A Case on Teaching Critical Thinking and Argument Mapping in a Teacher Education Context

Yasemin Oral (İstanbul University, Turkey)
Copyright: © 2014 |Pages: 139
EISBN13: 9781466664036|DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5816-5.ch005
OnDemand PDF Download:
$37.50
OnDemand PDF Download
Download link provided immediately after order completion
$37.50

Abstract

This chapter is based on the classroom work of a course on critical thinking designed as part of a pre-service teacher education program in English language teaching at a large-size Turkish state university. With its dual focus on both modernist and postmodern approaches to critical thinking, the course offers scope for classwork that concentrates on the skills to identify the parts and structure of arguments. To this end, argument mapping has been utilized to enhance understanding of the components of arguments and to facilitate the analysis of arguments. This chapter seeks to illustrate the materials and activities used when argument maps have been constructed during the class sessions. Furthermore, drawing from the data gathered from students' journal entries, I argue for a high interplay of the perceived efficacy of argument mapping with the content, length, and complexity of arguments as well as the anxiety evoked by these factors.
InfoSci-OnDemand Powered Search