The development of critical thinking skills in engineering foundation year: an exploratory study into theory and practice at UK universities.

Abstract

Critical thinking skills are regarded as one of the most highly valued skills for higher education. As such, critical thinking is acknowledged and widely accepted as one of the fundamental goals of tertiary education and a defining concept of graduate education. Therefore, developing students in critical thinking skills has paramount importance as an aid in cultivating personal and professional intellectual traits for students. However, recent discussion and research on critical thinking development show there is little empirical research on foundation and undergraduate courses. Besides that, research conducted on critical thinking skills lacks variation in research design, since many studies on students’ development in critical thinking skills mainly used single instrument quantitative methods, for example self-report surveys, to measure their classroom experience. Similarly, critical thinking research on assessment is also noted to have employed a single quantitative tool. This thesis argues that using a single method or quantitative method does not provide a full picture of critical thinking skills development among students, therefore there is a need for an in-depth discussion using qualitative methods for a better understanding of the issue. Hence, this research employed a mixed-method approach to explore the theory, practice and development of critical thinking skills within engineering foundation year programmes in the UK. The development of critical thinking skills among engineering foundation year students was investigated firstly, by analysing three selected critical thinking models relevant to the engineering syllabus; Dewey’s Critical Analytical Model, (1910 and 1933), Paul, Niewoehner and Elder, (2006) and the Conceive Design Implement Operate (CDIO) Critical Thinking Model, (2011). Secondly, both students and module instructors were interviewed, the students at three different stages of their study over a period of a year, followed by the module instructors. Document analysis was also conducted on the programme specifications of all the modules taught in the programme, which were then checked against the interview reports to find out to what extent they aligned with the teaching and learning process in critical thinking and the development of critical thinking skills as reported by the students. The findings showed there is an alignment between the students’ perception, understanding and the development of critical thinking skills with the aims and the learning outcomes of the programme syllabus. However, the analysis of module instructors’ interview shows there is a slight divergence of views with students’ on critical thinking skills and their development at engineering foundation level, and a debate on how far the module instructors should go when choosing between the subject matter and the critical thinking skills at the foundation level of engineering study.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Sevendy Patchamuthu: orcid.org/0000-0002-8668-0881

ORCID for Ying Zheng: orcid.org/0000-0003-2574-0358

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