How do you teach critical thinking?

[AgeGap]

I had never even heard of it until I found this site. (Educated in a RC school see) What would be the best way to teach my kids critical thinking?
The amount of BS given to me as fact is astounding. How can I best equip my kids so as to avoid the pitfalls I fell into?

[The True Scotsman]

Start with them, by starting with the roots of philosophy. Teach them about Socrates and his method of constant questioning in order to get to the truth. Then, teach them about paradoxes. I don't know if they will be able to comprehend fallacies (it would depend on the age), but if they can, teach that next. It would also be good to fit the three rules of logic in there somewhere.

[kuroyume0161]

Start them with 'fun' experiments which reveal the problems of confirmation bias, h/w/c reading, subjective experience vs. objective experience. A popular one is the 'personalized' astrology reading which is given to all the students to see how well astrology works - except that each student is, of course, given the same reading. You could also show them the guy in a gorilla suit walking right through the scene (where many people miss him completely because of the instructions to focus on the ball being passed about). These can be great examples for leading into discussions about critical thinking, how to apply it, and how to understand its importance.

There are also a few teachers here that have their own methods and experiments. Hopefully they can help you get a good list of experiments, discussions, and other resources.

This is a great idea and hope that it turns into something you do every year for your students. In my opinion, a class or even just a semester on Critical Thinking should be required (or, at the least, an elective) curriculum. We truly need it!

[GrandMasterFox]

I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for, a general nudge in the right direction? A complete syllabus of study? Activities that are fun and educational for the entire familiy?

Could you be a bit more specific? Also... How old are your kids?

I mean the Penn and Teller show is a good one, but some parents might object to showing it to small children due to the language and nudity and I don't know your views on the matters such as this.

[JamyeJ]

I have presented a paper at 2 science conferences this year about teaching critical thinking in the science classroom.

I have encountered some resistance from administration in teaching something that "cannot be tested" so I emphasize that I keep my lessons short and to the point.

I have a "Be Skeptical" board in my classroom that allows the students to write questions and encourages them to research or experiment to find answers.

There are also two lesson plans that I have used, including the Forer horoscope experiment, which was performed by Randi himself, and psychic cold reading, which I do for my kids every time I have 5-10 minutes at the end of class.

I get a lot of my ideas from CTEG (Critial Thinking Education Group), which you can find with a simple google search.

Drop me a PM if you would like more information, also. I'm doing everything that I can to get more critical thought taught in every classroom, and I'm happy to share my successes and my failures, in concrete terms rather than using buzzwords and nonsense.

Jamye Johnston
GPISD

[Badger]

How about starting with "why" and "how"?

"Why do you think that is correct?"

"How did that come to happen?"

You can do it every day, all day. It becomes a habit.

[The True Scotsman]

Don't forget about your "what's."

Ex:
What is a good life? What is justice? What is good? What is a good society? What is real? etc.

[Wildtime]

The University of California Berkeley came out with the website "Understanding Science", which teaches proper scientific method and provides a checklist to help distinguish real science from pseudoscience. It was put together as a teacher's resource and has lesson plans for each grade.

http://undsci.berkeley.edu/

They also developed "Understanding Evolution" for a more specific focus on evolutionary theory. It is incredibly accessible and I have to admit, it gave me a better understanding of evolution.

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/

[AgeGap]

I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for, a general nudge in the right direction?
That's about it.
Could you be a bit more specific? Also... How old are your kids?
Nine and very bright and a four year old.
I mean the Penn and Teller show is a good one, but some parents might object to showing it to small children due to the language and nudity and I don't know your views on the matters such as this.
I don't swear in front of my kids, except that one time when I forgot they were behind me in the back seat of the car. Whoops. Penn and Teller is for when they are older and start swearing themselves.

Big thanks to everyone for the replies.

[TheDoLittle]

Leave us not forgot the "Baloney Detection Kit"! It's a wonderful way to help teach logical thinking. I recently showed this to my class and they got a lot out of it.

http://users.tpg.com.au/users/tps-seti/baloney.html

eUB4j0n2UDU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUB4j0n2UDU

[kuroyume0161]

Leave us not forgot the "Baloney Detection Kit"! It's a wonderful way to help teach logical thinking. I recently showed this to my class and they got a lot out of it.

That's good in all situations. Glad you mentioned it. Still waiting for the "Pastrami Detection Kit" though - I like me pastrami. :)

[quixotecoyote]

The fallacy stick.

[Andrew Wiggin]

I'd think the big thing is to never pound the 'why' out of them when they're young.

Children are born critical thinkers, but we train them out of it. 'Why' should never be answered by any version of appeal to authority or popularity, but it usually is. Every time a parent says 'because I said so' or 'because everyone is doing it that way' or any of the more subtle ways we crush souls without even realizing it, a little bit of that child's critical thinking dies.

I've seen parents afraid to admit ignorance to a child, so they appeal to their authority to make the why go away. I think it would work a lot better if the parent said 'You know, I don't know the answer to that. Let's figure it out'

A

[athon]

I have presented a paper at 2 science conferences this year about teaching critical thinking in the science classroom.

I have encountered some resistance from administration in teaching something that "cannot be tested" so I emphasize that I keep my lessons short and to the point.

Interesting that you get such resistance. Where are you teaching?

In Australia, critical thinking is an explicit state requirement and has equivalent wording in the upcoming national curriculum, which makes it easier to deal with in educational circles. If your curriculum doesn't have any wording to the effect of critical thinking, working scientifically, critical literacy etc., then I can see how it's hard to start a dialogue with administrators on the topic.

I get a lot of my ideas from CTEG (Critial Thinking Education Group), which you can find with a simple google search.A most excellent site that. :D Unfortunately it's currently down, with view of improvements.

The site really does need more work to be done on it.

Unfortunately, as one of the CTEG founders, I (like the others) have found myself swamped with dealing with more practical matters of getting critical thinking out there. It's frustrating, but I personally would rather involve myself with programs that are funded and have outreach and slip critical thinking resources into schools that way than to reinvent the wheel. But, when I have a break, I will attend to it again and add more information.

Drop me a PM if you would like more information, also. I'm doing everything that I can to get more critical thought taught in every classroom, and I'm happy to share my successes and my failures, in concrete terms rather than using buzzwords and nonsense.Keep up the excellent work.

As for the OP, some good advice in this thread, but the one thing I can offer is to simply encourage sound scientific values in your kids. My biggest rule is to tell students and children 'dare to be wrong'. Learning to cope with incorrect conclusions in a manner that shows they can always be corrected with more information is something that assists the bigger lessons later on.

Good luck!

Athon

[Simon39759]

Wait until they come by repeating some ******** and then simply ask them why they think that.

Don't forget to deconstruct the requirements for this thing to be true: 'But, if aliens are visiting Earth, wouldn't you expect to have better quality photos? Wouldn't they actually land and meet people rather than play silly hide and seek?' 'But, if ghosts were real, how would they exist without a physical brain? And how come only ****** TV programs ever detect physical evidence of them?'

Suggest a more rationale explanation and ask them if it is not more likely.
'Couldn't people misidentify a light in the sky?' Couldn't it just be an insect reflecting the light of the flash'.

If possible, ask them how they would proceed to prove it one way or the other, if feasible, help them actually performing the experience.
You can also see some experience performed, for example on Youtube -Dr Atlantis has some nice stuff, but, in my opinion children will remember better when doing it themselves .

And then, for each specific subject, you can certainly come back here and find some people to help you design a specific lesson plan...

[tonyak]

Based upon your posts, I am assuming that you are looking for information for teaching critical thinking to your own children. In addition to the other very good suggestions already posted, simply model the use of critical thinking in everyday life for your children. "Think aloud" when processing information related to claims you encounter. Children learn a lot through watching and listening to parents, and modeling desired behavior is not only a supplement to teaching explicit skills, but is also necessary if you want your kids to actually use what you have taught them.

[fls]

I had never even heard of it until I found this site. (Educated in a RC school see) What would be the best way to teach my kids critical thinking?
The amount of BS given to me as fact is astounding. How can I best equip my kids so as to avoid the pitfalls I fell into?

I ask questions of my kids when we see commercials (was it washing in Tide that got the stain out or just a second wash regardless of the detergent used? did that tomato plant really grow upside down?). There's usually lots of good material there.

Linda

[bpesta22]

I ask questions of my kids when we see commercials (was it washing in Tide that got the stain out or just a second wash regardless of the detergent used? did that tomato plant really grow upside down?). There's usually lots of good material there.

Linda

Political speak is another good one.

[I Ratant]

How about starting with "why" and "how"?

"Why do you think that is correct?"

"How did that come to happen?"

You can do it every day, all day. It becomes a habit.
.
And point to books for other sources of information.

[The True Scotsman]

I had another thought. If you can find a good set of mystery novels, that might help spark enthusiasm for deduction and truth finding. I'm not a huge mystery novel reader though, so, unfortunately, I can't really recommend anything, but I can get a short list together of novelists.

Some mystery novelists include:
-Agatha Christie
-John Grisham
-Author Conan Doyle

[TheDoLittle]

That's good in all situations. Glad you mentioned it. Still waiting for the "Pastrami Detection Kit" though - I like me pastrami. :)

I had a Polish Sausage Detector once. Unfortunately she wound up divorcing me.

[todd]

I have kids the same age.

Don't forget about the old scooby doo cartoons. They are great fun and an excellent intro to critical thinking. They always come up with a rational answer to the "hauntings".

Simple magic tricks are also very good. You can talk about "real magic" and show them ow easy it is to be fooled if you don't have enough information.

and MYTHBUSTERS!!!

those are the three favorites at our house right now.

[Simon39759]

Mythbuster is a good one...

[kuroyume0161]

Mythbuster is a good one...

I second Mythbusters wholeheartedly. :)

[Hampster]

Critical thinking is not "what" you teach, but "how" you teach.

A huge problem with today's "science" classes, is that they present the book, and tell you what is right and wrong. This is exactly how religion is taught. Science needs to be taught in a lab, and the students need to design the experiments. The "teacher" needs to simply be a guide- asking the right questions, or stimulating their curiosity. (Mythbusters!)

This idea of how vs what can be applied to more than just science too. Critical thinking applies to Literature, History, and many other subjects.

--Dave

[The True Scotsman]

Hampster, I'm not so sure I agree with you. The Socratic method doesn't work at all with history, and neither does experimentation. History is about what happened, not what one can reason to have probably happened. History has to be taught, excuse this wording, dogmatically. Science, it would have to vary. Some things would be very hard or impossible to teach through experiments, such as evolution or cosmology. They would have to be taught on more of a lecture basis. Literature, I might be about to see, as you could do literature analysis.

[athon]

Hampster, I'm not so sure I agree with you. The Socratic method doesn't work at all with history, and neither does experimentation.

Not all science is about experimentation, either. I think you're trying to force boundaries here. History can indeed involve the application of testing to see if given ideas are possible, and employs much of the same reasoning as science does in determining the likelihood of certain accounts.

History is about what happened, not what one can reason to have probably happened.

Here I completely disagree, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a historian who would come down on your side (I'm speculating on that, of course, but I've had this discussion with my father in law, who is in fact a prominent Californian historian).

Like science, history relies on discussing the evidence. Just because a particular account is recorded doesn't mean it is the rule on what occurred. There is much discussion on which theories best explain an event, and which are less likely to be true, as per science.

History has to be taught, excuse this wording, dogmatically. Science, it would have to vary. Some things would be very hard or impossible to teach through experiments, such as evolution or cosmology.

So, that means they're not science? I'm not sure I understand. Critical thinking applies to all of those things equally, however.

Athon

[The True Scotsman]

You're taking my arguments out of context. You are assuming school age children are certified scientists and historians. My arguments are from a teaching standpoint, not a discovery standpoint. It all well and good to discover truth, but school age children need perspective before they can think critically. School age children aren't in the position of analyzing alternative accounts of history to determine which is most reason or has the most evidence for it. Likewise, school age children aren't likely to be able to understand some of the more complex theories in science unless they are taught to them first and told why scientists believe them to be the most reasonable explanations. It's like reading "The Origin of Species" instead of studying finches on Galapagos for a number of years, ect.

[athon]

My arguments are from a teaching standpoint, not a discovery standpoint. It all well and good to discover truth, but school age children need perspective before they can think critically.

True, but the same thinking is required for both science and history. You're speaking as if there is a single truth for history which is present in some form of content, such a textbook, as opposed to science. Maybe I've read you wrong.

I'm arguing that critical thinking extends across both equally. You might not do a chemistry experiment when learning about the American revolution, but that isn't to say there can't be a critical evaluation of evidence performed in both classes.

School age children aren't in the position of analyzing alternative accounts of history to determine which is most reason or has the most evidence for it.If they're capable of analysing evidence in science, they're capable of critical literacy in history.

Likewise, school age children aren't likely to be able to understand some of the more complex theories in science unless they are taught to them first and told why scientists believe them to be the most reasonable explanations. It's like reading "The Origin of Species" instead of studying finches on Galapagos for a number of years, ect.Sure, there always needs to be a starting point for discussion. You can't teach skills without content. But I don't believe that's the argument. The point is that critical thinking extends equally across disciplines and isn't more at home in any particular one.

Athon

[Hampster]

It is very difficult to teach children to think critically as long as they still believe in santa claus. I cannot for the life of me, imagine a way to teach Spelling in a critical manner:-) I never meant that all subjects can be taught in a critical manner.

When I think of teaching History critically, I'm thinking of kids from about 12 and up. You can put forth an question, for example "Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?" Then you can guide the students to finding out Japan's political and economic structure, Could those attitudes lead to war? Or how about the Civil War. Ask students why did some black men fight for the South? A good series of questions and suddenly it becomes apparent that Slavery was not the only reason for the Civil War. Now we can tell students all of this, or we can help them to discover these reasons for themselves.

I agree that some sciences subjects are too difficult to teach in labs. Evolution, Quantum Mechanics, etc. The original question was how to teach critical thinking. Not how to teach science, or how to teach History. My point was that Critical Thinking is not a subject, but a method. This method can be used in many actual subjects, not just math/science.

I think the OP should have asked "How can I teach [subject] to [X]-graders critically?" That is the right question.

[SusanB-M1]

Slightly off-topic question for Athon: Does Jack Klaff feature much nowadays in the sort of work you do? I've just googled him and a lot of links come up. I don't know whether it would help with critical thinking though.

[I Ratant]

You're taking my arguments out of context. You are assuming school age children are certified scientists and historians. My arguments are from a teaching standpoint, not a discovery standpoint. It all well and good to discover truth, but school age children need perspective before they can think critically. School age children aren't in the position of analyzing alternative accounts of history to determine which is most reason or has the most evidence for it. Likewise, school age children aren't likely to be able to understand some of the more complex theories in science unless they are taught to them first and told why scientists believe them to be the most reasonable explanations. It's like reading "The Origin of Species" instead of studying finches on Galapagos for a number of years, ect.
.
Jesuit quote:
"Give me the child by the of seven, I will give you the man".
.
"As the twig is bent, so grows the tree".
"You have to be carefully taught
to hate all the people your relatives hate".
And things like that there.
I know a few folk who always question things. But they never seem to remember the answer, and are seldom capable of reasoning beyond the specific instance of the question, and how the answer can be applied to similar conditions later, coming back with another question on a related subject.

[The True Scotsman]

Athon and Hampster, it seems that at this point we're pretty much all on the same page.

[athon]

Slightly off-topic question for Athon: Does Jack Klaff feature much nowadays in the sort of work you do? I've just googled him and a lot of links come up. I don't know whether it would help with critical thinking though.

Not so much here (Australia) as the UK. I came across some of his stuff there and think he's a great ambassador for science and good thinking skills.

Athon

[SusanB-M1]

Not so much here (Australia) as the UK. I came across some of his stuff there and think he's a great ambassador for science and good thinking skills.

Athon
Thank you for reply.

[AgeGap]

Thank you

Slightly late but the big thank you above is for the posters, the good guys, who gave me lots of food for thought. My initial post was for information to help my kids with critical thought. The information above has helped me also. Thank you.

[Einzig]

I find this interesting. My ancestry is Surinamese and I was there for 2 years when I was 12 years old. There the general culture is that when your kids ask too much questions about the world and are curious they get smacked in the face and called rude. In schools there kids still got spanked over things like getting an F or not saying "sir" before every sentence, with guaranteed bad effects on their creativity and self worth. My brother had to endure a severe sadistic teacher he later told that left his abused hands aching for days. I myself did not last one day on such a school and went to a private school instead. This as an example of how things should not be done.

I find that gapminder's Hans Rosling a great mind opening site to take away biases. My point is really also that here in the Netherlands at least, people can't really be free in questioning things either. If you question commonly accepted theories you can get things ranging from a blank stare and being ignored, to angry people. Perhaps angry because they do not know their reasons of believing things either. Kids might have an easier life not questioning adults, though ofcourse I am not saying this is a good thing. Just a theory of mine when I especially think of kids questioning adults who are strongly religious. These adults might not give an honest answer or be thankful, but snap at your kid instead. Something in the range of "It is just so, have some respect!". I hope your children attend schools where openmindedness and skepticism is welcomed as it should. I also think that people that get in regular contact with others internationally will have a lot better view on things.

[Hampster]

In teacher's defense, it is very difficult to teach in a creative manner with more than 20 students in a class. Teaching creatively requires that the teachers listen to each student. Devoting 5 minutes per student on a subject can very quickly eat up your time, and lead to behavior problems for the other students.

There are a lot of pressures on teachers from outside of class as well. The easiest thing to do is just tell the students to shut up, sit down, and listen.

Here in America, "smart" is an insult. When students are being creative, we often say "Oh you're just being smart." The smart people in the movies are often made fun of. We elect politicians NOT because they are smart, but because they are just like our friend.

As a result, we seriously underfund education, leading to crowded classrooms and improperly trained teachers.

--Dave

[Bill Thompson]

I had never even heard of it until I found this site. (Educated in a RC school see) What would be the best way to teach my kids critical thinking?
The amount of BS given to me as fact is astounding. How can I best equip my kids so as to avoid the pitfalls I fell into?

There is a good post on YouTube about Dr. Segan's Balloney Detection Kit.
eUB4j0n2UDU

Oh well, someone already suggested this.

[GenghisKhan]

Leave us not forgot the "Baloney Detection Kit"! It's a wonderful way to help teach logical thinking. I recently showed this to my class and they got a lot out of it.

http://users.tpg.com.au/users/tps-seti/baloney.html

eUB4j0n2UDU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUB4j0n2UDU

I am in love with this video. I want to make a poster of the points to make sure I remember all of them!

I'm aspiring to be a high school physics teacher once I graduate, and I am excited to teach a subject that so clearly demonstrates the scientific method and encourages the development of critical thinking. :)

[NeilC]

From what I've seen the UK, they'd be better off just trying to teach thinking full stop.

The national curriculum, focus on guided coursework and general spoon-feeding to meet the many targets they are forced to hit appears to have reduced the thinking abilities of the students anyway.

[Chris Hegarty]

In my (relatively uninformed, I might add) the best way to teach children critical thinking is by encouraging them to ask "why?" I've notied that too much of education throws out "why" and instead simply describes what happens in a situation instead of going into the causes of this situation. It's sad from my perspective because I think children are hard-wired to think critically; most are de facto very questioning about the world around them.

Someone pointed out earlier that it would be a good idea to acquaint them with past great thinkers, and I wholeheartedly agree. I also think it would be a good idea to expose them to the news; a good knowledge of world events helps people acquire the ability to work out complex causal relationships.

Once again, this is all my opinion and is, at this point, more theory than practice.