Developing Critical-thinking Skills Through an Environmental Science Curriculum

Belluigi, D. Z., & Cundill, G. . (2017). Establishing enabling conditions to develop critical thinking skills: a case of innovative curriculum design in Environmental Science. Environmental Education Research, 23, 950-971.

An often-cited goal of higher education—and of education in general—is to help students develop critical-thinking skills. However, there remains much debate as to how to best do this. This study explored a curriculum design that focused on teaching critical-thinking skills with undergraduate students enrolled in an environmental science course at a university in South Africa. Using the Socratic method and inquiry-based learning as design principles, the researchers created the curriculum with the aim of helping students negotiate the complexity of environmental problems as well as differing perspectives that students are likely to encounter in the world.

The researchers, including the professor of the course, implemented the curriculum within the two-week environmental science course in which 53 undergraduate students participated. To understand how and in what ways the curriculum supported critical-thinking skills, the researchers undertook a qualitative study in which they analyzed several data sources, including individual student evaluations, a focus group discussion, lecturer reflections, and summative assessment results. Using discourse and content analysis, the researchers examined the data sources to clarify opportunities for critical thinking skills development and perspective-taking within the curriculum.

The curriculum focused on Citizen Science (CS) and was built around the guiding questions of “What is CS? What are the challenges and opportunities associated with CS? How can quality data be ensured with CS projects?” The curriculum used two pedagogical strategies: Socratic inquiry and “Thinking Hats.” In Socratic inquiry, the teacher provokes discussion and offers disruptive ideas. With Thinking Hats, students are asked to take various perspectives as a way of building their understandings of both the content and their own way of thinking. Three main learning activities constituted the curriculum. In the first, students researched examples of CS, or “opportunities” for which they wore an “optimistic hat.” The second task included a collaborative debate about the problematic aspects of CS in which students wore a “negative hat.” In the third task, groups produced mind maps in response to the guiding questions, with consistent feedback from peers and facilitators. At the end of the class, researchers used a summative written assessment to capture students' ideas about CS.

Through qualitative data analysis, researchers found that Socratic inquiry interwoven with the Thinking Hats approach supported students' development of critical thinking skills. These pedagogical techniques helped students bridge the cognitive and affective domains and negotiate their own differing perspectives. The researchers pointed out that the safe, supportive environment of this classroom helped students use their developing critical thinking skills to navigate the uncertainty inherent in the environmental science field.

The Bottom Line

<p>Environmental science curricula that integrate the Socratic method with activities designed to foster student perspective-taking can help students develop critical thinking skills. Helping students acknowledge and understand others' perspectives, as well as their own, can help them learn how to navigate the uncertainty inherent in environmental science. Creating a safe, supportive environment within the classroom is important in fostering student learning through the strategies of Socratic method and perspective taking.</p>