Consciously raising the questions “What do we know . . . ? How do we know…? Why do we accept or believe . . . ? What is the evidence for . . . ?” when studying some body of material or approaching a problem.
From What the Best College Teachers Do
In his chapter on what the best college teachers expect from their students, Ken Bain gives a list of ten things the best professors use to assess critical thinking.
In my introduction to literature courses this week, I will be asking them why we turn to fiction to help us understand the truth. Part of my case to them will be the fact that Christ’s parables were certainly not standard features of Judaic rabbi training. Christ made a point of telling stories that were not literally true in order to convey deeper truths about the coming kingdom of God. If we figure out why, then we will be on our way to establishing why the work we do in the literature course is important.
I might fill in the ellipses in Bain’s questions this way:
What do we know about fiction?
How do we know that fiction isn’t simply lying?
Why do we accept or believe fictional stories as a valid means of communicating truth?
What is the evidence for using fictional stories this way from scripture?