Stewart Distinguished Teaching Award Recipients, 2011

Karin St. Pierre

Teaching Critical Thinking Through

Literature

Nick Larocca

Building a Thesis

Professor St. Pierre: Teaching Critical Thinking

Through Literature

LIT 2090 Contemporary Literature

Learning Outcomes:

Students will demonstrate improved critical thinking skills; students will demonstrate an increased

willingness to think critically.

Lesson Plan

Stage One, Pre-Reading

First month of the semester:

a. Require students to work collaboratively and individually, addressing questions about major life themes that appear in the novel.

b. Train students to use a set of generic question stems (see Wolcott; Lynch, 2001) to create their own questions appropriate for the content to be learned.

c. Require students to answer each other’s questions in small groups.

Lesson Plan

Stage Two, During Reading

Second Month of Semester

a. While students are reading outside the classroom, require them to answer questions more narrowly focused on novel.

b. Share with students previous responses generated during stage one. Students, during this stage, should begin to generate their own critical thinking questions about the text.

Lesson Plan

Stage Three, Post-Reading

Third Month of Semestera. Assign students the task of evaluating published, critical perspectives.b. Require students to compare/contrast the novel with other works of fiction studied during the semester.c. View, in class, the award-winning, critically acclaimed movie adaptation and encourage discussion of the differences between the novel and film.

Teaching Methods Used…

Lecture

Research

Group Work

Online Research

Student Presentation

Discussion

Socratic

PowerPoint

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

William Perry, (1913-1998) Professor of Education, Harvard

Perry’s Stages, Simplified

Dualism Multiplism Relativism Commitment

Timing and Types of Assessments

Month 1 Month 3 Month 4Month 2

LEGEND

Short Essay: Topic Choices are “The Best Class or Worst Class I Ever Had” or “How I Learn Best”

One-Minute Essay: Topic Choices are “What’s the Most Important Think I Learned in Class Today? Or “What One Question Still Remains”?

“Critical Thinking Disposition Self-Rating Form”

Evidence of Student Learning

Brian (Pseudonym) 1/5/12 : DUALISM 1/19/12 : MULTIPLISM

Evidence of Student LearningBrian (Pseudonym)

1/31/12: DUALISM 2/28/12: MULTIPLISM

“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ast. And that in wondering bout the big things and asting ‘bout the

big things, you learn about the litte ones, almost by accident…The more I wonder, he say, the more I love.”

Albert, The Color Purple

Alice Walker

Professor LaRocca – Building a Thesis

ENC 1102: College Compostion II

Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate original writing using standard written English, including accepted standards of grammar and punctuation.

Use critical thinking skills to develop a clear, focused thesis and content that are appropriate to purpose of the assignment, including argument

Provide coherent, organized support for ideas using relevant, specific details and concrete examples

Maintain a style, tone, and language appropriate for an academic audience Understand and avoid plagiarism as defined in the Palm Beach State College Student

Handbook

Recognize the possibilities to strengthen writing through revision and editing

Overview of Project

Design Four

Research

Questions

Regarding

Intended Major

Choose Researc

h Questio

n

Design Working Thesis

Statement

Compare

Working Thesis

to Evidenc

e

Alter Thesis

Statement

Draft Essay

Utilizing Thesis

Statement

Feedback

Feedback

Feedback

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Thesis Construction

Knowledge• Multimedia Lesson on Thesis Statement• Reading(s)

Comprehension• Quiz• Discussion Question

• What is the purpose of a good thesis in terms of...• The reader• The writer

Steps Three and Four

Application• Weekly Assignment• Create Thesis Statement

Analysis• Discussion Question Two• How do you intend to create a good,

strong thesis that can serve as the backbone for your essay?

Steps Five and Six

Synthesis• Alteration during Research• Inclusion in Final Project

Evaluation• Success of Final Project

Student Skills Practiced

Demonstrate original writing using standard written English, including accepted standards of grammar and punctuation.

Use critical thinking skills to develop a clear, focused thesis and content that are appropriate to purpose of the assignment, including argument

Provide coherent, organized support for ideas using relevant, specific details and concrete examples

Maintain a style, tone, and language appropriate for an academic audience

Understand and avoid plagiarism as defined in the Palm Beach State College Student Handbook

Recognize the possibilities to strengthen writing through revision and editing

Student Example – Working Thesis

Nosocomial infections in hospitals develop because of issues related to visitors and staff hygiene; the improper handling of breathing machines and ventilators; the

improper insertion or maintenance of catheters and intravenous lines; the

failure to follow use of sterile protocol during surgery and transfusions; and the opportunity that bacteria endogenous to the patient find when the patient is in a

weakened state.

Student Example – In Essay

Hospitals are generally known as places of remedy. Persons who are ill go there with the expectation that they will receive treatment and recover. Unfortunately however, many of those individuals develop an infection as a direct consequence of their stay in the hospital. Infections that are acquired while a patient is in the hospital are referred to as nosocomial infections; a term derived from nosos the Greek word for 'disease'. Nosocomial infections occur worldwide and affect both developed and resource-poor countries. Even though many strides have been made in the progress of public health and hospital care, infections continually develop in patients admitted to healthcare facilities.

There are many factors that promote the increase in infection rates among patients. These include: the decreased immunity among patients that gives bacteria endogenous to the patient the chance to develop; poor infection control practices that facilitate transmission of pathogens to the patient and their environment; bacteria that become drug-resistant, rendering antibiotics ineffective; the improper insertion or maintenance of catheters and intravenous lines; the improper handling of breathing machines and ventilators; and the failure to follow sterile and aseptic protocol during surgical procedures.

Teaching Methods Used

Lecture

Multimedia

Video

Discussion

Research

Socratic Method Questioning

Assessments

Voice Feedback• Thesis Statement

Voice Feedback, Rubric• Essay