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Assessing Critical Thinking
While circulating around the classroom and observing group discussions, pose the following questions to assess students’ critical-thinking abilities. Keep notes on individual students and use during conferences to provide feedback and to assess at the end of the project.
| Examples of Questions |
Notes |
Questions of clarification:
- Could you give me an example?
- Is your basic point ___or___ ?
- How does____ relate to ____?
- Could you explain that further?
- Why do you say that?
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Questions that probe assumptions:
- What is being assumed?
- Why would somebody say that?
- How would you justify taking this view?
- Is this always the case?
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Questions that probe reasons and evidence:
- How could we go about finding out whether that is true?
- Is there reason to doubt that evidence?
- What would be an example?
- What led you to that belief?
- What criteria do you base that argument on?
- Why do you think that is right?
- How does that apply in this case?
- By what reasoning did you come to that conclusion?
- Who is in a position to know if that is the case?
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Questions about viewpoints or perspectives:
- How would other groups or types of people respond? Why? What would influence them?
- How would people who disagree with this viewpoint argue their case?
- Did anyone see this another way?
- What is an alternative?
- What would be another way of saying that?
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Questions that probe implications and consequences:
- What effect would that have?
- If this and this are the case, then what else must also be true?
- What are you implying by that?
- How do you know you’ve considered the consequences?
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Questions about the question:
- To answer this question, what questions would we have to answer first?
- Is this the same issue as…?
- How is that question going to help you? Can you think of any other questions that might be useful?
- Is this question easy or hard to answer? Why?
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