ideas to action & student affairs designing programs, activities, and services for students that...
TRANSCRIPT
Ideas to Action & Student Affairs
Designing Programs, Activities, and Services for
Students that Foster Critical Thinking and Community
EngagementFebruary 15, 2008
Overview for Today• LR and LR2 connection with I2A
• Fun and Interactive Critical Thinking Activity
• The Paul-Elder Model• “The Little Blue Book”
• Designing Programs, Activities, and Services Worksheet
• Closing
Making the Connection
Linking Learning Reconsidered & Ideas to
Action
Learning Reconsidered & Learning Reconsider 2
Learning Reconsidered and Learning Reconsidered 2 are the ACPA/NASPA Guides that encourage college personnel to rethink our ideas about learning—how it happens, what supports it and what the outcomes are
Student Affairs defined and assessed our student learning outcomes SLO Workshop held in Feb. 2006 Departmental learning outcomes
developed & posted on the web
Learning Defined The idea behind Learning
Reconsidered is that academic learning and student development are integrated processes
“Learning is a complex, comprehensive, holistic, transformative activity that occurs throughout and across the college experience…learning, development and identity formation can no longer be considered as separate from each other; they are interactive and shape each
other as they evolve.”
The SLO Cycle
Plans for Improveme
nt
Learning Outcomes
Identify Evidence,
Measures, & TimelineObservation
/Evaluation
Results
Student learning via Student Affair programs is reflected by the SLO Cycle
Continuous learning process
Quality improvements will happen automatically
Learning Outcomes• Learning Reconsidered Outlined 7
Broad Student Learning Outcomes
• Cognitive Complexity• Knowledge Acquisition, Integration and
Application• Humanitarianism• Civic Engagement• Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Competence• Practical Competence• Persistence and Academic Achievement
Connecting the Dots to I2A• What LR and LR2 calls cognitive complexity
falls right in line with Louisville’s Ideas to Action initiative
• Dimensions of Cognitive Complexity Include:• Critical Thinking• Reflective Thinking• Effective Reasoning• Intellectual Flexibility• Emotion/Cognition Integration• Identity/Cognition Integration
Connecting the Dots to I2A
• What LR and LR2 calls knowledge acquisition, integration, and application also connects to I2A
• Dimensions of Knowledge Acquisition Include:
• Connecting knowledge to other knowledge, ideas and experiences
• Relating knowledge to daily life • Pursuit of lifelong learning• Career decidedness• Technological competence
What’s the link between I2A and Student Affairs?
• Ideas to Action focuses on fostering students’ ability to think critically about their work in and outside the classroom and requires them to apply their knowledge and ideas to real-world situations and contexts.
• Our work with student learning outcomes has begun to focus on identifying ways we can help students practice and refine their critical thinking skills through:
• Development of program objectives• Creation of student outcomes• Assessment of program objectives and student
learning outcomes
Making the ConnectionIdeas to Action
•Holistic conception of student experience Curricular and Co-Curricular
•Aligns with the existing focus on student development
•Many Student Affairs programs provide opportunities for students to apply critical thinking skills
SLOs
•Using LR/LR2 to develop SLOs that are:
•Meaningful•Measurable•Manageable
•Focus on cognitive complexity and knowledge acquisition
Students are better prepared to live and work in a complex
world
A Fun and Interactive
Critical Thinking Activity
Critical Thinking Activity• Where do you see critical
thinking in this Account?
• If so, where? Consider this in the way the incident was reported, and/or in the Account?
Critical Thinking Activity
Draw a visual representation or interpretation of the change you saw from
Account 1 to Account 4
What you said Critical Thinking is…
A Well-Cultivated Critical Thinker:
Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely
Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively
Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards
Thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as needs be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences
Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems
(Richard Paul and Linda Elder, the Foundation for Critical Thinking: http://www.criticalthinking.org/)
Which leads to deeper
Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model
Intellectual Standards
Elements of Reasoning
Intellectual Traits
Must be appliedto
to develop
ClarityAccuracy Precision
SignificanceRelevance
SufficiencyLogical
BreadthFairness
Depth
QuestionsPurposes Inferences
Points of viewInformation
Concepts
AssumptionsImplications
HumilityAutonomy
Fair-mindedness
CourageConfidence in
reasoning
IntegrityEmpathy
Perseverance
Critical Thinking Definition
Critical thinking is a process of thinking to a standard.
Simply being involved in the process of critical thinking is not
enough; it must be done well and should guide the
establishment of our beliefs and impact our behavior or action
(Huitt, 1998).
8 Elements Thought (p.5):
Whenever we think,Whenever we think, 1. We think for a purpose2. Within a point of view3. Based on assumptions4. Leading to implications and consequences5. Using data, information and experiences6. To make inferences and judgments7. Based on concepts and theories8. To answer a question or solve a problem
Standards for Thinking (p. 10-12)
Central six Standards
CLARITY Could you elaborate? Could you illustrate what you mean? Could you give me an example?
ACCURACY How could we check on that? How could we find out if that is true? How could we verify or test that?
PRECISION Could you be more specific? Could you give me more details? Could you be more exact?
RELEVANCE How does that relate to the problem? How does that bear on the question? How does that help us with the issue?
DEPTH What factors make this difficult? What are some of the complexities of this
question? What are some of the difficulties we need to
deal with?
BREADTH Do we need to look at this from another
perspective? Do we need to consider another point of view? Do we need to look at this in other ways?
LOGIC Does all of this make sense together? Does your first paragraph fit in with your last
one? Does what you say follow from the evidence?
SIGNIFICANCE Is this the most important problem to
consider? Is this the central idea to focus on? Which of these facts are most important?
FAIRNESS Is my thinking justifiable in context? Am I taking into account the thinking of
others? Is my purpose fair given the situation? Am I using my concepts in keeping with
educated usage, or am I distorting them to get what I want?
COMPLETENESS How complete are the facts related to the
issue? How complete is the description? Is the description of each perspective
complete?
Improve Thinking: The Intellectual Traits (p.15-
17)• Intellectual
Humility• Intellectual
Courage• Intellectual
Empathy• Intellectual
Autonomy
• Intellectual Integrity
• Intellectual Perseverance
• Confidence in Reason
• Fairmindedness
Which leads to deeper
Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model
Intellectual Standards
Elements of Reasoning
Intellectual Traits
Must be appliedto
to develop
ClarityAccuracy Precision
SignificanceRelevance
SufficiencyLogical
BreadthFairness
Depth
QuestionsPurposes Inferences
Points of viewInformation
Concepts
AssumptionsImplications
HumilityAutonomy
Fair-mindedness
CourageConfidence in
reasoning
IntegrityEmpathy
Perseverance
Designing Programs, Activities and Services Worksheet
As effective practitioners we have an obligation to clearly understand, articulate and facilitate critical thinking in the activities and programs we design.
It benefits us, our colleagues and our students when we regularly re-examine the alignment of our
1. Aligning Critical Thinking with Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes
In designing your programming, activities and services, it is essential to begin by articulating the
learning outcomes of this program and your understanding of how they function within your
department.
•What are the student learning outcomes for this program, activity or service? (Name at least one) •What is most important critical thinking skill or key concept you are trying to foster in students?
2. Fundamental and Powerful Concepts
Fundamental and powerful concepts are used to explain or think about a huge body of questions, problems, information, and situations. They are the core, most useful ideas in your field or
discipline.
• Write down one or more of the fundamental and powerful concepts that are the bedrock on which your program, activity or service are built. Consider one or more of the broad fundamental and powerful concepts
of your field.
• Review your answer to #1. Are your learning outcomes in sync with the mastery of the key concept identified
above?
3. Promoting Critical Thinking Through Specific Cognitive Tasks
Programs that foster critical thinking provide students with the opportunity to think through and solve a
new situation or problem, engaging with the set of concepts and skills that you identified in #1 and #2.
• Identify the new situation, problem or task you will introduce to students in order to allow them to “grapple” with novel information or situations. What would they do? What would they look like?
• How will you make this task a purposeful ingredient in your programming?
Feedback
• What questions do you have?
• Please provide your comments and suggestions
I2A Team
Dr. Patty Payette, I2A Executive Director: [email protected], 852-5171
Dr. Cathy Bays, Delphi Specialist for Assessment: [email protected], 852-5138
Dr. Edna Ross, Delphi Specialist for Critical Thinking: [email protected], 852-5105
Hannah Anthony, I2A Program Assistant Senior: [email protected], 852-7611
Student Affairs Facilitators:
Dr. Michael Mardis
Michael Anthony
Becky Clark
Pam Curtis
Kim Shaver
http://www.louisville.edu/ideastoaction
http://www.louisville.edu/ideastoaction