Teaching hypothetical/deductive reasoning in radiologic technology: Explanation games and other classroom methods

Abstract

Teaching strategies for radiologic technology education can be enhanced by the use of metacognitive techniques which promote real-world critical thinking. The aim of these techniques is to encourage students to develop an awareness of themselves as autonomous thinkers and, ultimately, practitioners. Through an examination of the contributions to this area of medical, scientific and philosophical educators, various approaches are presented and unified under the model of an "explanation game." Both the theoretical underpinnings of these approaches and their practical applications in the classroom are discussed. Introduction This paper will discuss various metacognitive (that is, advanced-level thinking) strategies applicable to teaching in radiologic technology. Such strategies are designed to increase the critical thinking skills of students by teaching them to postpone an immediate search for answers, and to pay attention first to the questions that must be asked to find the answers. This approach is transferable to a variety of settings. A number of strategies will be presented here, all conceptually similar to Black's method entitled the "Explanation Game." Following a general description of explanation games and their metacognitive implications, the use of the concept in science education will be presented. A further analogy will be drawn with the McMaster system of medical education, followed by examples of direct relevance to classroom instruction in radiologic technology.