A key insight into content, and into thinking, is that all content represents a distinctive mode of thinking. Math becomes more intelligible as one learns to think mathematically. Biology becomes more intelligible as one learns to think biologically. History becomes more intelligible as one learns to think historically. This is true because all subjects are generated by thinking, organized by thinking, analyzed by thinking, synthesized by thinking, expressed by thinking, evaluated by thinking, restructured by thinking, maintained by thinking, transformed by thinking, learned by thinking, understood by thinking, and applied by thinking. If you try to take the thinking out of content, you have only empty words remaining, for it is thinking itself, on the part of the student, that gives life to content.
Learning a unique system of ideas is the key to learning any content whatsoever. In this session, we will explore the intimate relationship between content and thinking, and will argue for the importance of placing explicit critical thinking concepts and principles at the very heart of teaching and learning in higher education.
This workshop, which focuses on the analysis and assessment of thought, is part one of our two-part series, the second of which focuses on additional core concepts in critical thinking, namely the importance of intellectual virtues in cultivating the mind, and the barriers to criticality that all humans face.
