I
I
A session for UofL’s
Library Faculty
Patricia R. Payette, Ph.D.
February 27, 2008

Using Critical Thinking to Foster Student
Learning and Community Engagement
Ideas to Action ( I 2A) is our Quality
Enhancement Plan (QEP), and we need to show measurable progress to the Southern
Association of Colleges and
Schools (SACS) by April 2012.

I
“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] skills and knowledge real-world issues
& problems the parts to the whole http://louisville.edu/ideastoaction/files/finalreport.pdf

One student even suggested that student learning could be improved by offering a course that would aid in memorization.
“Reduce the amount of memorization required for tests, I feel I don’t learn as much by doing this.”
“Decrease the memorization required, can’t remember it all.”
“Regurgitated material (can just read chapters for tests).”
“Too much memorization and no sufficient critical analysis.”
“The subject testing is not challenging due to memorization.”

I 2A: The Learning Paradigm
The (OLD) Instruction Paradigm Mission & Purposes

Provide/deliver instruction
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Transfer knowledge from faculty to students
Offer courses and programs

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Improve the quality of instruction
Achieve access for diverse students
The focus moves from what the instructor is doing or covering to what students are learning….
The (NEW) Learning Paradigm Mission and Purposes
• Produce learning
• Elicit students discovery and construction of knowledge
• Create powerful learning environments
• Improve the quality of learning
• Achieve success for diverse students From Teaching to Learning:
A New Paradigm for
Undergraduate Education
Robert B. Barr and John
Tagg, November/December
1995, Change Magazine

I 2A: What are the components?
Sharpen our existing focus on building critical thinking skills in the general education program…
…..continuing through undergraduate major courses with an emphasis on applying and refining those skills…
…resulting in a culminating experience, such as a thesis, service learning project, internship or capstone project that fosters engagement

 The words ‘critical’ and ‘criteria’ come from the same root word meaning judgment
(Robert Ennis)

What Critical Thinking is NOT
The problem of “egocentric” thinking (p. 21):
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Leads to self-serving perspectives and evaluations
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Leads to a false sense of objectivity
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Leads to flawed thinking
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Lends itself to the unconscious substitution of subjective intuitions for intellectual standards in thinking

Critical Thinking definition adopted for I 2A
(From: Scriven and Paul, 2003)
Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process that results in a guide to belief and action.

A Well-Cultivated Critical Thinker (p. 2):
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(Richard Paul and Linda Elder, the Foundation for Critical Thinking: http://www.criticalthinking.org/)
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

Intellectual Standards
Accuracy Precision
Clarity Depth
Relevance
Logical
Significance
Fairness
Sufficiency Breadth
Which leads to deeper
Intellectual Traits
Humility
Autonomy
Fairmindedness
Courage
Perseverance
Empathy
Integrity
Confidence in reasoning
Must be applied to
Elements of Reasoning
Purposes
Questions
Points of view
Information
Inferences
Concepts
Implications
Assumptions to develop

Point of View
Frames of reference, perspectives, orientations
Purpose
Goals, objectives
Implications and consequences
Question at issue
Problem, issue
Assumptions
Presuppositions, axioms, taking for granted
Theories, definitions, laws, principles, models
Conclusions, solutions
Concepts
Information
Data, facts, observations, experiences
Interpretation and Inference

Social Work
Before: (A prompt question)
Identify an ethical issue or high risk incident and analyze how you responded to it this month.

Social Work
After: (A prompt question)
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?

Central six Standards
CLARITY
Could you elaborate?
Could you illustrate what you mean?
Could you give me an example?
LOGIC
Does all of this make sense together?
Does your first paragraph fit in with your last one?
Does what you say follow from the evidence?
ACCURACY
How could we check on that?
How could we find out if that is true?
How could we verify or test that?
SIGNIFICANCE
Is this the most important problem to consider?
Is this the central idea to focus on?
Which of these facts are most important?
PRECISION
Could you be more specific?
Could you give me more details?
Could you be more exact?
RELEVANCE
How does that relate to the problem?
How does that bear on the question?
How does that help us with the issue?
FAIRNESS
Is my thinking justifiable in context?
Am I taking into account the thinking of others?
Is my purpose fair given the situation?
Am I using my concepts in keeping with educated usage, or am I distorting them to get what I want?
DEPTH
What factors make this difficult?
What are some of the complexities of this question?
What are some of the difficulties we need to deal with?
COMPLETENESS
How complete are the facts related to the issue?
How complete is the description?
Is the description of each perspective complete?
BREADTH
Do we need to look at this from another perspective?
Do we need to consider another point of view?
Do we need to look at this in other ways?

Humanities
Before: Create a sophisticated argument that includes a thesis and supporting evidence from the text.

Humanities After: (Example)
Accuracy: does your thesis hold if you consider the whole range of texts? Does it hold if you consider the internal contradictions within texts?
Precision: Does your thesis require qualification in order to be completely accurate? (For example, does what you say about the sonneteers hold for all the sonneteers or only for some of them?)
Depth: Is your thesis complex enough to deal with the complexity of the texts?
Breadth: Is your thesis complex enough to deal with the range of evidence?
Logic: Look at the transitions between paragraphs: do these
“signpost” the way your argument is put together? If you are comparing, have you used the same criteria on both sides of the comparison? If you are classifying, are the categories distinct and not overlapping?

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Intellectual
Humility
Intellectual
Courage
Intellectual
Empathy
Intellectual
Autonomy
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Intellectual
Integrity
Intellectual
Perseverance
Confidence in
Reason
Fairmindedness

Communication
Before: (Goals for Students)
1.
To understand the communication goals of their particular career path.
2. How web standards aid in communicating effectively online.

Communication
After: (Goals)
The first goal is that the students will develop intellectual
autonomy as they work on the semester-long project.
Periodically, I will check on the student’s progress but I will expect them to conduct the research and build the demonstration website on their own.
This will also build intellectual perseverance as the students learn to plan the project and work consistently on it for the semester. The third goal is to build confidence in reason as students learn how their critical thinking skills can be applied in their career success.

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Communication Capstone Assignment
The written assignment will use the Paul Elder language
During an internship orientation that has already occurred, I used the Paul Elder language and sensitized students to the notion of critical thinking and problem-solution documentation as criteria for evaluation of their internship
Students keep a daily work diary during the internship and have been asked to be cognizant throughout and to document problem-solution situations, their use of relevant
Communication theory/concepts, and their efforts to use those concepts/theories to make inferences and interpretations that will ultimately assist in problem-solving.

1. Become aware and discuss with your colleagues how and
why critical thinking is important to your work.
2. Model for students—in a very explicit way—how you “think
things through.” Give the gift of your time, your mentorship in issues large and small.
3. Remember that students are on a developmental path. Meet them where they are in terms of their readiness for complex decision making. Sometimes the comfort zone is for absolute
“rights and wrongs.”
4. Never forget that at the heart of critical thinking is learning to
ask relevant, important questions. To re-evaluate, to reconsider and reflect on the answers –and then ask the next set of questions—are the intellectual habits of mind we wish to cultivate in our students.

Library Faculty & I 2A…the next steps!
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Familiarity with shared goals and missions
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Shared vocabulary around critical thinking
(Paul-Elder Model)
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Opportunities for culminating experiences outside the traditional format
Task Group Library Liaison
Workshops and training

More resources available on
I2A & Critical Thinking http://www.louisville.edu/ideastoaction

http://www.louisville.edu/ideastoaction
Dr. Patty Payette, I2A Executive Director: patty.payette@louisville.edu
, 852-5171
Dr. Cathy Bays, Delphi Specialist for Assessment: cathy.bays@louisville.edu
, 852-5138
Dr. Edna Ross, Delphi Specialist for Critical
Thinking: edna.ross@louisville.edu
, 852-5105
Hannah Anthony, I2A Program Assistant Senior: hannah.gatlin@louisville.edu
, 852-7611 http://www.louisville.edu/ideastoaction