Studies on Factors Crucial to the Improvement of Students’ Critical Thinking

方莉

Abstract：Based on previous research， the present study details three major strategies conducive to the cultivation of learners critical thinking in the classroom. An example from a writing class is provided to illustrate the interweaving of the lecture with critical thinking enhancement.

Key words：Critical thinking； strategies； college students

中圖分類號：H319 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1672-1578（2018）11-0001-02

Based on the previous paper “A Preliminary Study on How to Promote College Students Critical Thinking in the Classroom” written by the author， the paper is to detail three strategies that help enhance students critical thinking， that is， to cultivate students active thinking， to encourage their exchange of views， and to stimulate learners logic thinking. 1 Cultivation of active thinking among students

What emerges as the most important strategy for the instructors is to create a desirable classroom atmosphere conducive to reflection， inquiry and exploration， which constitutes learners autonomous thinking. There are two feasible ways that serve as facilitators to the creation of such context.

On one hand， it is wise of the instructors to inform students of the importance of active thinking. Students might not be motivated to engage in autonomous thinking unless they are convinced of its value. Educators should encourage learners to become active participants in class rather than a passive recipients of information， and welcome them to question the information and even to confront the authority. By making learners aware of the necessity to follow certain rules that lead to the “reasonableness” of their thinking， such as weighing relevant factors， approaching an issue from several angles， drawing conclusions based on reasons， etc.， the instructor will help with a mental belief formation in the students about what they are supposed to do during the class.

On the other hand， it is imperative to involve students in autonomous thinking through a range of problem-based learning activities such as problem solving， exercises， case analysis， applied and real-world activities， etc. Those instructional activities supply unique opportunities to activate and apply learners acquired knowledge by letting them analyze and settle matters to which that knowledge pertains. As for the problems to be deliberated on， the best way is to ask students to think over an ill-structured question and provide a “best solution” to it with appropriate reasons and evidence. In many courses， students are invited to handle a well-structured question， and they can get expected answers by simply consulting the textbooks without having to make an informed judgment. In this way， learners gradually come to believe that all valid questions have right-or-wrong answers and that their job is merely to learn all the right answers and then give them back on request. Critical thinking gets nowhere. In contrast， the open-ended context of ill-structured problems with many variables requires the student to reflect upon all available information， make a reasonable judgment as well as defend their opinions with solid evidence. Through teaching strategies aimed at helping students address ill-structured problems and incorporation of ill-structured problems into homework， the instructors may accelerate students growth in critical thinking.

Besides， it is necessary that the instructors allow students enough time to think over challenging questions and give them opportunity to ask questions as well. In some classrooms， in order to follow pre-conceived schedule， teachers are not willing to give students any wait time， and tend to ask another students， or answer the questions themselves when students are unable to offer an immediate response， which deprives the learners of the chance to think and thus impact negatively on their critical thinking development. Therefore， to ensure learners enough thinking time deserves the attention.

By encouraging learners to think actively through problem-based activities and offering them enough time to reflect， the instructors will help transform students from passive into active learners. Such transformation is advantageous not only to an individual learner， but also to the entire class because it enables a dormant classroom to convert into one filled with the liveliness of mental engagement （Black 2004）.

2 Encouragement of exchanging views with others

Caring is a necessary characteristic of critical thinkers， and it means being receptive to what another has to say， and open to possibly hearing the others voice more completely and fairly（Barbara 1993）. Rather than being entangled with their own judgments， critical thinkers are ready to listen to others points of view with respect and make a choice about which to attend to and which to leave out. Therefore， when students are capable of evaluating available information and forming their own opinions， it is very time to encourage learners to share views with others.

This critical step is emphasized by Nosich（2005）， who described this as “give-and-take discussion”， a means for critical thinkers to speak out their own ideas， listen to other points of view and accept feedback selectively as well. In this way， students are able to test their previous ideas， or modify or even completely change their opinions in the light of new information or better insight from teachers and peers.

“Give-and-take discussion” can be realized during a series of activities such as in-class discussion， debates， group work， games， etc. Such activities will engage students in their mutual learning and help them develop the skills that contribute to critical thinking.

Debate， for example， is being conducted in the classroom to augment students critical thinking. As a contest of argumentation， debate necessitates many efforts in multiple activities. First of all， in the face of an overwhelming spectrum of facts and trends， students have to identify the relevant ideas and evidence concerning the case. Second， they are required to spend much time in investigating whether the sources they rely on are reliable and valid. Third， students ought to recognize the logic linkage among various information and have their cause-and-effect relation in mind so that their reasoning in debate stands the test. Forth， apart from the preparation of what to say， debaters needs to take into consideration the way they demonstrate ideas. They have to make efforts to present their perspectives with clarity and impact. Last but not least， it is crucial that students listen to the views from the other side with preoccupation. Throughout the whole process， students critical thinking will be enhanced if they really make a concentrated commitment to the debate.

3 Stimulation of logic thinking

According to Elder and Paul （1994）， in order to nurture students critical thinking， instructors should make efforts in improving learners logic thinking during their teaching. Too many times， students fail to recognize the logic of one subject matter， not to mention to build connections with the underlying logic of another subject matter. Thus， to help learners increase logic thinking needs to be put on educators schedule.

Learners handicap in realizing the logic of subject matters， to a large extent， lies in the introductory courses emphasis on memorization of factual information and the de-emphasis on grasping the underlying logic of a subject matter （Fiore et al. 2005）. So it is better for the instructor to introduce the underlying logic of a given subject matter and logical relationship between concepts， etc. prior to the illustration of new knowledge. In an effort to strengthen learners logical thinking， instructors could refer to graphic organizers as suggested by Danserau and Newbern（1997） which not only describe basic concepts and principles， but also display an underlying logic of a subject matter graphically. Tables and figures can be used， esp. in science and management class， to help with instructors demonstration of the organization of information and linkages among concepts. Besides， another possible alternative. esp. in arts class， is for the teachers to have students read the preface to the text before they enter into the text. Because in preface， the authors intention and the background of the text are often presented， and it is beneficial to the students understanding of the underlying logic and structure of the text. On many occasions， students would like to read only the assigned text and pay little attention to other sections. Thus， due to the inability to understand the logic of the materials， students tend to feel frustrated and overwhelmed in their attempt to memorize a lot of seemingly disconnected bits of information in the text.

Students with a better understanding of the logic relationships， make it possible to focus more on systematic evaluation of a matter， crucial to critical thinking. Therefore， it is high time that the instructors set aside time and efforts in improving learners understanding of the underlying logic and， thus， their critical thinking capability.

4 A Case Study of a Writing Course

How can a variety of factors essential to the cultivation of critical thinking be integrated into a single class session？ An example from a writing class I attended in one training program handles these challenges relatively well is provided here to illustrate the combination of lecture with critical thinking enhancement.

The writing course was usually composed of several sections--free writing， commenting on various quotes by famous figures， review， instruction， and discussion.

Five minutes before class， students were asked to do free writing where they could write anything without being concerned about grammar， spelling， punctuation， etc， just letting what flashed in the mind flow out of the pen. Free writing offers students an opportunity to write as broadly and casually as possible. It allows learners to think and write freely， which is conducive to their active thinking. It is a good way to start and go further in the path of writing and critical thinking.

Unlike free writing， the section of commenting on quotes constrains students writing within a certain frame. To comment on famous poets， artists or philosophers witting remarks is by no means an easy task， for it requires learners to think independently and write creatively. Those quotes which reflect the sparkles of some great minds witting thoughts induce learners to think of something that may have never occurred to them before. It also challenges them to express in-depth ideas on the basis of their limited vocabulary and immaturity to use the language properly.

In order to learn new pieces of knowledge， teachers have to assure that students have already mastered the old ones. So in the writing class， major conceptions taught last week were usually reviewed. Besides， new writing knowledge was taught systematically in every lesson. Students leant to write gradually， from dictions， sentences， paragraphs to the whole passages. During this process， the logic relationship between previous concepts and new ones as well as that among newly-taught skills is highlighted.

The most important and time-consuming section would have to be the discussion part. Students learnt in a democratic method. The teacher let them discuss and air their opinions on the new topic and in this way students gradually learnt to be autonomous learners with initiatives. The discussion helps convert the classroom into a learning workshop where critical thinking， writing， and view interaction meet.

After class， apart from writing assignments， writing reflective journals had become a routine job for students. Students consolidated the knowledge they learnt in writing summaries and drew new aspirations in writing reflective journals. It enables learners to form a habit of reflecting upon matters.

Overall， in this writing class， students are a dominant participant instead of a passive information-receiving role. Compared with many lecture-based writing classes， the promotion of critical thinking in this class is dealt with relatively well.

References：

[1] Black，S.Teaching Students to Think Critically[J].American School Board Journal 2001，191（12）：52-54.

[2] Nosich， G. M.Learning to Think Things Through： A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum（2nd ed）[J].Upper Saddle River， NJ： Prentice Hall，2005.