By Sarah Sheikh
How do you promote critical thinking in your students? How do you ensure your students can apply their knowledge to new and unfamiliar contexts?
Captain Sullenberger’s critical thinking and the miracle on the Hudson.
On January 15th, 2009, Captain Sullenberger and copilot Jeffrey Skiles made a successful emergency water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River after a bird strike disabled both engines, saving the lives of all 155 people on board. Captain Sullenberger’s response to Stephen Colbert’s question of how he made the decision to land on water without any practical training for such an event on his show was that he applied the knowledge of the simulator and other theoretical training he received to a situation he had never encountered before. Of course, many years of experience were crucial in successfully executing his decision.
Captain Sullengerber extracted the exact information he needed from the bank of knowledge he had acquired through theoretical training.
An airplane pilot has training in aerodynamics, navigation instruments, and much more. As an experienced and skilled pilot, Sullenberger had a deep understanding of aircraft systems, so he was aware of the extent of damage caused by bird strikes to both engines. He used his knowledge of aerodynamics and aircraft systems to decide to land on water in a matter of seconds, as an attempt to reach any other airport could have been catastrophic.
Critical Thinking Skills are Domain Specific
We would all love to have a pilot like Captain Sullenberger on our flight. But would we get into a rocket ship for space travel, for instance, with Captain Sullenberger? We don’t doubt his competency as an airplane pilot, but space travel in a rocket ship requires a different set of knowledge, which Captain Sullenberger is not trained for. Landing a rocket ship would require knowledge of Orbital Mechanics, Propulsion Systems, Re-entry Dynamics, and so on. Deep knowledge of a subject area is crucial for critical thinking.
Factual Knowledge Must Predede Skill
If you want students to solve addition and subtraction word problems, give them a lot of practice. Students will become critical thinkers with a lot of factual knowledge, so ensure they understand addition and subtraction facts with automacy. According to the psychologist Robert Sternberg and two colleagues, “One cannot apply what one knows in a practical manner if one does not know anything to apply.” Provide them with various addition and subtraction word problems in different contexts, such as money, time, and distance. Critical thinkers are experts on a subject because they have extensive knowledge as a foundation for critical thinking.
I conclude with a quote from Willingham, one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists, ” There is no doubt that having students memorize lists of dry facts is not enriching. It is also true (though less often appreciated) that trying to teach students skills such as analysis or synthesis in the absence of factual knowledge is impossible. Research from cognitive science has shown that the sorts of skills that teachers want for students, such as the ability to analyze and think critically, require extensive factual knowledge” (Willingham, 2009, Why Don’t Students Like School).
The Power of Formative Assessment 