Contextual Learning Approach: A Tool for Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills amongst Learners’
Abstract
One of the high-level skills needed to take on the challenges of the 21st century is the ability to think critically. One must choose the right pedagogical strategy in order to foster analytical thinking and help students grow. Students must therefore learn to construct their own bodies of knowledge, conduct their own research, foster an insatiable curiosity, engage in learning communities, present models, cultivate reflective thinking skills, and have meaningful discussions about topics relating not only to knowledge but also to practical abilities. The Contextual Learning approach is an instructional strategy that incorporates a learning component and a way to introduce material by employing a number of study strategies, which in turn encourages students to draw links among both their foreknowledge and the material they are being asked to learn, as well as to synthesize and analyze this material to form their own original understanding. The theoretical underpinnings of Contextual Learning (CL) are sketched out; the theories of Active Learning, Constructivism, and Making Connections are highlighted.
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