Development of a Critical Thinking Test : With the Eight Elements of Thought as a Framework

application/pdfAlthough the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has been emphasizing the importance of critical thinking, one of the 21st century competency skills, no specific methods of instruction or evaluation have been suggested in the Course of Study or in its commentary. In an attempt to address this imbalance, the authors introduce a sample English critical thinking appraisal in the form of reading comprehension test based on the eight elements of thought(Paul and Elder, 2006). The eight elements of thought are the “essential dimensions of reasoning that are present whenever and wherever reasoning occurs” (p. 55) and consist of purposes, questions, points of view, information, inferences, concepts, implications and consequences, and assumptions. The sample test has been devised with these elements serving as a basic reference framework to evaluate learners’ critical thinking/reading skills. The test is composed of three sections: basic comprehension questions, critical thinking questions, and text evaluation. Sample answers and comments are also provided. It is the authors’ hope that the test would be of valuable assistance to teachers of English who need instructional and assessment guidance for the development of critical thinking skills in Japanese classrooms.journal articl

On the Three-Tier Structure of Learning Content:Designing Instructions for the Development of Learnersʼ Abilities to Learn to Learn and Their Humanity

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Validity of the Critical Thinking Test Developed by Kuhara et. al.（1983）

application/pdfThis paper discusses the validity of the critical thinking skills test developed by Kuhara, Inoue,and Hatano（1983）．Critical thinking is considered to be one of the 21st century competencies and recognized as of vital importance in general school education including English language teaching. Some academic studies, however, which use the critical thinking test developed by Kuhara et al.（1983）to validate their findings report statistically significant results without clarifying which construct of critical thinking they have focused on. This paper examines Kuharaʼs critical thinking test in detail and argues that since it is specifically designed to measure the inferential ability of critical thinking, it should be used for that purpose alone and not for any others.journal articl

Communicativeness of Language Activities in Elementary and Junior High School English Textbooks : Focusing on Spoken Interaction Activities

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Effects of hydrophilic polymer-coated polysulfone membrane dialyzers on intradialytic hypotension in diabetic hemodialysis patients (ATHRITE BP Study) : a pilot study

Background: Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is a common clinical manifestation associated with poor prognosis in hemodialysis (HD) patients. HD patients who suffer from diabetic nephropathy (DN) are increasing and diabetes is a major cause of IDH. Effective interventional treatments for IDH have yet to be fully evaluated. The aim of this multicenter prospective study is to clarify the effect of biocompatible hydrophilic polymer-coated polysulfone (PS) membrane, TORAYLIGHT® NV (NV) dialyzers on IDH. Methods: This is a prospective stratified-randomized multicenter trial. Forty DN patients undergoing HD and receiving two or more times of treatments for IDH per month were enrolled in this study. They were stratified by the number of treatments for IDH and divided to two groups using NV or conventional PS/polyethersulfone (PES) dialyzers. The number of treatments for IDH and changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP) were monitored for 6 months. Patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics were also collected at enrollment and the last month of the observation period. In order to clarify the patient characteristics that induced preferable effects by using NV dialyzers, responders were defined as the patients whose average SBP falls in 1 month improved from over 30 mmHg to no more than 30 mmHg. Results: The total number of treatments for IDH decreased significantly in NV group, even though pre-dialysis body weight and ultrafiltration volume were similar. In addition, patients using NV had significantly higher post-dialysis SBP and the lowest SBP during HD at sixth month compared as those in PS/PES group. NV responders had valuables suggesting malnutrition and microinflammation, and better lipid profiles than non-responders. However, the representative markers related to nutritional status, arteriosclerosis, and inflammation were not improved by NV treatment. Conclusions: NV had preferable effects on IDH in DN HD patients. Our results suggest the usefulness of NV as a possible method to deal with IDH. Further studies are needed to clarify the mechanism of NV effects on hemodynamic status

Impromptu Spoken Interaction Activities in Junior High School English Textbooks Approved in the New Course of Study

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