Aston, K.J. orcid.org/0000-0001-6203-8520 (2024) ‘Why is this hard, to have critical thinking?’ Exploring the factors affecting critical thinking with international higher education students. Active Learning in Higher Education, 25 (3). pp. 537-550. ISSN 1469-7874
Abstract
University students of all disciplines are expected to display critical thinking. Critical thinking may, however, be impeded by psychological and sociological factors such as: belief and confirmation biases, framing, social pressure to conform and poor assessment of probability and risk. These factors are rarely, if ever, thoroughly examined in isolation, outside the context of the students’ discipline. The aim of this study therefore was to ascertain whether students found that their critical thinking benefited from a better understanding of these factors. To this end, a series of workshops was designed along active learning principles which explored the human factors affecting critical thinking. These workshops were delivered to international students studying various disciplines at the University of Sheffield in the UK, and the participants were then interviewed. The resulting data was analysed using thematic analysis and code development. Participants reported as a result of these workshops an improved understanding of the critical thinking skills of questioning and analysing, using multiple perspectives and argument building; and new awareness of confirmation bias, the use of evidence and sources, framing, independent thinking and culture in relation to critical thinking. In particular, students from educational traditions that favour certainty and authority showed greater tolerance of ambiguity and willingness to judge for themselves. There was also evidence of development in critical dispositions relating to the self (such as self-awareness) and to other people (such as respect for others’ views) as well as criticality, that is, awareness of one’s role in society. This suggests that a better understanding of the factors that influence human thought processes develops students as critical thinkers and equips them to make a positive contribution to the world.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | critical thinking; higher education; international students; metacognition; bias |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Academic Programmes and Student Engagement |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 05 Feb 2024 16:03 |
Last Modified: | 18 Nov 2024 11:15 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/14697874231168341 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:208755 |