Abstract:

This paper describes four years of developments to a first-year undergraduate module for Civil and Building Engineers at a UK university.

The research follows on from a 2016 conference paper, informed by research undertaken during the 2014/2015 academic year, which identified that while students have an understanding of what critical thinking entails, they rarely critique material or methods unless explicitly requested to do this. Academic staff berated the fact that even in final year projects, students were not evidencing an acceptable level of critical thinking. Recommendations were made relating to the teaching of critical thinking skills, assessment criteria and assessment practice. With critical thinking skills being highly valued by employers it was felt to be timely to continue this work.

The 10-credit (one semester) ‘Development of Communication and Learning Skills’ module has undergone significant change; the authors of this paper, who have spent several years researching the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students, now deliver the critical thinking components of this module the content of which contains more detailed, relevant and explicit material. As the cohort usually consists of around 200 students, the material is delivered during three to six sessions to enable smaller groups of students to undertake interactive activities. In addition, from the 2019/2020 academic year it will be a 20-credit year-long module to allow for more depth of study.

During the 2017/2018 academic year, students were asked to complete a questionnaire prior to the critical thinking session and after the session. The number of completed questionnaires was 120 before the session and 100 after the session. These responses provided rich data, which enabled comparison to be made with the skills of the 2014/15 cohort and was also indicative of what students had learned during the session. This information will also feed forward to future delivery of material.

An interview with the module leader (who has made significant changes to the module during the last three years) has also been undertaken. Changes to assessment criteria and some of the assessments have also been made.

The findings show that while many students are entering university with greater critical thinking skills than five years ago the majority do not critically appraise material unless marks are awarded. However, when marks for critical thinking form part of the assessment process then performance is enhanced. The development of critical thinking skills needs to take place over a period of time; therefore, it needs to be assessed at all stages of undergraduate study if students are to enter the workplace with sufficient skill in this area.

This paper will detail the findings from the questionnaires, the views of the module leader and recommendations for further work in this area.

Keywords:

Critical thinking, employability, lifelong learning, undergraduate skills.