The ENVIRONMENTS FOR
FOSTERING EFFECTIVE
CRITICAL THINKING (EFFECTs)
NSF EFFECTs Project Overview
Acknowledgments
• EFFECTs was developed through NSF CCLI
Phase I Award
▫ “Developing an Engineering Environment for
Fostering Effective Critical Thinking (EFFECT)
through Measurements” [DUE 0633635]
• EFFECTs is being expanded to create a
Community of Practice through NSF TUES
Type 2 Award
▫ “Implementing and Assessing Strategies for
Environments for Fostering Effective Critical
Thinking (EFFECTs) Development and
Implementation [DUE 1022971]
Acknowledgments
• University of South Carolina
▫ Nicole Berge, Juan Caicedo, Joe Flora, Sarah
Gassman, Nathan Huynh, Steve McAnally, Bob
Petrulis, Charlie Pierce, Navid Saleh, Briana
Timmerman
• Marshall University
▫ Jeff Huffman, Andrew Nichols, Rick McCormick,
Paulus Wahjudi, Isaac Wait, Sydney Wait
• University of Virgin Islands
• Midlands Technical College, Columbia SC
• Beaufort Middle School, Beaufort SC
Motivations
• Concept hatched in 2005 to improve teaching and
learning in the Department of Civil & Environmental
Engineering at the University of South Carolina
• Formulated out of desire to …
▫ find a better way to stimulate our undergraduate
students in critical thought
▫ show that we can document evidence of critical
thinking
Actions
• EFFECTs were first implemented in 2007 through
creation of ECIV 101 – Introduction to Civil
Engineering (e.g. Pierce et al. 2012)
• As of 2013, EFFECTs have been integrated into
more than 24 engineering, computer science, and
physics courses across four institutions
▫ electrical engineering (Wait 2012)
▫ environmental engineering (Berge and Flora 2010)
▫ geotechnical engineering (Pierce et al. 2013,
forthcoming)
Workshops
• 1st Annual EFFECTs Workshop
▫ University of South Carolina, Columbia SC [2011]
• 2nd Annual EFFECTs Workshop
▫ Marshall University, Huntington WV [2012]
• 3rd Annual EFFECTs Workshop
▫ Tennessee Technological University,
Cookeville TN [2013]
Broader Impacts
CAREER: Cooperative Human-Computer Model Updating Cognitive Systems
(MUCogS), Caicedo, $430,000
CAREER: Hydrothermal Carbonization of Mixed Feedstocks: Implications for
Sustainable Waste Management, Berge, $411,107
NUE: Nano in a Global Context for Engineering Students,
Saleh/Johnson/Caicedo, $200,000
REU Site: International REU Program in Smart Structures,
Caicedo/Yun/Christenson, $107,683 (~$300,000 Total)
Development and Implementation of Staggered BEM-FEM for the Assessment
of Vibrations Induced By High Speed Trains, Rizos/Caicedo, $240,000
Simulation of Integrated Urban Infrastructure Systems using ComponentBased Modeling, Goodall/Huynh/Caicedo, $280,000
Notes
• Please send me an email
(piercec@cec.sc.edu) if interested in receiving
workshop slides, referenced papers, or other
information about EFFECTs
• EFFECTs website located at
https://sdii.ce.sc.edu/effects
The ENVIRONMENTS FOR
FOSTERING EFFECTIVE
CRITICAL THINKING (EFFECTs)
What is an EFFECT?
Student-Centered Learning
“Be a curator of content, not a
creator of content.”
Student-Centered Learning
• EFFECTs create an environment for studentcentered learning (SCL), a well-established
paradigm in higher education that is highly
effective in engineering (e.g. Felder et al. 2000)
• EFFECTs integrate three approaches that
promote SCL
▫ inductive learning
▫ active learning
▫ cooperative learning
Student-Centered Learning
• The teacher serves as a facilitator of learning
rather than a direct instructor of content
• Fundamental Premise: If we compel students
to be responsible for their own learning, then
they will need to think critically to be
successful.
What is Critical Thinking?
• Interactive Exercise
• Distribute Critical Thinking Decision Worksheets
• Hand out individual worksheets followed with
group worksheets
• Collect group worksheets
• Record example descriptions or definitions of
critical thinking on next slide
What is Critical Thinking?
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
• 4.
• 5.
Critical Thinking
• Research in cognitive science shows that critical
thinking is not a skill that, once learned, can be
repeated and applied in all situations
• Rather, the processes of thinking are intertwined
with domain knowledge, meaning that it is
contingent on content (Willingham 2007)
• Therefore, there must be critical thinking
skills that are engineering-specific
Critical Thinking
• Facione (1998) : “the process of purposeful,
self-regulatory judgment,” where that process
encompasses “reasoned consideration to the
evidence, context, conceptualization, methods,
and criteria by which those judgments are
made”
• Lipman (1988) : “skillful, responsible thinking
that facilitates good engineering judgment
because it relies upon criteria, is self
correcting, and is sensitive to content”
Critical Thinking
• Critical thinking can be described as a subset of
three types of thinking (Willingham 2007) :
▫ reasoning
 qualitative and quantitative (e.g. abilities to estimate
and demonstrate sense of magnitude and scale)
▫ problem solving
▫ making judgments and decisions
Critical Thinking in EFFECTs
• EFFECTs facilitate critical thinking through :
▫ provision of discipline-specific context
 e.g. geotechnical problem within civil engineering
▫ self-identification of criteria and constraints
 e.g. to create a good solution to a design problem
▫ opportunities for self-exploration and selfcorrection
 e.g. active learning and reflective writing
▫ self-comparison of initial and final solutions
 e.g. final report
Engineering Judgment
Context
Design and analysis process
Core knowledge
Authentic experience
Fundamental
technical
skills
Criteria
“They let you make your own
mistakes to begin with …”
Critical
thinking
Solution
Engineering
judgement
Self
Correction
“… they didn’t penalize you if you did
something crazy that was wrong. They
wanted to encourage you to try crazy
ideas …”
What is an EFFECT?
• Instructional framework …
• … to package and deliver content in a realistic
context, and
• … to promote active learning environments, and
• … to evaluate student learning of content in
terms of core knowledge and critical thinking
What is an EFFECT?
“I think the best part … was every two weeks we got a
piece of paper and it had a situation. And they asked
us to just estimate anything, really, in our heads …
what would happen if different situations happened, in
terms of civil engineering. We just had to put whatever
our estimation was, or write out all these factors on
each page. Then as the week progressed, you
basically made that situation come to life with the
hands-on activities. You see how your estimates
were, at the end. I thought it was cool to see what
your theories are, in real life, instead of just on paper
and numbers and variables.”
- ECIV 101 student
What is an EFFECT?
Decision Worksheet
[context and criteria]
+
Active Learning
Modules
[content and selfcorrection]
=
Final Report
EFFECTs are Active!
• active learning
techniques are the
heart of EFFFECTs
• integrate hands-on
and minds-on
activities
EFFECTs are Adaptable!
• developed and
implemented at
different academic
levels and settings
[e.g. freshmen
through graduate
level]
EFFECTs are Adaptable!
• developed and
implemented in all
classroom
environments [e.g.
small interactive
classes, lab classes,
large lecture classes]
EFFECTs are Adaptable!
• developed and
implemented in nonengineering courses
[e.g. computer
science, physics,
history, student in
university]
EFFECTs are Flexible and Modular!
• can use as few or as
many active learning
modules as desired
• can use one module
for multiple concepts
• can use multiple
modules for one
concept
• can interchange
modules
EFFECTs are Integrative!
• integrative, not
additive
• pedagogical
approach for
packaging and
delivering the same
course material
STEM Educational Innovations
Predictors of Dissemination Success
• Four Sets of Characteristics
▫ Innovation, Student, Faculty, Administration
• Student Characteristics
▫
▫
▫
▫
Student Engagement
Motivation to Learn
Enhance Learning
Receptivity to Change