Observe Critically - Reflections on How Adults Use This EFF Skill

"...while observation seems as simple and commonplace as dressing, eating, or driving a car, it is important to remember that...each of us interprets the world and responds to it according to our personal frame... Many psychologists believe that professionals create frames for understanding within their chosen fields, just as individuals construct a frame for interpreting the events of daily life. Experts know what to look for and rapidly learn from what they see, and thereby rise to the top of their profession long before others who do not have a structure for sorting out the least relevant from the most relevant details. Sternberg (1995) believes that intelligent behavior may be marked more by the structure or frame one brings to a problem or task than by what one knows about the problem or task beforehand. Thus, developing a professional frame with which to evaluate and act on events is a critical skill for becoming an expert." 5
-Gary D. Borich

Insights From Field Research:
Using the Standard to Guide Teaching and Learning

Karen Masada
The Reading Program
Santa Clara County Library Milpitas, CA.
Teacher data from the second round of field review, conducted 1998-1999.
(Adapted from Equipped for the Future Content Standards, p. 32.)

What happened this week?
Today we watched a very good video that Ellen checked out for us on reading the newspaper. During one part of the video, the narrator showed how two very different articles could be written about the same event depending on the point of view and personal biases of the reporter. Without taking a closer look, both seemed to be reports that just contained the facts of the event. We stopped the tape in the middle and talked about what the true facts of the story were. After the narrator compared the two articles and explained the need to read critically, the learners were amazed at how much opinion was inserted into the article by subtle word choices and the omission of several facts that the alternative article highlighted. The video was a great tool to reinforce their understanding of reading/viewing things critically.

We talked about drawing conclusions based on reviewing multiple sources, personal knowledge, and reliance on trusted opinions of others. In terms of the media, one learner said that she used her critical thinking skills much more when reading articles in her native country, Iran. She said that she believed that you had to write more of the truth here before being published. I gave her some examples of farfetched headlines in tabloids like the Enquirer and we discussed considering a source's reputation for accurate reporting as another means to help draw conclusions.

For a future class I'd like to get a video clip of some news event and show it to the class with the volume turned all the way down and then ask half the group to write about just the facts of what they witnessed and ask the other half of the group to write an interpretation of what they thought was occurring. We could make comparisons between groups or within groups. I think it would be an interesting follow-up lesson.

Anita Johndro
Atkinson Adult Learning, Atkinson, ME
Employment preparation; Series of lessons.
Teacher data from the third round of field review, June-August, 1999

"This has been a valuable lesson for me as well as my students. We both came away from this experience this summer with new and valuable tools for ourselves. One student expressed the feeling that she will never view the news, television, listen to the radio, or look at a program the same way. She said once you talk about these things, you start to see where they relate in your life and you never see it the same way as you used to see it."

What are the steps you will look for in order to know if your students are making progress toward meeting the Standard?

  • Describing visual sources
  • Looking at the source deeper
  • Asking questions or applying knowledge of unseen
  • Comparing that knowledge to what they already know
  • Making an analysis of the information
  • Reaching a conclusion

What evidence of student progress did you see and how did you document it?
Students identified components of the visual source more thoroughly as we discussed the pieces in class.... The first time most of the students only looked at the visual source at face value. But all said that when they observed critically they compared, then evaluated, and lastly made some kind of decision. We looked at the sources and then compared them with prior knowledge they had. The last thing I asked them to do was to make an evaluation because that is what they told me they did. Once they were asked to make a comparison, some had difficulty so we asked these questions: What appealed to you about the visual source? What did not appeal to you? Are there any underlying messages? What are the messages? To whom is the message directed? What age level? What are the consequences? Was the source successful in its appeal? Why?