Tidigare forskning visar att om lärare utformar NO-lektioner med inslag av kritiskt tänkande, skapar elever ett större positivt intresse till undervisningen och attityderna förändras till dess innehåll. Syftet med studien är att ta reda på hur NO-lärare arbetar med att utveckla elevers kritiska tänkande samt om de kan använda färdigt material. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med sex olika mellanstadielärare och det visade sig att lärarna använder tre strategier för att nå dit, vilka är repetition, progression i olika NTA- laborationer samt skriva kritiska frågor och arbeta utefter EP A-modellen. Studien visar att de intervjuade lärarna anser att det är viktigt att utveckla elevers kritiska förmågor och lärarna arbetar aktivt med detta på lektionerna. Avslutningsvis framhåller studien att lärarna aktivt behöver arbeta med elevers kritiska tänkande och med NTA-materialet, samt att Concept Cartoons hjälper läraren i denna process. / Previous research shows that if teachers design their science classes with elements of critical thinking, pupils’ create a greater positive interest in the teaching and attitudes change towards its content. The purpose of this study is to find out how science teachers work to develop pupils' critical thinking and whether they can use ready-made material. Semi- structured interviews have been conducted with six different middle school teachers and it turned out that the teachers use three strategies to get there, which is repetition, progression in different NTA laboration and writing critical questions and working according to the Think- Pair-Share model. The study shows that the interviewed teachers believe it is important to develop pupils' critical abilities and the teachers work actively with this during class. In conclusion, the study highlights that teachers need to actively work with pupils' critical thinking and the NTA-material and Concept Cartoons help the teacher in this process.

In an earlier era of instructional technology, researchers proposed a set of criteria to help practitioners understand what assumptions about their work could help them develop well-designed instruction, as well as what assumptions could lead them to develop rigid instruction that did not characterize the goals they had for their practice. They named these criteria Technology I, II, and III. Technology I presupposed that using physical hardware improved instruction. Technology II presupposed that using formulas or strategies improved instruction. Technology III was the belief that good instruction could consist of many different product or process technologies, but that technology use alone did not define good instruction. Rather, good instruction was the realization of improved systems in which learning could take place. I used a historical case study method to analyze the major themes of Technology I, II, and III, as well as reasons why some practitioners might limit themselves to only Technology I or II. My purpose was to discover how to help instructional technologists better accomplish more of the goals they want to achieve. I compared the original goals of two instructional technologies (programmed instruction and problem-based learning), along with twelve case study reports of actual practice of these technologies, against the criteria for Technology I, II, and III. I found that Technology I, II, and III can describe the goals and practices of instructional technologists. Additionally, I discovered four reasons why instructional technologists may limit themselves to Technology I or II, and therefore might not achieve all the important goals for their practice: (a) distracted focus (or compromised integrity); (b) status quo adherence; (c) solidification; and (d) deliberately chosen Technology I or II. I also discovered three methods to help instructional technologists to avoid limiting themselves and more consistently practice Technology III: (a) legitimate evaluation; (b) adopting guiding principles for practice; and (c) using opinion leaders to disseminate the value of Technology III. This study also provides recommendations to help instructional technologists use Technology III to help them better develop flexible instructional technology that better characterizes their goals for their practice.

In this paper, we looked at how media influence education and how to provide students with tools for analyzing media messages in order for them to be able to reflect on that influence and foster critical thinking. We summarized research on media literacy in English language teaching and discussed how that may increase students’ language learning and critical thinking skills. To concretize our findings we developed a lesson plan using a contemporary YouTube genre, Epic Rap Battles of History, and used that as a basis for our discussions. This resulted in a discussion on the advantages of using media literacy to teach English and practical examples of how to do this in an English 6 course. We show the importance of connecting language learning to practical application as well as providing students with opportunities to develop their analytical and critical skills.

This action research was an analysis of a group of eighth grade gifted students ‘classroom engagement in a large urban school district. Over a two-week period a variety of data were collected. Data were collected using the Student Engagement Instrument (Appleton & Christenson, 2004), which is a self-report of students’ perceptions of engagement. Observation data of student engagement were collected using a teacher developed student engagement checklist, which measured academic and behavioral indications of student engagement. At the end of the two week observation period students participated in an exit interview focused on their perceptions of student engagement. The student engagement interview was adapted from an analysis of elementary student engagement carried out by Parn (2006). The data collected were analyzed according to the academic, behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement subtypes. The findings showed that the highest levels of engagement were in the sub-types of behavioral and academic engagement. Levels of affective/psychological engagement were lower than levels of cognitive engagement. The results demonstrated that affective/psychological student engagement was positively related with cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement, and academic engagement.

The purpose of this study was primarily to explore the conceptualization of critical thinking development in radiologic science students by radiography program directors. Seven research questions framed three overriding themes including 1) perceived definition of and skills associated with critical thinking; 2) effectiveness and utilization of teaching strategies for the development of critical thinking; and 3) appropriateness and utilization of specific assessment measures for documenting critical thinking development. The population for this study included program directors for all JRCERT accredited radiography programs in the United States. Questionnaires were distributed via Survey Monkey©, a commercial on-line survey tool to 620 programs. A forty-seven percent (n = 295) response rate was achieved and included good representation from each of the three recognized program levels (AS, BS and certificate). Statistical analyses performed on the collected data included descriptive analyses (median, mean and standard deviation) to ascertain overall perceptions of the definition of critical thinking; levels of agreement regarding the effectiveness of listed teaching strategies and assessment measures; and the degree of utilization of the same teaching strategies and assessment measures. Chi squared analyses were conducted to identify differences within each of these themes between various program levels and/or between program directors with various levels of educational preparation as defined by the highest degree earned. Results showed that program directors had a broad and somewhat ambiguous perception of the definition of critical thinking, which included many related cognitive processes that were not always classified as attributes of critical thinking according to the literature, but were consistent with definitions and attributes identified as critical thinking by other allied health professions. These common attributes included creative thinking, decision making, problem solving and clinical reasoning as well as other high-order thinking activities such as reflection, judging and reasoning deductively and inductively. Statistically significant differences were identified for some items based on program level and for one item based on program director highest degree. There was general agreement regarding the appropriateness of specific teaching strategies also supported by the literature with the exception of on-line discussions and portfolios. The most highly used teaching strategies reported were not completely congruent with the literature and included traditional lectures with in-class discussions and high-order multiple choice test items. Significant differences between program levels were identified for only two items. The most highly used assessment measures included clinical competency results, employer surveys, image critique performance, specific course assignments, student surveys and ARRT exam results. Only one variable showed significant differences between programs at various academic levels.

Information fluency refers to the ability to recognize information needs and to gather, evaluate, and communicate information appropriately. In this study, I treat "information fluency" as both an overall competency and as a collection of knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to explore the specific workplace information fluency skills valued by employers of technical communicators, to find out how instructors perceive and teach these skills, and to suggest how these findings can inform our teaching practices. Within the framework of qualitative methodology, this study employs two data-collection instruments, including a content analysis of online job recruitment postings and a survey of technical communication instructors across the United States. The study discovers that when hiring technical communicators, employers require candidates to have skills in information processing, information technology, and critical thinking. Candidates must be able to identify their information needs, and must know how to use specified tools to gather, evaluate, and communicate information. It also reveals that although "information fluency" is a new terminology to a majority of instructors, the skill sets that constitute information fluency already existed in their knowledge. The study's last finding suggests that the opportunity for an internship is perceived as the most helpful in students' acquisition of information fluency skills. This dissertation concludes with a list of specific employer-valued information fluency skills, recommendations for program administrators and instructors for implementing information fluency, as well as recommendations for future researches on this subject.

Influencers has developed to be our times opinion leaders and social media has become an arena for political information and discussion. In the most recent years they’ve also become an important part of our current political parties' marketing strategies. This has opened up both great opportunities as well as challenges. Within political advertising, there’s unlike commercial advertising, no regulations regarding transparency, which means that influencers have no obligations to label their collaborations with political parties. The distinction has faded between when information is reliable facts or when it’s partial,  biased and based and someone's personal opinion. This has resulted in weakened preconditions for the public to assess and acknowledge reliable sources. The need has increased regarding media competence among citizens in terms of being able to critically review, evaluate and question all the information we encounter. Influencers that spread hidden political advertising is a relatively new phenomenon and has been described as a way for parties to buy political opinions for money, as influencers can be considered to use their trust capital to influence its audience. The experiment in this study is based on theories of credibility and critical thinking, and aims to investigate how young adults perceive political messages in collaborations with influencers depending on the degree of transparency in the media content. The same base  material will be shown in three different experimental groups, but the degree of transparency will vary. In the first experimental group it will not appear at all that it is a collaboration, in the second group it will be only say it is a collaboration and in the third group it will be clearly stated that it is a paid collaboration between a political party and an influencer and that the collaboration is a part of the political parties PR-campaign for the upcoming election. The essay's questions are: To what extent is it possible to discern a connection between the degree of transparency and the credibility of the collaboration? To what extent is it possible to discern a connection between the degree of transparency and the audience's critical thinking? And lastly to what extent does political leaning have an impact on the results of the study? The results of the study shows that an increased transparency on political social media content also increases media users' critical approach. The result of the study could not determine whether or not there is a strong correlation between transparency and the credibility of the content. The study did show strong correlations between political leaning and the answers of the respondents. / Sociala medier har blivit en arena för politisk information och influencers har fått en betydande roll som vår tids nya opinionsledare. På senare år har influencers blivit en del av de politiska partiernas marknadsföringsstrategier, vilket medfört såväl möjligheter som utmaningar. När det kommer till just politisk reklam finns det till skillnad från kommersiell reklam inga krav på transparens, vilket innebär att influencers inte behöver reklammärka samarbeten med politiska partier. Gränsen mellan fakta och åsikt, samt vad som är partisk information eller objektiv fakta är därmed inte lika självklar. Detta har resulterat i att allmänhetens möjligheter till att bedöma mediainnehållets tillförlitlighet har försämrats och förutsättningarna för pålitlig information minskat. Det har uppkommit nya behov av mediekompetens hos medborgare vad gäller att kunna kritiskt granska, värdera och ifrågasätta all den information de möts av. Att influencers sprider dold politisk reklam är ett relativt nytt fenomen och har beskrivits som ett sätt för partier att köpa politiska åsikter för pengar, då influencers kan nyttja sitt förtroendekapital för att påverka sin publik.  Experimentet i studien bygger på teorier om trovärdighet och kritiskt tänkande, och ämnar att undersöka om en ökad transparens i politiska samarbeten har en effekt på unga vuxna. Experiments material består av ett youtubeklipp där en influencer intervjuar två politiker. Ett och samma grundmaterial visas i tre olika experimentgrupper men där graden av transparens gällande samarbets innebörd varierar. I den första experimentgruppen inkluderas ingen vidare information i transparensmeddelandet. I den andra gruppen kommer transparensmeddeladet informera om att videon är ett samarbete mellan influencern och de medverkande parti-representanterna. I den tredje gruppen kommer det tydligt framgå att det är ett betalt samarbete mellan ett politiskt parti och en influencer samt att politikernas medverkan är en del i deras PR-kampanjer inför valet. Uppsatsens frågeställningar lyder: I vilken utsträckning går det att urskilja ett samband mellan grad av transparens och publikens kritiska tänkande? , I vilken utsträckning går det att urskilja ett samband mellan grad av transparens och samarbetets trovärdighet? samt i vilken utsträckning har politisk lutning en påverkan på resultatet?  Resultatet i studien visar att en ökad transparens vid politiska samarbeten underlättar för publiken att ställa sig kritisk till medieinnehållet de möter. När transparensen ökar uppvisade respondenterna en högre grad av kritiskt tänkande. Det gick dock inte att statistiskt fastställa transparensens effekt på materialets trovärdighet. Däremot gick det att urskilja ett tydligt samband mellan politisk lutning och studiens resultat.

This essay deals with the issue how to obtain a wider understanding regarding the value of critical thinking and dialogue in philosophy teaching at upper secondary school? This main question has been investigated with the guidance of Hannah Arendt. The conclusion is: Critical thinking and dialogue is a prerequisite for knowledge and knowing. The essay also deals with reasons why critical thinking and dialog no longer can be carried out in everyday schooling. The answer is that schools in Sweden slowly have been transformed into a commercial market, where customer satisfaction and the loyalty to the powers- that- be, and in many cases profitability are driving values. During the corresponding period, the teacher's practical professional skills have been degraded

Teaching critical thinking is a national education goal. The ability to think critically is considered an essential skill of nursing graduates and is a necessary component of competent nursing practice. Therefore, nursing programs must address critical thinking for accreditation. The literature reports that teachers in all areas of education are having difficulties infusing critical thinking teaching strategies into their current teaching practices and critical thinking is lacking in new nursing graduates. This research study sought to identify barriers to the implementation of critical thinking teaching strategies as perceived by nursing faculty in generic, BSN programs in Tennessee. Data were collected by a designed survey mailed to all nursing faculty in Tennessee who were currently teaching generic, BSN students. A final response rate of 72% was obtained. Based upon a comprehensive review of the literature, an instrument was constructed to elicit responses on attitudes and beliefs regarding the teaching of critical thinking and demographics of nurse educators. A pilot test was conducted for the purpose of refining the survey. Reliability of each of the eight sub-scales was tested using Cronbach's alpha with coefficients ranging from .51 to .83. The study found that students' attitudes and expectations, as perceived by these nurse educators, represented the single greatest barrier to the implementation of critical thinking teaching strategies followed by time constraints and the perceived need to teach for content coverage. Likewise, these nurse educators reported that the importance and relevance of teaching for critical thinking was the least barrier to teaching for thinking. Contrary to the literature, the results showed that these nurse educators felt confident in their abilities to teach for critical thinking but perceive a need for more education in this area. Significant differences were found among nurse educators with different levels of education (MSN, PhD, EdD) on the perceptions of barriers to teaching for critical thinking. The MSN respondents reported the highest barriers, followed by the PhD respondents and then the EdD respondents who reported the least barriers to teaching for thinking. Similarly, significant differences were found among the nurse educators based upon the educational activities engaged in for the purpose of developing skills in teaching for critical thinking. There was a consistent inverse relationship between the number of educational activities engaged in and the perceived barriers to the teaching for critical thinking; the respondents who reported the fewest activities reported the highest barriers and the respondents who reported the most educational activities had the fewest perceived barriers. The results of this study add to the body of knowledge regarding the barriers nursing faculty encounter when teaching for the promotion of students' critical thinking. The findings are useful for nursing programs when deciding how best to facilitate faculty development in this area. This study suggests that targeting students' attitudes and beliefs about new ways of teaching and learning as well as granting more time and educational opportunities for faculty to develop in this area may be the most productive ways educational administrators can support and encourage faculty to teach for critical thinking.

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