THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE
PROJECT
“Critical thinking” has long been a concern of American education. John
Dewey identified learning to think” as a primary purpose of education
in 1933 (Halpern, 2003, p. 8). Dewey defined critical thinking as, “Active,
persistent and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge
in light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which
it tends.” Concepts common to many current definitions of critical
thinking include using reasoning/logic, judgment, metacognition, and reflection
and questioning (Halpern, 2003, p. 6). These skills have been of particular
interest to educators in the last 25 years due to the fact that American students
are perceived as deficient. One early report described the United States
as a “nation at risk” because of a failure to provide education
that fosters critical thinking (National Commission of Excellence in Education,
1983). The U.S. National Education Goals Panel argued that U.S. educators
should strive to increase their students’ broad knowledge base and strong
critical thinking skills by the year 2000 (National Education Goals Panel,
1991). There is much empirical evidence that critical thinking skills
can be taught in an educational context and then transferred to many other
domains (Halpern, 2003, pp. 10-19).
The decade of the 1980s saw an increased emphasis on education designed
to foster critical thinking (Facione, 1990). In 1987 the American
Philosophical Association appointed a panel of experts to consider the
status of the concept of critical thinking in education. The panel
developed a common definition of critical thinking (see below) and made
recommendations to educators. The panel agreed that critical thinking
involves specific intellectual skills as well as a motivational disposition.
Higher education has maintained a strong focus on the concept of critical
thinking. The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU)
has listed “inquiry, critical and creative thinking” an important
skill that should be fostered by higher education (“Liberal Education
Outcomes,” 2005). Critical thinking is a central component
of a liberal arts education. Facione argued that, “Liberal
education leads us away from naïve acceptance of authority, above
self-defeating relativism, and beyond ambiguous contextualism. It
culminates in principled reflexive judgment” (Facione, 2007, p. 19). Critical
thinking skills are important for a democratic society, and it is argued
that every generation needs better critical thinking skills than the previous
one due to a bigger and more complex base of knowledge (Halpern, 2003).
The AACU encourages the use of academic assessment to increase students’ critical
thinking skills. Current outcome studies suggest that few students
are proficient in critical thinking (“Liberal Education Outcomes,” 2005). The
AACU indicated that, “The key accountability question to ask of campuses
is whether they currently expect all of their students to undertake complex
projects and capstone assignments that are assessed for advanced liberal
education outcomes.” We believe that our colleges foster such
practices that should lead to the enhancement of critical thinking skills
and motivation among our students. It is our intention to examine
(and encourage), through assessment and reflection, educational practices
that foster critical thinking.
References
Facione, PA (1990). Critical thinking: A
statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment
and instruction. California
Academic Press.
Facione, P.A. (2007 update). Critical
thinking: What it is and why it counts. http://www.
insightassessment.com/dex.html
Halpern, D. F. (2003, 4th edition). Thought
and knowledge: An introduction to critical thinking. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Liberal Education Outcomes: A preliminary report
on student achievement in college. (2005). American
Association of Colleges and Universities.
National Commission of Excellence in Education. (1983). A
national at risk: The imperative for educational reform. Washington,
DC.
National Education Goals Panel. (1991). The
national education goals report: Building a nation of learners. Washington,
DC: U.S. Printing Office.
CRITICAL THINKING – DEFINITION
The definition of Critical Thinking is from
the "Delphi Report" which is a report that was issued when a
panel of experts in critical thinking and higher education composed a consensus
definition. The executive summary of the Delphi Report can be found: http://www.insightassessment.com/dex.html
Definition: Purposeful,
self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation,
and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual,
methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which
that judgment is based.
The ideal critical thinker is habitually
inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible,
fair-minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent
in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly
in complex matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable
in the selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking
results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances of
inquiry permit.
