QEP - Thinking and Beyond

Peter Facione’s The Delphi Report is a 1990 study by the American Philosophical Association entitled “Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction.” Although this model relies heavily on standardized testing, the report influenced critical thinking in the philosophy discipline as well as the critical thinking field as a whole. The report contributed an integral concept, reflected in later critical thinking models, that critical thinking is comprised of not only a certain skillset but also of metacognition and “affective dispositions” such as “open-mindedness,” “flexibility,” and “fair-mindedness” (Facione 25). The Delphi Panel’s expert consensus identified critical thinking skills of “interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation” and expanded each skill into multiple sub-skills (Facione 12-20; Tables 3-4). Many educators and institutions would readily understand these skills and dispositions as essential to critical thinking, and this thinking is likely in part because of the influence of The Delphi Report.

Works Cited

Facione, Peter A. et al. “Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction. Research Findings and Recommendations.” ERIC, Institute of Education Sciences, 1990, pp.1-112, eric.ed.gov/?id=ED315423.