Based on our long-term focus on researching the content of transversal competences, and at the same time changing the forms of education so that they lead to the development of these competences, our primary objective is to design a new framework for mastering transversal competences in a higher education environment. Our approach to transversal competences is proposed as a feasible way to the enhancement of these competences through key processes of critical thinking and reflection.
Critical thinking as a key skill of every teacher is essential in guiding students through how to analyse, understand and evaluate vast amounts of information, how to argue, solve problems, recognize new possibilities and form their own opinion. More precisely, this book aims to present several practical exercises, techniques, case studies and examples which can be used in all educational classes with activities including tutoring students, preparing a final theses at all three stages of university study, and also in research activities of students as well as teachers. Our approach, to use elements of coaching as a fundamental base to foster critical thinking, at the HEI is fundamentally based upon "questioning". The ability to develop a meaningful and reflective discussion between teacher and students consists of open-ended questions which are a key prerequisite to developing critical thinking skills. We would also like to acknowledge the fact that our inspiration and practical abilities of critical thinking and coaching were sharpened during our attendance of several training workshops provided by local as well as foreign entities, e.g. Živica Zaježova, PDCS Bratislava, SAKO (Slovak Coach Association), Solution Focus, Switzerland and University of Cambridge. Some of the activities have been developed and tested in cooperation with students from the
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.