113982_thinking_skills___admissions_to_he.pdf

8/11/2019 113982_Thinking_Skills___Admissions_to_HE.pdf

1/21

Thinking Skills and Admission to Higher Education

By

Dr. Alec Fisher(Director, Centre for Research in Critical Thinking, University of East Anglia,

Norwich)

Contents

Introduction

1. Background on Thinking Skills.

. !hat "rom#ts Thinking Skills "rogrammes$

%. !hat is the E&idence on Teaching Thinking$

'. !h( Assess Thinking Skills )or *ni&ersit( Admission$

+. ,easuring Intelligence & Assessing Thinking Skills

-. Thinking Skills Assessment TSA/ or Scholastic Assessment Test SAT/

0. !hat is Critical Thinking$

. !hat is "ro2lem Sol&ing$

3. Summar( o) the Argument.

14. To Conclude

A##endi56 The notion o) e))ect si7e e5#lained.

Bi2liogra#h(

2!"#"$$


2/21

Introduction

This %a%er was co&&issione' y the University of Ca&ri'ge ocal E*a&inations

+yn'icate to %rovi'e infor&ation for those with an interest in thinking skills- an' the

%rocess of .niversity a'&issions/ 0t %rovi'es

(i) a g.i'e for the %olicy &aker- (as o%%ose' to the st.'ent- or the research

co&&.nity-),

(ii) a g.i'e to thinking skills- an' the research that .n'er%inne' their

intro'.ction " the fo.n'ations of the s.1ect,

(iii) a g.i'e to the 'ifferent kin's- of thinking skills,

(iv) the evi'ence an' arg.&ents for clai&s that Thinking +kills are .sef.l,es%ecially why they are .sef.l for higher e'.cation

(v) an e*%lanation of the si&ilarities an' 'ifferences etween the North

A&erican +cholastic Assess&ent Test (+AT) an' the Thinking +kills

Assess&ent (T+A) 'evelo%e' y UCE+/

0t arg.es that well"'esigne' thinking skills- assess&ents co.l' %lay an i&%ortant role

in 'iscri&inating a&ong .niversity a%%licants with very goo' A"level res.lts " the

%role& face' c.rrently y &any .niversities an' .niversity co.rses in the U/

2!"#"$2


3/21

1. Background on Thinking Skills.

There are &any stran's in what has eco&e known as the thinking skills- tra'ition/

An i&%ortant one in the %resent conte*t is the critical thinking- tra'ition, which is

co&&only trace' ack to 3ohn Dewey, the A&erican %sychologist, %hiloso%her an'

e'.cator (Dewey ($44))/ 5n a relate' .t 'ifferent tack, the (&athe&atical)%role& solvingtra'ition has rather osc.re eginnings .t the 6.ngarian

&athe&atician 7eorg 8olya is wi'ely cre'ite' with originating it as a teachale skill9

.n.s.ally for a ook on &athe&atics, his classicHow to Solve It(8olya ($4:!)) has

sol' over a &illion co%ies/

A ;.ite 'ifferent stran', which has een very infl.ential in schools, 'erives fro& thework of the 0sraeli %sychologist, R.een ))/ There is also @atthew i%&an-s

8hiloso%hy for Chil'ren %rogra&&e, which is si&ilar to the critical thinking tra'ition

in so&e res%ects (i%&an ($4=) an' ($44$))/ Again in the Unite' +tates, the workon &.lti%le intelligences- 'evelo%e' y 6owar' 7ar'ner at 6arvar', has een

enor&o.sly infl.ential an' ai&s to 'evelo% 'ifferent intelligences y teaching

thinking skills (7ar'ner ($44#))/

0n Britain, one of the &ost significant 'evelo%&ents has een the CA+E %rogra&&e

(Cognitive Acceleration Thro.gh +cience E'.cation) 'evelo%e' y A'ey an' +hayer,

an' ase' on the work of 8iaget (A'ey, 8 an' +hayer @/ ($44:))/ There is also the+o&erset Thinking +kills %rogra&&e, 'erive' fro&


4/21

way, 8olya gives st.'ents key ;.estions to ask the&selves when face' with any

&athe&atical %role&/

There are &any variations on the the&es &entione' aove an' so&e of these will e

'isc.sse' elow/ There is also growing evi'ence of the effectiveness of &any of these

%rogra&&es in 'elivering i&%rove' st.'ent %erfor&ance an' this is also given elow/

. !hat "rom#ts Thinking Skills "rogrammes$

The asic &otivation for all 'evelo%&ents in the thinking skills- tra'ition has always

een &.ch the sa&e, whatever the 'etails of the res.lting %rogra&&e/ 6ere are fo.r,rather 'ifferent, e*a&%les/

(2/$) @atthew i%&an, was a 'isting.ishe' 8rofessor of 8hiloso%hy in

Col.&ia University in New ork in the ?>s/ 6e eca&e increasingly

fr.strate' eca.se he fo.n' that his .niversity st.'ents lacke' a n.&er ofasic thinking skills, like the aility to constr.ct an arg.&ent, to clarify i'eas,

to see things fro& others- %oints of view an' the like/ 6e was also convince'that it was too late to change their thinking haits at the .niversity level so he

'esigne' the 8hiloso%hy for Chil'ren 8rogra&&e which ai&s to teach these

an' other thinking skills to schoolchil'ren age' ! " $! (i%&an ($4=) ($44$))

This is a stan'"alone %rogra&&e " in which thinking skills are ta.ght

se%arately fro& nor&al school s.1ects/

(2/2) The i&%et.s for the CA+E (Cognitive Acceleration thro.gh +cience

E'.cation %rogra&&e) ca&e fro& a s.rvey of $:, %.%ils in :! schools in

Englan' an' ales, which showe' that only $? of $? year ol's were

showing evi'ence of even early for&al o%erational thinking- (a f.n'a&ental

i'ea of 8iaget-s)/ +ince this kin' of thinking is re;.ire' to .n'erstan' how to

test hy%otheses effectively, to 1.'ge critically etween the &erits of twoarg.&ents or to co%e with %ro%ortionality, the i&%lication was clear " that the

vast &a1ority of %.%ils cannot think at the level re;.ire' for the science

c.rric.l.& (or in'ee' &any other areas) (cf @c7.inness (($444) %/$2)/ CA+E

is a %rogra&&e where the teaching of thinking skills is e&e''e' in the

teaching of s.1ect &atter, na&ely the science c.rric.l.& for $2"$# year ol's

(see A'ey an' +hayer ($44:))

(2/#) R.een


5/21

&athe&atics, they 'i'n-t know how to 'irect their own tho.ght %rocesses in

ways that co.l' e fr.itf.l/ They 'i'n-t realise that there are strategies for

solving &athe&atical %role&s/ That lea' hi& to writeHow to Solve It(an'so&e other ooks) which e*%lain what he calls heuristic strategiesfor solving

%role&s/ Tho.gh teaching 8olya"ty%e %role& solving he.ristics is not

greatly in fashion at the &o&ent, &any .niversity teachers refer their st.'entstoHow to Solve Itat so&e stage (8olya ($4:!))/

+i&ilar stories lie ehin' the work of nearly all those who have contri.te' to the

'evelo%&ent of the thinking skills tra'ition/ They notice so&e 'eficiency in thethinking of their st.'ents an' 'evise so&e teaching interventions which ai& at

'irectly a''ressing those thinking 'eficiencies " ie at teaching thinking e*%licitly an'

'irectly/ 5f co.rse, 'ifferent original concerns can lea' to ;.ite 'ifferent e'.cational

%ro%osals " often for st.'ents at 'ifferent stages of intellect.al 'evelo%&ent an' in

very 'ifferent conte*ts/

6owever the res.lting %rogra&&es have si&ilar o1ectives (to teach thinking skills'irectly) an' .s.ally have other si&ilarities too, for e*a&%le, as we sai' aove, the

key to nearly all of the& is &eta"cognition- " thinking ao.t one-s thinking an'

e*%licitly trying to 'irect one-s thinking to follow so&e goo' &o'el/ (To e*%lain with

an analogy9 1.st as yo. can try to i&%rove yo.r golf swing (a &otor skill) y self

conscio.sly trying to swing like Tiger oo's, so yo. can i&%rove yo.r skill in'ecision &aking y self conscio.sly trying to follow a goo' 'ecision &aking &o'el "

an' si&ilarly with other thinking skills)/ Another co&&on ele&ent is %ractice9 1.st

like any other skills, the way to 'evelo% thinking skills is to start with easy tasks an'

to %ractice the skill in &ore an' &ore co&%le* sit.ations/

The thinking skills tra'ition arg.es that thinking skills cane ta.ght an'shouldeta.ght/


6/21

science lessons/ The res.lts are f.lly 'oc.&ente' in A'ey an' +hayer ($44:)/ 0n

short they show re&arkale evi'ence that st.'ents who receive' this teaching 'i' far

etter in their s.se;.ent 7C+E e*a&inations than control gro.%s of st.'ents who 'i'not (on average, they otaine' a whole gra'e higher)/


7/21

(6iggins an' 6all (22) %/4)

There is also e*tensive evi'ence fro& the Unite' +tates, involving a si&ilar &eta"st.'y &etho'ology (@arano et al ($44=))/ This evi'ence shows that a'o%ting

a%%roaches which &ake thinking e*%licit, or which foc.s on %artic.lar kin's of

thinking, are s.ccessf.l at raising attain&ent, %artic.larly those ase' on&etacognitive a%%roaches or cognitively 'e&an'ing interventions s.ch as %role&

solving an' hy%othesis testing (cf/, 6iggins an' 6all (2:) %/$$)

The evi'ence cite' here shows that significant e'.cational gains arepossiblefro&teaching thinking skills/ 5f co.rse, these %ositive res.lts show what cane 'one " .t

it is e;.ally ovio.s that teaching thinking- can e 'one %oorly an' ineffectively/

Carol @c7.inness, in her DfE+ Research Re%ort ($444) s%ells so&e of the con'itions

for s.ccess in this kin' of teaching as follows,

//the general fra&ework Hof i'eas for 'evelo%ing thinking skillsI nowincl.'esF the nee' to &ake thinking skills e*%licit in the c.rric.l.&9 teaching

thro.gh a for& of coaching9 taking a &etacognitive %ers%ective9 collaorative

learning (incl.'ing co&%.ter"&e'iate' learning)9 creating 'is%ositions an'

haits of goo' thinking9 Han'I generalising the fra&ework to thinking

c.rric.la, thinking classroo&s an' thinking schools/- (%/$)


8/21

level res.lts (either %re'icte' or known)/ 0n'ee', A level res.lts have een the &ain

'eter&inant of .niversity a'&ission ever since they were first intro'.ce' in $4!$/

A'&issions officers also have infor&ation fro& hea'"teachers re%orts (on the UCA+for&) an' %erha%s fro& interviews (which are notorio.sly .nreliale, tho.gh few

.niversities research the reliaility of their interviews)/ +o&eti&es they set their own

tests, tho.gh these are .s.ally s.1ect &atter tests (like +TE8 %a%ers taken fora'&ission to &athe&atics in Ca&ri'ge an' so&e other .niversities)/

7iven these so.rces of infor&ation, &any .niversity a'&issions are 'eci'e'

reasonaly straightforwar'ly/ 6owever, in recent years there has een a tre&en'o.sincrease in the n.&er of .niversity a%%licants who have very goo' A"level res.lts/

As a res.lt, increasing n.&ers of .niversities an' co.rses have een face' with the

%role& of choosing etween too &any- goo' a%%licants an' their &etho's have

generate' consi'erale controversy/ +o, how &ight this e 'one oth skilf.lly an'

fairlyJ

0f one talks to a'&issions officers who are face' with choosing etween very ale-a%%licants, they co&&only say so&ething like the following,

5f co.rse o.r can'i'ates are very goo' at learning what their teachers tell

the& (they have or are %re'icte' to get very goo' A"level res.lts), .t they fall

into two gro.%s when yo. ask the& ;.estions o.tsi'e what they have 'one forA"level-, ;.estions which re;.ire the& to show how they think in s.ch

sit.ations/ +o&e can'i'ates si&%ly flo.n'er " they haven-t 'one it- so they

have little to say ao.t it/ 5thers welco&e s.ch ;.estions9 they are rea'y to

think ao.t %ossile sol.tions, will talk aro.n' the %role&, try 'ifferent

a%%roaches " an' so on/ They show a rea'iness to think on their own acco.nt

an' they know how to 'o that/ These are the ones we want to a'&it/-

To %.t the %oint 'ifferently, when st.'ents &ove fro& school to a .niversity, &any

will fin' that they have to think a great 'eal for the&selves/ University teachers will

ass.&e a whole range of thinking skills " an aility to arg.e a case, to solve %role&s,

to 1.'ge cre'iility, an' &.ch &ore/ 5ther things eing e;.al, st.'ents will %erfor&

etter at .niversity if they have een ta.ght these skills e*%licitly an' know how to'e%loy the& in novel sit.ations/

0 have ta.ght oth critical thinking an' &athe&atical %role& solving skills at

.niversity level/ After s.ch co.rses, 0 have often een s.r%rise' y the n.&er of

st.'ents who say so&ething like,

Now 0 .n'erstan' what 0 a& s.%%ose' to e 'oing when 0 write anarg.&entative essay (or try to solve an .nfa&iliar %role&)9 &y gra'es have

i&%rove' significantly9 .t why on earth was 0 not ta.ght this kin' of thing at

schoolJ 0t is not rocket science, .t it is so hel%f.l/-

There is no 'o.t that these thinking skills- are teachale (tho.gh not co&&only

ta.ght), hel%f.l (es%ecially in the &o'ern worl' where knowle'ge eco&es osolete

so ;.ickly an' what is nee'e' is %eo%le who are goo' at thinking things thro.gh forthe&selves), e*a&inale (5CR C0E are alrea'y 'oing this ;.ite e*tensively) an' the

2!"#"$=


9/21

kin's of things .niversity a'&issions officers are looking for .t receive little

infor&ation ao.t fro& the UCA+ for&/

Th.s, an assess&ent of s.itale thinking skills- co.l' e 1.st what .niversity

a'&issions officers are looking for if they are face' with the %role& of too &any ale

a%%licants/ At %resent, .niversities have no 'irect infor&ation ao.t how goo'a%%licants are at thinking things through on their own account" at tackling novel

sit.ations of 1.st the kin' they will often enco.nter in .niversity an' s.se;.ently/

This aility is 1.st what the new Thinking +kills Assess&ent ai&s to &eas.re/

orking ack fro& what st.'ents have to 'o in .niversity, it see&s reasonale to

ass.&e that a reliale &eas.re of this aility co.l' e very hel%f.l in the a'&issions

%rocess an' evi'ence is eginning to e&erge to s.%%ort this view (ill&ott 2!)/

+. ,easuring Intelligence &ersus Assessing Thinking Skills.

#i)Intelligence and the Scholastic $ptitude Test #S$T)

ork on measuringintelligence- is .s.ally trace' ack to the %ioneering work of the


10/21

an o1ective- &eas.re of intelligence- (seen as a fairly fi*e' en'ow&ent), which

wo.l' e a goo' in'icator of aca'e&ic a%tit.'e an' which co.l' greatly assist

a'&issions officers in North A&erican .niversities/

0t has long een 'esigne' to &eas.re' two ailities, veral reasoning- an'

&athe&atical reasoning-, which are seen as

(i) 'evelo%e' ailities which grow slowly over the years,

(ii) relatively in'e%en'ent of what the st.'ent is c.rrently learning in the

classroo& an'(iii) general aca'e&ic skills necessary for s.ccessf.l college work/

The +AT is wi'ely .se' in the Unite' +tates an' elsewhere (eg Cana'a, +we'en an'

0srael) to %rovi'esupplementary%re'ictive infor&ation in the college a'&ission

%rocess/ 0t is co&ine' with the 7ra'e 8oint Average to %re'ict %erfor&ance an' its

%re'ictive vali'ity is .s.ally &eas.re' in ter&s of %erfor&ance one year after

a'&ission/ (An' there are now several si&ilar instr.&ents .se' for si&ilar %.r%oses,incl.'ing the 7ra'.ate Recor' E*a&ination (7RE), the aw +chools A'&ission Test

(+AT) an' others/)

#ii) Thinking Skills and the Thinking Skills $ssessment #TS$)

Arising o.t of the thinking skills tra'ition, instr.&ents calle' the Bio&e'ical

A'&issions Test (B@AT), a &e'ical an' veterinary schools entrance test, an' the

&ore general Thinking +kills Assess&ent (T+A) have een 'evelo%e' y UCE+,

also to hel% with the %rocess of .niversity a'&issions/ These tests have een

'evelo%e' on the asis of the work 'one y UCE+ on assessing thinking skills over

the %ast 2! years (see ill&ott (2!))/

The %role& face' y so&e .niversities in the U an' for which these instr.&ents

were 'esigne' is ;.ite 'ifferent fro& the %role& for which the +AT was 'esigne' in

the U+/ 0n short, the %role& in the U is to 'ifferentiate etween very large n.&ers

of can'i'ates with si&ilar an' e*cellent A level res.lts/ The T+A an' the B@AT are

'esigne' to assist a'&issions officers in British .niversities face' y over"

s.scri%tion- in 'iscri&inating skilf.lly an' fairly etween s.ch can'i'ates/

The Thinking +kills Assess&ent is c.rrently 'esigne' to &eas.re two skills, critical

thinkingan' %role& solving-, which are seen as

(i) skillsailities which are teachable" (with significant %ay"off for A levels

an' .niversity work)

(ii) skills which can e 'evelo%e' thro.gh s%ecial a%%roaches to s.1ect &atterteaching or thro.gh stan'"alone co.rses

(iii) generaltransferale aca'e&ic skills which are vital to s.ccessf.l

.niversity work

The T+A is c.rrently eing %ilote' y 22 colleges in ! 'isci%lines in the University of

Ca&ri'ge/ 0t %rovi'es supplementary %re'ictive infor&ation in the college

a'&ission %rocess/ +cores are co&ine' with A"level scores to %re'ict %erfor&ancean' the %re'ictive vali'ity of oth tests is eing &eas.re' in ter&s of %erfor&ance one

2!"#"$$


11/21


12/21

%rovi'e an off the %eg- instr.&ent to hel% selection in the very 'ifferent U

conte*t, where the %role& to e a''resse' is 'ifferent/

(vi) 5ne of the &ost i&%ortant 'ifferences etween the +AT an' the T+A is

that the skills assesse' in the T+A are teachale skills which are val.ale in

higher e'.cation/ The +AT on the other han' has long clai&e' to &eas.reinnate- or native- aility/ 5f co.rse, it is well known that can'i'ates can e

coache'- to 'o etter on the +AT than they wo.l' witho.t s.ch %ractice/

Clearly, can'i'ates taking any test will enefit fro& 'oing si&ilar tests

(.s.ally %ast test %a%ers), which show the str.ct.re of the test an' the kin' of;.estions it contains/ 6owever, &ost of the strategies for getting higher &arks

on the +AT 'o not involve gaining &ore knowle'ge or skills that will enefit

st.'ents in the 6E co.rses to which they as%ire/ They si&%ly involve learning

what to look for in the test an' how to .se its str.ct.re to the can'i'ate-s

a'vantage/ By contrast, learning thinking skills lea's to the enhance&ent of

st.'ents- %erfor&ance in all %arts of the c.rric.l.& as well as %re%aring the&

to get the est fro& 6igher E'.cation/


13/21

contrasting, 1.'ging cre'iility, clarifying an' inter%reting i'eas an' &any other

higher or'er- thinking skills (cf Bloo& (e') ($4!?) for an acco.nt of higher or'er-

thinking)/

0n the U, the L.alifications an' C.rric.l.& A.thority has estalishe' s.1ect

criteria- for critical thinking teaching an' e*a&inations an' these say that A+ levels%ecifications sho.l' re;.ire st.'ents toF

.n'erstan' the lang.age of reasoning

clarify e*%ressions an' i'eas

i'entify reasons an' concl.sions

recognise an' eval.ate 'ifferent kin's of clai&s

1.'ge the cre'iility of so.rces

.n'erstan' an' .se 'ifferent %atterns of reasoning as well as 'ifferent

stan'ar's for eval.ating arg.&ents

recognise an' eval.ate s%ecial kin's of reasoningF ca.sal e*%lanations,1.stifying 'ecisions, reasoning fro& 'ifferent %oints of view, asic ethical

reasoning

recognise ass.&%tions

%resent relevant arg.&ents

.n'erstan' asic for&s of statistical reasoning a%%ro%riate to infor&e'

citiens/

0n a''ition, A level st.'ents sho.l' e ale toF

eval.ate rhetorical an' %ers.asive lang.age, incl.'ing so&e classic

fallacies .n'erstan' for&s of statistical reasoning a%%ro%riate to infor&e' citiens

.n'erstan' an' .se feat.res of hy%othetical reasoning s.ch as for e*a&%le

what if, s.%%ositional reasoning, testing hy%otheses

i'entify an' eval.ate ethical arg.&ents, &aking reference to %rinci%les

recognise an' a%%ly so&e asic logical i'eas, s.ch as for e*a&%lee*cl.'e' &i''le, converse, contra'iction, consistent, circ.larity, co.nter

e*a&%le, necessary an' s.fficient con'itions, i&%lyentail, generalisation

.se i&ages, sy&ols an' other non"veral sti&.li in reasoning s.ch as for

e*a&%le those in news re%orting, a'vertising, %olitical an' si&ilar

cartoons/

0t is not 'iffic.lt to see fro& s.ch a list that these are skills which are f.n'a&ental to&any intellect.al activities an' are also skills which are taken for grante' in &any

.niversity co.rses/ Th.s, on the face of it, if one co.l' get reliale infor&ation ao.t

a%%licants- critical thinking skills, this infor&ation co.l' e very relevant in the

.niversity a'&ission %rocess/

The critical thinking tra'ition is now very well estalishe'/ 3ohn Dewey ($44) is.s.ally regar'e' as the fo.n'er of this tra'ition, .t &any other scholars have &a'e

i&%ortant contri.tions/ E'war' 7laser con'.cte' the first scientific e*%eri&ent to

see if critical thinking skills co.l' e ta.ght ($4:$) an' was res%onsile for the

2!"#"$$#


14/21


15/21

to for&.late hy%otheses an' con1ect.res (e/g/, s.ggesting %atterns fro&

e*a&%les),

'raw concl.sions fro& given 'ata,

to write an' e*%ress the&selves .sing &athe&atical;.antitativegra%hical

i'eas/

(cf/


16/21

co.l' e of hel% to a'&ission officers in &any .niversity fiel's, an' evi'ence to that

effect is eginning to e&erge (ill&ott (2!))/

8arallel to the case of testing critical thinking, testing %role& solving skills co.l'

hel% a'&ission officers 'isting.ish etween a%%licants who have een well"'rille' to

%ass &athe&atics e*a&inations an' those who can solve ;.antitative %role&s of anovel, .nfa&iliar kin' who have a skill which is nee'e' in &any .niversity co.rses/

0ts %role&s wo.l' re;.ire that the can'i'ate co.l' .se %role& solving strategies an'

understoodhow to solve new kin's of %role&s (at a given level)

hat is nee'e' now is cons.ltation with those for who& the T+A is inten'e',

es%ecially teachers in higher e'.cation, ao.t the &athe&atical;.antitativelogical

%role& solving skills which are nee'e' in vario.s areas of aca'e&ic work with

reference to ;.estions of the ty%es 'isc.sse' aove/ As 0 sai' earlier, it is i&%ortant

that ;.estions have face vali'ity- for .niversity teachers/

Clearly, so&e .niversity s.1ect areas re;.ire al&ost no %role& solving skills of thekin' o.tline' aove (e/g/, English iterat.re)9 others re;.ire a relatively low level an'

others ;.ite a high level (e/g/, 8hysics, Co&%.ting)/

3. Summar( o) the Argument

There is a view a&ong &any involve' in e'.cation that st.'ents- thinking skills

si&%ly 'evelo% slowly an' fairly in'e%en'ently of what is eing st.'ie' in theirnor&al school s.1ects " history, %hysics etc/ The thinking skills- tra'ition arg.es

that these skills are etter ta.ght explicitlyan' that 'oing so can really raise

educational standards/

There are &any stran's in what has eco&e known as the thinking skills- tra'ition,

incl.'ing the critical thinkingan'problem solvingtra'itions/ Thinking skills%rogra&&es are nearly always %ro&%te' y the realisation that st.'ents lack so&e

thinking aility an' are 'esigne' to re&e'y that 'eficiency y teaching the skills in

;.estion explicitlyan' directly.

The essential i'eas ehin' nearly all of these %rogra&&es is metacognition- " self

conscio.sly 'irecting ones own thinking to e &ore skilf.l " an' %ractice (1.st as one

can i&%rove a &otor skill, like a %laying golf)/

There is increasing evidencethat thinking skills can e 'evelo%e' thro.gh 'irect

teaching an' that they can significantly i&%rove %erfor&ance in or'inary school

s.1ects/ An' this evi'ence is o.tline' aove, citing so&e i&%ortant so.rces/

These res.lts are welco&e to .niversities for their own sake, .t are also of interest tothe& for another, &ore s%ecific, reason/ 0n recent years there has een a tre&en'o.s

increase in the n.&er of .niversity a%%licants with very goo' A"level res.lts/ Th.s,

increasing n.&ers of .niversities an' co.rses have een face' with the %role& of

choosing fro& a&ong too &any- ale can'i'ates an' their &etho's have generate'

consi'erale controversy/ +o&e are now e*%eri&enting with tests of thinking skills-

2!"#"$$?


17/21

to %rovi'e the& with the e*tra infor&ation they nee' to &ake these choices wiselyan'

fairly/

At %resent, can'i'ates- UCA+ for&s give a'&issions officers a great 'eal of

infor&ation, .t %rovi'e no 'irect infor&ation ao.t how goo' a%%licants are at

thinking things through on their own account" at tackling novel sit.ations of 1.st thekin' they will often enco.nter in .niversity work/ Th.s, working ackwar's fro&

what st.'ents will have to 'o in .niversity, it see&s entirely reasonale to ass.&e that

a reliale &eas.re of this aility co.l' e very hel%f.l in the a'&issions %rocess an'

evi'ence is eginning to e&erge to s.%%ort this view/

There is a ;.estion ao.t what sho.l' e assesse' y s.ch tests/ +ho.l' they assess

intelligence/, tho.ght of as eing so&ethingfairly fixed, like the North A&erican

+cholastic Assess&ent Test (+AT)J 5r sho.l' they assess thinking aility- seen as

eing oth teachablean'fundamental to success in university workJ

This %a%er arg.es that the +AT works very well in the North A&erican conte*t .t isnot the instr.&ent for the 'ifferent %role&s face' in the U/ hat is re;.ire' here

is a test of thinking skills9 these are vital for s.ccess in .niversity, teaching the&

wo.l' raise stan'ar's an' assessing the& gives infor&ation not otherwise availale to

a'&issions officers/ orking ack fro& the thinking skills- re;.ire' y .niversity,

this %a%er arg.es that what is nee'e' is a test of critical thinkingan' %role&solving- (an' %erha%s others)/

These constr.cts are e*%laine' s.fficiently f.lly for .niversity teachers to see that they

are f.n'a&ental to s.ccess in &any .niversity co.rses/

As we have arg.e', these skills can e ta.ght an' sho.l' e ta.ght e*%licitly/ Theycan i&%rove %erfor&ance in school s.1ects an' are vital at the .niversity level/ TheUCE+ Thinking +kills Assess&ent, which is .ilt on 2! years work in this fiel', is

'esigne' to assess 1.st these thinking skills an' co.l' therefore %rovi'e val.ale

infor&ation to hel% in the a'&ission %rocess of &any .niversities/ Evi'ence on this

instr.&ent is %.lishe' in ill&ott (2!)/

14. To Conclude

Thinking skills assess&ents of the right kin' co.l' e val.ale to British .niversitiesin &aking a'&ission 'ecisions wisely an' fairly/ The B@AT an' the T+A are

alrea'y well"'evelo%e' an' evi'ence ao.t their .tility is e&erging/ UCE+ also

envisages %ro'.cingsimilar thinking skills assessments(esi'es the T+A an'

B@AT) for other s.1ects, in cons.ltation with intereste' aca'e&ics/ There is &.ch

work to e 'one .t this is an interesting 'evelo%&ent which 'eserves to e taken

serio.sly an' followe' .%/

Dr Alec FisherFe2ruar( 1-th44+.

2!"#"$$>


18/21

A##endi5 6 The notion o) e))ect si7e e5#lained

The general conce%t of effect sie- 'erives fro& the school of &etho'ology calle'&eta"analysis/ 0n o.r conte*t, the ter& refers to an increase or 'ecrease in the

achieve&ent of an e*%eri&ental gro.% y co&%arison with a control gro.%9 the for&er

doesan' the latter does notreceive the e'.cational intervention in which we areintereste'/

+.%%ose we are intereste' in the effect of teaching st.'ents critical thinking skills/

Then we i'entify a control gro.% " who have noteen ta.ght these skills " an' ane*%eri&ental gro.% " who have" an' &eas.re the critical thinking skills of oth

gro.%s/ 8rovi'e' the gro.%s are large eno.gh we wo.l' e*%ect the %ercentage scores

for oth gro.%s to 'is%lay a nor&al 'istri.tion- as shown in the 'iagra& elowF


19/21

Ass.&ing the effect of teaching critical thinking skills is %ositive an' significantly so

we wo.l' e*%ect the scores in the two gro.%s to look so&ething like the 'iagra&

elow, which ill.strates an effect sie of ao.t />!F


20/21

Bi2liogra#h(

A'ey, 8/+/, +hayer, @ 133'/0eally 0aising Standards' !ognitive intervention and

academic achievement. on'onF Ro.tle'ge

A'ey, 8/+/, +hayer, @ an' ates, C 133+/Thinking Science' The !urriculum(aterials of the !$S" &roect on'onF Tho&as Nelson an' +ons

Binet, A/, an' +i&on, T/ 131-/ The development of intelligence in children/

Balti&oreF illia&s an' ilkins/ (Re%rinte' $4>#, New orkF Arno 8ress9 incl.'es

re%rints of &any of Binet-s articles on testing)/

Blagg, N/, Ballinger, @/ an' 7ar'ner, R/ 13/ Somerset Thinking Skills !ourse

Handbook 5*for'F Basil Blackwell

Bloo&, B/ +/ (E'/) 13+-/Taxonomy of "ducational 1bectives the classification of

educational goals , Handbook I' !ognitive 2omain. New orkF @cay

Costa, A 441/2eveloping (inds' $ 0esource 3ook for Teaching Thinking(#r'

e'ition) Ale*an'ria, MA/ Association for +.%ervision an' C.rric.l.& Develo%&ent

De Bono, E 130-/ Teaching Thinking/ on'onF @a.rice Te&%le +&ithDe Bono, E 130/ !o0T thinking programme' workcards and teachers/ notes

ChicagoF +cience Research Associates

Dewey, 3/ 1343/How %e Think Boston, @AF D/C/ 6eath an' Co/

Ennis, R/ 6/ 13+/ A Conce%t of Critical Thinking- Harvard "ducational 0eview

Mol/ #2, No/$, %%/=$"$$$

Ennis, R/ 6/ 133-/ !ritical Thinking New 3ersey9 8rentice 6all


21/21

@c7.inness, C 1333/ 7rom Thinking Skills to Thinking !lassrooms8 $ 0eview and

"valuation of approaches for developing pupils/ thinking Research re%ort No $$!9

Nottingha&F DfEE 8.lications/

@c8eck, 3 131/ !ritical Thinking and "ducation5*for'F @artin Roertson

@arano, R/3/, 8ickering, D/3/, an' 8ollock, 3/E 441/!lassroom instruction that

works' 0esearch,based strategies for increasing student achievement/ Ale*an'ria,MAF Association for +.%ervision an' C.rric.l.& Develo%&ent

8olya, 7 13'+/How To Solve It 8rincetonF 8rinceton University 8ress

+choenfel', A 133) 5earning to Think (athematically' &roblem Solving(etacognition and Sense,making in (athematics (Cha%ter $! inHandbook for

0esearch on (athematics Teaching and 5earning E'/, D/7ro.ws/ New orkF

@ac&illan)/

+chool @athe&atics 8ro1ect 133/ &roblem Solving' The School (athematics

&roect *+,*-. Ca&ri'geF Ca&ri'ge University 8ress/

+criven, @ 130-/0easoningNew orkF @c7raw"6ill

+wart, R,

113982_thinking_skills___admissions_to_he.pdf

Documents