Simpson advertises its academic program as "designed to help students develop lasting skills in critical thinking and problem solving." Other than modeling critical thinking in its teaching, how can you assist students to develop the relevant skills?

Bruce Reichenbach, Professor of Philosophy at Augsburg College, will discuss teaching critical thinking with the faculty for an hour at the end of the faculty meeting on Monday, May 19, 2008. After lunch (from 1-4 p.m.), Dr. Reichenbach will offer a three-hour, interactive workshop with the goal of giving you specific ideas about how to proactively integrate critical thinking into your teaching. The workshop will develop a model of critical thinking, and then show how critical thinking skills can be incorporated into diverse pedagogical applications, including assignments, study questions, case studies, small group exercises, off-campus assignments, lab work, tests, and papers. We will also explore how faculty can assess both content and student skill development using the same instrument. Finally, together we will peruse your own assignments and assessment tools for their effectiveness in encouraging and developing critical thinking skills.

Please bring 8 copies of one assignment (study question, case study, test, experiential learning, whatever) to work on and share with the group. Everyone who registers to attend the workshop in the afternoon will receive a voucher for a free lunch at Pfeiffer on the 19th. To register for the workshop, please contact Shelly Priebe.