Assessment of Critical Thinking

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Assessment of learning can be a meaningful tool for teachers and students during a course to provide feedback to the student about the type and quality of work that is being completed in the course and for the instructor to find areas where the student is having difficulties and so additional materials can be provided or the course modified. The aim of this paper is to define assessment and critical thinking skills, and then review a State University course and suggest different assessments that could be used to demonstrate learning. Theoretical Foundations of Nursing will be the course reviewed, as it is the only course I have previously taken, and therefore the only course which I have assess to the curriculum. Critical thinking is recognized by accrediting bodies as an outcome for graduates of bachelor and master’s level programs, but no consensus exits on its definition and measurements (Ali, Bantz, & Siktberg, 2005, p. 90). Some critical thinking “descriptors are: confidence, contextual perspective, flexibility, inquisitiveness, intellectual integrity, intuition, open-mindedness, perseverance, and reflection. In addition, individuals who think critically have the ability to use the cognitive skills of analyzing, applying standards, discriminating, seeking information, reasoning logically, and transforming knowledge (Scheffer & Rubenfeld, 2000) (Ali, Bantz, & Siktberg, 2005, p. 90). Assessment strategies should be integrated into the curriculum so that critical thinking skills can be assessed throughout the course and not just at the end of the course. Critical thinking projects will take concepts from a broad range and apply these to local clinical contexts, “the assignment then challenges the student to reflect/... ... middle of paper ... ...wer/pdfviewer?vid=7&hid=108&sid=23f3c4b8-a97d-452f-ba15-999b53ea73f3%40sessionmgr104 Bassendowski, S., & Salgado, A. (2005). Plagiarism and Assessment Strategies. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 2(1), 1-15. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=17&sid=a1c31d83-a01d-4359-9098-089d5f29be6b%40sessionmgr4 Halstead, J. (2005). Promoting Critical Thinking Through Online Discussion. Annual Review of Nursing Education, 3, 143-162. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&hid=17&sid=a1c31d83-a01d-4359-9098-089d5f29be6b%40sessionmgr4 Price, B. (1997). Defining quality student feedback in distance learning. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26, 154-160. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&hid=122&sid=ba204f46-cf36-481b-b357-9df7b66fab8b%40sessionmgr113

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