Annotated Bibliography

Barcus, Nancy B. Developing a Christian Mind. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1977.

Barcus writes from a fundamentalist\evangelical Christian right bias. The book offers perspectives on science, naturalism, and humanism. This material parallels Holmes and Sire, Discipleship of the Mind.

Barnes, Cynthia A. Critical Thinking: Educational Imperative. ERIC: New Directions for Community Colleges. 77. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992.

This book is a collection of articles on critical thinking in general and as it relates to some specific disciplines. The book also contains an annotated bibliography of general articles as well as articles applying critical thinking to developmental studies, writing, and other discipline.

de Bono, Edward. De Bono's Thinking Course. Rev. ed. New York: FactsonFile, 1994.

This book demonstrates how to improve one's thinking through focus and practice. Thinking techniques and exercises are included throughout the book. The revised edition includes later developments in the scholarship of cognition. The focus is on developing and improving skill in effective thinking.

Critical Thinking: Basic Theory & Instructional Structures. NA: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 1997.

This is the most recent workbook for Dr. Richard Paul's and Linda Elder's workshops on critical thinking. The book contains a basic model for critical thinking, focusing on standards, assessment, and teaching strategies. The foundational principle of the approach is that content can only be taught in the context of thinking, that is, facts are only comprehensible in the framework of some structure of thought.

Critical Thinking Workshops. Santa Rosa, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking, n/a.

This is an earlier workbook for the critical thinking workshops conducted by the Foundation for Critical Thinking (URL: http://www.sonoma.edu/cthink/). See Critical Thinking: Basic Theory & Instructional Structures above.

Emmet, E. R. The Handbook of Logic: The Use of Reason Totowa, NJ: Liitlefield, Adams, & Co., 1981.

Written specifically for students, this book examines various classical elements of logic and reasoning. Each element is explained in detail with instruction on how to apply the concepts in everyday situations. In each chapter, the book includes exercises and examples for students to follow.

Gardner, Howard. Creating Minds. New York: Basic Books, 1993.

Similar to Gelb, Gardner focuses on creative thinking by examining the creativity of Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, T. S. Eliot, Martha Graham, and Mahatama Gandhi. Gardner examines the role of emotion in cognitive thinking. His approach is historical and critical as he examines the creative processes of each individual as a progression through time that highlights both their successes and their flaws.

Gelb, Michael J. Discover Your Genius: How to Think Like History's Ten Most Revolutionary Minds. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.

Gelb examines the unique ways in which Plato, Filippo Brunelleschi, Christopher Columbus, Nicolaus Copernicus, Queen Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, Mahatma Gandhi, and Albert Einstein approached thinking. The book also includes advice for parents. Each chapter also includes a self-assessment reflecting the approach to thinking examined in the chapter.

Holmes, Arthur, ed. The Making of A Christian Mind: A Christian World View & the Academic Enterprise. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1985.

Holmes writes from a conservative evangelical bias. The book examines perspectives on Christianity and history, science, psychology, and the arts. This book reviews similar issues to Barcus and Sire, Discipleship of the Mind.

Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy. Trans. Paulette Mo/ller. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1994.

In this novel, a young girl named Sophie receives via the mail a series of monographs tracing the history of philosophy. What I found especially useful with regards to critical thinking was Gaarder's approach in identifying the "philosophical project" of each philosopher, that is, Gaarder's identification of specific questions each philosopher sought to answer.

Lewis, David and James Greene. Thinking Better. New York: Rawson, Wade Publishers, Inc., 1982.

Lewis and Greene deal with thinking, learning, problem solving, and decision-making skills, particularly as seen in IQ tests although the material has applications in a variety of settings. The book is very practical and has a number of good pointers.

Marzano, Robert J., et al. Dimensions of Thinking: A Framework for Curriculum and Instruction. Alexandria, VA: Assoc. for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1989.

The seven authors seek to develop a taxonomy of thinking skills and processes with applications to curriculum, assessment, and instruction. The authors distinguish processes (e.g., concept formation, principle formation, problem solving, decision making) from skills (e.g., defining, goal setting, comparing, classifying, verifying, summarizing).

Socratic Questioning Supplements. NA: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 1995.

This is a supplemental handout for the Critical Thinking Workshops held by Richard Paul and Linda Elder. The handout explains how to use socratic questioning in the critical thinking process as defined by Paul and Elder. See Critical Thinking: Basic Theory & Instructional Structures and Critical Thinking Workshops.

Schaeffer, Francis. The God Who is There. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1968.

Schaeffer, a Reformed Presbyterian, writes from a conservative evangelical tradition. For those with an intellectual bent and an interest in history, philosophy, art, science, and psychology, Schaeffer tries to trace the development of thinking in the opening years of the second half of the twentieth century and makes value judgements on modern society and modern theology from a conservative evangelical perspective.

Sire, James. Discipleship of the Mind. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1990.

Sire, who is the editor of InterVarsity Press, writes from a fundamentalist/evangelical Christian perspective. This book is a followup to Sire's earlier book, The Universe Next Door. Sire discusses perspectives of value for a college student audience presumed to be primarily fundamentalist/evangelical Christian. In a way, it is a college life text for the Christian right.

___. How to Read Slowly. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1979.

Although a book about how to read, Sire's fundamentalist/evangelical Christian beliefs are interwoven throughout the text. Sire argues that different kinds of reading materials (genres) should be read in different ways, and illustrates his ideas with a variety of works.

___. The Universe Next Door. 2nd ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988.

A useful look at various world views, again from the fundamentalist\evangelical Christian right. This book offers a useful overview of some of the dominant belief systems of our time. Sire's perception is that all modern theories are attempts to find answers after the loss of theism. This is a popular view in conservative Christian circles that first gained popularity through the writings of Francis Schaeffer.

Weinland, James D. How toThink Straight. Totowa, NJ: Liitlefield, Adams, & Co., 1980.

Weinland explains the historical development of critical thinking, including early non-rational approaches to thinking, the development of reason, the inductive/scientific method, probability and statistics, and deduction. The book includes examples of applications of thinking to various everyday problems and a discussion of fallacies in thinking.