Actual Intelligence with Steve Pearlman

Many educators are frustrated by student writing, frustrated by the time they devote to responding to student writing, and frustrated by the lack of revision, if not improvement, between drafts.  In this episode, Dave and Steve not only dispel myths about what constitutes an effective response to a student paper, they also offer a step-by-step process for responding in a way that produces meaningful growth.

What does that mean?  Dave and Steve explore a highfalutin idea called Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and its implications for teaching and critical thinking.  Want to know why students procrastinate?  Why they revert to their old ways?  How to get them to advanced their thinking?  Then you'll want to understand CLT and all its immediate implications for how you teach.

What happens when someone creates a dialogue between west coast liberals and southern Trump supporters?  Find out in this episode!  Steve and Dave are joined by Spaceship Media founders and journalism activists, Eve Pearlman and Jeremy Hay.  Spaceship Media's "dialogue journalism" is fostering constructive discourse between people who hold conflicting viewpoints, and striving to restore the populace's faith in journalists.  This reinforces the pressing need for education to create thinking citizens.

Dave and Steve tackle one of the more over- and misused terms in education, Problem-Based Learning (PBL).  Learn the research behind PBL, what it is, for what it works well and for what it doesn't work well.  In news of the week: How Artificial Intelligence is going to force educational change, and how critical thinking might just offer hope for the world in terms of climate change.  Maybe.  (This episode contains minor technical difficulties that were out of our control.  Apologies in advance.)

Having blamed all the world's problems on the 5-paragraph essay in the previous episode, Steve and Dave offer three alternatives to the 5-paragraph form.  These are tested, easily implemented essay structures that emphasize critical thinking and foster stronger content acquisition.  News of the week explains why critical thinking can't be taught (but it can) and covers a letter to educators from subject matter itself!

Warning: This episode may provoke strong reactions from 5-paragraph-essay devotees.  Not for the faint of heart! Listen in as Steve and Dave unfairly blame all of the world's problems on the 5-paragraph essay format frequently used in secondary and higher education.  Also news of the week: Why even young children possess strong critical thinking skills, and how the Air Force explores "forecasting" as a critical thinking goal.

Critical thinking pioneer and guru Dan Willingham joins Dave and Steve in discussing the relationship between critical thinking, reading, and teaching.  They delve into the role that existing bodies of knowledge play in decoding thinking.  News of the week examines whether or not reading to evaluate produces stronger outcomes than reading to comprehend.  Also, to get "meta," Dave talks about the role attention plays in thinking, such as when listening to a podcast ... or not.

In response to requests from their listeners, Dave and Steve try to distill seven years of research into 45 minutes!  The result?  An initial walk-through of how they help faculty and students across disciplines and grade levels conceptualize critical thinking. Want to know how to define critical thinking in a way that works in any classroom?  A way that can be assessed?  A way that can improve learning outcomes? Then tune in! Plus, news of the week and obligatory Bigfoot references.

TCTI welcomes Peter Arthur, Ph.D.  Peter is a frequent keynote speaker and sought-after workshop facilitator on “Enhancing Metacognition, Growth Mindset and Grit for Student Success.” He speaks with Steve and Dave about the intersects between his work and critical thinking. 

Plus, Steve has some depressing news of the week, and we learn why critical thinking isn't the same thing as being smart.

In this episode, Steve and Dave take a walk into some of the science around how the brain functions relative to learning.  Beware!  Discussions of "amygdalas" and "basal ganglia" may emerge.  But if you want to tap into your students brain power, here is some of the research on how to do it.