Seven dimensions evaluated for the 3 different components of each C.
Aspects of the overall educational program teaching, emphasizing, and promoting the 4Cs
Availability and access to different means, materials, space, and expertise, digital technologies, mnemonic and heuristic methods, etc. to assist in the proper use and exercise of the 4Cs
Actual student and program use of available resources promoting the 4Cs
Critical reflection and metacognition on the process being engaged in around the 4Cs
The formal and informal training, skills, and abilities of teachers/trainers and staff and their program of development as promoters of the 4Cs
Use and integration of the full range of resources external to the institution available to enhance the 4Cs
Availability of resources for students to create and actualize products, programs, events, etc. that require the exercise, promotion, or manifestation of the 4Cs
* Educational-level dependent and potentially less available for younger students or in some contexts.
The grid itself can be used in several important and different ways by different educational stakeholders: (1) by the institution itself in its self-evaluation and possible preparation for a certification or labelization process, (2) as an explicit list of criteria for external evaluation of the institution and its 4Cs-related programs, and (3) as a potential long-term development targeting tool for the institution or the institution in dialogue with the labelization process.
4.1. Evaluation Grid for Creativity
Dropping the component of “creative person” that is not relevant at the institutional level, this evaluation grid is based on Rhodes’ ( 1961 ) classic “4P” model of creativity, which remains the most concise model today ( Lubart and Thornhill-Miller 2019 ). The three “P” components retained are: creative process , creative environment , and creative product . Creative process refers to the acquisition of a set of tools and techniques that students can use to enhance the creativity of their thinking and work. Creative environment (also called “Press” in earlier literature) is about how the physical and social surroundings of students can help them be more creative. Finally, creative product refers to the evaluation of actual “productions” (e.g., a piece of art, text, speech, etc.) generated through the creative process.
4.2. Evaluation Grid for Critical Thinking
Our evaluation grid divides critical thinking into three main components: critical thinking about the world , critical thinking about oneself (self-reflection), as well as critical action and decision making . The first component refers to having an evidence-based view of the exterior world, notably by identifying and evaluating sources of information and using them to question current understandings and solve problems. Self-reflection refers to thinking critically about one’s own life situation, values, and actions; it presupposes the autonomy of thought and a certain distance as well as the most objective observation possible with regard to one’s own knowledge (“meta-cognition”). The third and final component, critical action and decision making, is about using critical thinking skills more practically in order to make appropriate life decisions as well as to be open to different points of view. This component also addresses soft skills and attitudes such as trusting information.
Our evaluation framework for critical thinking was in part inspired by Barnett’s “curriculum for critical being” (2015), whose model distinguishes two axes: one defined by the qualitative differences in the level of criticality attained and the second comprised of three different domains of application: formal knowledge, the self, and the world. The first two components of our framework (and the seven dimensions on which they are rated) reflect and encompass these three domains. Similar to Barrett’s proposal, our third rubric moves beyond the “skills-plus-dispositions” model of competency implicit in much theorizing about critical thinking and adds the importance of “action”—not just the ability to think critically and the disposition to do so, but the central importance of training and practicing “critical doing” ( Barnett 2015 ). Critical thinking should also be exercised collectively by involving students in collective thinking, facilitating the exchange of ideas and civic engagement ( Huber and Kuncel 2016 ).
4.3. Evaluation Grid for Collaboration
The first component of collaboration skills in the IICD grid is engagement and participation , referring to the active engagement in group work. Perspective taking and openness concerns the flexibility to work with and accommodate other group members and their points of view. The final dimension— social regulation —is about being able to reach for a common goal, notably through compromise and negotiation, as well as being aware of the different types of roles that group members can hold ( Hesse et al. 2015 ; Rusdin and Ali 2019 ; Care et al. 2016 ). (These last two components include elements of leadership, character, and emotional intelligence as sometimes described in other soft-skill and competency-related systems.) Participation, social regulation, and perspective taking have been identified as central social skills in collaborative problem solving ( Hesse et al. 2015 ). Regarding social regulation in this context, recognizing and profiting from group diversity is key ( Graesser et al. 2018 ). When describing an assessment in an educational setting of collaborative problem solving (with a task in which two or more students have to collaborate in order to solve it, each using a different set of resources), two main underpinning skills were described for the assessment: the social skill of audience awareness (“how to adapt one’s own behavior to suit the needs of the task and the partner’s requirements”, Care et al. 2016, p. 258 ) and the cognitive skill of planning and executing (developing a plan to reach for a goal) ( Care et al. 2016 ). The former is included in the perspective taking and openness rubric and the latter in the social regulation component in the IICD grid. Evans ( 2020 ) identified four main collaboration skills consistently mentioned in the scientific literature that are assessed in the IICD grid: the ability to plan and make group decisions (example item from the IICD grid: teachers provide assistance to students to overcome differences and reach a common goal during group work); the ability to communicate about thinking with the group (assessed notably in the meta-reflection strand of the IICD grid); the ability to contribute resources, ideas, and efforts and support group members (included notably in the engagement and participation as well as the social regulation components); and finally, the ability to monitor, reflect, and adapt individual and group processes to benefit the group (example item from the IICD grid: students use perspective-taking tools and techniques in group activities).
4.4. Evaluation Grid for Communication
The evaluation grid for communication is also composed of three dimensions: message formulation, message delivery, and message and communication feedback . Message formulation refers to the ability to design and structure a message to be sent, such as outlining the content of an argument. Message delivery is about effectively transmitting verbal and non-verbal aspects of a message. Finally, message and communication feedback refers to the ability of students and teachers to understand their audience, analyze their social surroundings, and interpret information in context. Other components of communication skills such as theory of mind, empathy, or emotional intelligence are also relevant and included in the process of applying the grid. Thompson ( 2020 ) proposes a four-component operationalized definition of communication for its assessment in students. First, they describe a comprehension strand covering the understanding and selection of adequate information from a range of sources. Message formulation in the IICD grid captures this dimension through its focus on content analysis and generation. Second, the presentation of information and ideas is mentioned in several different modes, adjusted to the intended audience, verbally as well as non-verbally. The message delivery component of the IICD grid focuses on these points. Third, the authors note the importance of communication technology and its advanced use. The IICD grid also covers the importance of technology use in its tools and techniques category, with, for example, an item that reads: students learn to effectively use a variety of formats of communication (social media, make a video, e-mail, letter writing, creating a document). Finally, Thompson ( 2020 ) describes the recognition of cultural and other differences as an important aspect of communication. The IICD grid aims at incorporating these aspects, notably in the meta-reflection category under each of the three dimensions.
5. Assessing the 4Cs in Informal Educational Contexts: The Example of Games
5.1. the 4cs in informal educational contexts.
So far, the focus has been on rather formal ways of nurturing the 4Cs. Although institutions and training programs are perhaps the most significant and necessary avenues of education, they are not the sole context in which 4Cs’ learning and improvement can manifest. One other important potential learning context is game play. Games are activities that are present and participated in throughout human society—by those of all ages, genders, and socio-economic statuses ( Bateson and Martin 2013 ; Huizinga 1949 ; Malaby 2007 ). This informal setting can also provide favorable conditions to help improve the 4Cs ( van Rosmalen et al. 2014 ) and should not be under-appreciated. Games provide a unique environment for learning, as they can foster a space to freely explore possibilities and one’s own potential ( de Freitas 2006 ). We argue that games are a significant potential pathway for the improvement of the 4Cs, and as such, they merit the same attention as more formal ways of learning and developing competencies.
5.2. 4Cs Evaluation Framework for Games
Compared to schools and educational institutions, the focus of IICD’s evaluation framework for games (see International Institute for Competency Development 2021 ) is more narrow. Thus, it is fundamentally different from the institutional grid: games, complex and deep as they can sometimes be, cannot directly be compared to the complexity of a school curriculum and all the programs it contains. The evaluation of a game’s effectiveness for training/improving a given C rests on the following principle: if a game presents affordances conducive to exercising a given skill, engaged playing of that game should help improve that skill.
The game’s evaluation grid is scored based on two criteria. For example, as a part of a game’s rating as a tool for the development of creativity, we determine the game must first meet two conditions. First, whether or not the game allows the opportunity for creativity to manifest itself: if creativity cannot occur in the game, it is obviously not eligible to receive ratings for that C. Second, whether or not creativity is needed in order to perform well in the game: if the players can win or achieve success in the game without needing creativity, this also means it cannot receive a rating for that C. If both conditions are met, however, the game will be considered potentially effective to improve creativity through the practice of certain components of creative behavior. This basic principle applies for all four of the Cs.
As outlined in Table 3 , below, the evaluation grid for each of the four Cs is composed of five components relevant to games that are different for each of the Cs. The grid works as follows: for each of the five components of each C, we evaluate the game on a list of sub-components using two yes/no scales: one for whether it is “possible” for that subcomponent to manifest and one for whether that sub-component is “required for success” in the game. This evaluation is done for all sub-components. After this, each general component is rated on the same two indicators. If 60% (i.e., three out of five) or more sub-components are positively rated as required, the general component is considered required. Then, the game is evaluated on its effectiveness for training and improving each of the 4Cs. If 60% or more components are positively rated as required, the game will be labelized as having the potential to be effective for training and improving the corresponding C.
Five different components evaluated for each C by the 4Cs assessment framework for games.
Originality
Divergent Thinking
Convergent Thinking
Mental Flexibility
Creative Dispositions
Goal-adequate judgment/ discernment
Objective thinking
Metacognition
Elaborate eeasoning
Uncertainty management
Collaboration fluency
Well-argued deliberation and consensus-based decision
Balance of contribution
Organization and coordination
Cognitive syncing, input, and support
Social Interactions
Social cognition
Mastery of written and spoken language
Verbal communication
Non-verbal communication
The evaluation grid for creativity is based on the multivariate model of creative potential (see Section 2.1.1 and Lubart et al. 2013 for more information) and is composed of four cognitive factors and one conative factor: originality , divergent thinking , convergent thinking , mental flexibility , and creative dispositions . Originality refers to the generation of ideas that are novel or unexpected, depending on the context. Divergent thinking corresponds to the generation of multiple ideas or solutions. Convergent thinking refers to the combination of multiple ideas and the selection of the most creative idea. Mental flexibility entails changing perspectives on a given problem and breaking away from initial ideas. Finally, creative dispositions concerns multiple personality-related factors conducive to creativity, such as openness to experience or risk taking.
The evaluation grid for critical thinking echoes Halpern’s ( 1998 ) as well as Marin and Halpern’s ( 2011 ) considerations for teaching this skill, that is, taking into consideration thinking skills, metacognition, and dispositions. The five components of the critical thinking grid are: goal-adequate discernment, objective thinking, metacognition, elaborate reasoning, and uncertainty management. Goal-adequate discernment entails the formulation of inferences and the discernment of contradictions when faced with a problem. Objective thinking corresponds to the suspension of one’s own judgment and the analysis of affirmations and sources in the most objective manner possible. Metacognition, here, is about questioning and reassessing information, as well as the awareness of one’s own cognitive biases. Elaborate reasoning entails reasoning in a way that is cautious, thorough, and serious. Finally, uncertainty management refers to the dispositional propensity to tolerate ambiguity and accept doubt.
The evaluation grid for collaboration is based on the quality of collaboration (QC) method ( Burkhardt et al. 2009 ; see Section 2.4.2 for more details) and is composed of the following five components: collaboration fluidity, well-argued deliberation and consensus-based decision, balance of contribution, organization and coordination, and cognitive syncing, input, and support. Collaboration fluidity entails the absence of speech overlap and the presence of a good flow in terms of turns to speak. Well-argued deliberation and consensus-based decision is about contributing to the discussion and task at hand, as well as participating in discussions and arguments, in order to obtain a consensus. Balance of contribution refers to having equal or equivalent contributions to organization, coordination, and decision making. Organization and coordination refers to effective management of roles, time, and “deadlines”, as well as the attribution of roles depending on participants’ skills. Finally, cognitive syncing, input, and support is about bringing ideas and resources to the group, as well as supporting and reinforcing other members of the group.
The five components used to evaluate communication in games include both linguistic, pragmatic, and social aspects. Linguistic skills per se are captured by the mastery of written and spoken language component. This component assesses language comprehension and the appropriate use of vocabulary. Pragmatic skills are captured by the verbal and non-verbal communication components and refer to the efficient use of verbal and body signals in the context of the game to achieve one’s communicative goals ( Grassmann 2014 ; Matthews 2014 ). Finally, the grid also evaluates social skills with its two last components, social interactions and social cognition, which, respectively, refer to the ability to interact with others appropriately—including by complying with the rules of the game—and to the understanding of other people’ mental states ( Tomasello 2005 ).
6. Discussion and Conclusions
Each of the 4Cs is a broad, multi-faceted concept that is the subject of a tremendous amount of research and discussion by a wide range of stakeholders in different disciplines, professions, and parts of the educational establishment. The development of evaluation frameworks to allow support for the 4Cs to be assessed and publicly recognized, using a label, is an important step for promoting and fostering these skills in educational contexts. As illustrated by IICD’s 4Cs Framework for educational institutions and programs, as well as its games/activities evaluation grid, the specific criteria to detect support for each C can vary depending upon the educational context (e.g., formal and institutional level or informal and at the activity level). Yet considering the 4Cs together highlights some additional observations, current challenges, and opportunities for the future that are worthy of discussion.
6.1. Interrelationships between the 4Cs and a New Model for Use in Pedagogy and Policy Promotion
One very important issue for understanding the 4Cs and their educational implementation that can be simultaneously a help and a hindrance for teaching them—and also a challenge when assessing them—is their multidimensionality and interrelatedness. In other words, the 4Cs are not entirely separate entities but instead, as Figure 2 shows, should be seen as four interlinked basic “elements” for future-oriented education that can help individuals in their learning process and, together, synergistically “bootstrap” the development of their cognitive potentials. Lamri and Lubart ( 2021 ), for example, found a certain base level of creativity was a necessary but not sufficient condition for success in managerial tasks, but that high-level performance required a combination of all four Cs. Some thinkers have argued that one cannot be creative without critical thinking, which also requires creativity, for example, to come up with alternative arguments (see Paul and Elder 2006 ). Similarly, among many other interrelationships, there is no collaboration without communication—and even ostensibly individual creativity is a “collaboration” of sorts with the general culture and precursors in a given field. As a result, it ranges from impossible to suboptimal to teach (or teach towards) one of the 4Cs without involving one or more of the others, and this commingling also underscores the genuine need and appropriateness of assessing them together.
From this perspective, Thornhill-Miller ( 2021 ) proposed a “dynamic interactionist model of the 4Cs” and their interrelated contributions to the future of education and work. Presented in Figure 2 , this model is meant to serve as a visual and conceptual aid for understanding the 4Cs and their interrelationships, thereby also promoting better use and understanding of them in pedagogical and policy settings. In addition to suggesting the portmanteau of “crea-critical thinking” as a new term to describe the overlap of much of the creative and critical thinking processes, the title of this model, “Crea-Critical-Collab-ication”, is a verbal representation of the fluid four-way interrelationship between the 4Cs visually represented in Figure 2 (a title meant to playfully repackage the 4Cs for important pedagogical and policy uses). This model goes further to suggest some dimensional differences in emphases that, roughly speaking, also often exist among the 4Cs: that is to say, the frequently greater emphasis on cognitive or individual elements at play in creativity and critical thinking in comparison to the social and interpersonal aspects more central to communication and collaboration ( Thornhill-Miller 2021 ).
Similarly focused on the need to promote a phase change towards future-oriented education, Lucas ( 2019 ) and colleagues have suggested conflating creative thinking and critical thinking in order to propose “3Cs” (creative thinking, communication, and collaboration) as new “foundational literacies” to symmetrically add to the 3Rs (Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic) of previous educational eras. Although we applaud these efforts, from our applied research perspective, we believe that the individual importance of, and distinct differences between, creative thinking and critical thinking support preserving them both as separate constructs in order to encourage the greatest development of each of them. Moreover, if only three categories were somehow required or preferable, one could argue that uniting communication and collaboration (as “collab-ication” suggests) might be preferable—particularly also given the fact that substantial aspects of communication are already covered within the 3Rs. In any case, we look forward to more such innovations and collaborations in this vibrant and important area of work at the crossroads between research, pedagogy, and policy development.
6.2. Limitations and Future Work
The rich literature in each of the 4Cs domains shows the positive effects of integrating these dimensions into educational and professional curricula. At the same time, the complexity of their definitions makes them difficult to assess, both in terms of reliability (assessment must not vary from one measurement to another) and of validity (tests must measure that which they are intended to measure). However, applied research in this area is becoming increasingly rigorous, with a growing capacity to provide the necessary tools for evidence-based practice. The development of these practices should involve interdisciplinary teams of teachers and other educational practitioners who are equipped and trained accordingly. Similarly, on the research side, further exploration and clarification of subcomponents of the 4Cs and other related skills will be important. Recent efforts to clarify the conceptual overlap and hierarchical relations of soft skills for the future of education and work, for example, have been helpful and promising (e.g., Joie-La Marle et al. 2022 ; Lamri et al. 2022 ). But the most definitive sort of taxonomy and measurement model that we are currently lacking might only be established based on the large-scale administration of a comprehensive battery of skill-measuring psychometric tests on appropriate cross sections of society.
The rapid development and integration of new technologies will also aid and change the contexts, resources, and implementation of the 4Cs. For example, the recent developments make it clear that the 4Cs will be enhanced and changed by interaction with artificially intelligence, even as 4Cs-related skills will probably, for the same reason, increasingly constitute the core of available human work in the future (see, e.g., Ross 2018 ). Similarly, research on virtual reality and creativity suggest that VR environments assist and expand individual and collaborative creativity ( Bourgeois-Bougrine et al. 2022 ). Because VR technologies offer the possibility of enhanced and materially enriched communication, collaboration, and information availability, they not only allow for the enhancement of creativity techniques but also for similar expansions and improvements on almost all forms of human activity (see Thornhill-Miller and Dupont 2016 )—including the other three Cs.
6.3. Conclusion: Labelization of the 4Cs and the Future of Education and Work
Traditional educational approaches cannot meet the educational needs of our emergent societies if they do not teach, promote, and assess in line with the new learner characteristics and contexts of the 21st century ( Sahin 2009 ). The sort of future-oriented change and development required by this shift in institutional practices, programming, and structure will likely meet with significant resistance from comfortably entrenched (and often outdated) segments of traditional educational and training establishments. Additional external evaluation and monitoring is rarely welcome by workers in any context. We believe, however, that top-down processes from the innovative and competition-conscious administrative levels will be met by bottom-up demands from students and education consumers to support these institutional changes. And we contend that efforts such as labelizing 4C processes will serve to push educators and institutions towards more relevant offerings, oriented towards the future of work and helping build a more successful future for all.
In the end, the 4Cs framework seems to be a manageable, focused model for modernizing education, and one worthy of its growing prevalence in the educational and research marketplace for a number of reasons. These reasons include the complexity and cumbersome nature of larger alternative systems and the 4Cs’ persuasive presence at the core of a number of early and industry-driven frameworks. In addition, the 4Cs have benefitted from their subsequent promotion by organizations such as the OECD and the World Economic Forum, as well as some more direct support from recent empirical research. The promotion, teaching, and assessment of the 4Cs will require a complex social intervention and mobilization of educational resources—a major shift in pedagogy and institutional structures. Yet the same evolving digital technologies that have largely caused the need for these massive, rapid changes can also assist in the implementation of solutions ( van Laar et al. 2017 ). To the extent that future research also converges on such a model (that has already been found pedagogically useful and policy-friendly by so many individuals and organizations), the 4Cs framework has the potential to become a manageable core for 21st century skills and the future of education and work—one that stakeholders with various agendas can already begin building on for a better educational and economic future together.
Funding Statement
This research received no external funding.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, B.T.-M. and T.L.; writing—original draft preparation, B.T.-M., A.C., M.M., J.-M.B., T.M., S.B.-B., S.E.H., F.V., M.A.-L., C.F., D.S., F.M.; writing—review and editing, B.T.-M., A.C., T.L., J.-M.B., C.F.; visualization, B.T.-M.; supervision, B.T.-M., T.L.; project administration, B.T.-M., T.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.
B.T.-M. and T.L. are unpaid academic co-founder and project collaborator for the International Institute for Competency Development, whose labelization frameworks (developed in cooperation with Afnor International and the LaPEA lab of Université Paris Cité and Université Gustave Eiffel) are used as examples in this review. S.E.H. and M.A.-L. are employees of AFNOR International. No funding was received to support this research or article, which reflects the views of the scientists and researchers and not their organizations or companies.
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Creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration: assessment, certification, and promotion of 21st century skills for the future of work and education.
1. Introduction
“21st century skills”, “soft skills”, and the “4cs”, 2. the 4cs, assessment, and support for development, 2.1. creativity, 2.1.1. individual assessment of creativity, 2.1.2. institutional and environmental support for development of creativity, 2.2. critical thinking, 2.2.1. individual assessment of critical thinking, 2.2.2. institutional and environmental support for development of critical thinking skills, 2.3. communication, 2.3.1. individual assessment of communication, 2.3.2. institutional and environmental support for development of communication skills, 2.4. collaboration, 2.4.1. individual assessment of collaboration, 2.4.2. institutional and environmental support for development of collaboration and collaborative skills, 3. labelization: valorization of the 4cs and assessing support for their development, 3.1. labeling as a means of trust and differentiation, 3.2. influence on choice and adoption of goods and services, 3.3. process of labelizing products and services, 3.4. labelization of 21st century skills, 4. the international institute for competency development’s 21st century competencies 4cs assessment framework for institutions and programs, 4.1. evaluation grid for creativity, 4.2. evaluation grid for critical thinking, 4.3. evaluation grid for collaboration, 4.4. evaluation grid for communication, 5. assessing the 4cs in informal educational contexts: the example of games, 5.1. the 4cs in informal educational contexts, 5.2. 4cs evaluation framework for games, 6. discussion and conclusions, 6.1. interrelationships between the 4cs and a new model for use in pedagogy and policy promotion, 6.2. limitations and future work, 6.3. conclusion: labelization of the 4cs and the future of education and work, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.
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Click here to enlarge figure
Creative Process
Creative Environment
Creative Product
Critical thinking about the world
Critical thinking about oneself
Critical action and decision making
Engagement and participation
Perspective taking and openness
Social regulation
Message formulation
Message delivery
Message and communication feedback
Aspects of the overall educational program teaching, emphasizing, and promoting the 4Cs
Availability and access to different means, materials, space, and expertise, digital technologies, mnemonic and heuristic methods, etc. to assist in the proper use and exercise of the 4Cs
Actual student and program use of available resources promoting the 4Cs
Critical reflection and metacognition on the process being engaged in around the 4Cs
The formal and informal training, skills, and abilities of teachers/trainers and staff and their program of development as promoters of the 4Cs
Use and integration of the full range of resources external to the institution available to enhance the 4Cs
Availability of resources for students to create and actualize products, programs, events, etc. that require the exercise, promotion, or manifestation of the 4Cs
Originality
Divergent Thinking
Convergent Thinking
Mental Flexibility
Creative Dispositions
Goal-adequate judgment/ discernment
Objective thinking
Metacognition
Elaborate eeasoning
Uncertainty management
Collaboration fluency
Well-argued deliberation and consensus-based decision
Balance of contribution
Organization and coordination
Cognitive syncing, input, and support
Social Interactions
Social cognition
Mastery of written and spoken language
Verbal communication
Non-verbal communication
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Share and Cite
Thornhill-Miller, B.; Camarda, A.; Mercier, M.; Burkhardt, J.-M.; Morisseau, T.; Bourgeois-Bougrine, S.; Vinchon, F.; El Hayek, S.; Augereau-Landais, M.; Mourey, F.; et al. Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration: Assessment, Certification, and Promotion of 21st Century Skills for the Future of Work and Education. J. Intell. 2023 , 11 , 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11030054
Thornhill-Miller B, Camarda A, Mercier M, Burkhardt J-M, Morisseau T, Bourgeois-Bougrine S, Vinchon F, El Hayek S, Augereau-Landais M, Mourey F, et al. Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration: Assessment, Certification, and Promotion of 21st Century Skills for the Future of Work and Education. Journal of Intelligence . 2023; 11(3):54. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11030054
Thornhill-Miller, Branden, Anaëlle Camarda, Maxence Mercier, Jean-Marie Burkhardt, Tiffany Morisseau, Samira Bourgeois-Bougrine, Florent Vinchon, Stephanie El Hayek, Myriam Augereau-Landais, Florence Mourey, and et al. 2023. "Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration: Assessment, Certification, and Promotion of 21st Century Skills for the Future of Work and Education" Journal of Intelligence 11, no. 3: 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11030054
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Critical Thinking for Team Collaboration: A Guide to Effective Problem-Solving
Critical thinking is an essential skill that enhances a team’s ability to collaborate efficiently and effectively. By honing their critical thinking skills, team members can analyze information, solve problems, and make well-informed decisions. In the context of teamwork, critical thinking also plays a crucial role in improving communication, generating creativity, and fostering a shared understanding among members.
Furthermore, critical thinking in a team setting goes beyond addressing complex problems. Incorporating these skills in everyday communication and decision-making processes can yield significant benefits for professional development and remote work environments. Encouraging a culture that values critical thinking will not only promote enhanced collaboration but also prepare individuals for future challenges and opportunities within their respective fields.
Key Takeaways
Understanding critical thinking.
Critical thinking is a vital skill for effective team collaboration. It involves the ability to analyze information, question assumptions and biases, and reflect on one’s beliefs in order to make informed decisions and foster innovation. This skill set can greatly enhance a team’s ability to solve problems and reach their goals.
One important aspect of critical thinking is recognizing and challenging one’s own biases and assumptions. All individuals possess a unique set of beliefs that can potentially cloud their judgment and decision-making. Within a team, acknowledging and addressing these biases can lead to more effective collaboration, as team members learn to consider diverse perspectives and views.
Another key component of critical thinking is the ability to analyze information. Conducting a thorough analysis of information enables teams to evaluate the relevance, validity, and reliability of facts. This helps the team make informed conclusions, ensuring that decisions are based on accurate and trustworthy data.
In addition, critical thinkers excel at drawing inferences from available data. Making accurate inferences is an essential skill for problem-solving and decision-making, as it allows team members to make connections between seemingly unrelated information in order to generate new ideas or solutions.
The Role of Critical Thinking in Team Collaboration
In a collaborative environment, teamwork and cooperation are key factors that contribute to the overall success of the team. Team members should be able to think critically to evaluate different options, prioritize tasks, and allocate resources efficiently. This way, they can optimize their efforts and time to achieve the set goals in a timely manner.
In conclusion, the integration of critical thinking in team collaboration not only enhances productivity but also promotes innovation, effective decision-making, and open communication. By developing these essential skills, teams can work together more cohesively, ultimately achieving their desired goals.
Communication and Critical Thinking
Information and communication technologies, such as collaborative tools and digital platforms, play a significant role in facilitating communication and critical thinking in team settings. They help streamline processes, enable the sharing of resources, and support remote team members in staying connected. Utilizing such technologies can lead to more efficient decision-making and problem-solving, ultimately enhancing overall team performance.
In summary, nurturing both communication and critical thinking skills within a team leads to more effective collaboration and increased productivity. By incorporating open dialogue, constructive feedback, and the use of information and communication technologies, team members can create a supportive environment that fosters growth and promotes success.
Generating Creativity in Team Collaboration
During brainstorming sessions, it’s important for participants to keep an open mind and be willing to explore different paths before settling on a specific strategy. This process of exploration allows for the emergence of unique and unconventional ideas, which are key ingredients of creativity. Encouraging team members to think divergently and approach problems from various angles can lead to more effective and innovative solutions.
While exploring different ideas, it’s also crucial to ensure that team members maintain a neutral and objective mindset. This helps in critically evaluating each idea and selecting the most viable option, while keeping biases and personal preferences at bay.
Tools and Resources for Critical Thinking
Technology plays a significant role in enhancing critical thinking within a team. Online platforms such as LinkedIn offer various resources on how to encourage critical thinking, though the use of peer reviews, surveys, polls, brainstorming sessions, debriefs, and retrospectives. These tools enable team members to exchange ideas, evaluate different approaches, and draw conclusions based on the collective wisdom of the group.
Organizational infrastructure also plays a crucial role in fostering critical thinking. Creating a culture of open communication and collaboration is essential in enabling team members to engage in constructive debate, express their thoughts, and evaluate different perspectives. Establishing channels for feedback, such as regular team meetings and one-on-one sessions, can help reinforce critical thinking behaviors.
In conclusion, leveraging technology, education, knowledge management systems, and the right organizational infrastructure can significantly impact a team’s ability to think critically and collaborate effectively. By providing the necessary tools and resources, organizations can foster a culture that values critical thinking and ultimately improve team performance.
Experience and Perspective in Critical Thinking
In a collaborative setting, considering multiple perspectives allows the team to weigh different options and contemplate a range of possible outcomes. Each team member’s unique background and personal experiences can provide new insights that might not have been considered otherwise. As individuals synthesize information and share their opinions, they effectively expand the entire team’s collective knowledge base.
Collaborative critical thinking thus greatly benefits from the richness of team member experiences and the varied opinions they bring to the table. By thoroughly examining these perspectives and objectively synthesizing the information, teams can ensure that their decisions are both robust and well-considered.
Decision Making and Problem Solving Through Critical Thinking
One essential aspect of critical thinking in decision-making is the evaluation of pros and cons. By thoroughly examining the strengths and weaknesses of different alternatives, teams can make informed decisions aligned with their objectives. They can also anticipate and mitigate potential negative consequences, thereby supporting a stronger and more effective collaboration.
These techniques enable teams to gather diverse perspectives, analyze information, and decide on the most appropriate course of action.
Critical Thinking in Remote Work
A crucial aspect of fostering critical thinking in remote teams is ensuring that team members have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. With increased autonomy, remote workers must be able to analyze tasks, identify potential challenges, and make informed decisions. Open communication channels, regular check-ins, and performance evaluations can support this process.
By focusing on these aspects of remote work, employers can create an environment where critical thinking flourishes. Teams with strong critical thinking abilities tend to produce better quality work, make more informed decisions, and collaborate more effectively, ultimately benefiting both the individual team members and the organization as a whole.
Benefits of Critical Thinking for Professional Development
In terms of productivity, incorporating critical thinking in team collaboration leads to streamlined operations and reduces time spent on unnecessary tasks. Collaborative learning and critical thinking go hand in hand, fostering an environment where team members effectively communicate, share ideas, and work together to solve problems. This increased efficiency leads to higher overall productivity.
Finally, critical thinking enhances individual accountability by encouraging a thoughtful, reflective approach to work. This mindset promotes taking responsibility for one’s actions and decisions, and understanding the impact on the team and organization as a whole. Engaging in critical thinking practices keeps professionals grounded and focused on their actions’ consequences.
Frequently Asked Questions
What skills are essential for collaborative critical thinking, how can critical thinking be applied in a team setting.
Applying critical thinking in a team setting involves asking the right questions, challenging assumptions, evaluating evidence, and fostering a culture of open-mindedness. Teams must encourage members to think critically by creating an environment that promotes the sharing of diverse perspectives, fosters openness and curiosity, and emphasizes clear and concise reasoning.
How does collaboration promote critical thinking?
Why is critical thinking important for teamwork, what are some effective critical thinking training activities for teams.
Effective critical thinking training activities for teams may include workshops on problem-solving and decision-making strategies, group brainstorming sessions, role playing exercises, and team building activities that promote problem-solving and decision-making skills . These activities encourage team members to think critically, collaborate, and learn from one another in a supportive environment.
Can you recommend any books or resources on critical thinking for team collaboration?
You may also like, 8 real-world applications of critical thinking in everyday decision making, effective argumentation techniques: mastering persuasive communication, best careers for problem solving: top opportunities for critical thinkers, the relationship between empathy and critical thinking: a balanced approach, download this free ebook.
Collaboration
Communication, critical thinking.
Increasingly it is recognized that American education should focus on those skills required to be successful in the 21st century. Most important of all will be the ability to deal with change, learn new things, and preserve one’s mental balance in unfamiliar situations.(see Yuval Noah Harari, “21 Lessons for the 21st Century,” p. 266).
Experts in the field of education and the sciences suggest the focus of education should be on the “four Cs”: collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. Clearly we recognize that when students are taught to “ collaborate “, they learn to work within teams that enhance knowledge utilization and dissemination. The intellect of the team far outstrips the intellect of the individual. Learning to “ communicate ” through writing, speaking, the arts, text and computers will lead to broader abilities to engage with local, national and international communities. “ Critical thinking ” is one of the most important skills students can learn. It involves analysis and evaluation of facts, data, evidence, arguments and observation to form and inform judgments. “ Creativity ” is the synthesis of ideas and thought that enables the act of turning new and imaginative concepts into reality. It is characterized by finding new ways to find hidden patterns, to make connections, to form new products, expressions and to solve problems. It is considered to be the highest level on Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy used to classify educational learning.
DOI: 10.59324/ejtas.2023.1(5).34
Corpus ID: 263640093
Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity and Communication Skills among School Students: A Review Paper
Mohammad Ismail Stanikzai
Published in European Journal of… 1 September 2023
European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences
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Aligning maritime education: enhancing industry relevance through lecturer internship programs, effectiveness of contextual teaching and learning (ctl) through differentiated instruction on students’ critical thinking skills in economics, 76 references, transforming traditional teaching practices with 21st century skills in k-12 classrooms, the complexities in fostering critical thinking through school-based curriculum innovation: research evidence from singapore, integrating the 4 cs in the learning of science and mathematics, student negotiated learning, student agency and general capabilities in the 21st century: the delorean project, project-based learning for the 21st century: skills for the future, effecting change on students’ critical thinking in problem solving, innovative pedagogies in higher education to become effective teachers of 21st century skills: unpacking the learning and innovations skills domain of the new learning paradigm, collaborative learning: increasing students' engagement outside the classroom, a study of student technological creativity using online problem-solving activities, how do students value the importance of twenty-first century skills, related papers.
The term “collaborative learning” refers to an instruction method in which students at various performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal. Collaborative learning is a relationship among learners that fosters positive interdependence, individual accountability, and interpersonal skills. “Critical thinking” involves asking appropriate questions, gathering and creatively sorting through relevant information, relating new information to existing knowledge, reexamining beliefs, reasoning logically, and drawing reliable and trustworthy conclusions.
Theoretical Background
The advent of revolutionary information and communication technologies has effected changes in the organizational infrastructure and altered the characteristics of the workplace putting an increased emphasis on teamwork and processes that require individuals to pool their resources and integrate specializations. The...
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American Philosophical Association. (1990). Critical thinking: A statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. ERIC document ED (pp. 315–423).
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Gokhale, A.A. (2012). Collaborative Learning and Critical Thinking. In: Seel, N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_910
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Communication Skills | 21st Century Skills
What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?
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March 26th, 2024 | 9 min. read
Brad Hummel
Coming from a family of educators, Brad knows both the joys and challenges of teaching well. Through his own teaching background, he’s experienced both firsthand. As a writer for iCEV, Brad’s goal is to help teachers empower their students by listening to educators’ concerns and creating content that answers their most pressing questions about career and technical education.
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As a middle or high school career readiness teacher, you likely need to teach 21st century skills as part of your curriculum.
While all twelve of those skills are necessary to teach, the "four C's" are often considered to be the most important.
The four C’s of 21st Century skills are:
Critical thinking
Collaboration
Communication
These four skills are essential for modern students to succeed in school and the workplace.
They often make the biggest impact in terms of setting your students apart when applying for positions and starting their careers.
In this article, you'll discover what each skill entails and why they are so important to teach.
You'll also be able to download a free guide on how you can teach the 4 C's of 21st Century skills in middle or high school courses.
1. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the practice of solving problems, among other qualities.
In addition to working through problems , solving puzzles, and similar activities, critical thinking also includes an element of skepticism.
This is important in the 21st Century because it’s harder than ever to verify accurate information (mostly thanks to the internet).
Critical thinking empowers students to discover the truth in assertions, especially when it comes to separating fact from opinion.
With critical thinking, students don’t just learn a set of facts or figures. Instead, they learn how to discover the facts and figures for themselves.
Through asking questions, learners become engaged in the world around them. Then they can help spread their knowledge to their peers, helping others to think critically, too. Students sharing the knowledge they've mastered with others might be the most important aspect of developing critical thinking skills.
Whether they learn how to think critically from spending time online or simply asking “Why?” in everyday life, this skill prepares students for a life of independence and purposeful thought.
Still, critical thinking is just one of the four C’s in 21st Century skills.
It works just fine when students use it alone. But when students combine it with the next skill, the sky is the limit to what they can achieve.
2. Creativity
Creativity is the practice of thinking outside the box.
While creativity is often treated like a you-have-it-or-you-don’t quality, students can learn how to be creative by solving problems, creating systems, or just trying something they haven’t tried before.
That doesn’t mean every student will become an artist or a writer. Instead, it means they’ll be able to look at a problem from multiple perspectives — including those that others may not see.
Creativity allows students to embrace their inner strengths from big-picture planning to meticulous organization . As students learn about their creativity, they also learn how to express it in healthy and productive ways.
More importantly, they also become motivated to share that creativity with others. Just like with critical thinking, that makes creativity contagious.
When a student creates an interesting or innovative solution to a problem , the next student can become inspired to try something similar.
That’s not to say every single creative endeavor will be a ringing success. Students will fail at some point, and some of their ideas simply won’t work. But that’s okay.
The point of creativity is to encourage students to think differently than convention demands. They don’t have to do things the way they’ve always been done. Instead, they can figure out a better way.
Students don’t have to embrace their creativity alone, either. In fact, creativity works best when combined with the next 21st Century skill .
3. Collaboration
Collaboration is the practice of working together to achieve a common goal.
Collaboration is important because whether students realize it or not, they’ll probably work with other people for the rest of their lives.
Virtually every job requires someone to work with another person at some point, even if it’s for something as simple as what to get for lunch.
Practicing collaboration and teamwork helps students understand how to address a problem, pitch solutions, and decide the best course of action.
It’s also helpful for them to learn that other people don’t always have the same ideas that they do. In fact, as students practice collaboration more and more, they’ll learn that they have almost none of the same ideas that others do.
This can affect students in one of two ways. First, it could discourage them since nobody seems to agree with them that often. Second, it could embolden them because they realize they’re bringing something unique to every conversation.
As a teacher, it’s crucial that you encourage students to look at themselves through that second lens. That way, students learn that they should speak up when they have an idea.
Even when their ideas aren't the best suited to the problem, speaking up and sharing their solutions can help them when collaborating with others.
4. Communication
Communication is the practice of conveying ideas quickly and clearly.
Communication is often taken for granted in today’s society. After all, if you say something, that means you conveyed an idea, right?
But in the age of text-based communications — including texting, emails, and social media — it’s never been more important for students to learn how to convey their thoughts in a way that others can understand them.
That’s because text-based communications lack tone , which is critical to understanding the context of someone’s words.
Still, even in situations where vocal tone is available, students need to learn how to communicate effectively. That includes minimizing tangents, speaking directly to an idea, and checking other participants to make sure they’re engaged.
Reading an audience — even if it’s just two other people in a group discussion — lets students determine whether they should keep expanding on an idea or wrap up their point. Their audience could even be their family at Thanksgiving dinner.
The point is that as students practice communication, they become better at efficiently conveying an idea without losing their point—or their audience.
When they master the art of effective communication, students can streamline their ideas and make a positive impression on those around them.
Still, it’s important to note that communication isn’t enough on its own to help students with 21st Century skills. To really succeed, students need to use all four of these skills together.
How Do the Four C’s Work Together?
The four C’s of 21st Century skills work together as a system to help students comprehensively understand subjects and navigate living and working in the 21st century.
Because each of the four C's are general skills that help students throughout their personal and professional lives, they are essential qualities that people need to succeed in a wide range of situations.
Each of the four C's cover interrelated concepts paramount to being an educated person:
Critical thinking teaches students to question claims and seek truth.
Creativity teaches students to think in a way that’s unique to them.
Collaboration teaches students that groups can create something bigger and better than you can on your own.
Communication teaches students how to efficiently convey ideas.
Combined, the four C’s empower students to be discerning people capable of expressing themselves and working with others to find insightful solutions to everyday challenges.
When working together, learners who have mastered the four C's of 21st century skills have ability to make a profound impact on both their professional workplaces and their communities.
How Do You Teach the Four C's of 21st Century Skills?
Now you know what the four C's of 21st Century skills are and why employers want new hires to have them.
So now you're probably wondering how to teach 21st Century skills in your daily middle and high school classes.
Click below to get your free guide on teaching critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication!
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How to implement the 4Cs in education to teach 21st-century skills
What are the 4cs in education.
The 4Cs in education are collaboration, communication, creation, and critical thinking, which represent the knowledge, skills, and expertise students need today to prepare for tomorrow’s workforce. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21) claims that with the influx of technology and trends in our global economy, students need more interpersonal and intrapersonal skills to achieve professional and personal success. In its Frameworks for 21st Century Learning, P21 describes how the 4Cs of 21st-century skills are foundational for learning and innovation and are skills that everyone needs to practice and hone throughout schooling. These skills are not independent — they are entwined with one another when promoting progress in the classroom.
What is the importance of 4Cs in education?
The 4Cs approach to teaching and learning focuses on whole child education and makes it easier for a school to establish a positive school culture and build a common community among its stakeholders: students, families, and teachers. Most educators will not be surprised by this perspective, as whole child education has been a constant thread in schools for decades. In whole child education , teachers seek to support not just the academic but also the emotional and social skills of individual children. Since the days of Dewey, educators have sought to support children’s overall well-being while inciting their curiosity to become lifelong learners. In addition to a mastery of key subjects, P21 wove in interdisciplinary themes such as global awareness and civic literacy as part of their framework. However, it was their learning and innovation skills that took hold. Many educators now lean on this idea of the 4Cs in constructing their curriculum and daily activities. The importance of 4Cs in education has even led many to personalize the 4Cs by adding a fifth, sixth, or seventh C—whether that C stands for Community, Citizenship, or Character.
Teaching the 4Cs with technology tools: Nearpod
When it comes to technology, nowadays, students can find an answer with a click of a button. The clout of memorization has lost its hold, as students are now challenged to apply their newfound knowledge and expand upon it—not just recite it. Educational trends have shifted, especially with the influx of digital technologies, and classrooms must step up to prepare students to be effective and engaging contributors. Start teaching the 4Cs with technology using Nearpod . Platforms like Nearpod support educators in providing rich content while also challenging students to analyze, apply, evaluate, and create through active learning strategies and formative assessment, all to drive student engagement. Nearpod encourages students and teachers alike to take a personalized approach to education by leveraging the 4Cs in education through working with the whole class, small groups, and individuals. Students are more actively engaged in learning when presented with media-rich content and interactive functionality. Plus, educators receive real-time assessment data from their classrooms, enabling them to pivot and be more responsive in their teaching methods.
New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons.
Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Curriculum Program
Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program includes over 400 SEL lessons, activities, and videos built on CASEL’s five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
Provide educators with an easy way to integrate SEL practices like positive interactions, gratitude, and reflective moments into daily learning to help create safe, inclusive, and effective classroom environments. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to explore Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.
1. Collaboration
From the early days of kindergarten, kids learn the importance of cooperation, which is fundamental to the notion of collaboration, which is when two or more people work together towards a common goal. Good collaboration takes trust and respect to work together, be heard, and make decisions. Traditionally, educators promote collaboration with active learning strategies such as think-pair-share or jigsaw. They build small group work into lesson activities so that students learn and practice such participation and team-building skills.
Nearpod’s Collaborate Board makes it easy for students to share their thinking, comment on their posts, and build upon each other’s ideas in real time. Whether in person or working remotely, students can connect with one another via the interactive board, and teachers can monitor and review all perspectives. Nearpod provides a safe space for such collaboration to occur, and educators can foster such an exchange of ideas in a productive manner.
See Collaborate Board in action through these science lessons about infectious diseases . Use this lesson in high school classrooms to deconstruct sophisticated ideas about transmission and outbreaks of communicable diseases to share in their own words via a Collaborate Board.
Here are some tips from this blog post sharing ways to create collaborative learning experiences in the classroom:
Make collaborative classroom discussions part of every lesson
Keep feedback at the center of classroom discussions
Make collaborative learning visible
Collaborate and contribute in multiple formats
Build community and social emotional skills
2. Communication
Part and parcel of collaboration are strong communication skills. Today’s communication skills are more nuanced depending on whether communication is happening in person, in writing, or virtually online. There has been more of a focus on the 21st-century literacy skills of speaking and listening since we have more dynamic communication channels these days. From the science of reading to digital literacy and media literacy , students are schooled in ways to be not only effective but respectful communicators. Teachers strive to promote creative expression so students can find their own voice while appreciating others’.
Nearpod promotes class discussions within the pre-made lessons to spark meaningful conversations. Polls can be used to initiate discussions. Open-ended questions invite diverse perspective taking for 4Cs education. Students can practice articulating and conveying their ideas, whether they seek to inform, instruct, motivate, or persuade others. Nearpod’s formative interactive assessments , which can be embedded into videos and slides, open up avenues of exchanges, whether in person or through written responses . Students can practice listening effectively and exercise flexibility to promote dialogue, which can occur 24/7 and not just within the hours of a school day.
3. Creativity
Creativity has finally clawed its way to the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy . The apex of higher-order thinking now culminates in creating something new via self-expression. Many teachers strive to take a cross-curricular approach to designing their learning objectives so that students can better digest and make connections with new knowledge; they can then find application in their real world and build upon their own skill sets. Improv and design thinking have long embraced the notion of “Yes, and …” to encourage risk-taking and innovation.
Regarding creativity, Nearpod celebrates all learning styles and provides various ways for students to read, watch, and interact with content. Teachers can add multimedia to their lessons, and in turn, students can use interactive tools like Collaborate Board to brainstorm ideas and respond to or build upon the lesson content. The Draw It tool provides a digital whiteboard for students to draw, type, and add images to communicate and refine their ideas and responses. For instance, when learning about Ancient Greece , students can dive into an article, watch a video, or take a Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trip related to architecture and then be challenged to map out a blueprint or to draw their own interpretation of or enhance a famous relic. Students are able to “show what they know” in original ways in real time.
“Designing a City Zoo,” a 3-lesson experience built in partnership with Freckle , teaches elementary students about whole-number quotients through problem-solving. The lessons for grade 3 invite students to ask their own questions and to answer them creatively with tools such as Drag and Drop and Draw It:
Designing a City Zoo: Part 1
Designing a City Zoo: Part 2
Designing a City Zoo: Part 3
4. Critical thinking
Lastly, but underlining all tasks, is the importance of critical thinking skills. This focus on decision making and problem solving goes beyond mere mathematics by promoting high-order thinking across key subject areas. Critical thinking requires the ability to interpret, analyze, and evaluate information (facts and otherwise!) to refute arguments, make judgments, and think through solutions. Such logic skills also include developing a true willingness to listen to and consider others’ ideas. This iterative mindset is crucial in an ever-changing world that negates one-and-done solutions. Critical thinking skills are key to the other Cs in helping students become thoughtful questioners (communication), helpful participants (collaboration), and transformational contributors (creativity).
Nearpod lessons are built with scaffolded interactive activities designed to help students build toward higher-order critical thinking. Learning objectives are designed to have students analyze, evaluate, explain, problem-solve, and more, which are all components of critical thinking. Teachers can add reflective questions into their lessons, as such systematic thinking behooves us all regarding future personal and professional challenges.
Additionally, specific Nearpod features and content types are designed to encourage critical thinking, such as PhET simulations for math and science instruction .
5. Combining all 4Cs
The 4Cs in education focus on teaching students essential 21st-century skills. The 4Cs in education—collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking—have been vital for two decades and will continue to be, as educators aim to prepare students for future success. Nearpod continues to prepare students for the 21st century by providing an all-in-one platform with interactive lessons, gamified learning, and formative assessments to challenge students’ 4Cs education. Our Corinth high school science lessons incorporate the 4Cs. In the Integumentary System lesson, students can individually explore a 3D model of this system before synthesizing complex information in order to answer a series of questions collaboratively.
Start teaching the 4Cs with Nearpod
We challenge educators daily to design learning experiences that build students into confident and curious learners (two other valuable Cs!). 21st-century learning should look and feel different than a more traditional classroom we might be familiar with and the landscape will continue to evolve so that students develop the knowledge and skills they need. Plus, Nearpod provides professional development to continue improving educators’ skills regarding the 4Cs. These real-world skills of collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creative skills are ever-important as we all seek to be lifelong learners.
New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!
Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to explore Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.
Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.
Darri Stephens
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How to Use the "4 C's" Rubrics
This excerpt appears in the Buck Institute for Education's book, "PBL for 21st Century Success: Teaching Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity." Rubrics for each of the "4 C's" are in the book, and we offer guidance below on how to use them in a PBL context. They are also available to download on BIE's website at the following links:
Upper Elementary School Presentation Rubric
Middle School Presentation Rubric
High School Presentation Rubric
What these rubrics assess
These rubrics describe what good critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity & innovation look like in the context of Project Based Learning. The rubrics do not describe these competencies as they are seen generally or in other settings. For example, the Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts call upon students to think critically when reading literature by making inferences and determining the author’s intent. But since the particular content of projects will vary, the Critical Thinking Rubric for PBL only describes aspects of critical thinking that apply to tasks found in all projects, such as evaluating the reliability of a source of information. The same is true for communication; instead of describing competency in all types of communication, such as writing or listening to a speaker, we have chosen to focus the rubric on making a presentation, a competency common to all projects.
What these rubrics do NOT assess: “content”
These rubrics are designed to assess only the 4 C’s, not subject-area knowledge in, say, math, history, or science. This content should be assessed with a separate rubric—or by adding rows to these rubrics. A “content + 4 C’s” rubric can be created by the teacher for the particular product in the project, and target particular content standards. For example, the Presentation Rubric for PBL includes criteria for how well a student organizes ideas, speaks, and uses presentation aids. However, the rubric does not mention specific terminology, concepts, or subject-area information that should be used in the presentation, as determined by the teacher. The same goes for critical thinking; the rubric does not assess subject area knowledge when teams in a biology class decide if the government should fund gene therapy research or teams in an English class investigate the relevance of Macbeth to modern society. In other words, the rubric is designed to assess critical thinking skills used in projects anchored in subject-area content, but that content should be assessed separately.
How these rubrics align with Common Core State Standards
Competency in critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity is required to meet many of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts and Literacy for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. he 4 C's are reflected in the "Mathematical Practices" section of CCSS, but not in the specific numbered standards, so they are not cited.
In these rubrics, note that:
Specific ELA standards are cited in the “At Standard” column only, but their intent is reflected in the “Approaching” and “Below” columns too.
Exact CCSS language is used when possible—which could be useful as a vocabulary-building opportunity for students— but occasionally we used more student-friendly terms.
The CCSS does not specifically address all of the 21st century competencies used in PBL, so some items appear on the rubrics without “CC” citations.
How to use these rubrics
The primary purpose of these rubrics is to help students reflect on their work and understand more clearly what they need to do to improve. Consider these tips for using the rubrics:
Teachers may use the rubric as a source of guiding ideas for creating their own rubric, or choose not to use certain rows, or adapt the language to fit the needs of their students and the design of the project.
Teachers should help students understand the rubric; give examples, explain new vocabulary words, put the language in their own words, and so on. Show models of the performance and have students practice using the rubric to assess them.
Give students the rubric near the beginning of a project. Have them assess themselves and reflect on their progress at checkpoints and at the end.
A student’s performance may be described by some items in one column and some in another.
How to find evidence of 21st century competencies
Sources of evidence for 21st century competencies may include journals or other writing in which students document their use of the competency, self- and peer-reflections, and teacher observations. Another source of evidence is the product students create and/or their explanation of how it was created. For example, when students share project work with an audience a teacher can, in addition to assessing their competency in making a presentation, ask them to explain how they used critical thinking or followed the process of innovation.
How these rubrics are organized
Two of the rubrics, Critical Thinking and the “Process” section of Creativity & Innovation, are organized by the four phases of a typical project. This is because different aspects of these competencies come into play at different times. The other two rubrics, for Collaboration and Presentation, do not follow the phases of a project. The Presentation Rubric is only used in the last phase of a project, when students share their work with a public audience. However, competency in collaboration is relevant to all phases of a project. For example, a student should complete tasks on time, build on others’ ideas, and show respect for teammates not just at the beginning of the project, but throughout it.
The columns along the top describe levels of quality:
Below Standard : What students do when they have not yet shown evidence of the competency.
Approaching Standard : What students do when they are showing some evidence of gaining the competency, but still have gaps or deficiencies.
At Standard : What students do when they show evidence of having gained the competency to an appropriate degree for their age and experience.
Above Standard : What students do when they go beyond what is expected to demonstrate competency. This column is left blank, with space for making a check mark. See the notes below on how to use this column.
How to use the “Above Standard” column
It’s hard to predict or describe what a student may do when performing “Above Standard” but it’s often the case that “you’ll know it when you see it.” For this reason, we’ve left this column blank. A teacher could wait until it happens, then describe it. For example, an advanced critical thinker might make an especially insightful analysis of a text or source of information. A student with advanced competency in collaboration might show leadership that brings out the talents and efforts of others on a team. A highly skilled presenter might use humor, emotion, stories, metaphors, or interactive features “like a pro.” A creative product might have a “wow factor” or be similar to what an adult professional might create.
A teacher could also involve students in co-constructing language for the “Above Standard” column. Have them analyze samples of work from previous projects or professional products, then describe what makes them “go beyond expectations.”
How to assign scores or grades
These rubrics do not feature a numerical scale—we leave it up to the teacher who uses them to decide how to assign scores or grades. Some dimensions may be given more or less weight. For example, on the Collaboration Rubric, “Helps the Team” might count for more than “Respects Others,” depending on a teacher’s goals.
Within each of the levels of quality described by the rubric, there could be variation, so a teacher may want to allow for a range of scores or points in each. For example, a very weak “Below Standard” performance could be scored a “1” and a “2” could indicate a somewhat weak performance. Similarly, a very advanced or “Above Standard” performance could be scored as a “6” with a “5” being “At Standard.”
Feel free to draw language from the rubrics to create your own scoring guides for use with students, teachers, adult mentors, or presentation audience members.
This short research brief summarizes evidence of the impact of Project Based Learning on student learning in core content areas. The driving question for this brief is based on the most common question that teachers, principals, school leaders, coaches, and grant writers ask us at the PBLWorks about Project Based Learning (PBL): What evidence exists that shows the impact of Project Based Learning on student learning in core content areas.
Citation: Kingston, S. (2018). Project Based Learning & Student Achievement: What Does the Research Tell Us? PBL Evidence Matters. 1(1), 1-11.
Source Organization: PBLWorks
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Lessons for 21st-Century Learners
Three ideas for fostering collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity with easy-to-use apps and tools.
Collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity are the 4 Cs of a 21st-century learner, according to the Partnership for 21st Century Learning . Given that technology use continues to expand in schools, it’s worthwhile to think of how that technology can function in assignments designed to develop the skills our students need.
Communication and Creativity: Personal Narrative Podcast
Stories are a powerful learning tool in the classroom. For an 11th-grade narrative unit, I asked students to analyze classic narrative essays such as George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” and Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” using the traditional plot diagram and paying attention to literary narrative devices. Next, they explored contemporary personal narratives from NPR’s This I Believe series and chose three essays to read based on their interests. Then I asked them to compose their own personal narratives to share an important event in their lives.
Most of my students were not familiar with podcasts, so as a class we explored a few episodes from NPR’s This American Life series—listening to them together and then discussing oral storytelling techniques. Students then individually chose several This I Believe audio clips to further their knowledge of storytelling.
After becoming familiar with the world of podcasting, students used GarageBand to create their own podcasts, integrating elements such as sound effects and music. (I’ve given the names of the tools we used in my class, but there are a lot of others you can use with these kinds of assignments.) Some students chose to work together on interview-style podcasts, while others worked individually to create dramatic renderings of their personal events.
The stories students told were highly engaging and ranged from grieving over a lost grandmother to being surrounded by lions while in a tent on a safari to competing in a swim meet event for the first time. Through creativity and communication, students were able to share a personal event that enriched their lives, and that sharing further connected them as a classroom community.
Critical Thinking and Creativity: Visual Interpretation of Poetry
Like many teachers, I’ve found over the years that students are hesitant to explore poetry. However, doing so is an excellent way to develop critical thinking skills. For a 10th-grade poetry unit, I had students read traditional poems such as Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” and Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death,” and analyze the poetic devices in them.
To add a visual element, I had students watch selected contemporary poems from the Poetry Foundation’s Poem Videos series, which we then discussed as a class. I left some time at the end of the lesson for students to explore some of the videos on their own.
They then chose a poem to use in creating a visual interpretation using iMovie or other video-making platforms of their choice. They were elated to be able to choose their poems, selecting texts that were meaningful to them. The only requirement for the video was that it should include an explicit interpretation of the theme or message of the poem.
The videos the students created were representative of their personal interpretations and varied in format from live action to photographic images to personal drawings to stop motion. Giving students agency to choose and analyze a poem resulted in engaging videos that reflected their burgeoning critical thinking and creative skills.
Collaboration: Group Research Paper
While collaborative work is a necessary skill in the 21st century, students are often hesitant to work in groups, fearful of being stuck with all of work. I addressed that fear in an 11th-grade unit on The Merchant of Venice by having students divide an assigned research question into three or four subtopics depending on the number of people in the group—each individual had his or her own responsibility as the groups explored the cultural and contextual background of the play and then wrote a collaborative research paper.
Using NoodleTools , a virtual collaboration environment, groups created a shared project accessible through their individual student accounts. They shared their projects with me, so I was able to monitor group participation and answer any questions they had right there within the project.
Each individual was responsible for creating one virtual source card and three virtual note cards on his or her subtopic. The source and note cards are individually tracked, but are compiled together by groups online, so students were able to easily share and view each other’s work in the virtual environment.
Each group then created and shared a Google Doc through NoodleTools, and students wrote individual sections on one group document. Each group wrote an introduction together and created a reference page in MLA format together. The result for each group was a single research paper with both individual and collaborative input. My students found NoodleTools incredibly easy to use, and no one reported feeling frustrated at having to submit group work that was created by only one or two individuals.
These are just some of the ways the 4 Cs can be developed through technology in the secondary classroom. The beauty of technology nowadays is that there are many variations on how it can enhance student learning and motivation.
The 4 Cs: Collaboration, Creativity, Communication and Critical Thinking
Since Empower Generations’ beginning, we have been committed to helping learners develop into well-rounded, lifelong learners empowered to lead in an ever-changing world. That’s why we focus on the four Cs of 21st-century learning:
Collaboration: Learners are able to work effectively with diverse groups and exercise flexibility in making compromises to achieve common goals.
Creativity: Learners are able to generate and improve on original ideas and also work creatively with others.
Communication: Learners are able to communicate effectively across multiple media and for various purposes.
Critical thinking: Learners are able to analyze, evaluate, and understand complex systems and apply strategies to solve problems.
These skills enhance the academic growth of Empower Generations’ learners and prepare them to succeed in life.
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Monday Message: Timely News & Information for our Families
Communication, Collaboration and Critical Thinking = Quality Outcomes
November / December 2007
By Mary Sue Dailey, RN, MSN, APRN-BC; Barbara B. Loeb, MD, MBA, CPE; and Cheryl Peterman, RN, MS, APRN-BC
Y ou are a nurse on a busy medical-surgical unit, it’s Friday night, and you have just come on duty. You check your patients and become concerned about Mr. Z, who is scheduled for orthopedic surgery tomorrow. His case just does not seem as simple as the previous nurse indicated. Her report was, “This is a 55-year-old male, weighing 285 pounds, who fell at home and heard a loud pop in his ankle. He had previous hardware in that ankle and was admitted through the emergency department. Orthopedics saw the patient and ordered a morphine pump for pain. Surgery is planned for morning. Preoperative labs and x-rays have been done and the consent is signed. The patient was on the blood thinners for a history of blood clots in his lungs that occurred after his previous ankle fracture surgery. Although his blood thinners are on hold for surgery, his blood is still mildly thinned. His other past history is significant for emphysema. He still smokes. He is on low-flow nasal oxygen.”
When you check the patient again, he is responsive, but very groggy. He has been up on the unit for about 4 hours. The morphine pump was started upon arrival. He denies pain. His heart rate and blood pressure are unremarkable. His respirations are shallow. His oxygen saturation is low at 84%, when it should be greater than 90%. Respiratory therapy comes and turns up the oxygen flow. Eventually, his oxygen saturation rises to 93%. You contact the attending physician to report the changes in the patient’s condition. The doctor is not familiar with Mr. Z. He was newly assigned to the case when the patient came to the ER. You know the preoperative chest x-ray was normal. The attending physician believes that Mr. Z just had too much narcotic and tells you to hold the morphine pump and “keep an eye on the patient.” You place a continuous oxygen monitor on Mr. Z’s finger so at least you will know if his oxygen level drops again. You feel a little uneasy but…. “At least the doctor knows.”
At 6:30 am, as you are preparing to give shift report, the patient care technician rushes out to tell you that she is having difficulty arousing Mr. Z. Entering his room, you find him with shallow respirations. You end up calling respiratory therapy and eventually anesthesia because the patient requires a respirator. He is transferred to ICU. Of course, the surgery has to be cancelled.
That scenario is not one that any healthcare team would like to encounter. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize such events. At Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, we wanted to improve outcomes on our medical and surgical care units. Simultaneously, we wanted to improve nursing satisfaction and retention. In 2004, we embarked on a redesign project for our medical/surgical nursing division with the goal of uncovering weaknesses and opportunities to improve care and satisfaction. As part of this project, we conducted a survey of key physicians and nurses to identify issues they perceived as having a major impact on care. Our survey revealed the following:
17% of physicians noted that joint rounding between the physician and nurse would improve the discharge process.
These responses indicated three areas of perceived deficiency that required attention:
Collaboration and collegiality between physician and nurses.
To improve care, intuition tells us that all three of these areas are worthy of focus. In addition, each one is substantiated by the literature and national patient safety initiatives.
Critical thinking is defined in the nursing literature as “a certain mindset or way of thinking, rather than a method or a set of steps to follow. Critical thinking is clear thinking that is active, focused, persistent, and purposeful. It is a process of choosing, weighing alternatives, and considering what to do. Critical thinking involves looking at reasons for believing one thing rather than another in an open, flexible, attentive way” (Kyzer, 1996). To have critical thinking skills is “to think (and perform) in such a way that staff will see patterns and ramifications beyond a present issue; that they can focus on the goals that they and their patients seek; and that they are able, in a creative and continuous manner, to make good decisions and follow up actively on problems” (Hansten & Washburn, 1999).
According to Hansten & Jackson (2004), use of critical-thinking skills should lead to:
Improved staff morale and less turnover in all disciplines as interdisciplinary teamwork improves and as all workers feel more empowered to effect change both within the patient care realm and with organizational systems (p.323).
Additionally, the benefits of nursing staff that “get it” and are able to utilize critical thinking skills are tremendous. When a nurse has the ability to analyze a patient’s changing condition and act appropriately, the level of care and patient outcomes improve.
Communication is believed to be the root cause of 60 to 70% of sentinel events (Joint Commission, 2002). Physicians and nurses are trained to communicate differently, which sets up the potential for miscommunication. This factor illustrates the necessity of optimizing communication among the multidisciplinary members of the healthcare team. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) identified communication as a focus to improve outcomes. The 2003 IHI initiative, “Transforming Care at the Bedside,” identified that specific communication models support consistent and clear communication among caregivers and dramatically improve care and staff satisfaction on medical/surgical units.
SBAR is an example of a structured communication technique that helps clinicians share a mental model of a patient’s clinical condition. Developed by Michael Leonard, MD, director of Patient Safety for Colorado Permanente Medical Group and Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, the SBAR acronym stands for Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation and provides a framework for effective communication among members of the healthcare team.
In July 2002, the Joint Commission approved its first set of National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) designed to improve the safety of patient care in healthcare organizations. The 2003 goal of “improving the effectiveness of communication among caregivers” sharpened the communication focus. Taking things even further in 2006, healthcare institutions were directed to “implement a standardized approach to ‘hand off’ communications, including an opportunity to ask and respond to questions.” Communication continues to be the primary target for current Joint Commission patient safety initiatives.
Collaborative/collegial relationships between nurses and physicians yield better patient outcomes, as substantiated in the nursing literature. According to Schmalenberg and Kramer (2005), “MD/RN collaboration is associated with decreased patient mortality, fewer transfers back to the ICU, reduced costs, decreased length of stay, higher nurse autonomy, retention, nurse-perceived high-quality care, and nurse job satisfaction.” Larrabee (2003) found that positive MD/RN relationships were a contributing factor to improved nursing job satisfaction and retention.
In addition, negative interactions between physicians and nurses should decrease as their collegiality and mutual respect improves. Rosenstein and O’Daniel (2005) surveyed 1,509 physician, nurses and administrators in 50 VHA hospitals. The aggregate of the three groups’ responses indicated a significant percentage had, at some time, witnessed negative (or what they considered disruptive) behaviors on the part of both physicians (74%) and nurses (68%). Although more than half of the respondents estimated that the actual percentage of physicians and nurses that demonstrate this pattern was low (1 to 3%), the majority believed that such behaviors increased stress and frustration for both nurses and physicians. At the same time, they felt, it decreased concentration, communication, collaboration, information transfer, and workplace relationships for the two groups overall. The end result, in their opinion, was a negative impact on the quality of patient care and patient satisfaction. These factors reinforce the need to continuously cultivate high quality MD-RN relationships.
A Program to Improve Healthcare Delivery Combining our survey results with the knowledge from the literature and patient safety initiatives, the med-surg redesign team set out to develop an action plan. The chief nursing officer and the director of nursing for the division, sought out a physician champion and a group of lead advanced practice nurses (APNs) that were actively engaged in care on the various nursing units. Together they brainstormed a method to improve three target areas: communication, collaboration and critical thinking skills. a new program coined “Communication, Collaboration and Critical Thinking = Quality Outcomes” (CCC) was created.
The mission of CCC was to achieve an even higher level of patient care, safety, quality outcomes, and overall satisfaction by utilizing strategies that cultivate the MD/RN relationship while improving critical thinking skills. The strategy of CCC was physicians and nurses collaborating to collect, communicate, and critically analyze clinical patient information to set the course of care.
The newly formed CCC team came up with a three-component program:
Development and implementation of the “Share a Teaching Moment” campaign, where MDs and RNs are encouraged to share clinical pearls rather than just orders.
Case Study Program The CCC case study program is offered three to four times per year to the medical and nursing staff, using real patient case studies to discuss the evaluation, differential diagnosis, and plan of care from both the medical and nursing perspective. These forums are designed to improve not only critical-thinking skills of nurses, but communication and collaboration between healthcare workers, which reinforces quality patient outcomes. The case studies incorporate clinical knowledge, as well as highlighting and reinforcing key components of safety initiatives of our organization and other worldwide healthcare quality organizations. Currently we have featured aspects of the Advocate Health Care system-wide “Culture of Safety” as well as JCAHO and IHI initiatives, such as handoff communication and medication reconciliation.
In addition, compliance with best practices, as defined in the Medicare core measures bundles for conditions such as acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care infection prevention care, is embedded into each presentation. The case studies are presented in a relaxed, open environment, which promotes relationship building between the participants. This type of collaboration models behavior that we endeavor to carry into daily care at the hospital.
Participants are surveyed following every session for feedback regarding cases, room set-up, and presentation style. Changes are made as a result of the recommendations offered. Presentations have become more sophisticated with incorporation of x-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, echocardiograms, and angiograms. Presentation style has advanced from a single physician to a panel of physicians from various specialties. We are progressing towards having case studies presented by staff RNs in collaboration with physicians. More than 100 participants have attended each program, and More than 80 physicians and 250 nurses have attended at least one CCC case study presentation. Other disciplines such as respiratory therapy and physical therapy have attended, as have the CEO and CFO of the hospital.
Participants have made very positive comments on their evaluations:
“I am a new employee, and this session was great for me to experience team collaboration and to see ‘the big picture.'”
Physician/Nurse Rounding The “Rounding” and “Teaching Moment” aspects of the program were created in order to formalize the integration of behavior patterns learned through the case study presentations into the daily practice on the nursing units. We wanted these behaviors to happen every day on every nursing unit, not only when scheduled case studies were presented. Unit-based APNs, the unit managers, and the charge nurses continually encourage physician/nurse rounding on both a formal and informal level. Nurses are encouraged on a daily basis to “see the patient with the doctor,” give valid information to the physician, and at the same time, ask important questions about care. Formal rounding is incorporated into unit orientation programs and the new graduate residency program, where a new hire is given the opportunity to “round with a doctor” towards the end of their orientation. This helps both disciplines get to know each other and helps the nurse “see it through the doctor’s eyes” in order to enhance communication when they need to work together to solve specific patient care issues.
Share a Teaching Moment The “Share a Teaching Moment” campaign is an initiative designed to encourage the sharing of information among caregivers. Initially, we had a 1-week “blitz,” which introduced and heightened awareness of this concept. Staff kept notes and nurse managers sent handwritten acknowledgements to each MD who shared a teaching moment. Unit-based APNs use this approach to encourage and promote a questioning and inquisitive atmosphere. Recently, the nursing shared governance awarded the 2007 Friend of Nursing award to the physician that shared the greatest number of teaching moments.
Additional Projects Two additional projects were designed to spread the CCC concept: placement of a designated communication sheet in the patient chart and a program for nurse residents called “Nurse as the Manager of Care.” No longer do the charts have wrinkled “post-its” all over the order sheets and progress notes. One brightly colored sheet is place in a designated area of the chart for the nurse to leave notes for the MD regarding noncritical requests for orders or patient requests. The final aspect has been the participation of an MD-APN team presentation/discussion to new graduates in the nurse residency program. This session, “Nurse as the Manager of Care,” incorporates and reinforces elements of the case studies, rounding, and teaching moment components of CCC tailored to meet the needs of new graduates.
Evaluating Cultural Transformation In 2006, we conducted an open-ended physician satisfaction survey. We asked physicians to list three areas where the hospital was doing well and three where there were opportunities for improvement. One hundred and two surveys were complete. Fifty-five surveys listed nursing as one of the three positive areas at the hospital. No other answer in either a positive or negative area was as frequently listed.
On that same survey, physicians were asked two repeat questions from the 2004 redesign survey:
Do you feel nurses are timely in their follow through on written orders?
In contrast to the 25% on the original 2 years later, physicians felt that 81% of nurses are knowledgeable of their patients’ condition. They also answered that 86% of the time, nurses are timely in follow through on written orders, as opposed to 50% in 2004. (Figure 1)
A national physician satisfaction survey done by Data Management & Research, Inc, also in 2006, showed that 93% of physicians answered that they were either satisfied (73%) or very satisfied (20%) with nursing. Only 6% said they were dissatisfied, and 0% said they were very dissatisfied. This put the hospital at the 62nd percentile nationally, which was considered very positive by our consultants.
Many factors enter into measures of nursing satisfaction and turnover. The medical- surgical nursing division showed a decrease in nursing vacancy rates from 2004 (pre-CCC) to present and a continuous improvement in nursing staff perception of MD/RN interactions demonstrated in pre-session survey results.
In addition, quality measures also showed improvement after the redesign. For example, core measure bundle compliance scores for CHF, acute MI, community-acquired pneumonia, and SCIP (formerly SIP) bundles improved since inception of the CCC project. We felt that the CCC program has been complimentary to other strategies used to obtain these results. Since many of the aspects of bundle compliance involve specific MD orders, one can theorize that improved communication has led to easier conversations regarding specific orders needed related to the above categories.
Transforming the culture throughout the medical-surgical nursing division at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital has been a journey. By cultivating the MD/RN relationship through the Communication, Collaboration and Critical Thinking = Quality Outcomes program and the assignment of unit-based APNs to each unit, along with a number of other initiatives, including rapid response teams, we have changed the very nature of how we do things. The scenario we described at the beginning of this article would look completely different in our practice today. In comparison to the first communication with the MD, the following alternative with the same patient situation illustrates how clear communication can contribute to a safer hospital experience and potentially better outcomes for this patient:
You are the same nurse on the same Friday evening shift. Before calling the MD, you organize data in the SBAR format advocated by JCAHO:
R (recommendation): You know there is a need to address pain but feel that with the oxygen problems and history of pulmonary embolism, the patient needs closer monitoring than can be given on the med-surg unit. Something has changed since he first got to the floor. Remember, our diagnosed sleep apnea patients go to critical care for monitoring after surgery when they are using narcotics for pain — this situation has some similarities (snoring, body habitus, narcotic use). You clearly convey the information above and your concerns to the attending physician.
Outcome after this communication:
Successful surgery.
Conclusion Critical thinking on the part of nursing and clear communication between physicians and nurses are paramount in promoting safe outcomes for patients. Creating a culture where nurses and physicians are comfortable with two-way communication regarding a patient’s condition and care needs requires careful planning, assembling of a team of key players, and persistence. Are nurses in your hospital able to put the critical pieces of information together in an organized fashion to present to the physician? Are your physicians receptive to nurses suggesting further interventions based on their assessment? The answer should be yes. If not, consider what needs to be done to begin a cultural transformation.
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Illinois is an accredited, 324-bed suburban hospital, with more than 700 medical staff members and more than 900 nurses. It is the proud recipient of the Solucient Top 100 Hospital for Cardiovascular Care and the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence by Health Grades. It is the only Level I Trauma Center in Du Page County and is recognized for its Level III NICU. Advanced technologies such as Tomo therapy oncology treatments and 64-slice CT scanning are available. The Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center, located on Good Samaritan’s campus, is a 90,000 square foot medical model wellness center.
The Hospital is part of Advocate Health Care, an organization of physicians and more than 20,000 healthcare professionals dedicated to serving the health needs of individuals, families and communities in northern Illinois.
We acknowledge the support of the entire nursing and medical staff of the Med-Surg Division, the guidance of Ginger Diven, director of nursing, Med-Surg Division, Marj Maurer, chief nursing and operating officer and Dave Fox, president and CEO.
We recognize the remainder of the CCC Team APNs / CNSs for their dedication and hard work: Sue Durkin, Barb Gulczynski, Annemarie Kallenbach, Marge Kearney, Jennifer Law and Joann Petty.
Special thanks to Kathy Patrick, administrative support staff.
Mary Sue Dailey is a certified clinical nurse specialist for adult med-surg acute care at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove, Illinois. She has over 30 years nursing experience as a staff nurse, clinical faculty, case manager, and CNS. She is a Culture of Safety instructor and member of the CCC leadership team.
Barbara Loeb is a practicing internist at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital with over 24 years of experience. She is board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics. Loeb has served in numerous leadership roles at the Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and within the Advocate Health Care system including departmental chairman, member of the Corporate Quality Committee for Advocate Health Partners (PHO) and is currently the president elect of the medical staff. In 2005, she became focused on improving nursing quality and the MD/RN relationships. Loeb is the physician champion of the CCC Team and may be contacted at [email protected] .
Cheryl Peterman is a certified clinical nurse specialist in adult health. She is the clinical specialist for telemetry at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. She has 5 years of nursing experience as a staff nurse, charge nurse, and CNS. She is a Culture of Safety instructor and member of the CCC leadership team.
Hanston, R.I, & Jackson, M. (2004). Clinical delegation skills: a handbook for professional practice. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Hanston, R. I. & Washburn, M. (1999). Individual and organizational Accountability for development of critical thinking. Journal of Nursing Administration, 29 (11), 39-45.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Guidelines for communicating with physicians using the SBAR Process. http://www.ihi.org/IHI/Topics/PatientSafety/SafetyGeneral/Tools/ SBARTechniqueforCommunicationASituationalBriefingModel.htm (accessed April 23, 2007)
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations: 2006 Critical Access Hospital and Hospital National Patient Safety Goals. http://www.jcaho.org/accredited+organizations/ patient+safety/06_npsg/06_npsg_cah_hap.html (accessed April 23, 2006)
Larrabee, L., Janney, M., Ostrow, C., Withrow, M., Hobbs, G. Burant, C. (2003). Predicting registered nurse job satisfaction and intent to leave. Journal of Nursing, 33 (5), 271-283.
Rosenstein AH, O’Daniel M. (2005). Disruptive behavior & clinical outcomes: Perceptions of nurses and physicians. American Journal of Nursing, 105 (1), 54-64.
Schmalenberg, C., Kramer, M., King, C., et al. (2005). Excellence through evidence: Securing collegial/collaborative nurse-physician Relationships, part 1 Journal of Nursing Administration, 35 (10), 450-458.
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2024 graduates lack skills in communication, collaboration and critical thinking, study finds.
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A new study finds that 2024 graduates lack certain skills necessary for job success and what needs ... [+] rectifying.
There’s been a lot of discussion about skill-based hiring but little talk about what the needed skills are or the re-skilling should be. Soft skills? AI skills? Other technical skills? As 2024 becomes the year that skills hiring and re-skilling become a major focus, job candidates are left wondering what exact skills they need to compete in today’s job market. According to Microsoft’s new Work Trend Index Report , 76% of employees believe they need AI skills to remain competitive to fit into an AI-focused future of work.
Three Skills Graduates Possess And Lack
A recent study finds a growing trend where hiring managers are hiring candidates based on skills, instead of traditional education or work experience. With all of the talk about skill-based hiring, there has been so little talk about what those desired skills are. What skills difference is there between college graduates and those who possess the desired soft skills? SHL , a talent acquisition and management platform, says it has found those skills.
According to research of approximately 8,000 U.S. graduates and after mapping the skills in demand and growth areas to SHL’s talent framework, the organization finds the following advantages and disadvantages:
Graduates rank higher in dependability, strong work ethic and reliability.
Graduates rank lower in adaptability and embracing new ideas.
Graduates rank lower in communication, collaboration, strategic and critical thinking, building relationships.
In a recent piece for Forbes.com , Dr. Anne Snyder points out that Gen Z’s desire for immediate feedback and flexible work environments often clash with traditional practices, further exacerbating workplace tension and reducing overall productivity. She adds that many managers—promoted for technical skills rather than people management—default to a "command-and-control" style of leadership. Without proper training, they often micromanage, stifling the autonomy and innovative thinking that younger workers crave. While it’s essential that companies reshape old practices for Gen Z to thrive , it’s a two-way street. Gen Z graduates are also challenged with focusing on sharpening communication, collaboration, critical thinking and building relationships in order to adapt to the current workplace.
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Matt Kirk, Owner, Talent Acquisition Solutions at SHL, sees many companies looking for people they can teach and mold, employees that are willing to learn. “Speaking to companies around the world, there are so many who say, ‘Well, actually, we're just going to start by profiling our jobs with skills,” he says. “We're not going to change our pay structure based on skills, and we're not going to look at internal ability by skills.”
According to Kirk, as AI becomes increasingly impactful in corporate environments, soft skills and behavioral skills will become more critical as external talent becomes increasingly harder to find. “AI is predicted to take away or to to really take over a lot of the kind of efficiencies and the processes,” he explains. “The vast majority of people in those roles are likely to lose their jobs in the next few years, and those jobs will be replaced with new jobs. That's one of the reasons why the skills piece is important, because as AI forces new roles and changes the structure of organization, external talent is hard to find and it's expensive.”
Steps Leaders Can Take To Upskill
I spoke with Kirk by email, and he identified five steps that need to be taken to rectify the current situation:
Reassess success criteria. In light of evolving organizational structures and roles, Kirk believes it's crucial to re-evaluate the skills required for success. He advocates recognizing that today's graduates bring a unique set of skills, which may differ from previously in-demand skills but may fit the roles of the future better.
Implement an objective recruitment assessment. He recommends implementing a fair and objective recruitment process that evaluates these critical skills, incorporating methods such as human/soft skills assessments and structured interviews.
Invest in skill development. Kirk suggest that leaders be prepared to address any skill gaps from the onset of employment by investing in structured learning & development programs in addition to self-directed leaning. Allow time for new hires to grow and acquire the necessary skills.
Conduct performance evaluations . Regularly monitor a new employee’s performance and encourage self-reflection to ensure that identified skills align with job requirements and drive high performance.
Understand employee uniqueness . Kirk underscores the importance of developing an awareness of individual strengths and areas for development in relation to job criteria, enables employers to effectively enhance performance through targeted upskilling and learning interventions.
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Communication Skills for Business
Are you an individual learner looking for learning materials, practice tests, or exam vouchers for use in the United States? If so, browse everything for Communications Skills for Business on the Certiport Store and learn how you can earn an industry-recognized certification.
Certiport offers the following certifications for Communication Skills for Business (CSB).
Professional Communication Exam
The Communication Skills for Business (CSB) Professional Communication exam validates that candidates entering the workforce understand key communication principles and skills that are necessary to be effective in a work environment.
More information about the Professional Communication Exam
English for IT Exam
The Communication Skills for Business (CSB) English for IT exam validates a candidate’s ability to work in an IT job setting or in an entry-level IT related work environment using English (B2/GSE 59–75).
More information about the English for IT Exam
Success is led by the power of communication
The Communication Skills for Business (CSB) program is one of the newest certification programs offered through Certiport and now includes the Professional Communication certification and the English for IT certification . Whether verbal (oral or written) communication or nonverbal communication the ability to communicate effectively is a critical skill that all candidates should possess. In every industry, there is a gap between the English skills required and the English language skills that employees have. Also, in today’s workplace, communication skills are consistently one of the top skills employers are looking for and developing these skills can give candidates a big edge on the competition. 1
The CSB certifications are built to validate that candidates entering the workforce understand key communication principles and possess the skills that are necessary to be effective in a work environment.
Impact of CSB
For students/candidates, Communication Skills for Business certifications are resume builders and help students/candidates become more employable.
For educators, the Communication Skills for Business ready-made, self-scoring exams save instructors’ time by using the certification exams as class exams, mid-terms or final exams.
For workforce education, the Communication Skills for Business program increases job placement rates and stabilizes/increases funding options.
For corporations, the Communication Skills for Business program provides job skill enhancement for employees and saves money by not having poor communications.
Why should job candidates seek CSB Certification?
Poor communication is very expensive for companies. Studies have been done that estimate businesses with 100 employees lose an average of $420,000 per year due to poor communication between employees. The cost goes up based on the number of employees. 2
The CSB certifications give job candidates the proof they understand good communication and have the skills needed to be effective and efficient in their jobs, while saving the company money by not communicating poorly.
The full pathway solution to CSB certification
Through Certiport’s full pathway solution you can prepare your students for the CSB certifications with tailored learning materials, resources and GMetrix practice tests. Adding these materials into your curriculum is easy and seamless.
1 Source, Ziprecruiter, The Top Job Skills Employers Are Looking For
2 Source: SHRM, The Cost of Poor Communications, February 2016
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Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication
4Cs Learning analysis infographic has 4 steps to analyse such as
4Cs of Learning analysis infographic has 6 steps to analyse such as
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Developing critical thinking, collective creativity skills and problem
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Similarly focused on the need to promote a phase change towards future-oriented education, Lucas and colleagues have suggested conflating creative thinking and critical thinking in order to propose "3Cs" (creative thinking, communication, and collaboration) as new "foundational literacies" to symmetrically add to the 3Rs (Reading ...
This article addresses educational challenges posed by the future of work, examining "21st century skills", their conception, assessment, and valorization. It focuses in particular on key soft skill competencies known as the "4Cs": creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. In a section on each C, we provide an overview of assessment at the level of individual ...
Developing and honing critical thinking and communication skills can lead to increased productivity and a more positive, collaborative environment. Critical Thinking Fundamentals Skill and Knowledge. Critical thinking is an essential cognitive skill that individuals should cultivate in order to master effective communication.
Critical thinking was not only the first among the 21st century skills but is the foundation for three other essential 21st century skills: communication, collaboration, and creative thinking. These skills have been called "the four C's."
Critical thinking is an essential skill that enhances a team's ability to collaborate efficiently and effectively. By honing their critical thinking skills, team members can analyze information, solve problems, and make well-informed decisions. In the context of teamwork, critical thinking also plays a crucial role in improving communication ...
Critical thinking: Finding solutions to problems; Creativity: Thinking outside the box; Collaboration: Working with others; Communication: Talking to others; Below, we'll consider each of these skills and their implications for students' careers. Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is one the most important qualities for today's professionals ...
Experts in the field of education and the sciences suggest the focus of education should be on the "four Cs": collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. Clearly we recognize that when students are taught to " collaborate ", they learn to work within teams that enhance knowledge utilization and dissemination. The ...
Critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills are closely linked. Many participants considered sharing ideas 'a clear and effective communication' and 'a good capacity of cooperating to execute any agreed and organised activity' as enablers for collaboration, which reflects two of Blomqvist and Levy's (2006) collaboration ...
The main purpose of this review paper is to highlight existing studies on key soft skill competencies of 21st-century known as the "4 Cs" critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication among school students and to explore various frameworks about 4 Cs in the current literature.
The development of 21st-century learning skills must prioritize collaborative problem-solving abilities. These include critical thinking, creativity, cooperation, and communication (4Cs) and the gender-based difference in the proficiencies of these skill have been reported in literature.
Collaborative learning is a relationship among learners that fosters positive interdependence, individual accountability, and interpersonal skills. "Critical thinking" involves asking appropriate questions, gathering and creatively sorting through relevant information, relating new information to existing knowledge, reexamining beliefs ...
Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity and Communication Skills among School Students: A Review Paper September 2023 European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences 1(5):441-453
While all twelve of those skills are necessary to teach, the "four C's" are often considered to be the most important. The four C's of 21st Century skillsare: Critical thinking. Creativity. Collaboration. Communication. These four skills are essential for modern students to succeed in school and the workplace. They often make the biggest ...
Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking analyzes the philosophical underpinnings of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and provides practical approaches and strategies to create transformative learning experiences. This book describes a vision of education that can serve as a catalyst for ...
5. Combining all 4Cs. The 4Cs in education focus on teaching students essential 21st-century skills. The 4Cs in education—collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking—have been vital for two decades and will continue to be, as educators aim to prepare students for future success. Nearpod continues to prepare students for ...
Competency in critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity is required to meet many of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts and Literacy for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. he 4 C's are reflected in the "Mathematical Practices" section of CCSS, but not in the specific ...
Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration: Assessment, Certification, and Promotion of 21st Century Skills for the Future of Work and Education
Collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity are the 4 Cs of a 21st-century learner, according to the Partnership for 21st Century Learning.Given that technology use continues to expand in schools, it's worthwhile to think of how that technology can function in assignments designed to develop the skills our students need.
That's why we focus on the four Cs of 21st-century learning: Collaboration: Learners are able to work effectively with diverse groups and exercise flexibility in making compromises to achieve common goals. Creativity: Learners are able to generate and improve on original ideas and also work creatively with others. Communication: Learners are ...
Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity are regarded as key skills for today's learners. Interest in robotics usage to develop such competencies in educational settings arises but there hasn't been so far mapping of the research conducted in this field.
Critical thinking on the part of nursing and clear communication between physicians and nurses are paramount in promoting safe outcomes for patients. Creating a culture where nurses and physicians are comfortable with two-way communication regarding a patient's condition and care needs requires careful planning, assembling of a team of key ...
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Candidates for CSB certification will be expected to be able to effectively communicate in a business setting. While the key skill being measured is communication the nature of the exam will also help candidates with the other 3 of "the 4 C's": Critical thinking, Collaboration and Creativity.