Thinking on Your Feet in Undergraduate Computer Science: a constructivist approach to developing and assessing critical thinking

Abstract

Abstract The project discussed here aimed to develop student's critical thinking about computer science by applying research on student learning to the design of teaching method and assessment. A complementary aim was to develop student confidence and competence in group discussion and oral presentation. Interactions between student learning strategy and lecturer teaching strategy are analysed to establish teaching and assessment practices suited to overcoming the student tendency to concentrate on examination requirements to the detriment of their critical thinking abilities. The project took the form of design and delivery of a one‐semester credit bearing undergraduate module where assessment of student performance was by oral examination only. Course design features discussed are: course design as educational development; lecturers as models of critical thinking; student tutorial discussion and oral presentation; lecturer/student feedback and collaboration; oral examination of student performance. The findings emphasise the complexity of a critical thinking pedagogy; challenge simple generic vs discipline specific accounts of critical thinking; and suggest that active engagement between students and lecturers with a collaborative approach to teaching, learning and assessment are key determinants of education for critical thinking.