Designing effective technical documents requires insightful and well-designed
thinking strategies. Experienced writers--usually good problem solvers--practice
critical thinking to identify the problems arising out of conflicting goals
and agendas. Problem solving starts with problem finding (Flower 1994),
and critical thinking plays a vital role in achieving the resultant writing
goals. This article describes the function of critical thinking and its
practical application in a technical writing course in an occupational setting.
A solid understanding of critical knowledge will enhance novice writers'
capability of handling problems and making appropriate decisions.
Critical Thinking in a Complex Society
While critical thinking is the subject of some of our oldest pedagogical
studies, the dialogues of Plato, recent literature on critical thinking
begins with Bloom's taxonomy in 1956. He classified critical thinking into
six categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis,
and evaluation (Halonen 1995). Since Bloom's taxonomy, many definitions
and descriptions of critical thinking have appeared in a variety of occupational
contexts. Nevertheless, they tend to have common or overlapping characteristics:
Kuhar (1998) simply states that critical thinking is "thinking about
thinking" (p. 80). Carole Wade (1995) defines it as "the ability
and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis
of well-supported reasons" (p. 24-25). According to Angelo (1995),
most formal definitions characterize critical thinking as "the intentional
application of rational, higher order thinking skills, such as analysis,
synthesis, problem recognition and problem solving, inference, and evaluation"
(p. 6). Rather than fastening onto a single prescriptive definition, Paul
(1990) suggests we remain open to wide-ranging conceptions of critical thinking,
since the concept is so complex in our increasingly complicated society.
In higher education, Glen (1995) claims preparation in critical thinking
is essential for "true autonomy" in such a society (p. 170). He
explicitly calls for introducing and exploring self-motivation and creativity-based
critical thinking in the classroom. If, as its etymology suggests, a liberal
education is an education suitable for free persons, we need to develop
pedagogies enabling our students to acquire critical knowledge as the backbone
of their "intellectual maturity" (p. 170). Higher education, as
Glen suggests, usually involves bringing a student to the front line of
current social discourse in a given, particular discipline. The nurture
of each student's critical knowledge, on the other hand, demands a flexible
and wide-ranging educational setting, mindful of a variety of social and
political forces. Ever-changing social, economic, and political situations
require higher-order practical thinking skills.
While fast-growing technology helps our society become more informed,
it demands enhanced critical knowledge to make well-informed decisions:
the power to identify and analyze problems, generate ideas, and distinguish
accurate from flawed information sources in the daily blizzard. In the US,
for instance, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) now includes not only reading
and math but critical thinking skills, and President Clinton has called
for new ways to assess such skills in schools. In an interview at the 6th
International Conference on Thinking, at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Robert Swarts, University of Massachusetts Boston psychology
professor explains: "If you make a choice and can't come up with reasons
for that choice, or if the choice leads to a lot of negative consequences,
it's easy to judge that it wasn't a good choice" (Academics, 1994).
The quality of thinking, particularly in higher education, must be evaluated
based on critical knowledge (creativity, self-motivation, well-reasoned
argument for good ideas, and insightful judgment) to establish intellectual
autonomy.
Cognitive and Metacognitive Components of Critical Thinking
Critical thinking involves both cognitive and metacognitive
elements. According to Hanley (1995), cognitive skills take information,
data, as their object: they encode data, transform, organize, integrate,
categorize, store, and retrieve them: familiar examples are the 3 R's, outlining,
memorizing, recognizing and recalling, following a method or algorithm.
Metacognitive skills, however, are skills in monitoring and controlling
one's own mental processes and states of knowledge; that is, they take as
their object the cognitive skills themselves: "Metacognition is the
awareness, monitoring, and control of one's cognitive processes" (King,
1995, p. 16). For example, Kuhar (1998) mentions two components: "identifying
and challenging assumptions" (p. 80). We might add examples like weighing
and assessing our judgments, choosing among heuristics or methods of problem-solving,
judging whether one's unaided skills are sufficient to the task, whether
more research or a new approach is necessary. In short, metacognitive skill
involves the deliberate control of what to think about and how to think
in order to maximize progress and minimize error.
While this theoretical distinction may aid planners of critical thinking
curricula, in practice, cognition and metacognition are intertwined: Even
as a strictly cognitive process, critical thinking is recursive,
in that students discover problems, make inferences, reach tentative conclusions,
then apply their cognitive skills to their own conclusions as new problems
in turn, as they approach their goal. Underwood and Wald (1995) point out
that critical thinking, knowledge, and skill are all interdependent. As
we will see, those activities that Hanley calls "cognitive" often
have a metacognitive dimension as well.
In technical writing, for example, writers need to recognize the importance
of audience awareness. And they need to recognize the gaps between that
inferred cognitive state and their own. This metacognitive skill plays a
crucial role in the cognitively appropriate identification, discovery, encoding,
and organizing of information. If they fail to identify the audience level,
their writing usually misses the target, communicates with no specific purpose,
and fails to meet the audience needs. This applies to most business and
technical documents. Writers in the workplace, for instance, take deliberate
approaches to audience analysis (individual-to-group level, needs,
current problems, possible adverse effects, etc.) while collecting
information and comparing with the past records. In doing so, they
find problems (in the past, the current, and prospective in the near
future), develop practical assumptions and finally make
well-assured decisions to attain the goal. Metacognitive and cognitive
critical thinking reciprocally reinforce each other throughout.
Enhancing Critical Thinking through Case Study Writing
The terms case study and discussion method are often used
interchangeably for role-plays, written exercises, and other realistic simulations
(McDade, 1995). Case study refers to the use of a case (a written
description of a problem or situation) to present a problem for analysis;
discussion method focuses on the process of the pedagogy--the method
of facilitating a structure or preplanned discussion for students through
analyzing a piece of material. A case is "a story about a situation
that is carefully designed to include only facts arranged in a chronological
sequence" (McDade, 1995, p. 9). The function of a case study is to
create realistic laboratories in the classroom to apply research skills,
decision-making processes, and critical thinking abilities.
In teaching technical writing, case study pedagogy is useful in nurturing
what McDade calls "first-person analysis": identifying the sources
and nature of conflicts and the dynamics of behavior, preparing solutions,
anticipating and assessing possible results through decisions and actions
(p. 9). Students design and apply theoretical constructs in a recursive,
empirical manner, going back and forth between theory and practice. The
more realistic the occupational setting--business title, assigned job, specific
audience current business and technical constrains at workplace, etc.--the
more sophisticated and strategic the students' self-motivation, self-insight,
and critical knowledge will become. As a professional education course,
technical communication seeks situations which emphasize hands-on writing
and problem-solving skills. Consequently, the quality of case pedagogy,
especially in professional courses, depends on the extent of the instructors'
discourse-minded preparations--how practically and realistically occupational
setting can be presented in the classroom.
The benefits of case studies can be summarized as follows:
- Emphasizing the process of analyzing information.
- Contextualizing understanding.
- Identifying and challenging assumptions.
- Imagining alternatives and exploring them for strengths and weaknesses.
- Promoting integrated learning by incorporating theory into practice
and practice into theory. - Developing critical listening by listening to diversified thinking
processes of others. - Developing and testing theories of audience and organization function.
- Learning cooperatively--teamwork, job, and collaborative learning,
working together in small groups and in the classroom to solve problems,
then to serve the most goals. - Experiencing, exploring, and testing alternative ways of thinking.
- Considering different perspectives as various team members present
ideas, analyses, and solutions beyond the reach of any single writer.
The case study method will ruin itself, however, if it oversimplifies
problem solving, provides inadequate guidance for its social dimensions,
or ignores its highly conflicted nature in everyday life. Bernstein (1995)
concludes that any theory of problem solving or critical thinking as an
aspect of problem solving "must be grounded in a more socially based
view of knowledge and cognition" (p. 23). Problem-solving does not
take place in a social vacuum.
For example, written assignments stimulate classroom writers to enhance
their active learning spontaneously, but only if they are designed with
care: Wade (1995) suggests that writing is an essential ingredient in critical
thinking instruction, since it promotes greater self-reflection and the
taking of broader perspectives than does oral expression. But for writers
to get their full benefit, consequently, written assignments must leave
time for reflection and careful consideration of reasons for taking a position
or making an assertion. Writers need enough reflective time to (a) examine
evidence (b) avoid personal and emotional reasoning (c) avoid oversimplification.
(Wade actually lists eight criteria for critical writing but acknowledges
the limitations of working memory and realistic achievement in a semester
course that must also cover basic content: (a) ask questions and be willing
to wonder, (b) analyze assumptions and biases, (c) examine evidence, (d)
analyze assumptions and biases, (e) avoid emotional reasoning, (f) avoid
oversimplification, (g) consider alternative interpretations, and (h) tolerate
uncertainty.)
In examining evidence, students need to appreciate the difference between
evidence and speculation and to recognize that ideas and opinions may vary
in validity according to the strength of evidence. One approach is to show
students a variety of print or on-line materials or audiovisuals to cite
as evidence. To discourage oversimplification, or overgeneralizing from
limited data, ask students to look for competence gaps in work performance:
For instance, what are the points of distinction between pieces by writers
accustomed to high-tech writing and those who are not? Or between experienced
writers and novice ones working on the same project? They will soon grasp
that fact-based reasoning, not emotionally-tainted opinions or speculation,
results in superior argumentation and decisive conclusions.
Internet Writing Assignment in My Tech Writing Course
In my technical writing class, I provide science and technology news
from the Internet. Most stories are related to daily life technologies such
as automobiles, electric appliances and computers, and focused on Japanese
industries. In a bid to stimulate the students' critical thinking activities
with their accumulated information and knowledge of technologies, I usually
prepare two opposite stories--for example, one success story and one failure--in
the same business field. Through the Internet, for instance, I picked up
a successful cost-cutting and energy-saving story of the Honda of America
Manufacturing (HAM) plant (Appendix I). Meanwhile, I presented a news article
covering the sluggish business performance by a Honda arm in Thailand. Juxtaposing
these opposite stories helps students recognize the critical, distinctive
and decisive points in technology and business management: finding and analyzing
major problems and their source or nature. Referring to the data provided
in the stories, my students examine numerical evidence and related facts,
and are further encouraged to assess evidence critically, avoid oversimplification,
or emotional or personal speculation.
I urge my students to work on purpose analyzer--a sheet with four critical
questions in writing--to clarify each student's thoughts on the paper. (See
figure 1)
| Before writing, use the Purpose Analyzer to clarify your thoughts: |
|
|
| 1. Why are you writing? |
| --Can you specify your writing goal? |
| 2. What do you want to accomplish with your writing? |
| --To inform, persuade, share experience, or what else? |
| 3. What action do you want your readers to take after their reading? |
| --Taking up a new action, reflecting on experience, or what else? |
| 4. What challenge do you hope to bring about? |
| --Readers will adopt your proposal; they will change their ideas and behaviors; or what else? |
This is quite helpful in designing goal-directed statements of purpose which
often appear in the opening paragraphs of technical reports. Finally I give
them some writing assignments in a related case:
Honda's head office in Japan is thinking of closing down its Thailand
factory if it cannot drastically improve its cost-cutting efforts, including
energy saving. The staff in Tokyo cite HAM's drastic energy reduction as
something applicable to the Thai plant. As a staff member at the Tokyo
office, your job is to write an informal technical report that eventually
urges the Thai factory to follow HAM's successful energy-cutting strategies.
Here is the overall problem-solving writing process to achieve the writing
goal--designing a short technical document under a case:
- Make a digest of the Internet news (Honda of America Manufacturing's
energy-saving story) then understand the whole text. - Check technical terms and mark the parts related to this writing assignment.
- With the Purpose Analyzer clarify the writing goal.
- Design a short technical report with an argumentative statement of
purpose.
Assessment of Critical Thinking and Writing
It is difficult to evaluate each case-assisted writing assignment as
a whole unit. I instead try to focus on each student's goal-directed critical
thinking strategies that can be recognized through the paper. My evaluation
therefore emphasizes the critical, logical and argumentative context armed
with scrutinized evidence rather than writing with few mechanical errors
or various information just listed to support the student's ideas. To this
end, it might be useful to ask the students to submit diagrams describing
the dynamics of their critical thinking processes from the initial information
gathering level to the final decision making stage. Consequently, such evaluation
can lead to good writing . "Good writing is a process of thinking,
writing, revising, thinking, and revising, until the idea is fully developed"
(Franke, 1989, p. 13). In other words, writing is not a static thing but
a rapid changing technic (Mathes and Stevenson, 1991). Writing must be a
challenge for the nurture of our critical knowledge and intellectual maturity.
Conclusion
Through the case study writing assignment, my students in technical writing
course recognize the importance of critical thinking and problem solving
activities. Most students, as a result, claim that they have understood
the mission of technical writing as a reader-centered written communication
(see: "the course evaluation"--Appendix III). In fact, writing
must be a metacognitive act aimed at identifying the writing goal with a
clear-cut rhetorical situation. In this sense, critical thinking is the
key to a successful problem-solving strategy.
Critical thinking, starting from "thinking about thinking"
(Kuhar), plays a vital role in professional writing. Because of its solid
link with ever-changing science and technology, technical communication
requires us to earn advanced problem solving skills. The more developed
information technological society we have, the more sophisticated critical
knowledge and intellectual maturity we need to assess and cope with various
problems arising from our complex society. "The ability to think clearly
about complex issues and solve a wide range of problems is the cognitive
goal of education at all levels" (Pellegrino, 1995, p. 11). To this
end, case study helps novice writers--unfamiliar with how to solve problems
in an occupational setting--develop their goal-directed critical processes.
A case, however, needs to be designed within a realistic occupational setting.
A major role of using case, especially in a technical writing course, is
to empower the students' problem solving skills, including information gathering,
data analysis and evidence examination. Writing assignment therefore need
to be carefully designed without ruining the case study benefits aimed at
fostering critical knowledge. "Writing is a problem-solving activity--response
to a rhetorical situation where problems arise out of conflicting goals
and agendas" (Flower and Ackerman, 1994, p. 17). Consequently, the
final goal of critical thinking and case study writing is to make students
good questioners and good thinkers. When attaining this goal, students will
be able to make their thinking visible not only to others but to themselves.
Further Developments
The appearance of interactive technologies and telecommunications, like
the Internet, digital cameras, computer graphics, satellite-assisted communication
networks, etc., has brought extensive opportunities to change the conventional
text-based linguistic communication style. As thinking tools, these pictorial
and graphic media would be integrated into the new development of critical
thinking strategies. In fact, Pellegrino (1995) notes that this challenge
has already began in technology education:
Teachers at all levels of education need to encourage their students
to use multiple-representational strategies and explore new ways of thinking,
such as switching back and forth from linguistic to visual--spatial representational
displays. If we do not teach our students how to master these new 'media
of thought,' they cannot benefit from the multimedia, interactive technology
that is increasingly being developed and used. "(p. 11)
As Pellegrino suggests, technology lets us focus on the logic of what
we are doing rather than keep track of all the details. Our thought, in
both memory capacity and its conscious manipulation, is severely limited.
Technology therefore has been developed partly to facilitate and extend
our problem solving strategies. This is the crucial point of technology-assisted
critical thinking instruction:
Students need to be explicitly taught how to use technology to relieve
complex processing demands so that they can focus on finding solution paths,
instead of using their limited information-processing resources to maintain
information in working memory. (p. 11)
As a result, In critical thinking class, the instructor's knowledge and
the capability of new technology will need to be emphasized as new criteria
in pedagogy.
In addition to case study, several approaches are available in teaching
and modeling thinking processes. The discussion method urges students to
make their ideas visible by sharing their thinking paths with the teacher
and classmates. Like case study, the learning outcomes will be focused less
on the facts than on thinking processes and problem solving strategies.
Similarly, the conference-style method supports students' critical thinking
skills in interpersonal context, in which they to consider the interrelations
among their thoughts and those of others. In the conference method, students
need to read assigned materials, practice formulating analytic questions,
think aloud about challenging issues, all while respecting other participants'
intuitions (Underwood and Wald, 1995). In designing the occupational setting,
careful selection or integration of these pedagogical methods will become
more critical for the benefits of critical thinking education under the
growing complex society.
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