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Test of Learning Is Quality of Thinking

Set Intellectual Standards for Your Child against Which You and Your child Can Measure His or

Her Progress in Thinking.

Once attitudes and motivation have been

understood and are being in in-culcated,

and your child is learning through

cognitive strategies and meta-cognition,

then it is time to look at the intellectual

standards you will expect when she

solves a problem, prepares an essay,

answers questions about what is being

learned, etc. We can think of them as

values or principles about what is quality

thinking.

The general concept of standards should

be clear, but can often be confusing. In

its basic form, standards are values or

principles set up and established by

authority as a rule for the measure of

quantity, weight, extent, value, or

quality. They are criteria, a word which

comes from the Greek and means

judging or deciding.

Intellectual Standards

Intellectual standards are benchmarks or goalposts against which you and your child can measure his or

her progress in thinking. In your efforts to help your children learn to think critically, you will want to

adopt standards that are directly related to the quality of thinking and the expression of the results.

Good quality thinking is the examination and test of suggestions which are offered for acceptance, to

find out if the adequately match reality. Critical thinking is a mental habit and a developed power. It is a

safeguard against delusion, deception and superstition. By our nature as humans, we are subject to

uncertainty, in the form of:

Our mind does not always naturally grasp the truth.

We do not always naturally see things completely as they are.

Do not always automatically know what is reasonable or unreasonable.

We frequently see things as we want them to be, not as they are (confirmation basis).

We unconsciously twist reality to fit our preconceived ideas.

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In order to reduce errors and particularly in order to teach our children how they can reduce errors in

thinking, we should take rational control of our thinking, we should take rational control of our thinking

processes to help to determine what to accept and what to reject and what to be dubious about or

more willing to trust. That means we (and our children) need standards, principles, guidelines that direct

us to consistently excellent thinking.

Good quality thinking is the examination and test of suggestions

which are offered for acceptance, to find out if the adequately match

reality. Critical thinking is a mental habit and a developed power

1. Clarity: How to Ensure Your Child Is Thinking Clearly

Clarity is the condition of being clear, lucid, sharp and apparent. It

is the opposite of cloudiness, opacity, or obscure. This is a major

standard: the biggest goal post for your children to achieve. It

means that what is said or written is easily understandable, can be

grasped free from ambiguity, is not obscure or vague. When a

child makes a statement at home or in class, when he or she

answers the question, the response should be clear, the concepts

used should be appropriate.

Development of clarity should begin very early. Parents must

place emphasis on clarity, in a guiding fashion and through use of

clear examples, modeling what are clear statements.

Developing clarity is done by two basic actions: pointing out when something is not clear and

demonstrating how to make it clearer. The first step is easy but requires vigilance.

Questions that encourage clarity:

Excuse me that was not very clear.

Can you repeat that more clearly? Please.

What did you ea y…?

Would you say more about ______?

Can you give an example of what you are talking about?

That was vague. Can you restate it more clearly?

Can you be more explicit?

If I understand. You mean _____. Is that right?

Do you know what the word means? Can you tell me using a different word?

Would this be an example? Can you give another example?

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2. Accuracy: How to Ensure Your Child Does Not Commit

Errors

Accuracy means free from error especially as the result of care, such

as an accurate diagnosis. It means conforming exactly to the truth or

to a standard or being able to give an accurate result. For example,

when you weigh yourself you want the devices to give you answers

that are free from error.

This standard means that what is presented does not contain errors,

mistakes or distortions. How can your child check to see if her ideas

and thoughts and statements are true? How can parents teach

children to verify the alleged facts?

Questions that encourage accuracy:

Can you be more specific?

How many kids were in the park?

Are you sure that number is correct?

When did that happen? What Date?

Who said what to whom?

Are you sure that is correct?

3. Precision: You Can Be Clear and Accurate But Are You Precise As Well?

To be precise means to be exact to the necessary level of detail, to

be specific. It requires exactitude, fineness, preciseness, rigor and

veracity. A statement can be clear and accurate but not precise

(Jack is overweight). What do we mean by overweight? How does

it differ from obesity? Thinking and speaking should be as precise

as possible.

At the primary school level and at home, precision is taught first

through spelling and math. The words your child learns must be

spelled correctly and pronounced correctly. The math answers

must be precise: two plus two cannot be five.

If you wish to teach quality standards to your child you will help them to learn about the importance of

precision, when it is necessary and how to avoid exaggeration.

Questions that encourage precision:

Can you give me more details about that?

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Could you be more specific

Could you express your claims more fully?

Have you exaggerated any aspect of your position?

Have you used questions most relevant to your current situation?

Teach your child to answer with the core ideas and concepts first, then provide more details.

4. Logic

The fourth pillar is logic, i.e, do the parts and how they are arranged

make sense, do they make for sound judgement and reasoning.

Obviously, thinking can vary in its degree of logic. The main point is to

lead them to think in an orderly way that closely resemble reality and

is logi al.

When we teach our children to be logical we ask them if what they

are saying or thinking is consistent and integrated. Does the whole

thought or the components of the thought fit together sensibly and

plausibly? Does the answer demonstrate the correct structure? Does

it fit into a recognizable pattern?

One of the main tests of logic to answer is if what your child says follows from the evidence. Can your

child says follows from the evidence. Can your child identify and provide examples which help to

establish the veracity of what has been said?

A d there is always the test of: Does this really ake se se?

Questions that encourage logical thinking:

Does the solution make sense?

Do the pieces of the solution fit together tightly?

What is the line of reasoning that brought you to this point?

Can you explain the process you have used to come to this conclusion?

Can you show how this answer fits into the overall structure of the domain?

In Summary

Your child is learning to think critically. He or she has developed a general grasp of what it means to

learn and with your help has learned cognitive learning strategies which notably increase the

effectiveness and durability of learning.

He or she has learned to use mindfulness, meta-cognition, facilitate learning and problem solving to help

provide personal feedback on progress and adequacy of learning.

You have paid attention to, and have understood, the importance of developing dispositions and

managing their interactions with emotions and successfully learning and application.

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About The Article

This article appeared in Gulf News cover story – Sunday, February 3, 2013.

Written by Dr. Clifton Chadwick and appeared on the press centre of

www.americanacademy.ae

Dr. Clifton Chadwick, centre for research on teaching critical thinking at British

University in Dubai.

If you want to comment or ask questions, please write to

cliftonchadwick@buid.ac.ae