Students in MBI 143 (Laboratory Diagnosis of Disease) worked collaboratively in groups comprised of 5 students to plan and present a panel discussion. Each panel collectively selected a broad topic, such as "global emergence of antibiotic resistance." Next, each individual selected an article from a periodical or newspaper that addressed a subtopic of the panel's broad topic. Individual's articles were carefully selected to assure that they not only contained thought-provoking content, but also interdigitated with the panel's broad topic. Each presenter in the panel was assigned to focus upon critical thinking during their reading, assessment and oral presentation of their article.

A scientific critical thinking rubric was developed for this project and was used by both students and faculty to assess the presenter's work. Data from the peer assessment of the students' presentations indicated that there was substantial incorporation of critical thinking into their presentation, as the average ranking of each category was > 2.7. The categories with the highest and lowest rankings were content and evidence analysis, respectively.

Rubric

Lee Rubric