SSome subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in the following
important ADDENDUM to "Re: Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills"
Hake (2011):
In response to "Re: Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills'' [Hake
(2011)], Steven Jones (2011) wrote:
"I would also encourage those interested in the assessment of
critical thinking skills to consider using the Critical thinking
Assessment Test (CAT), a tool created by folks at Tennessee Tech in
consultation with a rather impressive national advisory board. The
CAT may be of particular interest to subscribers of POD because -
aside from its obvious use for assessment of critical thinking -- the
test is intentionally designed so that it can be used as a catalyst
for faculty development as well. Information about the CAT can be
found at: <http://www.tntech.edu/cat/home/>"
According to information at <http://www.tntech.edu/cat/contacts/>,
Barry Stein is the principal investigator.
In the abstract of Hake (2011) I wrote: "I give academic references
to all the above tests as well as to valuable articles in the
critical thinking area: (1) 'Assessing Critical Thinking Skills'
[Stein et al. (2003)]"
Unfortunately I had been unaware of the more recent work of Stein and
his colleagues at Tennessee Tech that had culminated in the valuable
"Critical thinking Assessment Test [CAT (2011)].
REFERENCES [URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 24
August 2011.]
Bransford, J.D. & B.S. Stein. 1993. "The Ideal Problem Solver: A
guide for improving thinking, learning and creativity." Worth
Publishers; 2nd edition. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/n1fG5E>.
CAT. 2011. "Critical thinking Assessment Test" Tennessee
Technological University, online at
<http://www.tntech.edu/cat/home/>. According to the Overview: "The
CAT Instrument is a unique tool designed to assess and promote the
improvement of critical thinking and real-world problem solving
skills. The instrument is the product of extensive development,
testing, and refinement with a broad range of institutions, faculty,
and students across the country. The National Science Foundation has
provided support for many of these activities."
Hake, R.R. 2011. "Re: Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills,"
online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/oMew7d>. Post
of 24 Aug 2011 09:02:59-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and
link to the complete post are being transmitted to various discussion
lists and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at
<http://bit.ly/qZ2FRc> with a provision for comments.
Jones, S.K. 2011. "Re: Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills,"
online on the OPEN! POD archives at <http://bit.ly/qCB4Yz>. Post of
24 Aug 2011 14:08:59-0600.
Stein, B.S. A.F. Haynes, and J. Unterstein. 2003. "Assessing Critical
Thinking Skills," Paper presented at SACS/COC Annual Meeting /
Nashville, Tennessee / December 6 - 9; online as a 385 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/mWzHkg>. The Appendix lists "Current Critical Thinking
Tests, Types, and Weaknesses (Based on Information Obtained from U.S.
Department of Education, 2000)." Stein is coauthor of "The Ideal
Problem Solver: A guide for improving thinking, learning and
creativity" [Bransford & Stein (1993)].