Press Release / Education / Developing the Fundamental Critical Thinking Skills in Students

Developing the Fundamental Critical Thinking Skills in Students

India,February 4, 2016- Rote learning does not prepare students for real world situations. Students in the current age are preparing for jobs that do not yet exist, and this shows that there is a need for the development of thinking skills & mental adaptability. The typical high school student learns the details of the Treaty of Versailles but does not necessarily have a rigorous thought process where he tests his assumptions, his ability to analyse new ideas, or articulate his thoughts logically and in a clear manner.
Time and again schools, colleges and employers have recognised and addressed this problem. Dr. Tony Wagner of Harvard Graduate School of Education makes it evident in his work (http://www.tonywagner.com/7-survival-skills) where he surveyed employers to understand the gap between what is taught and what is required. But the problem remains – how do you measure things like critical thinking? Is it quantifiable? And if quantifiable, how do you measure its degree? In order to delve further into this matter, one ed-tech platform, Callido Learning LLP, cracked this problem by using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test – a standardized test technique that makes it possible to score students according to their critical thinking ability and reasoning skills.
In order to test the effectiveness of Callido Learning’s product, ‘Basecamp’, they administered the Cornell Critical Thinking Test with two groups of students – those who had taken Basecamp course and those who had not. Their results showed that students who had taken the course scored significantly higher on the Cornell Critical Thinking Test than those who had not been trained. There are numerous ways to improve critical thinking in students but these rely on how experienced a teacher is in a particular course or discipline - teachers are, however, constrained by the size of their class, meeting deadlines with their syllabus, etc. The aim of Basecamp is not to remove teachers out of the equation, but to work alongside them in order to achieve the skills imperative by implemented differentiated methods of learning.
Digital platforms such as Callido can personalize learning to any student by making skills-focussed teaching accessible at any time and from anywhere around the globe. There are many people in the ed-tech space who are currently working towards addressing this problem. Not only does this shed light upon the fact that people are more aware of a skills-gap in the generation of young learners, it shows the willingness of the people to address it. With the methods of learning and teaching continuously developing to incorporate various elements in to it, people are looking to inculcate these differentiated methods of blended learning.

ABOUT CALLIDO LEARNING LLP:
Callido Learning LLP is an organization run by Ivy League graduates to instil 21st Century skills in every student. Coming from varied international careers (in areas as diverse as law, politics, transport, planning, energy, management, tax and other field/discipline), this online interactive course platform called ‘Basecamp’ prepares students for skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, information, media literacy and research skills. The platform can be accessed by anybody, anytime, and anywhere around the globe.