Ideas to Action & Student Affairs

Designing Programs, Activities, and Services for

Students that Foster Critical Thinking and Community

EngagementFebruary 15, 2008

Overview for Today• LR and LR2 connection with I2A

• Fun and Interactive Critical Thinking Activity

• The Paul-Elder Model• “The Little Blue Book”

• Designing Programs, Activities, and Services Worksheet

• Closing

Making the Connection

Linking Learning Reconsidered & Ideas to

Action

Learning Reconsidered & Learning Reconsider 2

Learning Reconsidered and Learning Reconsidered 2 are the ACPA/NASPA Guides that encourage college personnel to rethink our ideas about learning—how it happens, what supports it and what the outcomes are

Student Affairs defined and assessed our student learning outcomes SLO Workshop held in Feb. 2006 Departmental learning outcomes

developed & posted on the web

Learning Defined The idea behind Learning

Reconsidered is that academic learning and student development are integrated processes

“Learning is a complex, comprehensive, holistic, transformative activity that occurs throughout and across the college experience…learning, development and identity formation can no longer be considered as separate from each other; they are interactive and shape each

other as they evolve.”

The SLO Cycle

Plans for Improveme

nt

Learning Outcomes

Identify Evidence,

Measures, & TimelineObservation

/Evaluation

Results

Student learning via Student Affair programs is reflected by the SLO Cycle

Continuous learning process

Quality improvements will happen automatically

Learning Outcomes• Learning Reconsidered Outlined 7

Broad Student Learning Outcomes

• Cognitive Complexity• Knowledge Acquisition, Integration and

Application• Humanitarianism• Civic Engagement• Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Competence• Practical Competence• Persistence and Academic Achievement

Connecting the Dots to I2A• What LR and LR2 calls cognitive complexity

falls right in line with Louisville’s Ideas to Action initiative

• Dimensions of Cognitive Complexity Include:• Critical Thinking• Reflective Thinking• Effective Reasoning• Intellectual Flexibility• Emotion/Cognition Integration• Identity/Cognition Integration

Connecting the Dots to I2A

• What LR and LR2 calls knowledge acquisition, integration, and application also connects to I2A

• Dimensions of Knowledge Acquisition Include:

• Connecting knowledge to other knowledge, ideas and experiences

• Relating knowledge to daily life • Pursuit of lifelong learning• Career decidedness• Technological competence

What’s the link between I2A and Student Affairs?

• Ideas to Action focuses on fostering students’ ability to think critically about their work in and outside the classroom and requires them to apply their knowledge and ideas to real-world situations and contexts.

• Our work with student learning outcomes has begun to focus on identifying ways we can help students practice and refine their critical thinking skills through:

• Development of program objectives• Creation of student outcomes• Assessment of program objectives and student

learning outcomes

Making the ConnectionIdeas to Action

•Holistic conception of student experience Curricular and Co-Curricular

•Aligns with the existing focus on student development

•Many Student Affairs programs provide opportunities for students to apply critical thinking skills

SLOs

•Using LR/LR2 to develop SLOs that are:

•Meaningful•Measurable•Manageable

•Focus on cognitive complexity and knowledge acquisition

Students are better prepared to live and work in a complex

world

A Fun and Interactive

Critical Thinking Activity

Critical Thinking Activity• Where do you see critical

thinking in this Account?

• If so, where? Consider this in the way the incident was reported, and/or in the Account?

Critical Thinking Activity

Draw a visual representation or interpretation of the change you saw from

Account 1 to Account 4

What you said Critical Thinking is…

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/)

Which leads to deeper

Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model

Intellectual Standards

Elements of Reasoning

Intellectual Traits

Must be appliedto

to develop

ClarityAccuracy Precision

SignificanceRelevance

SufficiencyLogical

BreadthFairness

Depth

QuestionsPurposes Inferences

Points of viewInformation

Concepts

AssumptionsImplications

HumilityAutonomy

Fair-mindedness

CourageConfidence in

reasoning

IntegrityEmpathy

Perseverance

Critical Thinking Definition

Critical thinking is a process of thinking to a standard.

Simply being involved in the process of critical thinking is not

enough; it must be done well and should guide the

establishment of our beliefs and impact our behavior or action

(Huitt, 1998).

8 Elements Thought (p.5):

Whenever we think,Whenever we think, 1. We think for a purpose2. Within a point of view3. Based on assumptions4. Leading to implications and consequences5. Using data, information and experiences6. To make inferences and judgments7. Based on concepts and theories8. To answer a question or solve a problem

Standards for Thinking (p. 10-12)

Central six Standards

CLARITY Could you elaborate? Could you illustrate what you mean? Could you give me an example?

ACCURACY How could we check on that? How could we find out if that is true? How could we verify or test that?

PRECISION Could you be more specific? Could you give me more details? Could you be more exact?

RELEVANCE How does that relate to the problem? How does that bear on the question? How does that help us with the issue?

DEPTH What factors make this difficult? What are some of the complexities of this

question? What are some of the difficulties we need to

deal with?

BREADTH Do we need to look at this from another

perspective? Do we need to consider another point of view? Do we need to look at this in other ways?

LOGIC Does all of this make sense together? Does your first paragraph fit in with your last

one? Does what you say follow from the evidence?

SIGNIFICANCE Is this the most important problem to

consider? Is this the central idea to focus on? Which of these facts are most important?

FAIRNESS Is my thinking justifiable in context? Am I taking into account the thinking of

others? Is my purpose fair given the situation? Am I using my concepts in keeping with

educated usage, or am I distorting them to get what I want?

COMPLETENESS How complete are the facts related to the

issue? How complete is the description? Is the description of each perspective

complete?

Improve Thinking: The Intellectual Traits (p.15-

17)• Intellectual

Humility• Intellectual

Courage• Intellectual

Empathy• Intellectual

Autonomy

• Intellectual Integrity

• Intellectual Perseverance

• Confidence in Reason

• Fairmindedness

Which leads to deeper

Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model

Intellectual Standards

Elements of Reasoning

Intellectual Traits

Must be appliedto

to develop

ClarityAccuracy Precision

SignificanceRelevance

SufficiencyLogical

BreadthFairness

Depth

QuestionsPurposes Inferences

Points of viewInformation

Concepts

AssumptionsImplications

HumilityAutonomy

Fair-mindedness

CourageConfidence in

reasoning

IntegrityEmpathy

Perseverance

Designing Programs, Activities and Services Worksheet

As effective practitioners we have an obligation to clearly understand, articulate and facilitate critical thinking in the activities and programs we design.

It benefits us, our colleagues and our students when we regularly re-examine the alignment of our

1. Aligning Critical Thinking with Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes

In designing your programming, activities and services, it is essential to begin by articulating the

learning outcomes of this program and your understanding of how they function within your

department.

•What are the student learning outcomes for this program, activity or service? (Name at least one)    •What is most important critical thinking skill or key concept you are trying to foster in students?

 

2. Fundamental and Powerful Concepts

Fundamental and powerful concepts are used to explain or think about a huge body of questions, problems, information, and situations. They are the core, most useful ideas in your field or

discipline.

• Write down one or more of the fundamental and powerful concepts that are the bedrock on which your program, activity or service are built. Consider one or more of the broad fundamental and powerful concepts

of your field.

• Review your answer to #1. Are your learning outcomes in sync with the mastery of the key concept identified

above?

3. Promoting Critical Thinking Through Specific Cognitive Tasks

Programs that foster critical thinking provide students with the opportunity to think through and solve a

new situation or problem, engaging with the set of concepts and skills that you identified in #1 and #2.

• Identify the new situation, problem or task you will introduce to students in order to allow them to “grapple” with novel information or situations. What would they do? What would they look like?

• How will you make this task a purposeful ingredient in your programming?

 

Feedback

• What questions do you have?

• Please provide your comments and suggestions

I2A Team

Dr. Patty Payette, I2A Executive Director: patty.payette@louisville.edu, 852-5171

Dr. Cathy Bays, Delphi Specialist for Assessment: cathy.bays@louisville.edu, 852-5138

Dr. Edna Ross, Delphi Specialist for Critical Thinking: edna.ross@louisville.edu, 852-5105

Hannah Anthony, I2A Program Assistant Senior: hannah.gatlin@louisville.edu, 852-7611

Student Affairs Facilitators:

Dr. Michael Mardis

Michael Anthony

Becky Clark

Pam Curtis

Kim Shaver

http://www.louisville.edu/ideastoaction

http://www.louisville.edu/ideastoaction