Ideas to Action (I2A)

Presentation for Speed School Faculty

April 22, 2008

Using Critical Thinking to Foster Student Learning and Community Engagement

Introductions

• I2A Team

Dr. Patty Payette Dr. Cathy Bays Dr. Edna Ross Executive Director Delphi Specialist Delphi Specialist

for Assessment for Critical Thinking

Hannah Anthony, Program Assistant Senior

Patty

Ideas to Action Implementation

Ideas to Action (I2A): Using Critical Thinking to Foster Student Learning and Community Engagement is our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), and we need to show measurable progress to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) by April 2012.

Patty

I2A and “Connecting the Dots”

“Our extensive consultation with all University constituencies yielded a surprisingly strong and clear

call for education focused on the skills and knowledge needed to deal with real-world issues and problems, an education in which students can see the importance of the parts (the courses) to the whole (their education as citizens and workers).”

[QEP Report, 2007]

http://louisville.edu/ideastoaction/files/finalreport.pdf

skills and knowledge

real-world issues & problems

the parts to the whole

Patty

I2A: What are the components?

I2A Thematic Priority: Community I2A Thematic Priority: Community EngagementEngagement

Patty

Central Messages about I2A

• Prompted by Undergraduate Program Accreditation

• Enhancement of critical thinking, student engagement

• Speed School as exemplar

• Renewed focus on community engagement

• Assessment process under development

• Some programs in place; more being developed

U of L Strategic Plan 2020: http://louisville.edu/provost/fromtheprovostitems/stratplan0308.htmlPatty

Critical Thinking Definition adopted for I2A

(From: Scriven and Paul, 2003)

UnderstandingConceptsAppreciation

DecisionsSynthesizeApplication

Edna

A Well-Cultivated Critical Thinker:

Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely

Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively

Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards

Thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as needs be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences

Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems

(Richard Paul and Linda Elder, the Foundation for Critical Thinking: http://www.criticalthinking.org/)Edna

Intellectual Standards must be applied to

The Elements of Thought in order to develop

Intellectual Traitswhich will produce a well-cultivated

Critical Thinker

Richard Paul-Linda Elder Critical Thinking Model

Cathy

Intellectual Standards

CLARITYACCURACYPRECISIONRELEVANCEDEPTHBREADTH

LOGICSIGNIFICANCEFAIRNESSCOMPLETENESS

Miniature Guide, 2008, p. 8-10

Cathy

Miniature Guide, 2008, p. 3-6

Cathy

The Intellectual Traits

• Intellectual Humility

• Intellectual Courage

• Intellectual Empathy

• Intellectual Autonomy

• Intellectual Integrity

• Intellectual Perseverance

• Confidence in Reason

• Fairmindedness

Miniature Guide, 2008, p. 13-15

Cathy

Telling Speed Students…

• Critical thinking is using logic to decide what to believe based on accurate and objective evidence.

• Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally.

• Critical thinking is the process of conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information as a guide to belief and action.

Intellectual Standards = blue Elements of Thought = red

• Critical thinking is using logic to decide what to believe based on accurate and objective evidence.

• Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally.

• Critical thinking is the process of conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information as a guide to belief and action.

ENGR 100: Intro to Engineering

Pat

Can you think critically?

You take a metal tape and place it around the circumference of a basketball. Then, you add one inch to the length of the tape.

Your friend places a similar metal tape around the world at the Equator. Then, your friend adds one inch to the length of that tape.

If the gap between the basketball and the tape is equal all around the circumference of the ball, and the gap between the earth and the tape also is equal all around the circumference of the earth, how much larger is the gap around the ball than the gap around the earth? Assume the earth is a perfect sphere.

ELEMENT of

ELEMENT of

THOUGHT:

THOUGHT:

Concepts

Concepts

INTELLECTUAL TRAIT:

INTELLECTUAL TRAIT:

Confidence in

Confidence in

Reason

ReasonINTELLECTUAL STANDARDS:

INTELLECTUAL STANDARDS:

Relevance & Logic

Relevance & Logic

Pat

Trial of Critical Thinking

The story

• New road construction

• House condemned, purchased by state

• House sold at auction, moved

• Blasting for new road

• Damage to house

Joe

Trial of Critical Thinking

• Did blasting nearby cause the damage shown in the following photographs?

• What reasons can you provide for your answer to the previous question (evidence)?

Joe

Joe

Joe

Joe

Trial of Critical Thinking

• Can you figure out what happened?

Inferences

• Did blasting nearby cause the damage shown in the following photographs?

Assumptions & Consequences

• What reasons can you provide for your answer to the previous question (evidence)?

Concepts & Information

Elements of Thought = redJoe

Significance: Now & Beyond

• Critical thinking involves “higher level” thinking essential to engineers.

• It often requires us to think “outside the box.”

• Engineering careers require critical thinking, at all levels.

• We can learn to think critically.

Pat

How is critical thinking connected to engineering?

Critical thinking is the core of engineering. Without critical thinking, engineering is not possible. If critical thinking is not present, whatever is occurring, it is not engineering.

Pat

CEE 452: The New Foundation Engineering

• Haven’t been explicit about critical thinking…

• Decided to use tests of individual preparation [incentive] and team-based tests [to foster peer teaching/learning].

• Used time constraint to allow me to follow-up.

• Goal was to increase critical thinking.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Joe

First, a test of preparation…

• Closed book, closed notes.

• Individual test, for 5-10 minutes.

• Are you prepared to work with your peers?

• Test counts 20 % of grade for that class session.

Intellectual Traits: Intellectual Autonomy & Intellectual Integrity

Joe

How would you identify a “collapsible” soil by using laboratory tests? What standards would you apply?

When an increment of load is applied to a doubly-drained soil sample in a standard consolidation test in the laboratory, where is the gradient that causes water to flow out of the sample highest? Where is the gradient lowest? Explain.

If sand drains are installed in a clay layer under a dam, and the average drainage distance is reduced to one-tenth of the original drainage distance, by what factor is the time for any given degree of consolidation changed? Is the time longer or shorter? Show your work to explain your answer.

Information

Inferences, concepts

Implications, consequences

Elements of Thought = red

TYPICAL QUESTIONS FOR TEST OF PREPARATION

Joe

Then, a team-based test…

• Open book, open notes.

• Groups of 6-7 students.

• Members of groups changed.

• Test counts 80 % of grade for that class session.

• Bonus for group that finished first.

Joe

What is the meaning of the term impedance when it is used to describe a pile? Why is impedance important? Why do load tests on piles driven into some types of ground show ultimate load capacities very different from the capacity inferred from use of the wave equation and data obtained during pile driving?

What errors in evaluation of soils as foundation materials can occur in using plate load tests? What are the sources of these errors?

Intellectual Standards: Relevance, depth, breadth, accuracy, precision Elements of Thought: information,

concepts

TYPICAL QUESTIONS—GROUP TESTS

Joe

Group Tests

Designed to foster critical thinking

Questions did not have obvious answers.Students were puzzled, at first.Then, “vigorous debates” occurred. Groups learned quickly that consensus

answers were best.

Intellectual Traits: Fairmindness, confidence in reason, intellectual humility, intellectual

perseverance

Joe

Evaluation of New CEE 452?

I could explain remaining puzzles.

Grades: 25% to 85% on prep tests, 60% to 74% on team-based tests. Combined grades: 54% to 79%, vs 68.6% on tests over same material in former years. 4178 prep tests 5076 team tests

More coverage:50,50 questions and much more thorough testing this way.

Joe

Jerry Evans & I2A

• Motivation for Joining I2A Task Group.

• Participation in Pilot Program– Choice of IE 643: Analysis for Decision

Making.– Change of Syllabus.– Review of Paper Assignment.– Formative Feedback example.

Jerry

Additions to IE 643 SyllabusThought hard about what I wanted the students to get out of this class, instead of just listing topics to be covered. Front page of syllabus contained the following:

Course Objectives: Analysis for Decision Making, an elective course for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students in Industrial Engineering and Decision Sciences, covers the various methodologies associated with the sub-field of Operations Research called Decision Analysis. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to: •Provide structure for ill-structured problems.•Identify/determine appropriate sets of decision makers, objectives, attributes, and alternative decisions for a given decision problem.•Develop an appropriate criterion model for a given decision situation.•Evaluate whether a decision tree, an influence diagram, a general simulation model, or some other evaluation methodology is appropriate for use in a given decision situation.•Construct an appropriate evaluation model for a given decision situation.•Construct an appropriate criterion model for a given decision situation.•Use appropriate decision analysis and simulation software packages for given decision situations.•Understand various applications of Decision Analysis in Engineering, Business, & Health Care.

Jerry

IE 643: Paper Review Assignment

Find, read and summarize an article from the literature involving an application of decision analysis. In developing your summary, try to “reason through” the process that the author(s) went through in doing a good decision analysis. As a part of your summary, provide the following:

– The central problem addressed by this decision situation.– How the central problem was related to auxiliary problems.– Who the decision makers and stakeholders were for this

problem.– What types of attributes were employed in the system that

was developed.– What type of evaluation model was employed (and why).– Whether the system was employed to make a single

decision or was used for ongoing decisions.– How the study resulted in an improvement in the problem

situation.

Jerry

IE 643: Formative Feedback

(Mid-semester Evaluation)We have discussed several methodologies relative to the area of decision analysis thus far this semester. We will be devoting additional class time to some of these methodologies, as well as covering new methodologies. I would appreciate your opinions on how important/relevant these methodologies are to the general area of decision analysis, and also how well you think that you understand these areas. Answer the questions using the following scales (feel free to provide non-integer answers (e.g., 2.5)). Importance: Very Important (4), Moderately Important (3), Slightly Important (2), Of Little/No Importance (1) Level of Understanding Gained Thus Far: High (4), Moderate (3), Slight (2), Little/No (1) Problem Structuring Methods/Procedures Why-What’s Stopping Procedure Importance: Level of Understanding:  Vision and Mission Statements Importance: Level of Understanding: Objectives hierarchies/networks Importance: Level of Understanding: Attributes (characteristics of a valid set) Importance: Level of Understanding: Quality-Adjusted Life Years Attribute Importance: Level of Understanding: Modeling/Analysis Methods/Procedures Bayes’ Theorem, probability calculations Importance: Level of Understanding: Decision Trees Importance: Level of Understanding: Influence Diagrams Importance: Level of Understanding: Value of Information Importance: Level of Understanding: DPL Software Package Importance: Level of Understanding:

Jerry

IE 643 Pilot Program Final Thoughts

• Critical thinking involves “thinking about thinking”. Two of the main things that I have gotten out of this is that I now think very hard about the way I think about things, and I try to convey this to the students. More importantly, I’m trying harder to think about the way that the students think about things.

Jerry

I2A Resources & Next Steps:

08-09 Programs & Services• I2A Faculty Learning Community (Fall 08)• I2A Instructional Grants (Spring 2008)• I2A Website w/ resources (Jan 08)• I2A Delphi Specialist in Culminating Experiences• I2A Campus Collaborations (SPI, Civic

Engagement, Student Affairs)

Patty

For more information

Please visit:

http://louisville.edu/ideastoaction

Patty