Cries of frustration about Critical, Reading, Thinking and Writing are something that many Winthrop students can empathize with and relate to. This course challenges students and puts them outside of their comfort zone, but is that such a bad thing?
CRTW was implemented in 2004 “in part in response to employer needs in the workplace” said Amanda Hiner, associate professor of English and director of the CRTW program.
Among students, CRTW is met with frustration and distress. To many, the course feels like its a waste of their time and that they could be learning more valuable skills.
“I honestly didn’t see the point in the class and I don’t think that it enhanced the skills it was supposed to for the class. It felt like a waste of space in my schedule last semester and honestly caused me so much stress.” said Kate Watford, a sophomore sociology major.
Hiner explained that what creates value in CRTW is the focus on Paulian critical thinking. Only 7 universities around the world are directly associated with Dr. Richard Paul’s Foundation for Critical Thinking, Winthrop is one of them.
The theory, which is used by the government and agencies like the FBI and CIA, gives Winthrop students a unique chance to think outside of the box and learn skills that are applicable to any job.
“We really wanted to show this focus and make it cross disciplinary. It very much is designed to equip them to take these skills into their sociology or their human nutrition class and then take it into the workplace,” Hiner said.
To some, however, the intentions of the course don’t matter, since they struggle to succeed in the class.
“I’ve seen a pattern that CRTW often tries to teach valuable writing skills that students either already have when they enter college so they are simply regurgitating known knowledge, or the students that missed said skills in high school get so defeated/bored by the content that they end up passing and yet not taking anything away from the class.” said Donavon Frazier Haskins.
“What I see more than anger or dislike of the course is a lack of confidence. Students seem to have a lot of anxiety about their ability to do big research papers,” said Casey Cothran, chair of Winthrop’s department of English. “For example, let’s say you get a sculptor who is in visual and performing arts or a chemist who just really loves the math, if they don’t use that much writing perhaps, they can feel very anxious or intimidated.”
Cothran and Hiner explained the steps they have taken to help students in their classes be less intimidated, as well as train other English professors teaching the course, despite criticisms from students that the instructing is not even across the board.
“I got a lot out of it because the instructor took it in a creative direction. I think your experience can rely greatly on who is teaching.” said Joseph Robinson, a junior integrated marketing communications major.
“I think the varies greatly based on who the professor is. I had mixed feelings about my class… I really enjoyed and learned a lot from class discussion… I [also] found the class unnecessarily difficult and stressful because the professor was very harsh in grading our essays,” said Julia Swidzinski, a grad student in the social work program.
According to Hiner, all courses are consistent with standards held by the English department and are fair across the board. Each course follows the same rubric, requires a total of five papers, including two in-class papers, three out-of-class papers and one research paper which has to have a specific number of sources. Overall, there are 6000 words that are required to be graded by each professor. Syllabi are also submitted to Hiner for approval each semester.
There also is some misinformation and exaggeration about the number of students who drop the class or fail it.
According to Cothran, the number of students who withdraw from the course, averages out to be less than one per section, with there typically being between 30-35 sections. The failure rate of the course is “well below” the 25 percentile mark, a number used as the warning sign throughout departments.
Overall, what is taken from CRTW seems to depend on what the student puts into and expects out of a class. The skills learned in the class are valuable, despite being difficult to grasp and write about at times.
Many alumni have sent Hiner messages about how they appreciate the skills learned in CRTW and how they still apply them.
“I thought the class had a lot of value as long as it was taught well. It was definitely one of the most difficult classes I ever took at Winthrop, but it did what it was intended to do: taught me how to think things through. It forces you to evaluate from where you draw your reasoning and some people struggle with this more than others.” said Haleigh Shedd, who graduated in May 2018 with a B.A. in mass communications. “Ultimately, I believe it’s a valuable class for all students to take, but they need to realize that they have to put in the work to be truly successful.”
