Most of these papers are in the Rich Text Format (rtf). You should be able to read them on the screen. If you can't, try saving them and reading the saved file through your word processing programme. If that doesn't work either, please let me know. I will ask enlightened people for advise. Some papers have diagrams. To see the diagrams, you might need to give some special instruction.

Papers/Articles/Handouts

The title of the article What is education is self explanatory.  So is its companion, Who is an educated person? Ingredients of educatedness.

The paper How does education paralyze independent thinking? argues that educational curricula (particularly science curricula) do not currently have a provision for critical understanding in the syllabuses, classroom teaching, and examinations, and hence have the effect of inhibiting the development of critical thinking among students.

The paper Indoctrination in Linguistics Education argues that the typical undergraduate education in linguistics has the effect of indoctrinating students such that it corrodes their critical thinking abilities.

The article on Education and Cognitive Liberation is an attempt to diagnose the failure of modern education to address a configuration of natural weaknesses in the human mind and society, and suggest a solution.

The article on Linguistics Education and Cognitive Liberation focusses on critical understanding as a prerequisite to critical thinking, and explore ways to accomplish such understanding in an introductory course in Syntax, as an example of the ‘liberating’ approach to education in linguistics.

How does Education Suppress Independent Thinking? claims that we the educators are primarily responsible for discouraging independent thinking all over the world.

The article on Knowledge and Evidence: Why do we Believe that the Earth Goes Round the Sun? illustrates how critical understanding can be incorporated into science curricula, using arguments for the Heliocentric Hypothesis. Critical understanding crucially involves paying attention to evidence and argumentation.

The handout  Science, education, and Independent Thinking does precisely what the title promises, namely, explore how science education can be used to enhance critical thinking abilities among secondary school students.

The article on open book examinations makes a plea for replacing traditional closed book examinations with open book examinations that allow students to consult their classnotes, textbooks, and any other material while taking the exam. The follow up on this one is A Response to some of the recurrent concerns on Open Book Examinations

The piece called A Theory of Banana Chips: Scientific Thinking in Everyday Life is an illustration of scientific modes of thinking using an example from everyday life. This   article has been very popular with my students, who have told me that they found it very useful in understanding what science is really about.

The piece called Science can be Fun: Letter to my Ten Year Old Nephew is (as the title says) a letter that I wrote to my nephew alpha when he wrote to me saying science is very boring, because it is a lot of memorizing of equations.  What I wanted to do was convince him that it is textbooks and teachers who make science boring, science by itself is a great deal of fun.

How do we evaluate teaching at the university level?

Teaching Critical Thinking