Because whilst universities claim they do that, there is no evidence to suggest it is true. People genuinely trained in critical thinking would be highly skeptical of this claim. For example,
- What exactly is the definition of critical thinking they are using?
- Which part of a {computer science, art history, etc} course teaches this?
- How is it assessed?
- If it's a teachable skill, why are there no qualifications in it or researchers studying it specifically?
- If it's something universities teach, why are there so many bad papers full of logical fallacies and obvious fraud?
I know some like to argue philosophy is such a course but very few people do philosophy degrees, so even if that were true it could hardly be generalized to all of university teaching.
I've taken 2 required critical thinking courses from 2 different state schools. They were in the philosophy department. Why do you think they don't teach it? In stanford, for instance, they require taking 2 courses on formal reasoning as a prerequisite for a degree, which invariably includes critical thinking.
That's an interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing. If you had free rein of an engineering school in a university system, how would you re-design curriculum to address your concerns and establish proof of teaching critical thinking?
I don’t understand, can you elaborate? I’m trying to understand your perspective. New college grads I generally meet and work with are bright, hard working, curious and have a deep desire to learn.
I don’t think we’re having the same experiences so I want to know more about yours.
You must have missed out on the critical thinking courses, or you'd see the importance of teaching critical race theory. Not everyone is so privileged as you as to not need the benefit of a society educated on racial history.
Why do you think they don’t teach critical thinking?
Because whilst universities claim they do that, there is no evidence to suggest it is true. People genuinely trained in critical thinking would be highly skeptical of this claim. For example,
- What exactly is the definition of critical thinking they are using?
- Which part of a {computer science, art history, etc} course teaches this?
- How is it assessed?
- If it's a teachable skill, why are there no qualifications in it or researchers studying it specifically?
- If it's something universities teach, why are there so many bad papers full of logical fallacies and obvious fraud?
I know some like to argue philosophy is such a course but very few people do philosophy degrees, so even if that were true it could hardly be generalized to all of university teaching.
I've taken 2 required critical thinking courses from 2 different state schools. They were in the philosophy department. Why do you think they don't teach it? In stanford, for instance, they require taking 2 courses on formal reasoning as a prerequisite for a degree, which invariably includes critical thinking.
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That's an interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing. If you had free rein of an engineering school in a university system, how would you re-design curriculum to address your concerns and establish proof of teaching critical thinking?
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We have all met college graduates.
I don’t understand, can you elaborate? I’m trying to understand your perspective. New college grads I generally meet and work with are bright, hard working, curious and have a deep desire to learn.
I don’t think we’re having the same experiences so I want to know more about yours.
2 replies →
Some of us are even college grads ourselves!
You must have missed out on the critical thinking courses, or you'd see the importance of teaching critical race theory. Not everyone is so privileged as you as to not need the benefit of a society educated on racial history.