Messy Problems and Lay Audiences: Teaching Critical Thinking Within the Finance Curriculum

Abstract

This article investigates the critical thinking difficulties of finance majors when asked to address ill-structured finance problems. The authors build on previous research in which they asked students to analyze an ill-structured investment problem and recommend a course of action. The results revealed numerous critical thinking weaknesses, including a failure to address the client's problem, use analytical tools systematically, construct rhetorically useful graphics, or translate finance concepts and methodologies into lay language. The present research aims to understand more deeply why students struggle with ill-structured problems. Using think-aloud protocols, audiotaped interviews, and other strategies, the authors explore causes of finance students' difficulties and suggest strategies for addressing them. The results suggest that the homework tasks typically given them, such as quantitative problem sets using algorithmic procedures, do not prepare them to confront ill-structured problems requiring disciplinary arguments aimed at specified audiences. Research further suggests that teaching audience adaptation-especially for nonexpert audiences-is helpful in promoting critical thinking.

Decision-making styles of Chinese business students

“…Business graduates enter the business world and will increasingly encounter a number of problems or dilemmas that cannot be solved with a set answer (Carrithers, Ling, & Bean, 2008;Kunsch, Schnarr, & van Tyle, 2014). They are expected to employ a wide range of entrepreneurial skills to arrive at logically crafted and high-quality solutions (Li & Persons, 2011).…”

Improving Students' Critical Thinking: Empirical Support for Explicit Instructions Combined with Practice

“…Students in higher education frequently show poor critical thinking strategies (Carrithers, Ling, & Bean, ; Flores, Matkin, Burbach, Quinn, & Harding, ; Harasym, Tsai, & Hemmati, ; Tsui, ). Critical thinking is considered a powerful resource and important skill to survive and succeed in the complex 21st‐century world (Pellegrino & Hilton, ).…”

What Do Ode to Joy, the Nobel Peace Prize, Umbrellas and Cartoons Have in Common? Why Critical Thinking Matters and How Higher Education Moulds

“…To prepare students to become citizens who can think for themselves while thinking of others, who are capable and willing to participate in a democratic society and to lead their lives in a way that respects the idea of common good (Gainer, 2012;Lim, 2011;Ramalho & Llavador, 2012). Indeed, HE institutions elect CT as one of the main goals of today's (and tomorrow's) college education, whether it is in courses in the field of engineering (e.g., Ahern, O'Connor, McRuairc, McNamara & O'Donnell, 2012;Hagerty & Rockaway, 2012), finance and business (e.g., Carrithers, Ling & Bean, 2008), law (e.g., James et al, 2010), medicine (e.g., Macpherson & Owen, 2010), nursing (e.g., Lechasseur, Lazure & Guilbert, 2011;Paans, Sermeus, Nieweg & van der Schans, 2010), philosophy (e.g., Mulnix, 2012), psychology (e.g., Blessing & Blessing, 2010), science (e.g., Kim, Sharma, Land & Furlong, 2013), sport (e.g., Zakus, Malloy & Edwards, 2007) or even zoology (e.g., Wass, Harland & Mercer, 2011).…”