Category: ILO Articulations

In our last post we offered an articulation of our Critical Thinking outcome. Feedback on this is still welcome. We will schedule open meetings throughout the remainder of the quarter to discuss the proposed definitions and articulations of our new ILOs. We will also add preliminary rubrics to the ILO articulation posts over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, here is what our Communications ILO working group has come up with:

The Communication ILO  

Proposed BC Definition:

Communication is the ability to clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with diverse audiences in various settings and contexts.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) identifies several competencies that help prepare students for a successful transition into the professional work force.  First on the list of eight durable skills (or “career readiness competencies”) is communication– the ability to, “clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organization.”^1,2,3  In addition, a recent study by LinkedIn found that “durable” skills are growing in importance.⁴  

A significant amount of professional work is done in groups or teams where communication skills are needed to effectively collaborate with colleagues.  Communication skills enable individuals to effectively express their thoughts, opinions, and ideas to others as well as actively listen.  Moreover, good communication skills are essential for civic engagement, building trust, and establishing and maintaining professional and interpersonal relationships, allowing individuals to partake in meaningful dialogue that can lead to positive change.⁵   

The Bellevue College Communication ILO aims to help students effectively communicate with diverse audiences in a variety of contexts such as dialogue, group discussions, and presentations.  To accomplish this, students will develop skills in Reading, Writing, Speaking/Signing, and Active Listening/Receptive Skills^6,7, readily preparing them for their life beyond college. 

(“Different” refers to distinctions among and between gender, sexual orientation, culture, race, ethnicity, worldview, socio-economic standing, ability, neurodiversity, etc.) 

Reading Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities 

The learner: 

• Takes charge of reading, assessing the nature of the reading assigned, estimating the difficulty of that reading and determining the purpose for which they are to read,   
• Selects appropriate reading strategies for best comprehending the assigned text,  
• Asks questions of the text and identifies author’s purpose,  
• Accurately summarizes the text with understanding of main ideas,   
• Uses the text and general background knowledge to evaluate the author’s underlying arguments and reasoning for strength and relevance,   
• Uses discipline-specific terminology appropriately in discussions/analysis. 

Writing Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities 

The learner:  

• Writes clearly and effectively for varied audiences and purposes,  
• Creates text that is organized and stays on topic, 
• Presents supporting evidence,  
• Demonstrates the ability to paraphrase others’ views and adapt communication style or format based on audience,  
• Develops and presents cogent, coherent writing with evidence, reasoning and in dialogue with others’ views and ability to adapt communication style based on audience,  
• Constructs sustained, coherent arguments, narratives or explications of issues, problems or technical issues and processes in writing, 
• Shows implicit attention to multiple audiences and cultural context.   

Speaking/Signing Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities 

The learner: 

• Communicates intentionally with culturally diverse audiences and/or contexts, 
• Develops and delivers well-organized messages that are tailored to and appropriate for a specific purpose, audience, and context to accomplish communication goals, 
• Effectively uses nonverbal cues to reinforce and/or support messages, 
• Shows ability to critically reflect on communication goals, 
• Expresses appropriately and in a well-organized manner to an intended audience, purpose and context. 

(Nonverbal Cues – e.g. eye contact, posture, hand gestures, eye contact, facial expressions, and vocal variety) 

Active Listening/Receptive Skills, Knowledge, & Abilities 

The learner: 

• Asks questions to gain understanding, 
• Identifies and responds appropriately to verbal and nonverbal cues appropriate in a specific context, 
• Practices openness and engagement with perspectives different from their own, 
• Engages in perspective-taking/empathy, 
• Attempts to understand the message the way the sender intended. 

¹ https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/careers/top-soft-skills-employers-want/ 

² https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined/ 

3 https://professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/the-top-skills-employers-seek-have-nothing-to-do-with-technology/#skills) 

⁴ https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-strategy/linkedin-most-in-demand-hard-and-soft-skills 

⁵ https://pace.princeton.edu/learn/effective-communication#:~:text=Effective%20communication%20can%20help%20you,so%20thoughtfully%2C%20strategically%20and%20humbly 

⁶ https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined#competencies  

⁷ https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/what-are-employers-looking-for-when-reviewing-college-students-resumes 

Over the next few weeks, we will present 1-2 page articulations of the ILOs we’ve been developing this year in our ILO working groups. These are working drafts that are open to revision and development as we widen the conversation, develop a shared understanding of our ILOs, and prepare to teach these in meaningful ways. While these first passes at articulating our ILOs are brief, they are the product of significant research, collaboration and thought. Our aim here is to invite widening circles of interested faculty to join this collaborative inquiry towards developing ILO curriculum that can best serve our students. We’ll start with Critical Thinking. Articulations of our other ILOs will follow over the next few weeks.

We will meet on Thursday, March 13th at 2:30 to open up our conversation about Critical Thinking. There will be a second meeting on Tuesday, March 18th at 2:30. Here’s a Zoom link: https://bellevuecollege.zoom.us/j/86273225488

Critical Thinking

Proposed BC definition: 

Careful assessment of any position by clarifying and evaluating reasons for and against the position. 

Becoming a critical thinker is the long and arduous process of learning to yield to the better reason. There are excellent and well-established methods for evaluating reasons on their own merits. We will outline these skills in terms of the SEE (State, Explain, Evaluate) model. Developing these skills will be the central focus of any developed critical thinking curriculum. Less directly, developing some of these skills will be among the aims of much of the rest of a good education. We will outline these skills in terms of the SEE (State, Explain, Evaluate) model.

Inquiry aimed and understanding and knowledge proceeds by clarifying and examining the available reasons for holding one view or another. Along the way, we aim to surface unstated assumptions, clarify concepts, appreciate inferential relationships and evaluate the arguments under consideration. That is, our thinking proceeds by making arguments. An argument, in the context of critical thinking, is not an instrument of persuasion, it is a data point in a process of inquiry aimed at better understanding, better justified belief, or better planning and action. An argument consists of premises, our starting points, and an inference which leads us to a conclusion.

In practicing the reasoning skills central to the critical thinking curriculum, we cultivate a familiar set of intellectual character traits including intellectual humility, open mindedness, intellectual courage, persistence and thoroughness. As with virtues generally, these are not measurable outcomes that can be directly taught, but they can be instilled through mindful practice of reasoning skills. So, for instance, practicing intellectual humility and open-mindedness is implicit in evaluating arguments on their own merits, treating them as data points rather than mere assertions of one’s point of view or as instruments of persuasion. The qualities of mind we cultivate through critical thinking are essential not just to problem solving and truth-oriented inquiry, but also to fostering understanding across differing perspectives, engaging in productive disagreement, and sustaining democracy.

Whether we aim to clarify a concept, understand a view or a person, inquire into the truth of some matter, or solve a problem, arguments are the basic units of our thinking processes. The central kernel of a typical robust critical thinking curriculum focuses on examining and evaluating the arguments we make. Core critical thinking skills can be organized in terms of the SEE model:

State the Argument:

• Identify Premises and Conclusion
• Charitably fill in missing premises if necessary
• Map out the structure of complex arguments

Explain the Argument

• Clarify the elements of the argument (again, charitably)
• Analyze any concepts that might be unclear
• Explain how the premises are intended to support the conclusion.

Evaluate the Argument

• Determine whether the premises support the conclusion.
• Determine whether the premises are true.

There remains much to be said about each of the skills identified in this model, how developing the skills operative in this model cultivate the intellectual character traits of critical thinkers, and how inquiry aimed at understanding and truth is carried out through SEEing arguments. The SEE model provides a framework for organizing the various critical thinking skills that will be central to a robust meaningful critical thinking curriculum.

Some Critical Thinking resources:

ThinkerAnalytix

ThinkArguments site

Jonathan Haber, Critical Thinking

Interview with Aidan Kestigian