Forensic Participation as A Contributor to Students’ Critical Thinking Skills at The College Level In China: A Multiple Case Study 辩论与高校学生思辨能力的培养的多案例研究 胡雅楠 2362968937@qq.com 2018年5月31 日

Contents 1. Why this topic? 2. How to do it? 3. What are the results?

A debate coach in TH College for nine years

Studying abroad

I interviewed many debaters from UOP.

Final papers for the following doctoral courses Leadership My leadership in debate association in TH College Applied Inquiry II: Literature Review College Debaters’ Perception of Intercollegiate Competition

Chapter I Introduction Background of the Issue Many educators have reached a consensus that students should “develop their critical thinking skills, especially the ability to judge, to make assessment and to provide better arguments” (Nickerson, Persin & Smith, 1985, p. 4). However, “the over-emphasis on linguistic and memory training has deprived Chinese students of opportunities to develop their critical thinking abilities” (Huang, 1998, p. 86).

Chapter I Introduction Previous works focus on the development of the measurement for critical thinking (Wen et al., 2009), classroom instruction suggestions (Li, 2011; Liu & Guo, 2006; Peng, 2000; Yang & Zhao, 2011; Yuan, 2010), factors that influence critical thinking (Wei, 2012) and the critical thinking level among different majors (Wen, 2010).

Chapter I Introduction Out-of-class experiences can have positive impacts on students’ critical thinking skills (Inman & Pascarella, 1998; Nora & Terenzini, 1999). Among these co-curricular activities, forensics participation is often regarded as one of the most effective instructional tools (Chen, 2008; Er, 2008; Yan, 2010; Zhang, 2007).

Chapter I Introduction Purpose of the Study Gain an in-depth understanding of how forensic participation influences students’ critical thinking abilities at the college level in China.

Chapter I Introduction Research Questions 1. How does college students’ thinking change as a result of participating in forensics? 2. What features of forensic participation support students’ development of critical thinking?

Chapter II Literature Review Paul-Elder Model of Critical Thinking Paul and Elder’s model of critical thinking has been widely recognized among scholars (Fasko, 2003b; Hitchcock, 2002). First, they have made distinction between strong sense thinker and weak sense thinker. Second, their model has vast pedagogical implication for various subjects.

Conceptual Framework Paul-Elder Model of Critical Thinking

Chapter III Methodology Multiple Case Study The Role of the Researcher Respondents: Dora, Helen and Sharon (Three national or regional champions from Rising Sun Forensic Team ) Data collection: Interviews Observations Documents On-line Data Data Analysis Procedure

Chapter III Methodology Multiple Case Study Case study: An approach to explore a real-life, bounded system through in-depth data collection and reports a case description (Creswell, 2007)

Chapter III Methodology The Role of the Researcher From the role of a nonparticipant observer to a participant observer Bracketing strategy :Certain amount of distance between the researcher and the participant to obtain objectivity (Creswell, 2007)

Chapter III Methodology Respondent Selection Strategy Purposeful Sampling: The researcher selects individuals and sites for study because they can purposefully inform an understanding of the research problem and central phenomenon” (Creswell, 2007, p.156)

individual interviews Data collection Respondents Interviews individual interviews Secondary interviews Coach Teachers   Observations Forensics Training Observations Documents Debater’s briefs Judge’s comments Newspapers On-line Data Forensics team’s official Blog, E-mail correspondence Personal social networking sites

Perception on the impact of forensics participation October, 2013 Interview Focus Time/Place Interview protocol A (See Appendix A) Perception on the impact of forensics participation October, 2013 Office or in a quiet classroom Interview protocol B (See Appendix B) Perception on critical thinking development Interview protocol C (see Appendix C) Perception on the Impact of forensics Participation on Critical Thinking Development January, 2014 Office or in a quiet classroom

Chapter III Methodology Data analysis procedure

Chapter IV Results Analysis of Students’ Critical Thinking Development Through Paul-Elder Model of Critical Thinking Elements of Thought Dora: Question, Assumption Helen: Question, Point of View Sharon: Information, Point of View

。 “我思考的目的是什么？” “我试图解决什么样的问题？” “我做出的假设是什么？它们是否合理？” “是否有相关数据来证明我的论点？” “是否有理论支撑我的观点？” “从我的分析中可以得出哪些结论？”（Paul & Elder, 2005, p. 4-5） 通过经常提出这些问题，学生们可以积极反思他们的思考过程，从而提高他们的分 析能力和深层思考能力。（Gelder, 2005; Willlingham, 2007）。

Chapter IV Results Intellectual Standards Dora & Sharon: Fairness, Logic Helen: Logic

Chapter IV Results Intellectual Traits Dora: Intellectual integrity, intellectual empathy and intellectual perseverance. Helen: Confidence in reason, intellectual courage Sharon: Confidence in reason, intellectual humility

Chapter V Conclusions and Recommendations Research Question 1: How does college students’ thinking change as a result of participating in forensics? (Conclusion 1,2,3) Research Question 2: What features of forensic participation support students’ development of critical thinking? (Conclusion 4,5)

Chapter V Conclusions and Recommendations Forensic participation helps students to develop major critical thinking skills, which are demonstrated in their grasping of the elements of thought. Questioning skill (question) Critical Reading skill (question) Analyzing skill (information, assumption) Evaluating skill (point of view, implication & consequences)

Chapter V Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusion 2 Forensic participation helps developing students’ intellectual traits, which are indispensable to critical thinking skills. Conclusion 3 Forensic participation helps the students to get rid of ego-centric and socio- centric thinking.

Chapter V Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusion 4 The educational characteristics of forensic participation featured by dialectical reasoning and substantive learning can improve students’ critical thinking abilities. Conclusion 5 The epistemic feature of forensic participation support students’ development of critical thinking.

Chapter V Conclusions and Recommendations Recommendation to the Field Instruction of critical thinking in forensic courses Intercollegiate and national debate competition 1)Hold more national debate tournaments 2) improve the training for the young coaches 3) set up an on-line debate database Recommendation to Further Study Dig deep to the issue of female debaters in China Conduct more studies on the classroom instruction of debate

欢迎各位的指正！ 谢谢大家