Critical Thinking Seminar
CRITICAL THINKING
THROUGH READING
As a result of Victoria Demidova’s participation in autumn 2008 Critical Thinking E-Teacher Course developed and conducted by faculty at the American English Institute, University of Oregon and sponsored by the Office of English Language Programs, U.S. Department of State, UzTEA Samarkand branch held a seminar on critical thinking in July, 2009.
Seminar goals
By the end of the seminar participants were to:
- Develop understanding of critical thinking concepts
- Be able to read and analyze texts using critical thinking tools
- Develop personal critical thinking skills
Course components included the following:
- Reading on critical thinking issues from journals, reports, and guides. All materials used in the seminar were copyright-compliant and appropriate to general audiences.
- Applying the knowledge of critical thinking while discussing the articles taken mainly from IELTS textbooks.
- Daily assignments to practice and apply seminar information to analysis of different texts.
Seminar timeline and topics
The seminar started on 20 July and ended on 24 July, 2009.
Sessions were run 9 A.M. to 12 P.M.
The sessions consisted of theoretical and practical parts.
Day 1
Reading, analysis and discussion of the articles:
- Critical Thinking: An Overview (critical thinking definitions, Bloom’s Taxonomy of the cognitive domain) (Huitt, W. (1998). Critical thinking: An overview. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University.)
- Why are humans good? (Kerr, Ph. and Jones, C. (2007) Straightforward, Upper Intermediate Student’s Book. Macmillan, pp.96-97)
Day 2
Reading, analysis and discussion of the articles:
- Elements of thought. A checklist for reasoning. Template for analyzing the logic of an article. (Richard, P. and Elder, L. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. The Foundation for Critical Thinking. )
- Unmasking skin (May, P. (2004) IELTS Practice Tests. Learner-friendly testing. Oxford University Press, pp. 80-81)
Day 3
Reading, analysis and discussion of the articles:
- The role of Socratic questions in thinking, teaching and learning (Richard, P. (1993). Critical Thinking: How to Prepare Students for a Rapidly Changing World.)
- Life, but not as we know it (May, P. (2004) IELTS Practice Tests. Learner-friendly testing. Oxford University Press, pp. 59-60)
Day 4
Reading, analysis and discussion of the story:
- The Six Blind Men and the Elephant
Reading, analysis and discussion of the articles:
- Universal Intellectual Standards and questions that can be used to apply to them. Criteria for Evaluating Reasoning (Richard, P. and Elder, L. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. The Foundation for Critical Thinking.)
- Mystery of the mummies (Slater, S., Millen, D., Tyire, P. (2006) IELTS on Track Test Practice Academic. Language Australia Ltd., pp.112-113)
Day 5
Reading, analysis and discussion of the articles:
- Essential Intellectual Traits (Richard, P. and Elder, L. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. The Foundation for Critical Thinking.)
- Did tea and beer bring about industrialization? (Slater, S., Millen, D., Tyire, P. (2006) IELTS on Track Test Practice Academic. Language Australia Ltd., pp. 60-61)
Reading, analysis and discussion of the stories:
- Gandhi’s Completeness
- Walking the Talk
- On Message
(All three stories are from Owen, N., The Magic of Metaphor. 77 stories for Teachers, Trainers and Thinkers. Crown House Publishing Limited, pp. 13-14)
The list of participants of
CRITICAL THINKING
seminar
UzTEA, Samarkand branch
20 -24 July,2009
|
Name |
Occupation |
1 |
Agasaryan Knara |
a translator |
2 |
Anvarov Alisher |
a computer programmer |
3 |
Bahronov Nodirjon |
SSU, a student |
4 |
Bektemirova Kamilya |
a journalist |
5 |
Bobrovskiy Alexander |
SSIFL, a student |
6 |
Halilov Elyor |
a journalist |
7 |
Jumaev Izatulla |
EL teacher |
8 |
Madaminov Kirill |
a computer programmer |
9 |
Murodov Javohir |
a computer programmer |
10 |
Obidov Shamil |
SSIFL, a student |
11 |
Sharipova Jasorat |
SSIFL, a student |
12 |
Simonyants Arevhat |
EL teacher |
13 |
Turaeva Hilola |
SSIFL, a student |
14 |
Usmanova Yulduz |
EL teacher |
15 |
Utemuratova Gozzal |
EL teacher |
Excerpts from some participants’ feedback:
The seminar greatly contributed to my way of thinking. Namely, I learnt how to differentiate between trifle matters and important ones. It’s amazing to know that there is a universal way of thinking which every person should preferably follow. |
Critical Thinking is of great importance in our life and it will take time to develop it. I think what we have done for these 5 days is just the very beginning and I feel I need to fix in my mind the ideas I’ve gained here and go on learning more about it. I wish there were several such seminars each year. |
I think that this seminar is very helpful because we can really understand the message of the author and make our own conclusions and implications. Though we cannot apply this strategy more efficiently now, it will give us sound and stable basis for the future success. |
The seminar on Critical Thinking gave me a good impulse to develop my thinking. The elements of thought and universal intellectual standards helped me understand better information and analyze texts. Maybe it will help me write my own articles in the future. |
The seminar was very interesting and useful for the development of one’s Critical Thinking skills. Although some of the tasks were somewhat challenging for many of us, I’ve found them very rewarding in gradual implementing of text analysis. Having such knowledge and skills, it’s becoming much easier to read and comprehend scientific passages as long as one uses these skills properly. That will serve me a great deal in taking the IELTS exam successfully! |
I learnt a lot of things. I learnt how to analyze a text. Now I can see a real aim of an author and can even feel author’s ideas. If I learn how to think critically, I’m sure I’ll make few mistakes in my life. For me Socratic questioning is one of the most important topics. Its subtitle – dead questions – made me understand that all my teachers taught me in an improper way. All in all, the seminar was great. Thank you a lot. |
