Thirtieth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Several experts worldwide such as: Schön, Van Dijk, Paul, Ausubel, among others, have discussed critical thinking as a fundament to comprehend cognitive processes and to characterize society’s attitude towards different ideologies. However, so far only descriptive theory about it has been settled; and there has been no approach to modeling, developing and assessing critical thinking, making it just a construct describing individual’s mind set. In response to that theoretical construction, Levels of Depth on Critical Thinking (LDCT) is a self-proposed epistemological-practical path to comprehend the intellectual progress a person might go through when performing guided reflective pedagogical mediations. This approach aims at permitting professors to understand and to employ critical thinking as a competence to be constantly developed in classes, as a transversal skill that impacts all areas of knowledge, independently of the discipline it is included into. LDCT reflects upon stages of cognitive development regarding complex thinking and divides it into four levels: Fixed one-dimensional, Fixed-multi-dimensional, Dynamic multi-dimensional and Dynamic trans-dimensional. These levels prescribe organic characteristics of critical thinking which are witnessed within the discourse of an individual; and by knowing this, professor may now have enough tools to consider critical thinking as a skill that can be controlled, constructed, and promoted inside pedagogical encounters.