Putting the 'higher' into Higher Education with higher level student thinking

Abstract

University learning and teaching has changed significantly in recent years. While it may always have been the case that students learned to ‘think critically’ as a core aspect of their study, this was not often an explicit aim of university education. Furthermore, a focus on learning subject ‘content’ now has to sit side by side, in most courses, with generic skills development. This keynote considers the meaning of ‘higher level thinking’ in this context, and discusses how we can ensure that students are thinking at higher levels – and that they know that this is a key aim of university education.