Improving Leadership Through Better Decision Making: Fostering Critical Thinking.

摘要

Critical thinking is presently an area of emphasis at the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). This project provides the background information and framework to assess ACSC s success at fulfilling its goal of fostering critical thinking. Along the way it answers four salient questions concerning critical thinking. First, why critical thinking is so vitally important for leaders today. The world s rapidly changing contextual factors and turbulent environment dictates that critical thinking be a necessary characteristic in leadership development. Secondly, the problem with defining exactly what is meant by the term critical thinking; The lack of a consensus on a precise definition is overcome by synthesizing a definition that contributes to the solution of the two remaining questions: how to assess critical thinking and how is critical thinking fostered. A number of different evaluation techniques are analyzed with the conclusion that the Watson-Glaser Appraisal combines the best combination of validity, reliability and ease of use. Four instructional techniques are also evaluated with current research literature suggesting a more explicit teaching approach (infusion) might be beneficial for ACSC. A critical analysis of the current program indicates that although critical thinking is being fostered, effectiveness and efficiency cannot be determined with the descriptive evaluation data presently available; this deficiency could be eliminated with the use of the Watson-Glaser appraisal. Areas for additional research are also suggested.