AIOU Course Code 8611-1 solved Assignments Spring 2022

Course: Critical Thinking and reflective practices (8611)

Semester: Spring, 2022

ASSIGNMENT No. 1

Q.1   How can a teacher serve as a critical thinker? How can a teacher’s critical thinking helpful to improve teaching and learning process?

All contemporary political communication is in a specific way critical because it consists of speech acts that normally question political opinions and practices of certain actors. Modern politics is a highly competitive system, in which elections and warfare are ways of distributing and redistributing power. Tis understanding of critique stands in the tradition of Kantian enlightenment that considered the Enlightenment as an age of criticism. In contrast to Kant’s general understanding of critique, Karl Marx and the Marxian tradition understands the categorical imperative as the need to overcome all forms of slavery and degradation and to unmask alienation. Tis school of thought points out a more specific understanding of being critical, namely the questioning of power, domination, and exploitation, the political demand and struggle for a just society. Critical theory is understood as a critique of society. Scholars in the Marxian inspired tradition employ the term “critical” to stress that not all science is critical, but that a lot of it has a more administrative character that takes power structures for granted, does not question them, or helps to legitimate them.

Some define critical theory as the Frankfurt School’s works, a tradition of critical thinking that originated with the works of scholars like Herbert Marcuse, Max Horkheimer, and andTeodorW. Adorn. Herbert Marcuse was a philosopher, born in Germany in 1898, who fled Nazi Germany to the United States in 1934, where he spent the rest of his life. Max Horkheimer was director of the University of Frankfurt’s Institute for Social Research in the years 1930–1959.Tis institute was the home of what came to be known as the Frankfurt School. Teodor W. Adorn was one of the Institute’s directors from 1953 until his death in 1969. Horkheimer and Adorno also emigrated, together with the Institute, to the United States, but unlike Marcuse they returned to Germany after the end of World War II. Critical Theory’s starting point is the work of Karl Marx.

                                                          

Q.2   Discuss in detail factors affecting social exclusion.

Two German theorists, Karl Marx (1818–83) and Max Weber (1864–1920), influenced the field of sociology, particularly in terms of theories of social class. Both of these theorists wrote extensively on issues of social class and social inequality, or the unequal status and access to opportunities that different groups have within a society. Sociologists continue to use and respond to ideas that Marx and Weber developed.

Marxism, Conflict Theory, and Social Class

Marx defined class as a group of people who have the same relationship to the means of production—the facilities and resources for producing goods—such as tools, machines, and factories. Marx wrote extensively of the relationship between the privileged classes—the “haves,” or the bourgeoisie—and the oppressed classes—the “have nots,” or the proletariat. The bourgeoisie is a class that owns property, including owning and controlling the means of production. The proletariat is the working class, who own only their own labor. Members of the proletariat are forced to sell their labor because they have no control over the means of production. Marx argued that this relationship is exploitive of the working class because the surplus value derived from work is unfairly appropriated by the bourgeoisie. In Marx’s view, the economic system of capitalism automatically creates social stratification, or class differences, in which members of different classes are in an adversarial relationship. Sociologists incorporate Marx’s ideas in an approach known as conflict theory. Conflict theorists suggest that social inequality creates intergroup conflict—such as the rich versus the poor—and that the different interests will cause them to be at odds as they attempt to secure their interests.

Marxist theory continues to be important in sociology, but many sociologists have expanded upon Marx’s ideas in order to apply them to postindustrial, postmodern societies of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. American sociologist Erik Olin Wright (b. 1947) elaborates on Marx’s model of class structure. While Marx analyzed society in terms of two major classes, Wright identifies four classes in the United States: capitalist, managerial, small business, and working class. He argues that power is connected to the control of the means of production but also control over work processes and other workers. Wright’s model is less polarized than Marx’s but remains focused on questions of which groups dominate a society and which groups are oppressed. He looks at why some workers might behave or think more like capitalists (the bourgeoisie) and notes how people can belong to more than one class. His term contradictory class locations describes how people can occupy more than one class position, based on what type of control they exercise. For example, an executive assistant at a large corporation has a relatively high level of control compared to other administrative workers but is also under the control of a more powerful CEO. The executive assistant may identify more closely with the upper-class managers at the company, although outside of work the executive assistant has less social and economic power than managers do. Wright proposes a larger definition of the working class than Marx did, including those in occupations that involve what he terms “mental labor” but who do not receive high salaries, such as clerical workers. He analyzes modern types of work, arguing that levels of control tied to various occupations are crucial markers of class in contemporary society. For instance, master electricians and architects who work at small firms may have similar levels of income, but they hold different social positions. Their occupations grant them different levels of control. Like Marx, Wright is concerned with dismantling systems that oppress the working class. However, he argues that “taming and eroding capitalism are the only viable options.” Whereas Marx envisioned the end of capitalism, Wright considers how the working class might impose reforms on oppressive state and capitalist structures.

Weber and Social Class

Weber agreed with Marx that economic markers are important, but he advanced the idea that other factors, such as education and occupational prestige, determine class hierarchies. Weber described class structure as being based on three major factors: wealth (income and assets), prestige (status position), and power (ability to achieve goals). Weber saw ownership of the means of production, including companies, as important, but he also noted that holding a high position within a company or profession is also a means to acquire social and economic power. For example, a high-level manager in a corporation does not own the business but does benefit from the profits that the business generates. Owning property grants economic power, but it also grants higher levels of prestige. Someone who owns land, for example, has social prestige. Weber pointed out that prestige can also be gained in other ways that do not involve ownership of property or the means of production. Gifted athletes or intellectuals can acquire prestige without owning the sports teams or universities that frame their work. Both wealth and prestige can give individuals greater power in society. Weber saw wealth, power, and prestige as intertwined elements of social class. Weber’s multidimensional work led sociologists to use socioeconomic status to understand class.

Influenced by Weber’s theory of class, American sociologist Dennis Gilbert (b. 1943) described six separate classes in the United States: the capitalist class, upper-middle class, middle class, working class, working poor, and underclass. The capitalist class is defined as the most elite and powerful group. As the richest one percent of the population, they own most of the wealth in a society, including the vast majority of stocks and bonds. Their large investments have an impact on the rest of society, because their investment choices can have a significant impact on the overall economy. They mostly interact with one another, remaining separated from the other classes. The upper-middle class is relatively wealthy and is characterized by high levels of formal education—a minimum of a college degree and usually a graduate degree. Members of the upper-middle class work in white-collar, fairly high-income professions. They may often purchase status symbols, including expensive homes and vehicles that serve to identify their class status. The lower-middle class is composed of people who earn enough to afford basic expenses. They generally have at least a high school education and often some education beyond high school including specialized training, some college, or a college degree. They typically work in semiskilled professions, for instance as flight attendants or security guards. The working class has relatively low levels of income and is employed in factories or in low-paid white-collar professions such as retail sales workers. Members of the working class sometimes qualify for public assistance programs, such as free or reduced lunch for children at school. The working poor are people whose incomes are minimal and often not enough to pay basic living expenses. They often work in service jobs, which include occupations such as food preparation workers, house cleaners, or lawn and garden maintenance workers. Most members of the working poor do not hold high school diplomas. They may qualify for public assistance, such as housing and food assistance programs. The underclass is a social group composed of individuals stuck in poverty because of high unemployment, low education, or other forms of marginalization such as homelessness. Multigenerational poverty, or poverty that lasts across several generations in a family, is also a characteristic of the underclass. Occupations that involve stigma can also place people in the underclass. For example, impoverished sex workers are part of the underclass, both because of poverty and because sex workers are marginalized by society. Gilbert’s model of six social classes provides a framework for discussing social stratification in more precise terms, acknowledging that the lived experiences of members of these groups can be quite different, although there is some overlap between groups.

Gilbert’s Model of Social Class in the United States
Capitalist class	Elite, powerful; richest one percent
Upper-middle class	Relatively wealthy; highly educated, work in white-collar professions
Lower-middle class	Can afford basic expenses; work in semi-skilled professions
Working class	Relatively low income; sometimes qualify for assistance programs
Working poor	Not always able to afford basic expenses; work in service professions
Underclass	Marginalized members of society; stuck in chronic poverty

Functionalism and Symbolic Interactionism

Functionalist and symbolic interactionist theories of social class focus on the social functions of class and stratification, or on class as a factor in social identity.

In addition to conflict theory, two other influential schools of thought in sociology are functionalism and symbolic interactionism. Functionalists think of society as composed of many parts that work together as a whole to maintain stability. A functionalist approach to social class might analyze the roles that class structure and social stratification play in society as a whole. From a functionalist viewpoint, stratification works to ensure productivity and efficiency, and to ensure that all types of necessary work get done. Thus a functionalist argument is that social stratification is both necessary and inevitable. Functionalists point out that some jobs require more skill or training or are more important. Few people have the ability to become highly skilled and do these important jobs. Furthermore, people have to make sacrifices, in terms of time, effort, and money, to obtain the education, training, and experience to do these jobs. The functionalist view is that society attaches significant rewards in the form of prestige and income to ensure that these important jobs are filled. Doctors, for example, fulfill an important role in society. To become a doctor, a person must invest a great deal of time, effort, and money in education and training. Society rewards this by bestowing high levels of prestige to doctors, as well as high incomes. However, class inequality is only functional as long as it is sustainable. When the working classes decide that society is not functioning well for them, they might seek social change through actions such as protests and strikes. Functionalists look at how these acts contribute to balance in a society. Symbolic interactionism strives to understand macro-level patterns (patterns found in a whole society) by examining microinteractions (interactions between individuals). An approach using symbolic interactionism tries to make connections between micro-level interactions and how they can help explain macro-level patterns. Using this lens, social class and social inequality are seen as factors in how people understand themselves and present themselves to others. For example, sociologists using symbolic interactionism note how individual social interactions, such as those between supervisors and employees, are shaped by people’s understanding of social class in their society. A symbolic interactionist approach might consider how body language, greetings, personal space, use of slang, and eye contact are connected to class. Consider the social behavior of workers in a high-end restaurant. They may use more formal patterns of speech with customers and restaurant managers than with other workers. This behavior can be understood as a reflection of how the restaurant workers understand their social position as well as an indication of class divisions of the overall society.

Q.3   Explain in detail the models of cooperative learning. How does cooperative learning helpful for developing critical thinking among students?

Cooperative teaching and learning has been a popular area in educational circles for more
than a decade. This area gained its strength with the emergence of two major schools of thought one is “Constructivism and the other is “Connectivism”. Researchers and practitioners have found
that students working in small cooperative groups can develop the type of intellect ual exchange that fosters critical and creative thinkin•p, and productive problem solving. Cooperative teaching is a successful strateqv in which small teams, each Student.s have always congregated together to perform  and learn. Rat there is a growing recognition that combined with whole group instruction and individual learning, cooperative learning should be a customary part of the classroom instruction. Student communication makes cooperative learning meaningful. To accomplish their group’s task, students must exchange ideas, make plans, and propose solutions. Thinking through an idea and presenting it collectively can be very helpful and understood by others in a better way. Such interaction promotes intellectual growth.
The exchange of different ideas and viewpoints can enhance the growth and inspire broader thinking. It is the teacher’s job to persuade such exchanges and organize the students’ work so their communication is on-task and creative. In addition to academic growth, cooperative learning helps in students’ social development.
Students’ lives are full of interactions with friends and family members and their futures
will find them in jobs that require cooperation. The skills that are essential for productive
group work in the classroom are relevant for today and the future. Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small groups, with students of different ability levels, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding. Each member of a team feels responsible
for learning what is being taught and also for helping group fellows thus creating an atmosphere of achievement.
Cooperative classroom activities result in students striving for mutual uplift so that all group members:

1. · benefit from each other’s efforts.
2. · recognize that all group members share a common goal.
3. · realize that one’s performance is mutually caused by oneself and one’s team members.
4. · jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement.

Relative to .students taught individually; cooperatively taught students to show higher academic achievement, determination, better high-level reasoning lower anxiety and stress, greatest motivation, grgater ability to view .

CRITICAL QUESTION-ANSWE R FORUMS

Articles on the subject of classroom questioning often begin by invoking Socrates. Researchers and other writers concerned with questioning techniques seem to want to ‘‘ remind us that questioning has a long and venerable history as an educational strategy.
And indeed, the Socratic method of questions and answers to challenge assumptions, expose contradictions, and lead to new knowledge and wisdom is an undeniably powerful teaching approach.
In addition to its long history and demonstrated effectiveness, questioning is also of interest to researchers and practitioners because of its widespread use as a contemporary teaching technique. Research indicates that questioning is second only to lecturing in popularity as a teaching method and that classroom teachers spend anywhere from thirty- five to fifty percent of their instructional time conducting questioning sessions.
A question is any sentence which has an interrogative form or function. In classroom settings, teacher questions are defined as instructional cues or stimuli that convey to students the content elements to be learned and directions for what they are to do and how they are to do it.
The present review focuses on the relationship between teachers’ classroom questioning behaviors and a variety of student outcomes, including achievement, retention, and level of student participation.
This means that certain other subtopics within the general area of questioning are excluded from the present analysis. It does not deal, for example, with the effects of textual questions or test questions, and it is only incidentally concerned with methods used to impart study skills, including questioning strategies, to students. Questioning plays a critical role in the way instructors structure the class environment, organize the content of the course and has deep implications in the way that students assimilate the information that is presented and discussed in class. Given that questioning can be a tremendously effective way to teach, and recognizing that teachers are willing to engage in the process of asking questions while instructing.
Numerous researches indicate that teachers largely have been asking the wrong questions.
The focus has been primarily on questions regarding the specific information students
In such an investigation
l) one asks questions to identify the reason or reasons for the investigation
2. questions are asked to direct been discovered the search for information and to synthesize what has
3. The conclusions resulting from investigations are evaluated vs questions.

Q.4   How can a happy, pleasant and contented reflect on his/her students? Discuss in a group and present your critical analysis.

Formative evaluations are most effective when they are done frequently and the information is used to effect immediate adjustments in the day-to-day operations of the course.

• provide day-to-day feedback that can be applied immediately;
• provide useful information about what students have learned without the amount of time required for preparing tests, reading papers, etc.; allow you to address student misconceptions or lack of understanding in a timely way;
• help to foster good working relationships with students and encourage them to understand that teaching and learning are on-going processes that require full participation.

• help develop self-assessment and learning management skills;
• reduce feelings of isolation, especially in large classes;
• increase understanding and ability to think critically about the course content;
• foster an attitude that values understanding and long-term retention;
• show your interest and support of their success in your classroom.

• Course-related knowledge and skills
• student attitudes, values, and self-awareness
• Reactions to instruction methods

Following is a chart that indicates what the CAT is intended to evaluate, its name, how each is conducted, what to do with the information you collect, and an estimate of how much time is required to complete it.

1. Techniques for Assessing Course-Related Knowledge & Skills
2. Assessing Prior Knowledge, Recall, and Understanding

The CATs in this group focus on assessing declarative learning – the content of a particular subject.

Background Knowledge Probe:  Short, simple questionnaires prepared by instructors for use at the beginning of a course or at the start of new units or topics; can serve as a pretest

Focused Listing:  Focuses students’ attention on a single important term, name, or concept from a lesson or class session and directs students to list ideas related to the “focus”

Misconception/Preconception Check:  Intended to uncover prior knowledge or beliefs that may hinder or block new learning; can be designed to uncover incorrect or incomplete knowledge, attitudes, or values

Empty Outlines:  In a limited amount of time students complete an empty or partially completed outline of an in-class presentation or homework assignment

Memory Matrix:  Students complete a table about course content in which row and column headings are complete but cells are empty

Minute Paper: The most frequently used CAT; students answer 2 questions (What was the most important thing you learned during this class? What important question remains unanswered?)

Muddiest Point:  Considered by many as the simplest CAT; students respond to the question “What was the most unclear or confusing point in (lecture, homework, discussion)?”

1. Assessing Skill in Analysis and Critical Thinking

The CATs in this group focus on analysis—the breaking down of information, questions, or problems to facilitate understanding and problem solving.

Categorizing Grid:  Student complete a grid containing 2 or 3 overarching concepts and a variety of related subordinate elements associated with the larger concepts

Defining Features Matrix:  Students categorize concepts according to the presence or absence of important defining features

Pro and Con Grid:  Students list pros/cons, costs/benefits, advantages/disadvantages of an issue, question, or value of competing claims

Content, Form, and Function Outlines:  In an outline form, students analyze the “what” (content), “how” (form), and “why” (function) of a particular message (e.g. poem, newspaper story, critical essay); also called “What, How, & Why Outlines

Analytic Memos:  Students write a one- or two-page analysis of a specific problem or issue to help inform a decision-maker

1. Assessing Skill in Synthesis and Creative Thinking

The CATs in this group focus on synthesis — stimulating the student to create and allowing the faculty to assess original intellectual products that result from a synthesis of course content and the students’ intelligence, judgment, knowledge, and skills.

One-Sentence Summary:  Students answer the questions “Who does what to whom, when, where, how, and why?” (WDWWWWHW) about a given topic and then create a single informative, grammatical, and long summary sentence

Word Journal:  Involves a 2 part response; 1st the student summarizes a short text in a single word and 2nd the student writes 1-2 paragraphs explaining the word choice

Approximate Analogies:  Students simply complete the 2nd half of an analogy—a is to b as
? is to ?; described as approximate because the rigor of formal logic is not required

Concept Maps:  Students draw or diagram the mental connections they make between a major concept and other concepts they have learned

Invented Dialogues:  Students synthesize their knowledge of issues, personalities, and historical periods into the form of a carefully structured illustrative conversation; students can select and weave quotes from primary sources or invent reasonable quotes that fit characters and context

Annotated Portfolios:  Students assemble a very limited number of examples of creative work and supplement them with their own commentary on the significance of examples

1. Assessing Skill in Problem Solving

The CATs in this group focus on problem solving skills — recognizing different types of problems, determining the principles and techniques to solve them, perceiving similarities of problem features, and being able to reflect and then alter solution strategies.

Problem Recognition Tasks:  Students recognize and identify particular problem types

What’s the Principle?:  Students identify the principle or principles to solve problems of various types

Documented Problem Solutions:  Students track in a written format the steps they take to solve problems as if for a “show & tell”

Audio- and Videotaped Protocols:  Students work through a problem solving process and it is captured to allow instructors to assess metacognition (learner’s awareness of and control of thinking)

1. Assessing Skill in Application and Performance

The CATs in this group focus on students’ application of conditional knowledge – knowing when and where to apply what they know and can do.

Directed Paraphrasing:  Students paraphrase part of a lesson for a specific audience demonstrating ability to translate highly specialized information into language the clients or customers can understand

Application Cards:  Students generate examples of real-world applications for important principles, generalizations, theories, or procedures

Student-Generated Test Questions:  Students generate test questions and model answers for critical areas of learning

Human Tableau or Class Modeling:  Students transform and apply their learning into doing by physically modeling a process or representing an image.

Paper or Project Prospectus:  Students create a brief plan for a paper or project based on your guiding questions
II. Techniques for Assessing Learner Attitudes, Values, and Self-Awareness
A. Assessing Students’ Awareness of Their Attitudes and Values
The CATs in this group are designed to assist instructors in developing students’ attitudes, opinions, values, and self-awareness within the course curriculum.

28. Classroom Opinion Polls: Students indicate degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement or prompt
    29. Double-entry Journals: Students record and respond to significant passages of text
29. Profiles of Admiral Individuals: Students write a brief description of the characteristics of a person they admire in a field related to the course
30. Everyday Ethical Dilemma: Students respond to a case study that poses a discipline-related ethical dilemma
31. Course-related Self-Confidence Surveys: Students complete an anonymous survey indicating their level of confidence in mastering the course material
32. Assessing Students’ Self-Awareness as Learners

The CATs in this group help students articulate their goals and self-concepts in order to make connections between their goals and those of the course.

33. Focused Autobiographical Sketches: Students write a brief description of a successful learning experience they had relevant to the course material
34. Interest/Knowledge/Skills Checklists: Students complete a checklist survey to indicate their knowledge, skills and interest in various course topics
35. Goal Ranking and Matching: Students list and prioritize 3 to 5 goals they have for their own learning in the course
36. Self-Assessment Ways of Learning: Students compare themselves with several different “learning styles” profiles to find the most likely match
37. Assessing Course-Related Learning and Study Skills, Strategies, and Behaviors

The CATs in this group assist students in focusing attention on the behaviors they engage in when trying to learn.

37. Productive Study-Time Logs: Students complete a study log to record the quantity and quality of time spent studying for a specific course
38. Punctuated Lectures: Students briefly reflect then create a written record of their listening level of a lecture. Repeat twice in the same lecture and 2- 3 times over 2 to 3 weeks
39. Process Analysis: Students outline the process they take in completing a specified assignment
40. Diagnostic Learning Logs: Students write to learn by identifying, diagnosing, and prescribing solutions to their own learning problems

III. Techniques for Assessing Learner Reactions to Instruction

1. Assessing Learner Reactions to Teachers and Teaching

The CATS in this group are designed to provide context-specific feedback that can improve teaching within a course.

41. Chain Notes: On an index card that is distributed in advance, each student responds to an open-ended prompt about his or her mental activity that is answered in less than a minute
42. Electronic Survey Feedback:  Students respond to a question or short series of questions about the effectiveness of the course.
43. Teacher-designed Feedback Forms:  Students respond to specific questions through a focused feedback form about the effectiveness of a particular class session
44. Group Instructional Feedback Technique: Students respond to three questions related to their learning in the course (basically, what works, what doesn’t, and how can it be improved)
45. Classroom Assessment Quality Circles: A group or groups of students provide the instructor with ongoing assessment of the course through structured interactions
46. Assessing Learner Reactions to Class Activities, Assignments, and Materials

The CATS in this group are designed to provide instructors with information that will help them improve their course materials and assignments.

46. RSQC2 (Recall, Summarize, Question, Connect and Comment): Students write brief statements that recall, summarize, question, connect and comment on meaningful points from previous class
47. Group-Work Evaluation: Students complete a brief survey about how their group is functioning and make suggestions for improving the group process
48. Reading Rating Sheets: Students complete a form that rates the effectiveness of the assigned readings
    49. Assignment Assessments: Students respond to 2 or 3 open-ended questions about the value of an assignment to their learning
49. Exam Evaluations: Students provide feedback about an exam’s learning value and/or format

Q.5   Explain in detail David Kolb’s experimental cycle.

David Kolb published his learning styles model in 1984 from which he developed his learning style inventory.

Kolb’s experiential learning theory works on two levels: a four-stage cycle of learning and four separate learning styles.  Much of Kolb’s theory is concerned with the learner’s internal cognitive processes.

Kolb states that learning involves the acquisition of abstract concepts that can be applied flexibly in a range of situations.  In Kolb’s theory, the impetus for the development of new concepts is provided by new experiences.

“Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”.

Kolb’s experiential learning style theory is typically represented by a four-stage learning cycle in which the learner ‘touches all the bases’:

1. Concrete Experience– the learner encounters a concrete experience. This might be a new experience or situation, or a reinterpretation of existing experience in the light of new concepts.
2. Reflective Observation of the New Experience– the learner reflects on the new experience in the light of their existing knowledge. Of particular importance are any inconsistencies between experience and understanding.
3. Abstract Conceptualization– reflection gives rise to a new idea, or a modification of an existing abstract concept (the person has learned from their experience).
4. Active Experimentation– the newly created or modified concepts give rise to experimentation. The learner applies their idea(s) to the world around them to see what happens.

Effective learning is seen when a person progresses through a cycle of four stages: of (1) having a concrete experience followed by (2) observation of and reflection on that experience which leads to (3) the formation of abstract concepts (analysis) and generalizations (conclusions) which are then (4) used to test a hypothesis in future situations, resulting in new experiences.

Kolb (1984) views learning as an integrated process with each stage being mutually supportive of and feeding into the next. It is possible to enter the cycle at any stage and follow it through its logical sequence.

However, effective learning only occurs when a learner can execute all four stages of the model. Therefore, no one stage of the cycle is effective as a learning procedure on its own.

The process of going through the cycle results in the formation of increasingly complex and abstract ‘mental models’ of whatever the learner is learning about.

Learning Styles

Kolb’s learning theory (1984) sets out four distinct learning styles, which are based on a four-stage learning cycle (see above). Kolb explains that different people naturally prefer a certain single different learning style.

Various factors influence a person’s preferred style.  For example, social environment, educational experiences, or the basic cognitive structure of the individual.

Whatever influences the choice of style, the learning style preference itself is actually the product of two pairs of variables, or two separate ‘choices’ that we make, which Kolb presented as lines of an axis, each with ‘conflicting’ modes at either end.

A typical presentation of Kolb’s two continuums is that the east-west axis is called the Processing Continuum (how we approach a task), and the north-south axis is called the Perception Continuum (our emotional response, or how we think or feel about it).

Kolb believed that we cannot perform both variables on a single axis at the same time (e.g., think and feel). Our learning style is a product of these two choice decisions.

It’s often easier to see the construction of Kolb’s learning styles in terms of a two-by-two matrix. Each learning style represents a combination of two preferred styles.

The matrix also highlights Kolb’s terminology for the four learning styles; diverging, assimilating, and converging, accommodating:

	Active Experimentation (Doing)	Reflective Observation (Watching)
Concrete Experience (Feeling)	Accommodating (CE/AE)	Diverging (CE/RO)
Abstract Conceptualization (Thinking)	Converging (AC/AE)	Assimilating (AC/RO)

Learning Styles Descriptions

Knowing a person’s (and your own) learning style enables learning to be orientated according to the preferred method.

That said, everyone responds to and needs the stimulus of all types of learning styles to one extent or another – it’s a matter of using emphasis that fits best with the given situation and a person’s learning style preferences.

Here are brief descriptions of the four Kolb learning styles:

Diverging

These people are able to look at things from different perspectives. They are sensitive. They prefer to watch rather than do, tending to gather information and use imagination to solve problems. They are best at viewing concrete situations from several different viewpoints.

Kolb called this style ‘diverging’ because these people perform better in situations that require ideas-generation, for example, brainstorming. People with a diverging learning style have broad cultural interests and like to gather information.

They are interested in people, tend to be imaginative and emotional, and tend to be strong in the arts. People with the diverging style prefer to work in groups, to listen with an open mind and to receive personal feedback.

Assimilating

The assimilating learning preference involves a concise, logical approach. Ideas and concepts are more important than people.

These people require good clear explanation rather than a practical opportunity. They excel at understanding wide-ranging information and organizing it in a clear, logical format.

People with an assimilating learning style are less focused on people and more interested in ideas and abstract concepts.  People with this style are more attracted to logically sound theories than approaches based on practical value.

This learning style is important for effectiveness in information and science careers. In formal learning situations, people with this style prefer readings, lectures, exploring analytical models, and having time to think things through.

Converging

People with a converging learning style can solve problems and will use their learning to find solutions to practical issues. They prefer technical tasks, and are less concerned with people and interpersonal aspects.

People with a converging learning style are best at finding practical uses for ideas and theories. They can solve problems and make decisions by finding solutions to questions and problems.

People with a converging learning style are more attracted to technical tasks and problems than social or interpersonal issues. A converging learning style enables specialist and technology abilities.

People with a converging style like to experiment with new ideas, to simulate, and to work with practical applications.

Accommodating

The Accommodating learning style is ‘hands-on,’ and relies on intuition rather than logic. These people use other people’s analysis, and prefer to take a practical, experiential approach. They are attracted to new challenges and experiences, and to carrying out plans.

They commonly act on ‘gut’ instinct rather than logical analysis. People with an accommodating learning style will tend to rely on others for information than carry out their own analysis. This learning style is prevalent within the general population.

Educational Implications

Both Kolb’s (1984) learning stages and cycle could be used by teachers to critically evaluate the learning provision typically available to students, and to develop more appropriate learning opportunities.

Educators should ensure that activities are designed and carried out in ways that offer each learner the chance to engage in the manner that suits them best.

Also, individuals can be helped to learn more effectively by the identification of their lesser preferred learning styles and the strengthening of these through the application of the experiential learning cycle.

Ideally, activities and material should be developed in ways that draw on abilities from each stage of the experiential learning cycle and take the students through the whole process in sequence.

McLeod, S. A. (2017, October 24). Kolb – learning styles and experiential learning cycle. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html

APA Style References

Kolb, D. A. (1976). The Learning Style Inventory: Technical Manual. Boston, MA: McBer.

Kolb, D.A. (1981). Learning styles and disciplinary differences, in: A.W. Chickering (Ed.) The Modern American College (pp. 232–255). San Francisco, LA: Jossey-Bass.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kolb, D. A., & Fry, R. (1975). Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. In C. Cooper (Ed.), Studies of group process (pp. 33–57). New York: Wiley.

Kolb, D. A., Rubin, I. M., & McIntyre, J. M. (1984). Organizational psychology: readings on human behavior in organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

                 

Course: Critical Thinking and reflective practices (8611)

Semester: Spring, 2022

ASSIGNMENT No. 1

Q.1   How can a teacher serve as a critical thinker? How can a teacher’s critical thinking helpful to improve teaching and learning process?

All contemporary political communication is in a specific way critical because it consists of speech acts that normally question political opinions and practices of certain actors. Modern politics is a highly competitive system, in which elections and warfare are ways of distributing and redistributing power. Tis understanding of critique stands in the tradition of Kantian enlightenment that considered the Enlightenment as an age of criticism. In contrast to Kant’s general understanding of critique, Karl Marx and the Marxian tradition understands the categorical imperative as the need to overcome all forms of slavery and degradation and to unmask alienation. Tis school of thought points out a more specific understanding of being critical, namely the questioning of power, domination, and exploitation, the political demand and struggle for a just society. Critical theory is understood as a critique of society. Scholars in the Marxian inspired tradition employ the term “critical” to stress that not all science is critical, but that a lot of it has a more administrative character that takes power structures for granted, does not question them, or helps to legitimate them.

Some define critical theory as the Frankfurt School’s works, a tradition of critical thinking that originated with the works of scholars like Herbert Marcuse, Max Horkheimer, and andTeodorW. Adorn. Herbert Marcuse was a philosopher, born in Germany in 1898, who fled Nazi Germany to the United States in 1934, where he spent the rest of his life. Max Horkheimer was director of the University of Frankfurt’s Institute for Social Research in the years 1930–1959.Tis institute was the home of what came to be known as the Frankfurt School. Teodor W. Adorn was one of the Institute’s directors from 1953 until his death in 1969. Horkheimer and Adorno also emigrated, together with the Institute, to the United States, but unlike Marcuse they returned to Germany after the end of World War II. Critical Theory’s starting point is the work of Karl Marx.

Jürgen Huberman (1984, 1987) built his approach on the classical Frankfurt School and at the same time worked out the concept of communicative rationality, by which he went beyond the classical tradition. He distinguishes between instrumental (nonsocial, success-oriented), strategic (social, success-oriented), and communicative action (social, oriented on understanding). For Huberman (1987, p. 375), critical theory questions that so-called steering media (money, power) attack “the communicative infrastructure of largely rationalized life worlds.” (Huberman speaks of money and power as “steering media” because he argues that these are structures that elites use for trying to control and dominate society.) He conceives instrumental action and communicative action as the two fundamental aspects of social praxis. What he wants to express is that the human being is both a laboring and a communicating being. In a way, Huberman retains the classical Marxist distinction between base and superstructure, but inverts it by putting the stress on communication. Doubts arise if labor can be so strictly separated from communication in a dualistic way. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen a rising importance of communicative and cultural work in the economy. But if such activity takes on value-generating form, then culture and communication must be part of the economy themselves, base and superstructure become integrated, and labor and communication cannot be separated. Communication is one of the crucial foundations of the economy: The latter is not just a system of the production of use-values, and in class societies of exchange values. It is also a social system because production in any society takes on complex forms beyond individual self-sustenance. The only way for organizing the relational dimension of the economy is via communication, in the form of symbolic interaction and/or anonymous forms of indirect communication (as for example via money, markets, the price system, etc.). Human thought is a precondition for human communication and existence. When humans produce in the economy, they do so with a purpose in mind, which means that they anticipate the form of the object and how it will be put to use. Te economic existence of man requires anticipative thinking just like it requires communication. It is in these two specifc senses— the importance of communication and thought— that the economy is always and fundamentally cultural. Capitalism has had a history of the commodification of culture and communication, especially since the 20th century. Tis is not to say that culture and communication necessarily take on the form of a commodity, but that in capitalism they frequently do so in the form of content commodities, audience commodities, and cultural labor power as commodity. In this sense culture has been economized, or, to be more precise commoditized, that is, put under the influence of the commodity logic. Communication is certainly an important aspect of a domination-free society. Under capitalism, it is however also a form of interaction, in which ideology is with the help of the mass media made available to the dominated groups. Communication is not automatically progressive. For Huberman, the differentiation is between instrumental/strategic reason and communicative reason, whereas for Horkheimer the distinction is between instrumental reason and critical reason and, based on that, between traditional and critical theory. Huberman splits of communication from instrumentality and thereby neglects to understand that in capitalism the dominant system uses communication just like technology, the media, ideology, or labor as an instrument to defend its rule. Structures of domination do not leave communication untouched and pure, they are rather antagonistically entangled with communication. Hagerman’s stress on communication is not immune against misuse for instrumental purposes. The concept of communication can be critical, but is not necessarily critical, whereas the concept of a critique of domination is necessarily critical.

Te six dimensions of a critical theory of society can also be found in Karl Marx’s works. Tis circumstance shows the importance of his thought for any critical theory. Critical theory uses dialectical reasoning as method of analysis: The dialectical method identifies contradictions. Contradictions are the basic building blocks of all dialectics. Dialectics tries to show that and how contemporary society and its moments are shaped by contradictions. Contradictions result in the circumstance that society is dynamic and that capitalism assures the continuity of domination and exploitation by changing the way these phenomena are organized. In a contradiction, one pole of the dialectic can only exist by the way of the opposed pole, they require and exclude each other at the same time. In a dominative society (such as capitalism), contradictions cause problems and are to a certain extent also the seeds for overcoming these problems. They have positive potentials and negative realities at the same time. Marx analyzed capitalism’s contradictions, for example: the contradictions between no owners/owners, the poor/the rich, misery/wealth, workers/capitalists, use value/exchange value, concrete labor/abstract labor, the simple form of value/the relative and expanded form of value, social relations of humans/relations of things, the fetish of commodities and money/fetishistic thinking, the circulation of commodities/the circulation of money, commodities/money, labor power/wages, subject/object, labor process/valorization process, subject of labor (labor power, worker)/the means of production (object), variable capital/constant capital, surplus labor/surplus product, necessary labor time/surplus labor time, single worker/cooperation, single company/industry sector, single capital/competing capitals, production/consumption, productive forces/relations of production.

Critical theory is connected to struggles for a just and fair society, it is an intellectual dimension of struggles: Critical theory provides a self-understanding of a society’s self-understanding, struggles, and wishes. It can “show the world why it actually struggles” and is “taking sides […] with actual struggles” (Marx, 1997, p. 214). Tis means that critical theory can help to explain the causes, conditions, potentials, and limits of struggles. Critical theory rejects the argument that academia and science should and can be value-free. It rather argues that all thought and theories are shaped by political worldviews. Te reasons why a person is interested in a certain topic, aligns himself/herself with a certain school of thought, develops a particular theory and not another one, refers to certain authors and not others, are deeply political because modern society is shaped by conficts of interests and therefore, for surviving and asserting themselves, scholars have to make choices, enter strategic alliances, and defend their positions against others. In confict-based and antagonistic societies, academic writing and speaking, scholarship and science are therefore always forms of political communication: Tey are not just discovery, knowledge construction, or invention, but besides knowledge creation also a production and communication of knowledge about knowledge— the political standpoints of the scholars themselves. Critical theory holds not only that theory is always political, but also that it should develop analyses of society and concepts that assist struggle against interests and ideas that justify domination and exploitation.                                                            

Q.2   Discuss in detail factors affecting social exclusion.

Two German theorists, Karl Marx (1818–83) and Max Weber (1864–1920), influenced the field of sociology, particularly in terms of theories of social class. Both of these theorists wrote extensively on issues of social class and social inequality, or the unequal status and access to opportunities that different groups have within a society. Sociologists continue to use and respond to ideas that Marx and Weber developed.

Marxism, Conflict Theory, and Social Class

Marx defined class as a group of people who have the same relationship to the means of production—the facilities and resources for producing goods—such as tools, machines, and factories. Marx wrote extensively of the relationship between the privileged classes—the “haves,” or the bourgeoisie—and the oppressed classes—the “have nots,” or the proletariat. The bourgeoisie is a class that owns property, including owning and controlling the means of production. The proletariat is the working class, who own only their own labor. Members of the proletariat are forced to sell their labor because they have no control over the means of production. Marx argued that this relationship is exploitive of the working class because the surplus value derived from work is unfairly appropriated by the bourgeoisie. In Marx’s view, the economic system of capitalism automatically creates social stratification, or class differences, in which members of different classes are in an adversarial relationship. Sociologists incorporate Marx’s ideas in an approach known as conflict theory. Conflict theorists suggest that social inequality creates intergroup conflict—such as the rich versus the poor—and that the different interests will cause them to be at odds as they attempt to secure their interests.

Marxist theory continues to be important in sociology, but many sociologists have expanded upon Marx’s ideas in order to apply them to postindustrial, postmodern societies of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. American sociologist Erik Olin Wright (b. 1947) elaborates on Marx’s model of class structure. While Marx analyzed society in terms of two major classes, Wright identifies four classes in the United States: capitalist, managerial, small business, and working class. He argues that power is connected to the control of the means of production but also control over work processes and other workers. Wright’s model is less polarized than Marx’s but remains focused on questions of which groups dominate a society and which groups are oppressed. He looks at why some workers might behave or think more like capitalists (the bourgeoisie) and notes how people can belong to more than one class. His term contradictory class locations describes how people can occupy more than one class position, based on what type of control they exercise. For example, an executive assistant at a large corporation has a relatively high level of control compared to other administrative workers but is also under the control of a more powerful CEO. The executive assistant may identify more closely with the upper-class managers at the company, although outside of work the executive assistant has less social and economic power than managers do. Wright proposes a larger definition of the working class than Marx did, including those in occupations that involve what he terms “mental labor” but who do not receive high salaries, such as clerical workers. He analyzes modern types of work, arguing that levels of control tied to various occupations are crucial markers of class in contemporary society. For instance, master electricians and architects who work at small firms may have similar levels of income, but they hold different social positions. Their occupations grant them different levels of control. Like Marx, Wright is concerned with dismantling systems that oppress the working class. However, he argues that “taming and eroding capitalism are the only viable options.” Whereas Marx envisioned the end of capitalism, Wright considers how the working class might impose reforms on oppressive state and capitalist structures.

Weber and Social Class

Weber agreed with Marx that economic markers are important, but he advanced the idea that other factors, such as education and occupational prestige, determine class hierarchies. Weber described class structure as being based on three major factors: wealth (income and assets), prestige (status position), and power (ability to achieve goals). Weber saw ownership of the means of production, including companies, as important, but he also noted that holding a high position within a company or profession is also a means to acquire social and economic power. For example, a high-level manager in a corporation does not own the business but does benefit from the profits that the business generates. Owning property grants economic power, but it also grants higher levels of prestige. Someone who owns land, for example, has social prestige. Weber pointed out that prestige can also be gained in other ways that do not involve ownership of property or the means of production. Gifted athletes or intellectuals can acquire prestige without owning the sports teams or universities that frame their work. Both wealth and prestige can give individuals greater power in society. Weber saw wealth, power, and prestige as intertwined elements of social class. Weber’s multidimensional work led sociologists to use socioeconomic status to understand class.

Influenced by Weber’s theory of class, American sociologist Dennis Gilbert (b. 1943) described six separate classes in the United States: the capitalist class, upper-middle class, middle class, working class, working poor, and underclass. The capitalist class is defined as the most elite and powerful group. As the richest one percent of the population, they own most of the wealth in a society, including the vast majority of stocks and bonds. Their large investments have an impact on the rest of society, because their investment choices can have a significant impact on the overall economy. They mostly interact with one another, remaining separated from the other classes. The upper-middle class is relatively wealthy and is characterized by high levels of formal education—a minimum of a college degree and usually a graduate degree. Members of the upper-middle class work in white-collar, fairly high-income professions. They may often purchase status symbols, including expensive homes and vehicles that serve to identify their class status. The lower-middle class is composed of people who earn enough to afford basic expenses. They generally have at least a high school education and often some education beyond high school including specialized training, some college, or a college degree. They typically work in semiskilled professions, for instance as flight attendants or security guards. The working class has relatively low levels of income and is employed in factories or in low-paid white-collar professions such as retail sales workers. Members of the working class sometimes qualify for public assistance programs, such as free or reduced lunch for children at school. The working poor are people whose incomes are minimal and often not enough to pay basic living expenses. They often work in service jobs, which include occupations such as food preparation workers, house cleaners, or lawn and garden maintenance workers. Most members of the working poor do not hold high school diplomas. They may qualify for public assistance, such as housing and food assistance programs. The underclass is a social group composed of individuals stuck in poverty because of high unemployment, low education, or other forms of marginalization such as homelessness. Multigenerational poverty, or poverty that lasts across several generations in a family, is also a characteristic of the underclass. Occupations that involve stigma can also place people in the underclass. For example, impoverished sex workers are part of the underclass, both because of poverty and because sex workers are marginalized by society. Gilbert’s model of six social classes provides a framework for discussing social stratification in more precise terms, acknowledging that the lived experiences of members of these groups can be quite different, although there is some overlap between groups.

Gilbert’s Model of Social Class in the United States
Capitalist class	Elite, powerful; richest one percent
Upper-middle class	Relatively wealthy; highly educated, work in white-collar professions
Lower-middle class	Can afford basic expenses; work in semi-skilled professions
Working class	Relatively low income; sometimes qualify for assistance programs
Working poor	Not always able to afford basic expenses; work in service professions
Underclass	Marginalized members of society; stuck in chronic poverty

Functionalism and Symbolic Interactionism

Functionalist and symbolic interactionist theories of social class focus on the social functions of class and stratification, or on class as a factor in social identity.

In addition to conflict theory, two other influential schools of thought in sociology are functionalism and symbolic interactionism. Functionalists think of society as composed of many parts that work together as a whole to maintain stability. A functionalist approach to social class might analyze the roles that class structure and social stratification play in society as a whole. From a functionalist viewpoint, stratification works to ensure productivity and efficiency, and to ensure that all types of necessary work get done. Thus a functionalist argument is that social stratification is both necessary and inevitable. Functionalists point out that some jobs require more skill or training or are more important. Few people have the ability to become highly skilled and do these important jobs. Furthermore, people have to make sacrifices, in terms of time, effort, and money, to obtain the education, training, and experience to do these jobs. The functionalist view is that society attaches significant rewards in the form of prestige and income to ensure that these important jobs are filled. Doctors, for example, fulfill an important role in society. To become a doctor, a person must invest a great deal of time, effort, and money in education and training. Society rewards this by bestowing high levels of prestige to doctors, as well as high incomes. However, class inequality is only functional as long as it is sustainable. When the working classes decide that society is not functioning well for them, they might seek social change through actions such as protests and strikes. Functionalists look at how these acts contribute to balance in a society. Symbolic interactionism strives to understand macro-level patterns (patterns found in a whole society) by examining microinteractions (interactions between individuals). An approach using symbolic interactionism tries to make connections between micro-level interactions and how they can help explain macro-level patterns. Using this lens, social class and social inequality are seen as factors in how people understand themselves and present themselves to others. For example, sociologists using symbolic interactionism note how individual social interactions, such as those between supervisors and employees, are shaped by people’s understanding of social class in their society. A symbolic interactionist approach might consider how body language, greetings, personal space, use of slang, and eye contact are connected to class. Consider the social behavior of workers in a high-end restaurant. They may use more formal patterns of speech with customers and restaurant managers than with other workers. This behavior can be understood as a reflection of how the restaurant workers understand their social position as well as an indication of class divisions of the overall society.

Q.3   Explain in detail the models of cooperative learning. How does cooperative learning helpful for developing critical thinking among students?

Cooperative teaching and learning has been a popular area in educational circles for more
than a decade. This area gained its strength with the emergence of two major schools of thought one is “Constructivism and the other is “Connectivism”. Researchers and practitioners have found
that students working in small cooperative groups can develop the type of intellect ual exchange that fosters critical and creative thinkin•p, and productive problem solving. Cooperative teaching is a successful strateqv in which small teams, each Student.s have always congregated together to perform  and learn. Rat there is a growing recognition that combined with whole group instruction and individual learning, cooperative learning should be a customary part of the classroom instruction. Student communication makes cooperative learning meaningful. To accomplish their group’s task, students must exchange ideas, make plans, and propose solutions. Thinking through an idea and presenting it collectively can be very helpful and understood by others in a better way. Such interaction promotes intellectual growth.
The exchange of different ideas and viewpoints can enhance the growth and inspire broader thinking. It is the teacher’s job to persuade such exchanges and organize the students’ work so their communication is on-task and creative. In addition to academic growth, cooperative learning helps in students’ social development.
Students’ lives are full of interactions with friends and family members and their futures
will find them in jobs that require cooperation. The skills that are essential for productive
group work in the classroom are relevant for today and the future. Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small groups, with students of different ability levels, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding. Each member of a team feels responsible
for learning what is being taught and also for helping group fellows thus creating an atmosphere of achievement.
Cooperative classroom activities result in students striving for mutual uplift so that all group members: