LTA Connect: Preparing for uncertainty? Investigating the development of criticality among master’s students

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Session Slides | Session Recording

Session Outline

Graduates require the necessary skills, abilities and competencies to critically engage with the increasing uncertainty and challenges society faces - it is arguably imperative now more than ever to prepare individuals to critically and effectively engage with their world (Barnett, 1997; 2000; Dunne, 2015; WEF, 2016). This webinar will argue that the development of criticality among students is a key means through which higher education (HE) can responsibly contribute towards the challenges society, the sector and graduates face, so as they may develop as “critical persons who are not subject to the world, but able to act autonomously and purposively within it” (Barnett, 1997: 4). However, whilst a core purpose of HE (Barnett, 1997; Danvers, 2016) and a ubiquitous concept, critical thinking’s definition is contested (Dunne, 2015) and its development among students largely assumed and under-researched (Johnston et al, 2011).

In this webinar I will present the theoretical basis and findings from my research investigating the development of criticality master’s students at three Scottish universities. A key focus of the research is the conceptual shift within HE from critical thinking towards criticality and consideration of the learning processes that students experience and which they perceive as aiding their criticality development. Employing surveys and follow-up in-depth interviews with student respondents to the survey, the research explores how students develop and demonstrate criticality as well as how they apply criticality that they may develop, and in which contexts this is or may be applied. The findings shared will also present implications for academic practice as well as considerations for academic development.

Presenter Bio

Cameron Graham is a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University in the Department of Learning and Teaching Enhancement (DLTE) and a Senior Fellow of the HEA. He is the Programme Leader for the PgCert Learning, Teaching and Assessment Practice in HE and the Institutional Lead for ENroute, Edinburgh’s Napier’s experiential Fellowship scheme. His research interests centre around higher education and specifically the role and position of criticality in HE and the curriculum, in addition to interests related to graduate attributes and internationalisation.

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