Encouraging Critical Thinking Online is a set of free teaching resources designed to develop students' analytic abilities, using the Web as source material.
Two units are currently available, each consisting of a series of exercises for classroom or seminar use. Students are invited to explore the Web and find a number of sites which address the selected topic, and then, in a teacher-led group discussion, to share and discuss their findings. The exercises are designed so that they may be used either consecutively to form a short course, or individually.
The resources encourage students to think carefully and critically about the information sources they use. The subject matter of the exercises is of relevance to a range of humanities disciplines (most especially, though by no means limited to, philosophy and religious studies), while the research skills gained will be valuable to all students.
- A comprehensive Teacher's Guide provides an overview of the course, lesson/seminar outlines, suggestions of illustrative websites, and points for discussion.
- Student worksheets are supplied.
- There is an accompanying slideshow for each exercise. These can be viewed online using SlideShare, or downloaded as PowerPoint files.
Teacher's Guide (Units 1 and 2)
Resources for Unit 1: Checking Facts and Gathering Opinions
In this unit, students use the Internet to explore a question which has multiple possible answers, and are then invited to share and discuss their findings with the rest of the group.
Resources for Unit 2: Gauging and Examining Popular Opinion
This unit focuses on using the Internet to gain an overview of the range of opinions that are held on a controversial topic, and then invites students to discuss and analyse the views they encounter.
An earlier version of these resources was released under the title Using the Wider Web to Encourage Critical Thinking.
