Critical Thinking is higher order thinking. I didn't know I did it until a neurologist pronounced me "high-functioning." I had no idea that less thinking was so appealing for others until I began teaching. I just thought people were a bit lazy.

I know that most of my students do not get enough practice in problem solving at the higher levels.  Routinization and standardization distill education into a list of facts unreflected upon, as well as encouraging students to accept others' assertions without question. And often students are not pushed,, so I push.

What have my assignments provided for my students? I ask for application of a method of understanding, beginning with knowing the nuances of definition (course terms) and finding examples in the text about which we may discuss attached ideas.  I require that they use higher order thinking by prescribing some of the writing assignment, then allowing the student to choose the focus.  Without using and applying correctly the course terms, the initial assessment always requires that the professional language of the course must be included. in future revisions.

Tutors tell me that my assignments are difficult, but I think that some difficulty is really good.  It sets my courses apart in that I really want thinking to be shared.

For Freshman Comp I, I like to start with a paragraph which asks the reader to consider what the the writer is saying.  Sometimes I use a quotation from a philosopher considering the human condition. What does it mean? What is fact, assumption, unknown to the reader?  What methods might be used to open the door to understanding (and moving on to the next step)? This part becomes quite Socratic, and seems to appeal to students: question authority, perspective, bias, and apply self-reflective strategies. I rarely correct their observations, only in fact, when it's really off the mark. Once we work this as individuals, then I set up groups.  I ask that each group member speak up and share what they think.  I have them draw numbers to set up an order, and I think that this encourages "shy" folks --

For my humanities class, I ask students to consider six themes throughout the American Minorities course: individualism, civic responsibility, spirituality, community, family, and (I can't remember -- brain vacation). Each of these ideas allows them to focus when they write in their journals -- each week  they have to write at least 500 words about what we are learning, discussing, what has blown their minds.  Their reflections are quite intriguing.

I want to know what my students believe, practice in terms of logic. And this is where it gets interesting sometimes. As Bean says, "When students learn to wrestle with questions about purpose, audience, and genre, they develop a conceptual view of writing that has lifelong usefulness in any communicative context" (42). I do make them wrestle, ask questions, seek a tutor, converse about the assignment. And wrestle again. These methods prepared me well for transfer when I was an undergraduate, and I want to share that experience with my students.

Critical thinking is a process by which one may discern the quality of thought through discovery.  The discovery part is difficult -- it means that one must ask precise questions, discover problems, assess information, interpret (perhaps using abstract ideas), reasoning and testing (to overcome biases because we're ego- and socio-centric).

Metacognition: yes.  I love thinking about thinking, but labor-intensive describes this part of my teaching. I am enjoying Bean, and I'm rethinking a lot of what I've been doing.  I am also considering whether I've worked out the assignments well enough, but I know that if I continue to show students how to do this while we're in class together, more of them adapt and apply the model in their writing for our course.