How clear and organized classroom instruction and deep approaches to learning affect growth in critical thinking and need for cognition

• Published in: Studies in higher education (Dorchester-on-Thames) Vol. 40; no. 10; pp. 1786 - 1807
• Main Authors: Wang, Jui-Sheng, Pascarella, Ernest T., Nelson Laird, Thomas F., Ribera, Amy K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 26.11.2015; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: approach to learning; Classroom management; Classroom Techniques; cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive Development; College Freshmen; College Seniors; Critical Thinking; Instructional Effectiveness; Integrated Activities; Learner Engagement; Learning; Learning Strategies; Liberal Arts; Longitudinal Studies; National Survey of Student Engagement; National Surveys; Need for Cognition Scale; Predictor Variables; Student Development; Student Experience Questionnaire; Student Surveys; Thinking Skills; Transformative Learning; Undergraduate Students; undergraduates; United States (Mid Atlantic States); United States (Midwest); United States (Northeast); United States (Pacific States); United States (Southeast); university teaching; Watson Glaser Test of Critical Thinking
• ISSN: 0307-5079; 1470-174X
• DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2014.914911

In this study the authors analyze longitudinal student survey data from the 17-institution Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNS) to determine the extent that the influence of overall exposure to clear and organized instruction on four-year growth in two measures of cognitive development is mediated by student use of deep approaches to learning. The findings suggest that for one cognitive outcome, need for cognition, a substantial part of the effect of clear and organized instruction is significantly transmitted by all three dimensions of deep learning: higher-order learning, reflective learning, and integrative learning. This overall trend was not statistically significant for critical thinking, although the impact of clear and organized instruction on growth in critical thinking skills was significantly mediated through one dimension of deep approaches to learning - reflective learning.