Assessing Change in Student Critical Thinking for Introduction to Sociology Classes

Although there is widespread agreement among academics that critical thinking is an important component to the college classroom, there is little empirical evidence to verify that it is being taught in courses. Using four sections of introductory sociology, we developed an experimental design using...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Teaching sociology 2013-07, Vol.41 (3), p.271-281
Main Authors: Rickles, Michael L., Schneider, Rachel Zimmer, Slusser, Suzanne R., Williams, Dana M., Zipp, John F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic staff
Change
Changes
Classrooms
Cognition
College instruction
College Students
Control groups
Creative Thinking
Creativity
Credit
Critical Theory
Critical Thinking
Discussion (Teaching Technique)
Elementary school students
Ethnicity
Grade Point Average
History and organization of sociology
History, theory and methodology
Introductory Courses
Organization of profession, research and teaching. Deontology. Sociology of sociology. Epistemology
Outcomes of education
Posttests
Pretests
Pretests Posttests
Race
Research Design
Scholarship
Schools
Sex
Skill Development
Skills
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomic Status
Sociology
Sociology of education. Educational systems. Lifelong education
Students
Teachers
Teaching Methods
Thinking Skills
Writing Assignments
Writing instruction
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Summary:Although there is widespread agreement among academics that critical thinking is an important component to the college classroom, there is little empirical evidence to verify that it is being taught in courses. Using four sections of introductory sociology, we developed an experimental design using pretests and posttests to assess students' critical thinking skills. Controlling for grade point average, cumulative credit hours completed, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, instructor, and initial levels of critical thinking, being in the experimental group had a statistically significant impact on critical thinking at the end of the semester. Thus, inclusion of writing assignments and classroom discussion designed to enhance creative thought processes for the experimental group helped students improve from one-dimensional thinking toward more multistructural analysis.
ISSN:0092-055X
1939-862X
DOI:10.1177/0092055X13479128