Analysis of Critical Thinking Skills in an International, Cross-Institutional Group of Engineering Master's Students

Abstract

UK educators often express concerns that students from some cultural backgrounds frequently seem unwilling or are unable to apply critical thinking skills within their academic programmes. This may be due not to a lack of ability or confidence but rather to the way they have been previously taught and assessed. Often, the design of UK courses implicitly requires critical thinking skills, but the design of the use of these skills in courses may not have taken into account the conceptualization of critical thinking across a diverse global group of students. This paper reports on the results of a study of Master's engineering students from two universities in the UK to assess their conceptualization of critical thinking. The findings provide evidence that international engineering students' understanding of critical thinking is not well developed, although they may, without being aware of it, have a critical thinking mindset, and often display these skills.