Stirring Up Thinking

Stirring up Thinking provides students with practice in the 21 most important critical thinking skills, while emphasizing writing and reading comprehension throughout. A wealth of invaluable guidance, readings, exercises, and applications actively engage students, enabling them to experience critical thinking firsthand.

Note: Each chapter concludes with "Solutions to Items in This Chapter." I. Thinking About Thinking 1. Thinking vs. Thinking Critically Stir up Your Thinking Before You Start Reading Why Teach Thinking? Why Should I (or Anyone) Engage in Critical Thinking? There Is a Big Difference Between Thinking and Critical Thinking What Is Critical Thinking? Stirring up Thinking The Shift From Learning to Thinking The Verdict Is In: Critical Thinking Is Essential The Goal of Critical Thinking Is Independent Thinking Journal Writing Journal Observations Readings: Susan Mercier, "Owl Activists Don't Give a Hoot About the Economy"; Walter C. Veit, "Critical Inquiry and Political Reality: A Window of Opportunity"; Richard Rodriguez, "Children of a Marriage"; Wilbert J. McKeachie, "Teaching Thinking" 2. Becoming a Critical Thinker Doesn't Skillful Thinking Develop on Its Own? Becoming a Critical Thinker Assumes Certain Mental Dispositions What Standards Do You Set for Your Thinking? Journal Observations Readings: Anthony Flint, "Student Markets Primer on the Art of Cheating"; Charles Lave, "The Costs of Going 55"; Fakhrudd Ahmed, "For Some U.S. Immigrants, Paradise Becomes a Trap"; Wilbert J. McKeachie, "Effects of Technology on Teaching and Learning"; Lyndon B. Johnson, "Why Americans Fight in Vietnam" II. Thinking That Develops Thinking 3. Gathering Skills Stir up Your Thinking Before You Start Reading Observing How Well Do We Observe? Observing Is an Active Process The Hindrance Within Us How Do We Do It? Journal Observations Readings: Tara Bradley-Steck, "Federal Judge Orders Lawyer Not to Use Her Maiden Name"; James R. Kearl, "Would Your Textbook Authors Be Better Off If the Used Book Market Were Banned?"; Louis Uchitelle, "Reputation and Contracts In Russia and the U.S. Diamond Market"; U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau "The Woman Worker, 1942" Questioning Living and Learning Require Questioning Those Basic Questions The Importance of Questioning Ourselves A Warning About Questioning Journal Observations Readings: Carey McWilliams, "The Okies in California, 1939"; Chicago Commission on Race Relations, "Race Riot in Chicago"; William R. Shine, "Chemistry, a Science for Today and Tomorrow"; Michael L. Rothschild, "The Creative Leap" 4. Organizing Skills Stir up Your Thinking Before You Start Reading Comparing and Contrasting Why the Skills of Comparing and Contrasting Are Important What It Means to Compare and Contrast Journal Observations Readings:James R. Kearl, "The Costs of a Volunteer Army"; William R. Shine, "Three Mile Island"; Rose Williams, "A Forced Marriage in Texas"; Richard Rodriguez, "Aria"; James Shipman, Jerry Wilson, and Aaron Todd, "Isaac Newton"; James Fenimore Cooper, "The 'Wasty Ways' of Pioneers" Classifying and Sequencing To Classify Is to Sort To Sequence Things Is to Arrange Them in Order How Do We Classify? How Do We Sequence? Journal Observations Readings: Joseph Levine and Kevin Miller, "Is Sex Doomed?"; Henry Myers, "Moving Pictures Evoke Concern"; James Shipman, Jerry Wilson, and Aaron Todd, "The Metric System" Identifying Cause and Effect The Importance of Exploring Relationships and Sequence of Events Its Not Always That Easy Journal Observations Readings: The Female Moral Reform Society, "A Warning to Mothers (1839)"; Joseph Levine and Kenneth Miller, "DNA: The Ultimate Fingerprint?"; U.S. National Commission on Law Enforcement, "Prohibition Nonobserved"; James Shipman, Jerry Wilson, and Aaron Todd, "The Concept of Time" 5. Generating Skills Stir up Your Thinking Before You Start Reading Inferring Inferring Skills Begin Developing Early Inferring Skills Sharpen Through Use Inferred Conclusions Could Be Wrong Why the Inferring Skill is Necessary in College Why We Have to Infer Inferring on Tests Journal Observations Readings: Kevin Krajick, "Sound Too Good to Be True?"; Joseph Moxley, "The Attitudes and Work Habits of Successful Academic Writers"; Joseph Levine and Kenneth Miller, "Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs?"; Rachel Carson, "Excerpts from Silent Spring" Summarizing Summarizing in College How Long Is a Summary? The Steps in Summarizing Journal Observations Readings: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, "New Crisis in Native American Education"; James R. Kearl, "Balancing Benefits, Costs, and Unintended Consequences"; Life, July 19, 1943 "Girl Pilots: Air Force Trains Them at Avenger Field, Texas"; Earl Warren, "School Segregation Is Unconstitutional"; National Organization for Women, "Statement of Purpose" Synthesizing Synthesizing Is like DOS for Your Mind A Common Form of Synthesizing Journal Observations Readings: Sylvester Graham, "Advice to Young Men on Chastity"; Eleanor Wembridge, "Petting and the Campus"; President Ronald Reagan, "An Apology" Generating Ideas Having an Idea Is Not the Same Thing Common Ways We Generate Ideas Individuals May Generate Ideas, But... Later Ideas Are Better Ideas Journal Observations Readings: William R. Shine, "Radioactive Waste Disposal"; David R. Johnson, "Critical Issues in American Policing"; Dave Foreman, and Bill Howard, "Earth First! Advocates Ecotage" 6. Recognizing Skills Stir up Your Thinking Before You Start Reading Recognizing Purpose Writing and Speaking to Manipulate Unsound Arguments Sometimes Fool Us Why Even Worry About Recognizing Purpose? The Most Common Purposes Clues to Identifying Purpose Readings: Dan Boatwright, "We Mustn't Open Drug-Use Floodgate"; Leslie Milne, "To Be or Not to Be Single"; James R. Kearl, "Why Do Japanese Workers Stay in Their Jobs Longer Than U.S. Workers Do?"; James R. Kearl, "Invoice Costs and Prices" Recognizing Fact and Opinion The Important Difference Between Fact and Opinion Statements of Opinion Statements of Fact Statements of Fact and Opinion Journal Observations Readings: Johnnie Tillmon, "Welfare as a Women's Issue"; James R. Kearl, "Reinforcing Good Health Habits with Money"; Ho Chi Minh, "Fight Until Complete Victory"; Al Santoli, "The Evacuation of Saigon (1975)" Recognizing Tone Why Is Recognizing Tone Important? Don't Let Tone Confuse You Common Tone Words Journal Observations Readings: Mike Rose, "I Just Wanna Be Average"; Joseph Levine, "Clinical Trial of Azidothymidine (AZT) in the Treatment of AIDS"; Howard Shank, "A Few Kind Words About Creative Strategy" Recognizing Bias Bias in Textbooks, Lectures, and Life The Need to Detect Bias How To Recognize Bias Journal Observations Readings: Phyllis Schlafly, "The Differences Between Men and Women"; Richard DeWitt, "Sexing Chickens"; David S. Wyman, "The Abandonment of the Jews" Recognizing Organization Types of Prose Writing and Speaking Common Overall Patterns of Organization and Their Clue Words Mixed Patterns Journal Observations Readings: Ray Rogers, "The Testimony of a Detroit Sniper"; James R. Kearl, "Who Benefits?" Recognizing Underlying Assumptions Assumptions Are Part of Our Lives Why Seek Hidden Assumptions? Two Kinds of Assumptions Journal Observations Readings: James R. Kearl, "Choosing Healthier Foods?"; Jack Chen, "The Great Railway Competition"; "Account of Father Francis Fitzherbert's Voyage to Maryland, Execution of a Witch at Sea"; Joseph Levine and Kenneth Miller, "Human Intelligence: Are There Genes for IQ?" 7. Analyzing Skills Analyzing Quick! Tell Me What This Means Why Is a Pencil Designed the Way it Is? Analyzing an Argument Seems a Bit Tougher How to Analyze an Idea or an Argument Journal Observations Readings: Art Levine, "America's Addiction to Addictions"; James R. Kearl, "Should the Reclamation Project Be Completed?"; "Story of a Lithuanian"; James T. Shipman, Jerry D. Wilson, and Aaron W. Todd, "Why the Sky Is Blue and Sunsets Are Red" Evaluating Establishing Evaluation Criteria Journal Observations Readings: James R. Kearl, "Substituting Gasoline Purchased in the Suburbs for Gasoline Purchased in the City"; "Diary of an Unknown Aviator"; Bonnie Mitelman, "Rose Schneiderman and the Triangle Fire" Inducing We Start with Observation Why Did That Happen? The Scientific Method Journal Observations Readings: Anonymous, "Our Daily Life Is Not a Pleasant One"; James R. Kearl, "Public Lands and Harvesting Trees"; Joseph Levine and Kenneth Miller, "The Gaia Hypothesis"; James R Kearl, "Income and Substitution Effects and the Design of Public Policy" Deducing Isn't This Another Name for Formal Argumentation? Applying the General Truth to Particular Cases To Deduce You Rely on What You Already Know Now Figure This Out A Sock in the Dark Journal Observations Readings: Joseph Levine, and Kenneth Miller, "Plants and Medicine"; Frank Roney, "An Irish Laborer Confronts Hardship in San Francisco"; James R. Kearl, "Dietary Rules and Meatless Fridays"; Carolyn Merchant, "The Wilderness Transformed" III. Thinking That Applies Thinking 8. Studying and Thinking Critically Studying and Thinking Critically Are Not the Same as Studying and Thinking So, What's the Plan? How Do I Deal with All Those Reading Assignments? Use a Reading-Study System that Works Marking and Underlining a Textbook Use a Symbol System for Marking Margins Preparing for a Test Eliminating Test-Taking Anxiety Effective Listening and Note Taking And Now You're Ready to Begin Journal Observations