| This study determines the current knowledge of critical thinking in a general population of high education faculty within one state and identifies and analyzes exemplary programs of critical thinking within that state to discover features and conditions necessary to increase students' intellectual growth. The basic intent was to provide examples of successful strategies for teachers interested in guiding their students' thinking skills through the process of becoming critical thinkers.; Part one. Three hundred ten (310) faculty members were randomly selected from a database of 7,736 higher education faculty. Ninety (90) individuals responded to a quantitative/qualitative survey. Only a small percentage (18%) had a clear concept of critical thinking standards and less than 10% defined or referred to intellectual traits such as intellectual humility. Only 33% clearly explained the difference between an assumption and an inference, a basic concept of critical thinking. Fifty-two percent (52%) would not know what to look for when assessing colleague's infusion of critical thinking into a classroom environment. Eighty-two percent (82%) said that their students start college careers with little critical thinking abilities, only 13% said students graduate with a high level of critical thinking abilities.; Part two. Eight individuals submitted materials such as program design, syllabi, assessments, and teaching strategies. Successful programs include long-term projects spanning over several courses or years with a specific goal of increasing students' critical thinking skills. Students are explicitly taught a process of critical thinking and provided the opportunity to watch and listen as the teacher verbally models the method. Critical thinking cognitive processes are internalized when students are able to solve a 'real world' problem for an outside agency. Prior to working with the outside agency, students are taught (1) a design method, (2) teamwork strategies, and (3) a communications process. Results indicate that educators appear uninterested or have no knowledge of the value of teaching critical thinking. Although six of twenty-five professors (24%) were from departments of education, not one education faculty member submitted materials for review by the researcher. |
