A taxonomy of educational media for the nurture of critical thinking: Action domains and text typologies

Abstract

This paper proposes a bidimensional taxonomy based upon the analysis of various approaches to the objects, processes and teaching of critical thinking. The first dimension focuses on the general and specific actions related to the main components of critical thinking and puts forth five action domains: application of informal logic, problem-solving in sciences, problem-solving in citizen life, creation and comprehension of media content, and metacognition. The second dimension offers a framework for the systematic visualization of the formal characteristics of the different educational media supporting the learning of critical thinking and proposes the use of five text typologies: narrative, description, explanation, argumentation and dialogue. Furthermore, the paper outlines specific procedures for the articulation of both dimensions of the taxonomy in the analysis, classification and design of educational media aimed to support the development of critical thinking skills.