classes. Lancaster-Leeds language learning in large classes research project. Report, No. 11. EIRC.
Ennis, R. H. (1985). A logical basis for measuring CTS. Educational Leadership, 43(2), 44-48.
Facione, P. A. (2007). Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts. Millbrae, CA: California Academic Press.
Davies, M. (2012). Computer-aided argument mapping and the teaching of critical thinking (Part 1). Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines, 27(2), 15-30.
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 7-23.
Godfrey, K. A. (2001). Teacher questioning techniques, students’ responses and critical thinking (MA thesis). Portland State University.
Govier, T. (1989). Critical thinking as argument analysis? Argumentation, 3, 115-126.
Halpern, D. F. (2014). Thought and knowledge: An introduction to critical thinking (5th ed.). New York, Psychology Press.
Hayes, U. (1997). Helping teachers to cope with large classes. ELT Journal, S 1, 31-38.
Hasan, Ş., & Sevki, K. (2008). The relationship between CTS and in class questioning behaviours of English language teaching students. European Journal of Teacher Education, 31(4), 389-402. doi: 10.1080/02619760802420784
Herrnstein, R. J., Nickerson, R. S., de Sanchez, M., & Swets, J. A. (1986). Teaching thinking skills. American Psychologist, 41, 1279-1289.
Hornsby D. J. (2013). Teaching large classes in higher education: Challenges and opportunities in a developing context. Canadian International Education Conference June 24-26, 2013, Toronto, Canada.
Lemmer, C. (2013). A view from the flip side: Using the “inverted classroom” to enhance the legal information literacy of the international L.L.M. student. Law Library Journal, 105(4), 464.
Lewis, K. G. (1990).Taming the pedagogical monster: A handbook for large class instructors. Austin: Center for Teaching Effectiveness. The University of Texas at Austin.
Lewis, K. G. (1994). Teaching large classes (how to do it well and remain sane). In K.W. Prichard & R. M. Sawyer (Eds.), Handbook of college teaching: Theory and applications (pp.319-343). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Lewis, K. G., Woodward, P., & Bell, J. (1988). Teaching business communication skills in large classes. The Journal of Business Communication, 25(1), 65-86.
Locastro, V. (2001). Teaching English to large classes. TESOL Quarterly, 35(3), 493-496.
Noonoo, S. (2012). Flipped learning founders set the record straight. THE Journal. Retrieved 2015, March 8 from http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/06/20/flipped-learning-founders-q- and-a.aspx
Norris, S. P., & Phillips, L. M. (1987). Explanations of reading comprehension: Schema theory and critical thinking theory. Teachers College Record, (2), 281-306.
Schafersman S. D. (1991). An introduction to critical thinking. Retrieved 2011, March 28 from http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html
Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Willingham, D. T. (2007). Critical thinking: Why is it so hard to teach? American Educator. American Federation of Teachers.
Yang, Y.-T. C. (2008). A catalyst for teaching critical thinking in a large university class in Taiwan: asynchronous online discussions with the facilitation of teaching assistants. Educational Technology Research and Development, 56(3), 241-264.
Yang, Y.-T. C., Newby, T. J., & Bill, R. L. (2005). Using socratic questioning to promote CTS through asynchronous discussion forums in distance learning environments. The American Journal of Distance Education, 19(3), 163-181.
Yeh, Y. (2006). The interactive effects of personal traits and guided practices on pre-service teachers’ changes in personal teaching efficacy. British Journal of Educational Technology, 37(4), 513-526.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/n
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2017 Mohamed Elfatihi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Share us to: 
Please send your manuscripts to hess@cscanada.net，or hess@cscanada.org for consideration. We look forward to receiving your work.
Articles published in Higher Education of Social Science are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY).
HIGHER EDUCATION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE Editorial Office
Address: 1055 Rue Lucien-L'Allier, Unit #772, Montreal, QC H3G 3C4, Canada.
Telephone: 1-514-558 6138
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net Http://www.cscanada.org
E-mail: caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net
Copyright © 2010 Canadian Research & Development Center of Sciences and Cultures 
