Improving Critical Thinking Skills in the United States Survey Course: An Activity for Teaching the Vietnam War

Abstract

IMPROVING CRITICAL THINKING-defined by one expert as "reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do"has been a frequent topic in the writing of history educators at least since the early 1970s.2 Although articles and papers from the 1970s3 through the 1990s4 have suggested that history textbooks can be a suitable focus for instructional activities on critical thinking, more often history educators have argued that source documents beyond the textbook and, today, electronic sources are especially good media for helping students improve their critical thinking abilities.5 Indeed, a convincing case can be made for emphasizing critical thinking whenever the Internet is used in history classes, partly because of the inconsistent reliability of the sources that can be easily accessed electronically.6 Even if students are guided to reputable sources for research and writing activities in history classes, Avner Segall has pointed out that the current intellectual climate, heavily influenced by critical theory, deconstructionism, and postmodernism, The History Teacher Volume 37 Number

Psychology of color, integration of local culture and effect of infographics on English language learning

“…Bloom's (1956) taxonomy's main focus was on the process of critical thinking as felt by Duron et al (2006); however, the idea received attention due to the concept of cognitive development and its levels. Warren et al (2004) felt that the improvement in the critical thinking skills may take place if these are well integrated into the textbooks and classroom activities. In other words, critical thinking can't be developed in isolation.…”

Improving Critical Thinking Skills in History

“…Critical thinking skills are most effectively developed and learned when they are taught in conjunction or embedded with content -not in isolation (Warren, Memory, & Bolinger, 2004). Moreover, student attitudes, motivations, and dispositions are crucial factors in whether students retain, internalize, and use critical thinking skills in the future.…”

“…In the immersion approach, an in-depth understanding of the content is emphasized by engaging students in the pursuit of knowledge. Warren, Memory, and Bolinger (2004) developed critical thinking exercises by having students break up into groups. Students were then assigned readings that presented different viewpoints and perspectives on the Vietnam War.…”

“…The conclusion was that student critical thinking skills were increased as students compared, contrasted, and evaluated different viewpoints and gained understandings about how authors persuade and convince. The immersion approach was seen as the most effective because it allowed students to fully understand the content of the subject matter and did not emphasize critical thinking skills in isolation (Warren, Memory, & Bolinger, 2004).…”

Η Διδασκαλία Της Εκκλησιαστικής Ιστορίας Στη Σχολική Εκπαίδευση: Θεωρητική Προσέγγιση Και Πρακτικές Εφαρμογές

“…Με βάση τα παραπάνω, η κριτική έρευνα των μαθητών δεν αντιμετωπίζει το ιστορικό γεγονός ως ένα απομονωμένο συμβάν, αλλά το φωτίζει εντός του πλαισίου στο οποίο λαμβάνει χώρα, συμβάλλοντας, έτσι, πολύ πιο αποτελεσματικά στην ανάπτυξη της κριτικής ικανότητάς τους και στη μάθηση με μακροπρόθεσμα αποτελέσματα (Warren, Memory, & Bolinger, 2004). Για τη διεξαγωγή της έρευνας των μαθητών ακολουθήσαμε το μοντέλο που προτείνει ο Milton (1993), με κάποιες παραλλαγές.…”