JREF Education Resources

[athon]

Athon,

How long do you envision these units taking?

I'm thinking of a different approach where people like me who aren't educators can come into a school and do some sessions before, during lunch, or after school.

I say this because I see that a lot of teachers in the U.S. don't have time to add things into their mandated curriculum. I want to approach the problem from a community aspect where people outside of the school system can come in and do this.

G6

Athon,

How long do you envision these units taking?

I'm thinking of a different approach where people like me who aren't educators can come into a school and do some sessions before, during lunch, or after school.

I say this because I see that a lot of teachers in the U.S. don't have time to add things into their mandated curriculum. I want to approach the problem from a community aspect where people outside of the school system can come in and do this.

G6

How long will the unit take to teach? Ultimately I'd like to have available a complete six-month unit that, if followed from beginning to end, would go into detail on all of the topics. But this is neither practical nor helpful for most teachers who don't have the power to install such a unit into their curriculum.

Therefore I envisage a three tier set-up. At its highest, the unit can be taught in its entirety. Teachers who do have the option of adding such a module to their school's curriculum can then simply download a work scheme and resource reference list...and run with it.

The next tier could be for teachers who want to teach important skills but either only have a few weeks to do it, or want to weave it into a pre-existing unit. They can then choose topics that are suitable. I'm thinking of flagging some parts as 'stand alone' topics, but I need to give that some more thought.

The final tier is simply the resource pool. Here teachers can simply download worksheets, crosswords, wordsearches, experiments, opinion essays, articles...you name it. It makes it flexible enough so any unit can use the resources offered.

I'd like to see this used not just by teachers but by anybody who wants to be able to teach critical thinking. That's more or less the point; people like you have a starting place to build from. There's a lot of work to be done and since I'm pretty much working full time I don't expect anything concrete to be available until later in the year. But since resource gathering is the big job, I want a solid framework up and running now for people to read, debate, and then say 'hey, this would work well here!'.

Athon

 

[athon]

Oh, if there is any format you'd like to see this as, G6, please let me know. This is no more my personal pet project than something I want to see benefit education.

Athon

 

[H3LL]

In the Critical Thinking section I would like to see some real world examples.

The dedication of Marie Curie over the duration of a long and arduous scientific process springs to mind.

Also, the comparison that the scientific method yields observable results, and belief systems do not.

 

[athon]

In the Critical Thinking section I would like to see some real world examples.

The dedication of Marie Curie over the duration of a long and arduous scientific process springs to mind.

Also, the comparison that the scientific method yields observable results, and belief systems do not.

I don't see a problem with having lessons on that. In my original unit I'd planned on doing a section on the history of science, analysing where good science contributed to our collective pool of knowledge (even if it was a failed experiment...especially if it was a failed experiment), and bad science hindered it (diverting resources, attention and making people cynical towards science).

Stuff like that could be part of an options list, where we suggest where the resources could be used in an overall scheme. Hence it's up to the teacher to decide it it's useful. A history teacher might be interested in using it in one context, while a maths teacher might want a different option on 'historical examples'.

Athon
(I might sugest we use that in Section 3, however. Hoaxes, Myths and Pseudoscience is essentially the application of Sections 1 and 2. Nothing stopping us from putting in 'good science' into that section for contrast)

 

[Dr Adequate]

There's a few exercises such as this which work well at promoting a skeptical view of selected beliefs. One or two of these would be useful in a defined part of the unit (such as 'applied' critical thinking), but there is a danger after too many such exercises, the unit could become more about debunking than skills in critical thinking and skepticism. It's a fine line.

Hello again athon.

I'm not sure that you got my point.

The horoscope thing and the dowsing thing are, yes, useless just as debunks. There's so much stupid stuff out there. It would be like trying to drain the sea with a teaspoon.

But the thing with horoscopes teaches a lesson. It teaches that judgement has to be comparative. Saying "Astrology works because this reading seems to fit me" is exactly the same as saying "homeopathy works because the patient got better", and so forth.

In the same way, although I regard dowsing as a particularly pernicious methodology, I didn't just want you to debunk dowsing: I mentioned it because it can be done in the classroom, and because it...

... teaches all sorts of things about subjectivity, bias, unconscious use of knowledge, how to conduct a double blind trial and why you must conduct a double-blind trial.

Remember, the book I'm trying to write is not a debunking book: it's about the philosophy of science. But I thought it worthwhile putting the story in.

Oh look, I've got back to my theme. Put it in front of them. A good lesson in critical thinking should be like a (good) science lesson, except that the interpretation of the result should be in doubt, and the experimental method should need refining. Science lessons should also be like that. Everything you want to teach should be taught in science lessons. Alas. It is not.

If you can, put it in front of them.

You write that you have about the course being "too much about debunking". But of course debunking is the perfect excercise for a critical thinker. They've got to do it, not just be talked to about it. I think. I guess. For once, I'm not going to be completely dogmatic, because for once I don't really know.

Oh the shame.

 

[athon]

*snip*
You write that you have about the course being "too much about debunking". But of course debunking is the perfect excercise for a critical thinker. They've got to do it, not just be talked to about it. I think. I guess. For once, I'm not going to be completely dogmatic, because for once I don't really know.

Oh the shame.

I couldn't agree more. I got your meaning, and understand how such exercises would work well in a unit on critical thinking. I'm just being cautious about how much 'debunking' should be the focus. But then it should be up those who teach it; it is not my goal to restrict such a project to my own pedagogical philosophy, but rather to provide options to those who want to go about designing their own units.

The reason I have my reservations is this; the choice of exercise reflects the outcomes a teacher wants the kids to have. It is ingrained in most students that the goal of a subject is for them to pass. 'Passing' relies on the application of learned skills for this unit, however learned knowledge remains the core focus of most kids (it's easier to remember 'stuff' over practicing skills). Hence theyactively look out for the teacher's opinion on an exercise and try to determine what it is the teacher wants them to know. They achieve the goal by second guessing the teacher rather then applying their own skills.

In most situations, this might serve them adequately. If your teacher is an obvious liberal, then you will answer appropriately when you're asked about the causes behind WWII rather than thinking critically about it.

This goes against the very nature of our unit. The danger is if we provide numerous debunking situations of 'woo-woo' stuff, the students (and many teachers) might see this as 'critical thinking is about seeing that astrology is nonsense', and not 'critical thinking is about the application of a methodolgy'.

Now, as I said, it is a thin line to walk. In any unit, the influences of the teacher are always central. This cannot be avoided, as much as a teacher might try. If you are an environmentalist, you will hardly emphasise the key arguments against anthropological global warming. Bias, therefore, should be made obvious in any lesson by having the teacher as an 'authority' open to discussion. The tools of a critical thinking unit therefore work explicitly, and such teacher bias becomes almost a tool in itself.

Hence if it is taught well enough, every exercise is open to discussion and criticism. IF it is taught well enough.

Again, I do see your point and it is a good one. But I disagree that the unit is about debunking (haha, this would suck if we couldn't disagree...). Debunking suggests that something is obviously wrong and we are out to disprove it (if I'm wrong about this definition, then it's all semantics). This unit is about the tools we use to make such decisions, or 'how we arrive at the obvious part in the first place'.

Athon

 

[athon]

Update: 9/2/05

Here's where I'm at. The first two subunits seem to work more or less as they stand here; again, there may well be changes, but I'll leave them until I have a good understanding of the resources I've collected in a few months time.

I've gone through a whole lot of lesson-plan formats that could suggest how individual lessons could be taught in the tier 1 (i.e., taught as an all-encompassing, single unit) format. Don't forget, tier 2 would be a 'summarised' suggestion of the entire unit, with important lessons highlighted as 'tier 2'. Tier 3 would simply be the resources, not necessarily to be used in conjunction with any lesson plans. This is the best way I can differentiate things at the moment.

I would like to organise each lesson plan to include the following headings:

Objectives: What the lesson is aiming to accomplish in terms of knowledge, skill or application.

Outcomes: Three levels; the student MUST be able to..., the student SHOULD be able to..., the student COULD be able to...

Key Words: New words that could form an overall unit glossary.

Key Areas: The important nuts and bolts to be taught in the body of the lesson. It could even link to board notes available for download as either a powerpoint or pdf format.

Misconceptions: Things to pay special attention to, as they are commonly misconceived.

Suggested Starter: A good way to start the lesson.

Suggested Activities: Links in with the resources.

Suggested Homework / Revision: Assigment activities, questions etc.

At the conclusion of each sub-unit I think it would be appropriate to suggest a few possible assigments that could be used as assessment pieces, noting in particular which key words or concepts that thread into.

In terms of resources I have a range I'm looking through that I've collected locally. Many of them are useful, but I'm seeing a problem (again) in that no one book has enough to stand as a good overall resource. The last thing I would want to do is suggest a unit plan with twenty text books.

Internet sites can be suggested by the page-load, with ratings for the most useful.

The best resources will simply be downloadable worksheets such as crosswords for keywords, activity sheets, practicals etc. And I think it would work best if we simply made most of those up ourselves.

Athon

 

[athon]

Sub-unit 3: History, Hoaxes, Lies and Pseudoscience


The History of Science

*Famous Scientists
*Famous Mistakes

I would love to find a series called 'Eureka! I got it all Wrong!', which I saw some years ago. It would be perfect for this. I think this would also be a prime opportunity to look at some of the 'alternative' beliefs of a few of the more famous contributors of science in the past, chiefly to show that a discovery makes no man a master of all knowledge. For example, Lord Kelvin's infamous remarks about lighter than air travel and the ongoing pursuit of science as a discipline. (i.e., even smart people can be fooled!)

The Culture of Belief

*Cultural beliefs
*Urban Myths
*Religion and science
*Astrology

This part of the sub-unit should endeavour to explain that just because enough people believe something, it doesn't necessarily make it real. There are some great web sites that expose urban myths, all of which could be put to great use in an assignment.
I think a lesson on looking at why science is not a religion would be good here, exploring what a 'dogma' is and why science does not have one.
Cultural stories, myths and legends could be discussed, ranging from fairies to Grimm's Fairy tales and arguing why they persist in a culture.

Mystery or Mistake?

*UFO's
*Cryptozoology
*Ghosts

Often something is seen for which some people have no explanation. Unexplained, however, is not unexplainable. Occham's razor should be reinforced here, stating that while we can speculate wildly about the true nature of an observation, there are often more mundane explanations behind what we see.

Trickery and Chicanery

*Hoaxes
*Self-delusion
*Fraudsters and liars

People lie. Pure and simple. Why do they do it? How can we tell the difference? What makes somebody believe that they can do extraordinary things, and then try to make others believe it too? The ethics behind critical thinking can be discussed here in debates, ethical dilemmas and devil's advocating.

The Abuse of Science

*Pseudomedicine
*Pseudotechnology
*Free Energy
*Psychic Ability and divination

In the search for the truth behind the paranormal people often site science as already having provided evidence. Medicine gets sold without being applied to strict regulation, new technology is advertised as doing things it cannot possibly do according to modern scientific theory. This part of the unit should cover the need for new science to be delivered to the public as per a system of peer review and repitition. It should tie together everything learned in the entire unit, from 'Why our senses can be fooled' to 'How does science work' to finally 'Why are some people so willing to be tricked'?



This is how I see the entire unit broken down. There is obviously parts that should be changed, dropped, added etc. Mostly I feel that some parts can be rearranged.

Next step; arranging these into single lesson plans. Oh the joy!

Athon

 

[TriangleMan]

Athon I love what you're doing. In the last few days I've been thinking on-and-off about finding teaching resources for critical thinking.

At TAM3 I met a guy who told me he teaches a critical thinking class at his high-school. I can't remember his name but I'm pretty sure I recall what city he was from so I'll take a look through the TAM3 registrant list and see if I can Google some contact information. He should have a ton of information you can use.

 

[Dr Adequate]

But I disagree that the unit is about debunking

No, you agree, I agree, we both agree that it's not what it's about. Like I said, I'm writing about the scientific method. The question is, what teaches it best.

Having read your generalised lesson plan, I think that the sort of practical event I'm talking about might go well in "Suggested Starter".

Here's another one I remember. The teacher begins the lesson by saying (truthfully) that she has a method which detects 100% of future alcoholics. You just spit in such-and-such a solution, and if the student will become an alcoholic, the solution will turn blue. One student is a volunteer... the solution turns blue.

This gets attention.

And then: what is a false positive? Did you actually say what proportion of non-predisposed alcoholics turn the solution blue?

All of them. It is activated by spittle.

I can't remember where I heard that one, but it should get 'em interested.

Maybe then a bit about Bayes and HIV diagnosis... do you know that one?

 

[athon]

Here's another one I remember. The teacher begins the lesson by saying (truthfully) that she has a method which detects 100% of future alcoholics. You just spit in such-and-such a solution, and if the student will become an alcoholic, the solution will turn blue. One student is a volunteer... the solution turns blue.

This gets attention.

And then: what is a false positive? Did you actually say what proportion of non-predisposed alcoholics turn the solution blue?

All of them. It is activated by spittle.

I can't remember where I heard that one, but it should get 'em interested.

Maybe then a bit about Bayes and HIV diagnosis... do you know that one?

This is exactly the sort of activities we need to write up. I haven't heard of these ways of addressing false positives, but it sounds brilliant. Whatever ones you have, PM them to me (or write them here if you'd prefer).

Good work!

Athon

 

[Kiless]

I would love to find a series called 'Eureka! I got it all Wrong!', which I saw some years ago.

Once I've got several things out of the way, I'll be sending you stuff - but here's something that may help with this...

It's not this show that you mean: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/eurekatv/

Could it be this instead? :http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221746/

There's no description on it on imdb.com but I used to watch it avidly... starred (of course!) one of the Doctors (McCoy). A sort of cook's tour through Science, very appealing and had jokes which weren't patronising.

I can keep searching if you like - I have a very good resource centre and Media Dept at my disposal.

 

[athon]

Once I've got several things out of the way, I'll be sending you stuff - but here's something that may help with this...

It's not this show that you mean: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/eurekatv/

Could it be this instead? :http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221746/

There's no description on it on imdb.com but I used to watch it avidly... starred (of course!) one of the Doctors (McCoy). A sort of cook's tour through Science, very appealing and had jokes which weren't patronising.

I can keep searching if you like - I have a very good resource centre and Media Dept at my disposal.

Nope. Neither of those.

That would be great if you could ask around. All google searches have come up with nothing, and I'm starting to wonder if I simply made it up. I'm sure it exists! It was a fantastic way of showing that science progresses with 'mistakes' as well as 'successes'.

Athon

 

[Kiless]

Nope. Neither of those.

That would be great if you could ask around. All google searches have come up with nothing, and I'm starting to wonder if I simply made it up. I'm sure it exists! It was a fantastic way of showing that science progresses with 'mistakes' as well as 'successes'.

Athon

Hmm. Oh well, if there's any other detail that you remember about the show, just PM it. Was it Australian? British? Canadian?

 

[Dr Adequate]

You should have a look at Thomas Gilovich's book How We Know What Isn't So (the good people at my local library have just managed to produce a copy for me).

A couple of quotes from it about teaching and learning critical thinking.

It is with respect to the uncertain phenomena studied by the probabalistic sciences that ideas like statistical regression, sample bias, and the importance of control groups are particularly gemrmane. Familiarity with these fields, then, should best facilitate the habits of mind necessary to evaluate properly the evidence of everyday exxperience. To test this idea, a group of psychologists administered a test... to students receiving graduate training in psychology, chemistry, medicine, and law.... The design of this study was both cross-sectional and longitudinal...

In an everyday-life problem, the subjects were told about a mayor who boasted of the 12% reduction in crime that had taken place during his administration. They were then asked about the kinds of evidence they thought would be necessary to evaluate the mayor's claim...

There were no initial differences in test scores across the four disciplines. However, two years of training in psychology led to a 70% increase in test scores, whereas a similar period of training in chemistry and law produced no improvement whatsoever... with two years of medical school producing a 25% improvement in test scores.

This sorts well with the data reported by Shermer showing that psychologists are the most sceptical of academics. It also explains why so many woos are lawyers (okay, I don't have any real statistics for that).

Fortunately, there is reason to believe that these corrective habits of mind are not hard to develop. Students who are familiar with the recent work on the errors and biases of human judgement seem able to aplly the lessons of this research to their everyday lives. I have occasionally overheard my own students remark to their peers, "Yeah, but what do the other three cells look like?", "But we all know that people will see order in almost anything --- isn't this just like the hot hand?", or "Remember though, we've only heard about this secondhand." The necessary principles appear to be easy to understand and to learn...

("The other three cells", and the reasons why people so often don't look at them, come in chapter 3 of his book, and the "hot hand" in chapter 2, if you're not familiar with these.)

 

[The Bad Astronomer]

This guy is a hero in my book.

darylscience.com

Heh. Daryl's a good friend of mine. We met years ago; he was teaching in NJ and liked my site so he emailed me. I went up to give a talk at his school. Years later, we started a program for exceptional teachers to help us develop educational materials, and Daryl was easily accepted. He's still one of our Educator Ambassadors! I'll point him to this thread.

 

[athon]

Heh. Daryl's a good friend of mine. We met years ago; he was teaching in NJ and liked my site so he emailed me. I went up to give a talk at his school. Years later, we started a program for exceptional teachers to help us develop educational materials, and Daryl was easily accepted. He's still one of our Educator Ambassadors! I'll point him to this thread.

Thanks BA.

At this point I've progressed to assigning a time plan for the framework and doing a few lesson plans. Within the next week or so I should have the first section blocked with lessons.

What I then foresee is posting a 'call' for relevant material, stating exactly what I'm after. Mostly it will be web-sites (books are great, but we're trying to keep this as close to '0' budget as possible for those using the resources), but there will also be a requirement for people to make up worksheets and suggest activities for each lesson.

It will take a while to to it this way, but I think people would appreciate a lesson-by-lesson request rather than a non-specific call-out.

Athon

 

[athon]

Project update: 7 March 2005

Ok, here's the next stage. And, in my opinion, the most important for the project.

I've gone through the topics for tier 1 (complete unit plan) and have broken them down into lesson-sized chunks. I'm aiming at a 15 week unit, or 60 hrs in total (4hrs a week, 1 hr lesson blocks), basing this on average teaching times for basic disciplines. If you think this is considerably out of tune with curriculums you have experienced, let me know.

I feel that essential lessons can be reduced down to a 4 week, 16 hr block for tier 2 (reduced unit). Beyond that it is up to the educator to pick and choose relevant materials.

Which brings us here; searching for relevant resources. First of all, let me state clearly what we are looking for (and what we are not).

Internet Sites

Internet sites are easy for us to find. Good internet sites are not. So I think relevant sites should meet the following criteria:

* Are simple, aimed at adolescents from ages 11 to 16.
* Are relevant to the entire topic. i.e. doesn't have a single page with a few paragraphs of relevant material.
* Has varying methods of conveying information. Completely text-based is ok, but having nothing but text for all of the suggested sites is not as useful as having variety.

I think it is important to remember that a) schools are aiming at encouraging more and more IT skills in the classroom. Having a wide variety of good sites that the students can use (as opposed to relevant materials for teachers to improve their own critical skills on) is what I'm aiming at gathering.

That does not mean good critical thinking sites for teachers should be ignored. I think a separate category for that might be good. But a focus on student-related sites would be preferable.

Books and Multimedia

I can't stress this one enough; suggested text books should be complimentary to the unit, not essential. I definately don't want a lesson to rely on having any given text book for obvious reasons.

Schools suffer from poor funding. No surprises there. The whole aim of this project is to have teachers stop in, looking for some ideas and some printable worksheets and take them into the classroom. Not sell them books or CD ROM's.

That said, suggesting useful text books to look out for is still a good idea. Especially if you know it is commonly used already in a school or a library. Same goes for CD ROM's and multimedia packages.

Downloadable movies and mpgs would also be great suggestions. I'm wanting to upload Merc's fabulous bed-of-nails clip, and would love to have a whole range of short clips of similar style.

Kiless suggested novels and prose pieces (possibly even movies) for non-science disciplines, which is a fantastic idea. I want this unit to be flexible and not just a science-alternative.

Worksheets

I actually think this should be at the crux of our unit. How many teachers have started a day with a lesson they have hardly prepared for? Or have a last minute absence and a class which has no work? How good would it be to have a range of worksheets easy to download for photocopying and handing to a class?

Simplicity is the key here. I think it would be a fantastic idea to have somebody who has the means to make crosswords, word-searches (or any other idea for a worksheet...cloze exercises, literacy and comprehension exercises etc.) to help me create a number of worksheets that can be uploaded as a pdf file.

Exercises

Magic tricks, demonstrations, practicals...you name it. They should be simple for any idiot to do without five years of sleight-of-hand experience, use cheap, easy to get equipment that any school should have access to and have some appreciable result that will get students talking.



I'll post in Community to bug the majority of forumites into searching and suggesting. I think that going through each of the three sections in small steps, prompting with precise details of what we want, we should get a few bites to get this baby started.

And of course, any suggestions or criticisms would be most appreciated.

Athon

 

[athon]

Section 1: Fooling the Mind
4 wks, 16hrs

Lessons 1-8: Sensation and Perception

Lesson 1
Stimulus and Sensation.
Objective: To understand how our bodies respond to changes in the environment.

Lessons 2-4
Objective: To know basically how each of the senses works.

Lesson 5
Objective: To understand that perception is based on sensation, expectation and interpretation.
Keyword: psychosomatic

Lesson 6
Objective: To know variations and conditions that can cause different people sense the environment in different ways.

Lessons 7-8
Objective: To observe ways our senses can be tricked by optical (tactile and auditory?) illusions.

Lesson 9
Objective: To understand that we can be tricked through magic and sleight of hand.

Lessons 10-13
Objective: To know that language is a system of transferring information, and is imperfect.

Lessons 14 - 16
Objective: To know that statistics and numerics are a form of language that needs interpretation to extract meaning.



This is just the first section, with very very simple explanations of what each lesson contains in the form or an objective. I'd appreciate feedback, but please understand that these are loose explanations. The unit is limited in terms of time, so each lesson is rather compact. Teaching the interpretation of statistics in three lessons, for example, is indeed difficult to do. But it is not to serve as a complete instruction, but as an introduction (basically section 1 informs students that information is only ever as good as how you interpret it).

Athon

 

[Sansha]

I'm happy to help where I can. I currently teach at a independent Islamic school in Melbourne.

Sansha.