Sustaining the culture of the book: the role of enrichment reading and critical thinking in the undergraduate curriculum - The Library and Undergraduate Education

Our whole history, which is the history of the world, was communicated

by stories told by one person to another. So everything from

generation to generation was passed on by storytelling. . . .

Storytelling is probably in our DNA profile. Memory and learning

were locked in the embrace of stories, which can often be much

more evocative and even more accurate than facts. (p. 236)

Stories are still an extraordinarily powerful way to organize what would otherwise be isolated bits of information (data); and more, they convey ideas and feelings that actually convey more truth than just the information (more real meaning). But, as a civilization, are we becoming increasingly data rich and story poor?

There are many nonempirical arguments and program descriptions for the use of literature to develop critical thinking skills. Markle (1987) advocates teaching students analytical and reasoning skills, suggesting that success in every field is dependent upon an individual's ability to perceive clearly the complete meaning and intent of written material. But, although analytical reading is a primary means of learning, students often receive little direct instruction in analytical reading, creative thinking, problem solving, or decision making. While most students adequately comprehend the literal information in written material, many exhibit weakness in higher-order thinking and evaluating. He warns that children, reading less and less or being read to less and less, get few opportunities to form abstract images in our visual society. Roth (1989) relates reading more explicitly to critical thinking:

A well written literary tale unfolds from a problem and leads to the

critical thinking skills of planning, decision making, reflecting and

evaluating. Critical reading actively involves the participant in many

levels of thinking, beginning with anticipation, forecasting, and inquiry and continuing through the problem-solving processes. (p.

143)

Recent studies have sought to investigate formally the relationship between critical thinking (or reasoning skills) and the process of reading. In a study of undergraduate students' reading, writing, and problem solving mechanisms, Roseberry et al. (1989) discovered that successful college students share an important belief that writing and reading are fundamentally purposeful acts of communication. Their research illuminates the nature of problem-solving in skilled reading and writing processes that are held as goals for college students. They note that college students are faced with the problem of constructing meaning from some purpose and of activating prior knowledge to understand a written text.

Knowledge is not just used to situate a text. It is used in all phases of

reading, from thinking about a text or a topic before reading to

evaluating its central theme or argument during or after reading.

Readers continually look for connections between the ideas in the

text and their prior knowledge. Prior knowledge can, in this way,

help readers draw inferences about an author's intentions and beliefs