Ideas to Action

Critical Thinking to Foster Student Learning and

Community Engagement

Take a few moments to “think, pair, share”:

What is seems to be working well for you and your students in regard to the Critical Thinking (CT) questions and assessments?

What are the stumbling blocks for you or your students?

Ideas to Action Implementation

Ideas to Action (I2A) is our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), and we need to show measurable progress to the the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) by April 2012.

“Connecting the Dots”“Our extensive consultation with all

University constituencies yielded a surprisingly strong and clear call for education focused on the skills and knowledge needed to deal with real-world issues and problems, an education in which students can see the importance of the parts (the courses) to the whole (their education as citizens and workers).” [QEP Report, 2007]

Higher Education in the 21st Century Public accountability & SLO’s: state

legislatures, accrediting bodies and other stakeholders

New emphasis on intellectual, technical and practical skills

UofL’s Metropolitan Mission not unusal Emphasis on “deep learning,” integrative

learning, brain research, digital literacy, etc. Shifts in traditional structures and divisions in

the academy

I2A: What are the components?

What is critical thinking?

“

“Higher-Order Thinking”“Complex Thinking”

Ask yourself:

1. What kind of thinking skills or complex performance do students need to be able to do in this course?

2. What does that “look like” at the end of the first semester?

3. What does that “look like” at the end of the second semester?

4. What must they absolutely be able to do?

Critical Thinking definition adopted for I2A (From: Scriven and Paul, 2003)

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process that results in a guide to belief and action.

What are the “intellectual tools” of your discipline?

What does this “process” look like in Social Work?

What guides your beliefs and actions in Social Work?

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process that results in a guide to belief and action.

Social Work 670/671 Course Objective #1:Develop critical thinking skills

1) Formulating problems, questions2) Assessing information3) Drawing conclusions

Also:4) Showing awareness of multiple points of view

Each of these skills involve a whole subset of skills: data gathering, probing, considering alternatives, weighing

evidence, contextualizing an incident, making a conclusion, reflecting on results.

12

Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model

Intellectual Standards

Elements of Thought

Intellectual Traits

Must be appliedto

to develop

ClarityAccuracy Precision

SignificanceRelevance

SufficiencyLogic

BreadthFairness

Depth

QuestionsPurposes Inferences

Points of viewInformation

Concepts

AssumptionsImplications

HumilityAutonomy

Fair-mindedness

CourageConfidence in

reasoning

IntegrityEmpathy

Perseverance

8 Elements of Thought (p. 5)

Whenever we think:1. We think for a purpose2. Within a point of view3. Based on assumptions4. Leading to implications and

consequences5. Using data, facts and

experiences6. To make inferences and

judgments7. Based on concepts and

theories8. To answer a question or solve

a problem

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Elements of Thought Wheel

Group work

In groups of 2-3, look at the course objective related to critical thinking and

compare how the Paul-Elder model Elements of Thought (p.5) are captured in

these objectives.Try to describe what these “elements” look

like in Social Work.

Elements of Reasoning applied toAbnormal PsychologyAbnormal Psychology

15From: Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2006), Critical Thinking (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.

But else do we want students to do?

We want them to practice these Elements within certain

Universal Intellectual Standards

Universal Intellectual Standards (p.10-12)

CLARITYACCURACYPRECISIONDEPTHRELEVANCE

LOGICSIGNIFICANCEBREADTHFAIRNESS

Hall.

Why use a rubric?

•Rubric is a “scoring” or “grading device”

•Rubric measures performance of a particular skill (quality of thinking, for example)

•Rubric allows for shared standards

Rubrics are criterion-referenced, rather than norm-referenced. Raters ask, "Did the student meet the criteria for level 5 of the rubric?" rather than "How well did this student do compared to other students?"

How does your rubric match up to Intellectual Standards?

Take a look at your Social Work rubric.Then look at the Intellectual Standards on p.12

Working in your groups, use the Standards to “sum up” the descriptions on the rubric.

Why is that standard important for Social Work students to demonstrate?

For example, look at row 4, column 5 about “multiple responses to other salient perspectives that are important to the analysis of the issue.” (Breadth and Fairness)

How do your critical thinking questions elicit the thinking you need to see?

Sample prompt:

Identify an ethical issue or high risk incident and analyze how you responded to it this month.

How does this question “match up” to the standards by which it will be assessed?

Take a look at the sample answer to this question.

Do you see all the evidence of the critical thinking criteria being “completely fulfilled”? What is missing?

Possible SolutionRephrase the question to help guide the student through the thinking process—to meet the standards-- you are looking for.

For example:“Briefly describe an ethical problem or high risk incident that you responded to this past month. Provide at least two examples of evidence or pieces of information that informed your response or reaction. What were possible solutions, what were the consequences, and what did you decide to do? Based on your reflection, how could you have responded differently? Are there other points of view or perspectives that did—or might have—influenced your decision?”

Possible ways to enhance your critical thinking assignments:1. Focus on the articulation and

examination of one thinking skill per month, and then after 4 months, ask students to look back and integrate or assess what they have learned.

2. Revise questions to guide students through the thinking process that you want them to practice.

3. Revisit your goals—what do you want to see students be able to do? How will you know when they can do it?

The result: a well-cultivated critical thinker Raises vital questions and problems,

formulating them clearly and precisely Gathers and assesses relevant information,

using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and

solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards

Thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as needs be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences

Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems