I always tell my students, "you don't know my story" or "you don't know your patient's story" so you have to address all learning styles. A patient or a student can be nodding in affirmation and still not understand what you are saying. As educators we have to be diverse in our approach.

I have theory heavy classes such as ethics and political science. I've been incorporating more group discussion, film clips, current news internet clips, and anonymous surveys into class, but I'm dying for new ideas for other group or individual activities that are not so discussion oriented. I want to maintain a balance between discussion and other types of lessons. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thank you, Melville

When working with adults, there are several things you can be doing to ensure you meet their learning needs. These are a few best practices: • Take an inventory of your students’ prior knowledge and experiences. When instructing students, make efforts to acknowledge students’ experiences and build on what they already know. • Determine why students are motivated to be adult learners. Work with students to meet their personal goals. • Identify your students’ learning styles. Use a variety of teaching techniques that will work with a variety of learning styles. • Consider memory-building techniques, such as advanced organizers, that may help older learners organize the information they learn in your class. • Provide students with opportunities to self-direct, or at least plan, their learning. • Provide students with a supportive environment for learning. Once touching on the different techniques, which is best to tailor or gear the course towards because one may not be able to execute more than two.

Is anyone aware of good materials and resources that can be used to teach critical thinking ?

I also find that age contributes a lot to the way a student views discipline. My younger students still don't realize the value of discipline because they have yet to discover how it affects lives in a positive manner as opposed to the older students who already know.

To me is the ability to think, analyze, rationalize, conceptualize, take a step back and see one's own mistakes and learn from them. I do not believe intelligence is the ability to just memorize things, but the capacity to solve problems through sound well-informed judgement.

Motivation is usually the key to achieving. Those who haven't experienced self-discipline often also exhibit a lack of motivation. However, this must not be construed as them not wanting to have motivation. On the contrary, students thrive on tasks that perk their enthusiasm and make them feel that they are actually accomplishing something. Once they accomplish, motivation starts to build-up and with it self-discipline.

One other way I have found to provide a scaffold is to reduce the amount of information, or the number of skills, that must be learned at one time. To use an example from the course material, learning to ride a bike was discussed. The use of training wheels is an example of the scaffold used so that the learner could practice repeatedly until the scaffold was no longer necessary. Another approach would be to remove the pedals from the bike so the learner would push along with their feet. Once they achieved the balance to push and coast for distance (skills of balance and steering), you could reattach the pedals and introduce the skill required to pedal. Steering and balance would have been already mastered and the learner could then focus on learning the additional skill of pedaling.

I like the emphasis on relevance. Students have so many choices on where to devote their time and attention that they will naturally disengage from learning that they don't think is relevant. A teacher who strives to make lessons relevant is naturally approaching their teaching in a student centered way. When you consider how something could be relevant to students, you must have an understanding of who your students are and why they're in class.

Teaching the California Certified Emissions and Diagnostics program requires Logic and Critical Thinking in every aspect of it. In this program, students start the process of becoming Diagnosticians, something one can not do without logic and critical thinking, which are essential to problem-solving. Problem-solving is the result of logic and critical thinking.

I agree on a part it says, "A good way to define the problem is to write down a concise statement that summarizes the problem, and then write down where you want to be after the problem has been solved."

It sometimes takes great discipline to be a good problem solver. It is important to examine the elements of the situation, break it down and re-build it to come up with a plausible solution. We can't always go directly to a final solution without some work put into it.

I have noticed that students are afraid to use and trust their instincts for fear of being wrong. They look to us for the answer instead of problem solving on their own. It is important I feel to force them to think about the question that they are asking even if it means failure.

I don't think it is easy to teach someone how to be disciplined when it comes to learning. I feel however when a student does put in the effort in regards to something they really want to master the benefit becomes more apparent. This may reinforce how important this concept of discipline really is.

I totally agree that Reflective Thinking is a process to help critical thinkers to overcome that trap and come up with the viable workable solutions.

Discipline, common sense, dedication, effort, contrast, time management, and judgment are very important as students grow in different aspects of their lives.

I think it is very important because you have be very clear and precise with students in order for them to comprehend the material that you're displaying and understanding.

I have notice that since I have been teaching a course on critical thinking. I have become more aware of my self-talk and my though process. This helps with instructions. I am able to disclose personal experiences to help the students in recognizing that to think critically is a process and it evolves as we all learn.

I find that if speek to students the way that I speek to the other Instructor thay seem to respond to that so much better than if you try to talk above them let them know that you are one of us.

AS instructor we have to help the student recall what they learn by keeping the lesson appealing to all five senses.