Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemDeveloping and validating an operationalisable model of critical thinking for assessment in different cultures( 2022)Critical thinking has become an educational priority worldwide, as it is considered to play a fundamental role in problem-solving, decision-making and creativity. Yet the evidence is mixed about whether and how our education system produces good critical thinkers, and this is particularly evident in studies of the relative performance of Chinese and Western students. This study began with the assumption that the mixed evidence might in part be understood as resulting from a mismatch between the expectations of critical thinkers and the model of critical thinking adopted for its assessment. A review of literature suggested that the mismatch might stem from difficulties in operationalising the current theories of critical thinking in assessments. Drawing on a range of multidisciplinary studies of critical thinking, an operationalisable model of critical thinking was developed that includes a cognitive skill dimension and an epistemological belief dimension. Three assessment instruments were designed to validate the multidimensional model. The two dimensions of critical thinking were assessed separately as per existing assessments practices, and in an integrated manner. Performances on the three assessments were examined based on the data collected from a convenience sample of 480 higher education students in Australia (N=233) and China (N=247). Rasch analysis was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the three instruments. Latent regression analysis with Rasch modelling and latent profile analysis were conducted to compare the performance patterns of critical thinking competency between the sampled groups. The results showed that the instruments were reliable for the measurement of the intended construct model and performed in an unbiased manner across the sampled groups. The results produced by the two approaches (separate and integrated assessment) were consistent. The two approaches can provide useful information for different purposes. It was found that the students in the Chinese sample performed at a lower level than the students in the Australian sample on all of the assessment instruments, and the two samples showed different performance patterns between the groups in the two components of the model. The study concluded that the operationalisable model provides a way of understanding conflicting evidence about patterns of critical thinking found in different cultures, and may inform tailored strategies for teaching critical thinking.
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ItemInvestigating the use of talk in middle and secondary classrooms( 2016)This thesis describes two projects which investigated effects of systematic interventions upon students’ patterns of productive engagement and discussion in group learning contexts. In the first study, the Paideia method was applied with middle school students. In the second study, the framework of Quality Talk and the principles of dialogic teaching were employed with senior school students to encourage their interactions and their questioning skills. In each study, intervention classes were able to be compared with non-intervention classes, and students in both studies also participated through online discussion. Classroom interactions were recorded and coded. In Study 1, it was found that the use of the Paideia method occasioned increased volume and complexity of student responding especially on measures of student-to- student interaction. The complexity of these interactions increased significantly for students in the mid-level and high socioeconomic intervention classes but less so for the students in low socioeconomic classes. Differences between intervention and non- intervention students for classes in the mid-level to high socioeconomic classes achieved statistical significance but not for the low socioeconomic classes. Study 2 investigated the framework Quality Talk and principles of dialogic teaching in assisting students to use question-asking strategies, such as authentic questions, uptake questions, high-level questions, intertextual questions and affective response questions and within a classroom environment that encouraged trust and respect. Results showed students increased their use of authentic questions, uptake questions and high-level questions. In turn, the use of these questions appeared to stimulate more complex dialogue, more reasoning words, dialogic spells (a stretch of discourse starting with a student question and followed subsequently, thought not necessarily immediately, by at least two more student questions) and elaborated explanations (a statement or claim that is based on at least 2 reasons). Further, there was a significant change in writing with students in the intervention classes demonstrating increased writing with a critical analytical stance compared with the writing of students in the non-intervention class. The data from Study 2 showed the effect of a recurring pattern of teaching practice. Analyses revealed that productive student interactions became relatively disrupted through teachers joining into group discussions and immediately asking procedural or managerial questions. When teachers listened to student-to-student interchanges for several minutes before speaking, however, such disruption effects were not evident. It was also found many teachers inconsistently applied dialogic teaching methods but, using different types of feedback to students, appeared to have a positive influence on students’ ability to talk and write with a critical analytical stance. When student discussions were held in groups online rather than in face-to-face groups their use of uptake and high-level questions increased, as did their dialogic spells. Results indicate that interventions to increase dialogic discussion can be effective with secondary students, can transfer from spoken to written work, and can be generated in an online environment. The study’s findings also have implications for professional development for teachers in the use of classroom discussions.
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ItemExpanding their horizons: hermeneutic practices and philosophising with children( 2014)The influences on the development of Lipman’s Philosophy for Children (P4C), a program that teaches philosophical thinking to students, can be found in the philosophy of the early American pragmatists and the pedagogical model of Socrates. The P4C method sees the teacher guide students through stages of rational thinking towards the resolution of philosophical questions that have been stimulated by the shared experience of a literary text or other artefact. The resolution of these questions takes the form of a defined concept. This approach to problem-based learning is founded on the progressive educational theory of Dewey, and the P4C classroom organisational model is based on the scientific communities valorised by Peirce. By establishing pragmatism’s and Socrates’ influence on P4C, I demonstrate its emphasis on methodical problem solving and conceptual development. This work critiques and develops the P4C tradition using a hermeneutic framework. Drawing on the work of the hermeneutic philosopher Gadamer, as well as the contemporary pragmatist Rorty, I examine some of the key philosophical and practical assumptions that underpin P4C. I question whether philosophical practice must be oriented towards concept development, and whether philosophy needs to be undertaken using a method as espoused by P4C. I re-situate the literary text as being central to the philosophical community’s discussions, where it is looked to as a potential source of truth, rather than as a stimulus for inquiry. I replace P4C’s commitment to dialogue with Gadamer’s conversation and play, and question whether philosophy must necessarily be seen as an inquiry as such. The empirical element of this work saw me explore these various ideas with members of my high school English and Literature classes. With these students I enacted the above critiques in order to evaluate their real-world potential. By inhabiting a Gadamerian interpretation of the Socratic figure, I cultivated understandings amongst these students of hermeneutic ideas such as application, fusion of horizons, prejudice and authority. Our philosophical discussions took place in context of text studies, where we engaged in the work of reading and interpreting classic novels. While maintaining some elements of Lipman’s P4C, my hermeneutic approach demonstrates the value of philosophical thinking that recognises tradition in an encounter with our past. It views philosophising as conversational and aims to develop in students Rorty’s quality of edifying thinkers, rather than Lipman’s conceptual thinkers. I consequently demonstrate the transformative effect of Gadamer’s event of understanding in developing students’ ability to analyse prejudice, cultivate solidarity with others, and exhibit the quality of phronesis.
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ItemRethinking Thinking Schools, Learning Nation: teachers’ and students’ perspectives of critical thinking in Singaporean education( 2009)One of the key thrusts in Singapore’s Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) educational vision, launched in 1997, is the emphasis on critical thinking in schools. This entails pedagogical changes and challenges for teachers, especially, in terms of their knowledge, dispositions and practices of critical thinking, which are argued to be fundamental in fulfilling the TSLN thrust. Although TSLN is now 10 years into its implementation, to date, there has been little research undertaken to determine the efficacy of the implementation of the critical thinking policy thrust through the perspectives and voices of both teachers and students — the key stakeholders of education and the ultimate agents in the successful implementation of educational initiatives. Therefore, in gaining an in-depth understanding of teachers’ and students’ perspectives of the implementation of critical thinking from the ‘swampy lowlands’, a qualitative case study approach was used. Six government school teachers and their students participated in the case study and data were gathered through lesson observations, interviews, and the analysis of documents. Findings suggest that a multitude of interrelated systemic and contextual factors, which are predisposed by underlying ‘technocratic and instrumental rationalities’ that govern Singaporean education, remain major barriers to the realisation of TSLN’s critical thinking thrust. The study found that there are gaps and uncertainties in the teachers’ knowledge base of critical thinking and that the incorporation of critical thinking as part of their pedagogy and classroom practice is marginal. Student data corroborate the general lack of emphasis and the limited role of critical thinking in the classroom and they indicate that the hegemony of both school curricula and high stakes examination perpetuate rote learning and didactic pedagogies. Implications of the study suggest the need to reorientate teacher education and professional development programmes with the explicit aim of transforming teachers’ knowledge base and dispositions to engage with the pedagogical changes that TSLN’s critical thinking policy thrust necessitates. However, to effect deep change and realize the core aspiration of ‘thinking learners’, there must not only be restructuring; reculturing also needs to occur across and beyond the educational system. Importantly, such changes need to be primarily informed by the reconceptualisation of teachers — from mere ‘technicians’ to ‘transformative intellectuals’ — and teachers’ work — from ‘technical work’ to ‘intellectual work’. It is also vital that teachers who are entrusted with the task of developing ‘thinking learners’ under TSLN teach curricula and work in school contexts that explicitly encourage, value and reward critical thinking.