Faculty Forum on Critical Thinking Metcalf Trustee Ballroom September 22, 2017 The term “critical thinking” is variously interpreted and understood in different disciplines. For the purposes of the BU Hub, the Hub learning outcomes will necessarily guide course development and approval and be our working definition. How would you apply those learning outcomes in your own discipline or course?

Core Knowledge, Skills, and Habits of Mind: 6 Capacities and Their Constitutive Areas Philosophical, Aesthetic, and Historical Interpretation (3 units) Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings (1 unit) Aesthetic Exploration (1 unit) Historical Consciousness (1 unit) Scientific and Social Inquiry (3 units) Scientific Inquiry I (1 unit) Social Inquiry I (1 unit) Social or Scientific Inquiry II (1 unit) Quantitative Reasoning (2 units) Quantitative Reasoning I (1 unit) Quantitative Reasoning II (1 unit) Diversity, Civic Engagement, and Global Citizenship (4 units) The Individual in Community (1 unit) Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy (2 units) Ethical Reasoning (1 unit) Communication (6 units) Writing (4 units) Freshman writing (e.g., WR 100) Research writing (e.g., WR 150) Two writing-intensive courses Oral and/or Signed Communication (1 unit) Digital/Multimedia Expression (1 unit) Intellectual Toolkit (7 units) Critical Thinking (2 units) Research and Information Literacy (1 unit beyond introductory research writing) Teamwork/Collaboration (2 units) Creativity/Innovation (2 units) Life Skills (selected with advisor)

The “Intellectual Toolkit” Critical Thinking Research and Information Literacy Teamwork/Collaboration Creativity/Innovation The learning outcomes for all of these Toolkit areas share a focus on process and on students reflection on that process. In all cases, these toolkit areas must be explicitly taught in Bu Hub courses, with students given an opportunity to practice, receive feedback, and be explicityl evaluated on those skills or abilitites.

Process, Reflection, and Application Teamwork As a result of explicit training in teamwork and sustained experiences of collaborating with others, students will be able to identify the characteristics of a well- functioning team. Students will demonstrate an ability to use the tools and strategies of working successfully with a diverse group, such as assigning roles and responsibilities, giving and receiving feedback, and engaging in meaningful group reflection that inspires collective ownership of results. Information Literacy Students will demonstrate understanding of the overall research process and its component parts, and be able to formulate good research questions or hypotheses, gather and analyze information, and critique, interpret, and communicate findings. Students will be able to search for, select, and use a range of publicly available and discipline-specific information sources ethically and strategically to address research questions   Creativity/Innovation Students will demonstrate understanding of creativity as a learnable, iterative process of imagining new possibilities that involves risk-taking, use of multiple strategies, and reconceiving in response to feedback, and will be able to identify individual and institutional factors that promote and inhibit creativity. Students will be able to exercise their own potential for engaging in creative activity by conceiving and executing original work either alone or as part of a team.

Critical Thinking (courses and co-curricular activities in this area must meet all outcomes) Students will be able to identify key elements of critical thinking, such as habits of distinguishing deductive from inductive modes of inference, recognizing common logical fallacies and cognitive biases, translating ordinary language into formal argument, distinguishing empirical claims about matters of fact from normative or evaluative judgments, and recognizing the ways in which emotional responses can affect reasoning processes. Drawing on skills developed in class, students will be able to evaluate the validity of arguments, including their own.

Critical Thinking (courses and co-curricular activities in this area must meet all outcomes) 1) Students will be able to identify key elements of critical thinking, such as habits of distinguishing deductive from inductive modes of inference, recognizing common logical fallacies and cognitive biases, translating ordinary language into formal argument, distinguishing empirical claims about matters of fact from normative or evaluative judgments, and recognizing the ways in which emotional responses can affect reasoning processes. 2)Drawing on skills developed in class, students will be able to evaluate the validity of arguments, including their own.

Discussion The term “critical thinking” is variously interpreted and understood in different disciplines. For the purposes of the BU Hub, the Hub learning outcomes will necessarily guide course development and approval. How would you apply those learning outcomes in your own discipline or course? What kind of explicit training will you need to provide?

“Reasoning about reasoning” BU Hub Critical Thinking courses should provide Explicit training, vocabulary, and tools Opportunities to practice and gain sustained experience Opportunities for application and demonstration of mastery Opportunities for students to reflect on their own process of reasoning

Online resources Carnegie Mellon University, Argument Mapping Tutorial http://oli.cmu.edu/courses/free-open/argument-diagramming-course- details/

Guiding Questions for Faculty What framework/vocabulary/process do you use to teach the key elements of critical thinking in your course? What assigned readings or other materials do you use to teach critical thinking specifically? Do students have opportunities throughout the semester to apply and practice these skills and receive feedback? What graded assignments evaluate how well students can both identify the key elements of critical thinking and demonstrate their ability to evaluate the validity of arguments (including their own)? (application and demonstration of mastery) Explicit training - practice and sustained experience -- application and demonstration of mastery – reflection on their own reasoning process

2+1 Rule A single 4-credit BU Hub course or equivalent that connects and meets learning outcomes for two Hub areas, or for three if one of those is in the Intellectual Toolkit, will count as fulfilling a BU Hub Unit in all of those areas. Similarly, a 4-credit course designated as “Writing-Intensive” can be approved to confer BU Hub units in two areas plus Writing. Courses need not fulfill more than one Hub area to be approved Expresses the maximum it is possible a 4 credit course could accomplish; expresses how a single course can “count” for more than one area; encourages faculty to design courses that make connectiosn among fields of study and ways of thinking.

BU Hub Course Approval Process: University Council General Education Committee Faculty will submit the syllabus and the course proposal form via an online tool. (CourseLeaf) Proposal goes through school/college process, and, if approved, is forwarded to the General Education Committee. The GEC is a standing sub-committee of the Committee on Undergraduate Programs & Policies with members appointed jointly by the Provost and the Chair of the Faculty Council. The GEC will consider whether the course addresses the learning outcomes and other criteria for the BU Hub. At every stage, there is the opportunity for feedback and revision.