In the past, as part of an ungrading approach, I have assigned self-reflections to get students to think about how they might relate concepts in critical thinking to their everyday lives and academic studies. In a self-reflection assignment, I have pointed out that, for instance, that some argument forms we have covered are probably the most…[Read more]

I feel that my critical thinking class lends itself well to getting to know students, at least in the sense of learning what students think about many things. Throughout the course, I have students discuss a number of questions about various everyday topics, including topics related to school and education, modern life, and ethics. T0 discuss…[Read more]

“By what means did you transition from, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ to ‘I want to do this.’? Where did you find the motivation?”

I think this is a very good, but difficult question to answer. I wouldn’t claim that I fully understand the psychological process from not wanting to do something to then wanting to do it, as it relates to my wants and d…[Read more]

The purpose of a general education class such as the one I teach (Critical Thinking) is to help students build basic skills that they can apply to their personal, academic, and professional lives.

Through the years, I have tried to make lesson plans that involve material and activities that are useful and practical.

In the past, I have experimented with ungrading in some of my classes. I have explained to students that ungrading encourages students to focus on the process of learning, rather than on the grade itself. I can improve upon my implementation of ungrading by relating it directly to  growth mindset. When discussing ungrading at the beginning of the…[Read more]

One thing I do to facilitate a growth mindset supported learning environment is to let students know that being good at anything requires a lot of time and effort. Mistakes will be made along the way, but these mistakes also provide important learning opportunities.

You ask a good question here. I teach critical thinking, a course about giving reasons for your beliefs. I often ask questions or raise issues that require students to take different considerations into account. In groups and as a class, I encourage them to make an all things considered judgment after many arguments are given. The process of…[Read more]

When teachers  include activities that model the thinking process, students inevitably see how  thinking is messy and working through problems is difficult. Even the teacher will have to undergo some struggle and overcoming of challenges in order to get a correct answer.

It is important for educators to implement pedagogy inspired by growth mindset research, because when this pedagogy is employed, students are more likely to succeed in the classroom.

In an ideal scenario, students will perform better, allowing them to meet the goals and objectives of a given course.

I find the quote to be basically right, especially if we define failure as simply a challenge not (yet) overcome. The thought is that in order to succeed or overcome a worthwhile obstacle, you will probably have to fail at it first!