Transfer of Critical Thinking Skills Across Domains: Implicit or Explicit Instructional Approaches?

• In Event: 34.094 - Fairmont Royal York Roundtable Session Six
  In Roundtable Session: 34.094-2 - Teaching and Instruction: Child-Teacher Interactions, Explicit Instruction, and Subject Matter Innovations

Abstract

Transfer of critical thinking (CT) skills across domains is a major challenge in education. In a study with three instructional conditions, the effects on transfer of various instructional approaches were examined. In an Immersion condition, students were engaged in domain-specific instructional activities that could promote the achievement of CT competencies without any explicit teaching of CT skills. In an Infusion condition, however, CT skills were explicitly taught within domain-specific instructional activities. In the control condition, students followed a regular instruction. The results revealed that students in the Infusion condition significantly outperformed those in the Immersion and control on a far-transfer CT test, but there was no significant difference between the Immersion and Infusion conditions on a near-transfer CT test.

Authors

• Dawit Tibebu Tiruneh, East China Normal University

• Xiaoqing Gu, East China Normal University