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3.An example: A reading activity
For all activities to be successful, a conducive and ‘safe’ environment for learning and interacting
has to be prioritised. To achieve this, icebreaking sessions were carefully monitored. The course
lecturer ensured there were numerous group and paired discussions to build the rapport among the
class members. The importance of accepting different views was also highlighted. This had positively set the
appropriate tone for the course. Besides a focus on rapport-building, the ‘safe’ class environment enabled
essential but ‘seemingly stupid questions or issues’ to be raised. These issues became pertinent teaching
points. In fact some of these unplanned teaching points were integrated into the content for the next
semester’s cohort. In this way, the course practices continuous improvement on the basis of in-class
feedback and exit feedback. For example, when students were asked to present in one slide the
similarities and differences of some aspects of research methods, it was obvious to the course
lecturer those who already had critical thinking skills and those who were floundering. For the latter, there
were no comparable qualities for comparison. This became an essential tool and activity to gauge the
level of thinking skill achieved for the next cohort of learners.
Besides incidental learning, numerous crafted activities were carefully designed to raise awareness
and provide ample opportunities for practice of the various objectives. In this paper, the author will
provide one example to show how critical thinking skills were introduced, practiced and evaluated.
3.1 Goal-oriented, multi-stepped approach to reading
Instead of the normal reading activity where students read an article chapter and later discuss, the
author developed a goal-oriented multi-stepped procedure for the development of critical thinking.
Among the objectives of this activity were:
- to introduce and practice critical thinking
involved in reading and answering higher order thinking questions
- to empower them through the sharing of best
reading practices -
to lower the affective filter in attempting to read academic genre
- to raise awareness of the importance and
relevance of collaborative learning in the process of reading
- to highlight the effective ways to
communicate or present information after reading
The procedure is as follows: Stage 1:
Academic genre and lowering the affective filter Activity: The learners were given a very challenging
chapter of a reference book academic genre to read at home. The task was to highlight parts which they
had found familiar, confusing or challenging. Rationale: This task was aimed at lowering the
affective filter. Stage 2:
Top-down approach to reading Activity:In class, after briefly sharing their thoughts,
confusions and frustrations in a group and sharing some reading strategies, they were asked to discuss
the content of the chapter with the intention to arrive at a list of three questions which could be answered.
In other words, they have to re-examine the chapter for potential questions to be asked. They formulate
higher order thinking questions by referring to the Bloom’s taxonomy.
Rationale: Besides sharing reading strategies, this task enabled the learners to explore the text from top-
down. Stage 3:
Critical reading to answer higher order thinking question 1
Activity: In the next stage they were required to develop the answer to one of the three questions. In
other words, they had to read the text again but this time with the goal to answer their own question. They
then uploaded the list of questions in the e-forum but not their answers.
Rationale: Critical reading was practised and the strategies were shared.
Stage 4: Critical reading to answer higher order thinking
question 2 Activity: Next, each group was given the task of
retrieving the list of questions from the e-forum. Then they had to provide the answer to the question
formulated by another group. In a group, they now read the text one more time to answer a higher order
thinking question. Rationale: In this way, strategies on how to answer
question adequately were shared. Stage 5:
Presentation of information 1 Activity: Finally, another further challenge was given
when they had to share their version of the answer in
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front of a live audience. They had to present their answer in three slides.
Rationale: This challenge forced them to make decisions about main and supporting ideas and
the
various ways to present information e.g. in a table or in a linear format.
Stage 6: Presentation of information 2
Activity: After each answer was presented, it was objectively compared and contrasted with the original
group’s answer. Reasons and justifications were shared for the differences observed.
Rationale: Learners had the opportunity to observe how others can interpret and present the same
information differently and critique each other’s work in a ‘safe’ environment.
Stage 7: Feedback and teaching points
Activity: At the final wrap up, the lecturer commented on the accuracy and appropriacy of the content or the
answer provided, the flow of argument and the adequate support to justify the answer as well as
alternative ways to present clear and concise information e.g. in a tabulated summary. Besides this,
the manner in which the response was delivered was critiqued. These aspects included how the message
was delivered visually i.e. the slides and orally i.e. presentation skills.
Rationale: At this juncture, the crucial teaching points were delivered by means of the inductive approach.
In this goal-oriented, multi-stepped approach, the learners got to practice reading the text
multiple times but each time with a different goal and they practiced reading individually, in a group and as
a class. The critical thinking awareness and expectations were delivered through various means
e.g. developing questions based on the Bloom’s taxonomy, providing the answers to the questions,
comparing answers with each other, and transferring information from linear to non-linear among others.
4. Assessment for Learning
