Date of Award
Fall 12-18-2014
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Educational Psychology and Special Education
First Advisor
Nannette Commander, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Jodi Kaufmann, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Daphne Greenberg, Ph.D.
Fourth Advisor
Ann Cale Kruger, Ph.D.
Abstract
Critical thinking is crucial in public health due to the increasingly complex challenges faced by this field, including disease prevention, illness management, economic forces, and changes in the health system. Although there is a lack of consensus about how practitioners and educators view critical thinking, such skills are essential to the functions of applying theories and scientific research to public health interventions (Rabinowitz, 2012). The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between critical thinking skills used by public health practitioners and critical thinking skills taught to graduate students in schools/programs of public health. Through interviews with public health practitioners and instructors twelve distinct critical thinking skills were identified. Findings of this study indicate that many critical thinking skills used by practitioners are aligned with those taught in courses, such as analysis, identification and assessment of a problem, information seeking, questioning, and reflection. This study also identified conceptualizing, evaluating, interpreting, predicting, reasoning, and synthesizing as critical thinking skills that may not be receiving the explicit attention deserved in both the workplace and the classroom. A high percentage of practitioners identified explaining as a critical thinking skill often used in the field, while few instructors reported teaching this skill. The results of this study have important implications for informing public health curricula and workforce development programs about critical thinking. Further, this research serves as a model for other professions to explore the relationship between critical thinking skills used by practitioners and those taught in higher education.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/6494807
Recommended Citation
Alexander, Martha Elizabeth, "Critical Thinking in Public Health: An Exploration of Skills Used by Public Health Practitioners and Taught by Instructors." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2014.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/6494807