Developing Critical Thinking and Professional Communication Skills in Academic Literacy across Five Different Degree Programmes

Abstract

The study aims to examine the transfer of critical thinking skills in students’ written and oral communication in the assessments of the Critical Thinking and Communicating (CTC) modules, contextualised in discipline-specific content, within five four SIT participating pilot programmes. These programmes are Robotics, Digital Communication and Integrated Media, Physiotherapy, Pharmaceutical Engineering and Speech and Language Therapy. Specifically, the study will document the similarities and differences in the design and delivery, based on the specific writing and speaking needs of the students in each of the programmes. It will also detail the way in which these different needs are integrated into the module to facilitate students’ understanding and application of critical thinking skills in their discipline-specific reading, writing and speaking activities in class as evidenced in their graded assignments. Additionally, it will document tutors’ and students’ critical reflection on how learning outcomes can be enhanced such that the successes and areas for improvement for all five modules are elucidated.

The findings will then be used to make recommendations for adjustments to be implemented in the module design, assessment and delivery of the CTC module in the five four pilot programmes as well as in future programmes to be rolled out with the harmonization of all SIT undergraduate programmes.