Using Cases to Improve the Critical Thinking Skills of Prospective Teachers

How do we deepen our story reservoir by designing, developing, and writing instructional cases for teaching evaluation?

“…A case is much more than a well‐written story or snapshot in time; it is driven by purpose (Hatche et al., 2018). When creating a case, the first design component is developing clear goals, objectives, and learning outcomes (Cohen et al., 2017; Davis et al., 2014; Elksnin, 2005; Golich, 2000; Hatcher et al., 2018; Henry et al., 2018; Ward & Hill, 2017). Goals and objectives serve as drivers, helping the designer to make critical decisions about how the case should be developed and how to ground elements of the case to ensure that the case facilitates learning (Naumes & Naumes, 2005, 2011; Henry et al., 2018).…”

“…Closed problem cases, problem solution, or problem centered cases provide characteristics of a context, but also provide a stated problem and the necessary information for the learner to solve the problem. In these cases, learners are applying their knowledge to produce a single correct solution to the problem (Elksnin, 2005; Golich, 2000; Jonassen, 2006).…”

“…Decision‐forcing, open problem cases, and problem‐based cases must provide critical context information, important factors, that allow the learner to analyze the situation, engage in diagnostic reasoning, and determine next steps toward defining or solving a problem (Cohen et al, 2017; Elksnin, 2005; Golich, 2000). Additionally, in these cases the writer might omit important information requiring the learner to determine a process to acquire the information or make inferences based on given information (Cohen et al., 2017; Elksnin, 2005; Golich, 2000; Hung, 2006, 2009).…”

“…Another essential design component is ensuring that the case represents a realistic situation (Cohen et al., 2017; Davis et al., 2014; Elksnin, 2005; Golich, 2000; Hatcher et al., 2018; Henry et al., 2018; Ward & Hill, 2017). In the absence of a clinical teaching environment, realistic written cases allow students to vicariously inhabit the setting and can help students learn to critically analyze a situation and make recommendations based on the information provided (Elksnin, 2005; Golich, 2000; Hatcher et al., 2018). Specific realities vary across different disciplines, industries, or working environments.…”

A Model of Decision-Making Based on Critical Thinking

“…Öğrencilerde eleştirel düşünmenin gelişimi ile ilgili çalışmalar, büyük oranda sınıf içerisinde kullanılan öğrenme-öğretme stratejilerinden etkin öğrenme (Kim, Sharma, Land ve Furlong, 2013), işbirlikli öğrenme (Gokhale, 2012), tartışma (Hoaglund, 1993;Lu, Ho, Hau ve Lai, 2014) ve proje tabanlı öğretim yöntemleri (Ten Dam ve Volman, 2004) ile vaka çalışması, (Elksnin, 2005), şiir sanatı (Rich, 1993), kompozisyon yazma (Shen, 1993) gibi öğretim teknik ve etkinlikleri üzerinde durmaktadır. Ancak eleştirel düşünme daha profesyonel, gelişmiş, nitelikli ve etkili bir düşünme becerisi (Schafersman, 1991) olduğu için gelişimi oldukça yavaştır ve bir anda gerçekleşmemektedir (Wolcott, Baril, Cunningham, Fordham ve Pierre, 2002).…”