WWU instructors to be featured in “critical thinking”-themed Innovative Teaching Showcase

The Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment is pleased to announce the 2016-17 Innovative Teaching Showcase featured instructors:

  • Bidisha Biswas (Political Science)
  • Ed Love (Marketing and Finance)
  • Mark Neff (Environmental Studies)

 

Through this year’s Innovative Teaching Showcase, to be published June 2, we will explore how several WWU faculty teach with a focus on critical thinking. These instructors guide discussions, demonstrate strategies, and craft learning experiences that take critical thinking beyond typical boundaries into abstract, creative, ethical, and independent thinking.

Critical Thinking Defined

“Critical thinking is that mode of thinking — about any subject, content, or problem — in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities, as well as a commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and sociocentrism.” –CriticalThinking.Org

Seeking Instructor Profiles

The instructors featured in the Showcase are among many at Western who do this essential work! The Showcase publication includes a “Profiles” page where we can share more ideas for teaching with this method. Please view examples and contribute your profile using the submission form or email.

For 17 years, the CIIA has published an online edition of the Innovative Teaching Showcase—a collection of innovative teaching practices by nearly 70 WWU faculty members. The Showcase has evolved into a Creative Commons-licensed collection, catalogued in Western Libraries, and followed by a global audience.

For more information on the Innovative Teaching Showcase, visit http://www.wwu.edu/showcase/ or contact Justina Brown at (360) 650-7210.