Problematizing the Critical Thinking Concept PDF Download

Author: Lei Chen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781369681390
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
This qualitative study examined reflections of 12 Chinese students who studied in a U.S. college, and 10 of their U.S. faculty in terms of their conceptualization of critical thinking. Throughout the study, a situated cognitive framework was applied to analyze the interview data and explore the concept of critical thinking. ☐ The participants of this study were asked to explicitly define critical thinking, and to assess the importance of critical thinking to students’ learning and students’ lives. The study also explored whether and how critical thinking was related to some of the challenges that the Chinese students faced as students studying abroad in the U.S. ☐ The results showed that the definitions of critical thinking provided by the U.S. faculty and Chinese students were embedded in different contexts. The professors were more likely to define critical thinking as universal thinking skills embedded in certain disciplines. The Chinese students were more likely to contextualize critical thinking in their study abroad experiences, as well as in the purpose of activities, and in their future jobs. The U.S. faculty and Chinese students also assessed the importance of critical thinking in this study. Generally speaking, U.S. faculty attached more importance to critical thinking than the Chinese students. Some of the Chinese students regarded universal critical thinking skill as not transferable to their work and their life, and hence, not that important. Finally, U.S. faculty and Chinese students reflected that attributing some of the challenges that Chinese students faced while studying abroad to critical thinking might be problematic. Chinese students’ descriptions of the challenges that they faced in Western university were not necessarily related to critical thinking. Those descriptions tend to focus on whether it was safe to express themselves in class, whether their voices and experiences were valued in the class community, whether they understood the interactional patterns present in a U.S. university and their English language proficiency. ☐ Examining the concept of critical thinking through Chinese students’ perspectives and experiences is significant to the field of international education for several reasons. To start, it problematizes critical thinking concept as a standard that is used to measures students’ skills and abilities. The study also demonstrates conceptualizations of critical thinking in ways that consider Chinese students’ social, cultural, and educational backgrounds instead of in ways that focus on deficits of Chinese students while they study abroad in Western countries. Further, this study is informative because the challenges that Chinese students faced in this study might be faced by other Chinese students who are studying abroad. The U.S. faculty and Chinese students’ reflections on what helped Chinese student conquer their difficulties might be helpful for teachers and researchers of Chinese students. Finally, by interviewing Chinese students, this study incorporated Chinese students’ voices in studies that consider the role of critical thinking.