Examining the Influence of Culture on Critical Thinking in Higher Education

<p>In the midst of an increasingly changing world, the ability to think critically has become a crucial attribute expected of university graduates. However, the endorsement of critical thinking in higher education has been challenged by the growing cultural diversity in university classrooms. Concerns about Asian students' lack of critical thinking and the appropriateness of critical thinking instruction in international education have been raised by teaching professionals. The present dissertation sought to understand the influence of culture on the teaching and learning of critical thinking in higher education. Chapter 2 presented a study examining the instructional contexts of Hong Kong and New Zealand. It was found that similar assessment methods were employed in the university courses in both cultures, but university courses in Hong Kong placed more emphasis on knowledge development whereas those in New Zealand explicitly described critical thinking in the course objectives. Chinese international and New Zealand European postgraduate students were individually interviewed to investigate the exact influence of cultural-educational contexts in Asia and New Zealand on university students' conception and practice of critical thinking (Chapter 3). Both samples of students held similar conceptions of critical thinking, but reported differences in their socialization experiences regarding the practice of critical thinking in their respective cultures. Specifically, stronger inhibition on students' practice of critical thinking was noted in Asia than in New Zealand. In Chapter 4, two studies that investigated the differences in critical thinking skills between Asian and New Zealand European students are presented. In both studies, New Zealand European students were found to perform better than their Asian counterparts on an objective measure of critical thinking skills. The difference was explained by students English language ability but not cultural factors such as cultural differences in cognitive styles or behavioral adoption of New Zealand culture. It was suggested that observed cross-cultural difference in critical thinking skills is related more to language ability rather than cultural variables. A significantly positive relationship between critical thinking skills and academic performance was found, and the relationship was not significantly different between Asian and New Zealand European student samples (Chapter 5). The relationship was also not different as a function of students' adoption of New Zealand culture, indicating that pedagogy with an emphasis on critical thinking is similarly applicable to both Asian and New Zealand European students. Overall, the present findings indicated that culture has an important influence on students' practice of critical thinking. Although there is cross-cultural difference in critical thinking skills between Asian and Western student samples, the difference appears to be related more to language ability rather than cultural factors. The present thesis provided empirical evidence to show that culture influences the educational practice of critical thinking, but the influence of culture does not necessarily impede the application of critical thinking instruction in international classrooms. With appropriate adaptation, critical thinking instruction can be beneficial to the intellectual development of students regardless of their cultural backgrounds.</p>

Examining the Influence of Culture on Critical Thinking in Higher Education

<p>In the midst of an increasingly changing world, the ability to think critically has become a crucial attribute expected of university graduates. However, the endorsement of critical thinking in higher education has been challenged by the growing cultural diversity in university classrooms. Concerns about Asian students' lack of critical thinking and the appropriateness of critical thinking instruction in international education have been raised by teaching professionals. The present dissertation sought to understand the influence of culture on the teaching and learning of critical thinking in higher education. Chapter 2 presented a study examining the instructional contexts of Hong Kong and New Zealand. It was found that similar assessment methods were employed in the university courses in both cultures, but university courses in Hong Kong placed more emphasis on knowledge development whereas those in New Zealand explicitly described critical thinking in the course objectives. Chinese international and New Zealand European postgraduate students were individually interviewed to investigate the exact influence of cultural-educational contexts in Asia and New Zealand on university students' conception and practice of critical thinking (Chapter 3). Both samples of students held similar conceptions of critical thinking, but reported differences in their socialization experiences regarding the practice of critical thinking in their respective cultures. Specifically, stronger inhibition on students' practice of critical thinking was noted in Asia than in New Zealand. In Chapter 4, two studies that investigated the differences in critical thinking skills between Asian and New Zealand European students are presented. In both studies, New Zealand European students were found to perform better than their Asian counterparts on an objective measure of critical thinking skills. The difference was explained by students English language ability but not cultural factors such as cultural differences in cognitive styles or behavioral adoption of New Zealand culture. It was suggested that observed cross-cultural difference in critical thinking skills is related more to language ability rather than cultural variables. A significantly positive relationship between critical thinking skills and academic performance was found, and the relationship was not significantly different between Asian and New Zealand European student samples (Chapter 5). The relationship was also not different as a function of students' adoption of New Zealand culture, indicating that pedagogy with an emphasis on critical thinking is similarly applicable to both Asian and New Zealand European students. Overall, the present findings indicated that culture has an important influence on students' practice of critical thinking. Although there is cross-cultural difference in critical thinking skills between Asian and Western student samples, the difference appears to be related more to language ability rather than cultural factors. The present thesis provided empirical evidence to show that culture influences the educational practice of critical thinking, but the influence of culture does not necessarily impede the application of critical thinking instruction in international classrooms. With appropriate adaptation, critical thinking instruction can be beneficial to the intellectual development of students regardless of their cultural backgrounds.</p>

The Impact of Teaching Reasoning Fallacies on the Critical Thinking Ability of MoroccanEngineering Students

This research paper reports an experimental study geared to examine the effect of teaching reasoning fallacies on the critical thinking ability of a group of Moroccan university students. In a random assignment post-test design, 40 subjects took part in study-treatment. While the subjects in both experimental groups (n 20) received a treatment on how to avoid and spot fallacies in arguments, the control group was involved straightway in taking the pre-test and the post test (with no prior assistance) for comparison purposes. After the treatment -which consisted in having the experimental group (n 20 subjects) receive a training on the meaning of 15 reasoning fallacies and reinforcements tasks on how to identify them in statements and how to avoid them when they speak or write - all the subjects answered a twenty item multiple-choicetest and 5 of them responded to structured interview to identify their attitudes. The final scores were then subjected to descriptive as well as referential statistics (independent and paired samples T-test) for between group comparison purposes. The results reveal a significant facilitative and positive effect of reasoning fallacies training understudy and particularly so when compared to the control condition. A follow-up investigation through an independent samplest-test) attested to the fact that the training resulted in an increased critical thinking ability as measured by the receptive and productive and this is particularly so when compared to the control condition. The study concludes with the main finding together with their interpretation. Some practical implications related to critical thinking instruction, lesson planning and material development, in general, brings the paper full circled.

Thinking Outside the Box (Below and Above it, Too): Perspectives toward critical thinking in TESOL in Vietnam

The incorporation of critical thinking into ESL teaching and curricula has been debated in second language pedagogy for decades. Prior publications have shown that the teaching and learning of critical thinking is a complicated issue due to both cognitive and sociocultural factors. In this questionnaire study, we had an opportunity to survey 12 instructors and 37 students at a public university in Vietnam about their viewpoints on critical thinking instruction in language teaching. In contrast with the common notion that many collectivistic cultures in Asia do not nurture critical analysis and sceptical questioning, both instructors and students in Vietnam demonstrated a hospitable view towards the practice of teaching critical thinking in English classrooms. However, instructors experience immense difficulties incorporating this concept into their curricula due to a lack of resources, training and time pressure. The current study indicates a need for critical thinking in ESL classrooms in Vietnam and provides concrete guidelines for introducing critical thinking into second language classes.

Critical Thinking

There are numerous definitions of critical thinking, but the core concept has been said to be careful, reasoned, goal-directed thinking. There are also many conceptualizations of critical thinking, which are generally more detailed than brief definitions, and there are different views about what the goal(s) of critical thinking instruction should be. Whether critical thinking is a good thing is a matter of debate. Approaches to teaching critical thinking vary, partly, according to whether they focus on general principles of critical thinking or on subject-matter content or on a combination of both. A meta-analysis research report published in 2015 concluded that, subject to certain qualifications, a variety of critical thinking skills and dispositions can develop in students through instruction at all educational levels. Critical thinking instruction has been influenced by research in cognitive psychology that has suggested strategies for countering factors (e.g., biases) that the research has found to produce irrational beliefs. Methods of assessing critical thinking ability include teacher-designed tests and standardized tests. A research report published in 2014 on assessing critical thinking in higher education describes challenges involved in designing standardized critical thinking tests and proposes a framework for a “next-generation” assessment. The challenges include achieving a balance between the assessment's real-world relevance and its psychometric quality, and designing an assessment useful for instructional purposes and for comparisons of programs and institutions. The proposed framework is based partly on a review of existing frameworks of critical thinking in higher education. It has two analytical dimensions and two synthetic dimensions, and a dimension on understanding causation and explanation. Surveys show that employers value employees with strong critical thinking ability; this fact has significant implications for students, teachers, and administrators at all levels of education.

Critical Thinking for Cvic Life in Elementary Education: Combining Storytelling and Thinking Tools

Teaching critical thinking involves developing specific thinking skills and nurturing attitudes that are necessary for adequate use these of these skills in everyday life situations. The required skills and attitudes required by students to approach problems that affect their own communities can be taught by designing and executing learning activities where students use storytelling, for example. This study focuses on designing and executing two learning units for critical thinking instruction on citizenship education in a Costa Rican elementary school. These units combine the use of story-based materials, such as animated films, digital comic strips, and thinking tools. Additionally, an assessment method is proposed which is based on analysis of the comic strips created by the students. This method analyzes the logical structure behind comic strips to help determine to what extent critical thinking skills are applied with a focus on specific thinking skills such as inference and analysis. The results of the assessment suggest that when students participate in learning units, such as the use of story-based media and thinking tools, they can express a higher level of critical thinking skill application in the stories they create.

Empirically Supported Strategies for Encouraging Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to construct and evaluate arguments (Facione, 1990). Teaching students to think critically is undeniably one of the most important goals of university education. Accordingly, much of the teaching literature provides suggestions for improving critical thinking among students. Unfortunately, many of these papers contain anecdotal evidence, relying heavily on personal testimony without the support of empirical data and statistical analysis (Abrami et al., 2008; Behar-Horenstein & Niu, 2011). These findings have important implications for instructors who try to foster critical thinking in their classrooms. The present workshop addresses this problem by discussing the following three teaching techniques which have been empirically tested and found to reliably improve critical thinking across multiple investigations: (a) the use of higher-order questioning (Barnett & Francis, 2012; Fenesi, Sana, & Kim, 2014; Renaud & Murray, 2007; Renaud & Murray, 2008; Smith, 1977; Williams, Oliver, & Stockdale, 2004); (b) peer-to-peer interaction (Abrami et al., 2008; Smith, 1997); and (c) explicit critical thinking instruction (Abrami et al., 2008; Bangert-Drowns, & Bankert, 1990; Behar-Horenstein et al., 2010; Tiruneh et al., 2016). This workshop is intended for members of all disciplines seeking to work together to develop an empirically supported framework for teaching critical thinking at the university level.