LM206 - Critical Thinking Skills for Doctor of Audiology Students

Abstract:
Critical thinking is a crucial component of healthcare, and its importance has been recognized in healthcare education. The ability to critically evaluate information, recognize assumptions, and make informed decisions is essential to providing high-quality patient care. There is a lack of research regarding critical thinking skills (CTS) of students in AuD programs. Previous research has shown that CTS should be explicitly taught and included in the curriculum. This session will provide results of our programmatic review to review the CTS and trajectory of change as students progressed through the program. Activities and teaching methodologies to promote CTS will be discussed.

Summary:
Critical thinking is defined by the American Philosophical Association (APA, 1990) as “purposeful self-regulatory judgment that uses cognitive tools such as interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations on which judgment is based” or “reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do.” In healthcare settings, critical thinking involves the integration of background scientific knowledge with the relevant initial patient history to accurately diagnose and implement a treatment plan.

Often educators may believe that critical thinking will naturally occur with education (Huber & Kuncel, 2016). However, Arum and Roska (2011) reported a significant number of college students showed minimal improvement in critical thinking skills during the first two years of college. Sharples and colleagues (2017) report “… much health and science education, and education generally, still tends toward rote learning rather than the promotion of critical thinking” (page 2).

They further recommend explicitly teaching critical thinking skills in medical education fields and providing opportunities for students to practice critical thinking. A substantial body of literature has shown that critical thinking skills can be taught and enhanced. Changes in critical thinking skills have been reported in a variety of health education fields such as dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. However, there are fewer published reports of critical thinking skills in allied health fields specifically Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) programs. Ng et al. (2013) reported improvements in critical thinking skills, as measured by the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, from a student’s initial enrollment in an audiology education program to their 2nd year of audiology education.

These authors suggest the assessment and monitoring of critical thinking skills as a useful tool to track the progression of critical thinking skills. AuD education programs usually attract graduate students who usually have no difficulty in transitioning research and theoretical knowledge acquired in classroom and laboratory settings into clinical practicum settings. However, there may be an occasional student who struggles to integrate information from the traditional academic classroom into clinical practice. Perhaps, their previous undergraduate educational experiences have focused primarily on rote memorization (Abrami et al., 2015; Sharpels et al., 2017), rather than on crucial manipulation and integration into a clinical setting. These students may not have had the opportunities to learn how to think critically or practice applying critical thinking skills. Importantly, critical thinking skills can be taught and improved.

We completed a longitudinal assessment to review the critical thinking skills of doctor of audiology (AUD) students. Specifically, we will provide the results of this assessment showing the critical thinking skills of entering AuD students and the trajectory of critical thinking. This session will discuss teaching methodologies and provide examples of academic and clinical activities that may be used to promote critical thinking skills.