2006 — Fourth Annual Critical Thinking Conference

Sponsored by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth
at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan, June 7-9, 2006.
(Two days -- Wednesday noon through Friday noon)

Registration form
(Acrobat file; 1 MB)

Agenda

Comments from past participants:

Since attending the conference, I think I ask more questions and expect students to build on what they already know. I have developed better rubrics for self and peer evaluation, and I am more willing to experiment in the classroom and fail, knowing that the failure isn't failure, it is part of growing and perfecting something better.

I have implemented the Socratic questioning as well as critical reading in my classroom. Through workshop sessions, I received information on how to implement these techniques and both have been modeled to me which made it more accessible to my understanding of how to implement it in the classroom.

The miniature guide to the improvement of instruction which was distributed has been very beneficial in providing a plethora of ways to incorporate critical thinking in the classroom.

Each time I have attended I have learned new things!

The more I learn about how effective critical thinking activities are in other instructors classroom, the more interested I become.

I've been able to work with student reading ability and help choose a direction for looking at critical thinking from the perspective of our General Education program.

I've been more likely to expect more of the student. I've shifted from a "teaching centered" to a "learning centered" perspective.

Allowed me to explore a topic in a global way…created classroom participation.

Most of my critical thinking exercises have focused on individuals. I'm beginning to expand small group activities into the realm of critical thinking.

My classroom activities now exhibit more variety; they reach more students than before. I've learned the value and effectiveness of meta-thinking exercises and have incorporated a few.

The conference has opened my eyes to the importance of implementing this in our teaching.

Please click on the 2005 agenda to see details of last year's conference.