(BCTLA Bookweek, December 1997)

Does this sound familiar? Because of this type of scenario my focus, as a teacher-librarian for many years, has been to work with classroom teachers to cooperatively plan and teach units of study that incorporate library research. Until recently my emphasis has been on assisting students to develop the skills to locate suitable resources, to acquire information and then to organize their information before completing their final product or presentation. Research assignments became more effective as teachers and teacher-librarians combined their expertise. In collaboration with the teacher-librarian, the assignment on Japan might have looked like this:

This was a significant step forward. I was able to teach students the skills of locating resources and of collecting and organizing information in context with their classroom work. Marks that included notes and bibliographies gave weight to the process of research as well as to the final product. Students felt less frustrated as the sources of information were accessible and the directions for their assignment were more explicit.

Despite these improvements I still felt personal dissatisfaction with the research projects. Students often had little knowledge or input about their topic before beginning. As they read and took notes they didn't know whether information was important or superficial. They didn't ask questions about their topic or think critically about the information they gathered. Their reports were largely a regurgitation of facts from whatever sources they managed to use before the deadline. Research was "finding out about" a topic rather than "thinking about" a topic.

Like many teacher-librarians, I recognize a need to shift from the traditional research skills model to a model of information problem solving. As changes in communication technologies and information storage and retrieval systems accelerate, the importance of information problem solving becomes more apparent. The traditional model focuses on information gathering the locating and recording of information. It is based on the view that information is an objective "thing" residing in books or other resources. Information problem solving stresses the posing of questions, the use of search strategies and the assessment and interpretation of information. Information is viewed as a process of constructing personal meaning. Students must become capable critical thinkers to be effective at information problem solving.

My struggle is to find ways, in collaboration with teachers, to stimulate and teach students to think critically about the information they gather. My introduction to, and subsequent work with a model of critical thinking developed by The Critical Thinking Cooperative - TC² - is giving me a direction to pursues.1

According to the TC² model, we can help students improve as critical thinkers by infusing opportunities for critical thinking throughout the curriculum.² They define critical thinking as the thinking through of problematic situations about what to believe or how to act where the thinker makes reasoned judgments that embody the qualities of a competent thinker. Problematic situations which are deliberately presented to students for consideration are labelled as critical challenges. The development of critical challenges is a natural entry point for teacher- librarians when designing research assignments which go beyond "finding out about". Critical challenges are the deliberately set tasks or questions that provide the impetus and context for critical thinking. They can be created in all subject areas and for all grade levels. Critical challenges can be distinguished from two other types of tasks or questions:

"Where's Waldo?" This type of question or task requires the identification or retrieval of information. Its the typical "find out about" question. Students are expected to "know" the answers from memory or find the answers from sources such as textbooks, library resources, lecture notes. etc. These questions have "correct" answers even though the answers may be complex or difficult to find (e.g., Describe the tourist attractions of Japan.).

"All answers are valid" These are questions which invite students to offer their opinions on matters where their answers are essentially personal preferences or guesses. If we ask students to choose a favourite character in a novel or make a prediction about something with which they are not familiar, it would be difficult to say their responses were not acceptable (e.g., What would you like to see as a tourist in Japan?).

Both "Where's Waldo?" and "All answers are valid" questions are valuable to ask. However they are not critical challenges as they do not explicitly invite students' critical reflection.

"Critical challenge" A question or task is a critical challenge only if it requires students to make a judgment about which of the possible answers they might offer makes the most sense or is the most reasonable. If there is only one plausible option or a correct answer is obvious then it does not call for critical thinking. A guess, a preference or an impulsive conclusion would be difficult to support as a reasonable judgment. Making a reasonable judgment is the key impetus for critical thinking to occur (e.g., Which tourist attraction best exemplifies Japan's religious beliefs?).

There are four criteria which an effective critical challenge must meet. These criteria can also apply to effective research assignments. Let's convert the research assignment on Japan into a critical challenge and then evaluate it on the four criteria.

Your parents have been given the opportunity to move for two years to Vancouver or Tokyo. They want your help in making the decision. Which would be the better choice for your family and why?

Is this question a "good" critical challenge?

Does the question or task require judgment between plausible alternatives? The question clearly asks students to make a reasoned judgment between plausible alternatives. A reasoned judgment is a criteria-based (or reason-driven) position. Criteria for judgment are the measures that we use when assessing an action, idea or object. In this case, students will have to discuss on what basis to judge data and set the criteria for making their decision. As the students locate and acquire information they will be required to go beyond retrieval of facts as it will be necessary to continually weigh the value of the information for their task. At the same time students will have to assess the credibility and reliability of the information and its source. Because the students are engaged in a more thoughtful research process "new" information may even compel them to revisit their criteria.

Is the challenge focussed so as to limit the requisite tools? In setting up the assignment the teacher and teacher-librarian will have to identify the intellectual tools that would be needed to think through a particular task or question and then assist students in acquiring those tools which they may not already possess. The five categories of tools are background knowledge, criteria for judgment, critical thinking vocabulary, thinking strategies and habits of mind. Research skills are included within these categories. If students lack any of the crucial tools for a particular challenge then its value is lost. One way to avoid this situation is to focus the challenge which will limit the required tools. Students will then be able to do a competent job. Compensation for those tools that students do not already have can be provided by teaching new concepts and strategies and/or supplying support materials. The key intellectual tools for the critical challenge on Japan include (a) background knowledge about conditions in Japan and Vancouver, (b) criteria for judging the family's ideal location for a home and (c) strategies for comparing the data from both locations. The challenge could be made more manageable and focused by identifying and supplying some pertinent resources for the students to use, by limiting the number of criteria for judgment and by providing a data comparison chart for recording information.

Will the challenge be meaningful to students? By giving this question a realistic and personal context, the task is more meaningful to students. Critical challenges should arise within meaningful contexts, often real-life. However, it is sufficient that the thinker sees the challenge to be interesting or stimulating and that the context provides an adequate grounding for deciding what would be reasonable. Critical challenges are more likely to be engaging if they create dissonance with the students' preexisting, beliefs, or have an obvious connection to the local community or to a personal concern of the students, or have been suggested by the students themselves.

Is the challenge embedded in the core of the curriculum? This assignment fits with British Columbia's Grade 6 Social Studies curriculum that focuses on contemporary world cultures. Critical thinking must be taught, learned and assessed in context since the context determines what qualifies as a reasonable response. Why create a separate area of study when the curriculum offers a rich source of opportunities for critical thinking. By reframing assignments on the key elements of subject matter in the form of critical challenges students will confront the material in the context of thinking critically about it and not merely as a matter of retrieving information.

Here are other examples which show how a twist on a typical research question or task can make the assignment more meaningful and thought provoking.

This brief introduction to a model of critical thinking has focused on "critical challenges" which is especially applicable to teacher-librarians and our goal of teaching information problem solving. As collaborate with other teachers to develop research assignments we can help reframe questions and tasks to stimulate and to promote critical thinking. A further challenge is to help teachers and students become better critical thinkers about electronic information technologies, as consumers and as creators. However, this first step in using the model, provoking students to "think about" their research topics, can get us started on teaching the tools to enable students to become capable critical thinkers and information problem solvers.

In this space it has not been possible to go into detail about other aspects of the model including building a community of thinkers, developing the intellectual tools for critical thinking and assessing for thoughtfulness. For more information about critical thinking and the work of TC²contact:

LeRoi Daniels, Coordinator
The Critical Thinking Cooperative
P.O. Box 62024
#143-4255 Arbutus RPO
Vancouver, British Columbia   V6J IZI
phone: (604) 732-1907
fax: (604) 732-1957
e-mail: leroi.daniels@ubc.ca

¹  The Critical Thinking Cooperative is a group of British Columbia schools districts, faculties of education, teacher professional associations and other educational organizations promoting critical thinking through professional development, resource development and research activities. The model of critical thinking was outlined initially in an unpublished 1993 report entitled A Conception of Critical Thinking for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment by Sharon Bailin, Roland Case, Jerrold Coombs and LeRoi Daniels.
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²  This is one of the three fronts which the critical thinking model proposes to help students improve as critical thinkers. The other two are: building a community of thinkers within the classroom and the school, and developing the intellectual resources or tools that enable students to become more competent critical thinkers. For a more complete account of the model see Tools For Thought by R. Case and L. Daniels (The Critical Thinking Cooperative, Vancouver, 1997).
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