No, we are not .Syllabi for all courses in undergrad and grad courses are set by ministry of education. Developing critical thinkers and reflective leaders are very high standards. It looks good on paper but seems hard to achieve in practice.

I am just wondering how many schools have been successful in this regard?. What percentage of graduates are good in critical thinking?

Students assessment in my university is critically based on students academic performance and students should be worthy of character and learning. 

Thanks 

We do not have such fixed norm in our institution, however as a practitioner of self managed teams, I use this technique of alignment of stake holder even during education. In our semesters we have 10 marks for every course work attached to internals or assignments. This 10 marks, I use it for assignment presentation. I give the class some three to four topics and randomize the topics be spread to all the students. The students have to work on the assignment and prepare a collage in a chart sheet. These chart sheets are to be displayed in the class room and then the students are given a common template on which each has to assess other's performance, as and when the student makes their presentation.  Two years ago, the students had their their assignment submitted through youtube, for more fairness of assessment.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268813086_Illustrative_works_of_Students_-_Assignment_Submission_in_YouTube?ev=prf_pub

Dear Debra

Its depends upon the academic level of student that for what purpose they are going to be produce, the basic levels of said trait are desirable but an enhanced level may create some problems for them to get adjust in well established social and managemental setup in their respective industries. 

Leadership courses need to be designed carefully by keeping the eye on working place requirements and the job role of undergraduate. Its a very bitter reality that the parameters inside the walls of educational institution are less a workable for out side the industry which just know profit and loss in term of material.

What i think that student need to learn the basics of social interactional diversity to cope-up with jobs along the technical side. Leadership qualities are very valuable skill but when, where, at which extent and how to use it is another skill which is primary in era of competition and "conflicts".

Critical thinker is if not a controlled thinker then this trait push back to the person, at the same time reflective leader don't have diplomatic ability then again get push back. 

Regards,

Raja

No, we are not .Syllabi for all courses in undergrad and grad courses are set by ministry of education. Developing critical thinkers and reflective leaders are very high standards. It looks good on paper but seems hard to achieve in practice.

I am just wondering how many schools have been successful in this regard?. What percentage of graduates are good in critical thinking?

Hi Debra,

The Ministry of Higher Education has integrated critical thinking skills, higher order thinking skills and soft skills in the Blueprint to ensure that graduates are equipped with all these skills which will make them globally employable and marketable once graduated. At the university level, our instructional planning for each course has these elements embedded in order to realise the goals of the Blueprint. Students' mastery of the skills are then assessed in their assignment tasks, tests and exams.

Every subject area has its objectives, which we have to achieve by completing the course.

Actually, both our curriculum and thus our exams must be integrated in the long-term academic specialties of the students.  Every year, the student foundations program has to tweek and redo practices that are more in line with what are considered "authentic". 

Medicine is increasingly looking to include and assess domain independent attributes, such as communication & leadership, within curricula.  One well-described framework is CanMEDs - here are some links to publications within Researchgate which may be useful as a starting point.

Article The role of assessment in competency-based medical education

Article Competency-based education is beneficial for professional development

Book CanMEDS 2015 Physician Competency Framework.

As a teacher in a paedagogical University, our goal is to prepere future teachers in different areas of knowledge, who should have a core of competentes (knowledge, skills and ethical atributes). Among the competentes both critical thinking and a reflective leadership are required. These are necessary: a) to face the emergent demands of society, such as to solve problems making good decisions after considering and analizing data and quickly choosing the more appropiate course of action; b) make good research proposal; c) have a reflective leadership focused on mantainning healthy relationships.

As a teacher experienced in all levels of education, I am tempted to propose that Universities that are worth their salt prepare teachers in both critical thinking and reflective leadership competencies. These competencies are mutually exclusive to each other. These competencies are among the most ones from University graduates in my country and beyond. It is against this background that universities design programmes and courses that are anchored on learning outcomes. The learning outcomes indicate the quality of university graduates to be churned out. They also show the utility and meritocratic value of the students who would have been exposed to critical thinking and leadership competencies.

Yes. That is what we call outcomes-based education (OBE) system. In OBE, the teaching and learning processes (outcomes-based teaching and learning or OBTL), as well as assessment methods (outcomes-based assessment or OBA), are all based on the predetermined outcomes which were formulated and agreed upon by all University stakeholders (administration, faculty, students, industry leaders, alumni, parents, community leaders, etc.). For the basic concepts on OBE, you may refer to the following article:

Article A Paradigm Shift to Outcomes-Based Higher Education: Policie...

We are required to do this by the university and the accrediting body. It is program specific and not by course.