Introduction
In their classic Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Bloom et al posit that the most challenging skill in the cognitive domain is that of evaluation, which they define as making decisions or reaching judgements based on criteria or a rationale.1 Although – particularly at Sixth Form level – teachers may well be keen to cultivate such critical abilities, in many independent learning activities pupils pursue a much more unthinking procedure, in which 'research' is reduced to a series of predetermined moves. A typical course of action consists of the following steps, which quickly become habitual when any school project involving finding and using information is involved:
- Go to a favoured web browser;
- Bring up Google;
- Enter an obvious search term;
- Look at the first websites that appear appropriate;
- Briefly check their content;
- Copy and paste any material that seems pertinent, placing it in a document that will form the basis of the pupil’s assignment;
- Edit the work and provide linking material to create a cohesive whole.
Introducing Critical Thinking
In higher-level independent learning within the secondary school, it is important that the teacher incorporates opportunities for – and an expectation of – critical thinking at each stage in the research process, which will begin well before the individual starts their main phase of information collection. Overall, three stages within the study are especially crucial.
1. Planning: encourage pupils to formulate a research question that invites critical thinking.