Nineteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

This paper offers a critical reflection on teaching critical thinking, criticism and critique in a university module on digital sociology. The starting point for the paper is the ubiquity of digital technology in the lives of students and in adopting a pedagogy that takes a skills-based approach to the sociological imagination (Mills, 1959) based around developing the three aspects of the title of the paper. These are treated in distinct ways to begin with by focussing on discrete topics where each aspect is applied, for example in considering mobile technology and self presentation, or the use of self-tracking technology. The paper follows how this approach then gives way to a helping students adopt a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which critical thinking can either be distinct from criticism and critique, or can also involve either or both aspects. Students are encouraged to reflect both upon academic positions and their own digital practices as part of the development of their critical thinking skills. Likewise, as a tutor the reception of this pedagogical approach and interactions with students also give rise to self-reflection on what critical thinking entails as a practice. The paper concludes with a discussion on how such reflections contribute to educational debates about what is meant by the term higher when referring to higher education.