Critical Thinking and Subject Specificity: Clarification and Needed Research

Abstract

The claim that critical thinking is subject specific appears, to be of practical importance and theoretical interest. Its meaning is unclear, however, and discussions of its are often confusing and at cross purposes. In an attempt to clarify the topic, Ennis offers a number of distinctions, including a distinction among three versions of subject specificity: domain, epistemological, and conceptual subject specificity. He holds that the first two versions contain valuable insights, but that all three suffer from excessive vagueness of their basic concept (domain, field, and subject, respectively). If the proposed clarification and critique are appropriate, then a number of avenues of research—at both practical and theoretical levels—need to be pursued, some of which are outlined in this essay

Challenges Faced by a Mathematically Strong Student Intransferring his Success in Mathematics to Statistics: A Case Study

“…In his seminal work on critical thinking with regard to subject matter knowledge, Ennis (1989) noted that many epistemologists believe different thinking skills and problem-solving strategies are required to promote critical thinking in different subjects. Ennis set forth three principles regarding critical thinking dispositions and abilities that promote subject-specific critical thinking.…”

“…It is also important to test Ennis's (1989) statement that a disposition that supports subject-specific critical thinking is affected by subject matter knowledge by investigating how the different types of subject matter knowledge in mathematics and statistics require different studying strategies and critical thinking skills. Although this study does not fully address these questions, it attempts to help us understand the possible issues around these questions.…”

“…In the paragraphs that follow, we provide the definition of critical thinking disposition, drawing on Ennis's (1989) definition and Halpern's (1998) description of the characteristics of a critical thinking disposition. We then present a theoretical framework that includes our definition of a critical thinking disposition and our view of the process of how critical thinking disposition transfers between two domains, as well as a model of how subject matter knowledge and problem-solving skills and strategies affect the transfer of subject-specific critical thinking to a different subject.…”

“…For example, McPeck (1981) considered skills and propensity; Ennis (1989Ennis ( , 1993, abilities and disposition; Facione, Sánchez, Facione and Gainen (1995), skills and disposition. In particular, Facione, Sánchez, Facione and Gainen described the disposition to think critically as "a characterological profile, a constellation of attitudes, a set of intellectual virtues, or ... a group of habits of mind" (p. 1).…”

“…Perspectives on developing subject-specific critical thinking can be divided into four categories: (1) general, (2) infusion, (3) immersion and (4) mixed (Ennis, 1989). Cognitive psychologists who work from a general perspective on critical thinking believe that critical thinking abilities and dispositions can be taught "separately from the presentation of the content of existing subject-matter offerings, with the purpose of teaching critical thinking" (p. 4).…”