Teaching Critical Thinking Skills: A Case Study from Mechanical Engineering

1. Teaching Critical Thinking Skills:A Case Study from Mechanical Engineering Marion Bowman Skills Adviser (Skills@Library) m.c.bowman@leeds.ac.uk Katy Sidwell Faculty Team Librarian (Engineering) c.a.sidwell@leeds.ac.uk

2. Format of this session • Critical thinking in Mech3800 – why and how? • Some activities from the course to look at • Was the approach successful? – some results

3. Why Critical Thinking? • “If engineers are to be more than technical functionaries in the next millennium, there is a need to provide young engineers with …skills in critical analysis and ethical judgement and an ability to assess the long term consequences of their work.” • BEDER, S. 1999. Beyond Technicalities: Expanding Engineering Thinking, Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, January , pp.12 – 18, pg12.

4. What is Critical Thinking? • 1. Assumptions: a. uncertainty exists, b. no one right answer • 2. The critical thinking process: (adapted from Cottrell, 2005) • - Collect knowledge from many sources • - Identify sources’ positions / methods / approaches • - Question the evidence and identify limitations • - Draw own conclusions

5. Stages of the development of Critical Thinking Adapted from King and Kitchener (1994) and Kronholm (1996) in Siller (2001)

6. Critical thinking & Ethics in MECH3800

7. Critical thinking: Ice-breaker • Discuss: • Women are better drivers than men. Student response: ‘but what is the right answer?’

8. How good are your critical thinking skills now? Try the self-assessment quiz again. 4 = strongly agree, 3 = agree, 2 = sort of agree, 1 = disagree, 0 = strongly disagree

9. Seven Pillars of Information literacy • 1. Recognise a need for information • 2. Distinguish ways to address the information gap • 3. Construct strategies for locating information • 4. Locate and access information • 5. Compare and evaluate information obtained from different sources • 6. Organise, apply and communicate information to others appropriately • 7. Synthesise and build upon existing information, contributing to the creation ofnew knowledge

10. Critical thinking in literature searching • Construct research question (s) • Mindmap exercise • Select appropriate sources • Primary and secondary sources exercise • Academic and popular sources • What is a journal? • Consider language • Search tools and techniques (workshop) • Matching need to appropriate tools • Tracking down the full text article • Evaluating and referencing and plagiarism exercises

11. Writing a Literature Review: What is one anyway? • The purpose of a literature review is to summarize, synthesize and critique the sources relating to your topic. • OR • To provide an overview • To evaluate sources • To categorise sources • To compare sources • To make links to your project NB: Critical thinking + joined-up thinking! (links) NB: Paraphrasing!

12. Writing a Discussion Section • Hardest section to write! • - Principal findings • - Strengths and weaknesses of study • - Comparison to other studies (references) • - The meaning of this study for the field • Unanswered questions: further study specific general NB: Critical thinking and joined up thinking

13. Results: Critical Thinking Self-Assessment • - Pre-test in intro. lecture; post-test in final lecture. • - Paired sample T-test using SPSS 14 • - Average score pre-test = 52.8 / 80 • - Average score post-test = 61.3 / 80 • - Scores increased by average of 8.5 points • - It is unlikely that this increase is due to chance • - (1:1000 probability that this is due to chance)

14. The Learning Log • - The most useful thing I have learned today • - What I have learned today that I can apply to: • - my project • - my ethics essay • - my professional development • - my critical thinking skills • - Any other comments

15. Results: Learning Log Feedback • ‘There is no link between this lecture and my project’ • ‘I cannot see how writing a literature review will be helpful in my professional life.’ • ‘[Critical Thinking is] not throwing away other’s ideas I may not agree with.’ • ‘My personal experience in the glass industry could affect the approach I take to my project. I should evaluate other methods to see if they are relevant.’

16. Results: other effects • Attendance from 50% last year 80-90% this year • Greater engagement: > number of questions / comments • - First Mech. Eng. drop in students at Skills@Library

17. Personal Reflection • Lower level of writing and CT than expected • Reluctance to read • Reluctance to write • Unfamiliarity with journal articles • - Learning log – 2 way communication

18. Want to know more? • Skills@ Library • A: 15 Blenheim Terrace • T: 0113 34 34096 • E: skills@library.leeds.ac.uk • W: http://skills.library.leeds.ac.uk • Faculty Team Librarians • W: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/library/subjects/

19. Conclusion • More awareness raising input on Critical Thinking is needed • Developing CT skills is a slow burn (long time period needed) • Developing CT skills is best embedded in a subject

20. References • COTTRELL, S. 2005. Critical thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument, Wiltshire: Palgrave Macmillan, p 13 • KING, P.M. AND KITCHENER, K.S.1994. Developing reflective judgement, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. • KRONHOLM, M. 1996. The impact of developmental instruction on reflective judgement. Review of Higher Education. 19 (2), pg 199-225. • SCONUL. 2007. The Seven Pillars of Information Literacy. Available from the World Wide Web: • http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literacy/seven_pillars.html • SILLER, T.J. 2001. Sustainability and critical thinking in Civil Engineering curriculum, Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, July, pg 104 – 108. • Warhol, B. 2007. Dunce. Flickr image by Billy Warhol under a Creative Commons license: http://flickr.com/photos/billywarhol/1304030714/