Generic Rubrics for Possible Critical Thinking Outcomes (University of West Florida
Uses criteria to determine suitability of source material Generates sufficient breadth in selected sources Assesses overall quality of supporting material. Show & Tell: Find an example in the popular press or the advertising industry where there is a problematic cause-and-effect claim.
Objective Measures of Critical Thinking
Reading and critical thinking are measured within the framework of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Format: Derived from the California Test of Critical Thinking Skills (listed above), with added rationale choices. Although critical thinking is difficult to define, we attempt to accurately measure it by assessing its various components.
In this chapter we will examine how we assess critical thinking at various points during our students' training. This increase in critical thinking scores can be attributed to the coursework students have completed since JMU's inception. From this argument it follows that we can also use measures to assess scientific reasoning as a measure of our students' critical thinking.
Furthermore, to the extent that scientific reasoning is related to critical thinking, these data support the claim that our students' critical thinking skills improve over that time. In addition to assessing critical thinking in our psychology students engaged in general education courses, we also test critical thinking at the end of our students' undergraduate careers. First, we are able to compare our seniors' critical thinking scores with students from other schools.
Second, we can measure whether changes in our direction will affect critical thinking outcomes. Since this is only the first year of the new major, it is too early to tell whether the new curriculum will increase students' experiences with critical thinking. There are a variety of tests suitable for students, and each covers different critical thinking skills.
Assessing critical thinking is not easy, but we enjoy the challenge of trying to measure the construct.
Directions for Self-Reflection Exercise on APA’s Learning Goals for the Psychology Major
Example of Goal 3 and Quantitative and Qualitative Questions Assessed
Critical Thinking Skills in Psychology
One of the challenges of teaching psychological concepts is that many of the concepts we use in psychology are used differently in everyday language. Another challenge is that a concept may have multiple definitions in the psychological literature or may be used in many cases without being defined. The purpose of this chapter is to describe a methodology that we have found to be successful in overcoming these challenges and in developing critical thinking skills.
Like many of the concepts we learn in psychology, critical thinking can be understood in a variety of ways (Appleby, 2006; Halonen, 1995). For the purposes of this discussion, Appleby's definition of critical thinking, which focuses on the cognitive skills used to make decisions, will be used (Appleby, 2006). In this approach, students systematically progress through Appleby's six skills by engaging in the process of developing an instrument to measure a specific concept.
Individual assessment: exam components where students have to define and compare/contrast multiple definitions of the same concept. Discussion topic: Components of a measuring instrument Group activity: Creation of a new instrument to measure the concept. Individual Assignment: Response document that identifies the definition of the concept used to design the instrument and describes the decisions made to design the instrument.
Group Activity: Peer Evaluation and Feedback of Group Instruments Critical Thinking: Analysis and Synthesis. Group activity: Discussion of evaluation tasks; Revise the original group instrument Individual assignment: Response paper that provides the concept definition that best reflects the new instrument, provides a rationale for each component of the instrument, describes changes made in the revision process, and indicates the sources of those changes (peer feedback, sample lay instrument, sample professional instrument). Stress is an excellent example of a concept in psychology that is used differently in everyday language, has several definitions in the psychology literature, and is often used in the literature without definition.
For example, stress is often used in everyday conversation as an indication of how we feel ("I'm so stressed"), of the demands in our lives ("This job is so stressful"), or as an explanation for someone else's behavior ("She snapped at you because she is under a lot of stress").
Concept Definitions
The approach presented here is exemplified using the concept of stress (as taught in a stress and illness course), although this approach could be used for any concept in any course. In the literature, two common ways of defining stress are as (a) the events in our lives that cause psychological or physical threat (stressors) or as (b) a change in physiological activity in response to a stressor (strain; Sarafino , 2002, p. 71). The differences in these definitions are significant, especially if stress is discussed as a predictor of disease.
Comprehension test items may ask students to compare and contrast stressors and strains or major life events and everyday hassles. Comprehension test items may also ask students to explain why it is important to know whether a researcher defines stress as stressor or strain.
Instrument Components
Reliability and Validity Concepts and Biopsychosocial Model
Prior to this class meeting, each student prints and completes all of the instruments designed to measure stress created by each group in the class. After the class discussion on reliability, validity, and the biopsychosocial model, students meet with their original groups and pair with another group to discuss these concepts and provide feedback on their instruments. Students are instructed to verify the definition of stress reflected in their respective instruments, ask the other group for clarification where necessary, and make suggestions on how to improve directions, topics, and response format.
Students are also instructed to reason about how the different definitions of stress fit within the three components of the biopsychosocial model (e.g., an instrument that measures stress reflects the biological component), and to predict the reliability and validity of their instruments. To develop analysis, students must be able to discuss how the different definitions of stress fit within the three components of the biopsychosocial model. To demonstrate synthesis, students must be able to explain why reliability and validity, concepts learned in other courses, are relevant to defining and measuring stress.
Evaluation of Existing Measurement Instruments
Final Project
All of Appleby's six critical thinking skills (retention, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation) are assessed through the final project. The use of cognitive words (think, discover and believe) is particularly relevant for critical thinking. Many instructors have used television and movies to teach critical thinking about psychological concepts.
In the previous part of the chapter, activities that encourage critical thinking in teaching the subject content were described. We illustrate this tapestry approach to critical thinking with case studies from a cognitive psychology course and a history and systems psychology course. Our overall approach identifies opportunities for critical thinking that are part of the course content and course resources.
History and systems psychology courses offer many opportunities for teaching and learning critical thinking. Another opportunity for critical thinking in the history of psychology is how to understand the many schools and systems of psychology. Prescriptives are one way to weave critical thinking into the tapestry of a history and systems course.
Effort can stimulate a range of critical thinking skills and dispositions (Wade & Tavris, 1987). The critical thinking dimension of the course was evident and appreciated by many students. We have also described two course case studies that illustrate how to weave critical thinking into course structure.
In addition, instructors who employ critical thinking take advantage of the diversity of students in a class.
Robert Watson’s (1967) Contrasting Prescriptions of Psychology
Assigning students to write about the issue can lead to independent discovery of the discrepancy. The framework can be used to explicitly point out the connection between course teaching methods and the development of these important critical thinking skills. Additionally, it can help students see the connection between these critical thinking skills and the course's various activities and skill assessments.
Teachers can then tell students that their job is to demonstrate their ability to recall and understand each of the critical thinking skills. The complexity of the CT skills assessed during the exams also increases over the course of the semester. About a third of the course is devoted to lectures, lectures, and classroom discussions about what psychologists think about critical thinking.
This instruction further serves as background for the remaining two-thirds of the course which emphasizes the application of critical thinking to team projects involving problem solving. Below we discuss some of the more prominent barriers that can make it particularly difficult to teach critical thinking in statistics and research methods. Each of the barriers noted above presents a challenge for instructors seeking to teach critical thinking in statistics and research methods courses.
Some authors even argue that writing is a form of problem solving (Flower, 1998; see also Hayes, 2006; Hayes & Flower, 1980), one of the tools in the arsenal of critical thinking. Students submit their journals seven times per semester (approximately every 2 weeks), and the total grade for the journal is the same percentage of the final grade as the exam (usually about 15%). Analyze your service learning experience using two different theories from the first half of the course.
My initial generalization of the students' behavior was based on my opinion of their personalities. To encourage critical thinking about the nature of the episodic memory process, we introduce the paradigm and then ask students to make predictions about the results (although they can access their results and the larger group online, many do not use of this feature of CogLab). As suggested by Levine (2001), the use of journal articles can promote critical thinking and understanding of the psychological research process.
