English For Academic Purposes for Higher Education Students

Question: Discuss about theEnglish For Academic Purposes for Higher Education Students. Answer: The process of learning and demonstration of critical thinking among higher education students has been a topic of numerous educational articles. Various instructional techniques exist to promote thought and active learning. Some of these include case studies, written exercises, discussion methods, debates and questioning techniques. This paper will focus on evaluating various applicable ways in which students may learn or demonstrate their higher-order thinking skills. Keywords: Critical Thinking, Conceptualize, Assessments, Intellectual Learning and Demonstrating Critical thinking in Higher Education While different scholars try to define critical thinking, all definition come to a consensus that critical thinking takes a formed intellectual development. Currently, critical thinking is becoming an appropriate skill for almost any subject in higher education. Various learning strategies have also entered the schooling system all with an aim to facilitate critical thinking skills. In (Wisdom Leavitt, 2015), the study states that critical thinking is a development that requires an active and skillful process to conceptualize, analyze, and synthesize the given information. Still, the study of (Tofade, Elsner Haines, 2013) found that it is easy to see a students critical thinking in the way that student responds to a given argument. Where reasons are inappropriate, it shows that the student's logical assumptions are weak. Critical Thinking Development Critical thinking is a skill that a student learns through regular practice and integration. More than that, it is a process that requires students to center their attentions on the in-depth meaning of the information provided. Notably, this process is different from memorization. In (Popil, 2011), the work discredits memorization by advising that rather than cramming word for word, the students are required to understand the content information and then allow the fact to stimulate their thinking. Critical thinking is a habitual intellectual process. In (Railean, Elc?i Elc?i, 2017), the study found that it is through a continuous practice that the students would improve their thinking adequacies. The study of (Lai, 2011) also noted that learning or demonstrating critical thinking requires students to take assessments that keep them engaged in thinking rather than providing a shallow answer. In another opinion, (Yildirim, zkahraman Karabudak, 2011) stated that critical thinking requires some time for application. In the same token, the study confirmed that the demonstration of critical thinking could be done through small increments like changing a plan for a lesson plan or on a large scale like by creating a comprehensive revision to the entire curriculum. Components of a Critical Thinking Assessment Critical thinking has its elements. The first one is an ill-structured problem. These are scenarios or case studies where the validity of an answer depends on the student's arguments. Also, ill-structured problems can be controversial situations that require a reflective judgment. Secondly, (Chen Hu, 2013) states that critical thinking should be discernible. It should be easier for others to see the point that a student wants to put across. In other words, it's more of a question as to why did someone think that such a point would be applicable. Finally, like any other skill, critical thinking should have room for improvement. Students need to reflect on their thoughts and see whether they need an improvement or an addition of a logical construct. Mechanism for Enhancing Critical Thinking Capability Higher education students can employ several mechanisms to promote, learn or demonstrate their critical thinking skills. The following are some of the activities that students can engage to enhance their critical thinking skills. Answering Questions That Have Different Nature of Questioning. In (Davis, 2013), by using questions of different subject approach, students can improve their critical thoughts. Regarding the structure of the questions, students may show their critical thinking skills while interpreting, analyzing, and recognizing the hypotheses to acquire logical solutions. Classroom Discussions and Mind Mapping Classroom discussion and mind mapping is another approach that students can employ to enhance their critical thinking skills. A study of (Nilson et al., 2014) found that negotiation models are a great tool for students to engage in reliable but counteracting arguments. In (Kalelioglu Gulbahar, 2013), mind mapping exercises and collaborative group are substantial activities that use creative visual arts in traversing ideas. Such activities help in connecting facts that exist in mind to spur the thinking process. The study also supported this idea by stating that mind mapping activities stimulate students' reasoning, assumptions, dilemmas, and conclusions. Above all, in (Peter, 2012), collaboration in groups give room for exchange of ideas through sharing and improving learning activities such as frequently asked question. All of these activities enhance critical thinking skills. Pros and Cons Pros and cons are useful, and they are a widely used technique for brainstorming exercises(Nilson et al., 2014). Students may use pros and cons to enhance their critical thinking skills to generated solutions. Apart from that, pros and cons help someone to evaluate what they hear, read or see critically. So, instead of doing something just because it is what the traditions have been doing, one can spend some time thinking and evaluating the reasons behind such truth. Academic Sources and Research Research and writing improve the students' way of thinking. The study of (Nezami et al., 2013) found that reading topics from a variety of sources can tremendously improve thinking skills. Research and writing require someone to reason and evaluate the information from different sources. In the same concept, the study stated that studying various sources enables a student to look for similarities and differences, identify the main idea, then draw a conclusion that improves one's critical thinking skills. Conclusion This paper meant to explore how higher education students can learn or demonstrate critical thinking skills. The paper has touched on the main elements of critical thinking, and it went further to illustrated deeper on how students can learn and demonstrate their critical thinking skills. The fact is that the current society starting from school to the jobs require a generation with problem-solving skills. With that, it is through critical thinking at someone will be able to come up with viable solutions to a particular problem. References Davis, J. (2013). Improving Students Critical Thinking and Classroom Engagement by Playing the Devils Advocate. An Online, Openaccess Peer-Reviewed Education Journal of The Graduate Centre, Cuny. Retrieved from https://traue.commons.gc.cuny.edu/issue-2-fall-2013/davis/ Nezami, N., Asgari, M., Dinarvand, H. (2013). The Effect of Cooperative Learning on the Critical Thinking of High School Students. Technical Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 3(19), 2508-2514. Hsiao, W., Chen, M., Hu, H. (2013). Assessing Online Discussions: Adoption of Critical Thinking as a Grading Criterion. International Journal of Technology, Knowledge Society, 9(3), p15-25. Kalelioglu, F., Gulbahar, Y. (2013). The Effect of Instructional Techniques on Critical Thinking and Critical Thinking Dispositions in Online Discussion. Educational Technology Society, 17(1), 248258 Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.17.1.248?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Lai, E. (2011). Critical Thinking: A Literature Review. Research Report. Retrieved from https://images.pearsonassessments.com/images/tmrs/Collaboration-Review.pdf Nilson, C., Fetherston, C., McMurray, A. (2014). Developing Childrens Critical Thinking through Creative Arts Exposure: An Application of Enniss Super-Streamlined Critical Thinking Framework. The International Journal of Arts Education, 8, 29-45. Retrieved from https://ijae.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.230/prod.50 Popil, I. (2011). Promotion of critical thinking by using case studies as teaching method. Nurse Education Today, 31(2), 204-207. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2010.06.002 Railean, E., Elc?i, A., Elc?i, A. (2017). Metacognition and Successful Learning Strategies in Higher Education (p. 42). [S.l.]: Information Science Reference. Peter, E. (2012). Critical Thinking: Essence for Teaching Mathematics and Mathematics Problem Solving Skills. African Journal of Mathematics and Computer Science Research, 5(3), 39-43 Retrived from https://www.academicjournals.org/journal/AJMCSR/article-abstract/AD35F3D4458 Wisdom, S., Leavitt, L. (2015). Handbook of research on advancing critical thinking in higher education (p. 371). IGI Global. Tofade, T., Elsner, J., Haines, S. (2013). Best Practice Strategies for Effective Use of Questions as a Teaching Tool. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 77(7), 155. https://dx.doi.org/10.5688/ajpe777155 Yildirim, B., zkahraman, ?., Karabudak, S. (2011). The Critical Thinking Teaching Methods In Nursing Students. International Journal of Business And Social Science, 2(24).