Let’s start thinking critically…

What is critical thinking? What are student learning outcomes?

Are they just another couple of meaningless buzzwords – open to infinite interpretation? Or are they significant concepts in helping students learn English?

To help answer these questions we have invited some EAP experts to share their thoughts on CT and SLO over the coming weeks.

Lawrence Lawson, from Palomar College, USA, will kick off by demystifying the terms and showing us why he thinks CT and SLO are important concepts for every ELT or ESL classroom.

Then we invite Joe McVeigh, a teacher trainer in the U.S., and Jennifer Bixby, a materials writer in the U.S., to explore what is meant by a “question-centered” teaching approach, and how this helps students to develop CT skills.

Later, Ann Snow, a linguist from California State University specializing in academic English, will explain how teachers can apply Bloom’s Taxonomy in the classroom.

And we ask some difficult questions such as Where should our energy come from?, How does power affect our leaders?, and Why does something become popular?. These questions, and others presented in the new OUP course Q Skills for Success, will be answered by some of Oxford’s finest and most esteemed scientists, philosophers and anthropologists.

Let us know if there’s anything you’d like to see covered, by leaving a comment below.

Let the critical thinking commence!

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October will see the launch of a new academic English course published by OUP called Q Skills for Success. Q uses a question-centered approach to develop critical thinking skills and puts an emphasis on student learning outcomes.

[Photo by Jacob Bøtter via Flickr/Creative Commons]