Critical thinking—every scholar in the literature has defined it, but there is no clearly agreed upon definition. No wonder polls and surveys reveal that few college-level faculty can define critical thinking or know how to teach it. Still, critical thinking keeps appearing in accreditation standards and surveys of the skills employers seek in college graduates. The good news is that we do know that critical thinking can be taught. But the concept cries out for the simplification, translation into discipline-relevant course outcomes, tangible teaching strategies, and concrete assessment techniques that this book will provide.Like a course or a workshop, this book proposes learning outcomes for the reader—promises of what the reader will be able to do after reading it. These include:• explain what critical thinking is in simple terms;• convincingly explain to students why it is important for them to learn critical thinking, and, if they tune out, what they stand to lose;• overcome the challenges that teaching critical thinking presents;• identify the type of course content to which critical thinking can be applied and, therefore, that readers can use to teach critical thinking;• integrate critical thinking into the design of a new or existing course in any discipline;• write assessable critical thinking learning outcomes that are compatible with and make sense in any discipline;• select and adapt activities and assignments that will give students no- or low-stakes practice with feedback in critical thinking using a variety of questions, tasks, and teaching methods.

Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology features currentscholarship on effectively teaching critical thinking skills at alllevels of psychology. Offers novel, nontraditional approaches to teaching criticalthinking, including strategies, tactics, diversity issues, servicelearning, and the use of case studies Provides new course delivery formats by which faculty cancreate online course materials to foster critical thinking within adiverse student audience Places specific emphasis on how to both teach and assesscritical thinking in the classroom, as well as issues of widerprogram assessment Discusses ways to use critical thinking in courses ranging fromintroductory level to upper-level, including statistics andresearch methods courses, cognitive psychology, and capstoneofferings

A complete, accessible, evidence-based guide to better teaching in higher education This higher education playbook provides a wealth of research-backed practices for nearly every aspect of effective teaching throughout higher education. It is filled with practical guidance and proven techniques designed to help you improve student learning, both face-to-face and online. Already a bestselling research-based toolbox written for college instructors of any experience level, Teaching at Its Best just got even better. What is new? A lot. For this updated 5th edition, Todd Zakrajsek joins Linda Nilson to create a powerful collaboration, drawing on nearly 90 combined years as internationally recognized faculty developers and faculty members. One of the most comprehensive books on effective teaching and learning, the 5th edition of Teaching at its Best brings new concepts, new research, and additional perspectives to teaching in higher education. In this book, you will find helpful advice on active learning, interactive lecturing, self-regulated learning, the science of learning, giving and receiving feedback, and so much more. Each chapter has been revised where necessary to reflect current higher education pedagogy and now includes two reflection questions and one application prompt to reflect on your teaching and stimulate peer discussions. Discover the value of course design and how to write effective learning outcomes Learn which educational technology is worthwhile and which is a waste of time Create a welcoming classroom environment that boosts motivation Explore detailed explanations of techniques, formats, activities, and exercises—both in person and online Enjoy reading about teaching strategies and educational concepts Whether used as a resource for new and seasoned faculty, a guide for teaching assistants, or a tool to facilitate faculty development, this research-based book is highly regarded across all institutional types.

Bring pedagogy and cognitive science to online learning environments Online Teaching at Its Best: Merging Instructional Design with Teaching and Learning Research, 2nd Edition, is the scholarly resource for online learning that faculty, instructional designers, and administrators have raved about. This book addresses course design, teaching, and student motivation across the continuum of online teaching modes—remote, hybrid, hyflex, and fully online—integrating these with pedagogical and cognitive science, and grounding its recommendations in the latest research. The book will help you design or redesign your courses to ensure strong course alignment and effective student learning in any of these teaching modes. Its emphasis on evidence-based practices makes this one of the most scholarly books of its kind on the market today. This new edition features significant new content including more active learning formats for small groups across the online teaching continuum, strategies and tools for scripting and recording effective micro-lectures, ways to integrate quiz items within micro-lectures, more conferencing software and techniques to add interactivity, and a guide for rapid transition from face-to-face to online teaching. You’ll also find updated examples, references, and quotes to reflect more evolved technology. Adopt new pedagogical techniques designed specifically for remote, hybrid, hyflex, and fully online learning environments Ensure strong course alignment and effective student learning for all these modes of instruction Increase student retention, build necessary support structures, and train faculty more effectively Integrate research-based course design and cognitive psychology into graduate or undergraduate programs Distance is no barrier to a great education. Online Teaching at Its Best provides practical, real-world advice grounded in educational and psychological science to help online instructors, instructional designers, and administrators deliver an exceptional learning experience even under emergency conditions.

NACTA Abstracts Booklet, 2018. NACTA Journal, Volume 62, Supplement 1. This volume contains abstracts presented at the 2018 NACTA Conference, Iowa State University, June 12-15, 2018.

Originally Published by Scholars Press Now Available from Duke University Press This work responds to a renewed emphasis on teaching in the academy. Written from the perspective of a classroom teacher, it is a practical application of the principles behind the critical thinking movement to the study of religion. Emphasizing that the acquisition of critical thinking depends less on what is taught than on how it is taught, the author presents concrete examples from his own experience to illustrate a student-centered approach to teaching. By demonstrating how the study of religion contributes to the development of critical thinking--through the acquistion of problem-solving, decision-making, and metacognitive skills--Penaskovic suggests its value to a broader liberal arts curriculum as well. Both a theoretical view of critical thinking and a nuts-and-bolts manual on how it can be used and assessed in the classroom, this work will challenge new and veteran teachers alike to reexamine and renew what the do in the classroom.

Contextual teaching and learning (CTL) is a system for teaching that is grounded in brain research. Brain research indicates that we learn best when we see meaning in new tasks and material, and we discover meaning when we are able to connect new information with our existing knowledge and experiences. Students learn best, according to neuroscience, when they can connect the content of academic lessons with the context of their own daily lives. Johnson discusses the elements of the brain-compatible contextual teaching and learning system: making meaningful connections; investing school work with significance; self-regulated learning; collaboration; critical and creating thinking; nurturing the individual; reaching high standards; and using authentic assessment. Drawing on the practices of teachers in kindergarten through university, Johnson provides numerous examples of how to use each part of the CTL system.

Originally published in 1990, this title attempts to provide for the educational practitioner an overview of a field that responded in the 1980s to a major educational agenda. This innovative ‘agenda’ called for teaching students in ways that dramatically improved the quality of their thinking. Its context is a variety of changes in education that brought the explicit teaching of thinking to the consciousness of more and more teachers and administrators.

For the last eight years, James and Kate have been working together to design, implement and evaluate a whole-school, evidence-informed approach to teaching and learning known as Learning Skills. An eight-year study with the University of Cambridge revealed that Learning Skills led to significant gains in subject learning, with rapid gains among students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In this practical guide for teachers and school leaders, James and Kate reveal a recipe for success rooted in three key concepts: metacognition (reflecting on learning); self-regulation (taking ownership over the learning process); and oracy (developing high-quality speaking and listening skills). This is a book about what happened when a small team of teachers seized an opportunity to provide their students with the knowledge, the skills and the confidence to take control of their own learning. This journey began with a question: how and what would we teach, if there was no one watching? On the other side of fear is the teacher you want to be, and the children you'd like to teach...