Cultivating critical thinking dispositions (Thome et al., 2025)

Purpose: This study examined whether a course in critical thinking (CT) facilitates change in undergraduate students’ self-reported CT dispositions (CTDs). This study also examined whether students’ postcourse CTDs predict real-world outcomes after controlling for students’ baseline grade point average, need for cognition, and precourse CTDs.

Method: One hundred thirty-eight undergraduate communication sciences and disorders (CSD) students participated in the study. All students were enrolled in a course that applied evidence-based characteristics of an effective CT course. Students completed the Student–Educator Negotiated Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (SENCTDS), Need for Cognition Scale–Short Form, Real-World Outcomes inventory, and CT subscale of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire before and after taking the course. Data were analyzed using a paired-samples t test and structural equation modeling.

Results: There was a statistically significant difference between pre- and posttest scores on the SENCTDS. After controlling for all sources of influence in the structural model, postcourse CTD scores were significantly related to postcourse RWO scores.

Conclusions: The results of the study indicate the CT course may be effective for facilitating change in undergraduate CSD students’ CTDs. The results suggest the possibility that students who receive direct instruction related to CT may be more likely to demonstrate reflective, attentive, open-minded, organized, and persistent dispositions and may be more internally motivated to solve complex problems. These findings suggest a robust effect of CTDs on real-world outcomes and that the CT course produced a clear benefit. More research is warranted to identify the active ingredients responsible for the self-reported change in students’ CTDs.

Supplemental Material S1. Course syllabus.

Thome, E. K., Finn, P., Hogan, M., & Dwyer, C. P. (2025). Cultivating the critical thinking dispositions of undergraduate speech-language pathology students. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_AJSLP-24-00165