In this book, Jennifer Moon explores and clarifies critical thinking and provides practical guidance for improving student learning and supporting the teaching process.
Key themes covered include:
- different views of and approaches to critical thinking with an emphasis on a practical basis that can be translated into use in the classroom.
- links between learning, thinking and writing
- the place of critical thinking alongside other academic activities such as reflective learning and argument
- critical thinking and assessment, class environments, staff knowledge and development, writing tasks and oral tasks.
Teachers in all disciplines in post-compulsory education will find this approach to defining and improving students’ critical thinking skills invaluable.
@contents:Preface
Part 1 Introduction to the book
Chapter 1 Introduction: the topic, the content, the writer …
Part 2: Mapping the territory of critical thinking
Chapter 2 Critical thinking as an elusive concept: what critical thinking might be….
Chapter 3 Approaches to critical thinking in the literature
Chapter 4 Some of the broader issues of critical thinking – standards, objectivity and the cultural basis
Part 3: The person as a critical thinker
Chapter 5 The role of emotion, language and curiosity in critical thinking
Chapter 6 ‘Academic assertiveness’: being appropriately assertive as a thinker
Part 4 Taking Stock
Chapter 7 Critical thinking – a pause to take stock…..
Part 5 Epistemological development and depth in critical thinking
Chapter 8 Critical thinking and learners’ conceptions of knowledge
Chapter 9 Depth in critical thinking
Part 6 Critical thinking and pedagogy
Chapter 10 A defining statement on critical thinking and an introduction to the pedagogy Chapter 11 The pedagogy of critical thinking
Chapter 12 The Pedagogy of Academic Assertiveness
Part 7 Resources Section
Resources
References
Biography
Jennifer Moon works at the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University and as a freelance consultant. She is a National Teaching Fellow Award winner. Her other books include Learning Journals, Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning, Module and Programme Development Handbook, Reflection and Learning in Professional Development and Short Courses and Workshops.
"Jenny Moon has skillfully mapped the landscape of critical thinking with academic diligence and practical acuity. Using the concept of "academic assertiveness", she reveals how particular emotional and psychological orientations and behaviors better enable learners to manage the challenges to self when progressing critical thinking capacities in academic, professional and social contexts. Through the reliable voice of the author’s own experiences, readers are introduced to a useful array of resources, activities and ideas designed to promote active engagement, augment cultural and contextual knowing and enhance the potential of learners to think and act critically."—Maxine Alterio, Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, New Zealand, Co-Author of Learning through Storytelling in Higher Education
