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Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills in Engineering Education Sayyad Basim Qamar (PhD Student) Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills in Engineering Education
Abstract
The main task of engineers is designing and manufacturing of useful products. Rapid progress in science and technology is creating more innovative techniques and more advanced products. For today's engineering graduates to be successful, they must be able to solve complex and open-ended problems, and be capable of independent and critical thinking. Critical thinking (CT) can be simply defined as the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgment. Nurturing of critical thinking skills in students is generally deemed an uphill task by instructors at engineering universities. Quantitative assessment of CT skills and tasks is an even grayer area. This paper presents an overview of the different issues related to instruction and assessment of CT skills, and the various methods adopted, especially in the context of engineering education. Some of the more interesting issues discussed are classroom exercises for CT assessment; self-assessment of CT skills; CT assessment design, quantification, and summative assessment; taxonomy of CT assessment; and limitations of standardized CT assessment. This brief but in-depth review can be useful for engineering students and instructors targeting the development of CT skills, and for other branches of education. Introduction In a nutshell, engineering is the designing and manufacturing of useful products. Due to rapid advances, products are becoming increasingly innovative and complex [1,2]. Successful engineering graduates should have the ability to solve complex and open-ended problems, and to exercise critical thinking [3-5]. A group of United States companies published a report in 2006 [6] according to which employers rate critical thinking (CT) as the most highly desired skill of recent graduates. However, over 90% of the surveyed employers were of the opinion that college graduates were deficient in CT skills. Though hardly anyone disputes the importance of CT, it is quite evident that CT instruction is inadequately addressed in most college curricula. Even after years of university education, in courses that claim to develop higher-order cognitive thinking, many students graduate with limited CT skills [7].
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This article examines a technique for engaging critical thinking on multiple-choice exams. University students were encouraged to “challenge” the validity of any exam question they believed to be unfair (e.g., more than one equally correct answer, ambiguous wording, etc.). The number of valid challenges a student wrote was a better predictor of exam scores than the number of invalid challenges or GPA. The technique also allows instructors to gain insight into the sources of students’ errors that may be useful in improving instruction.
This project evaluated the effectiveness of a course design within an upper-level biology course that incorporated what prior scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research has suggested to be best practices for developing critical thinking skills while also managing the grading load on the instructor. These efforts centered on the development of a clearly articulated subset of skills identified by the Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT) as well as incorporated learning experiences designed to instill what we refer to as a “habit of critical investigation.” In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a single semester of an aligned course utilizing active learning and multiple opportunities for practice and feedback would: (a) increase the extent to which students agreed with the importance of questioning the credibility of claims across the semester, (b) increase the frequency at which students reported personally questioning the credibility of claims across the semester, (c) increase the number of students reporting investigation techniques consistent with critical investigation across the semester and (d) result in significantly greater student performance on the CAT questions that assessed the sub-skills practiced in the course when compared to the performance of a representative group of senior students at our institution. We observed substantial and significant gains in both the frequency at which students reported questioning claims and the degree to which their reported investigative actions were consistent with critical investigation. Furthermore, on the critical thinking sub-skills most aligned with what was practiced in the course, the experimental group significantly outperformed the comparison group.
In this paper we describe a simple software system that allows students to practise their critical thinking skills by constructing argument maps of natural language arguments. As the students construct their maps of an argument, the system provides automatic, real time feedback on their progress. We outline the background and theoretical framework that led to the development of the system and then give a detailed example of how a student would work through a particular argument mapping exercise using the software. We then describe how the system was used in a single semester undergraduate critical thinking course. We evaluated the course using a standardised critical thinking test and measured an improvement in critical thinking skills of 0.45 standard deviations from pre-test to post-test; a modest, but encouraging result for a single semester course. We compare these results to those obtained in a number of other critical thinking courses, incorporating a variety of teaching methods. We conclude the paper with some comments on the limitations of the system and ways in which it might be improved and extended.
Critical thinking (CT) is purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanations of the considerations on which that judgment is based. This article summarizes the available empirical evidence on the impact of instruction on the development and enhancement of critical thinking skills and dispositions and student achievement. The review includes 341 effects sizes drawn from quasi- or true-experimental studies that used standardized measures of CT as outcome variables. The weighted random effects mean effect size (g+) was 0.30 (p <.001). The collection was heterogeneous (p <.001). Results demonstrate that there are effective strategies for teaching CT skills, both generic and content specific, and CT dispositions, at all educational levels and across all disciplinary areas. Notably, the opportunity for dialogue, the exposure of students to authentic or situated problems and examples, and mentoring had positive effects on CT skills.
Theorists have hypothesized that skill in critical thinking is positively correlated with the consistent internal motivation to think and that specific critical thinking skills are matched with specific critical thinking dispositions. If true, these assumptions suggest that a skill-focused curriculum
would lead persons to be both willing and able to think. This essay presents a researchbased expert consensus definition of critical thinking, argues that human dispositions are neither hidden nor unknowable, describes a scientific process of developing conventional testing tools to measure cognitive skills and human dispositions, and summarizes recent empirical research findings that explore the possible relationship of critical thinking skill and the consistent internal motivation, or disposition, to use that skill. Empirical studies indicate that for all practical purposes the hypothesized correlations are not evident. It would appear that effective teaching must include strategies for building intellectual character rather than relying exclusively on strengthening cognitive skills
The reflective judgment model (RJM) describes the development of complex reasoning in late adolescents and adults, and how the epistemological assumptions people hold are related to the way they make judgments about controversial (ill-structured) issues. This article describes the theoretical assumptions that have guided the development of the RJM in the last 25 years, showing how these ideas influenced the development of assessment protocols and led to the selection of research strategies for theory validation purposes. Strategies discussed here include a series of longitudinal studies to validate the proposed developmental sequence, cross-sectional studies examining age/educational level differences, and studies of domain specificity. Suggestions for assessing and promoting reflective thinking based on these findings are also offered here.
This article draws six key lessons from cognitive science for teachers of critical thinking. The lessons are: acquiring expertise in critical thinking is hard; practice in critical-thinking skills themselves enhances skills; the transfer of skills must be practiced; some theoretical knowledge is required; diagramming arguments (“argument mapping”) promotes skill; and students are prone to belief preservation. The article provides some guidelines for teaching practice in light of these lessons.
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proposed a four-component model for promoting the transfer of critical thinking. One of them, the "structural component," focuses on how to organize teaching so that critical thinking skills can be generalized. Here, we assess the efficiency of that type of organization. Thus, one group of university students received instruction following the suggestions specified in that component and their performance was compared with that of other university students who received instruction in the same skills but using a different procedure, and with that of a control group. In comparison with the control group, the performance of both instructed groups was better after training. However, no significant differences were observed between either instruction group; both forms of instruction afforded very similar results. Halpern (1998) propuso un modelo de cuatro componentes para promocionar la transferencia del pensamiento crítico. Uno de ellos, el "componente estructural", se centra en cómo organizar la enseñanza para que las habilidades del pensamiento crítico puedan generalizarse. En este trabajo, evaluamos la eficiencia de este tipo de organización. Así, un grupo de estudiantes universitarios recibieron instrucción siguiendo las sugerencias especificadas en ese componente y su ejecución se comparó con la de otro grupo de estudiantes universitarios que recibieron instrucción en las mismas habilidades pero usando un procedimiento diferente, y con la de un grupo control. En comparación con el grupo control, la ejecución de ambos grupos instruidos fue mejor después del entrenamiento. Sin embargo, no se observaron diferencias significativas entre los dos grupos de instrucción; ambas formas de instrucción produjeron resultados muy similares. Palabras clave:
We developed a rubric to assess several of our department's undergraduate student learning outcomes (SLOs). Target SLOs include applications of principles of research methodology, using appropriate statistics, adherence to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, and written communication skills. We randomly sampled 20 percent (N = 55) of the final written manuscripts from several sections of a research methods course and trained 2 graduate-level raters to use the rubric to score the students' papers. We found statistically significant interrater reliability and convergent validity coefficients. These findings are discussed to encourage the development and evaluation of such rubrics to be used across colleges and universities.
Critical thinking is a valued educational outcome; however, little is known about whether psychology courses, especially ones such as research methods courses that might be expected to promote critical thinking skills, actually improve them. We compared the acquisition of critical thinking skills for analyzing psychological arguments in 3 groups of research methods students, 1 getting critical thinking skills infused directly into their course and 2 other groups getting no explicit critical thinking skills instruction. We found that the group receiving explicit critical thinking skills instruction showed significantly greater gains in their argument analysis skills than the groups receiving no explicit critical thinking instruction. These results support the effectiveness of explicitly teaching critical thinking skills infused directly into regular course instruction.
In this article, we examine the disposition for critical thinking (CT) from three perspectives and analyse the underlying
constructs of the disposition for CT, such as one’s ability, sensitivity and inclination to engage in critical, mindful thought.
Environmental factors that enhance or inhibit the development of a generalisable disposition for critical thought are discussed.
Finally, we present a set of empirically-verified classroom practices that can help to foster a disposition for CT.
KeywordsClassroom environments–Classroom strategies–Critical thinking–Disposition for critical thinking
This longitudinal case-study aimed at examining whether purposely teaching for the promotion of higher order thinking skills
enhances students’ critical thinking (CT), within the framework of science education. Within a pre-, post-, and post–post
experimental design, high school students, were divided into three research groups. The experimental group (n = 57) consisted of science students who were exposed to teaching strategies designed for enhancing higher order thinking
skills. Two other groups: science (n = 41) and non-science majors (n = 79), were taught traditionally, and acted as control. By using critical thinking assessment instruments, we have found
that the experimental group showed a statistically significant improvement on critical thinking skills components and disposition
towards critical thinking subscales, such as truth-seeking, open-mindedness, self-confidence, and maturity, compared with
the control groups. Our findings suggest that if teachers purposely and persistently practice higher order thinking strategies
for example, dealing in class with real-world problems, encouraging open-ended class discussions, and fostering inquiry-oriented
experiments, there is a good chance for a consequent development of critical thinking capabilities.
Critical thinking is widely considered an essential outcome of higher education, and academic librarians may have a significant role to play in its promotion. Librarians often deliver information literacy instruction to students through online learning objects, like tutorials. If librarians value critical thinking as a component of their teaching, it is important that these tools solicit critical thinking in their users. This study uses a thorough literature review to develop a set of best practices for teaching and assessing critical thinking through online learning objects. Those best practices inform a rubric that can be used to evaluate how much an information literacy online learning object is following best practices for teaching and assessing critical thinking.
Objectives:
As an essential skill in daily clinical nursing practice, critical thinking ability has been an important objective in nursing education. Concept mapping enables nursing students connect new information to existing knowledge and integrates interdisciplinary knowledge. However, there is a lack of evidence related to critical thinking ability and concept mapping in nursing education. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the effect of concept mapping in developing critical thinking in nursing education.
Design:
This systematic review was reported in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA).
Data sources:
A search was conducted in PubMed, Web of science, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Randomized controlled trials (RCT) comparing concept mapping and traditional teaching method were retrieved.
Review methods:
Data were collected by two reviewers according to the data extraction tables. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed by other two reviewers. The results of meta-analysis were presented using mean difference (MD).
Result:
Thirteen trials were summarized in the systematic review and eleven trials were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled effect size showed that, comparing with traditional methods, concept mapping could improve subjects' critical thinking ability measured by California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), California Critical Thinking Skill Test (CCTST) and Critical Thinking Scale (CTS). The subgroup analyses showed that concept mapping improved the score of all subscales.
Conclusion:
The result of this review indicated that concept mapping could affect the critical thinking affective dispositions and critical thinking cognitive skills. Further high quality research using uniform evaluation is required.
In spite of soaring tuition costs, more and more students go to college every year. A bachelor’s degree is now required for entry into a growing number of professions. And some parents begin planning for the expense of sending their kids to college when they’re born. Almost everyone strives to go, but almost no one asks the fundamental question posed by Academically Adrift: are undergraduates really learning anything once they get there?
For a large proportion of students, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa’s answer to that question is a definitive no. Their extensive research draws on survey responses, transcript data, and, for the first time, the state-of-the-art Collegiate Learning Assessment, a standardized test administered to students in their first semester and then again at the end of their second year. According to their analysis of more than 2,300 undergraduates at twenty-four institutions, 45 percent of these students demonstrate no significant improvement in a range of skills—including critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing—during their first two years of college. As troubling as their findings are, Arum and Roksa argue that for many faculty and administrators they will come as no surprise—instead, they are the expected result of a student body distracted by socializing or working and an institutional culture that puts undergraduate learning close to the bottom of the priority list.
Academically Adrift holds sobering lessons for students, faculty, administrators, policy makers, and parents—all of whom are implicated in promoting or at least ignoring contemporary campus culture. Higher education faces crises on a number of fronts, but Arum and Roksa’s report that colleges are failing at their most basic mission will demand the attention of us all.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between critical thinking and the use of concept mapping (CM) and problem-based learning (PBL) during care plan development.
A quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design was conducted using a convenience sample (n = 49) of first-semester undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students. Critical thinking was measured using the Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric. Data analysis consisted of a repeated measures analysis of variance with post hoc mean comparison tests using the Bonferroni method.
Findings indicated that mean critical thinking at phase 4 (CM and PBL) was significantly higher, compared with phase 1 (baseline), phase 2 (PBL), and phase 3 (CM [p < 0.001]).
The results support the utilization of nontraditional instructional (CM and PBL) methodologies in undergraduate nursing curricula. [J Nurs Educ. 2015;54(8):455-459.].
Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.
Assessment of student learning outcomes can be a powerful tool for improvement of instruction when a scientific approach is taken; unfortunately, many educators do not take full advantage of this approach. This article examines benefits of taking a scientific approach to critical thinking assessment and proposes guidelines for planning, conducting, and using assessment research. Specifically, we discuss study design options and strategies for improving the quality of assessment data and the use of such data to improve critical thinking instruction in programs. Examples of practices from three programs that have conducted considerable critical thinking assessment illustrate use of the guidelines. Using scientific assessment to develop evidence-based educational practices shows great promise in contributing to the scholarship of teaching critical thinking.
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Research Notes: Richard Roberts hat bei seinem Kolloquiumsvortrag am 2010-07-02 aus dem Bericht ein paar Daten gezeigt, um die Bedeutung nicht-kognitiver Fähigkeiten zu belegen (Table 5, S. 21). Für mich ist eher interessant, dass die employers zu 64 Prozent Mathematik als very important für den beruflichen Erfolg von Berufseinsteigern einschätzen (auf einer Skala von not important, über important zu very important; bezogen auf Four-Year College Graduates). Damit wird Mathematik zwar als weniger wichtig als etwa die Muttersprache eingeschätzt, aber bleibt der Befund, dass die Fähigkeiten offenbar beim Einstieg in viele Berufszweige eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Das kann ich als Beleg für die Bedeutsamkeit von Mathematikkompetenz auf im Berufsleben heranziehen.
ID - 648
The purpose of this paper is to identify the main problems in assessing reflective learning and to seek ways of tackling them. Lessons are sought from HE’s long engagement with critical thinking that can be transferred to reflective learning. A solution to the problems is offered that is based on a questioning approach to reflective learning. In so doing, the paper explores the nature of reflective learning and advances the idea that the distinction between “surface” and “deep” learning can be generalised to the domain of reflective learning. It concludes with some implications for the development of reflective learning.
Proposes an expanded definition of critical thinking and discusses its components. Includes an outline of goals and objectives for a critical thinking curriculum. (MCG)
This report examines a study on the extent to which California's teacher preparation programs were preparing candidates for teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills in elementary and secondary schools. Researchers conducted interviews with education and subject matter faculty in private and public colleges and universities. Results indicated that few faculty members in teacher preparation had in-depth exposure to research on the concept, and most had only a vague understanding of what critical thinking was and what was involved in bringing it successfully into instruction. Follow-up interviews with participants who had strong responses asked about classroom teaching practices and found that this group (with initially strong responses) had some depth of understanding. Interviews with faculty members who had undergone professional development on critical thinking found that these faculty members were better able to give detailed and plausible accounts of how they approached critical thinking in the classroom. Selections from work turned in at a Critical Thinking workshop for postsecondary faculty members are included. The report presents five policy recommendations that address information dissemination, postsecondary faculty professional development, accreditation standards focused on critical thinking, career-long preparation and reinforcement, and candidate accountability in performance examinations. (Contains 13 references.) (SM)
Faculties are concerned about measurement of critical thinking especially since the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission cited such measurement as a requirement for accreditation (NLNAC, 1997). Some writers and researchers (Alfaro-LeFevre, 1995; Blat, 1989; McPeck, 1981, 1990) describe the need to measure critical thinking within the context of a specific discipline. Based on McPeck's position that critical thinking is discipline-specific, guidelines for developing multiple-choice test items as a means of measuring critical thinking within the discipline of nursing are discussed. Specifically, criteria described by Morrison, Smith, and Britt (1996) for writing critical-thinking multiple-choice test items are reviewed and explained for promoting and measuring critical thinking.
The two-factor theory defines critical thinking skills as a combined effect of cognitive abilities and personality dispositions. Although the available research supports the association between critical thinking and measures of cognitive ability, the specific traits contained in the dispositional factor have not been clearly identified through empirical research. In Study 1,101 undergraduate students completed the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA), three subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition, and the revised NEO Personality Inventory. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that Openness to Experience scores accounted for significant incremental variance in WGCTA scores beyond that accounted for by Similarities subtest scores. In Study 2, similar analyses of data from 105 students also showed significant incremental effects for Openness to Experience, even after more variance in the cognitive factor was accounted for by the Verbal Comprehension Index. Implications of these findings for the enhancement of critical thinking skills in college students are discussed.
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Engineering Education: Challenges, Opportunities, and Future Trends
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Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM-2019), 26-28 Nov
2019, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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