Stephen Downes, has just published a links to three new interesting aticles about critical thinking in education.

Critical Thinking "is a term used to refer to those kinds of mental activity that are clear, precise, and purposeful.

However, the precise collection of which critical thinking elements should be stressed in a particular class may vary depending on the nature of the subject matter at hand."

(Source:Penn State Univ.)

The Role of Critical Thinking in the Online Learning Environment

"Critical thinking," cites the author, "is the method of evaluating arguments or propositions and making judgments that can guide the development of beliefs and taking action."

"The BUS105 Create-A-Problem exercise described in this paper incorporates critical thinking in the online environment to meet the goals of developing reflective critical thinking."

By Kelly Bruning, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, May, 2005 http://itdl.org/Journal/Jun_05/article01.htm

Insights into Promoting Critical Thinking in Online Classes

Many people equate critical thinking with reading skills.
The core of this article is a discussion of critical thinking and reading, with an eye to using the former to "increase the student’s cognitive information processing skills." Applied to writing, the same discourse stresses the importance of reflection and editing.

By Daithí Ó Murchú and Brent Muirhead, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, June, 2005 http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jun_05/article01.htm

Critical Thinking in Asynchronous Discussions

The bulk of this essay is devoted to a description of various strategies that can be employed to introduce critical thinking into online discussions. In a sense, these are all common sense strategies - "Higher level cognitive and affective questions encourage learners to interpret, analyze, evaluate, infer, explain and self regulate."

By Greg Walker, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, June, 2005 http://itdl.org/Journal/Jun_05/article02.htm

Stephen Downes comments: "Most of all what is required is an attitude, one that is not necessarily taught so much as demonstrated by faculty and advisors..." Read on to his site for his personal comments to each one.