Planned projects

These projects are planned and will start when a proposal is accepted for incubation. If you would like to contribute, please submit a proposal using information from below.

Professional Development
PD programs will enable teachers to employ effective and proven techniques for teaching CT skills. We will be placing an strong emphasis on PD programs. Initial projects will help us plan for these programs by identifying needs and stakeholders, creating a 'plan for the plan', and more. Some of these projects are outlined below.

PD Needs Identification - Status: Open
This project will identify the key stakeholders and their needs. This will involve field trips, interviews, and research to determine and prioritize the various elements needed to start a PD program for CT. The deliverables will include guides for for the teacher training curriculum, student curriculum, methodology for teacher training, and recommended approaches for school board buy-in. Prerequisites for this project include: Thorough understanding of Critical Thinking topics, Professional Development techniques, and experience with local school boards.

PD Development Plan (Plan for the Plan) - Status: Pending
This project will outline the steps and effort needed to create a PD program on CT based on the above Needs Identification. It also includes needs identification for PD program presenters and logistical issues including transportation, lodging, food, and other necessities. This project also outlines the other tasks needed to create a complete PD program. Prerequisites for this project include: Good understanding of Critical Thinking topics and conference planning experience.

PD Curriculum Development - Status: Pending
These projects result in the curriculum for PD Program Participants. There are projects covering specific lessons, determining the overall lesson plans, and teacher assessments. Prerequisites for this project include: Thorough understanding of Critical Thinking topics, Curriculum Development.

PD Program Development - Status: Pending
This project of projects will result in a formal PD program for teaching CT, including logistical requirements, PD website development including registration, and preliminary budgetary agreements with all agencies involved. It relies on multiple projects including planing and curriculum development. Prerequisites for this project include: Good understanding of Critical Thinking topics and conference planning experience.

PD Program Marketing - Status: Pending
This project makes the case to school districts and teachers to create the demand for the program. It involves determining and implementing marketing strategies that entice teacher signups and board approvals. Prerequisites for this project include: Good understanding of Critical Thinking topics and direct marketing experience.

PD Community Development - Status: Pending
This project is responsible to create and maintain an online Professional Development Community whereby needs of the community are addressed. This should include website and forum activities, email lists and campaigns, and organization of materials to maximize usefulness to the PD community. Prerequisites for this project include: Educational and IT background.

PD Program Operation - Status: Future
This ongoing team project is the actual running of the PD program. It will cover registrations, accommodations, acquiring and training presenters, ongoing interaction with participants. The result is operation of a complete PD program for one term. Prerequisites include completed PD Curriculum, Program Development, and underlying student Curriculum. Prerequisites for this project include: Good understanding of Critical Thinking topics, Conference organizing and operation experience.

Instructional Materials
Projects resulting in Instructional Materials form a great deal of the core of our efforts. Specific projects are identified below and specific definitions will be added either upon request or as the needs are established. We also host Chamilo, a complete eLearning/LMS system for projects needing such resources.

Standards-aligned lesson plans - Status: Open
Lesson plans in CT for specific grades or grade ranges. A group of lesson plans selected from CT topics plus assessments makes up a curriculum. A project can be one or more of these lessons plans and/or assessments.

Extracurricular activities (after school and summer programs) - Status: Open
This project is a teaching activity using existing curriculum.

On-line videos and E-Learning - Status: Open
Create instructional video and/or E-Learning lessons on CT topics. These are envisioned as stand-alone videos that a teacher or substitute can use in the classroom without specific training requirements.

Educational games - Status: Future
Games that use and illustrate CT topics. This is expected to be an interdisciplinary group project.

Brain Games - annotated
This simple example is an Alpha quality partially annotated video lesson. The excellent source is from National Geographic, but, because we are an educational nonprofit, fair use rules allow us to illustrate the CT concepts underlying the video. A real project would add more sophistication to the user experience as well as a more comprehensive lesson and additional lessons and tests to complete a chapter.

Facts and Claims - eLearning
This simple example employs a traditional eLearning including simple quizzing and could be integrated with an LMS system. Like the prior example, a real project would add more sophistication to the user experience as well as a more comprehensive lesson and additional lessons and tests to complete a chapter.

Hands On Activity - Car Accident
This classroom activity example is a hands on lesson on evaluating evidence.

Metrics and Measurements
Metrics enable assessment and determination of efficacy of CT programs and student progress.

The Gullibility Index: A test of CT skills - Status: Open
This is a fun online general interest evaluation of personal CT skills. An ideal outcome would be a reasonable and repeatable indication of skill measurement. Data collection in a privacy friendly manner should be considered along with capturing appropriate demographics.

Pre-post critical thinking education measurement - Status: Future
This is a project of projects of considerable effort. It will measure the efficacy of a CT educational program at a large scale. The encompassing projects will include: development of the measurement, validation, implementation, deployment, and tracking of a diverse population. It is expected that incremental improvements with smaller projects will be employed to evolve this important tool into an accepted measurement methodology. Due to complexity, this project set will be defined at a later date. However, initial small-scale evaluation projects may be desirable and we do encourage such proposals.

Research
Research activities are used to guide further efforts in multiple areas of the CT Foundry efforts. Specific projects are defined based on submitted proposals and needs identification.

White papers on CT, Transference, Logic, Reasoning, and related topics - Status: Open
A contributor defined research project evaluating, describing, or researching techniques in CT Education.

Survey of attitudes toward CT among different demographics - Status: Open
Basic surveys with the goal of needs analysis and data collection for measurement / metric references or other uses.

Measuring the financial impact of misinformation on society - Status: Open
Analysis of the importance of CT on the economy and related issues.

“Why Facts Don’t Matter, the psychology of ideology” - Status: Open
An analysis of ideological impact. For example, is there an age where ingrained ideology makes learning CT skills impractical or impossible?

Public Awareness
Public Awareness is a key element toward recognition of the importance of CT skills. These projects may primarily marketing driven, but often encompass a variety of disciplines. Thus, may may become complex interdisciplinary projects.

CT Parent Information Packet - Status: Open
This project produces teacher's guides for informing parents about the importance of Critical Thinking and why it is particularly emphasized. This is partly a research project as well as a public awareness project. Heavy emphasis is placed on identifying areas the CT plays a clear and important role in students success, including post K-12.

Business Development: Outreach, PR, or Marketing - Status: Open
This project category involves Ad campaign strategies and development, promotional activities, and other efforts that 'get the word out', These projects can range from a small individual project to a major multiple project/multiple team program. Larger programs will be based on specific need, but, we encourage submission of all proposals.

Product Development: Product Management/Definition - Status: Open
This project category involves surveying teachers in a variety of districts and demographic settings to determine products and services that can best serve their needs. The project can range from a small individual project to a major multiple project/multiple team program. Larger programs will be based on specific need, but, we encourage submission of all proposals.

CT Club Ecosystem Development - Status: Open
This project is the development of infrastructure to support CT clubs in various settings. An important element is providing an ecosystem where clubs can interact with one another and/or other members of the CT Foundry community, gain access to tools, and or support a project.

Streaming entertainment, Internet Celebrity - Status: Future
Create and maintain a streaming channel that covers CT topics in an entertaining way. This is a complex interdisciplinary team project that also requires multiple ongoing efforts to continue it.

Infrastructure
Infrastructure development covers all aspects of operating the CT Foundry. This includes IT, Business Organization, Fundraising, Grant Proposals, Process Development, and others.

Fundraising: ‘Relay for CT’, Merchandising, and others - Status: Open
This project category is responsible for promoting and implementing individual participation funding, for example, donations, pledges, and other techniques. The project scope may range from individually run to team based projects, according to the scale of effort.

Site Development and Maintenance - Status: Open
The CT Foundry has a need to maintain its websites, Wiki, E-Learning, Forum and other systems to keep projects and content current and relevant. This includes moderating the community and user management. Requires good understanding of CT and IT.