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Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

wsj.com

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Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#71

Post by unabst »

I went to MIT, and I'm pretty sure everyone already had critical thinking skills. In fact, I just assumed that's part of what the admissions office was looking for.

> at least a third of seniors were unable to make a cohesive argument, assess the quality of evidence in a document or interpret data in a table

Is this what defines critical thinking? Because if these are the skills they want to teach, they should just explicitly teach them. Philosophy taught me a bit about arguments, but it wasn't writing class. In writing class we wrote, but they didn't teach structured arguments.

Personally, I loved solving logic puzzles as a kid, and I'd read. Also my mother raised me to think carefully and objectively. I don't ever remember being taught "critical thinking" at school though - not in college or anywhere else. I'm not aware of any workplace that teaches it either.

Maybe that's why we're screwed!?

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#72

Post by amrrs »

closure wrote: post #6
jseliger wrote: post #2

I've taught college. This study is wildly unsurprising. I've written about this in various places (e.g. https://jakeseliger.com/2014/04/27/paying-for-the-party-eliz... ), but most colleges have evolved majors and paths that are designed to move students through the system, collect their tuition money, and graduate them. In re-reading the previous sentence, I think I sound opposed to this. I am a little bit, maybe, bu…

Totally agree. It took me until several years out of school to realize that learning to think should have been a primary focus of university. 25 years on I am realizing that although it got me work and very decent pay I probably would have been much better off if the entire focus of university had been: 1. Learning how to think 2. Learning how to learn Really the focus of earlier schooling probably should have been:…

Exactly. We're taught those things that Google can give us faster than our brain can recall, like "Capital of Peru???? https://hackernoon.com/learning-to-code-focus-on-when-rather...

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#73

Post by omegaworks »

pieterk wrote: post #30

Why should we believe that their critical thinking evaluation is accurate?

The first critical comment!

A lot of anti-college head-nodding in the commentary here. It's not really that unexpected from a community that goes ga-ga over stunts like this[0]. The headline wreaks of Rupert Murdochian anti-intellectual pandering.

A great claim requires great proof, and when it's below the fold... what can ya do?

0. https://venturebeat.com/2011/11/21/peter-thiel-fellowship/

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#74

Post by shirro »

rockinghigh wrote: post #31
shirro wrote: post #20

If people had critical thinking skills they wouldn't be taking out outrageous loans to pay for often worthless degrees.

Good luck finding a job without a college degree.

Lack of a degree didn't seem to be a problem for the electrician I had working here this morning. I can't imagine him being forced to drive for Uber.

A quality education is a very good thing. I am proposing that many people are not critically evaluating what constitutes a good education and how much debt their education is worth.

People are paying their money, expecting a qualification and a job and perhaps that isn't what education is supposed to be about but as long as colleges are making money perhaps that is the best we can expect from many of them.

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#75

Post by likelynew »

Nickersf wrote: post #59

Every time a college sucks article gets published I think the same things: Look at the college enrollment rates since the 1960's. Look at the tuition rates since the 1960's Look at the distribution of majors since the 1960's Then precede to look at the labor market. It all becomes very clear. There's millions of great young people roaming the halls of colleges who are not engaged in higher learning. Great young peopl…

Specially true in India. Here, you will almost never see someone from decent economic background not going to college. I was little reluctant about going to college, but if I decided that I am not going to college, social pressure would have been tremendous.

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#76

Post by austenallred »

unabst wrote: post #71

I went to MIT, and I'm pretty sure everyone already had critical thinking skills. In fact, I just assumed that's part of what the admissions office was looking for. > at least a third of seniors were unable to make a cohesive argument, assess the quality of evidence in a document or interpret data in a table Is this what defines critical thinking? Because if these are the skills they want to teach, they should just e…

It seems that no one is really sure what job college should be doing. It's this massive bundle of so much everything that no one knows what's going on but we all keep attending almost no matter what the cost.

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#77

Post by chii »

mowenz wrote: post #49

Higher ed needs competition. In the interest of human progress, justice, and fairness, top-tier education needs to become open-access and in the form of competitive study. Instead of the greatest academic achievement having anything to do with money, connections or committees, make degrees open access: anyone can study for them and test for them. If any person, no matter how disadvantaged, or from what community they…

I dunno if i can trust a doctor who hasnt been through a rigorous course of several years, but self studied to pass the certification. May be if the certification process is very stringent, and take into account many practical skills, and the evaluation and have little false positives...

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#78

Post by mowenz »

jstewartmobile wrote: post #52

Not the biggest fan of higher ed, but why put this on the colleges? Why not the high schools? Eighteen was practically middle-aged in the 19th century. We just keep dropping that bar and infantilizing people so much that WSJ will be writing this about PhD programs in a few more years.

>Eighteen was middle-aged

That is possibly misleading.

By year 1500 the life expectancy of a nobleman in England who had reached age 20 was about 70--about the world average in 2017.

Infant Mortality rates were high back then, skewing averages, and during the Middle Ages they had the Bubonic Plague, skewing it even more...

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#79

Post by AstralStorm »

poikniok wrote: post #27
themodelplumber wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was a part-time college instructor and agree. Some of the smarter students IMO were the homeless, poor, and others who paid little to nothing. I taught a homeless ex-Stanford professor who was well known in the community and he was very sharp. The rest were mostly under no illusions about what they were there to do: Get a degree or certificate and move along. It doesn't take much critical thinking to recognize a st…

How exactly did a Stanford professor end up homeless? And why in the world would they be taking classes afterwards?

Probably a professor of one of the less marketable faculties retraining into a job.

Re: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

#80

Post by mowenz »

chii wrote: post #77
mowenz wrote: post #49

Higher ed needs competition. In the interest of human progress, justice, and fairness, top-tier education needs to become open-access and in the form of competitive study. Instead of the greatest academic achievement having anything to do with money, connections or committees, make degrees open access: anyone can study for them and test for them. If any person, no matter how disadvantaged, or from what community they…

I dunno if i can trust a doctor who hasnt been through a rigorous course of several years, but self studied to pass the certification. May be if the certification process is very stringent, and take into account many practical skills, and the evaluation and have little false positives...

I was actually talking about a pre-med degree to apply to med school. I also would prefer a doctor who has been through med school and residency.
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