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Improving Teaching and Learning of Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum at a Large Research University: an Empirical Study Using Qualitative Methods

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Improving Teaching and Learning of Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum at a Large Research University: an Empirical Study Using Qualitative Methods Improving Teaching and Learning of Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum at a Large Research University: An Empirical Study Using Qualitative Methods Rush Cosgrove Faculty of Education University of Cambridge Darwin College This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Declaration of Originality This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except where specifically indicated in the text. The dissertation does not exceed the regulation length, excluding footnotes, references and appendices. 2 Acknowledgements I could not have completed this dissertation without aid and assistance from countless individuals, only a few of whom I will be able to explicitly acknowledge here. I hope that these words convey some of my deep gratitude for their contributions, without which this report would have suffered in direct proportion to their loss. First, to the women and men at the University laboring to realize improvements in - teachingnize every and individual learning who for critical participated thinking, in the thank original you; empiricalspecifically, investigation I would like described to recog and detailed in this dissertation. The quality of the data, and therefore the conclusions we may draw from it, has depended on your intellectual energy, intellectual integrity, and intellectual courage throughout the data collection process. This, in turn, has followed years of consistent mindfulness in attempting to improve your understanding of, and ability to conduct and communicate, critical thinking in your professional and personal lives. By leading by example in the public forum, you create conditions that stimulate lasting educational improvement. I hope that this document demonstrates adequate respect for the faculty, students, and administrators, as well as researchers and theoreticians whose thinking and actions are examined herein. The advancement of in-depth qualitative empirical research re- lies on individuals willing to open their practice and their views to critical analysis and evaluation. It is then the responsibility of researchers, practitioners, and other agents of change to use the data in authentic, substantive, and fairminded ways in conducting further experimentation or engaging in public discourse about critical thinking in educa- tion. Let me also acknowledge the individual efforts of the University lead team tasked with shepherding the critical thinking institutional enhancement plan examined in this report. You have inhabited the space between external demands from the accrediting agencysatisfy substantively)(that are often and based the in complex superficial realities understandings, of the multi-logical and which modern are difficult Research to University, a community that is in many ways ill-prepared for the scope of the challenge implied by a substantive, cross-curricular, and fairminded theory of critical thinking and critical pedagogy. Your efforts, and the resulting consequences for teaching and learning across the University, deserve to be documented, recognized, and properly considered as 3 an exemplar of educational leadership toward fairminded critical and creative thought in the early 21st century. Next, to Neil Mercer, the best supervisor I could ever have hoped for. Thank you for continually pushing my boundaries conceptually and methodologically. Thank you for always striking the right chord in your critique, always driving my thinking forward - whileful theory simultaneously using language conveying that is calmempirical assurance. and educational Your work yet exemplifies grounded deep and andcontextual; power your comments and questions have broadened my thinking considerably, in this proj- ect particularly: the history (chapter one) and theory (chapter two) of critical thinking, including the section on FCT theory, and most especially the separation of data analysis (chapterconsiderably five) more from sophisticateddata evaluation and (chapter expansive six): as all a resultof these of elementsyour supervision have been and made our interaction. I want to thank you, as well as my advisor Christine Howe, for always chal- lenging me to accomplish more, and for never suggesting that I should make the project more ‘manageable’. Thank you for being deeply supportive throughout my time as a doc- toral candidate in the Faculty of Education. energy Next,and deep let me commitment thank my first to educational supervisor improvementat Cambridge, basedDave Pedder. on teacher Your and unflagging student autonomy provoked a necessary transformation in my consideration of educational re- - search, from ‘superfluous and distracting’ to ‘enriching and crucial’. The empirical back boneresult of of this our research year together. (most Together visible in with chapter my advisorthree) has Darleen been Opfer,stiffened you significantly both contribute, as a throughdata sets your that work,may be educational matched, but research are unlikely that is to nuanced, be elsewhere scientific, bettered. and that You employs are both inspirational models for a young educational researcher, and comments from both of you have inspired increased rigor throughout this project. I should also make note of the kindness bestowed upon me by Geoffrey Walford duringmy proposal my first to yearthe Faculty studying of Educationabroad, at thethere University when I did of notOxford. yet haveThank an you undergraduate for accepting degree. Thank you again for taking me on as a student personally at the close of a dif- ficultprogram but atinstructive Oxford. Further, year of thankstudy. youWithout for suggesting you I may andnot supportinghave completed my application the master’s to 4 the Faculty of Education at Cambridge. Without this support I would likely never have considered the PhD program at Cambridge, and my academic and personal life would have never been so enriched. I want to thank the Foundation for Critical Thinking for the scholarship that large- ly paid for my graduate degrees both at Oxford and Cambridge: tuition, transcription of - roughly thirty interviews for this PhD research, as well as proofreading and final format tingand editing,of this dissertation. as well as access I am alsoto a richthankful library for of the critical provision thinking of a smallresources. office I foram writingextraor - dinarily grateful for the wisdom and recommendations of three senior fellows of the Foundation for Critical Thinking: Linda Elder, Richard Paul, and Gerald Nosich, especially in the presentation and critique of Foundation for Critical Thinking theory. My experi- ence studying under your tutelage has been and remains foundational to my develop- ment as a thinker, and for my view of what education can and should be. The theory you have collectively developed outlines an educational paradigm deserving of deeper con- sideration and broader experimentation. I hope that this study illuminates more clearly some of the possibilities of this theory for transforming instruction. I cannot omit the person perhaps most responsible for guiding me through the - elaboratelygree at one ofcomplex the world’s requirements most ancient necessary universities: to advance Emma and Rixon. finish Thank a postgraduate you for kindly de answering all my questions, and for always ensuring that I obeyed all the appropriate forms in the appropriate manner. Every student deserves a guardian angel like you. Also, thank you to Kathy Abney, for your tireless devotion in putting this disserta- tion togetherI would in not its befinal alive form. and It in is healthtruly a withoutwork of theart. care and support of many family members and friends. I would like to thank all of them for nurturing my body and mind throughoutable to help myas I life. would I have have not liked. always Because been sufficientlyof you I have grateful, had an norextraordinary have I always opportu been- nity to live abroad, to befriend people literally from all over the world, to travel to places that have enriched my life in ways I may never truly appreciate. I hope in the years to come to return some of these kindnesses, and to share the wild and fanciful experience of traveling deep down the rabbit hole indeed. To the cast of characters who give life to the beautiful and tranquil Darwin Col- 5 lege; to those long-term members (often called ‘staff’) like Gordon, Tom, Ian, Cliff, Andrew, Cam, Derek, Espen and Maurizio; as well as those who pass in and out of the college, but permanently alter its living and non-living elements (often called ‘students’), like Matt, Ivan, Cornelius, Samir, Sergio, Arnaut, Amelie, Anja, Sam, Cian, Brandon, An- drew, Peter, Mehrdod, Ed, Shpend, Renad, Alex, Meredith, Katia, Rosa, Reza, Riza, and Cesar; as well as to non-Darwinian Oxonians and Cantabrigians like Michael and Becky, Steve, Madgdy, Ciordsaith, Andres, Andra, and Takis: thank you for being my friends in a foreign land. The aid of these individuals and groups notwithstanding, any limitations or weaknesses within this dissertation are no one’s fault but my own. I have designed and overseen this project from conception to conclusion, and I have ultimately decided on whether to incorporate or pass by suggestions made by others. To my friends who can read this, and those who cannot. To the community of liv- ing souls with an interest in a healthier, happier, more critical and creative humanity: this work is for you most of all; so that you may perhaps encounter, or your imagination
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