Reality in the Classroom: Teaching Critical Thinking with Scenarios

ABSTRACT

One of the challenges for hospitality educators is to develop critical-thinking skills in the future leaders of the industry. It is often thought that students will develop this skill as a byproduct of coursework, but research indicates that it must be explicitly taught. Following the suggestions of researchers, this article uses authentic or anchored instruction scenarios to aid in the development of problem-solving skills. The 10 steps describe how to bring real management scenarios into class that not only engage students but also develop critical problem-solving skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical thinking
• scenarios
• role playing
• undergraduate education