Learning and Demonstrating Critical Thinking in Higher Education

This paper delves into the significance of critical thinking skills within higher education, emphasizing its role in preparing students for real-world problem-solving. It defines critical thinking as a disciplined intellectual process involving analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information, crucial for making informed decisions in both academic and professional settings. The essay explores various methods for fostering critical thinking, including instructional strategies that move beyond rote memorization and assessment techniques that challenge intellectual capabilities rather than memory recall. It highlights the importance of content application, heuristic learning, and active participation in learning processes such as research and case studies. The paper also discusses the elements of a critical thinking activity, such as ill-structured problems, criteria for assessment, and opportunities for improvement. The ultimate goal is to equip students with the skills to think critically, solve problems effectively, and make informed decisions, reinforcing the need to cultivate these abilities throughout all levels of education.

Running head: ENGLISH FOR ACEDEMIC PURPOSES 1
Learning and Demonstrating Critical Thinking Skills in Higher Education
[Author Name]
[Institutional]
Author Note

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Abstract
The current education system has brought standardized tests that aim at measuring the students'
learning gains on critical thinking. Despite that, many students don’t yet know how to think
critically. Critical thinking is an academic skill that needs procedures and practice. Nevertheless,
students at higher education can still enhance their critical thinking skills by employing different
methods. For instance, they can use instructional strategies to engage themselves in learning
processes instead of relying on lectures and notes memorization. They can also use assessment
techniques with intellectual challenges rather than memorizing facts. This paper is an evaluation
of how students in higher education can learn and demonstrate critical thinking in their work.
Keywords: Critical Thinking, Instructional, Assessments

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Learning and Demonstrating Critical thinking in Higher Education
What is critical thinking and why is it a necessity? Many scholars agree that critical
thinking is a disciplined intellectual process. The process engages a student to actively and
skillfully conceptualize, apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the information presented
(Wisdom & Leavitt, 2015). This information may come from observations, reflection, reasoning,
communication, experience or beliefs. Also, there are still others scholars like (Mulnix, 2012)
who believe that critical thinking is metacognitive or a process of thinking about thinking.
Nevertheless, all explanation leads to the same thing.
Critical thinking skill has various advantages. One of them is that it enables students to
act rationally in scientific, social, and practical situations (Wisdom & Leavitt, 2015). Simply put,
scholars who think critically solve problems efficiently. Indeed, critical thinking goes beyond
just having knowledge or information on a concept. The current evolving world requires problem
solvers and people who can make an informed decision. Therefore, it requires a student to have
the skill to make informed decisions either in the study or at a workplace.
Critical Thinking Process
Critical thinking is a learning process. The skills need development, practice, and regular
integration. With this, students need to focus their attentions on the content application, learning
process, and assessment methods. By content application, it means that students need to distant
themselves from memorizing facts within the content. Instead, they should use those facts to
stimulate their thinking (Popil, 2011). Instead of memorizing the facts, students should analyze
them, synthesize, and evaluate that information to make an informed decision.
Critical thinking is a constant mental process. In (Railean, Elçi & Elçi, 2017), critical
thinking continuously challenges the students to think about their thinking capabilities, improve

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them, and use them as higher-order thinking skills. On the part of assessments, (Lai, 2011)
suggests that the learning should focus on assessments that emphasize thinking rather than the
facts. The grading system, the question, and tests should focus on challenging the student
intellectually instead of memory recalls. Learning critical thinking should include subjective
tools like academic research and case studies (Lai, 2011). The activities are avenues for analysis
where students can demonstrate their knowledge in the concerned situation. Furthermore,
students can focus on multiple-choice questions that challenge them to think critically.
Integrating Critical Thinking Skills
While students are learning and demonstrating critical thinking skills, they need to
understand that it requires more than simplistic engagement. Students would need to engage
themselves in the research to gain addition discovery of information (Wisdom & Leavitt, 2015).
Besides, they also need to use academic sources and employ heuristic techniques in solving
problems. For this reason, studies like (Wisdom & Leavitt, 2015) studies have revealed that
students who engage in experimental learning score higher on assessments when compared with
students who learn by traditional textbook or lecture methods.
Heuristic learning techniques help students to learn, understand, discover, or solve
problems on their own. This process happens through experimenting and evaluating possible
solutions, in addition to trial and error practices. In (Haynes, Lisic, Goltz, Stein & Harris, 2016),
the study found that problem-based learning projects promote critical thinking and problem-
solving skills. In essence, the study also revealed that active participation within learning
processes like self-direction, teamwork, creative discussion, and integration of a variety of
knowledge helps students to learn or demonstrate critical thinking skills. In (Haynes, Lisic,
Goltz, Stein & Harris, 2016), the study revealed that problem-based learning environments

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increase students’ knowledge acquisition and thinking skills. Similarly, the findings confirmed
that work based learning, research and critical reflection on academic sources promote the
integration of critical thinking skills.
Methods of Promoting Critical Thinking Skills
There are various methods that higher education students can employ to learn and
demonstrate critical thinking skills. One of this is through answering questions from different
questioning tactics. In (Davis, 2013), questions using different question approach can enrich the
students' critical thoughts. Depending on questions formation, students may demonstrate various
critical thinking skills to interpret, analyze, and recognize the hypotheses to come up with a
logical conclusion.
Classroom discussion is another method that students may use to promote their critical
thinking. Various techniques are available for discussion. For instance, a negotiation model
where students engage in credible but antagonizing arguments (Haynes, Lisic, Goltz, Stein &
Harris, 2016). Other strategies are like discussing an issue with pros and cons. Additionally,
writing and research can work as a powerful vehicle that students can use to expand their
thinking methods. Students who involve themselves in writing and research acquire astounding
results. Research writing as a process and product, it uniquely brings certain powerful learning
strategies.
Elements of a Critical Thinking Activity
Above all, all the methods that students may use to learn or demonstrate their thinking
should reveal the following elements. For one, there should be an ill-structured problem (Lai,
2011). These are problems that with questions, scenarios or case studies that do not have a wrong
or a right answer. They may also include controversial issues that need a reflective judgment.

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Notably, any right or wrong responses exist only where the student gives a supporting logical
reasoning.
The next element that students should demonstrate in a critical thinking activity is a
criterion to assess their thinking (Hsiao, Chen & Hu, 2013). Thinking assessment demands a
framework showing why students think the way they are thinking. For example, one can answer
questions like, why do you think, why do you like, explain your thoughts, what is your
perspective e.tc. All these are best questions for demonstrating one's critical thinking skills.
Finally, the activity should have room for the improvement of thinking. Students will achieve
this by creating a culture of inquiry. This is where students think about their thinking activity and
also reflect on the practice logical constructs of their thoughts. This one allows the student to
reconsider and revise their learned or demonstrated thinking skills.
Conclusion
This paper intended to examine how critical thinking skills can be learned and
demonstrated by higher education students. The goal for every student is to acquire critical
thinking skills. It is through learning activities where students can learn and demonstrate their
critical thinking abilities. However, like with any skill, even critical thinking requires practice,
patience, and learning. This effort is not a one-day task, it takes some time, but the effort is
rewarding. Students who think critically have an easier time solving real-world problems than
those who don't. Finally, it is material that critical thinking skills be encouraged and reinforced
in higher education and all levels of education. This effort will be a good way to plant the seed of
critical thinking to all students in the hope that the skills will grow over time.
References

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