2008 Woodie Awards
IN THE LOOP: Core needs more critical thinking
Editorial Board
Issue date: 12/5/06
Last Updated: 12/29/07
Critical thinking remains aloof in the Core programs.
The National Survey of Student Engagement released last year shows Whitworth students struggle with critical thinking skills such as applying and analyzing.
Considering that every Whitworth student is required to take Core, it is important to start the process of learning to think critically at the 150 level.
Whitworth students are able to be critical thinkers, but 150 lends itself to memorization. Students are trained in 150 and reinforced in 250 that the way to be a strong student at Whitworth is to be able to memorize and regurgitate rather than understand and analyze.
The Core 150 class was restructured before the current school year. At the start of the semester these changes challenged students to think more about what they were learning, instead of relegating information to the mind-numbing memorization of past years.
However, the latest Core 150 test went back to the old model of "memorize and get an 'A' " format that has plagued the class in the past. It is important that the Core 150 instructors find an appropriate medium of memorization and application for a 100 level class.
Core 150 should not be a grade buster. Students could benefit from applying lecture material to current events. Some Core 150 students feel there is a disconnect between the facts they are learning and how the facts apply to current civilization.
It is important to remember that not all college freshmen are able to analyze and critically think about what they are learning, yet the Core program should be pushing them to become better thinkers, not better memorizers.
The Core 250 class is an important element to the Whitworth College liberal arts education because it teaches the philosophical origins of Western Civilization. Yet some elements of the class are debilitating to students who want to critically understand the material at a deeper level.
Core 250 presents dozens of philosophers from Plato to Nietzsche, in the same methodical way. Every philosopher is categorized by their metaphysics, ethics, anthropology, politics and epistemology. It is philosophy in a box. Not all philosophers fit in this evangelically-constructed box.
The National Survey of Student Engagement released last year shows Whitworth students struggle with critical thinking skills such as applying and analyzing.
Considering that every Whitworth student is required to take Core, it is important to start the process of learning to think critically at the 150 level.
Whitworth students are able to be critical thinkers, but 150 lends itself to memorization. Students are trained in 150 and reinforced in 250 that the way to be a strong student at Whitworth is to be able to memorize and regurgitate rather than understand and analyze.
The Core 150 class was restructured before the current school year. At the start of the semester these changes challenged students to think more about what they were learning, instead of relegating information to the mind-numbing memorization of past years.
However, the latest Core 150 test went back to the old model of "memorize and get an 'A' " format that has plagued the class in the past. It is important that the Core 150 instructors find an appropriate medium of memorization and application for a 100 level class.
Core 150 should not be a grade buster. Students could benefit from applying lecture material to current events. Some Core 150 students feel there is a disconnect between the facts they are learning and how the facts apply to current civilization.
It is important to remember that not all college freshmen are able to analyze and critically think about what they are learning, yet the Core program should be pushing them to become better thinkers, not better memorizers.
The Core 250 class is an important element to the Whitworth College liberal arts education because it teaches the philosophical origins of Western Civilization. Yet some elements of the class are debilitating to students who want to critically understand the material at a deeper level.
Core 250 presents dozens of philosophers from Plato to Nietzsche, in the same methodical way. Every philosopher is categorized by their metaphysics, ethics, anthropology, politics and epistemology. It is philosophy in a box. Not all philosophers fit in this evangelically-constructed box.
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