Notes on “Critical Thinking,” a presentation by author Jean Sausele Knodt

Presented by Phi Delta Kappa International
If you weren’t able to attend “Critical Thinking” on Wednesday, March 10th, I would like to briefly share my experience and encourage you to explore this author independently.

Jean Sausele Knodt, author of Nine Thousand Straws: Teaching thinking through open-inquiry learning, spoke on her Think Tank lab and its principles of the open-inquiry process, critical and creative thinking, innovation, risk taking and multi-generational learning. Wednesday night’s diverse audience of graduate students, alumni, faculty, staff and visitors, coming from backgrounds in everything from art to education to engineering, could equally relate to and benefit from the theories and strategies introduced. I would like to thank Jean for her intelligent, insightful and inspiring presentation and Phi Delta Kappa International for hosting this wonderful event at the Northern Virginia Center.

Handouts of the article, “Cultivating Curious Minds: Teaching for Innovation Through Open-Inquiry Learning”1 were provided. Virginia Tech employees and students can access this and other articles by going to http://www.lib.vt.edu/ and searching “Journals”. Jean also brought copies of her book, Nine Thousand Straws: Teaching thinking through open-inquiry learning 2 and two were raffled off at the presentation. I encourage anyone looking to polish his or her critical and creative thinking skills, or to inspire someone else’s, to check them out!

Publications by Jean Sausele Knodt
1 “Cultivating Curious Minds: Teaching for Innovation Through Open-Inquiry Learning.” Teacher Librarian. 2009. 37 (1), 15-22.
2 Nine Thousand Straws: Teaching thinking through open-inquiry learning. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, Teacher Ideas Press. July, 2008.

“Creative Collaborators: Teaching for Innovation Through Open-Inquiry.” School Library Journal. (Publish date, May, 2010).
“The Think Tank: A Discovery Room for Young Learners.” Harvard University Graduate School of Education. ALPS. January, 1999. http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/thinking/pop2.cfm
“Discovering Giftedness.” Apple, Fairfax County Schools, 1998. 17 (2), 16-17.
“A Think Tank Cultivates Kids.” Educational Leadership. September, 1997. 55 (1), 35-37.

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