Critical Thinking to be added in College Papers: NAAC

What’s the Announcement About?

In a whitepaper heralded by Bhushan Patwardhan and K.P. Mohanan, titled “Re-Imagining Assessment And Accreditation In Higher Education In India”, the NAAC recommended 10% marks to be awarded to critical thinking in college exams.?

Why was Critical Thinking recommended?

The report was an endeavor to review India's current system and processes for assessing and accrediting Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Conventional methods based on ideas developed thirty years ago must be matched with expanding educational and learning philosophies, and the constantly evolving tech and data ecosystem. Internationally, contemporary education standards are being restructured to provide a larger focus on multi-disciplinary views, research, critical thinking, and problem-solving, with a focus on the larger benefit of the individual and the community, extending beyond employment.

This, along with the recent happenings in the education ecosystem in India point toward a sea of changes that are happening, and for the good.?

To make this wish of better education for all Indians come true, the NAAC emphasizes that they must reinterpret the whole evaluation and accreditation system so that its focus includes the value, efficiency, and reliability of what higher education students learn in their course work, as molded by the reliability of program formulation and construction in HEIs, and the way HEIs operate to assist their divisions and programs do their best.

What's impressive, and awe-inspiring actually, is that the paper goes on to say that- ? Re-imagining must begin with the goal of education itself, as answers to the basic question: why do we educate the young?

Re-imagining must begin with the goal of Education itself, as answers to the basic question: Why do we Educate the Young?

Plan of Action to be Followed:

The NAAC recommends the following plan of action to improve the quality of the design of the examinations, nationwide.

Phase 1: 10% of the total marks be devoted to a set of important learning outcomes that come under Higher-Order Cognition (an ability or set of abilities). Simultaneously, a Nationwide set of online courses be set up to help students acquire the expected higher-order abilities, such that they can engage successfully with the questions in the National Test.

Phase 2: If found successful, say, after a couple of years, 10% be increased to 20%, and then gradually to 40%, with the corresponding strengthening of the online education program. In doing so, it is extremely important to address the issue of the digital divide by ensuring inclusiveness and infrastructural support to the deserving.

Phase 3: Phases 1 and 2 be expanded step by step to cover all Bachelor’s programs. The System of Assessment and Accreditation may also consider setting up (a) National Level online courses for Higher-Order Cognition, and (b) a test at the end of the course, such that (c) the results of the test can be used to make an assessment of how successful HEIs are in helping their students to acquire Higher-Order Cognitive capacities.

Parting Thoughts

The mission of the NEP 2020, is extremely bold and promises a bright future. To reiterate “This National Education Policy envisions an education system rooted in Indian ethos that contributes directly to transforming India, that is Bharat, sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education to all, thereby making India a global knowledge superpower.?

(Dear Readers, if you are part of an institution and want to upgrade your classrooms or wish to start offering specialized new-age and industry-relevant courses to your students, you can reach out to us at?[email protected] )