Teach Me Something I Can’t Google
As facts, data, and information[1] become ascertainable, effective education will be able to focus even more on critical thinking, analysis, contextualizing, and applying data or frameworks. Thinking is a skill that requires practice. Teachers should continue to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by the availability of information.
In the changing arena of education, many teaching methods have shifted in emphasis. For example, some teachers share the data in advance, or give a shorter lecture outlining the facts and where to find more details, moving on to discussions. Critical reasoning skills come from discussion, case studies, hypotheticals, problem-solving, and developing and comparing arguments. In the humanities and social sciences, facts and data can be stipulated so that problem solving is emphasized. The importance of facts as a driver of the critical reasoning and analysis will be retained. It is not a zero-sum game. A greater focus on reasoning does not crowd out or devalue data. In law school, professors emphasize thinking, discuss cases, and analyze reasoning and arguments applying the reasoning to other hypothetical situations. Internet searches now serve as nearly instant reminders of the case facts or basic holding. The reasoning skills that lawyers develop are a good goal for other fields and professions. The ability to solve new problems, to apply facts in all fields could follow a similar model. (In law school, lawyers-to-be are tested on knowledge of case facts as well, something valuable, just not the focus of all classroom time.)
It is important to use logic across categories and professions. Adding more logic and reasoning to all levels of education, presenting facts as a starting point rather than an end, would improve education. Critical reasoning is what allows people to distinguish facts from false information. The detective work used in challenging assumptions, questioning the structure of research, or recognizing inconsistencies is a learned skill. According to surveys, most Americans lack logical reasoning skills even after college and graduate school. The ability to distinguish fact from opinion is a critical reasoning skill. When people can pull those apart (a line media outlets purposely blur), their analysis will be more objective. (For example, the news may label one entity “heroes” or use adjectives that assign valor or moral attributes to people or discoveries. Separating fact from opinion is the starting place of analysis.)
In the sciences where observation and recording data is a crucial element, critical reasoning is necessary to analyze and interpret results. Science has implications for society. Trained scientists should use critical reasoning both in developing the study structure and in recognizing the limitations of the results. When STEM education fails to impart critical reasoning skills, scientific results can be overly generalized, applied incorrectly, or allow people to miss the broader implications while hung up on the petri dish. (For example, the US was late to back mask wearing due to lab science data that ignored the measurable benefit of required and cultural mask use in other countries.) In the mathematics arena, problem solving is emphasized. Pairing math with real world applications takes the thinking skills further – liberal arts education offers the combination of the math and sciences with a broader understanding of society, leading to a better connection and understanding of the role of math and science in society.
Across most jobs, logic matters more than people realize. Some people who work in low-income positions, following rules set by others, are empowered by their own reasoning skills. Empowering employees to share ideas on improvement can maximize efficiency. Employees who recognize an added step that can be eliminated or a step that should be added to improve a customer experience can harness change. From cleaning services to high-tech fields, a better order of operations can lead a company to take on more clients or develop additional complementary products. The people on the ground may have the best understanding, and, with a proper thinking-based education, their voices may be projected more effectively. Often instructors throw information at people obtaining certificates in certain fields when processing the information and discussing it would yield better results.
Critical reasoning is also crucial to civics. Regardless of career, people should critically approach the world around them, improving their ability to act with compassion, to vote in a logical way that reflects their priorities, to understand public policy and public health, to engage in their community, and to constructively help those who want help.
The focus of teaching must include the things we cannot google. Problem solving, critical reasoning, and analysis use facts, data, and information as a springboard for learning, not an end of the process. Applied more broadly, and especially at the graduate school level, interdisciplinary approaches are fostered by teaching that favors reasoning and exploration over the delivery of facts, data, and information (which can be memorized or googled on the spot) during classroom time.
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[1] This paper uses facts, data, and information to cover things like statistics, statutes, dates, and definitions. Rather than undermining their importance, I am arguing for viewing them as a starting point. (e.g. rather than memorize its text and where HIPAA is found in the CFR, learn the reasoning behind it and its implications; rather than spending classroom time on the unemployment rate over time, spend classroom time searching for explanations for its rise and fall.)