Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 171-184
Author(s):  
Ilana M. Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Positive Relationships ◽  
Critical Questions ◽  
Pass Through

This chapter raises critical questions about the seemingly positive relationships between an upbringing of religious restraint and academic success. Despite the legal separation of church and state, teenagers who live their life for God do not shed their religious commitments once they pass through the schoolhouse doors. They believe that God is always with them, and they must always be on their best behavior. But there is a downside. Although abiders’ conscientious and cooperative nature may help them get better grades, this advantage may come at the expense of developing and encouraging critical thinking, creativity, and deeper engagement in the classroom. While abiders may have an academic advantage, it may be a result of an educational system that rewards dispositions for the sake of expediency rather than for the sake of learning. This chapter also raises questions about the upsides and downsides of religious restraint as teens enter adulthood.

scholarly journals Hybrid team based learning-personalised education for teaching epidemiology in public health degrees

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
T Ha ◽  
B Kemp ◽  
M Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Failure Rate ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
University Education ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Team Based Learning ◽  
The Subject

Abstract Background University education in Australia and internationally involves teaching diverse students: in terms of age, life experience, previous degrees completed, and level of English competency. In Australia the Bachelors of Public Health (BPH) at The University of Wollongong, epidemiology is a core subject. It aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to design, critique and interpret studies that investigate why different populations experience different health outcomes. A student-centred learning strategy; Hybrid Team Based Learning and Personalised Education teaching strategy (HTBL-PE) was created to maximise academic success. Each phase has a distinct purpose based on learning theories (e.g. TBL, Bloom's taxonomy and Vygotsky). HTBL-PE aims to systematically build students abilities; strengthen self-confidence and belief, by teaching the way students learn and harnessing the capabilities of the team to strengthen the individual. Objectives HTBL-PE was evaluated in spring 2019 in the BPH, where their experiences at the beginning and end of semester were measured. Results In total 73 out of 84 enrolled students provided data at both time-points (87%). At the end of the semester, the vast majority of students indicated their interest in epidemiology had increased (93%), critical thinking had improved (92%), and confidence as independent learners had increased (86%). Outcomes did not differ significantly by gender or across learning styles. More than two thirds of students had already applied learnings from this subject in other settings (67%). Students' final mark for this subject was significantly higher than their Weighted Average Mark (WAM) prior to the semester (+17.4, p < 0.001). Average scores for the subject were > 84/100 with a < 0.5% failure rate. Conclusions HTBL-PE has positive learning outcomes; low failure rates, increased confidence in learning and themselves, increased interest in epidemiology and high overall scores in the subject. Key messages An effective new innovative teaching strategy resulted in a subject average score > 84/100 and <0.5% failure rate. The vast majority of students reported increased confidence as independent lifelong learners, critical thinking, confidence in epidemiology (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and themselves.

scholarly journals Critical agency in the post-apartheid education system

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazir Carrim
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
South African ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Education System ◽  
The South ◽  
African Education ◽  
South African Education

This paper looks at critical agency in the South African education system. There has been a consistent linking of critical thinking with critical agency under apartheid, and that this was constructed by a ‘critical struggle’ (Touraine, 1985) against apartheid domination. However, this changed significantly in the post-apartheid moment, where compliance with the newly elected government is emphasised, and could be viewed in terms of ‘positive struggles’ (Touraine, 1986). These, however, limit critical agency in the post-apartheid formation. There is, nonetheless, evidence of critical agency being enacted in the post-apartheid education system. The importance of highlighting those forms of critical agency is crucial in order to enhance social justice in the post-apartheid educational system and society. This paper also links critical agency in the post-apartheid situation with the postcolonial and postmodern conditions because such conditions affect the possibilities of critical agency not only in South Africa but more generally.

Don’t Believe Everything About Science Online: Revisiting the Fake Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus in an Introductory Biology College Course

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-163
Author(s):  
Shem Unger ◽  
◽  
Mark Rollins ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
College Course ◽  
Critical Skills

Evaluating the veracity and reliability of online media in science is an integral part of developing critical skills in science. Moreover, the 1st year biology courses should provide an avenue for students to acquire these skills for academic success. This study evaluated whether students (n = 90) exposed to an apparently credible website were able to distinguish whether a species existed as part of two short online activities. Surprisingly, a high number of students did not question the species in the initial activity and assumed it was real. However, most as part of the second assessment did report it was false. Some students failed to recognize the species as fake and thought the species was real even after watching a parody or satirical video on YouTube. All students agreed that critical thinking in science was important and the majority of students gave positive feedback on the activity. Potential explanations for students’ inability to adequately assess information included students completing the assignment quickly and lack of further research. This kind of activity is recommended to expose the 1st year biology majors to critical thinking skills and accurate assessment of online information in science.

A Multi-Level Analysis of the Change in Teaching Methods in Post-Communist Romania

2013 ◽  
pp. 181-203
Author(s):  
Oana Gauca
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Student Work ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Post Communism ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Level Analysis

The chapter provides an overview of the changes suffered by the secondary and higher education systems in the communism to post-communism transition and discusses the transformation of the teaching methods and the impact of these transformations. Most teachers aspire to make critical thinking the main objective of their instruction; most of them do not realize that to develop as thinkers students must pass through stages of development in critical thinking. The conclusions point to the fact that most teachers are unaware of the levels of intellectual development that students go through as they improve as thinkers. The research shows that significant gains in the intellectual quality of student work will not be achieved if teachers do not recognize that skilled critical thinking develops only if properly cultivated and only through predictable stages.

scholarly journals Visual Literacy Intervention for Improving Undergraduate Student Critical Thinking of Global Sustainability Issues

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10209
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Krejci ◽  
Shirma Ramroop-Butts ◽  
Hector N. Torres ◽  
Raphael D. Isokpehi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Visual Literacy ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Global Sustainability ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Face

The promotion of global sustainability within environmental science courses requires a paradigm switch from knowledge-based teaching to teaching that stimulates higher-order cognitive skills. Non-major undergraduate science courses, such as environmental science, promote critical thinking in students in order to improve the uptake of scientific information and develop the rational decision making used to make more informed decisions. Science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) courses rely extensively on visuals in lectures, readings and homework to improve knowledge. However, undergraduate students do not automatically acquire visual literacy and a lack of intervention from instructors could be limiting academic success. In this study, a visual literacy intervention was developed and tested in the face-to-face (FTF) and online sections of an undergraduate non-major Introduction to Environmental Science course. The intervention was designed to test and improve visual literacy at three levels: (1) elementary—identifying values; (2) intermediate—identifying trends; and (3) advanced—using the data to make projections or conclusions. Students demonstrated a significant difference in their ability to answer elementary and advanced visual literacy questions in both course sections in the pre-test and post-test. Students in the face-to-face course had significantly higher exam scores and higher median assessment scores compared to sections without a visual literacy intervention. The online section did not show significant improvements in visual literacy or academic success due to a lack of reinforcement of visual literacy following the initial intervention. The visual literacy intervention shows promising results in improving student academic success and should be considered for implementation in other general education STEM courses.

scholarly journals A brief history of pharmacy admissions in North America

2019 ◽  
Vol 152 (6) ◽  
pp. 370-375
Author(s):  
Erin Davis ◽  
Richard Braha ◽  
Shannon McAlorum ◽  
Debbie Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Clinical Performance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Bachelor Of Science ◽  
Multiple Mini Interview

The move from a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy to a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, both in the United States and in Canada, has been accompanied by a general move towards increased prepharmacy admission requirements and longer pharmacy programs. Historically, the most thoroughly researched pharmacy admissions variables include grade point average (GPA), Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT), interviews and critical thinking tests. Most programs now require a combination of academic (GPA ± PCAT) and nonacademic characteristics (e.g., interviews, volunteering, critical thinking tests, essays). This review focuses on GPA and the PCAT as academic admissions measures and the interview (both traditional and the multiple mini-interview) and critical thinking tests as nonacademic measures. There is evidence that prepharmacy GPA, the PCAT and admissions interviews are correlated with academic success in a pharmacy program. Repeating a prepharmacy course is a negative predictor of academic success. The multiple mini-interview and various critical thinking tests have been studied in pharmacy admissions, but the evidence to date does not support their use for predicting success. Several areas require further research, including finding an effective measure of reasoning and critical thinking skills. The relationship between admission test scores and clinical performance also requires further study, as academic achievement in pharmacy programs has been the main measure of success to date.

scholarly journals MONITORING AWARENESS ABOUT CRITICAL THINKING OF COLLEGES STUDENTS IN ALMATY

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-30
Author(s):  
M. O. Kabysheva ◽  
A. A. Shaymardanova ◽  
M. E. Semenov
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Secondary Education ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Adoption And Implementation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Monitoring Study ◽  
The Republic

The need to understand the concept of critical thinking grows out of the requirements for a modern person, in addition, critical thinking is an important component of the state strategy for the development of education and science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. We are convinced that this topic will develop together with the educational system of our country. The monitoring study presented in the article is the first in Kazakhstan, its purpose is to find out how successfully the concept of critical thinking as a way of thinking has been conveyed to students over the years since the adoption and implementation of the updated content of secondary education program. The study compared two groups of students: those who studied and those who did not study according to the updated content of secondary education, in order to find out how effectively the concept of critical thinking was learned by students. According to the monitoring results, there was no significant difference between the two groups of students, but the respondents' answers showed that there is a persistent non-distinction between such concepts as decision-making in emergency and critical situations, analysis, conclusions, self-regulation, speed of decision-making and success in the exact sciences in the perception of the concept of "critical thinking". At the end of the article, recommendations are given for further use of the obtained data for other studies.

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