Nurturing critical thinking dispositions (CTD) of students in tertiary education: Teaching and assessment

Critical thinking is regarded as an important attribute for school learning and lifelong career. Indeed, the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) strategic plan 2013-16 stresses to nurture students to become a critical thinker through innovative curriculum design and campus activities. However, Chinese learners are labeled as passive learners who lack critical thinking skills and weak in critical thinking dispositions. Moreover, little research about critical thinking has been conducted on pre-service teachers in our institute. This project aims to inquire the critical thinking dispositions (CTD) of students in our institute. In precise, we shall assess the CTD of our students by administering the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) (see appendix 1). Then, we shall use critical thinking cases as teaching materials in selected courses. These cases are expected to help nurturing the CTD of students. Finally, we shall interview students (n=10% of total students) to understand their CTD perceptions in their learning experiences (see appendix 2) and invite them to fill CCTDI again. This study has long term impacts in three aspects. First, this project will validate the CCTDI for Chinese higher education students. We expect to contribute to the assessment and development of student CTD in the future. Specifically, student learning outcomes of CTD will be shown through the pre-teaching assessment and post-teaching assessment of CCDTI. Second, the teaching materials on critical thinking cases will be disseminate to four courses (“Curriculum and Assessment”, “A narrative of stories in life”, “School-based curriculum development” and “Developing leadership through service learning”). Students attending these courses will experience the learning and development of CTD through critical thinking cases. Third, this project will help to develop critical thinking cases as teaching materials that help to nurture student CTD. These teaching materials will be helpful to empower our students to become critical thinkers in the future. To conclude, this study will help to understand and nurture student CTD in our institute.