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A Pilot Investigation Of Critical Thinking In Undergraduate Students Of Communication Sciences And Disorders, David M. Rehfeld, Tracey N. Sulak, Deborah Rainer, Janice Stewart, Nadine Welch

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Speech-language pathologists use critical thinking on a daily basis to identify, evaluate, and implement evidence-based practices with their clients. Currently, however, there are minimal data describing the critical thinking of undergraduate students in the field of communication sciences and disorders. Without these data, it is unclear if and how students’ critical thinking differs at various points during their pre-service training. In the present study, we used the Cornell Critical Thinking Test – Level Z to describe the general critical thinking skills of 142 undergraduate students enrolled in two lower- (n = 95) and upper- (n = 47) level courses at …