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Ed Surge has just written about a study that seemed to help students develop their critical thinking skills.

And, happily, the activities the research found that did it are very similar to a unit I do in my IB Theory of Knowledge class!

Basically, researchers taught different groups students about fallacies.  The group that also then went on to review different scientific claims with the purpose of identifying which ones used fallacies had a dramatic improvement in being able to spot them in a subsequent assessment.

This is very similar to what we do in TOK.  Students learn about different fallacies, put them in their own words and identify examples, evaluate which ones they think are most effective, and then have to use several of them in a video commercial they have to create (they can invent any product they want).  If we have time, students also watch campaign commercials to identify when fallacies are used.

I’m adding this info to:

The Best Multimedia Resources For Learning About Fallacies — Help Me Find More

The Best Resources On Teaching & Learning Critical Thinking In The Classroom