Title
Enough Is Enough: Sufficiency vs. Skeptical Materialism
Topic
Critical Thinking, Technology and Teaching, Innovative Teaching Strategies
Session Abstract
The standard of sufficiency is explored in connection with skeptical statements about UFOs and space travel by Gerald M. Nosich in his critical thinking manual, Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum. The essay evaluates Nosich's statements and then argues that the evidence for ET visitation of Earth in the work of Steven M. Greer, M.D., and his organization, The Disclosure Project, clearly meets the standard of sufficiency. To overlook such overwhelming evidence yet denigrate the conclusion to which it inevitably leads illustrates the potential for fallacies even in a critical thinking manual where they are least expected. As well as the final product generated by students, the instructor developed a formal system of evaluating student work that would protect student autonomy during the creative process. By focusing on open‐ended criteria to document progress across time and entering into neutral dialogue with each student, the evaluative process became a collaborative venture that resulted in a democratic learning environment where each student assumed responsibility for her/his own evaluation. Current frameworks of choreographic evaluation served as a model for critique, and rubrics were used to document observations of student work. Aspects of this model may be applicable to other educational contexts where self‐assessment is valued as a learning tool for developing students’ critical analysis skills.
Location
Digs 114
Start Date
21-2-2014 2:20 PM
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Enough Is Enough: Sufficiency vs. Skeptical Materialism
Digs 114
The standard of sufficiency is explored in connection with skeptical statements about UFOs and space travel by Gerald M. Nosich in his critical thinking manual, Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum. The essay evaluates Nosich's statements and then argues that the evidence for ET visitation of Earth in the work of Steven M. Greer, M.D., and his organization, The Disclosure Project, clearly meets the standard of sufficiency. To overlook such overwhelming evidence yet denigrate the conclusion to which it inevitably leads illustrates the potential for fallacies even in a critical thinking manual where they are least expected. As well as the final product generated by students, the instructor developed a formal system of evaluating student work that would protect student autonomy during the creative process. By focusing on open‐ended criteria to document progress across time and entering into neutral dialogue with each student, the evaluative process became a collaborative venture that resulted in a democratic learning environment where each student assumed responsibility for her/his own evaluation. Current frameworks of choreographic evaluation served as a model for critique, and rubrics were used to document observations of student work. Aspects of this model may be applicable to other educational contexts where self‐assessment is valued as a learning tool for developing students’ critical analysis skills.
