Developing Critical Thinking Skills through an Interdisciplinary Approach for the Use of Social Studies Simulations and the Internet in Upper Elementary School Classes

Bruce Lewis
Tennessee State University

Critical thinking requires thought to be analyzed and assessed for its clarity, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, and logicalness. Since reasoning occurs within points of view and frames of reference, students need to be aware of an author's approach to a particular problem, as well as their own. (Paul, 1997a; Biehler & Snowman, 1993).

An understanding of critical thought enables students to take basic tools of critical thinking they learn in one subject and extend them, with proper adjustments, to other subjects which they study. Students can be taught so that they learn how to bring the basic tools of disciplined reasoning into every subject they study (Paul, 1997a).

From the Critical Thinking Glossary come these important terms:

"Analyze: To break up a whole into its parts, to examine in detail so as to determine the nature of, to look more deeply into an issue or situation. Students should continually be asked to analyze their ideas, claims, experiences, interpretations, judgments, and theories and those they hear and read." (Paul, 1997b)

"Perspective (point of view): Human thought is relational and selective. It is impossible to understand any person, event, or phenomenon from every vantage point simultaneously. Critical thinking requires that this fact be taken into account when analyzing and assessing thinking." (Paul, 1997b)

Teaching for critical thinking enables students to explicate, understand, and critique their own deepest prejudices, biases, and misconceptions. Genuine fair-mindedness is achieved by developing critical thinking skills in dialog with others where they gain empathic practice of entering into points of view that students are fearful of or hostile toward (Paul, 1997b). Unfortunately, most assessments are based on lower-order learning and thinking. Chief culprits have been multiple-choice, machine-graded assessments which have focused on surface knowledge. Higher-order thinking, critical thinking abilities, is increasingly crucial to success in every domain of personal and professional life.

Research methodology: Approximately ten (10) public and private elementary schools, housing an approximate total of thirty (30) sixth grade classes, will be randomly selected from Metro-Nashville and surrounding areas. Of these thirty classes, ten (10) sixth grade classes, consisting of approximately 250 students, will be randomly selected for the treatment group, while ten (10) sixth grade classes, consisting of approximately 250 students, will be randomly selected as the control group. Each of the 500 students will be administered both a pre-test and a post-test of critical thinking skills.

Students should be able to demonstrate the ability to "distinguish clearly between purposes, inferences, assumptions, and consequences; discuss reasonably the merits of different versions of a problem or question; decide the most reasonable statement of an author's point of view; recognize bias, narrowness, and contradictions in the point of view of an excerpt; distinguish evidence from conclusions based on that evidence; give evidence to back up their positions in an essay; recognize conclusions that go beyond the evidence; distinguish central from peripheral concepts; identify crucial implications of a passage; evaluate an author's inferences; and draw reasonable inferences from positions stated" (Paul, 1992; see also Biehler & Snowman, 1993).

Jonassen (1996) identifies databases, spreadsheets, semantic networks, content expert systems, computer-mediated communications, multimedia, and hypermedia as "mindtools", selected application programs for engaging and enhancing thinking in students. The computer application programs that Jonassen identifies as "mindtools" can be used to represent knowledge in a variety of subject areas; they are "generalizable" and engage learners in critical thinking.

Jonassen (1996) further states that effective simulations require well-structured activities, such as those outlined in this presentation. Critical thinking skills such as evaluating and analyzing can be engaged by information retrieval, particularly through research on the Internet. Critical thinking skills such as assessing and identifying assumptions can be engaged by e-mail, while computer conferencing (using LISTSERVs, bulletin boards and newsgroups) involves analyzing and evaluating the issues being discussed. Computer conferencing engages participants in elaborating on ideas, analyzing opinions and perspectives, and then synthesizing various positions.

MECC allows using their simulation software (Africa Trail, MayaQuest, Oregon Trail, Oregon Trail II, Yukon Trail) in a variety of ways (as a review of curriculum, individually or small groups, or as a reward). The intent of this paper is to show how to integrate the simulation into the curriculum in a number of different areas. (While MECC states that "gambling was omnipresent during the Klondike gold rush", for the educational purposes of this research the gambling aspect of the software will be disabled as per MECC's instructions. However, I do regret losing access to the two-team dog sled race in Sheep Camp, which would provide an entertainment side to the real thing, the annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska.)

Language arts classes can use the computerized journal for writing exercises and reflections about research and readings done by the students in the class. One of the characters the students will encounter during the simulation (at Dawson City) is Jack London, the author. Students may appreciate the class time oral reading of his book, "The Call of the Wild". They may also enjoy the oral reading of Velma Wallis' book, "Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival."

Geography teachers may appreciate the map skills developed in the software program and through the readings of "The Call of the Wild" and "Two Old Women". These map skills can be applied to tracking (via the Internet's live coverage) the annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Mapping skills, strategy formulation, record keeping, and deductive reasoning are skills developed by game-type problem-solving programs and simulations (Biehler & Snowman, 1993).

Science teachers can review weather conditions for Seattle, Washington (where the journey to the gold fields begins), Skagway and Dawson, Alaska (some of the few cities of the region around the gold fields), and the Yukon Territory of Canada. The students can also monitor the weather (via the Internet) of the Iditarod race. Other projects of interest might include minerals (relative value of gold, silver, iron ore, etc.), mining techniques and methods (1897 compared with 1997), and materials and clothing production (1897 compared with 1997).

Math teachers could explore supply and demand economics(as supplies dwindle, prices increase). Distances between significant sites could be determined and the distance traveled each day in the Iditarod race could be charted.

Social studies teachers may want to use the K-W-L (know, want to know, and learned) strategy. The Yukon Trail software program lends itself to cooperative learning, as most activities are best accomplished in pairs, but group size may be adjusted based on the availability of computers. Since characters in the software program who have both a first and last name are supposedly real people, teachers could have the students research a particular character via print text and/or the World Wide Web,. The students could then give oral reports in their language arts classes about their chosen character. If done in pairs or teams, the group could provide posters and other types of visual presentations. Depending upon computer and software availability, multimedia presentations could also be accomplished.

A recent posting to the Listserv discussion list "Middle level education/early adolescence (10-14)" revealed that "in 1996, Internet access was available in about half (53%) of the schools in which 71% or more students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs and in 58% of schools in which 31 to 70% of students were eligible. In comparison, 72% of schools with 11 to 30% of students eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program had Internet access, and 78% of those with less than 11% of students with free or reduced-price lunch eligibility were connected to the Internet." Therefore, recognizing that not all schools will have access to the Internet, the proposed activities will focus on both text-based documents (books) and web-based hypermedia via the World Wide Web (KIRK_WINTERS, 1997).

References

Agnew, P. W., Kellerman, A. S. & Meyer, J. M. (1996). Multimedia in the Classroom. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Biehler, R. F. & Snowman, J. (1993). Psychology Applied to Teaching (7th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Jonassen, D. H. (1996). Computers in the classroom: Mindtools for critical thinking. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Middle level education/early adolescence (10-14) [Online]. Available E-mail: LISTSERV@POSTOFFICE.CSO.UIUC.EDU   (1997, October 6).

Paul, R. (1992). Interview of Dr. Richard Paul, Director of Center for Critical Thinking, for Think magazine [Online] Available: http://www.sonoma.edu/cthink/K12/k12library/questions.nclk   (1997, November 22).

Paul, R. (1997a) A brief history of the idea of critical thinking [Online]. Available: http://www.sonoma.edu/cthink/K12/k12library/cthistory.nclk   (1997a, November 22).

Paul, R. (1997b) Critical thinking glossary: An educator's guide to critical thinking terms and concepts [Online]. Available: http://www.sonoma.edu/cthink/K12/k12library/Gloss/intro.nclk   (1997b, November 22).

This original document is available at the SITE 98 Conference website at http://www.coe.uh.edu/insite/elec_pub/HTML1998/si_lewi.htm .