Incorporating Critical Thinking into an Engineering Undergraduate Learning Environment

Abstract

Critical thinking extends to all aspects of professional engineering, especially in technical development, and, since the introduction of the ABET 2000 criteria, there has been an increased emphasis in engineering education on the development of critical thinking skills. What is hoped for is that the students obtain critical thinking skills to complement their abundant logical thinking skills. Critical thinking is a developmental skill that cannot be taught simply by traditional methods, i.e., step-by-step instruction followed by repetitive skills, as used for logical thinking skills. The research and development reported here is concerned with outlining how students first can be alerted to what critical thinking is, and how critical thinking can be nurtured through practical experience with appropriate guidance and reinforcement. The module 'Introduction to Fluid Mechanics' has been selected to demonstrate how formal critical thinking components may be introduced with the development of principles of logic and an obligatory problem solving procedure. A method of assessment during various phases of critical thinking, i.e., initial design or set-up, testing of method or prototype, and evaluation of the results, of open-ended assignments in engineering for each year of the undergraduate course has been developed.

Analisis Berpikir Kritis Kimia dalam Menyelesaikan Soal Two-Tier Berdasarkan Level Kemampuan Mahasiswa

“…Kenyataan, banyak mahasiswa yang menunjukkan bahwa dalam mempelajari pelajaran kimia mereka masih kurang mengembangkan kemampuan berpikir kritis dan masih teoritis (Fakhriyah, 2014). Antusias mahasiswa dalam menjawab pertanyaan yang diajukan oleh dosen masih terbatas secara teori belum menunjukkan pengembangan yang sesuai dengan potensi mereka (Adair & Jaeger, 2016). Selain itu, terlihat bahwa mahasiswa masih sulit dalam bekerja kelompok, berkomunikasi, memecahkan masalah, serta belum bisa mengambil keputusan yang tepat sebagai solusi dari suatu permasalahan.…”

An Examination of Abstraction in K-12 Computer Science Education

“…When college engineering instructors use critical thinking rubrics, they teach more critical thinking (Ralston & Bays, 2015). Also, providing instructional development seminars regarding the use of critical thinking rubrics in college engineering courses was correlated with improved student cognition and affective engagement (Adair & Jaeger, 2016;Haynes et al, 2016). Unfortunately, African college instructors often do not use cooperative learning to assist in the development of critical thinking because they are not trained to do so (Malatji, 2016).…”

Peningkatan Kemampuan Berpikir Kritis Siswa Melalui Metode Pembelajaran Team Games Tournaments Dan Team Assisted Individualization

“…Tinggi atau rendahnya kualitas pendidikan yang dihasilkan dari sekolah untuk siswa tidak terlepas dari berbagai faktor diantaranya adalah pengemasan pembelajaran (Adnyana, Ristiati, & Setiawan, 2014). Adanya kurang interaksi antara pengajar dan peserta didik Rath et al (1966) dalam Sudaryanto (2007), kurang beragam metode belajar guru (Tsai, 2012), kemampuan mental dan kecerdasan manusia yang lemah (Fatemipour & Kordnaeej, 2014), kurang usaha dalam meningkatkan modul ajar (Adair & Jaeger, 2016), kemampuan bernegosiasi siswa lambat (Aldhizer, 2015), watak dan metakognisi (Bensley, 2016), lingkungan pembelajaran siswa kurang memadai (Rudd, Baker, & Hoover, 2000) serta kurang mempunyai kemampuan komunikasi adalah ciri dari rendahnya kualitas pendidikan khususnya berpikir kritis (Panagiotis, 2011).…”