I am enrolled in the Coursera Course “Critical Thinking in Global Challenges” by Professor Mayank Dutia, Dr. Celine Caquineau from Edinburgh University. It is good to see how a MOOC is run and the course contains great videos and some very stimulating reading materials. I can already see how I can apply these skills to improve my students’ essay writing skills. Critical thinking means to gather and assess information in a logical, balanced and reflective way to reach conclusions justified by reasoned arguments based on the available evidence…. That to me sounds exactly like what a good IB History Essay should be like.
I hope to write some more posts about what I am learning. Here is the first one:
Essential Concepts in Critical Thinking
- Fact: something which can be demonstrated to be true
- Assertion: something that is held to be true, but which has not been, or cannot be, actually demonstrated to be true
- An argument: a series of logical statements, leading to a fair conclusion, with reasons offered to support the conclusion.
- A valid argument: is based on one or more premises (starting points), which may be facts, observations, or assumptions.
- Premise: a previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion. Continue reading “Critical Thinking (Coursera #1)”