Huge Numbers of Students Don't Learn Critical Thinking in College

[marmar]

Booman Tribune, via AlterNet:



Huge Numbers of Students Don't Learn Critical Thinking in College


What happens when you fail to invest in education (and no, I don't mean investment in excessive layers of school administration), the most important single item in our nation's success or failure? You end up with this result:

An unprecedented study that followed several thousand undergraduates through four years of college found that large numbers didn't learn the critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication skills that are widely assumed to be at the core of a college education.

Many of the students graduated without knowing how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument or objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event, according to New York University sociologist Richard Arum, lead author of the study. The students, for example, couldn't determine the cause of an increase in neighborhood crime or how best to respond without being swayed by emotional testimony and political spin. (...)

Forty-five percent of students made no significant improvement in their critical thinking, reasoning or writing skills during the first two years of college, according to the study. After four years, 36 percent showed no significant gains in these so-called "higher order" thinking skills. Read more: link

By the time our kids get to college it is too late to change habits por learn new skills that should have been taught to them in grade k-12 in my opinion. This study does not merely condemn colleges, it throws a harsh light on our primary education system on this country. In general, the US doesn't pay our teachers well (compared to other professions and other nations), nor do we reward them for excellence, nor do we often provide them with a system that accurately assesses their efforts (i.e., No child left behind ring any bells?). .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/441115/huge_numbers_of_students_don%27t_learn_critical_thinking_in_college/

[Turbineguy]

1. I show my students this:

Blooms’s Taxonomy of Critical Thought

KNOWLEDGE LEVEL: Learn the information.

Sample verbs: Define, find, follow directions, identify, know, label, list, memorize, name, quote, read, recall, recite, recognize, select, state, write.

COMPREHENSION LEVEL: Understand the information.

Sample verbs: Account for, explain, express in other terms, give examples, give in your own words, group, infer, interpret, illustrate, paraphrase, recognize, retell, show, simplify, summarize, translate.

APPLICATION LEVEL: Use the information.

Sample verbs: Apply, compute, construct, construct using, convert (in math), demonstrate, derive, develop, discuss, generalize, interview, investigate, keep records, model, participate, perform, plan, produce, prove (in math), solve, use, utilize.

ANALYSIS LEVEL: Break the information down into its component parts.

Sample verbs: Analyze, compare, contrast, criticize, debate, determine, diagram, differentiate, discover, draw conclusions, examine, infer, relate, search, survey, take apart, uncover.

SYNTHESIS LEVEL: Put information together in new and different ways.

Sample verbs: BUILD, combine, create, design, imagine, invent, make-up, produce, propose, present.

EVALUATION LEVEL: Judge the information.

Sample verbs: Assess, defend, evaluate, grade, judge, measure, perform a critique, rank, recommend, select, test, validate, verify.

[MineralMan]

3. How about teaching that, instead of showing it to them?

How about assignments that require the use of that "taxonomy?" Most students can read such a thing a hundred times and not internalize it. Making it impossible to pass some class without demonstrating an understanding of those principles seems like a better idea to me. I'm saying this not as a criticism of you, but of not actually requiring a demonstration of the ability to think critically as a requirement of graduation. It's unconscionable that it is not a requirement, beginning with high school graduation.

[snagglepuss]

6. I've never heard of Blooms’s Taxonomy. Your students are lucky to have

you as a teacher. This is an excellent aid.

[MineralMan]

2. It's not at all surprising. Even back in the late 60s and early 70s,

it was entirely possible to get a B.A. or B.S. without ever having to learn logical processes. I was truly blown away by that fact. Learning to think and to analyze information simply wasn't a requirement for graduation. Very sad business.

[thereismore]

4. They should learn that in high school. This is so sad. nt

[MineralMan]

5. Actually, the groundwork for it should begin on the first day of

kindergarten. Critical thinking is not something that can be taught on a one-time basis. It must be taught as a continuum during all learning. This is where we fail, both as parents and as teachers. It's not something that can be learned through the understanding of some "taxonomy" that was taught in college to teachers. It is a life skill, not an academic skill.

It begins with parents asking their children "Why?" whenever the child states an opinion, and to teach their children to also ask that same question whenever someone makes a statement about causes, or beliefs, or anything that may be questioned. "Why do you think that?" "Why do you feel that way?" "Why did you come to that conclusion?" Then, the teaching begins in how to analyze, experiment, test, read, compare, and all the other stuff that goes into critical thinking. This process needs to be continued throughout the educational process.

We fail miserably at this, and it's a shame on us.

[Erose999]

7. A lot of college graduates don't know how to properly use a library...

I work in a college library, and when I discuss my work with my peers (college educated, young professionals,) the first comment they make is invariably something about the Dewey Decimal System.

Anyone who's ever used an academic research library should know they use the Library of Congress classification system. Dewey is for public and grade school libraries. LC and how to use it properly should be drilled into college students on day one, I mean damn...

[MilesColtrane]

8. Nine years of No Child Left Behind standardized testing coming home to roost?

[leveymg]

9. While critical methods can be taught, it's a state of mind that requires years of applied experience

to hone into a really useful skill that can be used to further a field, such as law, the social sciences, or politics.

Those who have a good grasp of it are instantly recognizable.

Like music or languages, it's also based in an innate talent. I'm not entirely sure that everyone can really master it, but it's part of a decent education.

[closeupready]

10. I was taught to ALWAYS question authority - of ANY kind. Unfortunately,

many people today don't do that, even when it's an authority who is typically on your side. Not questioning and examining assumptions and arguments is a big mistake, IMO.

But it's like people say, young people know everything, and you can't tell them anything. So fine. I guess everyone has to learn critical thinking for themselves.