Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills: WSJ (wsj.com)

Freshmen and seniors at about 200 colleges across the U.S. take a little-known test every year to measure how much better they get at learning to think. The results are discouraging. From a report: At more than half of schools, at least a third of seniors were unable to make a cohesive argument, assess the quality of evidence in a document or interpret data in a table (Editor's note: the link might be paywalled; alternative source), The Wall Street Journal found after reviewing the latest results from dozens of public colleges and universities that gave the exam between 2013 and 2016. At some of the most prestigious flagship universities, test results indicate the average graduate shows little or no improvement in critical thinking over four years. Some of the biggest gains occur at smaller colleges where students are less accomplished at arrival but soak up a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum.

Comments

Almost

[s.petry]

I believe the better generalization would be that Colleges are teaching students "What" to think, and not "How" to think. Since cognitive dissonance is painful, and it feels good to belong to something you believe is important, it's easy to get people to go along with the game.

When you consider that the people with political power on the left are pushing for more "free" college the prospect 10 years down the road could look much worse.

Re:Almost

[geekmux]

Nah, as they became more the norm bachelor degrees have transitioned to be closer to the job market instead of preparation for masters & doctorates.

Translation: The quality of the bachelors degree is defined by the fact that it is now the new high school diploma.

Oh, you wanted a quality education instead of just a piece of paper to hang on the wall? Then shell out another $100K for the masters degree.

Gotta love capitalism.

Re:Almost

[magarity]

Translation: The quality of the bachelors degree is defined by the fact that it is now the new high school diploma.

Oh, you wanted a quality education instead of just a piece of paper to hang on the wall? Then shell out another $100K for the masters degree.

Gotta love capitalism.

It's the exact opposite of capitalism on display. The federal government has thrown so much (taxpayer) money at almost any student who asks for it that the colleges have dumbed down to be able to accept and pass them all in order to grab all the subsidy money.

Re:Almost

[Aighearach]

Adam Smith, the Father of Capitalism, wrote a neat book called Wealth of Nations, and he included an appendix where he explains why higher education does not follow the supply/demand model and can't reasonably be capitalist.

It boils down to, nobody shops around and buys a slightly lower quality education than they think they can afford; everybody buys the education with the strongest reputation that they can afford, and so there is no price feedback. The cost is related to reputation rather than value, so the units don't even translate directly to Capital.

Fail to improve is radically different than fail.

[gurps_npc]

The article I read did not give enough specifics (I skipped the paywall one).

So you can't tell if a good school merely failed to improve rather than had their students fail.

Everyone should have critical thinking skills, and if you don't have any, then college should teach you that skill. But that is NOT the only thing a college should teach. Once you have that skill, there are many other skills you need, from pure knowledge, to creativity, to social skills (beyond drinking), pattern recognition, basic computer usage, among other things.

In particular, I would be SHOCKED if Ivy league schools showed significant improvement in critical thinking. It's exactly the kind of thing they love their incoming students to already have, and the ivy league schools have gotten so selective that they can pick the students that already have that.

Re:Because

[habig]

Critical thinking is not a part of STEM.

I hear this a fair amount, and am puzzled. As a physics professor, I'm trying to teach students problem solving skills (usually the engineering and science students). As an astronomy professor, I'm trying to teach students (usually the non-scientists taking the survey astro courses) how to apply the scientific method to figure out what's going on up there and have a functioning BS detector when it comes to pseudoscience.

The definitions I've heard of this "Critical Thinking" meme seem to indicate that these are the sort "top of the learning pyramid" skills that go with "Critical Thinking", but somehow science remains a mindless technical skill in the eyes of many.

Re:Because

[HornWumpus]

So your evidence is a blog and people (business and nonprofit PHBs) claiming the same education they have is the best?

Doesn't speak well of your critical thinking skills.