The development of critical thinking: what university students have to say

ABSTRACT

Critical thinking is important for higher education yet challenging to teach. Despite much research and conceptual analysis, the practice of teaching remains both difficult and contested. Studies often draw on the experiences of teachers, or research by teachers on student experiences. Here, we argue that student voice in critical thinking research has not received enough attention and that student perspectives can contribute to its theories of teaching and learning. The research was conducted by three undergraduate authors and examine what fellow students had to say about developing critical thinking. An empirical model emerged that showed how flexibility in learning objectives could describe critical thinking development in relation to how much space is left for students to take charge of their own learning. We conclude with the idea of focused dialogue between teachers and students, and in particular among teachers themselves, in order to organise curriculum experiences for critical thinking.

KEYWORDS:

• Student voice
• critical thinking
• student experience
• meeting of minds

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professors Tony Harland and Johan Geertsema for their kind guidance and partnership.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.