A selective compilation of 24 useful websites likely to interest a practicing teacher of thinking; it is not directed at scholar-researchers in any particular discipline. Hence, Web resources in philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science are not included. Also excluded are well-known general Internet comprehensive lists of resomces in the various disciplines and the many sites helpful to students writing researched persuasive arguments which can be found in any recent writing handbook. Included are general comprehensive resources in higher education, communication (including writing) across the curriculum, resources on teaching critical thinking, problem-based learning, and publishers specializing in critical thinking.

Among the claims made for online learning is its potential to foster critical thinking, particularly by engaging students in asynchronous discussions conducted in writing. This paper reviews and critiques these claims. It first examines the uses of writing and classroom discussion in modeling and encouraging critical thinking. It then reviews some of the arguments for the possible advantages of online interaction over face-to-face discussion. Finally, it critiques these claims by comparing the specific features, which distinguish the experience of participation in asynchronous written discussions from synchronous oraldiscussion. This comparison illuminates the role of oral discussion in modeling and developing students’ critical thinking skills and points out difficulty of doing so through asynchronous computer-mediated discussions.

Peer learning partnerships are voluntary, reciprocal helping relationships between individuals of comparable status, who share a common or closely related learning / development objective. These dyadic or small group partnerships often occur incidentally or are confused with mentoring; hence they are easily overlooked and / or misunderstood. Yet they warrant the attention of professional developers,classroom teachers, and others as an intentionallearning strategy because of their potential to foster bi-directional learning through joint reflection.Using her qualitative case study of peer learning partnerships in an innovative statewide community college faculty development initiative - the “Teaching Partners Program” - the author draws on participants’ first-hand perceptions of this alternative modality to demonstrate how it fosters reflective practice, leading to enhanced discovery and professional development. The study’s findings highlight the benefits of using peer learning partnerships to promote reflective practice, as well as barriers to utilization. Recommendations for applying this approach and for future research are provided.

Lecture was the most prevalent teaching style in the colleges and universities we attended. Hired as a lecturer by a local university, the lead author choose to approach teaching based on two principles: first to teach the way she preferred to learn, which is in groups, and second to be both a teacher and a fellow learner.Ten adult practitioners were enrolled in the graduate course Iisted as “The Trainer/Manager as Coach.” This article includes their experiences along with those of the instructor / facilitator.Critical thinking and critical self-reflection are ways to help participants explore assumptions about coaching and particularly about their roles as coaches in the workplace. Critical thinking is a means of examining assumptions by identifying patterns in ourselves and in others-patterns that influence our thinking and subsequent actions. Critical self-reflection is “challenging the vaIidity of presuppositions in prior learning” (Mezirow, 1990, p. 14). Our purpose together was to develop critical thinking skills and practice critical self-reflection as they related to coaching within our practices.Participants used time between class sessions for integration of learning and self-reflection on their own assumptive worlds. Students participated in electronic dialogue and in action research. The online dialogue provided opportunities to share experiences from our places of work. It further served as a collaborative means for building a knowledge base from onIine discussion of coaching literature.Action research is a means of studying one’s practice for the purpose of improvement. Students applied an action research model to a workplace problem that involved them in the role of coach.The results were transformational for all co-Iearners. Changes took pIace in our approaches to coaching. Changes in the focus of coaching, from focusing on the coach to focusing on the learner, are prevalent.

In this research article I reconstitute portfolio assessment of my work as a new faculty member in the form of critical reflexive dialogue. I reassemble artifacts of my works-in-process in a vocational portfolioin order to signal that quality in my work is nuanced as a calling to serve. This metaphor entails portfolio assessment that does not isolate the adult learner and worker from self-assessment and others’assessment. I structure my portfolio dialogically so that my evaluators and I can respond critically to the processes and products of my teacher, researcher, and service worker identities. My artifacts ofdialogical occasions denaturalize the feminine in work and disrupt the hierarchy of knowledge over service. I reassemble my quality moments to support my espoused theory and theory-in-use that servingothers in response-able relationship constitutes the linked resemblance of quality across the three traditional evaluative categories of teaching, research, and service.

Conducting research as a member of a cross-cultural team offers numerous methodological challenges, not the least of which is negotiating insider / outsider statuses. In reflecting upon these issues, this article draws from experiences encountered by an insider / outsider team interviewing Malaysian older adults. From gaining access to participants, to the “communal” setting of the interview, to askingmeaningful questions through translation, we experienced the slippage and fluidity, the advantages and disadvantages of being both insider and outsider. Our experiences are analyzed first through thetraditional definitions of insider and outsider, then through more contemporary critical and postmodern frameworks. From these perspectives, concepts of positionality power, and knowledge constructionare discussed for their value in mirroring the cross-cultural dimension of this research, and our insider / outsider positions within the process.

Through case studies of women from Muslim cultures, we explore the impact of cultural interaction in an adult learning program. Teaching these students has challenged our usual methods, provoking questions about our student-centered pedagogy, which values critical reflection and personal narrative. While their religion restricts women in public life, these students are educational innovators andentrepreneurs, eager to introduce more progressive practices back horne, yet as Muslims they respect their culture and do not advocate the abolition of traditional customs. We explore both the impact ofthese women on our learning community as weIl as their perception of their educational experience. Our paper raises questions about the hegemonic implications of student-centered, feminist teachingmodels that valorize voice and critical thinking. By tracing the educational experiences of these students we explore the advantages and the costs of our own pedagogy.