Critical Thinking

Text of the Kansas City Star Article on our web site:

 By AL DeLEON - Staff Writer
Date: 02/24/98 22:15

 Michael Connelly thinks every student could benefit from critical thinking.

So after years of drilling his students into becoming better thinkers, Connelly, a philosophy instructor at Longview Community College, took his mission global.

He created a World Wide Web site in 1996 devoted to critical thinking.

Connelly defines critical thinking as applying methods of logical reasoning to problems to get closer to the truth.

"There's no mystery to this," he said. "We do this already in everyday life. All critical thinking does is put it in concrete form."

Connelly started teaching eight years ago at Longview after receiving philosophy degrees from Salisbury State University in Maryland and the University of Delaware.

But critical thinking is not limited to philosophy. Students of other academic subjects also can use the concepts.

For years Connelly's colleagues from other departments at Longview had been asking him for advice on including critical thinking in their classes.

To make life easier, he launched his Web site, the "Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum Project," which he developed with the help of other teachers.

The site has been accessed up to nearly 16,000 times a month by people all over the world. About 70 educators and organizations have set up links to Connelly's page, including some from Australia, Japan and Canada.

Though he intended for others to use the site, primarily Longview colleagues, he never thought so many people would be interested.

"We were just looking at the local area," Connelly said, "but the nature of the Web is that you act locally and affect globally."

The Web site provides descriptions, examples and exercises that teachers can use in class. Connelly said that no other Web site offered such content when he first began, and only a few do today.

"It's aimed at the college level, where it's sorely needed because there's very little else out there that does that," he said.

One psychology exercise that focuses on faulty thinking asks the reader to identify the type of fallacy described in a statement. For example: "I believe in reincarnation because no one can know for sure that it doesn't happen."

This is an example of an "appeal to ignorance" in which it is argued that a claim is true because it cannot be proven false.

Teachers can use these types of problems to test their students on basic ideas.

Comments on the Web site from the academic community has been positive, Connelly said.

"Our resources are academically sound," he said. "If you surf the Web, you see lots of advertising and very little content. We have stuff you can sink your teeth into."

George F R Ellis, a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Capetown in South Africa, said the site could be used to help set up a critical thinking course.

"The Web site gives a nice framework for presenting an understanding of critical thinking," Ellis said in an e-mail message.

William Peirce, an English professor at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Md., said the Web site impressed him. Peirce coordinates reasoning workshops and maintains the Web site of the Maryland Community College Consortium for Teaching Reasoning.

"When I was creating a list of resources to link off of our site, I thought `Should I add this one to our list or not, because a list of URL's (uniform resource locators) cease being helpful when there's 50 of them,' " Peirce said. "This one was a good one."

Connelly said that even with the success of the site, he continually will add to its resources. The contents may be published as a text book in the future, or at least be available in CD-ROM format.

The site is at http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/longview/ctac/ctac.htm.

 Copyright 1998, Kansas City Star, Inc.

     

Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum Project
Longview Community College , Lee's Summit, Missouri - U.S.A.
One of the Metropolitan Community Colleges
"Where a Smart Future Begins"
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer
Inquiries to: connelly@longview.cc.mo.us

Last modified: 2/27/98