Critical Thinking and Critical Skills

Pedagogy in the First Year Experience

Dr. Robert A. KenedyAssistant Professor

York University Faculty of Arts

Department of Sociology Academic Advisor, 219 Founders College

York University, Toronto

2Outline Introduction: Critical Thinking and Skills

Research and Literature

Relevant Theory

Best Practices for Teaching Critical Skills Integrating Critical Skills Into Courses

Evaluation Tools

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Critical skills are vital to post-secondary success.

I would argue that students need to understand the importance of learning post-secondary critical skills both inside and outside the classroom.

4Academic Success SeriesPromoting post-secondary critical skills help students in their first year and throughout their undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate pursuits.Some students enter university with specific critical skills, while others have a limited repertoire of skills.

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I suggest that teaching critical skills either as part of first year courses that are subject-based or through specialized FYE critical skills courses may make the difference between getting As, Cs, or Fs.

6Academic Success Series It is a matter of teaching both form and

content (Simmel, 1918). I have reworked Simmels work and applied it to a pedagogical context.

Content is based on covering a subject area such as sociology.

Form is connected to critical skills that may be generic to the post-secondary FYE or specifically associated a subject area.

7Academic Success Series My experiences teaching critical skills suggests that

students are not always aware of the requirements of succeeding in their first year of their post-secondary studies.

Students take for granted that they have the critical skills such as critical thinking, research skills, writing skills (i.e., essay and other types of writing), time management, exam writing academic integrity, library and information literacy (e.g., journal and other searches), test and exam prep, lecture note taking, critical reading, and other skills.

8Finally, based on my own findings from various course evaluation surveys, critical skills presentation surveys, and other data, students appreciate the effort.Student often report that they feel they are learning both critical skills (form) and the sociology (content) and that they applied this knowledge to other courses.

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9Academic Success SeriesI would also argue that promoting critical skills helps students and contributes positively to student retentionThis may also contribute to higher levels of satisfaction in terms of NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement), BCSSE (The Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement), and instruments http://nsse.iub.edu/redirect.cfm?target

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Academic Success SeriesLiterature focusing on critical skills suggests that acquiring post-secondary critical skills are related to academic success (Clabaugh, et al., 1995; Clifford, J. S., Magdalen, M. B., Kurtz, J. E., 2004).

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Academic Success SeriesUndergraduate students have reported that acquiring university critical skills has contributed to their own academic success (Tsui, 2000; Weast, 1996; Elbin, 2004). These are more general critical skills.

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Academic Success SeriesStudents who have acquired skills throughout their postsecondary studiesin specific courses where such skills were taught, perform much better academically than students who have not (Hannel & Hannel, 1998; Hunter, 1991; Laut, 2000).

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Academic Success Series The importance of innovative critical skill teaching

strategies is also essential in student academic success. The use of small groups, individual and one on one mentoring was found to increase the success of undergraduate students (Hannel & Hannel, 1998; Gadzilla, et al, 1996).

The use of these initiatives within regular courses increased the success of all students, especially underachieving university students (Young, 1992; Maclellan, 2005; Clabaugh, 1995).

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See: Bloom, B.S. (Ed.) (1956) Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook I, cognitive domain. New York: Toronto: Longmans, Green. http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic69.htm

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Academic Success SeriesLEVEL DESCRIPTION RELATED SKILLS

Memorize Learn course concepts and facts; produce a solid knowledge base

Recognize, recall, recite, name, define, describe

Comprehension

Show understanding of course concepts and facts

Restate, explain, interpret, discuss, summarize, defend

Application Extend course concepts and facts in new directions

Classify, apply, produce, discover, modify, prepare

Analysis Break ideas apart and relate to other ideas

Compare, contrast, connect, relate, categorize, analyze

Synthesis Create new organizations of ideas

Design, organize, construct, compose, revise, develop

Evaluation Make well-reasoned judgments and decisions

Recommend, judge, critique, decide, evaluate, support

Thinking Skills in Blooms Taxonomy

See: Bloom, B.S. (Ed.) (1956) Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook I, cognitive domain. New York: Toronto: Longmans, Green. http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic69.htm

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Cognitive Apprenticeship

http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/models/cog.html

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Cognitive ApprenticeshipWith cognitive apprenticeships, students learn strategies

(essential academic skills, critical skills, etc.) in the context of real practice. Strategies are situated so that relationships between course content and strategic knowledge are explicit.

The following steps comprise a method or sequence of teaching/learning steps:modelingcoachingscaffolding and fadingarticulationreflectionexploration

Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Newman, S. E. (1989). Cognitive apprenticeship: Teaching the crafts of reading, writing, and mathematics. In L. B. Resnick (Eds.), Knowing, Learning, and Instruction: Essays in Honor of Robert Glaser (pp. 453-491). NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. (Scott Library LB 1051 K715 1989)

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David Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory

Kolb's learning theory sets out four distinct learning styles.

Kolb states that ideally this process represents a learning cycle or spiral where the learner 'touches all the bases', a cycle of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting(Kolb, 1984: 100).

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David Kolb Experimental Learning Styles Theory

Kolb's model therefore works on two levels - a four-stage cycle:

Concrete Experience - (CE) Reflective Observation - (RO) Abstract Conceptualization - (AC) Active Experimentation - (AE)

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David Kolb Learning styles

Diverging (CE/RO) Assimilating (AC/RO) Converging (AC/AE) Accommodating (CE/AE)

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David Kolb cont

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David Kolb cont

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Teaching and Learning

Kenneth Bain (2004:85), in his book What the Best College Teachers Do, states Teaching is anything we might do to help and encourage students to learn. In that sense good teaching depends on discussions of what it means to learn and how best to cultivate that learning.

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Best Practices:

Teaching Critical Skills and Presentations

Integrating Critical Skills Into Courses

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Assignment and Exercises:

Assignments Exercise

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Assessment tools:

Formative Summative

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Final Points:

ConclusionsQuestions