Stacie M. Spencer & Marin Gillis
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A Process Approach to Teaching Critical Thinking Skills
Table 8.1 summarizes a process approach to teaching concepts that can be used specifically
to increase depth of understanding but can also be used to teach transferable critical thinking
skills. In this approach, students systematically progress through Appleby’s six skills by engag-
ing in the process of developing an instrument to measure a specific concept. The use of
instrument development has been used successfully in test and measurement courses (Hynan
& Foster, 1997), and the evaluation of existing measures has been used successfully in a
variety of undergraduate and graduate courses to teach the importance of precise construct
Table 8.1. Process Steps for Teaching Concept Definitions through Instrument Development
Step 1. Concept Definitions
Discussion Topic: Concept definitions
Individual Assessment: Exam items that require students to define and compare/contrast multiple
definitions of the same concept.
Critical Thinking Skills: Retention and Comprehension
Step 2. Instrument Components
Discussion Topic: Components of a measurement instrument
Group Activity: Creation of a new instrument to measure the concept
Individual Assignment: Reaction paper that identifies the definition of the concept that was used
to design the instrument and describes the decisions that were made to design the instrument.
Critical Thinking Skills: Application
Step 3. Reliability and Validity Concepts
Discussion Topic: Reliability and validity
Group Activity: Peer evaluation and feedback of group instruments
Critical Thinking Skills: Analysis and Synthesis
Step 4. Evaluation of Existing Measurement Instruments
Discussion Topic: Differences between professional and lay instruments
Group Activity: Comparison of new instrument to established professional measures
Individual Assignment: Identification of a lay instrument online or in a magazine; reaction paper
that evaluates the strengths/weaknesses of a specific professional and specific lay instrument and
identifies how these instruments differ from one another and from the new instrument.
Critical Thinking Skill: Evaluation
Step 5. Final Project
Group Activity: Discussion of evaluation assignments; Revise original group instrument
Individual Assignment: Reaction paper that provides the concept definition that the new
instrument best reflects, provides a rationale for each component of the instrument, describes
changes made in the revision process, and indicates the sources for those changes (peer feedback,
sample lay instrument, sample professional instrument).
Critical Thinking Skills: Retention, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation