It takes more than one semester to develop critical thinking skills
Critical thinking is part of the intended learning outcomes and assessment tasks in Swedish university courses in English. But the differences within these courses are great, and there is a greater emphasis on critical thinking skills in literature courses than in linguistics courses. This has been shown in a thesis at the University of Gothenburg.
In her thesis in English specialising in language learning and teaching, Evelina Johansson investigated the ways in which critical thinking skills are included in English courses at Swedish universities. She found that these skills are found in both the intended learning outcomes and in the assessment tasks, but that there were large differences within the courses.
Something that teachers of these courses often noted in interviews was that there is a greater emphasis on critical thinking skills in literature courses than in linguistics courses.
“Although all the interviewed teachers stated that they focused on critical thinking skills in their courses, literature was seen more often as a more suitable vehicle for developing students’ critical thinking skills,” says Evelina Johansson.
Expected to develop critical thinking skills
The thesis also explored Swedish students’ levels of critical thinking skills in relation to their English skills. It turned out that even if the students had both a high level of critical thinking and English skills, there was no relationship between these.
“Since Swedish university students are expected to develop critical thinking skills, I investigated whether the students developed these skills over just one semester – but they didn’t. Although all courses had a relatively strong emphasis on critical thinking skills, the students did not seem to get better at thinking critically after just one semester of university study.
Shows differences
Few previous studies have investigated Swedish students’ actual levels of critical thinking skills and the development of critical thinking skills in higher education.
“The results may seem surprising given the great emphasis on critical thinking skills that can be found in both intended learning outcomes and assessment tasks. One theory is that one semester’s study is simply too short a time to develop such advanced capabilities as critical thinking skills,” says Johansson.
She hopes that the results from her thesis will lead to a discussion about how Swedish universities can ensure that students develop critical thinking. For the subject area English, the thesis is important in that it draws attention to the differences between how linguistics and literature are taught.
The thesis Towards Critical Thinking Skills in Higher Education – The Case of English Courses at Swedish Universities was publicly defended on 22 September.
Link to the thesis: https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/76767
Contact:
Evelina Johansson, e-mail: evelina.johansson@sprak.gu.se
