Learning Notes

POD —IDEA Center
Learning Notes
S e p t e m b e r
2 0 0 6
Michael Theall, Youngstown State University, Series Editor
IDEA Learning Objective #11:
“Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas,
arguments, and points of view”
Patricia Armstrong, Vanderbilt University, patricia.armstrong@vanderbilt.edu
Sonja Moyer, US Army Command and General Staff College, sonja.moyer@leavenworth.army.mil
Katherine Stanton, Princeton University, kstanton@princeton.edu
Background
The critical evaluation of ideas, arguments, and
points of view is important for the development of
students as autonomous thinkers (1, 2). It is only
through this critical evaluation that students can
distinguish among competing claims for truth and
determine which arguments and points of views
they can trust and those of which they should be
skeptical. This work lays the foundation for
students’ progressing to staking their own claims in
an intellectually rigorous fashion. Learning how to
analyze and critically evaluate arguments thus
helps them to develop a sound framework to test
their own arguments and advance their own points
of view.
Objective 11 reflects an important component of the
educational process – training students in the habits
of thought in our disciplines. IDEA research has
found that it is related to Objectives #6 through #10
and Objective #12, which all address activities at
the upper levels of cognitive taxonomies, activities
requiring application and frequent synthesis and
evaluation of ideas and events (3). Active
processing is critical to our students’ long-term
retention of ideas and concepts and their ability to
transfer those ideas and concepts to other contexts
(4).
There is a link between this objective and
developing deeper understandings of the self and
the world. By encouraging our students to adopt a
critical framework, we prepare them not only to
engage in scholarly conversation and debate in our
disciplines, but also to be engaged citizens in a
democratic society. As Patricia King points out,
a student who appreciates why people
approach controversial issues in her
discipline from different perspectives is
more likely to see and appreciate the
reasons people approach social
controversies from different perspectives.
By the same token, a student who
evaluates knowledge claims in his major
by reference to the strength of the
evidence in support of conflicting
hypotheses would also be more inclined
to evaluate contradictory claims about
current moral issues by reference to the
weight of available evidence (5, p. 23).
The ability to weigh alternatives, make decisions,
and evaluate contradictory evidence is crucial to
scholastic endeavors and adult life more
generally—to personal happiness, professional
success, and civic engagement.
To achieve this and related objectives, instruction
must incorporate intellectual challenge and activity;
opportunities for creative or original work; finding
and using information and translating that
information into coherent communication; and
opportunities to produce original work rather than
simply recalling information. This is supported by
IDEA research finding that instructors stressing this
objective frequently stimulate students to intellectual
effort (#8), introduce stimulating ideas about the
subject (#13), ask students to share ideas (#16),
and assign work that requires original or creative
thinking (#19). For additional information about this
objective, see IDEA Paper #37 Helping Your
Students Develop Critical Thinking Skills.
•
•
Helpful Hints
Teaching students “how to think” may begin by
alerting them to the kinds of questions and
problems that interest scholars or professionals in
your field. So you may consider organizing your
courses around such questions and problems to
stimulate your students’ intellectual interest. Rather
than simply presenting information, be explicit with
your students about how you approach such
questions, defining critical thinking in your field and
modeling disciplinary ways of thought. Engage
students in activities that require sophisticated
thinking and design assessments that call on
students to demonstrate thinking skills. Below, we
provide specific ideas for how to teach students to
analyze and critically evaluate ideas and assess
their abilities to do so. These activities and
assessments require students to identify
assumptions, weigh competing evidence, make
decisions, imagine alternatives, and build
arguments.
•
John Bean writes that once professors decide to
focus on developing critical thinking skills, “much of
their classroom preparation time shifts from
planning and preparing lectures to planning and
preparing critical thinking problems for students to
wrestle with” (6, p. 122). Below, we suggest a series
of what he might call “critical thinking tasks” that
give students practice—and the opportunity to
receive feedback on—analyzing and critically
evaluating ideas, arguments, and points of view.
•
• In humanities and social science courses, keep
the reading load manageable and model for
students how to read critically and to evaluate
arguments in your field (see IDEA Paper #40
Getting Students to Read: Fourteen Tips).
• In math, sciences, and engineering courses,
encourage students participating in study groups
not only to share ideas for solving problems but
also to provide reasons for the problem solving
ideas they advance.
• Have students respond to an editorial in a
newspaper or to a review essay in a scholarly
journal. For that response, ask students to
•
•
•
•
•
identify unstated assumptions, biases, and points
of views and show how they undermine the
argument the author is making.
Teach students to use a pro and con grid to
analyze ideas and points of view (7, see pages
168-171).
Take time in science and engineering classes to
explore the ethical considerations of research
questions and experimental design.
In organized class debates, ask students to argue
for a point of view counter to their own.
Give students “ill-structured problems” in class to
work through. Such problems have no known
answer or solution and cannot be solved with
formal rules of logic or mathematical formulas.
Ask students to come up with multiple solutions
for each problem and rank the viability of each
solution.
Teach students the “believing and doubting
game” (Elbow, cited in 6, p.142), which asks them
to be both sympathetic and skeptical readers.
Help students develop strategies for
systematically gathering data according to
methodologies in your discipline, assessing the
quality and relevance of the data, evaluating
sources, and interpreting the data (5, p. 24).
Encourage students to enter into dialogue with
the sources they read; encourage them to
ask questions, give assent, or protest in the
margins of what they read.
Train students to identify the author’s audience
and purpose when they read.
Encourage students to engage their critical
reasoning skills outside of the classroom (5, p.
24).
Assessment Issues
To teach critical evaluation, we must define critical
thinking in general and in the discipline, model
habits of disciplinary thought, engage students in
activities that require sophisticated thinking, and
design assessments that call on students to
demonstrate thinking skills. Instructional
assignments and activities that promote critical
thinking have to do more than present information
and ask for recall. Rather, they must ask students to
demonstrate their thinking, including their analysis
and critical evaluation of ideas, arguments, and
points of view. These assignments ask students to
do more than reproduce what they know; they ask
them to produce new knowledge.
Angelo and Cross (7) offer many techniques for
assessing critical thinking, problem solving,
analysis, and related skills. Echoing and expanding
on their ideas, we make the following suggestions:
• Design a writing assignment that asks students to
test a critic's ideas (or an everyday assumption)
against a primary text or texts.
• Ask students to apply a theory they’ve learned in
a social science class by designing an
experiment to test the theory. Have them carry
out the experiment and document the results.
• Design a writing assignment that prompts
students to position themselves within a scholarly
or real-life debate.
• Ask students to review a scientific paper,
assessing the evidence the authors use and how
they use it.
• Allow students to choose a current political issue
relevant to a community to which they are
attached. Have them research both major parties’
point of view on this issue and critically analyze
them. As a writing assignment or project, ask
students to agree with one major party’s stand on
this issue and justify their choice.
• Have students use a double-entry journal for
reflection and self-assessment of this learning
objective, using guided questioning. The journal
helps faculty to assess the affective domain, and
helps students through possible “road blocks” in
the process of learning to analyze and critically
evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view. It
also reinforces that this process is ongoing, not
just an assignment for a class. Sample guided
questions include: What happened (when you
analyzed and critically evaluated ideas,
arguments, and points of view)? What was your
reaction as you went through this process? What
did you learn about yourself? How can you apply
what you learned to your education or your life?
• Construct a rubric (i.e. scoring guide) to provide
guidelines for critical analysis and evaluation so
students know what to expect when they are
assessed. The criteria and standards for this
rubric may include the Elements of Reasoning
and Intellectual Standards in Paul and Elder’s
Critical Thinking (8).
References and Resources
(1) Perry, W. G. (1999). Forms of ethical and
intellectual development in the college years.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
(2) Brookfield, S. D. (1987). Developing critical
thinkers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
(3) Bloom, B. (Ed.). (1984). Taxonomy of
educational objectives: Book 1, Cognitive
Domain (2nd ed.). New York, Longman. See pp.
120-121, 162-163, 185-187. A brief synopsis of
the newly revised taxonomy is available at:
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/bloomrev/index.
htm Retrieved March 17, 2006.
(4) Halpern, D. F., & Hakel, M. D. (2003). Applying
the science of learning to the university and
beyond. Change, 35 (4).
(5) King, P. (2000). Learning to make reflective
judgments. In Baxter-Magolda, M. B.
(Ed.), “Teaching to promote intellectual and
personal maturity.” New Directions for Teaching
and Learning, 82. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
(6) Bean, J. C. (1996). Engaging ideas: The
professor’s guide to integrating writing, critical
thinking, and active learning in the classroom.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
(7) Angelo, T., & Cross, P. (1993). Classroom
assessment techniques (2nd ed.). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
(8) Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2002). Critical thinking:
Tools for taking charge of your learning and
your life. Instructor’s Manual. NJ: Prentice Hall.
Related POD-IDEA Center Notes
IDEA Item #8 "Stimulated students to intellectual
effort beyond that required by most courses," Nancy
McClure
IDEA Item #13 "Introduced stimulating ideas about
the subject," Michael Theall
IDEA Item #16 "Asked students to share ideas and
experiences with others whose backgrounds and
viewpoints differ from their own," Jeff King
IDEA Item #19 "Gave projects, tests, or
assignments that required original or creative
thinking," Cynthia Desrochers
Additional Resources
IDEA Paper No. 38 Enhancing Learning - and More!
- Through Cooperative Learning, Millis
IDEA Paper No. 37 Helping Your Students Develop
Critical Thinking Skills, Lynch and Wolcott
IDEA Paper No. 40 Getting Students to Read:
Fourteen Tips, Hobson
IDEA Paper No. 42 Integrated Course Design, Fink
©2006 The IDEA Center
This document may be reproduced for educational/training activities.
Reproduction for publication or sale may be done only with prior
written permission of The IDEA Center.