Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 5, Number 1, Spring / Summer 2020 | Page 104

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
signments that build on students’ skills,
knowledge acquisition, and synthesis of
information, usually assessed through
written research papers, lab reports,
and mathematical problem sets. Inherent
within writing a research paper
are various levels of reasoning that, according
to Bloom’s taxonomy, promotes
higher-order thinking skills and more
critical thought in the form of synthesis-level
thinking and builds on the prior
skill levels in a hierarchical fashion
(Wallmann and Hoover 2012). Professor
Wallman of Western Kentucky University
states, “Arguably, an important
component of critical thinking skills
is the ability to critically examine and
understand published research ... requiring
students to critique published
research is one way of addressing the
goal of teaching students to critically
evaluate ...” (Wallmann and Hoover
2012). Research papers inherently require
students to evaluate, process, sift,
and synthesize information into a conclusion.
At their very essence, research
papers are problem-based learning activities
that sharpen critical thinking
skills. However, some college classes
utilize multiple-choice tests. It should
be noted that multiple choice tests do
have their place in assessment as they
can be graded objectively without bias
and allow for inclusion of a broad range
of topics on a single exam, thereby testing
the breadth of a student’s knowledge.
Yet, they should be used with other
measurements, and questions have
to be developed that allow students to
think rather than simply recall facts.
Strides have been made by the
American Association of Colleges and
Universities (ACCU) to develop guidelines
and rubrics for college-level assignments
to measure areas in critical
thinking, but these guidelines and rubrics
are not required mandates for
college professors. For example, in the
paper California Teacher Preparation
for Instruction In Critical Thinking Instruction,
the authors found 89 percent
of college faculty claimed critical thinking
as a primary objective of instruction,
yet only 19 percent could define
the term and only 9 percent were using
it in teaching methods on a daily basis
(Paul 2007). Interestingly, in Critical
Thinking and Intelligence Analysis, David
Moore (2007) states, “In informal
conversations with recent hires at NSA
... fewer than half of these individuals
have been exposed to critical thinking
skills in college.”
The study that has become most
emblematic of higher education’s failure
to teach critical-thinking skills to
college students is Richard Arum and
Josipa Roksa’s Academically Adrift. The
researchers found that college students
make little gain in critical-thinking
skills, as measured by students’ scores
on the Collegiate Learning Assessment
(Arum and Roksa 2011). Therefore, it
is not surprising that the math skills of
college-bound graduates in the United
States have slid to their lowest point in
fourteen years. For example, an indicator
that students were ready to succeed
in first-year college algebra fell to its
lowest level since 2004, a decline of 46
percent. English proficiency or readiness
also dropped to 60 percent for
test-takers, from 64 percent in 2015—
the lowest level since testing began. In
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