The Critical Thinking Initiative

Special guest Anton Tolman, the lead editor of the book, Why Students Resist Learning: A Practical Model for Understanding and Helping Students, joins Steve and Dave in a discussion of how to convert the "signal" of student resistance into a force for educational growth.  Tolman discusses why student resistance is natural, his research on its causes, and strategies for addressing it, including metacognition.  

Dave and Steve tackle the controversial "Sokel Squared" hoax by academics who got fabricated articles published in academic journals. Join us for spirited commentary on what this hoax accomplishes, why it is dangerous, and how it possibly emerges from an erroneous conception of constructivism.

Steve and Dave offer some concrete, class-ready exercises for using writing to learn to improve learning outcomes and foster deeper critical engagement of subject matter.  They explain why WTL doesn't require extensive time or effort in order to produce better outcomes.  They also discuss the inherent power in writing, and in writing to learn, explain why it holds such power.

Dave and Steve welcome Alice Horning to the podcast to discuss the researching on reading and students' acquisition of literacy skills. Alice is the former editor for the Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, and the author of texts such as "Reconnecting Reading and Writing." Alice brings a wealth of expertise concerning the research on the state of reading and literacy, and how to help students develop those important skills.

Steve and Dave welcome Dr. Marianne Fallon for a fascinating discussion about the power of a growth mindset for students' educational performance. Marianne speaks to research on growth vs. fixed mindsets, how even high-performing students can still suffer from a fixed mindset, common mistakes educators make in reinforcing fixed mindsets, and easy measures any educator can use in any class, such as short reflective assignments, to foster "growthy" students!

By popular demand, Steve and Dave respond to some of the backlog of listener questions.  One listener asks about whether or not critical thinking based on evidence undervalues creativity.  A second listener asks about how to maintain standards for critical thinking while also ensuring a cultural diverse classroom in which all perspectives are valued.  Can we be creative and critical at the same time?  Can we value diverse opinions yet hold students to logical standards of evidence?  Tune in to find out

Some high stakes assessments of student writing are currently being done by computers. Steve and Dave tackle the question of whether or not cutting-edge artificial "intelligence" successfully evaluates papers for critical thinking, or anything else. Will your job as an educator soon be replaced by a computer? Tune in to find out.

Many educators are frustrated by student writing, frustrated by the time they devote to responding to student writing, and frustrated by the lack of revision, if not improvement, between drafts.  In this episode, Dave and Steve not only dispel myths about what constitutes an effective response to a student paper, they also offer a step-by-step process for responding in a way that produces meaningful growth.

What does that mean?  Dave and Steve explore a highfalutin idea called Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and its implications for teaching and critical thinking.  Want to know why students procrastinate?  Why they revert to their old ways?  How to get them to advanced their thinking?  Then you'll want to understand CLT and all its immediate implications for how you teach.

What happens when someone creates a dialogue between west coast liberals and southern Trump supporters?  Find out in this episode!  Steve and Dave are joined by Spaceship Media founders and journalism activists, Eve Pearlman and Jeremy Hay.  Spaceship Media's "dialogue journalism" is fostering constructive discourse between people who hold conflicting viewpoints, and striving to restore the populace's faith in journalists.  This reinforces the pressing need for education to create thinking citizens.

Dave and Steve tackle one of the more over- and misused terms in education, Problem-Based Learning (PBL).  Learn the research behind PBL, what it is, for what it works well and for what it doesn't work well.  In news of the week: How Artificial Intelligence is going to force educational change, and how critical thinking might just offer hope for the world in terms of climate change.  Maybe.  (This episode contains minor technical difficulties that were out of our control.  Apologies in advance.)

Having blamed all the world's problems on the 5-paragraph essay in the previous episode, Steve and Dave offer three alternatives to the 5-paragraph form. These are tested, easily implemented essay structures that emphasize critical thinking and foster stronger content acquisition. News of the week explains why critical thinking can't be taught (but it can) and covers a letter to educators from subject matter itself!

Warning: This episode may provoke strong reactions from 5-paragraph-essay devotees. Not for the faint of heart! Listen in as Steve and Dave unfairly blame all of the world's problems on the 5-paragraph essay format frequently used in secondary and higher education. Also news of the week: Why even young children possess strong critical thinking skills, and how the Air Force explores "forecasting" as a critical thinking goal.

Critical thinking pioneer and guru Dan Willingham joins Dave and Steve in discussing the relationship between critical thinking, reading, and teaching.  They delve into the role that existing bodies of knowledge play in decoding thinking.  News of the week examines whether or not reading to evaluate produces stronger outcomes than reading to comprehend.  Also, to get "meta," Dave talks about the role attention plays in thinking, such as when listening to a podcast ... or not.

In response to requests from their listeners, Dave and Steve try to distill seven years of research into 45 minutes! The result? An initial walk-through of how they help faculty and students across disciplines and grade levels conceptualize critical thinking. Want to know how to define critical thinking in a way that works in any classroom? A way that can be assessed? A way that can improve learning outcomes? Then tune in! Plus, news of the week and obligatory Bigfoot references.