Rethinking Thinking

Professors today often believe erroneously that they are already teaching critical thinking in their courses and that students are absorbing it… “[College seinors] say, ‘Look how open-minded I am.’ But when pressed to say, ‘What do you think about this? What suggestions would you make and what are they based on?’ – that’s when the process falls apart. They are unable to reach or defend a conclusion that’s most reasonable and consistent with the facts.” — Patricia King, quoted in an article by Mark ClaytonRethinking Thinking (Christian Science Monitor)

4 thoughts on “Rethinking Thinking

  1. Huh… your comment is the first time I’ve honestly considered that angle on the “web” metaphor. I’ve always thought of the “web” as something that connects ideas, not something that catches ideas that are flitting by, minding their own business.

  2. C’mon sir, you are one of the few who can keep up with me on daily dedication, and it’s more interesting than the media’s viewpoint of the news! But you are right, the weblog/journal is not an end, but the means. A web to catch the thoughts that might get lost–even the-most-brilliant-and-eye-opening-can’t forget-this-one thought–if you don’t get them written down somewhere. And though we try to keep it correct, we don’t bog down our inspiration with form in its infancy.

  3. As much as I love it, I’d have to add blogging to the list of hurry-up lifestyle elements. It’s much easier to spend a few minutes articulating a random point than it is collecting all those points into a coherent essay. Of course, when I do get around to writing an essay, I often reveiew blog entries I’ve written on the topic, so I’m not saying blogging is a waste of time. It’s just that blogging is something I can fit into the gaps between classes and meetings, while it’s much harder to accomplish traditional scholarship in 15-minute bursts.

  4. A very interesting article indeed. I think that part of the problem is the pressure of the hurry-up lifestyle we’ve brought upon ourselves in the past half-century. Starting from mom & dad hurrying the kids out the door to school every morning so they can get to their jobs, the addition of after school activities that cut into family time, evenings being separated into half-hour segments of TV programming, we’re taught to race through every day and every life. In school, teachers must adhere to a lesson plan and in college, the new goal is to breeze through it in less than four years so students are overloading their semesters as well as working and having some social life. It continues after school when one enters the working environment, then marriage and kids, and the cycle starts again. It is no wonder that limited attention is given any specific course in school; the attitude is to get down just enough to earn your A, B or C and move on quickly to the next step. Dr. Wyatt’s experimental changes are an excellent example of short circuiting that cycle and making students stop and think. This exercise alone will, with any luck, have an impact.

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