scholarly journals Creative writing and Critical Thinking Enhancement at Higher Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella Poce ◽  
Francesca Amenduni
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Creative Writing ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Peer Interactions ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
Knowledge Growth ◽  
University Course

Currently, educational policymakers identify Critical Thinking (CT) as an essential aspect of progress and knowledge growth in any field and in the broad society. Peer interactions and individual writing are helpful pedagogical strategies for CT development that could be enhanced by the use of technologies (Guiller, Durndell, & Ross, 2008). Starting from the above-mentioned evidence, a university module was designed by combining collaborative and creative writing with the critical analysis of literary texts and the fruition of figurative arts. 123 students worked in groups and their CT level was assessed at different times of the course. Most of the students’ groups showed an increase in their CT level whilst a few did not. The difficulties in the management of group dynamics corresponded to the decreasing CT level. On the contrary, groups able to organize their work improved their CT throughout the course. Additionally, students’ work modes had an impact on their performance at different CT tasks. The research results could be used to improve university course design for CT education.

scholarly journals What Did Angola Learn from the World and What Did the World Learn from COVID-19? Reflection on Epidemiological Surveillance in Health

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-540
Author(s):  
Euclides Nenga Manuel Sacomboio
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Professional Experience ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
Scientific Reflection ◽  
Epidemiological Situation

The global community is racing to slow down and eventually stop the spread of COVID-19, which is a pandemic that has killed thousands of lives and made tens of thousands sick. The new coronavirus has already reached Angola, with 25 confirmed cases, among them 2 died and 6 were cured. The government has decreed a state of emergency on 24 March 2020 for 15 days, which was extended twice for the same number of days that will make it possible to reduce clusters of people and keep them at home. This study reflected on the diverse ways of leadership. It is an article of theoretical, technical and scientific reflection, based on the experience of a new epidemiological situation, with a critical analysis based on technical, scientific and professional experience, with bibliographic input of data obtained from information published in scientific articles, newspapers, magazines and other official documents published in Angola and worldwide related to COVID-19. This article emerged from critical thinking based on the current situation of COVID-19 in Angola in the world and is reflected in this article, what Angola should learn and learned from the experience of other countries that also imported the disease, their history of investment in health, characteristics of their populations, their economies and other aspects.

scholarly journals Bokrecension: Creative Writing for Critical Thinking. Creating a Discoursal Identity

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Lennart Hellspong
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Creative Writing

Edberg, Hélène (2018). Creative Writing for Critical Thinking. Creating a Discoursal Identity. Palgrave, Macmillan, 416 s. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65491-1

scholarly journals Is there a Relationship between Critical Thinking and Critical Reading of Literary Texts: A Case Study at Arak University (Iran)

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 63-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamedreza Kohzadi ◽  
Fatemeh Aziz Mohammadi ◽  
Fatemeh Samadi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Proficiency Test ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Female Data ◽  
The Subject

Examining the theme, plot, and characters of a literary work is a common practice for students of literature so that they can criticize literature. Unlike a non-critical reading which provides readers only with facts, a critical reading also entails depicting how a book or a source illustrates the subject matter. Through various reading procedures including interpretation, inference and examining ideologies embedded in texts, readers can develop critical thinking. This paper aims at examining whether or not there is a relationship between critical thinking and critical reading of literary texts in higher education. To meet the mentioned aim, 121 EFL learners from Arak University were invited to participate in this study. After administrating English proficiency test, total numbers of students were 98 male and female. Data analysis was done through employing ANOVA and T-test.

Why literature students should practise life writing

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kylie Cardell ◽  
Kate Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Creative Writing ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Creative Space ◽  
Writing Practice

This article considers our experiences teaching a hybrid literature/creative writing subject called “Life Writing.” We consider the value of literature students engaging in creative writing practice—in this instance, the nonfiction subgenre of life writing—as part of their critical literary studies. We argue that in practicing life writing, our literature students are exposed to and gain wider perspective on the practical, critical, creative, and ethical issues that arise from working with literary texts. Such an approach is not with risk. As we discuss in this article, life writing texts can often narrate difficult or traumatic material. However, we want to show how life writing, with its particular focus on actual lives and lived experience, creates a particularly conducive ethical, intellectual, and creative space for learning about and practicing writing.

The Impacts of Societal Context on Student Motivation and Engagement

2013 ◽  
Vol 1532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Stolk
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Student Motivation ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Task Value ◽  
Engineering Studies ◽  
Societal Context ◽  
Motivation And Engagement ◽  
Integrated Project

ABSTRACTPromoting a sense of societal connectedness is critical in today’s engineering educational environment. The NAE’s Grand Challenges for Engineering point to broad human concerns — sustainability, health, vulnerability, and joy of living — and human connectivity as the future of engineering problem solving. Engineering studies, however, are often presented in a completely decontextualized manner, with an emphasis on technical content that is free of any human meaning. As a result, students may have difficulty identifying either personal or societal value in their learning tasks. Through their course design, instructors can help students situate themselves and their engineering learning experiences within the larger human system. Studying technologies and technological development within the broader societal context may, in turn, offer significant benefits to student motivation and engagement in learning. In this paper, we report findings from a three-year investigation of the effects of disciplinary integration on student motivation and learning engagement in introductory materials science courses. The quantitative results show that integrating materials science with humanities provides for increased student motivation and cognitive engagement in learning. Compared to students in non-integrated project-based courses, students in integrated project-based courses show higher intrinsic motivation and task value. In addition to these motivational gains, students in the integrated materials science-history course report significantly higher use of critical thinking strategies in their project work, indicating that an emphasis on societal context may help students cognitively engage in their engineering studies. Our findings also indicate that women in the integrated materials-history course report higher intrinsic motivation, task value, self-efficacy, and critical thinking strategy use compared to women in the non-integrated materials course. Overall, our research suggests that putting human contexts at the center of engineering learning can help students build a sense of societal relatedness that promotes better learning.

Enhancing Empathy through a Creative Writing Program in Elementary School

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
Sofia Tsatsou-Nikolouli ◽  
Stavroula Mavrogeni
Keyword(s):  
Creative Writing ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Social And Emotional Skills ◽  
The Social ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Very High

Education is not only about the transferring of knowledge, but also about the cultivation of strong social and emotional skills, which are necessary for the strengthening of the social competence of students, their positive self-perception and their success in school. Empathy, which refers to the ability to recognize another person‟s emotional state is one of the basic skills of the 21st century, which helps all students grow up to become active and critically aware citizens. The research/intervention program "Creative Writing and Social Learning Skills", implemented by students of the 5th and 6th grade of elementary schools in Thessaloniki, Greece, explores the enhancement of empathy, through the use of creative writing as an educational tool. Activities used were based on literary texts from Balkan countries and countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The research sample consisted of 573 students, who were divided into the Intervention Group, that implemented the program, and the Control Group, that attended its regular curriculum. The analysis of the level of skills in children, and especially the level of empathy, which is of concern to us in the present study, was carried out using a structured improvised questionnaire, the alpha Cronbach coefficients where of range at very high levels. Study results showed that the Intervention Group exhibited statistically greater improvement in the assessment of empathy compared to the Control Group.

Self-Inquiry and Group Dynamics

2014 ◽  
pp. 178-196
Author(s):  
Katia González ◽  
Rhoda Frumkin ◽  
John Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Mapping Strategy ◽  
Curriculum Decisions ◽  
Meaningful Connections ◽  
Large Group Discussion

In this chapter, the authors discuss ways in which pedagogical considerations involved in using a theoretical framework for self-inquiry and socially constructed knowledge led to the selection and implementation of mapping as a tool to (1) activate prior knowledge and scaffold content and process for pre-service educators working with students and families who are at risk and (2) assist adult learners in organizing multiple perspectives during small and large group discussion, while developing critical thinking and shared leadership skills through meaningful connections and action. A case study on how the utilization of a multidisciplinary approach informed the type of curriculum decisions to engage learners is provided. The case study also illustrates when and why instructional techniques and strategies were introduced and embedded to encourage both interactions and discussions focusing on modeling the ongoing use of skills for critical thinking and how each mapping strategy/tool served as a formative and summative assessment plan to improve verbal and written communication.

Blended Course Design

2015 ◽  
pp. 488-512
Author(s):  
Patricia McGee
Keyword(s):  
Course Design ◽  
Delivery Mode ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Interpretive Analysis ◽  
Blended Courses ◽  
Education Coursework ◽  
Hybrid Course Design ◽  
Blended Course

Blended or hybrid course design is generally considered to involve a combination of online and classroom activities. However defining blended courses solely based on delivery mode suggests there is nothing more to a blended course than where students meet and how they use technology. Ultimately there is a risk that blended courses defined in this way will not utilize effective strategies that have proven to improve learning for students. This study investigates pedagogical strategies or designs that have reported success in higher education coursework as published in articles that address blended pedagogy. A qualitative meta-interpretive analysis identified eight themes: definitions of blended design, meetings for the learner, online priority, technology with a purpose, focused e-interactions, active learning, distribution of time, pedagogical chunking, and outliers and omissions.

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