Ideas to Action & Student Affairs Designing Programs, Activities, and Services for Students that Foster Critical Thinking and Community Engagement February 15, 2008

Overview for Today LR and LR2 connection with I2A Fun and Interactive Critical Thinking Activity The Paul-Elder Model “The Little Blue Book” Designing Programs, Activities, and Services Worksheet Closing

Making the Connection Linking Learning Reconsidered & Ideas to Action

Learning Reconsidered & Learning Reconsider 2  Learning Reconsidered and Learning Reconsidered 2 are the ACPA/NASPA Guides that encourage college personnel to rethink our ideas about learning—how it happens, what supports it and what the outcomes are  Student Affairs defined and assessed our student learning outcomes  SLO Workshop held in Feb  Departmental learning outcomes developed & posted on the web

Learning Defined  The idea behind Learning Reconsidered is that academic learning and student development are integrated processes “Learning is a complex, comprehensive, holistic, transformative activity that occurs throughout and across the college experience…learning, development and identity formation can no longer be considered as separate from each other; they are interactive and shape each other as they evolve.”

The SLO Cycle Plans for Improvement Learning Outcomes Identify Evidence, Measures, & Timeline Observation/ Evaluation Results  Student learning via Student Affair programs is reflected by the SLO Cycle  Continuous learning process  Quality improvements will happen automatically

Learning Outcomes Learning Reconsidered Outlined 7 Broad Student Learning Outcomes Cognitive Complexity Knowledge Acquisition, Integration and Application Humanitarianism Civic Engagement Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Competence Practical Competence Persistence and Academic Achievement

Connecting the Dots to I2A What LR and LR2 calls cognitive complexity falls right in line with Louisville’s Ideas to Action initiative Dimensions of Cognitive Complexity Include: Critical Thinking Reflective Thinking Effective Reasoning Intellectual Flexibility Emotion/Cognition Integration Identity/Cognition Integration

Connecting the Dots to I2A What LR and LR2 calls knowledge acquisition, integration, and application also connects to I2A Dimensions of Knowledge Acquisition Include: Connecting knowledge to other knowledge, ideas and experiences Relating knowledge to daily life Pursuit of lifelong learning Career decidedness Technological competence

What’s the link between I2A and Student Affairs? Ideas to Action focuses on fostering students’ ability to think critically about their work in and outside the classroom and requires them to apply their knowledge and ideas to real-world situations and contexts. Our work with student learning outcomes has begun to focus on identifying ways we can help students practice and refine their critical thinking skills through: Development of program objectives Creation of student outcomes Assessment of program objectives and student learning outcomes

Making the Connection Ideas to Action Holistic conception of student experience Curricular and Co-Curricular Aligns with the existing focus on student development Many Student Affairs programs provide opportunities for students to apply critical thinking skills SLOs Using LR/LR2 to develop SLOs that are: Meaningful Measurable Manageable Focus on cognitive complexity and knowledge acquisition Students are better prepared to live and work in a complex world

A Fun and Interactive Critical Thinking Activity

Critical Thinking Activity Where do you see critical thinking in this Account? If so, where? Consider this in the way the incident was reported, and/or in the Account?

Critical Thinking Activity Draw a visual representation or interpretation of the change you saw from Account 1 to Account 4

What you said Critical Thinking is… Applying Knowledge to new situations Transferable skills Reflection Innovative problem solving Learning to apply knowledge to real world experiences Transformational Synthesizing Information Developing a plan to meet goals Ability to solve problems Making connections between what I learn & do Developing the next level of thought Providing opportunities Ability to look at a situation using multiple points of view Solving problems by breaking them down into components and being open to options Thinking beyond self, seeing bigger picture & connecting themes Ability to analyze complex information Asking the right questions Collecting multiple perspectives Apply creatively

A Well-Cultivated Critical Thinker:  Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely  Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively  Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards  Thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as needs be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences  Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems (Richard Paul and Linda Elder, the Foundation for Critical Thinking:

Which leads to deeper Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model Intellectual Standards Elements of Reasoning Intellectual Traits Must be applied to to develop Clarity AccuracyPrecision SignificanceRelevance Sufficiency Logical Breadth Fairness Depth Questions PurposesInferences Points of view Information Concepts Assumptions Implications Humility Autonomy Fair- mindedness Courage Confidence in reasoning Integrity Empathy Perseverance

Critical Thinking Definition Critical thinking is a process of thinking to a standard. Simply being involved in the process of critical thinking is not enough; it must be done well and should guide the establishment of our beliefs and impact our behavior or action (Huitt, 1998).

8 Elements Thought (p.5): Whenever we think, 1. We think for a purpose 2. Within a point of view 3. Based on assumptions 4. Leading to implications and consequences 5. Using data, information and experiences 6. To make inferences and judgments 7. Based on concepts and theories 8. To answer a question or solve a problem

Standards for Thinking (p ) Central six Standards CLARITY Could you elaborate? Could you illustrate what you mean? Could you give me an example? ACCURACY How could we check on that? How could we find out if that is true? How could we verify or test that? PRECISION Could you be more specific? Could you give me more details? Could you be more exact? RELEVANCE How does that relate to the problem? How does that bear on the question? How does that help us with the issue? DEPTH What factors make this difficult? What are some of the complexities of this question? What are some of the difficulties we need to deal with? BREADTH Do we need to look at this from another perspective? Do we need to consider another point of view? Do we need to look at this in other ways? LOGIC Does all of this make sense together? Does your first paragraph fit in with your last one? Does what you say follow from the evidence? SIGNIFICANCE Is this the most important problem to consider? Is this the central idea to focus on? Which of these facts are most important? FAIRNESS Is my thinking justifiable in context? Am I taking into account the thinking of others? Is my purpose fair given the situation? Am I using my concepts in keeping with educated usage, or am I distorting them to get what I want? COMPLETENESS How complete are the facts related to the issue? How complete is the description? Is the description of each perspective complete?

Improve Thinking: The Intellectual Traits (p.15-17) Intellectual Humility Intellectual Courage Intellectual Empathy Intellectual Autonomy Intellectual Integrity Intellectual Perseverance Confidence in Reason Fairmindedness

Which leads to deeper Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model Intellectual Standards Elements of Reasoning Intellectual Traits Must be applied to to develop Clarity AccuracyPrecision SignificanceRelevance Sufficiency Logical Breadth Fairness Depth Questions PurposesInferences Points of view Information Concepts Assumptions Implications Humility Autonomy Fair- mindedness Courage Confidence in reasoning Integrity Empathy Perseverance

Designing Programs, Activities and Services Worksheet As effective practitioners we have an obligation to clearly understand, articulate and facilitate critical thinking in the activities and programs we design. It benefits us, our colleagues and our students when we regularly re-examine the alignment of our GoalsActivities &Results

1. Aligning Critical Thinking with Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes In designing your programming, activities and services, it is essential to begin by articulating the learning outcomes of this program and your understanding of how they function within your department. What are the student learning outcomes for this program, activity or service? (Name at least one) What is most important critical thinking skill or key concept you are trying to foster in students?

2. Fundamental and Powerful Concepts Fundamental and powerful concepts are used to explain or think about a huge body of questions, problems, information, and situations. They are the core, most useful ideas in your field or discipline. Write down one or more of the fundamental and powerful concepts that are the bedrock on which your program, activity or service are built. Consider one or more of the broad fundamental and powerful concepts of your field. Review your answer to #1. Are your learning outcomes in sync with the mastery of the key concept identified above?

3. Promoting Critical Thinking Through Specific Cognitive Tasks Programs that foster critical thinking provide students with the opportunity to think through and solve a new situation or problem, engaging with the set of concepts and skills that you identified in #1 and #2. Identify the new situation, problem or task you will introduce to students in order to allow them to “grapple” with novel information or situations. What would they do? What would they look like? How will you make this task a purposeful ingredient in your programming?

Feedback What questions do you have? Please provide your comments and suggestions

I2A Team Dr. Patty Payette, I2A Executive Director: Dr. Cathy Bays, Delphi Specialist for Assessment: Dr. Edna Ross, Delphi Specialist for Critical Thinking: Hannah Anthony, I2A Program Assistant Senior: Student Affairs Facilitators: Dr. Michael Mardis Michael Anthony Becky Clark Pam Curtis Kim Shaver