The value of higher education, and particularly the four-year undergraduate venture influenced from the liberal arts tradition, is largely framed around the impact it has on a broad range of skills and dispositions that serve to enhance human flourishing. Employers and society more broadly can benefit from individuals who are committed to careful…

Seldom are college students introduced to theories that describe how they and other students change intellectually during their college years. Two epistemological perspectives on cognitive development in college students and how they can be presented to students are examined in this paper. The first perspective is William Perry's forms of…

Discusses beliefs about autonomy, curriculum, and reading that inform the teaching model of critical thinking. It suggests that teaching critical thinking in college as it has evolved into teaching of informal logic is not sufficient for actualizing the ideal of education for autonomy. (SM)

For years many educators have advocated school conditions that maximize human intellectual and creative potential, yet today's schools can be intellectually depressing. After identifying and describing factors that influence teachers' attitudes and experiences in education, this document explores three school climate conditions that facilitate the…

Argues that reliance on the outcome of quantitative standardized tests to assess student performance is misplaced quest for certainty in an uncertain world. Reviews and lauds Canadian teacher-devised qualitative diagnostic tool, "Profiles of Student Behaviors," composed of 20 behavioral patterns in student knowledge, attitude, and skill.…

This study examined the specific words that college faculty in different disciplines use to convey goals for students using data from 1986-87 interviews with 62 faculty members teaching introductory colleges and a 1988-89 survey of 2105 faculty which established a listing of over 6000 goal statements. Goal statements were examined in order to…

A study investigated graduate and professional educational experiences that promote contextual knowing. Seventy students described these experiences as opportunities to struggle with ideas and formulate their own opinions, connect their beliefs to their own lives, use experiences in the learning process, engage in learning as equal partners with…

This study examined how three dimensions of college students' experiences affect critical thinking skills: (1) curricular exposure, (2) formal classroom and instructional experiences, and (3) out-of-class experiences. The study used a 1-year, longitudinal, panel study design using data collected as part of a pilot study for a national,…

This study, part of the National Study of Student Learning, investigated the influence of differential exposure to postsecondary education, particularly the impact of type of institution, number of credit hours, and other factors on gains in critical thinking skills. the sample was 2,092 first-year students attending 13 four-year and 4 two-year…

The critical thinking curriculum used in the four-year business degree program at the Auckland Institute of Technology Faculty of Commerce in New Zealand is described. The design of the business program is modeled on the authors' view of critical thinking as concerned with the intellectual maturity of the whole person. Key intellectual standards…

This paper reports on a study which used a new model, the Cluster Analytic Model (CAM), to determine the relationship between college coursework and general learning, as determined by the nine item types of the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and a faculty survey of perceptions of general learned abilities in relation to…

In further exploring the relationship between teacher behaviors and student learning, this study, part of the National Study of Student Learning, examined how teacher organization and preparation and teacher skill and clarity influenced the development of general cognitive skills in the first year of college. A sample of 2,302 students attending…

A 2-year study at the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec) investigated the changes in six medical students' clinical reasoning processes as they participated in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. In each year, students performed a think-aloud protocol with two medical case problems to solve, one in cardiology and one in urology. In the…

This book explores the vision and contributions of the former General College, a program existing 74 years in the University of Minnesota, highlighting its history, mission, programs, research, and student services. This includes an evolving and dynamic program for teaching, learning, and research for student success in higher education. Following…

The 14 chapters of this book review and synthesize research on the influence of college on students. Chapter 1 provides a detailed discussion of the evolution of research on college outcomes as an area of study, outlines the conceptual framework that guided the review, and provides a general overview of the study. Chapter 2 summarizes the major…