Introduction to
Critical Thinking
Evaluating the process of developing critical thinking in a cross-cultural context
Introduction
Helping students to acquire and express critical thinking strategies is one of the key learning objectives fostered at all educational institutions. However, many educators are unfamiliar with the contrasting cross-cultural approaches to the development of this skill, while some even appear to hold the opinion that particular cultural learning contexts are more successful at promoting critical thinking than others.
Consequently, this professional development experience will introduce colleagues to alternative cross-cultural approaches to the development of critical thinking. The primary aim is to help educators from more student-centred learning contexts to initially adapt their teaching style to minimise a possible learning clash that can disrupt the intellectual development of some international students. The five themes covered on this course are:
Investigating what is meant by critical thinking
Examining the key steps in the process of demonstrating critical thinking
Exploring the relationship between critical thinking and critical reading
Understanding contrasting cross-cultural approaches to the acquisition of critical thinking
Evaluating strategies to integrate alternative cross-cultural approaches to the development of critical thinking
The Course Aim
To develop an understanding of the key steps in the process of teaching critical thinking in an international academic context
The Course Objective
By the end of this course, participants should be able to help students apply critical thinking strategies, especially in the context of the critical reading of academic texts required for successful assignment completion.
The Key Learning Outcomes
The primary learning outcomes will focus on supporting educators to do the following:
Define what is meant by critical thinking and the importance in an academic context
Investigate contrasting cross-cultural models of critical thinking
Identify the relationship between critical thinking and critical reading
Manage common challenges when attempting to apply and demonstrate critical thinking
Evaluate the importance of demonstrating critical thinking across all assigned tasks
Learn more about the importance of the application of critical thinking and critical reading beyond the academic context such as during the graduate job recruitment process
For Organisations
Please contact us for further information on course design for EAP options and for professional development opportunities for educators.
Professional development courses are tailored to match the specific needs of clients that include members of university departments, international schools, colleagues teaching in English-medium environment, or individual educators.
If you require further information about the possible tailored focus on these professional development opportunities, please contact us for a free initial consultation.
If further discussion is required on your professional development requirements following the first consultation, please book a subsequent consultation.
See also:
Learning Expectations to examine contrasting cross-cultural teaching and learning expectations
Critical Reading to teach the application of critical reading techniques when evaluating academic texts
Course Design to investigate practical approaches to course and materials design