Using Community-Based Inquiry to Build Faculty Capacity and Student Critical Thinking

Central Washington University, Ellensburg WA

Investigators

Abstract

Employing an instructional approach called Community-Based Inquiry (CBI) to develop faculty expertise, this project is training faculty to build authentic inquiry into their curricula in order to measurably improve students' critical thinking skills and learning. While most national leaders and university faculty believe that critical thinking is a major goal of education and a major component of success in the STEM disciplines, it is clear that many graduates from American universities lack the skills necessary to think critically. This project is addressing this situation by recruiting faculty from STEM disciplines to build a faculty development infrastructure that helps reform STEM curricula and develop faculty expertise in eliciting critical thinking gains using a collaborative, peer-training support system. The impact of these reforms in curriculum and instruction on student critical thinking is being measured using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test. Research over the past 10 years indicates that CBI produces significant critical thinking gains compared to no gains for traditionally taught students. The CBI approach integrates four main components to elicit improvements in critical thinking skills: 1) authentic inquiry related to community need or student interest, 2) case study exercises, 3) peer evaluation and individual accountability, and 4) lecture/content discussion focused on critical thinking and problem solving. Research indicates that all four of these elements must be clearly focused on the goal of critical thinking in order to achieve substantive student improvement. Research also indicates that the CBI approach is particularly beneficial for students from a variety of underrepresented groups.