CFP: Composition and Critical Thinking (3/31/03; SAMLA, 11/14/03-11/16/03)

SAMLA, 2003 Call for Papers COMPOSITION

CRITICAL THINKING, THINKING CRITICALLY, CRITICAL THINKING, THINKING
CRITICALLY, CRITICAL THINKING

The buzz word of the day is critical thinking--a catchall term that
though seldom explicitly defined is expected to be a part of the
education of all college and university students. And often, though
again implied, is the idea that composition teachers are the faculty
most responsible for ensuring that students learn to think critically.

If these assumptions are true, then they must be informed by theory and
supported through research that connects critical thinking to the
discipline of composition and rhetoric.

If critical thinking is a vital part of our teaching students to write,
what is the theoretical basis for this expectation and what research
supports the theories? If critical thinking is essential to our mission
and a key ingredient of the writing process, then how do we teach it
(what assignments and individual and/or class activities have we created
to teach it?) and how do we know that we have taught it and that
students have learned it?

The composition strand of SAMLA will wrestle with these questions. We
invite you to submit abstract or papers (15 minute time limit) on one of
the following topics:

1.) Critical Thinking: Connections to Composition--Theory and Research
2.) Critical Thinking: Assignments
3.) Critical Thinking: Activities
4.) Critical Thinking: Assessment

Assignments: Present one or two assignments you have constructed and
explain why and how you designed them. What do these assignments do to
enhance critical thinking? Include the response(s) of your students.

Activities: Have you integrated critical thinking into your course
through creative activities, for example:
1) group projects such as community based research, targeted class
discussions, or presentations;
or 2) individual projects such as through research into the types of
thinking or reasoning necessary to pursue careers in engineering, math,
biology, health care, law, education, etc.?

Assessment: What are ways that faculty can assess, collaborating with
the student, and enhance critical thinking in the process? Have such
activities as rewriting, reading aloud, and/or having students assess
each other=92s writing been part of your efforts to include critical
thinking in the courses you teach?
What innovative activity have you used in assessing students=92 writing
that encourages critical thinking of the part of your student writer(s)?

Following are three working definitions to guide your thinking about
critical thinking:

According to Angelo and Cross, critical thinking is the ability to
distinguish observable, verifiable facts from opinions or untested
theories and is critical to virtually all methods of inquiry practiced
in the academic disciplines. Developing and refining this ability [to
think critically]is often a key goal of the liberal arts and general
education courses (65-66).
Angelo, Thomas A. Angelo and k. Patricia Cross Classroom Assessment
Techniques San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc. 1993).

The Center for Critical Thinking at Sonoma State University emphasizes
students=92 taking charge of their own thinking and encourages faculty to
find ways to teach students to monitor, restructure, shape their
thinking (13). To use a term that has meaning for compositionists,
critical thinking is meta-thinking --reflective thinking, inventing, and
making connections .

The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction,
composed of 50 key leaders in critical thinking research and 105 leading
educators, states, Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined
process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing,
synthesizing or evaluating information gathered from or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a
guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, [critical
thinking] is based on universal intellectual values that transcend
subject-matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency,
relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, and fairness (4).

Deadline for submission:
March 31, 2003

Submit to
Jennie Ariail, Ph.D.
Center for Academic Excellence
45 Courtenay Drive
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, SC 29401

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Received on Fri Mar 07 2003 - 18:18:16 EST