Teaching Critical Thinking to
Future Evidence-Based
Practitioners
Patrick Finn, PhD, CCC-SLP
University of Georgia
Athens, GA
Goals of presentation:
To describe content of undergraduate course:
- Knowledge required for critical thinking
- Basic skills required for critical thinking
- Relevance of critical thinking to evidencebased practice
Why teach critical thinking to future
evidence-based practitioners?
Because smart, good-intentioned people
make foolish decisions and hold false beliefs
Including:
- Physicians
- Psychologists
- Wall Street
- Politicians
- Scientists
- And our professionals, too
Akerloff & Schiller, 2009; Finn et al., 2005; Gould, 1981; Halpern, 2002; Hyman, 2002; Institute
of Medicine, 1999; Kipnis, 2010, Stanovich (2009)
EBP starting point for countering false beliefs
BUT, if clinicians unable to:
- Critically evaluate evidence
- Understand what they believe & why they believe it
THEN may still make bad decisions
Knowledge & skills for critical thinking
Based on pedagogical/research literature from:
- Psychology
- Education
- Philosophy
Basic knowledge required for critical thinking
- What is critical thinking
- Characteristics of a critical thinker
- How our thinking can go wrong
What is critical thinking?
- Negative connotation
- Criticism
- Negativity
- Argumentative
- Opposition
Halpern (2010)
What is critical thinking?
- Reality: Critical thinking implies
- Evaluation
- Evidence
- Effort
- Careful
- Self-aware
Halpern (2010)
Definition of critical thinking
- Critical thinking is the ability and willingness to
assess claims and make objective judgments on the
basis of well-supported reasons and evidence rather
than emotion or anecdote
- Critical thinkers are able to look for flaws in
arguments and to resist claims that have no support
- They realize that criticizing an argument is not the
same as criticizing the person making it, and they are
willing to engage in vigorous debate about the validity
of an idea.
Wade & Tavris (2008)
Definition of critical thinking
- Critical thinking, however, is not merely negative
thinking
- It includes the ability to be creative and constructive,
the ability to come up with alternative explanations
for events, think of implications of research findings,
and apply new knowledge to social and personal
problems.
Wade & Tavris (2008)
Instructive elements of definition
- Thinker’s intent to assess claims
- “willingness to assess”
- “willing to engage in debate about validity of
idea”
- Based on set of skills
- “Critical thinking is the ability”
Instructive elements of definition
- Engaging in an evaluative process
- “look for flaws in an argument”
- “be creative and constructive”
- “come up with alternative explanations”
- “think of implications of research findings”
- “resist claims that have no support”
Instructive elements of definition
- Resulting in justifiable decisions
- “objective judgments on basis of well-supported
reasons & evidence rather than emotion or
anecdote”
- Applicable for promoting human change
- “apply new knowledge to social & personal
problems”
Instructive elements of definition
- NOT negative thinking or attacking a person
- “criticizing an argument not the same as
criticizing person making it”
- “not merely negative thinking”
Characteristics of a critical thinker
Self-directed, active learner
Browne & Keeley, 2011; Duckworth & Seligman, 2005
Open & fair-minded to other points of view
Paul & Elder, 2006; Stanovich, 2009
Pick your favorite card. Remember it.
Aware of one’s own biases & assumptions
Browne & Keeley, 2011; Paul & Elder, 2006
Respect evidence & reasoning
Nickerson, 2008; Paul & Elder, 2006
Learn to tolerate uncertainty
"Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the
essential things in rationality."
- Bertrand Russell
Nickerson, 2008; Paul & Elder, 2006
Is your card here?
How can our thinking go wrong?
Kida (2006)
1. Prefer “stories” to “statistics”
“Stories” are:
- Anecdotes - “in my experience” as told by others
- Newspaper/magazine stories
- Books - such as memoirs
- Personal websites
- Testimonials
- Personal experience - “your own stories”
- Movies/television - “based on a true story”
1. Prefer “stories” to “statistics”
“Statistics” are:
- Quantitative evidence
- Representative evidence
- Scientific evidence
“
“
Meisel & Karlawish (2011)
You are told that “Barry is outgoing, a real
extrovert.”
You don’t know Barry, but if you had to decide if he’s an
extrovert by asking him two of the following questions,
which two would you ask:
1. In what situations are you most talkative?
2. What factors make it hard for you to open up to
people?
3. What would you do to liven things up at a party?
4. What things do you dislike about loud parties?
Snyder & Swann (1977)
2. Seek to confirm not question our beliefs
Confirmation bias:
Look for evidence to support belief
- BUT: Ignore, downplay, or distort counter-evidence
Biased evaluation and persistence in gambling
(Gilovich, 1983)
3. Fail to appreciate role of chance and
coincidence
We are causal seekers
- Mistake chance as causal
- Correlation as causal
Notice anything wrong?
Watch the following clip
4. Sometimes misperceive world around us
Gorilla in our midst: Inattentional blindness for
dynamic events (Simon & Chabris, 1999)
- Results: 46 % of 192 observers:
- Failed to detect unexpected event
Consider following problem:
- Jack is looking at Anne but Anne is looking at
George. Jack is married but George is not.
- Is a married person looking at an unmarried
person?
- A) Yes
- B) No
- C) Cannot be determined
Stanovich (2009)
A) Yes
Jack is married
Anne is married
Anne is not
George is not
What happened?
- Fail to think beyond given information
- Focus on Jack and George, but…
- Fail to look at Anne: Married or not
Five things most likely to cause injury to
children
Parents worry about:
-Kidnapping
-School snipers
-Terrorists
-Dangerous strangers
-Drugs
Stickler (1996)
Most likely cause:
-Car accidents
-Homicide
-Child abuse
-Suicide
-Drowning
Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (2007, 2008)
5. Tend to oversimplify our thinking
Availability heuristic
- Assess probability of event by how easy it is to
think of examples of that event
Fail to think beyond obvious & overgeneralize from
singular, personalized events
Tversky & Kahneman (1973)
Memory test
Paper and pen ready
- Watch list of words
- Flash 1 sec at a time
- Watch only
- Do not write words down until instructed
Questions
6. We have faulty memories
- Memory seems like a video camera
- But it’s not!
6. We have faulty memories
- Memories change, even when we are confident
they have not
- Problem: Memory influences beliefs & decisions
Basic skills required for critical thinking
- Interpretation
- Evaluation
- Metacognition
Critical thinking skills introduced via textbook
Asking the right questions by Browne & Keeley (2010)
Browne, Economics professor
Keeley, Psychology professor
Bowling Green State U.
Critical thinking skills learned and practiced via:
-
Homework assignments
Case-based articles
Instructor-designed in-class exercises
Reflection of everyday experiences
Interpretation involves:
- Identify argument under consideration
- Identify reasons supporting argument
- Assess available information for clarity
Finn (2011)
Interpretation: Asking the right questions
1. What are the issue and conclusion?
2. What are the reasons?
3. What words or phrases are ambiguous?
4. What are the value and descriptive assumptions?
Browne & Keeley (2011)
Evaluation involves:
- Examining quality of inferences in moving from
reasons to conclusion
- Evaluating quantity and quality of evidence
- Judging overall quality of argument
Finn (2011)
Evaluation: Asking the right questions
1. Are there any fallacies in the reasoning?
2. How good is the evidence?
3. Are there rival causes?
4. Are the statistics deceptive?
5. What significant information is omitted?
6. What conclusions are possible?
Browne & Keeley (2011)
Metacognition: Awareness & analysis of one’s
own thinking:
- Monitor relevancy and quality of one’s thinking
- Awareness of one’s own biases and assumptions
- Applying and monitoring thinking strategies
Finn (2011)
How would you communicate your conclusion?
Browne & Keeley (2011)
Relevance of critical thinking to EBP
Evaluating quantity & quality of evidence:
- Best available research
- Clinical or personal experience
- Preferences of informed client
Dollaghan (2010)
Critical thinking optimal under conditions
required for engaging in EBP:
- Uncertainty about best clinical choice for client
- Professional integrity (e.g., awareness of one’s
biases & openness to changing one’s mind)
- Principles of ethical clinical reasoning (e.g.,
maximizing benefit, minimizing harm)
Dollaghan (2010)
Example: Homework/In-class discussion
How do you evaluate students’ knowledge
and skill related to critical thinking?
-
Classroom discussion
Homework assignments
Learning journals
Midterm & final exams
Did the students like the course? It is a class
about critical thinking?!
Undergraduate course Spring 2011
- Total students enrolled = 65
- Evaluation based on 85% response rate
5 point Likert scale:
- 1 = Strongly disagree
- 5 = Strongly agree
Question
M (SD)
Med
Instructor knowledgeable & wellprepared
4.6 (0.7)
5
Assignments & activities were
useful for helping me to learn
4.0 (1.1)
4
Course challenged me to think and
learn
4.2 (1.1)
4
Textbook helpful and easy to
understand
4.5 (0.7)
5
Student comments
- I feel confident that I will use the critical thinking skills
for the rest of my degree and in my future career
- This course allowed me to come to my own
conclusions about a lot of topics
- I was apprehensive about taking this course, but the
content is obviously relevant and important to be a
SLP
Do critical thinking skills transfer to everyday
thinking?
Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA)
- Evaluates CT skills applied across 25 everyday
scenarios
Response to each scenario requires:
Open-ended response (e.g., typed short answer)
- Assess “disposition” to engage in CT
Force choice response (e.g., multiple choice, ranking)
- Assess “recognition” of CT
Halpern (2010)
HCTA: How good is it?
Psychometric characteristics:
- Good internal consistency: Cronbach’s α = 0.85-0.97
- Criterion & construct validity established across
various studies
Current study - Interrater agreement:
- Pretest r = .95
- Posttest r = .94
Halpern (2010)
Can you talk about teaching critical thinking
skills to undergraduate students?
Pros
- Students learn value critical thinking
- Many apply skills to their everyday life
Cons
- Unclear if skills will maintain throughout education
and into professional life
- Unclear if skills will be used in professional life
Take home message
Critical thinking in EBP:
- Is about ways of deciding & conveying well to others
what we believe & what we are doing or intend to do
- Not for our personal satisfaction
- But for the full benefit of the patient & the community
Jenicek & Hitchcock (2005)
Acknowledgements
My colleagues in Communication Sciences and
Special Education
UGA students that volunteered to participate in study
Research assistant:
- Tiffany Williams
For additional help:
- Emily Dreschel
- Kristina Mimbs
- Lindsey Smith
- Skylar Stiff