Something-something-Critical-something

What kinds of digital tools promote and encourage critical thinking?
(I’m an ADST teacher, will be examining from a lens of design & problem solving).

• Scratch – online coding software, ages K – whenever.

  

  I used to work as an after school coding instructor and this was the software I used to introduce grades 4 – 7 students to coding. The platform is free to all and allows both creation and sharing of projects ranging from interactive games, adaptations of books and movies, or even lessons (such as worked examples of math questions).  Students can view other’s projects / work to get ideas for their own designs, or simply explore them for fun or learning. The critical thinking piece which I focused on when using this is from creation of projects, in whatever form that may take. The coding aspect of the platform requires students to assemble Boolean logic blocks in a logical fashion in order to create a desired effect.

  

  A simple example of moving an image towards the right could be constructed in multiple ways:

  • Use the [Move ___ Steps] block
  • Use a [Change X by ___] block.
  • Use a [Move to Mouse Pointer] block, and move your mouse to desired location (right).
  • Use a [Go to X = ___, Y = ____] block, and designate the desired Cartesian coordinate.

The intricacies of coding and design come from analyzing a complex motion into basic steps, and rearranging them into sequential orders, command priority, limits and exceptions, and so forth. Not only can students demonstrate their own critical thinking by solving their problems through demonstrating how they set up a solution, or by looking for ways of “self-help” such as examining other projects’ codes and recreating / adapting them, or simple trial & error. The most complex project I assigned my students was to create a complex maze with a fully controllable character, who has to make it to the goal without a) touching any walls, b) within a set time limit, and c) have multiple stages of difficulty (this was the ‘extra challenge’).

• Design-focused video games (Minecraft, Terraria, etc)
  Depending on the game, critical thinking can be demonstrated in solving problems such as how to re-create images or object using what is available within the game.
  

  Again, multiple core competency skills are involved in designing and creating such as identifying investigation question (what does Hogwarts look like), challenges (how to create it – what type of textured blocks for certain parts), self-reflection (comparing design to original work), and so on.

How does critical thinking influence narratives and perspectives?

Ideally, students can examine other individual’s works to see the logical framework behind it’s creation. Using Scratch for example, a person choosing to use simpler commands such as [Move ___ Steps] could be due to them being new to the platform, thus haven’t found the other alternatives. If it’s a simple, scripted story, then there would be no need for more complex commands when a simpler version is available. On the other hand, it could be that the creator does not understand Cartesian Coordinate systems, thus they are unable to utilize the [Move X = __, Y = __] commands. This was evident during my experiences when I noticed the older elementary students being fully comfortable with using ordered pairs, while younger students chose ‘easier’ options like [Move to Cursor]. Students conducting these sort of analysis also leads them towards inquiring about higher order processes to understand how to use those commands for themselves, and help broaden their perspective of different ways to approach and address similar questions.