Critical Thinking at U of L: A Critical Need
By Geoffrey A. Cross, WR Program Coordinator

A 1994 U of L study found that there was no significant difference between the critical thinking ability of incoming UofL freshmen and graduating seniors. The ETS-designed test sponsored by the U of L General Education Council included short text segments from which students were asked to identify underlying assumptions and draw inferences. Although U of L seniors scored significantly higher than freshmen in identifying the point of the excerpts, too often they missed the implications and applications of the knowledge.

Becoming astute consumers of knowledge is particularly important because we live, as John Stuart Mill said, in the marketplace of ideas. Students are exposed to innumerable ideas but must choose wisely among them and bring accumulated knowledge to bear to survive in the information economy upon graduation. Although, undoubtedly, critical thinking is encouraged and taught to a degree now, more is needed. Teaching critical thinking through writing can provide additional help to keep students from becoming “information idiots,” people who know a lot but can do nothing with their knowledge.

Critical thinking emphasizes two attitudes toward learning, as John Dewey has noted in How We Think. “Suspended judgment” is a healthy skepticism toward what is being considered. Suspended judgment makes possible “reflective thought,” the “active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it.”

Difficulty of Attaining Critical Attitudes—Student Problems
Students have strong emotional attachments to long-nurtured personal beliefs. Certainly, emotions are one way of knowing, but logical and ethical perspectives are also needed. Yet students’ preconceptions often preclude other ideas. Some of these beliefs are not the province of the educator:  for instance, respect for diversity and religious freedom would preclude the uninvited, ruthless interrogation of purely religious principles held sacred by the student. The point of critical thinking is not indoctrination into any dogma, explicit or tacit. On the other hand, the object of critical thinking is not a cynical contempt for any and all belief systems.

Be that as it may, the provinces of academic knowledge thrive on detached, probing, critical inquiry. How can writing and WR courses help inculcate a critical approach to learning?

Difficulty of Attaining Critical Attitudes—Standard Pedagogy
Piaget found that learning advances from an egocentric world of concrete personal experiences to a less self-centered world where students focus outside themselves to consider alternate modes of perception, including disciplinary approaches. Yet too often faculty teach abstract disciplinary concepts at the beginning of the term and expect students to be able to immediately apply them, rather than starting with the students' worlds and moving into the discipline.

The most accessible door into the worlds of students is often made of paper.  Writing can help critical thinking by making student beliefs explicit on paper.  Speculative writing (journals, free writing, critical lecture notes, question writing, etc.) can help students connect their experiences to disciplinary concepts.  Writing in the disciplines allows students to capture their thoughts on paper for examination and refinement, fostering the detached, critical approach of the fully educated mind.