Abstracts for Theses and Syntheses
Sharon B. Abraham
A multicultural moral education: A history and companion curriculum unit
1997, December
Directed by Delores Gallo
In this curriculum project I offer current theories of moral and multicultural education. I begin with a brief review of the themes of moral reasoning and multicultural education as a framework. I offer twenty lessons using resources for moral education and multicultural education to achieve ends of more clear and precise thinking, oral, and written expression.
subject codes .DIV.MOR
Jeanne Abrons
Accessing the Creative Process
1992, May
Directed by Patricia D. Davidson
How many times have we said that we're not creative? What do we mean by "not creative?"
This paper looks at the creative process as an innate and ongoing process which exists in each of us, with or without our being aware of it. We call on this process daily without knowing that we are participating in a creative process. We use creative processes for avoiding engagement in the creative process. We use creative processes for avoiding situations which might involve our perceived noncreativity. Because we are unaware of our participation, we assume that our creative processes do not exist. These issues are discussed in Chapter I. Chapter II looks at how we regard our own previous panoramas of the creative process1 our perceptions of our own and other persons' creative processes, Einsteilung as one way by which we look into these views beyond the time when they might be inapplicable, and the possible use of reperception as an unbinding of the past and a new viewing of the present for considering creative processes in ourselves and others. As an overview of the creative process, Chapter III is a literature search which helps us understand why creative processes are so difficult to recognize and describe. We learn that no two writers view creative processes in the same way, that creative processes have many facets and exist on numerous planes, that we cannot return to a specific point in a creative process and describe it exactly, and that creative processes are basically inexplicable because we lack a specific creative process vocabulary for an explanation.
One commonality emerges if we look at creative processes from a wide overview: creative processes are basically processes of reperception. If we are to view ourselves as creative then we need to look at ourselves anew, to reperceive ourselves as being creative Having decided to view ourselves as being creative, we will be more able to access our innate creative process and build on it to enhance our lives.
subject codes .THR
Nancy Adams
Critical Thinking and Cedaw: Women's Rights as Human Rights
1997, June
Directed by John R. Murray
"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam in the whole volume of human nature, by the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power. " Alexander Hamilton, 1775
This thesis is designed as an exercise in critical thinking which attempts to trace the little-known and vaguely understood international effort to address women's rights as human rights. Specifically, it is intended to introduce and actively engage the reader in the application of critical thinking processes through an analysis of the history and status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW. Given the potential significance of CEDAW for the United States, it is ironic that this human rights treaty is not commonplace in discussions regarding women's rights.
Many associate the women's rights movement with efforts during the 1970s to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA. Some may recall that the ERA was penned in 1921 after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, or simply the efforts to secure voting rights for women. Few, however, associate the women's movement with international efforts to codify such rights into law through treaties such as CEDAW.
CEDAW emerged as a product of the three World Conferences for Women that comprised the "Decade for Women" from 1975 through 1985. In 1995, a Fourth World Conference for Women followed. Of all of the documents produced, however, CEDAW stand alone as a legally binding treaty which, under Article II, section 2 of the Constitution, has the potential to become "...the supreme Law of the Land."
CEDAW serves as a contextual framework for the introducing the processes of, and understanding the need for, critical thinking. The central hypothesis of the studies is that critical thinking enables the public to determine if information is accurate, reliable, relevant and sufficient to support of refute a given option. Correlated with the fundamental premise that a democracy requires a well informed citizenry, is that information must be accessible and citizen need to think critically. Upon these premises rests the hope that the resultant standards will be applied in the adjudication of the important social issues.
This thesis asserts that issues of substance can easily be obscured and even discarded when selective emphasis is placed on secondary issues. Analyses of CEDAW are made with respect to medial presentation, US Senate proceedings, and provocative topics, which served to prevent the public from being well-informed. The results of these analyses reveal an astounding degree of misinformation (in the form of omission, Bias, digression, fragmentation, contradiction, and general confusion) that continues to obscure CEDAW from public consideration and debate. Although, through an in-depth critical analysis the status of this treaty may be tragically unclear, the flaws in the treatment of human rights issues, a well as path of correction, are exposed for public consideration.
In sum, critical thinking processes are viewed as necessary to protect the public's perception of the issues. Absent critical thinking, the public may fall prey of misinformation. Through its use, it is hoped that a higher level of humanity, understanding, and truth will emerge within the process and as the product of the sound and careful reasoning.
subject codes .GEN
Deborah Adkins
Critical Thinking in Reading: A Whole Language Approach
1990, December
Directed by Patricia A. Cordeiro
The importance of good instruction in reading education has long been recognized. What constitutes good instruction and what materials should be used have been the focus of much debate, however, over the years. Two relatively new movements in education have recently added fuel to that debate, namely the movements in critical thinking and whole language.
The fundamental purpose of the thinking skills movement is the development of higher level thinking in students. In the area of reading this means that students should be challenged by questions and problems in literature which cause them to go beyond a literal understanding. They should be taught to interpret and evaluate all types of literature.
To facilitate critical thinking, advocates for the movement suggest that educators provide opportunities for students to problem solve in pairs or small groups. They encourage a non-judgmental classroom atmosphere which allows students freedom of thought. Some educators utilize a list of relevant thinking skills and teach thinking strategies and methods directly using these skills as a backdrop.
The whole language movement focuses on the reading of whole, non-abridged literature and an integration of all the language arts: reading, writing, spelling, speaking and listening. It emphasizes reading for meaning and provides strategies which can enhance under-standing. It also focuses on getting the individual student to see the importance and pleasure of reading.
This thesis provides a description of the critical thinking and whole language movements, with emphasis on how each has contributed to reading instruction. The writer discusses the overlap between the two movements, noting many similarities in purpose and methodology.
The writer discusses the overlap between the two movements. noting many similarities in purpose and methodology. The conclusion is that the movements are fundamentally compatible, and therefore educators should use concepts and practices from both movements to form their own foundation for reading instruction. A sample lesson is provided in the appendix.
subject codes .WRL.ELE
Annmarie Adreani
Critical Thinking in Social Studies: A Model of Infused Lessons for the Intermediate Grades
1990, December
Directed by Patricia S. Davidson
A main goal of any Social Studies curriculum is to prepare students for effective and responsible citizenship. What is taught and how it is taught must go beyond the recall of facts, if educators are to influence students political decisions and geographic choices in life.
Although the need to develop effective thinkers has long been recognized as a fundamental mandate of education, national assessments continue to indicate that many students lack thinking and problem-solving abilities. Proficiency in thinking involves being able to execute various mental operations, knowing when to employ these operations, and having a willingness to use them when appropriate to do so. Students must be able to determine the credibility of a vast amount of information conveyed to them through a variety of sources and situations.
This thesis demonstrates how the direct instruction of specific critical thinking skills may be infused into the Social Studies curriculum. Five lessons about the Lowell Massachusetts textile mills during the l800s have been developed for fifth grade students. Each lesson specifies the lesson topic, thinking skill focus, objectives, materials, time required, motivation, type of strategy used, and an activity sequence delineating cognition, metacognition, and transfer of the skill. The lessons are designed to teach specific thinking skills: determination of the accuracy of information, the reliability of sources, casual explanation, prediction, and problem-solving. These skills are viewed as having importance for improving thinking across curricula and within the framework of daily life.
subject codes .MSE
Edwin Aguiar
Integrating critical and creative thinking into cartoon animation for preschool children
1997, December
Directed by John Murray
Introducing critical and creative thinking to preschoolers evolved because I found that people usually did not take this notion seriously. Most information focused on older children and research devoted very little effort on them. Preschoolers were a forgotten group. I think they represent a group that could develop and benefit from these ideas without any hesitancy. Nevertheless, how could we develop and mold their intellectual abilities while molding their personalities.
Early exposure to critical and creative thinking beliefs helps perfect the notions of listening, play, paying attention and other activities. I reflect on fetal development, sensory experiences, vocal and verbal expressions, and any noteworthy or extraordinary acts of accomplishments. Setting forth theoretical applications, their objectives, and their correlations to choices, play and the effects they have on child development set the framework on developing critical and creative thinkers. Finding meaning, the reasons for finding meaning, and the methods used in understanding what words mean will be one way to guide them through a thought process. The use of a child's personal experience will provide the mechanism for developing these notions into cartoon animations.
This notion to integrate critical and creative thinking ideas into cartoon animations will have early life influences. They learn to find skills and strategies through decision making opportunities. It helps provide a basis for early academic awareness, exposure to alternative perspectives, encouraging experimentation while inspiring confidence.
subject codes
Maura Albert
Promotion of Critical and Creative Thinking Skills through the Teaching of Poetry
1985, May
Directed by Jane R. Martin
This curriculum project has developed gradually over the past fourteen years during which time I have been teaching in the public elementary schools. I have always loved poetry; therefore it seemed natural to make the reading of poetry a standard part of my curriculum even in my first years of teaching. As the years went by and my own increasing enjoyment in reading poetry was coupled with and encouraged by the positive reactions of the children I taught, it seemed only natural not only to read more poetry in the classroom, but, also, to begin to do some exploration of some poems in terms of asking questions about them - both factual and speculative. I began to collect poetry books and to read poetry to my pupils every day.
subject codes .WRL
Leor Alcalay
Learning How To Teach How to Learn English As A Second Language: Reflections from Experience, Praxis, and Theory (Vol 1,2)
1996, December
Directed by Arthur Millman
This thesis explores the development of professional expertise in teaching ESL. Such expertise incorporates the methodological instructional knowledge, intercultural awareness, and multilingual competence essential to meeting highly diversified learning needs in US classrooms, facilitating globalization of domestic business interests, and enabling the integration of immigrants into American society. I encourage a view of ESL teachers as craftspersons and intellectuals who integrate a reflective approach toward personal experience and a comprehensive awareness of relevant intellectual constructs into a dialectical interaction with theory and practice.
The proverb "to teach is to learn twice" suggests both the challenge and potential dignity of learning a well-honed pedagogical craft. An appreciation of the philosophical context of human language, an understanding of the historical evolution of constructs about language, teaching, and learning attained through research in primary sources, and implementation of pedagogical precepts emerging from classroom practice provide crucial impetus o the growth of the ESL teacher's craft.
The author's "kaleidoscopic, Eclectic, Cognitive, Communicative, and Architectonic" (KECCA) approach synthesizes pedagogical awareness into a future-oriented methodology aimed at meeting the multi-faceted needs of learners and teachers alike. In this approach, learners' innate cognitive capacities are challenged by information drawn from highly varied sources and presented in various interactively communicative modes. Skills are taught autonomously but practiced holistically, building into an interwoven and flexible communicative competence in which learners have long-term confidence.
subject codes .LAN
Deborah Allen
Incorporating Inventive Thinking in the Middle School Life Science Curriculum
1994, May
Directed by Delores B. Gallo
This thesis consists of a series of inventive thinking activities designed to be integrated into a year-long middle school life science curriculum. The term inventive thinking is used to describe the process needed to address an ambiguous or open-ended problem, whereby students are required to identify and seek out the needed givens and goals, plus the appropriate rules and operations for solving the problems or completing the task. The inventive process combines the analytical, evaluative skills and attitudes of critical thinking with the generative, synthetic skills and attitudes of creative thinking with the goal of producing a product. The product may be a model, design, plan or physical object; it must be original to the student; and it must solve the assigned problem.
Drawing upon the literature of critical and creative thinking, inventive thinking, science education, and girls in science, the thesis offers a firm theoretical framework for the inventive thinking projects and for the necessity of embedding them into the year-long curriculum and into the methods of teaching used on a daily basis. Furthermore, the curriculum into which the inventive thinking activities are integrated is included. Nine inventive thinking projects are presented and discussed within these frameworks. Three of them are described in detail, with teaching strategies and evaluative processes delineated to serve as an example upon which other teachers can build their own work.
Selected writings from students' journals, reports, and project presentations demonstrate continual development and successful use of critical and creative thinking skills, point out areas of content mastery, and evidence the presence of relevant traits and attitudes for excellent science education. An especially rewarding feature of this inventive thinking approach, which has now been in use for three years, has been the help it has provided for girls to regain self-esteem, to enjoy scientific thinking, and to stay engaged in science. Teachers are encouraged and aided in this thesis to use inventive thinking projects as a vital part of their middle school science curricula.
subject codes .MSE
Patricia Allen
Critical Thinking and The Community College
1997, September
Directed by Delores Gallo
During the past fifteen years, colleges have been challenged to reform their curricula to ensure that they will graduate individuals who can think critically. This study explores the response that post-secondary institutions have made to this challenge and recommends a critical thinking paradigm "more deeply rooted in the social and moral requirements of thinking in a complex world." (Weinstein 1995,1)
This study presents an overview of the conceptual, structural and political
responses of the academic community to this challenge. It focuses principally on the conceptual responses because these provide the theoretical underpinnings for both the structural and political responses of the critical thinking movement: the pedagogical organization and
practices; the competing political agendas; and, the popular understanding of the movement.
Since it is theoretically possible to train people for critical thinking in very narrow domains and practical tasks, just as it is for very broad domains and theoretical tasks, we therefore have to ask ourselves what kind of critical thinking are we interested in developing? For whom and for what? (McPeck 1994, 38)
This study examines four curricular approached to the teaching of critical thinking, two examples of infusion and two examples of the independent critical thinking course. It considers the recent history of critical thinking, describes the unique critical thinking considerations inherent in the community college, traces the instructor's experience with an independent critical thinking course, and outlines a prescription for further development of critical thinking at the community college.
subject codes .TCE
Alfred Alschuler
Education and the Cognitive Development of Creativity
2000, June
Directed by Gary Spierstein
The importance of creativity in education has been increasingly recognized. Although controversy still exists, many schools are attempting to improve the creative capacity of their students through the curriculum. Current efforts tend to view creativity as a stable function which individuals acquire and possess more or less of. This view does not adequately account for the developmental nature of individuals. In order to design a creativity curriculum which accounts for the cognitive development of students it is necessary to understand what the elements of creativity are and when they are acquired by individuals as they develop.
I have developed a conceptual framework with seven elements of creativity which is based on many of the established creativity theories. These elements are: initiative, symbolic representation, symbolic play, extended exploration, perspective taking, inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.
When I place these seven elements of creativity within the perspective of Piaget's theory of development, a sense of when they emerge in an individual's development can be obtained. Initiative emerges soon after birth during Piaget's Sensori-motor stage. Symbolic representation, symbolic play and extended exploration all emerge during the Piaget's Pre-operational stage. Perspective taking, inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning emerge during Piaget's Concrete stage of development.
In the second half of the synthesis I show how this theoretical work can inform the design or evaluation of curriculum on the degree to which it enhances creative development. The key features of this application are: lessons should be age appropriate and reinforce the skills that students are just acquiring; in order to facilitate creative development the teaching of different subjects should take into account the process of learning, not just the content. I combine these in an easy to use check list. This list can be used to design curriculum, evaluate existing curriculum or to assess student progress in creative development.
Curriculum should be systematically evaluated to assess the degree to which existing lessons or newly designed ones promote creative development in an age appropriate manner. Using what is known about creativity and cognitive development, in addition to the seven elements presented in this paper, it is possible to create a checklist of basic ingredients individual lessons and entire curricula should have.
This synthesis is intended to provide educators with a straightforward, developmentally sensitive approach to integrating creative development into their teaching. It is my hope that the methods suggested will prove to be useful and effective.
subject codes .THR
Mashail H AlShabeeb
Modifying and Integrating Critical Thinking Into the Traditional Pedagogy of Saudi Girls' Elementary School
1997, June
Directed by John Murray
This study is motivated by the current national problem of poor and inadequate teacher preparation and teaching quality in Saudi elementary schools. This thesis focuses on Saudi girls' elementary schools. To date, not a single scholarly effort has been made in Saudi Arabia to study if teachers facilitate children's thinking skills and to determine why thinking strategies and effective study skills are not encouraged in young elementary school children. The absence of such knowledge is rather depressing, given the overwhelming evidence that children's experiences during the elementary school years play a vital role in the beginning and development of learning and thinking strategies.
It is argued in this study that in order to address the problem resulting from a lack of critical thinking skills, Saudi Arabia must move beyond a traditional evaluation of teachers which is based solely on the lecture method. It is necessary for the Saudi Arabian education system to examine more practical elements of teaching and learning. Extensive changes in teachers preparation are necessary if Saudi elementary schools are to establish a workable and effective model of national teacher preparation and development.
Literature on the study of teaching students how to think effectively and the development of useful teaching strategies has convincingly informed us of how essential these skills are to students' progress. The implications of such research are quite clear.
I)the elementary school years are a crucial time for children to develop and acquire thinking strategies,
2)the elementary classroom context is ideal for the acquisition, development, and exercise of thinking strategies, and
3)instructional success depends, in great part, on a teacher's interaction with students and the students' in interactions with one another.
This study will take a two-pronged approach to addressing the needs listed above. First, it will provide an assessment and critique of Saudi girls' elementary lessons currently in use. Second, it will offer a sample of modified lessons and the development of a suggested questionnaire for the evaluation of elementary teachers.
subject codes .ELE.GEN.INT
Patricia Artis
Developing Student Participatory Skills in an Urban Middle School
1993, May
Directed by John R. Murray
This thesis contains a manual for a student government program designed to teach students of urban middle schools to think critically and creatively about the issues of responsibility and caring. Most existing student government programs have been constructed for high school students, and do not take into consideration the special developmental stages and needs of the middle school student.
This thesis develops a participatory model of middle school student government in which the entire school population participates. When authority within a school is decentralized and students empowered, the stage is set and structure provided for critical and creative thinking to begin.
In this thesis the most recent research on the biological, cognitive, socio-emotional, and political developmental stages as well as the needs of early adolescents are examined. Studies on citizenship, responsibility and caring are also reviewed. Urban middle school education is discussed as well as moral education, participation, and methods for teaching/developing critical and creative thinking and moral reasoning.
This thesis contains a working teacher's manual with procedures and over fifty reproducible activities for those interested in setting up an inclusive student government program. For each group - the student council, the after-school service club, and the student body - four lessons (introductory, implementation, maintenance, and evaluation) are included in the manual. Step-by-step procedures and research theory accompany each lesson.
The results of this highly successful student government program, which was developed over a ten year period of time, are presented through the use of student reflections and surveys of the students, staff, and the faculty advisor.
subject codes .MSE
Joyce Atkinson
The Role of Critical and Creative Thinking in Academic Retention Strategies for College Students
1997, December
Directed by Delores Gallo
The problem of retention of college students who are under prepared for the academic demands of college will be addressed by looking at the skills and needs of "high profile" or high risk students. I will use critical and creative thinking concepts as a framework for defining relevant skills and motivation, and I will present an original model for developing structures for transformational dialogue to occur as well as offer suggestions for how to measure change through observable student actions. In this way, student needs and skill development can be assessed more effectively and authentic learning formats can be woven into the fabric of holistic outreach interventions.
subject codes
Mumtaz Badshah
The Role of Examination Reform as a Catalyst in Directing Education Change in India
1997, June
Directed by Delores Gallo
The paper focuses on exploring the possibilities of using examinations as a
catalyst that can give an impetus to educational change. The current system of education in Maharashtra, India was examined and the current needs and goals were identified. A literature review was conducted of the research on thinking and learning done by Eliot Eisner, Howard Gardner and Lauren Resnick amongst others.
Research in thinking and learning shows that in order to educate students so that they can use information optimally, make informed decisions and solve problems creatively it is extremely important that educational systems commit to the teaching of critical and creative thinking skills. The portfolio method was identified as having the potential to enhance critical and creative thinking skills from amongst several assessment techniques because it is aligned to the principles of learning by doing and learning by reviewing. In the light of the financial and material constraints present in Maharashtra, India, a case was made that the schools in Maharashtra must aspire to re-design some components of the existing examination system.
Three strategies were suggested to re-design the essay type questions of the examination system. First, to identify and list thinking skills in the question, so that the students know which thinking skills are being assessed and what each thinking skill means. Second to extend the essay question to include a section of reflective writing by the student. In this section the students would describe the thinking skills used to solve the problems stated in the question by reflecting and reviewing on their work and progress. The third recommendation is to design questions in the form of 'cases'. A case is a problem embedded into a real situation where the
student engages actively with the problem by role-playing one character in the case and solving the problem from that characters perspective.
Re-designing the existing examination methods to include components that require students to develop and apply thinking skills is the first step to building thinking classrooms where one of the main goals of education is cognitive development.
subject codes .INT
Anibal Baez
Critical Thinking Through Manipulatives: A Staff Development Intervention for Middle Grades
1997, December
Directed by Judith Collison
This thesis proposes a curriculum development project for mathematics education in the middle grades. I intend to provide theory and to contribute practical applications, both intended for future in-service staff development and teacher workshops. The rationale explores the causes and effects of the lack of manipulative materials in current mathematics classrooms.
This exploration results from my interest in designing, constructing and implementing instructional aids, from my experience as staff developer in the Amigos Bilingual Program of Cambridge, and from my graduate studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. My objective is to review the history of the teaching of thinking skills and how that history relates to the use of instructional aids in mathematics. I will examine this topic from three different perspectives, philosophical, psychological and pedagogical, that have shaped school practices.
The philosophical perspective that I most use in this work is perhaps best exemplified by Lev Vigotsky's cultural evolution theory based on historic materialism. I use in addition, Robert H. Ennis' approach, which proposes that teaching of critical thinking be emphasized as learning how to think and what to know. I refer to developmental psychology researchers like Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner as representatives of the constructivist trend within cognitive
psychology. Both Piaget' s and Bruner' s work have greatly influenced the study of learning, motivation, perception and educational psychology. The inclusion of their ideas is important when considering any initiative of curriculum or staff development that attempts to improve teaching methods and materials. The contribution of these developmentalists to my own understanding of thinking and reasoning processes have greatly influenced my work here.
For the section on pedagogy, my conviction of the need of various sensory modes to represent thinking led my search to Bruner's spiral curriculum and later Lesh' s model for the translation of representational thoughts. From these two models we may develop an instructional method in which the teacher moves deliberately, in gradual steps, from concrete to symbolic modes of thinking.
Some facts, however, give us pause when considering a total manipulative approach. The first is that the learning outcome of a mathematics curriculum is almost totally symbolic, particularly from the middles grades up. We want our students to be able to perform, eventually, at an abstract level with numbers, operation signs, parentheses and equations. Nevertheless, current findings suggest a schism between this symbolic form of mathematics dexterity and the desirable manipulative methods of good mathematics instruction. I believe that manipulative aids provide for both the improvement of teaching practices and, consequently, for better students understanding of the covered concepts. The use of such devices as realia, pictures and games represent a major benchmark in the paradigm shift from transmission of knowledge practices to student-centered practices. Indeed, this shift provides for the various representational modes of thinking: intuitive, concrete, pictorial and abstract. Consequently, with proper activities, these representations will also facilitate growth toward more complex mental modes and operations: generalizations, making connections, problem solving and the like--the modes where critical thinking resides.
subject codes .MSE
Maureen Baines
Critical and Creative Thinking Through Space Exploration
1996, June
Directed by Judith Collison
This thesis presents a thematic approach to the study of space researchers. Active thinkers seek information as well as process exploration by providing learning experiences for students as content chosen by the teacher. This model presents the teacher as a facilitator of the individual student's quest for knowledge. Some of the most important goals of social studies in schools is to educate the students to make informed decisions, to seek the information they need to solve a problem, answer questions, to work together as a team and to promote citizenship. Thus inquiry and meaningful connections to real life are valued over the memorization of a
prescribed curriculum. The curricular approach profiled here teaches fifth grade students research skills by integrating critical and creative thinking with numerous resources including text, the Internet and CD-ROMs.
Central to the work is the value of teaching the students how to think rather than what to think. Research is a proactive seeking of knowledge that is steeped in inquiry. A detailed format for writing a research project on the intermediate elementary school level is included. Research skills are discussed with emphasis on critical and creative thinking.
Creative thinking converges with critical thinking as the students experience the process of writing a report in social studies with special attention given to the simulated shuttle flight at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center in Framingham, Massachusetts and the research experience. A model is included as a visual aid to help students develop their writing
skills through divergent (creative) and convergent (critical) thinking.
subject codes .SCI
Joelle Barton
tales of gen x nothing: A synthesis of theory and practice
2003, June
Directed by Peter Taylor
Tales of a gen x nothing is the true story of Generation X as seen through the eyes of thirty-one million adult children of divorce. As children, how do they see the world after daddy packs up and leaves? How do they cope in a society that hates children? As adults, how do they come to terms with their lost childhoods? This book describes the lifetime of chaos that was the result of the divorce revolution.
This book originated as a way to put to rest the misery that defined my childhood and the anger that blemished my twentysomething years; it was all brought to the surface through my work in the Critical and Creative Thinking Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Mine is a synthesis in two parts:
1. tales of a gen x nothing, a creative non-fiction book-in-progress
2. A companion practitioner's narrative that analyzes my creative process from inception to active writing, through writing blocks and creative breakdowns, and finally to a product nearly ready for mainstream publication.
In the practitioner's narrative, I strive to draw parallels between my experience as a member of Generation X and the creative process involved in committing that experience to paper. In this narrative, I show that my writing process, my inspiration, and my motivation is distinctly different than those described by writer's of other generations. I show that my writer's blocks were closely related to lingering insecurities from my typical Generation X childhood.
The voice with which I chose to write the practitioner's narrative defies convention, a defiance that is a fundamental attribute of Generation X. This defiance rails against what older generations declares must be. The narrative must be written in a formal manner. The narrative must not contain slang or "offensive language". The narrative must present the topic in a reverent manner. The narrative must bore the reader to death.
There is nothing boring about either section of this Synthesis Project. It is an honest account of a young life thrown into chaos and what it took to make sense of that chaos.
subject codes .WRL
Carol Beal
The Relationship of Empathy to Effective Speaking: Critical and Creative Thinking in the Speech Process
1991, September
Directed by Delores Gallo
Many factors influence the success of a speaker in speaking effectively before an audience. In teaching speech communication to students, I have focused on factors over which the students have some control in preparing and presenting speeches for an audience. Particularly, I have encouraged the development of critical and creative thinking skills and dispositions as the students focus on engaging closely with their topics, in preparing messages for their audiences, and in selecting styles of delivery. This study investigates the influence of activities which elicit empathy in helping students to think in this way. Nineteen high school sophomores were encouraged to think critically and creatively in preparing and presenting seven speeches of increasing challenge to earn speech communication skills and dispositions in a nine week term.
Empathy is defined here as an intrapersonal communication process composed of cognitive and affective components. Student work was measured by an empathy continuum scale created for the complex aspects of the speech preparation process, attending to the degree of empathy I observed in the students for their topics and their audiences.
This study presents a qualitative analysis of the work of six students selected on the basis of their task commitment and speech aptitude as revealed in the first speech task. These case studies are supported with quantitative analyses of data I collected from the students, including student rankings for themselves and their eighteen peers for: empathy for the topic and audience, best speaking in the term, best delivery skills, most improvement in the term, and task commitment.
The written and oral empathy activities facilitated the students' engagement with their topics and audiences even when the students lacked a positive disposition towards the speech domain. Given satisfactory task commitment, the students who emphasized to some degree with their topics and their audiences were positively influenced in the growth of speech skills and dispositions.
subject codes .MOR.MSE
Elisa Beildeck
Reducing Communication Apprehension To Improve Self-Concept: An Adaptable Public Speaking Curriculum For Secondary School
1999, December
Directed by Taylor
Both middle and high school students today are confronted with social and biological changes, which can negatively impact on their self-concept. Many students have, in particular, a low public speaking self-concept causing them to avoid public speaking circumstances or causing them to have high levels of anxiety in speaking situations. Students need positive experiences in secondary school, but unfortunately, many are not taught public speaking until the college level and consequently have a high communication apprehension level. In this paper I cite research that shows that my public speaking course taught at the secondary level designed to decrease communication apprehension will improve students' public speaking self-concept. In turn encouraging students to participate and succeed in more public speaking opportunities, leads to a better overall self-concept.
After presenting research, which shows the causes, consequences and treatments for communication apprehension, and illustrating the inverse relationship between communication apprehension and self-concept, I provide a complete public speaking curriculum for secondary teachers. The curriculum is designed to lower communication apprehension and improve students' public speaking self-concept so that students at the secondary level can have power over their public speaking fears and develop a better overall self-image.
This adaptable public speaking curriculum lowers communication apprehension in five ways. First, the curriculum explains how to create a safe environment with established ground rules. Second, once the environment encourages students to take risks this curriculum prepares speakers to write and deliver their speeches. Samples of monologues, famous speeches and poems are included in the curriculum to give teachers a wide variety of speech material from which to choose. Third, this curriculum teaches students metacognition and ongoing self-assessment so that, students can determine focus areas for work and measure their improvement. Fourth, the curriculum empowers students with the ability to lower their own communication apprehension through various activities such as visualization, drama exercises and systematic desensitization. Last, this effective public speaking curriculum presents several non-intimidating evaluative measures for the teacher and students to use at the end of the project.
This curriculum has been successfully tested in various classrooms. Both teachers and students have reported an apparent reduction of communication apprehension and an improved self-concept.
subject codes .MSE.COM
Marlene Bell
An Exploration of Personal Process as Manifested in Painting
1991, May
Directed by Nina Greenwald
This thesis examines the processes of personal experience and expression which emerge in art. The author believes these processes to be multidimensional, encompassing different elements: significant childhood and later events, the shaping of perception, and the evolution of form and design. Perception is discussed in relation to these factors.
The opening chapter provides an examination of pertinent literature in the field of creativity. The following chapters explore different elements of creative work in comparison to the perspective of prominent individuals who have made a contribution toward an understanding of the creative process. Their insights provide a scaffolding from which to understand how the creative process is represented in personal artistic experience and expression. Where applicable, ethnographic comparisons of perception are cited and discussed.
The thesis also examines the development of one particular painting of the author. This examination begins with the original image seen. It continues to follow the image's evolution through stages of active work to the design and execution of the painting's final product. These examinations of thought and activity link the painting to the original experience and exemplify the activity of painting as visual thinking.
subject codes .CUL.THR
Kathleen Bertrand
Emergent creativity: A case study
1997, May
Directed by Delores Gallo
A recognition and analysis of the complexity involved in trying to understand what creativity is and how the creative process works is the essence of this paper. I chose to record as a case study the creative process involved in developing a children's book based upon the achievements and experiences of three Massachusetts women who participated in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. The AAGPBL, as it is called, pioneered the effort of the participation of women in organized professional baseball. There is currently a need for books, written for young readers, with young girl athletes as role models. The intent of this project is to create a story that validates the athletic passion, drive, abilities, and love of sport for all girl athletes. The All American Girls Professional Baseball League is an example of a time gone by when the national pastime of baseball became a true experience for all ballplayers regardless of gender.
The evolution of the project as it happened is presented with accompanying analysis. The influence of the critical and creative thinking theorists, Howard E. Gruber, Teresa Amabile, Delores Gallo, Sharon Bailin, Richard Paul, and others are evident and provide structure to the analysis.
This work contains a theoretical framework, an introduction to Mary Pratt, Maddy English and Dottie Green, (three women baseball players under discussion), an overview of the proposed work of adolescent fiction, and an in-depth presentation and discussion of one chapter of the book.
When the project was finished I had not defined creativity but rather chronicled an emergent experience within an evolving creative process.
subject codes.GEN.SPO
Patricia Bertucci
Promoting a healthier life-style by bridging the 'life-times' gap
1997, May
Directed by Delores Gallo
This paper traces the evolutionary transformation of a small town New England native, who was traditionally raised and educated. She went from a conventional Western-medicine trained nurse, and an adherent of Roman Catholicism, to a holistic therapy practitioner. Spiritual healing, visualization, relaxation, hypnosis, and past-life regression are utilized as part of the healing process, on the self-actualized journey to wellness. The paper begins with a selective review of related literature, offering both empirical evidence of the mind/body connection, and proceeds with anecdotal evidence of the medical efficacy of relaxation, visualization, hypnosis, and past-life regression therapy. It ends with an account of three case studies, and statements from the subjects.
subject codes.MED
Shelly Billingsley
Evaluating Different Forms of E-Learning
2003, August
Directed by Peter Taylor
"The Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) program at the University of Massachusetts Boston provides its students with knowledge, tools, experience, and support so they can become constructive, reflective agents of change in education, work, social movements, science, and creative arts." (Critical and Creative Thinking Program 2003) I entered the program as a teacher seeking knowledge on how to better convey learning theories to diverse groups. I also wanted to experience a collaborative atmosphere where I could learn from interacting with peers on how to best promote educational change. Finally, I had a desire to seek insight into the evolution of different forms of learning practices.
This paper chronicles key professional events that have evoked questions in respect to how best to create learning material for different audiences. The nature of these events is described as I explain the transition from teacher to corporate trainer and from formal instructor to e-learning and technical course provider. The framework of this paper takes a look at existing theories that one may consider while deciding what forms of content can be successfully provided through e-learning, includes a hypothesis rationalizing which forms of content might be too abstract for online instruction, and clarifies a simple study that was conducted to begin to evaluate different forms of e-learning.
subject codes.COR.TEC
Kathleen Blanchard
1997, August
Directed by
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Varis Blaus
1997, May
Directed by
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Constance Borab
Freeing the Female Voice: Pedagogical and Methodological Changes in One Teacher's Story
1997, May
Directed by
This paper will trace the stages and causes for my evolving pedagogy and the resulting changes in the content and methodology in the curriculum I teach. Being trained within the bounds of a patriarchal framework and traditional Anglo-American canon, I came to teaching believing that critical thinking and critical writing were the measure of true knowledge.
The first challenge to my initial pedagogy came from the voices of my students who were not as fully engaged in the learning process as I or they wanted them to be. Pointing to my methodology as an inhibitor to learning, the students' feedback called for my respect for subjective and constructed knowledge as well as for my grounding procedural knowledge in a context broader than the limits of the definitions of valid knowing that exalted objectivity and the rigors of traditional academic forms of expression.
The evolution of my methodology, pedagogy and curriculum design have been gradual and continuous. The introduction to Carol Gilligan's In a Different Voice provided the language and development that I had already recognized in my students' voices over the years. Reading this work led to a pedagogical epiphany that my working must be about "freeing the voice" of my students. The methodological and curriculum changes that I have made have risen from my belief that empowering my students and "freeing the voice" are integral and imperative to learning.
subject codes .GEN
James Bousquet
The Critical Thinking Salesperson
1991, September
Directed by
Salespeople have one of the most important assignments in any firm. They are largely responsible for the movement of inventory and the movement of inventory and the generation of revenues. Specialized training should be provided for salespeople if they are to be expected to accomplish these goals. Today, much of what is provided in the area of training is product oriented. Very little is offered to help the salesperson create lasting business relationships, with the buyer, that would result in repeat sales.
What is needed is a new approach to sales training, one that focused on the skills required to create and maintain relationships and to truly understand the needs of the customer. Now longer is it sufficient to provide only basic product training. The new sales training curriculum requires critical an creative thinking skills as an integral component of the skill set provided to the salesperson.
This thesis will outline a curriculum designed to provide integrated sales and critical and creative thinking skills to salespeople. The basic framework will be the sales process, broken down into seven discrete steps. Critical and creative thinking skills will be used to strengthen the sales skills in the student. The student will examine major critical and creative thinking themes such as viewing ideas from different perspectives, identifying biases and stereotypes, problem identification and metacognition as they relate to the seven step selling process.
The central idea of this work is that salespeople once given basic skills training, will be more effective creating lasting professional relationships if they constantly monitor, evaluate and revise their approach to the selling process. This curriculum outlines a course that will provide students with basic sales skills and expose them to the critical and creative thinking skills necessary to make them critically thinking salespeople.
subject codes .COR
Elizabeth Buckley
A Thinking Skills Approach to the Humanities
1993, May
Directed by Patricia S. Davidson
Teachers are constantly seeking ways to improve their own teaching and thereby enhance the learning of their students. One method of doing this is to bring critical and creative thinking to the forefront in the curriculum. Specifically, this thesis shows how critical and creative thinking skills can be integrated into a high school curriculum. It focuses primarily on the teaching of Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World, although the book is meant to be a paradigm for other works. The novel is an example of one unit in a high school humanities course that was developed in a suburban high school in the l980s.
This study explains the role that critical and creative thinking played in the development of a course called "Odyssey." It also delineates how integration/infusion emerged as the preferred method of teaching thinking skills. A brief history and overview of the course is presented to emphasize the fact that flexibility is one of Odyssey's chief hallmarks. Definitions for both critical and creative thinking are established, and the work of major theorists in both areas is considered. Those theorists reviewed in this study in the area of critical thinking are Ennis, Beyer, Lipman, Sternberg and Paul. The major influences presented in the field off creative thinking are Guilford, Torrance, Barron, Parnes, Treffinger and Feldhusen, as well as Shallcross, Gallo and Amabile.
The relationship between critical and creative thinking as articulated by Guilford, Parnes, Swartz and Perkins is also explored. The infusion/integration method is considered with references to Perkins, Swartz, Costa and Paul. The importance of metacognition is discussed along with the significance of transference across the curriculum and into real-life situations.
The major thrust of this thesis is the ten lesson plans which take a thinking skills approach to teaching Brave New World. Strategies and techniques such as role-playing, journal writing and brainstorming are delineated to illustrate the integrative mode. The final chapter discussed some of the implications of teaching critical and creative thinking in this manner. Examples of students' reactions are shared. While the theoretical base of this approach is provided by the experts, it is the affirmation of present and former students that attests to its effectiveness
subject codes .MSE.ELE
Kathleen Bullock
Teaching Economics In United States History: One Teacher Shares Some Lessons
2002, August
This paper addresses the value and benefits of teaching economics in U.S. History at the high school level. Some of the challenges it presents such as curriculum style, teacher qualifications, assessment and accountability, pacing, and developing thinking skills for a theory-based course are discussed. I also offer activities with accompanying worksheets and graphic organizers that may assist teachers in meeting these challenges. The activities include tariffs, a run on the bank, monopolies, and recessions as an introduction to basic economic principles that are important in teaching U.S. History. A set of graphic organizers on The Civil War demonstrates how economics relates and integrates with social and political causes. My paper reflects my desire to raise intellectual standards for myself, and gives me the opportunity to share some of my discoveries with colleagues who desire the same.
subject codes.MSE
Margaret Burke
Building a Home for Thinking Transfer
1992, September
Directed by John R. Murray
Thinking skills development is an important educational goal if students are expected to cope with the challenges of today's rapidly changing world. Teachers attempt to build the foundation for thinking by applying innovative programs that introduce and reinforce critical and creative thinking skills. Yet, educational practitioners and experts in the critical thinking field recognize that even those students who demonstrate mature thinking in school frequently fail to transfer thinking skills outside the classroom.
To maximize the possibility for transfer two approaches to thinking skills development were chosen for this thesis. First, methods employed in the classroom included direct instruction in thinking, practice in thinking using multiple experiences with varied contexts in socially interactive environments, and metacognitive instruction. Secondly, outside the classroom, parents and teachers joined in a mutually supportive partnership to extend thinking skills into the home. Parents modeled good thinking and employed high level questioning strategies in a series of project activities designed to foster communication.
The thinking skills project involved twenty-five fourth grade students and their families participating for one full year to develop and transfer critical and creative thinking skills outside the classroom. Project activities employed strategies that elicited recall, application, analysis, and evaluation.
Conclusions were drawn from direct observation and evaluative instruments completed by parents and students both during the process and at the conclusion of the project. A summary of evaluative data indicated that the intervention was effective with the majority of students. Parents' awareness of critical and creative thinking also increased.
The curriculum and evaluation instruments are included in the appendix to serve as a resource for teachers and other practitioners. Primarily designed for elementary classroom teachers, both the content and the style of the curriculum project could easily be adapted by other practitioners working with parents and children.
subject codes .ELE
Mary Burke
First Graders Solving Problems
1997, September
Directed by John R. Murray
First graders become good problem solvers when given the opportunity to practice problem solving skills. It is necessary for such practice to take place in a risk-free environment that treats errors as valuable learning experiences rather than something to always avoid. This thesis integrates academic subject matter, school life interactions, and out of school experiences into the first graders' development of critical thinking skills and strategies necessary for them to become good problem solvers. The thesis explains in several different academic subject areas the implementation of critical and creative thinking pedagogy essential for the development of a sound foundation for first graders to work through many of their own problems.
Portfolio assessment is used as the primary tool to evaluate the growth in both critical and creative thinking and problem solving. This has given the author good evidence that first graders can become good problem solvers when they are given guided practice.
subject codes .ELE
Thomas .M Burns
A Structured Approach to Training and Development Programs for Business and Organizational Leaders
1997, June
Directed by John Murray
This paper addresses and integrates two issues. Its first premise is that training and development programs in most organizations are often poorly planned or randomly implemented, a condition which undermines much of the potential benefit these programs may offer. Secondly, the paper argues that the development and application of critical and creative thinking skills, traditionally applied only in educational settings, can also serve businesses in very important ways.
Towards the integration of these two issues, a six-stage model is presented that can serve to coordinate the process of personnel development in organizations. It is highlighted by the identification and application of a range of cognitive skills. While the model is primarily progressive, suggesting that certain learning should precede other learning, there is also a more holistic or systemic aspect to it, realizing that work at one level must influence and be influenced by work on other levels. These points are expanded upon throughout the paper
After an introductory chapter discusses the background and general goals of the paper, each of the next six chapters discusses in detail one of the stages from the model. Stage 1 is centered on self-development and a greater appreciation of an individual's thinking, learning and behavioral preferences. Stage 2 introduces interpersonal communication issues
associated primarily with dyadic contexts. Then Stage 3 focuses on communication issues in special circumstances, namely those related to matters of diversity as it is understood to include perspectives of race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual preference, and physical disability. Stage 4
deals with ideas associated with group process and team development. Trainings at this Stage 4 level become pivotal and critical as a foundation for the more complex operations common to most organizations. In Stage 5, the contextual focus expands to include organizational departments or divisions. And finally, Stage 6 addresses intervention programs that are concerned with entire organizations. A summary is presented in Chapter 8 and suggestions are made for further study and exploration.
subject codes .COR
Michelle Burpee-Robert
1997, May
Directed by
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Susan Butler
A Teller's Tale: Joining The Circle -- A Discussion of Process in The Writing of a Novel for Young Adults
2002, December
Directed by Peter Taylor
In this thesis, I reflect on the writing of fiction for young adults against the backdrop of autobiography. Context is provided by the accompanying opening chapters of a novel for young adults-The Defectives of Ulibar- and excerpts from a journal written during the writing process. Aspects of the creative engagement-open brainstorming, focusing, rewriting-are anchored in the specific locations-a country road, a cabin in the woods, an indoor study-in which the processes occur.
In the course of this endeavor, I learn that the writing of fiction, and the reflecting on the writing of fiction, are not after all so different. It is only be engaging in the groping, shape-discovering process that I learn what I have to say.
I also discover that not only do my characters move from silence and disconnection toward expression and connection, but that I too, through the writing of fiction, am stepping out of the shadows and joining a circle of my peers.
Lastly, I take note that with this document, I am taking my place in yet another circle: that of sharing reflectors on creative process, fellows in the Critical and Creative Thinking Program. Each of us adding our tile to an ever-evolving mosaic.
subject codes .WRL
Victoria Byerly
Literacy as a Source for Critical Consciousness Thought, Language, and Concept of Self
1988, May
Directed by Wanda Teays
This thesis is a study of the complex interrelation between thought and language and the relevance of social and cultural influences on a mature critical concept of self. This study represents an effort to propose a curriculum for literacy that facilitates the restructuring of consciousness in the adult learner. The intent is to promote transformation of student apperception from that of internalized reactive powerlessness to proactive self-empowerment. It is an emancipatory theory of literacy with a corresponding transformative pedadgogy that promotes the ability to name and define the relationship of self and environment, and one that engages learners to transform their world.
subject codes .THR
Terese Byrne
Verifying the Teaching of Analogies to Fourth Grade Students
1999, June
Directed by Delores Gallo
The proliferation of technology and the information it makes available to all has forced education to realign itself to meet the changing needs of today's students. A shift away from amassing information, toward the development of critical thinking skills, presents teachers with new questions. What skills are appropriate to teach at a given age or level, and how can those skills be developed? This project takes one of those skills, analogies, and investigates the degree of success a teacher might expect in teaching them to fourth grade students.
The project was designed as a data generating study. Fifty-seven fourth grade students from a suburban Boston community participated in the study. There were 28 students in the study group and 29 students in the control group. As there are no commercially available tests that would measure growth in the necessary manner, an instrument was devised for the study. The test contained four subtests at increasing levels of proficiency: recognition, completion, analysis, and generation of analogies. Within each subtest five types of relationships were included: descriptive, comparative, categorical, serial, and causal. All participants were given a pretest and a posttest on designated dates. The study group received 16 instructional sessions of 15-20 minutes each between the pre- and posttests. The results were then compared.
The overall analysis showed significant gains for the study group compared to the control group. The greatest gains were made in the fourth subtest, generating analogies. This is particularly encouraging since it requires the greatest facility with the integrated reasoning process of analogical thinking. The findings of the study support the hypothesis that it is feasible to teach analogical skills to fourth grade students, and they suggest that critical thinking can be successfully included in the curriculum of elementary schools.
subject codes .LRN.ELE
Terri Caffelle
Metacognition in the Elementary Classroom: An Exploration
1992, December
Directed by Carol Smith
Metacognition is a practice which enables students to monitor their thought processes in order to think critically. Research indicates that when students are aware of their thinking they become better thinkers. The purpose of this thesis is to encourage teachers to give more attention to metacognition in the classroom.
A review of the literature on metacognition is given. Next, classroom lessons are outlined which introduce fourth grade students to metacognition in the context of math problem solving. Finally, an initial assessment is given of how students' metacognitive and problem solving abilities have changed as a results of the curriculum.
Before the instruction began, all students were given a math problem solving pretest. A sample of nine students of different ability levels were given a pre-interview to assess their metacognitive abilities. Based on the pre-interview results, I realized that students were able to metacogitate to some degree, but that it needed to be fine-tuned. Students also demonstrated limited success solving the math word problems.
After five weeks of instruction and practice, I gave a post-interview to the same nine students and the math problem solving posttest to all of the students. I measured the students' metacognitive growth and problem solving growth in several ways.
There was evidence of an increase in student metacognitive and problem solving abilities in several areas, but two areas did not show substantial differences. I feel that one limit of the study was the five week time frame. It should have been extended.
A question surfaced: Are student gains in problem solving ability due to metacognition instruction in the curriculum? Or are they caused by the problem solving instruction itself? A correlation analysis showed that improvement in metacognitive awareness was positively correlated with improvement in math problem solving ability.
A future study was proposed to test the causal connection by comparing problem solving and intellectual gains in classrooms which either use or do not use metacognitive instruction.
subject codes .ELE
Gloria Cairns
Critical Thinking in the Workplace
1997, June
Directed by
Richard Paul, a leading figure in the critical thinkng movement, and Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration report that the need for applying critical thinking skills in the workplace is essential, if America is to remain competitive in the global economy. The degree to which employees think insightfully and are able to resolve complex problems will determine how competitive a business remains. In the past two decades, an unprecedented number of American businesses have been bought out, merged with another, or downsozeddownsized.Thisas forced
subject codes .COR
Ralph Calitri
Alternative Concepts of Geology and Time in Secondary Science Education
1984, September
Directed by Carol Smith
This study examines students' concepts of time and geologic processes and probes for alternative conceptions in these areas which would be of relevance for science education.
subject codes .MSE.SCI
Susan Carle
Student Held Misconceptions Regarding Area and Perimeter of Rectangles
1993, December
Directed by Patricia S. Davidson
Students enter the classroom with individual schemas, based on their experiences and ideas, which influence the reception, interpretation, and recollection of new information. Effective teachers must understand the implications of these existing schemas. As an experienced classroom teacher, the author finds students often manipulate and apply new information well in class, only to forget or alter the material a few weeks later;. When misconceptions are woven into schemas, they interfere with reception of information. This thesis examines specific student-held misconceptions about the area and perimeter of rectangles and the process of their identification and eradication.
Identification of the misconception is the first step in bringing about change. The process of identification begins through the analysis of a pre-test which is designed to highlight specific erroneous ideas that the students hold. :Through this pre-test, the author identifies five misconceptions. For ease of discussion they have been named; Fallacy of Multiples, Increase/Decrease assumption, Conversion Conclusion, Spatial Bias, and Equality Assumptions. Each misconception is defined and explained and the specific pre-test questions used for its identification are included.
There are several learning theories which can aid the teacher n establishing a process of misconception eradication and educational change. The author works within a framework including theoretical components of cognitive psychology, Anderson's theory of memory, and Ennis' definition of critical thinking and taxonomy of critical thinking dispositions and abilities. The mathematical components of this framework are developed utilizing metacognition, transfer, and recent curriculum and professional development standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
This multi-faceted framework provides the foundation on which to build lessons targeting the eradication of specific misconceptions. Three lesson plans are presented to illustrate the practical implementation of the theories in the classroom. Each lesson contains four components: Motivation, Activity, Metacognition, and Transfer;. The author concludes the thesis with more general classroom teaching suggestions and a review of current innovative educational approaches.
subject codes .SCI.MSE
Joseph Carlin
Critical and Creative Thinking for Nutritionists: A Training Program
1990, December
Directed by John R. Murray
In order to improve the critical and creative thinking skills of nutritionists and dietitians I developed two one-day training programs. The training programs are designed to help nutritionists develop their creative problem solving skills and to improve their critical thinking strategies when dealing with controversial nutrition issues and with fraudulent food practices.
The Creative Problem Solving Nutrition Training Program is built around a series of exercises, each progressive more complex, that help trainees develop their thinking skills. The goal is to help trainees become more flexible and mindful of how they solve problems. Trainees will learn the techniques of creative problem solving such as brainstorming and list making. Trainees will also learn to use Sternberg's seven elements of problem solving as a conceptual model for solving problems. They will also be exposed to left and right brain modes of thinking.
The Critical Thinking Nutrition Training Program recognizes that even nutritionists find it difficult to come to a reasonable assessment of fact on many food and nutrition issues, such as food irradiation and the use of Alar as a pesticide. The exercises in this program offer trainees practical experience in working through a succession of progressively more difficult problems. The objectives of this program are to help nutritionists to develop their critical thinking skills and strategies so they can more successfully deal with complex and controversial nutrition issues; to help trainees develop a conceptual framework for understanding and combating fraudulent food practices; and, to help nutritionists develop the critical thinking skills of their patients, clients and the public.
subject codes .MED.GOV
Franco Carnelli
Pond Secrets: Reflections for Thought and Virtue
1997, September
Directed by John Murray
Pond secrets is an original play designed to create a context for motivating children to learn and practice critical thinking in its strongest sense through reflective dialogue and improvisational drama. The story's design, content, and suggested methodology are theoretically consistent with Brain-based learning theory, which asserts that memorable learning occurs when children can integrate concepts, emotions, and values in a meaningful context and environment. Using a mythical setting and features of classical literature, Pond secrets invites children to join the animals of Pond as they gather to examine their thinking and affirm the
meaning of friendship, citizenship, and justice. Not settling on any one definition of critical thinking, Pond secrets reflects a synthesis of expert descriptions that advances the following
modified definition: Critical thinking is used to make decisions, form beliefs, solve problems, and learn new concepts. It is a dialogical questioning process that uses reasonable and imaginative reflection. Additionally, it is a purposive and disciplined process that relies on
criteria, is self-correcting, and is sensitive to context. In its strongest sense, critical thinking is fair-minded and caring. Moreover, Pond secrets targets the following critical thinking skills for development : making a reliable observation, evaluating a source of information forming a reliable framework for perspectives, and examining cause and effect relationships. The target skills are infused and interwoven in the story to enable children to develop skill using them individually and together as a process transferable through subject domain.
Pond secrets models a community of inquiry that provokes integrative learning while promoting the application of critical and creative thinking to the moral domain of reasoning. As a framework for deliberation and dialogue, Pond secrets develops a model of justice that balances the principles of equal treatment and beneficence; Pond secrets replaces beneficence with the ethic of caring as a more accurate description of the orientation of empathic underscoring the promotion of goodness.
Pond secrets is accompanied by a theoretical guide that discusses the main ideas relevant to its implementation, The guide reviews cognitive development, issues of indoctrination, the psychological and philosophical underpinning of the justice model, and critical and creative thinking as relevant to Pond secret's content and methodology. Pond secrets offers the educator free imaginative reign to design lesson plans that suit the needs of the learning environment, provided that the criteria of critical thinking and the justice model are adhered to in methodology that is neutral and accordance with Brain based learning theory.
subject codes .ENV
Carsley
Bernadette Carsley
Mythology in the Middle School: A Thinking Skills Curriculum Unit
1996, June
Directed by Delores Gallo
At a time when information changes at an increasingly rapid pace, it is incumbent upon educators to abandon the notion of covering more and more material, and instead, to adopt an approach which focuses on thinking skills. Helping students to think critically and creatively is helping them to succeed not only in school, but also in life. These are the skills and dispositions that will enable them to confront new problems and challenges in positive ways.
If timing is everything, then it seems that the time in a child's life when instructing for these skills becomes most crucial is during early adolescence. Therefore the burden to develop and implement curricula which facilitate this process falls squarely on the middle school teacher. The dilemma becomes how to select a substantial knowledge base and then weave
direct thinking skills instruction through it in order to produce a palatable mix for middle school learners; It is a goal of my thesis to help in solving this dilemma.
Presented here, alongside theory and rationale, is a curriculum unit using a Greek mythology base, designed to teach critical thinking skills and to foster creativity in middle school students. Mythology is a great knowledge base from which to work because it cuts across grades, ability levels and domains. It allows students to reason about serious issues from a safe place. It inspires them to create wonderful stories, art, poetry, and drama. Learning about theology can lead to a better understanding of many academic subjects. Learning to think, and learning about thinking, can lead to a better understanding of one's self.
subject codes .MSE
Frank Carvino
Traditional and Non-Traditional Graduate Academics; Two Models for Consideration
2006, June
Directed by Peter Taylor
As a member of the academic community, I have encountered expectations that I would develop a traditional Master's thesis with very little preparatory instruction and virtually no assistance in initial development. This synthesis project compares the models of two distinct graduate programs using my experiences as a candidate in both programs and the support of secondary literature. Historical Archaeology is used as a concrete example of the traditional program and the Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) synthesis is used as the alternative to hold the dominant paradigm in tension with. In order to help to construct my CCT model, I have solicited suggestions from the CCT community.
As a result of the comparison between traditional academia and CCT several techniques emerge. Some techniques like; creativity, assessment, and group-work appear to be shared across disciplines. While other techniques like; free writing, metacognition, and reflection are unique to CCT, but could easily be learned and transmitted to other programs. The results however do not indicate that one program is better than the rest rather the comparison illustrates the need for information exchange between programs.
My goal is not to suggest that every graduate student become a candidate in two different programs, but rather make students aware of the variety of techniques available when approaching something as sophisticated as writing a Masters thesis. The CCT program offers tools and techniques remarkably different from those offered under a more 'traditional' framework. However, CCT techniques can be integrated into other graduate programs and can work in a variety of professions.
subject codes .TCE
Lizzie Casanave
Empathy and Communication: Educating for Interaction
1999, June
Directed by Lawrence Blum
In traditional educational arenas, rarely does the curriculum focus on how individuals should interact with one another. Yet in a society where interactions are a significant part of our lives, there should be more emphasis on this subject. By neglecting this subject, we fractionalize society, breaking down the natural unity of our world. However, the subject of how to interact with others links closely with the age old moral question, how should one live? There are often disagreements on how to answer this question and consequently disagreements on how and if it can be taught. This paper is the beginning of a search for how interactions can be taught through empathy and communication. Through the critical thinking skills that support these concepts, individuals can learn how to interact more effectively and morally with others.
I began this study by endeavoring to obtain a greater understanding of empathy and its nature. I reviewed the works of several philosophers and psychologists such as Lipps, Stotland, Hoffman, Scheler, and Noddings. Their writings led me to understand empathy as the act of receiving another into oneself through affective and analytical means in order to understand another's frame of reference accurately.
This paper then discusses how empathy can be developed. Many of the empathy development suggestions overlap with techniques involved with improving interpersonal communications, including dialogue. Dialogue, as described by David Bohm, is for the purpose of learning from each other and thus creating shared meaning, which like empathy, connects and unifies those involved. This paper also shares several examples of already existing educational and developmental programs that utilize the teachings of empathy and communication skills.
Ultimately, the author feels that the skills learned through empathy and communication are but a vehicle for determining how one should live. Further studies may lead to an investigation on what impels us to care for and ultimately love our fellow beings and thus come closer to embracing the wholeness of life.
subject codes .MOR
Karen Cavanaugh Borde
A Conceptual Change Approach for Teaching Matter to Sixth Grade Students: Integrating Activities, Experiments, Writing Responses and Verbal Discussion into the Classroom
1999, June
Directed by Carol Smith
Many middle school curricula today need supplemental lessons to really encourage the kind of critical thinking which promotes conceptual change. In this paper, I discuss why such supplemental materials are necessary, and then draw from multiple sources in devising such materials for a unit plan on matter. Teaching this concept to sixth grade science students is extremely challenging. Upon entering a science classroom, they already have theories, often misconceptions, based on their own life experiences. This paper begins by reviewing the research which supports a conceptual change approach to teaching as the most effective method. It also discusses the central role of metacognition and writing in such a process. Using these ideas as guides, I then discuss the limitations of the current matter curriculum used in my district. Next I propose a revised way of teaching this topic which builds on ideas developed by other researchers such as Smith and colleagues (1994, 1997) and Hennessey (1994). Finally, I combine them with a writing process, proposed by Collins (1992), as an assessment tool.
The goal of the revised curriculum is to teach students how to develop the skill of scientific inquiry. It calls for group discussions before, during and after classroom activities. Through a diverse set of activities, experiments, models, writing assignments and class discussions, students design their own experiments which they then perform in class. They pose questions, or problems, create hypotheses, and then test those hypotheses on their own. They are encouraged to reflect on their thoughts about how an experiment worked, gather results and then redesign and test it again. The paper concludes by discussing how I could evaluate the success of my proposed curriculum. A sixth grade class would be taught about matter through "traditional" teaching methods, another would learn the same unit through my newly proposed curriculum. Pre and post writing assignments in both classes would be reviewed to determine what conceptual changes took place in students' thinking about matter. I feel confident that the results of both would support my curriculum as an effective method of teaching.
subject codes .SCI.MSE
Sheryl Cifrino
One nurse's journey to understanding burnout
2002, August
Directed by Nina Greenwald
Burnout is the end result of a process where I, a highly motivated nurse, engaged in my work and lost inspiration for it. Burnout is by definition a syndrome of emotional exhaustion in people who work intensely with others in emotionally charged situations. My participation in the Creative Critical Thinking (CCT) program at the University of Massachusetts Boston awakened a desire in me to search for a deeper understanding of my own experience with burnout. Motivation for the journey was a wish to develop my own company, "Wellinspire," which would help nurses deal with personal wellness. This journey of inquiry led me on an exploration of the literature on burnout, seeking knowledge of key aspects identified, along with possible connections to specific personality characteristics. By reviewing the literature and employing acquired critical thinking abilities of reflection, self assessment, analysis and interpretation, I reached a deeper level of awareness. These CCT abilities are coupled with the use of my intrapersonal intelligence.
subject codes.MED.FRP
Jim Clark
Assessing Thinking in Middle School Students
1997, June
Directed by Patricia Cordiero, Adjunct Professor
Steps are outlined describing how to diagnose specific thinking skills in middle school students within a testing context for the purpose of developing appropriate instruction and remediation. The need for instruction in critical thinking skills is represented to have
a twofold application. First, the market place demands critical thinking skills. This is documented in the report by the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. Second, learning both in school and for life also requires critical thinking skills. This is documented in a range of research literature referenced and in a number of educational interventions
reviewed.
An instrument has been designed to be administered to middle school students. It begins with a narrative prompt set in circumstances familiar to students and poses a combination of social, moral, and practical dilemmas. A series of eight questions prompts students to respond in essay form reflecting their skill with specific critical thinking skills in accordance with the taxonomy. In addition, a set of scoring rubrics is provided.
Finally, there are some reflections based on informal trials and intuitions which focus on three areas: implications for instruction, implications for curriculum, and an application to staff development.
subject codes .MSE
Suzanne Clark
Building and Sustaining Connectedness to One's Musical Creativity and Spirit
2002, August
Directed by Peter Taylor
While journeying through the Critical and Creative Thinking Program I became more deeply aware of the choices and circumstances that colored my engagement in the fields of musical performance and music education. Through the modeling of and participation in reflective practice, I began to see my experiences from new and varied perspectives. In using self-evaluation, I gained a clearer understanding of my own reflective processes and began to apply this knowledge to exploring my musical engagement and creativity. It was through a self-reflective exploration of my own creative process that I discovered a number of experiences that had steered my course in a particular direction. Each of these experiences, however, also contributed to my path in that they were missing important elements that would allow for a more integrated experience to take place. These discoveries inspired me to explore the creative process of other musicians and artists in order to see where all of our experiences crossed.
To start, this paper outlines my self-assessment of my involvement in music and the creative process. I have chosen to reveal this first as I feel it will give the reader an understanding of how I came to the conclusions I have about my own personal experiences and subsequently, how they led me to explore the experiences of other musicians. My own reflective and creative engagement taught me that having an internal connection to the self is essential in carrying out these activities. As I found this inner focus to be both a necessary skill and one of the missing elements in my educational experiences, I felt it was necessary to find out if this was indeed an important part of the creative process and if so, how other artists handled this internal, reflective aspect of creativity. This examination led to the discovery of parallels between my own creative blocks and the blocks of other artists, as well as tools we all could use to help eliminate or prevent such blocks and become more attuned to our creative self.
My research led me to conclude that the various elements that were missing from my experiences were important factors in promoting healthy musical and creative engagement. Incorporating these facets on a personal level through self-study or a formal learning experience will help ensure creative longevity for any artist. An artist needs to recognize the internal aspects of their creative process, and also learn how to navigate through the phases of their process. In addition, artists need to recognize and remove creative blocks in order to sustain their work and promote creative growth. Reflective practice that supports these activities needs to be explored and should become part of the artist's path towards manifesting their creativity.
subject codes .ART.FRP
Jan Coe
My Search for a Meaningful Information Literacy Course: A Drama in Three Acts
2007, May
Directed by Peter Taylor
My synthesis project began as a personal and professional mission to help students decipher their library assignments and learn how to do research in general. In pursuing this goal, I learned a lot about 'information literacy' but I also learned about the reasons being information literate is important to me: it is a gestalt of a critical thinker. I discovered that - beyond becoming adept in the mechanics of information retrieval - what I really wanted for my students are the very things I value and enjoy doing myself: learning about communities of discourse; mulling over and asking questions about existing knowledge; relinquishing preconceived notions about a subject; and discovering new perspectives and interests. In the end, my project turned out to be not so much a search for an information literacy course as it is an exposition of one librarian's open-ended evolution into a critical thinker and reflective practitioner.
At the start of my year-long sabbatical leave in the Critical & Creative Thinking Graduate Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston, I characterized my quest as an inquiry into the most meaningful way that students could be taught information literacy skills. This synthesis project recounts how I first deepened my interest in the nexus between information literacy, critical thinking, and problem-based learning through an extensive literature review. Following this, the project takes a narrative turn where my experiences in the CCT Program are described and celebrated. I show that my participation in the CCT Program was the catalyst for the changes that began to occur in my thinking about information literacy. As my original quest took on these new dimensions, I also became intellectually engaged in areas outside of information literacy. Several courses I took in the Program elicited strong interests in bioethical issues and in the capacity of citizens to have input into debates around science and technology.
Finally, I describe my teaching experiences upon returning to work, in which I came to the eventual recognition that there is no 'silver bullet' information literacy course. Being able to set aside this idea paradoxically opened a new avenue toward achieving my mission as I was invited to form a Learning Community with a geographic information systems (GIS) course. It appears that, from this point forward, I am open and prepared to continue developing as a 'work-in-process'.
subject codes .TCE
(Full Text)
Roberta Cohen
Altering Habit-Bound Thinking Through a Critical Thinking Skills Approach to Children's Literature
1980, May
Directed by Beebe Nelson
As an educator, I have encountered many students who appear incapable of critically evaluating material. The result is that they are unable to think issues through and arrive at a logical conclusion. I feel students don't have the necessary critical thinking skills (as the dictionary defines them) "to determine, resolve, work out, etc. by reasoning; to use the mind for arriving at conclusions, making decisions; drawing inferences."[1] The lack of critical thinking skills is evident early in the year, and as I teach the lessons contained in the curriculum, I realize that many children's skills are not likely to improve. I question whether the previous teacher has prepared the students and know that the following September the teacher who receives these students will ask the same question.
In trying to address this problem which I have encountered in the classroom, I am caught in the dilemma of whether to meet the needs of my students as I see them or to try to teach the curriculum as prescribed by the administration. My practice, and the practice of most teachers, has been to emphasize the latter.
subject codes .WRL
Lisa Collier
Empathy, Critical Thinking, and Creativity: Theories, Training, and Interrelationships
1990, December
Directed by Steven Schwartz
This thesis presents a supposition, based on a review of existing theoretical and empirical literature, that there exists a three-way relationship between empathy, critical thinking, and creative thinking. Initially readers are provided with an overview of some of the literature on empathy theories, as well as on training methods used for the promotion of empathy. Then, through an examination and comparison of ideas put forward by empathy theorist Martin Hoffman, critical thinking philosopher Robert Ennis, and creativity expert Teresa Amabile, an overlap is detected with regard to the components involved in the three above-mentioned areas of study. In addition to this componential overlap, a stronger consanguinity is presented as existing between some of the theorized and/or researched methods of training for empathy, critical thinking, and creativity. These methods include; role playing, modeling, nuturance, formal reasoning and highlighting. The fourth chapter discussed the educational implications in terms of the infusion of the five methods into regular academic curriculum, and the notion that teachers can learn to fulfill three objectives (empathy, critical thinking, and creativity) via the use of just one of the previously-mentioned techniques. These techniques can help those involved in education to efficiently provide students with "real" situations in which to use skills in empathy and critical and creative thinking, and an opportunity for deeper engagement with and this, understanding of, the content at hand.
subject codes .MOR.THR
Maggie Conley
Using Critical and Creative Thinking Skills to Enhance Integrity in Business Organizations
1996, December
Directed by John Murray
In this thesis I explore some of the ways in which critical thinking skills can be used to facilitate the development of integrity in business organizations. The vehicle I have developed to bring these thinking skills to organizations is a one-day intensive workshop with a follow-up half-day evaluation session. In chapter one, I define integrity and compare it to Stephen Carter's definition. I also analyze five specific critical thinking skills and relate them to two actual cases: Dow Corning and fictitiously named, First National Bank. In the Dow Corning case, I argue that management might have produced a less destructive outcome had they used critical thinking skills to analyze their problems and come to a resolution. In the second case, with First National Bank, I discuss how the bank managers successfully used critical thinking skills to arrive at an ethical decision.
In chapter two, I present the workshop which is designed to develop critical thinking skills and enhance integrity. The last part of the chapter is concerned with evaluating and reinforcing the skills developed in the workshop. In chapter three, I integrate the material from the first two chapters. I review Carter's definition of integrity and examine it in light of the five critical thinking skills, the workshop skills and the Dow Coming and First National cases. Those who read this thesis should come away with a clear idea of some ways in which critical thinking can facilitate the development of integrity in business organizations.
subject codes .COR
Mark J. Connerty
Three Theories of Development: A Comparison of Dewey, Kohlberg, and Noddings' Models of Moral Growth
1998, June
Directed by Delores Gallo
This paper will compare the moral theories developed by John Dewey, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Nel Noddings to discern places of agreement and areas of dispute. The paper will also examine the most consequential ethical formulations of the three thinkers. For Dewey it is his conception of conscientiousness. For Kohlberg it is the idea of justice. Lastly, for Noddings it is the virtue of empathy found in the caring response. These conceptions are the foundations of their moral ideas. They color their thoughts on such related topics as the objective versus subjective nature of morality, the role of the rational and the emotional faculties in decision making, and the elements of moral judgment. This paper will examine where Dewey, Kohlberg, and Noddings stand on these issues and how they compare and contrast with each other. Their theories present an insightful glimpse into the entirety and diversity of the moral nature that informs the human condition. For this the moral theories of Dewey, Kohlberg, and Noddings
subject codes .THR
Ellen Connors
Waldorf education: Pedagogy in support of good thinking
1997, February
Directed by Delores Gallo
This synthesis project examines Waldorf school pedagogy and its relation to critical and creative thinking philosophy. It identifies the limitations of the traditional positivist perspective in education and calls for attention to the development of empathy. I take the work of Blythe McVicker Clinchy, Delores Gallo, Peter McLauren, and Kerry Walters as my framework. Good thinking is used as term meaning a true synergy of critical and creative thinking.
Waldorf pedagogy is outlines as a holistic enterprise based upon Rudolf Steiner's theory of human development. This model described the human as a being of willing, feeling and thinking. Education of a student as such, fosters critical and creative thinking in the sense of good thinking. Anecdotal evidence of the benefits of a Waldorf education is offered in the voice of a high school junior, along with other sources.
Waldorf education teaches for critical and creative thinking. Not only does Waldorf pedagogy support the education of thinking (reason) and feeling (imagination and empathy), it also educates for responsibility and action explicitly through development of the will.
subject codes.THR
Pamela Joy Cooke
Changing Mathematics Learning Through Changing Teachers' Thinking
1991, May
Directed by Patricia S. Davidson
In the context of the goals for reform in mathematics education, as advocated by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, this thesis calls for elementary level students to be actively engaged in learning mathematics through the use of hands-on materials and problem solving situations which involve investigation, reasoning, and communication. These mathematical goals are discussed and then related to the more general critical thinking skills of identifying and formulating questions, asking and answering questions, investigating and analyzing data, deducing and judging deductions, inducing and judging inductions, defining terms, and interacting with others. This thesis is based heavily on the experience of the author, as she evolved from being a traditional elementary mathematics teacher, novice student of critical and creative thinking, and skeptical participant in her first Mathematics a Way of Thinking workshop to becoming a confident and thinking mathematics teacher, flexible and effective workshop leader, and strong advocate for reform in mathematics education.
From these experiences, it has become clear to the author that in order for the goals for reform to be met, there must not only be changes in what is taught, but also in how it is taught. In order for teachers to change the way they teach, they must re-learn mathematics in a framework that involves them in active learning and small group interaction with an instructor who models strategies and behaviors for teaching thinking. In this thesis, the author shares her experiences in trying to become this type of teacher trainer.
This thesis examines the Mathematics a Way of Thinking workshop as a model for effective teacher training and provides sample mathematical lessons as instruments for change. Ten teachers who participated in the author's workshops and who are ;trying to implement change in their own classrooms were interviewed. Dialogues with these teachers are quoted to indicate their experiences of change in the learning and teaching of mathematics.
subject codes .TCE
Phyllis Cooper
Critical and Creative Thinking: A Literature Approach
1987, December
Directed by Delores Gallo
"I have grown increasingly disturbed by the lack of correspondence between what is required for critical thinking in adulthood and what is being taught in school programs intended to develop critical thinking. The problems of thinking in the real world do not correspond well to with the problems of the large majority of programs that teach critical thinking. We are preparing students to deal with problems that are in many respects unlike those that they will face as adults." Robert Sternberg, "Teaching Critical Thinking, Part I: Are We Making Critical Mistakes?"
Sternberg goes on to suggest that a major difficulty is that we do not teach children to recognize when a problem exists or to do Problem finding. Instead, we give them the problem and then tech them to solve it. I would add that we need to go one step further at this point and teach children that even when they have recognized the existence of a problem, that which initially appears to be the problem may not be. Therefore we need to teach children the importance e of problem definition as well as of the solution process.
At a time when decision-making and problem solving have become increasingly complex, when the future for our children holds so many alternatives and so few certainties, I believe it is our mandated responsibility as teachers to help our children develop the critical and creative thinking skills, skills of sound reasoning and good judgment, which are not only desirably, but are imperative in the future of which they are required to be a responsible part.
subject codes .WRL
Patricia Cordeiro
Big Ideas for Little People: Critical Thinking and Mathematical Concept Exploration in Elementary School
1991, May
Directed by Patricia S. Davidson
An extended study of group theory was undertaken with a sixth-grade class to explore the integration of critical thinking and concept development in the mathematics curriculum. A supportive classroom environment was sustained through application of Cambourne's (l988) optimal conditions of learning and Gardner's (l9983) theory of multiple intelligences. A belief in the power of play, elaborated by Armstrong (l980) and Duckworth (l987), together with commitment to Vygotsky's (l9652) distinction between ' scientific versus spontaneous' learning enabled a student-centered, active exploration of a "big idea."
Big ideas were defined as: (l) concepts which are generalizable and can be explored and extended into a variety of contexts; (2) studies which begin with the intention to develop a concept; ;and, (3) concepts which continue to intrigue experts. Mathematical big ideas were seen as mathematical concepts which might involve application and computation, but in a broad context.
It was concluded that critical thinking is what goes on naturally when learners are engaged in exploring big ideas in rich context which require and encourage substantial thinking. It is recommended that:
(l) critical thinking be implemented in rich contexts, exploring big ideas;
(2) classroom practice foster optimal conditions for learning;
(3) multiple intelligences be recognized in classroom practice;
(4) concept development be promoted through both scientific and spontaneous processes;
(5) as much as one-half of the mathematics curriculum be organized around the exploration of big ideas; and
(6) teachers be encouraged to trust their own practical knowledge in exploring big ideas which are also big to them.
subject codes .ELE
Bernie Cotter
Critical Thinking Skills in a Meteorology Curriculum
1992, May
Directed by John R. Murray
The focus of this thesis is the integration of critical thinking skills into a meteorology unit of an Earth Science curriculum. The integration of these skills and strategies with the teaching of meteorology subject improves the learning of the subject concepts.
The curriculum consists of three meteorology units. Each unit focuses on a different meteorological concept, and each is broken into several different lessons. Lessons incorporate a number of different critical thinking skills. The lessons are divided into three parts. In the first part, students are introduced to the concepts which are to be learned as well as the thinking skills which are to be emphasized. Part two each lessons involves activities which develop metacognitive skills. The third part of each lesson provides opportunities for students to improve their transfer of critical thinking skills and meteorological information outside the formal classroom setting.
The meteorological concepts covered in these lessons are observations of the atmosphere, atmospheric pressure, and atmospheric humidity. The main critical thinking skills which are incorporate into the curriculum are decision making accuracy of observation, determining reliability of sources, and comparing and contrasting information.
Even though the meteorology lessons are directed toward secondary students in a survey Earth Science course, this curriculum could easily be implemented in a separate meteorology course. Furthermore, the sample lessons included here can serve as models for the development of thinking skills lessons on other topics in Earth Science and can enhance student learning in the entire course.
subject codes .SCI.MSE
Linda Cromwell-Clark
Critical Thinking Considerations for an Elementary Science Magnet School
1994, December
Directed by Carol Smith
As an African- American and a veteran Boston school teacher, I feel that there is great cause for concern about the future of urban African-American youth. Existing instructional programs fail to meet the needs of many of these children. The model science magnet school developed in this thesis will provide an educational alternative for African-American youth entering the twenty-first century. The school's program will combine the teaching of critical and creative thinking skills, with science education, and efficacy training to address the academic and personal development of the total child.
Chapter l of the thesis looks at some existing programs in elementary science education and assesses the need for more intensive, innovative programs which will deal with the affective as well as the cognitive growth of students. Chapter 11 explores some of the literature concerning the complexity of Black self-concept in White America;. It links self-esteem with academic success. Here I give a personal commentary on the self-esteem literature as well as examine several efficacy approaches. The chapter concludes with reflections on the relationship between efficacy training and critical and creative thinking. It talks about the importance of metacognition in enabling children to take control of their own learning.
Chapter 111 discusses the need for a science magnet-exploring the scientific process skills as a way of developing thinking skills. The chapter includes a review of the current status and recommendations for teaching science in elementary schools and goes on to examine teaching for conceptual change, elements of a supportive learning environment, techniques for promoting critical and creative thinking, and a framework for curriculum design.
Chapter IV gives an overview of the entire magnet school program, delineating how I plan to combine the science focus with affective goals. Teacher training, parent involvement, and assessment are also discussed.
Chapter V. the last chapter, focuses on ways of bringing together these diverse strands within the proposed curriculum and presents some sample lesson plans which include objectives in the area of social/emotional development, cooperative learning, and efficacy as well as conceptual change and behavioral objectives.
subject codes .ELE
Peggy Cronin
Richard Paul, Gloria Anzaluda, and Mestiza Consciousness: Shifting the Borders of Critical Thinking
1997, September
Directed by Delores Gallo
In recent years, many theorists and practitioners in the field of critical and creative thinking have moved beyond a discrete skills understanding of critical and creative thinking to advocate a more holistic approach. This approach focuses on recognizing underlying assumptions, analyzing frames of reference, and fore grounding personal and social biases. Yet despite this much needed move toward contextualizing thinking and the thinker, there is little attention given to the role that power and identity difference play in the development and teaching of thinking.
This thesis concerns itself with the issues of power, identity, and difference in thinking by comparing the work of critical thinking theorist Richard Paul with that of several race-inflected lesbian feminist theorists. I consider what happens if we try to insert a very specific thinking subject -- Gloria Anzaldua's mestiza thinker -- into Pauls theoretical milieu.
INFORMATION MISSING FROM ORIGINAL inhabiting a multiple consciousness the mesliza must also deal with the issue of how she is seen as different from the norm. This necessitates a discussion of how difference is inflected by unequal power dynamics that have an effect on how we envision the thinker how we
grant her authority, and how we define and validate effective thinking. I use critiques of white feminist theory by Anzaldua, Norma Alarcon, and Maria Lugones to illustrate how some of Paul1s theorizing of the thinking subject parallels white feminist theorizing which has ignored devalued women of color in neglecting issues of multiple subjectivity, power, and
difference.
In conclusion, I argue that the critical and creative thinking field would be served by an inclusion of lesbian/feminist of color discourses. These discourses might serve as examples of critical and creative thinking, as well as give us a more complete portrait of the thinker and thinking that goes beyond the notion of the thinker as a universal, unitary self.
subject codes .GEN.THR
Karen Crounse
Staircase To Slope: A Mathematics Learning Expedition
2005, December
Directed by Nina Greenwald
subject codes .SCI
Paul D. Culpo
Winning in Athletics
1996, September
Directed by John R. Murray
subject codes .SPO
Mary Cunningham
A Critical and Creative Thinking Curriculum Guide
1986, September
Directed by Delores Gallo
"Thinking critically implies a commitment to philosophical probing of questions, asking us to tell right from wrong, fact from opinion, process from product." [1] Through the study of tragedy, Shakespeare, JULIUS CAESAR and ROMEO AND JULIET, ninth grade students at Braintree High School will be asked to ponder and analyze some of life's most enigmatic, elusive and eternal problems. Why does a good man suffer? How can art communicate the most profound of human experiences? How can one take pleasure in the tragic experience? Literature deals with life's most inexplicable moments and most complex ideas. Indubitably, Shakespearean tragedy reaises questions about the nature of the human experience in a way that is beautiful as well as thought-provoking, imaginative as well as relavent, perplexing as well as perceptive. Indeed, sometimes Shakespeare just recognizes the inequities of life and presents these problems for our consideration. This genius, this immortal bard, does not claim to have the answers but he does claim, through his work, to know the problems. And even though the plays achieve a sense of resolution, the questions Shakespeare unearths still remain for our consideration.
subject codes .WRL
Linda DaCorta
An Immigration Unit: Appreciation and Tolerance
1997, December
Directed by Delores Gallo
Synthesis
subject codes .DIV
Brian Daniels
The Critical Moral Classroom: An Approach to Teaching Values
1996
Directed by Lawrence Blum
In this thesis the proper place and instruction of morals and values in public schools is considered from an historic, and social view. A pedagogical approach to teaching values in the classroom, which is based in critical thinking, is offered as a resolution to the stalemate regarding morals and values in schools that is a result of competing cultural forces. In the historical review chapter I make a case that America's public school teachers have always been charged with the moral development of their students and that this charge has been primary over much of our history. The chapter concludes that teachers today have lost that voice or that it has in some way been silenced.
In the next chapter I review forces outside of the classroom that impact school policy and teacher's willingness to engage in moral issues. Considered are cultural changes, the power of the religious right, the courts, liberal responses, and the impact on educators of professionalization.
The next chapter is focused on a pedagogical approach to the challenge of teaching values in the classroom called, the critical-moral classroom. This approach synthesizes a holistic vision of classrooms, strong sense critical thinking skills, the application of the 'Golden Rule" to thinking, and the prophetic voice in education. The critical-moral classroom is suggested as
a way to restore a moral voice to teachers by thinking about morals and virtues, as opposed to naming what is moral.
This approach frees the teacher from many of those external forces that have silenced teachers' moral voices and offers a reflective approach to the classroom. The critical-moral classroom offers teachers of all disciplines a platform from which to address their own moral development and that of their students.
I close with conclusions and observations about the concept of the critical-moral classroom and reflections on the importance of individual teachers considering their role as moral leaders in their classrooms.
subject codes .MOR
Jan Daubenspeck
The Influence of Critical and Creative Thinking Skills on Curriculum Design and Course Teaching Strategies
1997, September
Directed by ?
subject codes.THR
Neuza DeFigueredo
Using Science Misconceptions for Developing Critical Thinking in Learners and Teachers
1994, December
Directed by Arthur B. Millman
Students' poor interest and academic achievement in science as well as their inability to master situations in their everyday life seem to be related to their lack of skills in critical and creative thinking. However, teaching such skills within both primary and secondary curricula is not mandatory. The consensus is much more toward teaching thinking skills through content than as a separate course. In this thesis the conflict between students' prior conceptions about the natural world and scientific concepts is viewed as a resource for teaching thinking skills. A review of the literature on science misconceptions in mechanics suggests that science misconceptions are the product of students' active constructions as students try to make sense of the information given to their sensory system. In addition, the knowledge acquired from science class is not passively incorporated in students' minds. Both points are supported by the constructivist epistemology and cognitive psychology.
Analogical reasoning and concept mapping are two instructional metacognitive strategies designed to deal with students' misconceptions to bring about conceptual change in the learner. This process involves the replacement of the learner's previous knowledge by the scientific view through a process of awareness of one's starting conceptions and evaluation of their consistency with evidence. This implies possessing the ability of making shifts from one context to another, such as from the science classroom environment to everyday life. In this thesis both strategies are also seen as a means to engage learners in a metacognitive process through the organization and reflection of their beliefs, making them explicit and available to themselves, teacher and peers using dialogical thinking. Those strategies are very effective in promoting the development of skills in critical and creative thinking using multiple frames of reference. The conclusions draw attention to the important role played by teachers within the new constructivist perspective of learning, and to the need to integrate school science and technology using teacher creativity to enhance the science curriculum and promote meaningful learning. They also provide some suggestions for future work to explore the viability of using science misconceptions to develop critical and creative thinking skills.
subject codes .SCI
Barbara DiTullio
Refining Operating Room Communication: Creating A Culture Of Improved Teamwork For The Future Of Perioperative Nursing
2006, June
Directed by Peter Taylor
As a nurse and manager in the operating room of a metropolitan hospital I consider myself fortunate to be in the job of my dreams. I am proud to be in an environment that delivers the best care to a population that is worldwide. The challenges in delivering this level of care, however, are significant. The issue of communication and teamwork among the various disciplines in the operating room proves to be one of the most complex issues at hand.
The operating room environment is wrought with stress both implicit and explicit, and presents formidable obstacles that interfere with effective team dynamics. Operating rooms have a long standing culture of silence and hierarchy that alienates disciplines from one another (Edmondson, 2003; Weeks, 2004). Though each professional on the team has spent years refining their respective skills, few have had training that enables them to address an offending remark or appropriately handle a disagreement in this environment. Bystander apathy contributes in potentiating problems where individuals keep quiet; each thinking another will address the offending issue at hand. To make matters worse, the doors close and hours can pass before surgery ends and the team can disperse, making it harder still to speak up. These factors result in passivity and indifference adversely affecting communication, teamwork and collaboration.
The Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Program has allowed me to navigate a path toward realizing my mission of improving the culture of teamwork and communication in the operating room. Using the philosophical, critical, cognitive and creative spheres as lenses through which to view this challenge, I was able to evaluate and incorporate a number of communication and teambuilding strategies that have helped me achieve solid progress in this journey. A positive culture shift in this environment is possible and I have taken my first steps.
Most importantly, my own self reflection has taken place during this process and I now possess new tools that will allow me to face the daily problems and challenges in my work and in my life with renewed confidence. I now see a whole new world of possibility!
subject codes .MED
Margaret Doherty
Mathematical Problem Solving: Rationale and Approach for Change
1997, December
Directed by Delores Gallo
Synthesis
subject codes .SCI
Judith Donovan
Process Writing: A Comprehensive Methodology for Teaching Thinking and Learning Science
1989, February
Directed by Carol L. Smith
Theorists in the thinking skills movement have provided educators with definite criteria and challenges for change, but educators feel the need to dialogue about how to relate content and process in the curriculum. This thesis work is one teacher's attempt to integrate content knowledge with intellective growth, based on cognitive learning theory and some of the essential components of critico-creative thinking.
Sufficient evidence was found to support the notion that writing provides great potential for the development of thinking. A plan was devised to integrate process writing into a ninth-grade science curriculum, for the purpose of teaching thinking , with an emphasis on problem-finding and problem-solving. Teacher preparation included: the creation of an appropriate classroom climate, the assessment of content goals, and the design of a unit on force and motion, using age-appropriate contextual materials.
As the writing program evolved, students practiced journal writing, wrote lab reports and research papers, and they benefited from the peer-editing process. Through their reflective writing, students practiced higher order thinking skills, they showed interest in their intellective growth, improved study skills, and developed scientific skills and behaviors. Enthusiasm and student-involvement were identified.
There is evidence that process writing is a comprehensive methodology for teaching thinking and leaning science. IT develops general thinking skills, develops scientific inquiry and science-specific products, and it enhances science learning.
subject codes .SCI.WRL.MSE
Robert Drake
A Children's Realm: An Experiment Using Life-Sized Manipulatives to Expand Exploring and Learning Opportunities for Children
2001, August
Directed by Peter J. Taylor
In this synthesis I describe a "Children's Realm" in which middle school children can safely explore and interact with a variety of physical phenomena typically reserved for the adult world, such as building and driving a car. A Children's Realm is an experiment. It is an attempt to not only design, but engineer a unique environment for middle school students to explore and learn. It is based on providing the complex tools I feel children need to do this kind of learning on their own. These complex tools I call Life-Sized Manipulatives or simply LSM. I highlight the importance of LSM in a Children's Realm and how the goals of the Children's Realm depend on them. This paper is a work in progress that represents observations that began when I was a child trying to learn but failing to learn. It continues through a process of learning from failing to teach, and collaborating with the faculty and colleagues of the Critical and Creative Thinking Program at University of Massachusetts-Boston.
I show that my ideas are well conceived by connecting them to the works of others before me. To do this I make connections between the Children's Realm and Adventure Playgrounds, The works of John Dewey, research done in peer to peer relationships, and highlight some of the key features of problem-solving pedagogies. I make these connections as powerfully as I can in order to convince others and hopefully secure funding to continue collaborating with others and further this research.
subject codes .TEC
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