Fall 2014
EPS 412 Critical Thinking in Education (4hrs)
crn: 63178
Tuesdays, 4-6:50pm
Instructor: Nicholas C. Burbules
This course starts with the question, “What is critical thinking?” We will review some of the major views on critical thinking and its role as an educational aim.
Next, we will move on to how to teach critical thinking, its relationship to developmental issues, and its relationship to various subject matters. Is, for example, there are generic model of “critical thinking” that we can promote, or does critical thinking only exist in relation to particular subject matters (critical thinking about history, or about science, etc).
Finally, we will consider wider social and psychological influences that might constitute barriers to the teaching of critical thinking. For example, what special challenges does the Internet pose for developing critical thinking skills and dispositions?
Everything in this class is discussed in relation to teaching. It does not assume a previous background in philosophy.
This class also satisfies the master degree EPS foundations requirement.
