Critical Thinking Resource
January 11, 2008
Take a look at LFCC’s CCSSE results from 2005 for the Active and Collaborative
Learning Benchmark: (from the CCSSE website, http://www.ccsse.org/survey/publicprofile.cfm?ipeds=232575&source=2005)
Survey Items
N = Number of Respondents
In your experiences at this college during the
current school year, about how often have you
done each of the following?
Frequency
Never
Sometimes
Often
Very Often
Asked questions in class or contributed to class
discussions [N = 767]
3.5%
37.1%
34.4%
25.1%
Made a class presentation [N = 762]
39.3%
36.6%
18.5%
5.7%
Worked with other students on projects during class [N 18.8%
= 762]
42.3%
27.9%
11.0%
Worked with classmates outside of class to prepare
class assignments [N = 760]
46.3%
35.0%
14.2%
4.4%
Tutored or taught other students (paid or voluntary) [N
= 767]
80.2%
13.7%
4.3%
1.9%
Participated in a community-based project as part of a
regular course [N = 766]
88.1%
8.5%
1.9%
1.4%
Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with
others outside of class (students, family members, coworkers, etc.) [N = 765]
13.4%
38.4%
31.3%
16.9%
As part of our QEP efforts this semester, we will be considering these data, along with
other CCSSE results from 2005. In addition, we’ll be sharing tips, strategies, and success
stories for promoting critical thinking in the classroom. If you have comments or
suggestions, please send them to me. I’ll collect ideas and responses each week and
circulate them as part of a single email (we can avoid cluttering everyone’s inbox).
Next week, we’ll begin with the first question: asking questions and participating in class
discussions. If you have ideas or suggestions for strategies that improve class
participation and discussion, send them my way.
Finally, just to get us thinking (and isn’t that the point?), I’ve included below the
NATIONAL norms for these same questions, as gathered in the 2005-2007 CCSSE
results. You should be able to see how we stack up against community colleges across
the US.
Survey Items
N = Number of Respondents
In your experiences at this college during the
current school year, about how often have you
done each of the following?
Frequency
Never
Sometimes
Often
Very Often
Asked questions in class or contributed to class
discussions [N = 309,560]
2.6%
33.2%
35.2%
29.0%
Made a class presentation [N = 308,218]
32.0%
40.2%
19.9%
7.9%
Worked with other students on projects during class [N 13.6%
= 306,193]
40.6%
32.4%
13.4%
Worked with classmates outside of class to prepare
class assignments [N = 307,273]
42.1%
37.1%
15.0%
5.8%
Tutored or taught other students (paid or voluntary) [N
= 308,125]
73.4%
19.2%
4.9%
2.5%
Participated in a community-based project as part of a
regular course [N = 306,764]
79.0%
14.8%
4.3%
1.9%
Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with
others outside of class (students, family members, coworkers, etc.) [N = 307,940]
12.5%
38.3%
30.9%
18.3%
Consider the following statement from the Teaching Effectiveness Program of the
University of Oregon:
“Building an effective online climate demands a commitment to rhetorical dexterity for
all participants – students and instructors. You can expect students to have difficulties
such as:
 Difficulty framing an issue on their own so it can be discussed, rather than
drawing on a pre-defined position.
 Difficulty keeping an issue open for continued discussion (students tend to
look for the “final answer” very early in the discussion).
 Tendency to create a set of parallel monologues on an issue rather than
discussing it with each other in a forward-moving conversation.”
Hmm… I would suggest that if we are seriously committed to critical thinking and active
learning, “rhetorical dexterity” is required in all courses, not just those online. The
difficulties outlined here would be challenging in ANY course, not just those conducted
online.
The http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~tep/technology/blackboard/blackboard.html