Forum on critical thinking skills

About the talks

Some practical approaches to critical thinking

Christien Lee

Many of us have a love-hate relationship with critical thinking. On the one hand, it is widely considered a key twenty-first century skill. On the other hand, teaching it is often easier said than done, not least because it can challenge students. This session takes a critical look at critical thinking and suggests some practical ideas for teaching it effectively.

The discerning student: a framework for developing critical thinking skills

Dave Watton and Jake Groves

Can EAP tutors help their learners develop a more critical approach by teaching a 'language' of critical thinking? To address this question, we identified, taught and practised seven cognitive skills forming the acronym 'DISCERN' (differentiating, interpreting, selecting strategies, being critical, evaluating, reflecting and noticing). We evaluate how meaningful this process was through the eyes of both tutors and learners themselves.

Developing critical thinking skills and intercultural awareness in telecollaborative projects

Ruby Vurdien

A group of Spanish students interacted with Finnish counterparts in two telecollaborative projects to learn about each other's cultural traits. Facebook and videoconferencing (Adobe Connect) were employed as learning platforms. The aim was to examine how the participants could develop critical thinking skills and cultural awareness via task performance. Sharing views online was a meaningful learning experience.