Habits of the Mind
Overview: This year the Division of Liberal Arts will emphasize critical thinking skills for our students. We are exploring the 16 Habits of the Mind, which are described by many scholars as the scaffolding upon which good critical thinking practices can be built.
We hope that you will take up the challenge to briefly discuss one of the habits of the mind each week in your classes this year. Please make connections back to these habits whenever possible. Our stakeholders in the community have encouraged us to help our students grow their soft skills. Critical thinking, communication, and professionalism are not innate. These skills are forged and sharpened through careful instruction and exposure to positive examples. We hope to grow our students’ abilities to engage in meaningful inquiry, critical thinking and decision making. Explore the links on this page for more information.
The Habits of the Mind Challenge: In January of 2014, part-time instructors in the Liberal Arts Division at OSU-OKC will have an opportunity to compete with one another for the honor of the title Liberal Arts Habits of the Mind Challenge Champion. The winner will receive a certificate honoring their accomplishment, recognition on our website, and a piece of information technology to assist in their teaching, TBD. Other competitors with innovative proposals will also receive a certificate.
We expect that submitted lessons/assignments will integrate one or more of the 16 Habits of the Mind into your instruction. Your submission must be:
Short – Your lesson or assignment cannot take more than 15 minutes of class time.
Relevant – Your lesson or assignment should directly relate to the 16 Habits of the Mind.
Innovative – Your lesson or assignment should represent an innovative and original approach to using the Habits as critical thinking scaffolding.
Impactful – Your submission should explain how your use of the Habits impacted your students. Submissions that provide examples of the impact on students will be preferred.
*These submissions will be blind reviewed by experienced faculty members from within and outside the Liberal Arts Division.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
-- Aristotle
Additional Resources:
PDF from Habits of the Mind authors Costa & Kallick explaining the Habits.
URL from an educator with suggestions about how to integrate the Habits of the Mind into your courses: