Exclusive Test Data: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

[Dashinka 25,884]

By 

Douglas Belkin

June 5, 2017 2:17 p.m. ET

47 COMMENTS

Freshmen and seniors at about 200 colleges across the U.S. take a little-known test every year to measure how much better they get at learning to think. The results are discouraging.

 

At more than half of schools, at least a third of seniors were unable to make a cohesive argument, assess the quality of evidence in a document or interpret data in a table, The Wall Street Journal found after reviewing the latest results from dozens of public colleges and universities that gave the exam between 2013 and 2016. (See full results.)

At some of the most prestigious flagship universities, test results indicate the average graduate shows little or no improvement in critical thinking over four years.

 

Some of the biggest gains occur at smaller colleges where students are less accomplished at arrival but soak up a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum.

For prospective students and their parents looking to pick a college, it is almost impossible to figure out which schools help students learn critical thinking, because full results of the standardized test, called the College Learning Assessment Plus, or CLA+, are seldom disclosed to the public. This is true, too, of similar tests.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/exclusive-test-data-many-colleges-fail-to-improve-critical-thinking-skills-1496686662

[JimandChristy 1,689]

Not surprised, the whole education system from bottom to top needs a complete reboot. Standards and expectations in schools and colleges have been on the downward trend for a number of years.

[IAMX 3,055]

But they get an A+ in social justice right? 

[JimandChristy 1,689]

1 minute ago, IAMX said:

But they get an A+ in social justice right? 

Nah, they get an A+ for answering one or two questions and that is enough to prove mastery of the content.

[bcking 3,157]

The results are discouraging but not surprising.

 

The simple fact that you "went to college" unfortunately does not mean you gained anything from it. Partly because what you get is strongly correlated with what you put in, and at least when I attended it seemed like there were far too many people who were just there because it was "what you did" after highschool and weren't looking to put much into it.

 

My favorite professor was my Cell Biology teacher (also my PI for thesis/lab research), who structured the course around a way of thinking, instead of just teaching facts. He still taught the core essentials of cell biology, but he taught them with the goal of helping people understand how to formulate a hypothesis and how to test it. Instead of just teaching about what a mitochondria is, he explained the history of how it was identified and why it has to exist based on the evidence.

 

Our final exam was 3 or 4 hypotheses and we were asked to describe a system of experiments we would set up if we had unlimited funding in order to test those hypotheses. There were no right or wrong answers, just varying strength of experimental design. I also remember the week before the final exam he said that trying to cram wasn't going to help since the tools and skills needed were developed over the whole semester and if you weren't paying attention there wasn't anything written in a book to help you. I remember several people panicking.

 

 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

35 minutes ago, JimandChristy said:

Not surprised, the whole education system from bottom to top needs a complete reboot. Standards and expectations in schools and colleges have been on the downward trend for a number of years.

Damn I totally agree with you on this. Are pigs flying yet?

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

2 minutes ago, bcking said:

The results are discouraging but not surprising.

 

The simple fact that you "went to college" unfortunately does not mean you gained anything from it. Partly because what you get is strongly correlated with what you put in, and at least when I attended it seemed like there were far too many people who were just there because it was "what you did" after highschool and weren't looking to put much into it.

 

My favorite professor was my Cell Biology teacher (also my PI for thesis/lab research), who structured the course around a way of thinking, instead of just teaching facts. He still taught the core essentials of cell biology, but he taught them with the goal of helping people understand how to formulate a hypothesis and how to test it. Instead of just teaching about what a mitochondria is, he explained the history of how it was identified and why it has to exist based on the evidence.

 

Our final exam was 3 or 4 hypotheses and we were asked to describe a system of experiments we would set up if we had unlimited funding in order to test those hypotheses. There were no right or wrong answers, just varying strength of experimental design. I also remember the week before the final exam he said that trying to cram wasn't going to help since the tools and skills needed were developed over the whole semester and if you weren't paying attention there wasn't anything written in a book to help you. I remember several people panicking.

 

 

This is why I went to a "Non-Traditional" college that had actual people teaching us about our what the job entails and how the course relates to the degree.  But unfortunately it is a For Profit University and thus it is according to a number of people. 

[bcking 3,157]

Just now, cyberfx1024 said:

This is why I went to a "Non-Traditional" college that had actual people teaching us about our what the job entails and how the course relates to the degree.  But unfortunately it is a For Profit University and thus it is according to a number of people. 

My wife and I talk frequently about the differences in education between the UK and the US. Not saying there system is perfect (Just like our similar discussions about healthcare), but I think there is something to be said about a more focused form of teaching.

 

Given what a University costs these days, I don't think they are the best place for young people to "find themselves" or "find what they want to do with their life" or whatever people think these days. We need to be doing more of that at a younger age. My wife applied and went to University specifically for Geology. She didn't spend the first two years "deciding on a major" like you do in the USA.

 

At my core I do love the Liberal Arts and I really did enjoy taking Greek History, History of Buddhism, Russian literature etc... during my college days (My major was Biochemistry and Molecular Biology). I will admit though I don't have much to show for it now, other than a few shelves on a bookcase full of books that I've read and a better enjoyment of travel when I get away. I think a liberal arts education works for some people, and it worked well for me. However I think most people need a more focused education otherwise they will just do their best to breeze through 4 years and then end up without really anything more than what they brought with them to begin with.

[IAMX 3,055]

9 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

This is why I went to a "Non-Traditional" college that had actual people teaching us about our what the job entails and how the course relates to the degree.  But unfortunately it is a For Profit University and thus it is according to a number of people. 

So a polytech?

 

After getting a degree from SJSU I realized, when I wanted to supplement my experience and education in Canada (they are a lot harsher on foreign experience/education here), I'd rather get another business degree from SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) than go through all the general ed bull**** liberal arts distraction courses at UofC (University of Calgary). I had a lot more backbone by the time I expatriated to Canada.. I was rather naive and excessively liberal at SJSU so that's why it worked out for me. The hostility seen in Cal State Universities and UC's toward diversity of thought, especially of recent years, is extremely disturbing.

Edited June 5, 2017 by IAMX

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

1 minute ago, bcking said:

My wife and I talk frequently about the differences in education between the UK and the US. Not saying there system is perfect (Just like our similar discussions about healthcare), but I think there is something to be said about a more focused form of teaching.

 

Given what a University costs these days, I don't think they are the best place for young people to "find themselves" or "find what they want to do with their life" or whatever people think these days. We need to be doing more of that at a younger age. My wife applied and went to University specifically for Geology. She didn't spend the first two years "deciding on a major" like you do in the USA.

 

At my core I do love the Liberal Arts and I really did enjoy taking Greek History, History of Buddhism, Russian literature etc... during my college days (My major was Biochemistry and Molecular Biology). I will admit though I don't have much to show for it now, other than a few shelves on a bookcase full of books that I've read and a better enjoyment of travel when I get away. I think a liberal arts education works for some people, and it worked well for me. However I think most people need a more focused education otherwise they will just do their best to breeze through 4 years and then end up without really anything more than what they brought with them to begin with.

This is true as well. I did learn some stuff from my "Liberal Arts" part of my degree, but I am lucky myself because I already had over 30 credits from my time in the Marine Corps. So I only spent about a year before I got down to my core classes needed for me to graduate. This country has gone away from Technical Schools, all the while sending someone that has no idea what they want to do or become to a Liberal Arts College and straddle them with debt. 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

Just now, ccneat said:

 

1 minute ago, IAMX said:

So a polytech?

 

After getting a degree from SJSU I realized, when I wanted to supplement my experience and education in Canada (they are a lot harsher on foreign experience/education here), I'd rather get another business degree from SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) than go through all the general ed bull**** liberal arts distraction courses at UofC (University of Calgary). I had a lot more backbone by the time I expatriated to Canada.. I was rather naive and excessively liberal at SJSU so that's why it worked out for me. The hostility seen in Cal State Universities and UC's toward diversity of thought, especially of recent years, is extremely disturbing.

Ok, I will say where I went to school and got my Bachelor of Science from. I went to and graduate from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology in Information Systems Security. No, my classes were NOT online, they have several campuses here in the SoCal area and I was able to go to two of them. Yes, my Professors actually worked in the IT industry and were SME in all things IT and Information Security. 

[Dashinka 25,884]

16 minutes ago, bcking said:

The results are discouraging but not surprising.

 

The simple fact that you "went to college" unfortunately does not mean you gained anything from it. Partly because what you get is strongly correlated with what you put in, and at least when I attended it seemed like there were far too many people who were just there because it was "what you did" after highschool and weren't looking to put much into it.

 

My favorite professor was my Cell Biology teacher (also my PI for thesis/lab research), who structured the course around a way of thinking, instead of just teaching facts. He still taught the core essentials of cell biology, but he taught them with the goal of helping people understand how to formulate a hypothesis and how to test it. Instead of just teaching about what a mitochondria is, he explained the history of how it was identified and why it has to exist based on the evidence.

 

Our final exam was 3 or 4 hypotheses and we were asked to describe a system of experiments we would set up if we had unlimited funding in order to test those hypotheses. There were no right or wrong answers, just varying strength of experimental design. I also remember the week before the final exam he said that trying to cram wasn't going to help since the tools and skills needed were developed over the whole semester and if you weren't paying attention there wasn't anything written in a book to help you. I remember several people panicking.

 

 

I am not sure when you were in college, but I was there in the late eighties (undergrad), and I saw the same thing.  There were students that were passionate about learning (I like to think I was one of those), and those that were just there because.  Things were much different in grad school as most of the students in the programs I was in were there for actual advancement, and not just there to kill four years after high school.

[IAMX 3,055]

1 minute ago, cyberfx1024 said:

 

Ok, I will say where I went to school and got my Bachelor of Science from. I went to and graduate from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology in Information Systems Security. No, my classes were NOT online, they have several campuses here in the SoCal area and I was able to go to two of them. Yes, my Professors actually worked in the IT industry and were SME in all things IT and Information Security. 

Did you ever try Calpoly? I would have went there before moving to Canada but I always had an aversion to moving to Socal.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

Just now, cyberfx1024 said:

 

Ok, I will say where I went to school and got my Bachelor of Science from. I went to and graduate from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology in Information Systems Security. No, my classes were NOT online, they have several campuses here in the SoCal area and I was able to go to two of them. Yes, my Professors actually worked in the IT industry and were SME in all things IT and Information Security. 

There is really nothing wrong with getting your degree from alternative sources. Kudos to you for continuing your investment in your future...IT and Tech are not going away anytime soon.  I am just glad you did not invest in Trump U 

[Dashinka 25,884]

14 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

This is why I went to a "Non-Traditional" college that had actual people teaching us about our what the job entails and how the course relates to the degree.  But unfortunately it is a For Profit University and thus it is according to a number of people. 

I think a lot depends on the actual degree the students are pursuing.  I was in a large state university for my undergrad, but my program was rather small and quite tough with only those students that actually wanted to be there being there.  Then of course there are the students who graduated with a degree in interdisciplinary studies.