Presentation of Orla Feeney for EDEN's NAP webinar series on 'Critical thinking in education' - 2 December 2020, 17:00 CET More info: http://www.eden-online.org/eden_conference/critical-thinking-in-education/

1. Critical thinking for business

2. OUTLINE
• Who we deliver it to,
objective of the module
• How it was developed
• Content, learning outcomes
and assessment
• Feedback
• Online environment

3. WHO TAKES ‘CRITICAL THINKING FOR
BUSINESS’?
All first year
undergraduate
students in the
business school
6 programs
Approx 650
students

4. OBJECTIVE
……DEVELOP THEIR
CRITICAL THINKING
SKILLS!

5. WHO IS
STANISLAV
PETROV ?

6. How was the
module
developed?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

7. CURRICULUM
REVIEW PROJECT
• One of the key goals of the
business school is to produce
graduates who can make
business decisions in an evidence
based manner…
• Cross functional team
• Charged with evidence based
management principals into our
undergraduate degree programs

8. The first step in this was to develop their critical
thinking skills
This aligns with a
clear call from the
marketplace and the
national skills strategy
for enhanced critical
thinking skills…

9. • World Economic
Forum….
• 350 executives across 9
industries in 15 of the
world’s biggest
economies
• …top 10 skills needed
to thrive in the 4th
industrial revolution

10. COLLABORATIVE &
CROSS
FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH
Broad cross functional team involved in the
initial development
Dreamt big…….
Reworked and reconfigured in light of teaching
resource, timetable, program structures……
Maintained that cross functional
approach…
Teaching team – 2 accountants, an economist, an
organisational psychologist and the business
librarian

11. CRITICAL
THINKING AS
A STUDENT

12. CRITICAL
THINKING AS
A STUDENT
Finding out where the best
evidence lies for the subject
you are discussing

13. CRITICAL
THINKING AS
A STUDENT
Evaluating the strength of
evidence to support
different arguments
Finding out where the best
evidence lies for the subject
you are discussing

14. CRITICAL
THINKING AS
A STUDENT
Coming to a
conclusion about
where the available
evidence appears
to lead
Evaluating the strength of
evidence to support
different arguments
Finding out where the best
evidence lies for the subject
you are discussing

15. CRITICAL
THINKING AS
A STUDENT
Coming to a
conclusion about
where the available
evidence appears
to lead
Guiding your audience through
the evidence, leading them
toward your conclusion
Evaluating the strength of
evidence to support
different arguments
Finding out where the best
evidence lies for the subject
you are discussing

16. CRITICAL
THINKING AS
A STUDENT
Coming to a
conclusion about
where the available
evidence appears
to lead
Guiding your audience through
the evidence, leading them
toward your conclusion
Selecting the best
examples
Evaluating the strength of
evidence to support
different arguments
Finding out where the best
evidence lies for the subject
you are discussing

17. CRITICAL
THINKING AS
A STUDENT
Coming to a
conclusion about
where the available
evidence appears
to lead
Guiding your audience through
the evidence, leading them
toward your conclusion
Providing evidence to
illustrate your
argument
Selecting the best
examples
Evaluating the strength of
evidence to support
different arguments
Finding out where the best
evidence lies for the subject
you are discussing

18. WE HAD TO
REMEMBER…..
THEY ARE FIRST
YEARS

19. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR
CRITICAL THINKING FOR
BUSINESS
• LO1: Conduct reliable and effective library
research, with a particular emphasis on
electronic information sources, as well as
use appropriate citing and referencing
techniques.
• LO2: Access and evaluate a wide range of
information sources which can be used to
inform the decision-making process.
• LO3: Explore issues and make decisions
using well researched facts, rules,
concepts and ideas

20. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR
CRITICAL THINKING FOR
BUSINESS
• LO4: Understand and recognise bias in
a decision-making or problem-solving
scenario and develop skills to
counteract its negative impact.
• LO5: Think critically and logically when
forming opinions and judgments
• LO6: Combine insights from a broad
range of disciplines and understand
the importance of the weight of
evidence in a decision-making
situation.

21. How does
them
module
work?

22. • Sometimes the students are in
a large plenary session like
this one
• Disseminate content, explain
concepts
• This year we delivered these
sessions in live zoom sessions
with approx. 200 students per
session.
• TA supported Q&A
• Supplemented with some
asynchronous content so they
weren’t overloaded with live
content, wanted the live
sesisons to be fun!

23. • Sometimes the students
are in a smaller workshop
• Smaller groups helped to
foster greater
engagement and create
norms of academic
citizenship
• This year we delivered
12-14 zoom workshops
and split them into 2
breakout rooms…25
students per room

24. • The module is
based entirely
on continuous
assessment
• This CA often
happens in
class and is
spread
throughout the
year

25. 5 COMPONENTS OVER TWO SEMESTERS….

26. 5 COMPONENTS OVER TWO SEMESTERS….
Critical Information
Selection

27. 5 COMPONENTS OVER TWO SEMESTERS….
Critical
Information
Selection
Identifying Bias

28. 5 COMPONENTS OVER TWO SEMESTERS….
Critical
Information
Selection
Identifying
Bias
Evaluating
Evidence &
Academic
Reading

29. 5 COMPONENTS OVER TWO SEMESTERS….
Critical
Information
Selection
Identifying Bias
Evaluating Evidence
& Academic Reading
Thinking Critically
about Measurement

30. 5 COMPONENTS OVER TWO SEMESTERS….
Critical
Information
Selection
Identifying
Bias
Evaluating
Evidence &
Academic
Reading
Thinking
Critically
about
Measurement
Critical
Reflection &
Argument
and Critical
Writing
Semester 2
Semester 2
Semester 1 Semester 1 Semester 1

31. LOOP
•Key tool in this
module
•Utilised during
lectures
•Communication
•Assignment
submission

32. FEEDBACK
• The critical thinking module pushes us to evaluate information presented to us. I found the
information and skills I learnt in this module I can use and improve on moving forward. I
liked that we were taught life skills that I can use in the future (BS1 student)
• I don't think I could have made the leap to third level without learning how to critically
evaluate information (EBT1 student).
• It broadened my horizons to make me think differently - Showed me how to identify bias
through a number of different means - Has helped me with writing in college as you have to
be able to think on a higher level for yourself (INTB1 student).
• I enjoyed the way there was different lecturers teaching different aspects of the module
and how every couple of weeks we were focusing on something different (INTB1 student).
• I feel the module has really helped us get our bearings in terms of adjusting our approach to
academic work, it helped us make the switch from the Leaving Cert mindset to a more
third-level approach. This helped not only for assignments relevant to this module but also
every other module this year (AF1 student).

33. FEEDBACK – IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED
• I would like more real life examples of where critical thinking is
used (AF1 student)
• I would like to work more on applying critical thinking skills in
business (MINT1 student)
• More real life examples please (BS1 student)

34. Questions?