Action Plan

Action Plan - Components

ACTION PLAN: Furthering Critical Thinking within the NEXT YEAR, i.e. June, 2012 – June, 2013 Name: __Wenhao Li (Isaac)__________________

Instructions: Please fill in the table below with action items you wish to work on in the coming year. Be clear and specific.

CT GOAL - what do you want to accomplish?

These goals should center on YOU, not students (different from lesson/unit). ACTIONS– what will you

do or what steps will you

take, and who else may be

involved?

RESOURCES– what

materials, funds, venues

etc. will you need?

START and TARGET

DATES for

Achievement– when

do you hope to start

working on this goal?

When is your target

date for completion?

POTENTIAL

OBSTACLES –

briefly describe

possible problems

that may arise

1)Given the

teaching post I

am in now, I can

launch the CT

teaching

experiment

within two weeks

in one of the

courses under my

administration. Redesign the course final

exam format.

a)I organize a meeting

with the teachers

concerned to discuss the

importance of CT.

Explain the backwash

effect of test and why a

new format of the final

exam is a good launch of

the CT teaching

The resources include the

Bloom’s taxonomy,

original and revised, a

meeting room, and the

moral support from the

department authority.

Start date: 3rd of June,

2012 （We actually

have already started.）

Target date for

completion: 18th of

June, 2012

Some of the teachers

may worry that

students are not used

to the format and

they themselves do

not know how to

grade the final exam

papers in the new

format.

?2012, American English Institute/University of Oregon 1 Action Plan

program.

b)I draft a trial final exam

format for discussion

and criticism with the

Bloom’s taxonomy as

criteria.

c)Once the new format is

revised and agreed

upon, the work of

writing exam items is

distributed among the

teachers concerned. d)Teachers introduce the

new exam format to all

the students concerned

and help them review

what they have learned

from a CT perspective.

2)Given a 9-week

systematic CT

training from

Oregon

University, I can

summarize the

CT ideas and

skills in lesson

and unit redesign

and spread the

skills and ideas Redesign our course with

colleagues.

a)I redesign one unit of the

course we teach

b)I Share the unit redesign

as food for thought

c)We discuss the redesign

at staff meetings

d)I give a min- lecture

explaining and assessing

the redesign

The resources include the

sample unit redesign and

lesson redesign I learnt in

the course at Oregon

University.

I have to get support from

the dean, because I need

to be allowed to

incorporate the mini-

lecture plan into the

weekly staff meeting.

Start date: end of this

semester, around 3rd of

July, 2012

Target date for

completion: 22th of

January, 2013

Some teachers would

not enjoy the

redesign and refuse

the change.

The dean would

wonder if the

redesign helps

increase the learners’

language proficiency

in the short term.

?2012, American English Institute/University of Oregon 2 Action Plan

among my colleagues within 8 months. e)The skills and ideas

about the redesign are

discussed in the

following meetings, with

some literature shared f)The job of unit redesign

is distributed among

teachers concerned and

the peer-assessment is

followed

g)The lesson redesign

follows the lesson

redesign

h)The lesson observation

is organized and the

peer-assessment is

conducted.

3)Given that

almost all the

intellectuals are

educated with

the influence of

Marxism in

China, which is

considered the

orthodox, I can,

within 1 year,

improve my

critical reading

and writing by Do a research on the

relations between Marxism

and critical thinking.

a)I read literatures on

Marxism and CT

b)I Compare the CT

strategies and Marxist

methodology; compare

CT macro-skills with

Marxist philosophy

c)I write research papers

on the relationship

between CT and

In the first 3 steps, the

resources include the

classical works of Carl

Marx, the classical

literature about critical

thinking.

I happen to know some

teachers in the Marxism

department who have

gotten funds from the

government to study the

relationship between

The start date: 29th of

June, 2012

The target date for

completion: 1st of July,

2013

I have to develop my

personal

commitment to the

relationship between

Marxism and CT, but

I still need to be open

to philosophical

systems.

For the time being,

it’s hard to get any

research fund for

critical thinking from

?2012, American English Institute/University of Oregon 3 Action Plan

relating CT to Marxism to advocate the acceptance and spread of CT among Chinese college teachers.

Marxism

d)I want to know if

Marxism endorses CT

e)Publish the research

papers

f)Arouse more attention

on the relationship

between CT and

Marxism in

collaborating research

with teachers from

other disciplines

g)Attend the national or

international conference

on CT and Marxism to

advocate CT in college

education.

Marxism and college

education. My research

could be part of theirs and

the collaborative research

is possible.

However, to do such kind

of research I need at least

50 hours of training in

correlating these two:

philosophy and CT.

government.

4)Given that I

teach both

freshmen and

sophomores, I

can complete an

analytic research

within 1 year on

how college

teachers can

construct the

cognitive

disequilibrium in Do a research on the

disequilibrium which can

provide momentum to

scaffold the learners

developing from the

dualism stage of cognition

to the multiplicity and to

relativism.

a)Observe the dualism in

everyday learning

activities

b)Identify and define the

I need to read more

research papers on the

cognitive science and the

specific knowledge about

(psychological)

disequilibrium.

If properly funded, I

should be able to study CT

and cognitive science for

1-3 months in USA.

Since each term I organize

the English debate and

The start date: 2nd of

August, 2012

The target date for

completion: 1st of June,

2013.

My limited

knowledge about

cognitive science and

the lack of experience

in applied research

could be two big

obstacles.

?2012, American English Institute/University of Oregon 4 Action Plan

the students, which is said to be the momentum behind the cognitive progress from dualism to multiplicity and to relativism.

dualism observable in

the Chinese college

students

c)Organize debates

among students to evoke

cognitive disequilibrium

d)Identify and define the

disequilibrium which

can effectively help the

learners to develop from

dualism into next stage

e)Repeat the above steps

to help the learners to

develop into the stage of

relativism.

train the debaters, I can

add the disequilibrium

research into the

activities.

5)Given the lesson

and unit redesign

that I

experienced in

the CT course

from Oregon

University, I can

apply the CT

ideas to the

course teaching

and keep a

journal for 2

years. Base on

the journal, other

teachers’Write a book advocating

incorporating CT into

English teaching and

college education as a

whole.

a)Translate some CT

articles and research

papers and publish some

of them

b)Write book reviews or

literature reviews on CT

and publish some of

them

c)Redesign my courses,

units and lessons with

I need a reliable and

inexpensive access to the

latest publications in CT

research and its

application in teaching.

I need to buy the

copyright if I would

publish the translation.

I need to find a Chinese

journal that would be

interested in my reviews

and research papers.

I need to be well-funded to

The start date: 1st of

September, 2012

The target date of

completion: 1st of

September, 2014.

Writing a book could

be a big challenge.

Only a person with

the traits of

perseverance can

take the challenge.

The laziness and

sluggishness could be

the big obstacles.

?2012, American English Institute/University of Oregon 5 Action Plan

experience and other applied researches mentioned in above goals, I can, within 2 years write a book about how to incorporate CT into English classes at college level in China.

other teachers

d)Keep a journal of the

redesign for two years

e)Write a book of about

150 thousand words

based on my journal

publish the book in China.

Please complete this ACTION PLAN SELF-ASSESSMENT. (You are NOT required to respond to another participant’s SA.)

Meets Expectations Approaches Expectations

Does not

meet

Expectations

Identifies at least 2-3 personal goals which clearly aim to carry on CT

development/application

√

?2012, American English Institute/University of Oregon 6 Action Plan

?2012, American English Institute/University of Oregon 7 Action Plan

This task is worth 10 points, 2 of which ar e for commenting on a colleague’s action plan. What score would you give yourself for the Action Plan task? __10___ out of 10 task points.

Any comments you wish to make:

I know that I should write the action plan within next year, but I can ’t help include a more ambitious plan in the 5th goal which obviously cannot be achieved within one year. All the other 4 goals serve the 5th one.

I give myself 10 out of 10 task points because I can feel the true enthusiasm in myself about all the goals. Thank the Oregon University for giving me the vigor to commit to CT.

In addition to the task points, you will also receive a holistic score out of 20 Final Project points.

Explains actions to meet the goals clearly and with sufficient detail, identifies responsible parties

√ Identifies relevant resources (materials, funds, venues, etc.) as precisely as possible

√ Identifies reasonable timeline for achievement of goals: BOTH start and end date √ Describes significant potential obstacles clearly

√