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
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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?
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
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.
Critical thinking is
the intellectually disciplined process that
results in a guide to belief and action.
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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?
Social Work 670/671 Course Objective #1:
Develop critical thinking skills
1) Formulating problems, questions
2) Assessing information
3) 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.
Paul-Elder Critical Thinking
Model
Intellectual Standards
Accuracy
Clarity
Relevance
Logic
Sufficiency
Precision
Depth
Significance
Fairness
Breadth
Intellectual Traits
Humility
Perseverance
Autonomy
Empathy
FairIntegrity
mindedness Confidence in
reasoning
Courage
Must be applied
to
Elements of Thought
Purposes
Inferences
Questions
Concepts
Points of view Implications
Information Assumptions
to develop
12
8 Elements of Thought (p. 5)
Whenever we think:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Elements of Thought Wheel
We think for a purpose
Within a point of view
Based on assumptions
Leading to implications and
consequences
Using data, facts and
experiences
To make inferences and
judgments
Based on concepts and
theories
To answer a question or solve
a problem
13
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 to
Abnormal Psychology
From: Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2006), Critical
15
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)
CLARITY
ACCURACY
PRECISION
DEPTH
RELEVANCE
LOGIC
SIGNIFICANCE
BREADTH
FAIRNESS
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 normreferenced. 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 Solution
Rephrase 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
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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