Critical Thinking and Writing in an Era of Distraction: Engaging Today’s Students through Staged Inquiry

Abstract

Student distraction with mobile technologies in class has become a source of irritation for many faculty, as has the challenge of getting students to focus and devote extended time to reading and writing critically. This session offers several strategies for dealing with mobile technologies in the classroom and addresses the need to develop reflective and focused mental habits for students via a progressive and staged process of inquiry. Through a guided discovery process, teachers across different disciplines can capitalize on natural student inclinations toward mobile technology information retrieval while modeling and developing both critical evaluation skills and contemplative practices that uncover hidden assumptions and establish lifelong learning habits.