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Perceptions of Portuguese University Teachers About Critical Thinking Educational Practices

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Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education (TECH-EDU 2018)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 993))

Abstract

Promoting students’ Critical Thinking (CT) in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) has been an essential and challenging goal in the 21st century. This exploratory research study attempted to characterize how CT is being fostered in Portuguese HEI. Semi-structured interviews were carried-out with 5 university teachers from different domains, focusing several topics: CT notion, CT aims, CT approach, interventions, teaching strategies, learning materials, assessment methods, challenges and barriers. Results highlighted the undervalue of CT dispositions by university teachers, the lack of clarity regarding the design principles and criteria behind effective CT instruction and assessment, and the need to change institutional culture and conditions towards the support of CT educational practices – this will also enable the long-term integration of CT across the curricula and the transferability of skills and dispositions to other contexts. In general, teachers agreed on the importance to be explicit and clear in their CT teaching practice, and on the use of authentic situations, dialogue and active learning strategies for the effective development of students’ CT.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the ‘Critical Thinking Across the European Higher Education Curricula - CRITHINKEDU’ project, with the reference number 2016-1-PT01-KA203-022808, funded by the European Commission/EACEA, through the ERASMUS+ Programme.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Letters, Arts and Communication, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal

    Felicidade Morais

  2. CELGA-ILTEC, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Felicidade Morais

  3. Department of Education and Psychology, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal

    Helena Silva

  4. CIIE – Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Educativas, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal

    Helena Silva

  5. CRITHINKEDU Research Fellow, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal

    Gonçalo Cruz

  6. School of Science and Technology, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal

    Daniela Pedrosa

  7. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Évora, Pole at Mitra, Évora, Portugal

    Rita Payan-Carreira

  8. Department of Engineering, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal

    Caroline Dominguez

  9. LabDCT/CITDFF, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Caroline Dominguez

  10. Department of Mathematics, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal

    Maria Manuel Nascimento

Authors
  1. Felicidade Morais
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  2. Helena Silva
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  3. Gonçalo Cruz
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  4. Daniela Pedrosa
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  5. Rita Payan-Carreira
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  6. Caroline Dominguez
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  7. Maria Manuel Nascimento
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Felicidade Morais .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Meni Tsitouridou

  2. Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    José A. Diniz

  3. University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

    Tassos A. Mikropoulos

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Morais, F. et al. (2019). Perceptions of Portuguese University Teachers About Critical Thinking Educational Practices. In: Tsitouridou, M., A. Diniz, J., Mikropoulos, T. (eds) Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education. TECH-EDU 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 993. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20954-4_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20954-4_17

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20954-4

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