Assessment of critical thinking ability in medical students

In this study conducted with 80 first‐year students in a graduate medical course at the Australian National University, Canberra, students’ critical thinking skills were assessed using the Watson‐Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (Forms A and B) in a test‐retest design. Results suggested that overall subjects retained consistent patterns of ability in critical thinking over the year. Subjects aged 30 years and over were more likely to perform better on the tests than subjects aged under 30. However, there was a significantly lower group mean on Form B than on Form A. Subjects with an above‐mean score on Form A, or subjects aged 30 years and over, were more likely to be associated with a reduced score on Form B than were subjects with a below‐mean score on Form A, or aged less than 30 years. In motivational terms, it is suggested that subjects who had more highly developed critical thinking skills, and older subjects, conducted a more realistic effort/reward analysis before the administration of Form B, and were less willing to put effort into a test that was not an assessable component of their medical school curriculum, than were other students. For the design of assessment items in higher education, this would suggest that assessment weightings need to reflect accurately the size of the reward, or possible outcome, of completing those assessments if students are to work to their ability.     

Investigating the synergy of critical thinking and creative thinking in the course of integrated activity in Taiwan

The relationship lying between critical thinking and creative thinking is opposite or complementary, results of previous relevant researches have not yet concluded. However, most of researches put the effort to compare the respective effect of the thinking methods, either the teaching of creative thinking or that of critical thinking. Less of them showed the interest to investigate the combined effect of these two thinking skills teaching, especially its synergy. Therefore, present study aimed to discuss the synergy of critical thinking and creative thinking, and investigated the joined effect of these two methods of thinking in the courses of ‘Integrated Activity courses’. Not only the separate influence but also the synergy would be our interests. Moreover, the outcome would also be compared with the learning result of single creative thinking skill teaching. Participants were 147 male students and 118 female students of ninth grade from 8 intact classes in a public middle school in Taiwan, the number of total participants were 265. Experimental design was ‘nonequivalent control group pretest/post-test quasi-experimental design’. Participants were assigned into three groups, three intact classes for creative thinking teaching group (EG1), three intact classes for ‘critical thinking and creative thinking combined teaching group (EG2)’ and two intact classes for regular teaching method group (watching video, control group). All participants took the assessment ‘The New Creative-Thinking Testing’ and ‘The Critical-Thinking Testing, Level 1’ after receiving the courses as post-test. Data were analysed statistically by one-way ANCOVA. The results showed that:

1. Regards to the performance in Integrated Activity courses, no significant difference was found among students in EG1 and those in EG2. However, the students in both experimental groups got higher scores than those in control group did.

2. As for the ability of critical thinking, students in EG2 got higher score than those in EG1 and CG did, but no difference was found among the students in EG1 and those in CG.

3. In respect of originality, students in EG2 got higher score than those in EG1 did, the influence of critical thinking was significant.

Theoretical and possible applications of the results were also discussed. Present study not only manifests the correlation between creative thinking and critical thinking, but also provides the empirical data for synergy in actual pedagogical situations.     

批判性思维研究概述

批判性思维研究在一些基本问题上还存在分歧。本文在相关文献、资料的基础上,对批判性思维的涵义、本质、研究现状、相关理论及批判性思维的培养等方面进行了综述。     

教师批判性思维倾向量表(TCTS)的修订

本研究的目的在于以分析教师批判性思维倾向(Teacher Critical Thinking)的结构为基础,制订教师批判性思维倾向的测量工具。原始问卷根据台湾学者朱苑瑜、叶玉珠编制完成的《批判性思考倾向量表》及教师批判性思维倾向的理论定义而构造。489位中小学教师参加了测验。要求被试在6点量表上评定问卷的每一个条目是否适合描述他们自己,“1”代表非常同意,“6”代表非常不同意。测验结果得到了一个由12个条目构成的四因素结构的教师批判性思维倾向量表,该因素解释总变异的74.2%,量表平均分为27.12,标准差为10.98,无显著性性别差异(t=.336,P=.737)。统计分析还表明:该量表具有较好的内部一致性信度(a=.9496)和折半信度(r=.9384)。本量表适合在中小学教师中使用,稳定性较强,项目较少,简便易行。     

Critical thinking in criminology: critical reflections on learning and teaching

Fostering critical thinking abilities amongst students is one component of preparing them to navigate uncertain and complex social lives and employment circumstances. One conceptualisation of critical thinking, valuable in higher education, draws from critical theory to promote social justice and redress power inequities. This study explored how students’ critical thinking developed in a discrete core unit of criminology. Second and third year students were invited to participate in the research. Participants wrote critical reflections on how their thinking about crime and criminal justice had developed throughout the unit. Analysis of responses indicated that certain topics were salient to students, offering a way to engage them in deeper thinking. Students’ critical reflections showed evidence of personally relevant meaning-making, including the development of more nuanced thinking about crime and justice, and more compassionate rationales for aspiring to careers within the field. Implications for learning and teaching critical thinking in criminology are discussed.     

对西安市城镇高中生批判性思维的初步调查

This paper reports the development of critical thinking of urban high school students in the Chinese city of Xi’an. It presents the assessment of the students’ two components of critical thinking: dispositions towards critical thinking and critical thinking skills, using the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test. Results show that the students’ dispositions toward critical thinking are at an average level while their critical thinking skills are very low. This research also shows that there is no significant difference between students from science classes and arts classes in their critical thinking dispositions while science students have a higher level of critical thinking skills. Students from advanced classes have a higher level of the two components of critical thinking than their counterparts from general classes. There are no differences between male students and female students in both components.      

在英语阅读课中培养学生批判性思维能力

在我国的传统教学过程中,对批判性思维能力在教学中的运用和培养不够重视,在英语阅读教学中更是如此。由于英语阅读中对学生的语言结构和信息处理的要求比较高,需要学生对阅读文本进行深层次的理解,因此,就需要学生充分发挥出主体性批判性的阅读技能。大多数学生批判性思维能力不够强,所以,教师需要注意在英语阅读教学中培养学生的批判性思维能力。本文就批判性思维的含义和重要性进行研究,并探讨在英语阅读中培养学生批判性思维能力的对策,以便有效的提高学生的批判性思维能力,提高英语阅读效率。     

Multimodal analysis for critical thinking

This paper proposes a pedagogical approach for teaching and learning critical thinking through multimodal analysis – that is, ‘multimodal analysis for critical thinking'. The approach builds on the conviction that students require competencies that move beyond traditional notions of literacy to meet the changing demands posed by media and technology in the twenty-first century. The approach takes a social semiotic view toward critical multimodal literacy, which aims to provide students with an analytical metalanguage for the systematic analysis of multimodal texts and videos. The pedagogical approach is facilitated through the use of purpose-built software applications with comprehensive analytical frameworks designed to support the systematic teaching and learning of multimodal analysis, with a view to developing the critical literacy skills needed for life in the digital age. The potential efficacies of the approach are illustrated via the exposition of software functionalities and the sample analyses of a printed text with image components, and a short advocacy video.     

Discerning student thinking: a practical theoretical framework for recognising or informally assessing different ways of thinking

We expect our students to learn different ways of thinking, such as historical empathy or scientific reasoning, reflection, critical analysis, or clinical reasoning. But how do we discern if they have learned these ways of thinking when thinking is often abstract, tacit and seemingly invisible? In this conceptual and theoretical article, I argue that we can discern any kind of thinking, however we define it, if we focus on the observable actions or thinking behaviours associated with that thinking. Based on this argument, I then offer a theoretical framework for teachers so they might recognise and informally assess the particular kind of student thinking they want to cultivate. This framework synthesises several important theories about how we learn to think, and distinguishes six general features a teacher might look for to be more discerning about any kind of thinking: visibility, complexity, frequency, flexibility, independence, and application of the thinking behaviours.     

在物理教学中培养学生的批判性思维

批判性是思维的重要品质之一 ,批判性思维的过程是创造性的思维过程。批判性思维有助于学生创造精神的培养。引导和渗透是培养学生批判性思维的主要渠道。“问题探究式”教学、教会学生质疑、重视错例分析、探讨原始问题等都是培养批判性思维的可行途径。     

行政法教学中的法律思维培养

中国的法学基础教育侧重于将法学基本知识传授给学生,使学生知晓法学的基本概念、构成要件等等。这种传统基础教学有利于学生短期内强行具备一定的法学理论功底,但是这种教学的弊端也是明显的,那就是学生跨入社会后的应变能力不强,作为法律教育的受众特征不明显,在应对社会问题方面并没有真正体现出法律素养。基于此,在法学本科教育阶段,特别是行政法这一门实践性非常强的学科中,应改变传统填鸭式的理论灌输教学方式,侧重于法律思维能力的培养和运用,真正实现法律教育作为社会精英教育的目的。     

我国行政执法的政治学思考

行政执法是我国政治学研究的重要内容。我国国家机构的运行机制还处在不断的完善之中,对行政执法理论及实践研究还不够,一方面要看到行政执法工作取得了巨大成绩,另一方面也要看到行政执法工作存在的问题,以期加强和改进行政执法工作。     

评述高校外语教学中思辨力培养存在的问题

本文讨论了目前思辨力培养中急需解决的两大问题: 1) 如何处理思辨力与外语语言能力培养之间的关系; 2) 怎样才能使思辨力培养与外语语言教学有机地融为一体? 在此基础上,我们运用真实案例,分析高校外语教学思辨力培养现状,同时指出教学中的优点和不足之处,并提出改进建议。     

Using higher order thinking questions to foster critical thinking: a classroom study

To determine if quizzes containing higher order thinking questions are related to critical thinking and test performance when utilised in conjunction with an immersion approach to instruction and effort-based grading, sections of an Educational Psychology course were assigned to one of three quizzing conditions. Quizzes contained factual multiple-choice questions, factual essay questions or essay items requiring higher order thinking. Critical thinking was measured with a pre-test–post-test design and the Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (Short Form). Classroom learning was assessed via multiple-choice and essay tests. Critical thinking increased equally across all sections. The section receiving higher order thinking quizzes performed significantly better than the other two sections on both the multiple-choice and essay portions of the classroom tests. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of methodological approaches to encouraging critical thinking.     

论外语教学中批判性思维的整合

批判性思维是新时代所要求的一种重要的能力,是求职工作中最重要的七大能力之一.但在外语教学中,我们往往只注重语言能力的训练,而忽视了批判性思维的培养.本文分析了在外语教学中整合批判性思维的理由,在过程中所遇到的各种障碍,并提出解决问题的几点策略和方法.     

Teaching critical thinking: Cultural challenges and strategies in Singapore

Among the challenges faced by educators in promoting critical thinking is that of cultural compatibility. Using Singapore as an illustrative case study, this paper explores the cultural challenges and recommended strategies for the teaching of critical thinking in schools. The research for this study is based on a theoretical framework that focuses on two dominant practices of critical thinking: confrontational and individualistic on the one hand, and collegial and communal on the other. Research data shows that the main cultural challenges are the social expectations of teachers as knowledge transmitters and a perception that critical thinking is essentially adversarial. The recommended strategies are the utilisation of cooperative learning strategies and the provision of a safe learning environment. There are two major implications arising from this research study. The first is a need for policymakers and educators to be cognisant of cultural constraints in the teaching of critical thinking. The second is the significance of teacher efficacy to engender student engagement and successful learning within socio‐cultural constraints. The Singapore experience adds to the existing literature by highlighting the existence and significance of communitarian practices of critical thinking in an Asian context.     

研究性学习引发的教师角色转变

研究性学习作为一种学习方式是与接受式学习相对应的，它的提出不仅顺应了时代对学校教育改革的要求，带来了学生学习方式的变革，同时也引发了一系列教师角色转变。     

科学规律教学中思维能力的培养

培养学生的思维能力是科学规律教学的主要任务之一 ,具体措施为 :获得足够的感性认识、掌握建立规律的思维方法、排除学习规律的思维障碍、理解应用、形成结构。     

Investigating critical thinking and knowledge construction in an interactive learning environment

Critical thinking and knowledge construction have become essential competencies for people in the new information age. In this study, we designed an interactive learning environment involving three forms of interaction: individual reflections, group collaboration and, class discussions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the three forms of interaction promoted students' critical thinking and knowledge construction. Seventeen students at National Institute of Education of Singapore participated in this study. Their reflections and discussions were analyzed by following a content analysis approach. Results showed that writing reflections had potential to promote critical thinking but, not all students thought critically. Knowledge construction in groups and in class discussions happened at lower levels. This paper presents the conceptual framework, design specifications and evaluation results of the ILE. Implications of the results are discussed.     

Enhancing critical thinking using team-based learning

This study examines students’ perceptions of the development of academic and critical thinking skills in college, with a specific focus on team-based learning (TBL), an active learning strategy designed to increase student interaction and engagement. Six hundred and fifty students in five different courses were surveyed at the beginning of the semester about the extent to which they felt the typical college course enhances various academic and critical thinking skills. These responses were compared to their responses after a semester of TBL regarding the extent to which the TBL environment enhanced these same skills. Students expressed significantly greater improvement in critical thinking skills in a TBL environment in comparison to typical courses for most of the skills assessed and greater improvement in all of these skills in comparison to lecture-based courses. These results held for every demographic subgroup examined, including males, females, freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as all levels of academic achievement as measured by grade point average.