Well, for some reason unknown to even myself this week I decided to read the discussion paper by Jenny instead of teh book – why? Well, I am a bit of a butterfly when if comes to reading and I always do a quick skim for ‘buzz’ words. My word of the last 12 months is metacognition and metacognitive awareness and hey presto, saw it right away in this article so…….onwards and upwards. Did it rise to the challenge?
Discussing critical thinking Meyers & Barnett p1 state How can they (students) develop something if they do not know what it is? Precisely, and further more, how can I (as a tutor) develop resources to scaffold learning if I too am unsure what critical thinking is or how best to explain this?
If critical thinking involves making a judgement how do I monitor this?
Lots of theory lurking around here and the need to provide a framework to understand how students perceive knowledge – but would this not differ? The need for the learner to become more autonomous and more in charge of her own knowledge (p11) is interesting, but to what degree is that measurable or achievable with some students. Perhaps the key word is ’more’ a bit like ‘poor’ or ‘adequate’.
‘The critical thinker will be able to take a ctitical stance towards her actual process of citial thinking (metacognition). I had not thought of this as deeply and wonder about its application in terms of my students. This paper indeed makes me question the ‘way in which we think’ and acknowledges that it is a difficult area that must be developed…………a vital point to support views in my research project.. Questions, questions, questions….
Would like to chat further but……..my daughter wishes to put things on 10p listing day for ebay so time to move on.
