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1. Int. J. Innovation in Education, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2009 51
Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Along came a swagman: teaching Australian
university curricula and methods in Southern Italy
Francesco Sofo
Faculty of Education, University of Canberra,
Room 5B78, ACT 2601, Australia
Fax: +61 2 6201 2263
E-mail: francesco.sofo@canberra.edu.au
Michelle Berzins
Faculty of Education, University of Canberra,
Room 5C16, ACT 2601, Australia
Fax: +61 2 6201 2263
E-mail: michelle.berzins@canberra.edu.au
Salvatore Ammirato* and
Antonio P. Volpentesta
GIUDALab, Department of Electronics,
Computer Science and Systems, University of Calabria,
Via Pietro Bucci, 42C, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), 87036 Italy
Fax: +39 0984 494713
E-mail: ammirato@deis.unical.it
E-mail: volpentesta@deis.unical.it
*Corresponding author
Abstract: The development of critical thinking skills within certain individuals
can be enhanced through international and intercultural experiences (Vincenti,
2001). To test this assertion the effects of exposing a group of Italian university
students to a curriculum delivered in a week-long intensive format by a visiting
Australian university professor were measured. A pre- and post-delivery survey
on critical thinking skills found statistically significant self-reported
improvements on three of the 12 items of the critical thinking inventory (Sofo,
2007). These improvements include a marked difference in perceived ability to
move beyond lower-order cognitive skills such as knowing and comprehending
to actively applying core and higher-order skills including the ability to identify
assumptions, gain fresh perspectives and systematically explore different
perspectives as part of a team. Beyond the specific items tested within the
critical thinking inventory, the students also experienced cross-cultural
facilitation which incorporated andragogical teaching methods with a discipline
alternate to their own.
Keywords: critical thinking; university students; andragogical teaching
methods; Australia; Italy.

2. 52 F. Sofo et al.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Sofo, F., Berzins, M.,
Ammirato, S. and Volpentesta, A.P. (2009) ‘Along came a swagman: teaching
Australian university curricula and methods in Southern Italy’, Int. J.
Innovation in Education, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.51–66.
Biographical notes: Francesco Sofo is an Associate Dean (Education) and
Associate Professor of Human Resource Development in the Faculty of
Education at the University of Canberra (Australia). He is a Fellow of both the
Australian Institute of Management and the Australian Human Resource
Institute, and has a career goal of doing his best to assist in the learning and
development of individuals, teams and organisations.
Michelle Berzins is a Sessional Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the
University of Canberra (Australia). She is a recipient of two Chancellor’s
Commendations and an Australian Postgraduate Award for research into cartel
conduct. Her research interests include white collar crime, critical thinking and
the transfer of learning.
Salvatore Ammirato is a member of the ‘GiudaLab Research Group’ at the
University of Calabria (Italy) and External Researches of the ‘Centre for
Research in Transnational Empowerment, Leadership and Performance’ at the
University of Canberra (Australia). He received his Masters in Management
Engineering (2002) and his PhD in Operation Research (2006) from the
University of Calabria. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in
Information Management and Business Process Management. His main
research interests are learning, virtual organisations, e-business and information
management.
Antonio P. Volpentesta is an Associate Professor of Economics and
Management Engineering at the University of Calabria (Italy). He has been
carrying out researches and studies for 32 years in the areas of operation
research, information systems and management engineering. He has published
some books and over 90 papers in these areas. He is the Director of GiudaLab,
a management engineering laboratory at DEIS, where much work about
regional, national and European projects have been carried out in the past 20
years. His current research interests include virtual enterprises, knowledge
management, learning systems, e-business and collaborative networks.
1 Setting the context
Clarke (1995) defines a swagman as a gentleman of the road, an itinerant who roams
country roads and carries his few belongings slung in a cloth. These Australian men were
characters that wandered the bush telling stories of the remote and regional places they
had visited and the things that they had done. This article is about the overseas adventure
of an Australian academic who roamed far from the safety and predictability of his
Australian university to teach in a foreign country in order to transform the way students
in Southern Italy would do their thinking. The task – to use an andragogical approach to
install critical thinking skills in students who are usually taught in a pedagogical manner
– was not easy, and the definition of the academic swagman’s task was even less
tangible. According to Rapps et al. (2001), critical thinking is difficult to define (and
even harder to measure) as often the process differs from the outcome. For the purposes

3. Along came a swagman 53
of this paper, critical thinking is defined as a number of separate yet entwined activities
where an individual stops to reconsider what is taken for granted whilst embarking on a
journey of exploration or rediscovery including achieving a shift in perspective and
learning to see with new eyes (Sofo, 2004). Critical thinking is therefore not a single
entity, but instead comprises affective, cognitive, intuitive and creative aspects. To some
extent, critical thinking is a generic skill, as any person possessing the ability to focus
differently on an issue, as well as a willingness to start asking questions to identify and
challenge explicit assumptions, has the capacity to think critically.
Vincenti (2001) notes that the development of critical thinking skills can be enhanced
through international and intercultural experiences. The purpose of this pilot study was
therefore to assess whether international and cross-disciplinary exposure to Australian
curriculum, taught by an Australian academic, would positively impact on the Italian
students’ perceived levels of competency in applying critical thinking. There are
numerous benefits to exposing university students to international and cross-cultural
teaching experiences. Vincenti (2001) cites findings by the American Field Service where
individuals fortunate enough to travel abroad tend to return to their homelands reporting
increased levels of independence and self-awareness, a greater understanding and
appreciation of foreign languages and cultures, and marked increases in their ability to
think critically. These findings are of relevance to this study, as instead of sending the
students abroad to experience university learning and teaching in another country, a
visiting professor from Australia was brought into their classroom, bringing with him the
experiences, methods and views of living and working in Australia.
Similar to the findings of Vincenti (2001), the students in this study who were
exposed to the international experience of having their unit facilitated by the Australian
academic gained a better appreciation of the different disciplinary ways of thinking and
working, as well as different disciplinary values and assumptions (p.60) that exist across
the paradigms of Human Resource Development (HRD) and Management Engineering.
Perhaps more importantly, they were also able to experience the move from pedagogical
learning to actively experiencing andragogy and the self-directed nature of adult learning
as espoused by the six principles of Knowles (1990).
It is through the apparent disjunction between the teaching of an Australian HRD
specialist and the learning of Italian students undertaking a Management Engineering
degree that the concept of interdisciplinarity is relevant. Interdisciplinarity refers to the
integration of knowledge from diverse disciplines in a manner that allows individuals to
understand things beyond the reach of their traditional disciplinary boundaries (Vincenti,
2001). Advancing the need for such integrated approaches are the ever-increasing
demands placed on individuals and teams to respond to complicated global and societal
issues. Today’s university students therefore need to possess sound critical thinking skills
in order to encounter and manage diversity (Solvang, 2004) so in turn, they can
effectively respond to emerging global and societal issues.
Using the definitions provided above, the paper commences with a review of the
literature through which the rationale behind the study can be understood. The evaluative
methodology, involving the use of a pre- and post-intervention survey is explained and
the sample is described. The results of the students’ self-reported perceptions regarding
their effectiveness on 12 different skills contained within the critical thinking inventory
(CTI) are reported, followed by a discussion highlighting the key outcomes and

4. 54 F. Sofo et al.
significance of the study. The paper concludes with some recommendations for the
direction of future research.
2 Literature review
A key reason that educational systems fail is that while they acknowledge that students
typically lack sound thinking skills, they fail to go the next step and actually resolve the
problem (Giroux, 1989). This observation was reiterated at a later date by Burbach et al.
(2004) who noted that while critical thinking may be a universal goal of higher education,
it is seldom proven as a tangible outcome. As defined earlier, critical thinking is about
actively engaging with information and assessing it from a number of perspectives in
order to analyse, challenge and probe the details. It is about possessing sufficient
confidence to challenge the written or spoken word in order to move beyond the status
quo and explore new options. Of course, the acquisition of critical thinking skills does not
necessarily mean that they will be applied when needed and Rapps et al. (2001)
acknowledge that both skill and the right disposition are needed if an individual is to be
an active critical thinker.
Solvang (2004) provides a list of the characteristics generally found within incoming
university students, noting that they tend to think dualistically, are focused on
themselves, have difficulty thinking beyond their own experiences, have little skill or
experience in critical thinking and tend to be emotive rather than reflective. Left
unchecked, these characteristics may impede the graduand’s performance in the
workplace, thus there is a strong need for universities to develop in their students a
proven ability to think critically. This need is even more important because potential
employers place a high priority on the possession and application of critical thinking
skills in their new employees (Burbach et al., 2004). Indeed, working activity is said to be
connected to specific thinking and decision-making styles in each individual. In
particular, specific jobs which imply different types of decisions and decision-making
styles are strictly related to specific learning and thinking styles (Iannello, 2007).
This view of developing appropriate thinking styles based on particular skills could
be more effective if directly linked to contemporary critical thinking activities relevant to
specific work contexts. At least two studies support this assertion. First, empirical
evidence is found in Volpentesta et al. (2008) during the development of a concept design
project conducted in a blended learning classroom for Industrial Design masters students
at the University of Calabria. The simulation involved a concept network of designers
where teachers were the concept managers and students the concept designers. The final
concept was the result of a collaborative creative process involving work-based
contemporary critical thinking exercises among different individual designers and design
managers. Second, Tullet’s (1996) study on managers’ ways of thinking affirmed that
managers of multiple and different projects continuously face a great number of changing
problems and therefore assess those problems from a number of perspectives. By doing
so, project managers are more likely to have an innovative and successful thinking style
than managers in general. Despite the expectation of critical thinking skills, Kuhn (1991)
found that a large proportion of the general population lack the skills to enter debates or
rebut counter-arguments whilst also demonstrating an inability to produce tangible
evidence to support or reject even their own opinions.

5. Along came a swagman 55
It is evident that the personality and characteristics of the individual thinker are
crucial, yet other factors (including the length of a learner’s exposure to an educational
environment) are also important. The design of Giroux’s (1989) pilot study on the
occurrence of critical thinking and learning within university classrooms was guided by
the assumption that higher order cognitive skills would be most likely to emerge towards
the end of a teaching semester. This contrasts against the work of Berzins and Sofo
(2008) who found that first year Australian university students began demonstrating their
development of critical thinking skills within the first few weeks of the academic
semester. Given this contrast, it is useful to consider the acquisition of a range of skills
(including critical thinking) by university students.
Beyond acquiring the knowledge and skills pertaining to a given discipline, it is now
an assumption of higher education that students will also acquire more generic skills in
areas such as oral and written communication and an ability to think flexibly and
critically. Bloom’s (1956) Taxonomy offers a unique and still relevant hierarchical
interpretation of an individual’s thinking skill and ability. The taxonomy provides six
levels, the first two (knowledge and comprehension) which represent cognitive skills of a
lower order and the remaining four levels (application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation)
which represent higher-order cognitive skills. The extent to which educators are able to
foster higher-order thinking skills within the classroom is not always known. In one
attempt to quantify the occurrence of higher-order thinking within the university
classroom, Giroux (1989) found that in half of the observed courses, higher order
thinking and/or learning did not occur at all, whilst another course was taught in such a
way that students spent 96% of their time applying the lower order cognitive skills of
mere knowledge and comprehension. To move beyond using only lower-order cognitive
skills, it is necessary for the delivery of higher education to extend beyond pedagogy to
include andragogical delivery that acknowledges how students should think, rather than
merely advocating what they should think. Generally, first year university students are
not aware if they have higher order cognitive skills and it is the university’s responsibility
to teach such skills explicitly since emerging adult students already possess the
developmental potential to think in hierarchically diverse ways.
Young (1986) identified the inclusion of critical thinking, analytical thinking and
problem solving as a ‘new’ revolution in education. It is possible that results from this
‘new’ revolution were noticeable quite quickly, as McMillan (1987) found that the mere
experience of attending university could result in a noticeable increase in a student’s
ability to think critically. Since then, Anderson et al. (2001) have reiterated the
identification of thinking as one of the most important skills acquired by students during
their tertiary studies. Yet Solvang (2004) has noted that critical thinking skills, including
the ability to understand and value differing perspectives, are skills that first-year
university students have typically not developed nor acquired.
It is obvious when a facilitator knows how to apply and promote higher-order
thinking within their classroom (Giroux, 1989), and whilst it is accepted that different
instructional methods will of course have varying effects on individual students, further
compounding factors include the student’s personality, learning style and thinking style.
Regardless of these personal factors, cognitive psychologists maintain that learning can
only occur if there has been an active commitment with the information and if it has been
processed in an active manner (Cano-Garcia and Hughes, 2000). The delivery of
information in a manner that stimulates lower-order thinking (that is, in a pedagogical

6. 56 F. Sofo et al.
manner) therefore restricts the ability of students to practice and develop their own skills
in thinking critically and operating at a higher cognitive level. For this reason, it is
essential to deliver university-level instruction in an andragogical manner which meets
the principles espoused by Knowles (1990) relating to the reasons for learning,
self-concept, readiness for learning particular content and motivation of the adult learner
and their need to engage with meaningful content. Andragogy is the science and art of
adult learning and as a theory of learning the basic view of adults is as autonomous,
holistic individuals whose life experiences have been the basis for learning and providing
a foundation for their current and future learning. This theory of adult learning places the
individual centrally so that learning is ‘learner-centred’ where learning goals, content,
teaching and assessment processes and the pace of learning are all determined mutually
by the teacher and the learner. The theory emphasises the importance of experiential
learning, lifelong learning, learning that is problem-based and a constructivist model of
development and knowledge creation founded on cooperative critical reflection. Thinking
is an essential component to learning that enhances learning and performance and that is
underpinned by the belief that people have preferred styles of learning and differences in
thinking that show particular strengths. Andragogy is a theory of adult learning that
emphasises adaptive processes within the control domain of the adult person engaged in
the learning.
A review of the literature reveals particular qualities and characteristics inherent to
classroom activities which can assist in the development of students’ critical thinking
skills. With regard to facilitator qualities, Anderson et al. (2001) note that the instruction
must be aimed at improving the students’ knowledge and understanding of critical
thinking, and that this must be delivered in light of existing knowledge and skills relating
to thinking effectively. Instruction that follows andragogical principles such as joint
exploration of the reasons for learning particular content, its relevance to the lives of the
learners and their job interests and future work, their readiness to engage with such
learning and the energy they are willing to apply to the learning are key factors that
increase the possibility of improving capacity for thinking critically especially where the
instructor structures activities that ensure the skills are rehearsed as an integral part of the
learning.
Jones and Reid (2007) suggest that understanding students’ many different thinking
styles can help facilitators in their job. This arises through an awareness of how
individuals within a classroom best assimilate and process knowledge which in turn
allows the facilitator to deliver information in a variety of ways ensuring to cater for as
many students as possible. When facilitating, relevant examples of how the critical
thinking skills could be applied should also be made available to students prior to them
being expected to produce work demonstrating such skills. Sofo (2008) explains thinking
styles within a theory of reality construction. People co-create their personal reality based
on a profile of five different styles of thinking. In other words, strongly relying on and
accepting what others think and say without questioning creates a personal reality based
on a predominantly conditional style of thinking. When people prefer to be asking
questions and questioning feelings and solutions they are co-constructing their reality
through preferring to use an inquiring style of thinking. When people explore feelings
and seek multiple perspectives they are constructing their reality through an exploring
style of thinking. Allocating priority to one’s own thinking and relying on one’s own
feelings, solutions and opinions is a preference for an independent style of thinking, and,
thinking in pictures, visualising and imagining to get a holistic sense of reality is a

7. Along came a swagman 57
preference for a creative style of thinking. The basic assumption of the theory is that
people have preferences and different degrees of confidence and control in how they use
their knowledge, attitudes and mental skills in building their reality and in dealing with
information, people, tasks and daily situations through their thought processes. Sofo’s
(2008) theory of reality construction is a meta-cognitive perspective that underpins five
styles of thinking. Some of these styles (exploring, independent and creative) may be
referred to as a divergent or creative thinking style while the conditional and inquiring
categories are examples of a convergent thinking style or concrete thinking.
According to Robertson (2000), imitating an example is the predominant method used
by beginners in a domain with which they are unfamiliar, thus comparing and using
examples become the basis of understanding and learning through generalisation.
Anderson et al. (2001) also note that opportunities to practice their newly acquired (or
further developed) skills should be made available to students throughout the teaching
period. By doing so, teacher-student interactions surrounding mistakes during the
adoption of new skills can positively affect the students’ levels of motivation and
learning performance (Santagata, 2005). This can occur if students adopt a frame of mind
that incorporates mistakes as an aspect of thinking critically since multiple perspectives
will determine the context of whether something is a mistake or not. Thinking critically is
the capacity to create different perspectives. The capacity of detecting conceptual
mistakes and overcoming them by general explanation is therefore important in the
approach to theoretical knowledge (Garuti et al., 1999).
When trying to develop thinking critically across disciplines, it is obvious that there is
an onus on facilitators to work cooperatively in a manner that better understands the
personal qualities, abilities and experiences that in turn facilitate productive
interdisciplinary relationships (Vincenti, 2001). It is therefore useful if those tasked in
delivering interdisciplinary and/or international work possess specific attributes including
being patient, flexible, resilient, sensitive to others and possess a tolerance for ambiguity
(Klein, 1990). Regardless of whether these factors exist within the facilitator, mere
exposure to cross-cultural experiences can increase their knowledge and understanding of
both their discipline and their students as a consequence of the facilitator having to
reframe their subject matter so that it fits into an intercultural perspective and is
accessible to those people exposed to their teaching (Wilson, 1983).
3 Methodology
The survey was chosen in this study as the primary data collection method as it would
enable causes of systematic differences to be located and identified via the comparison of
similar cases (de Vaus, 1995). A survey is a form of planned data collection (Oppenheim,
1992) and is considered the end product of the research problem, the theory, method of
administration and methods of data analysis [de Vaus, (1995), p.104]. The survey is
regarded as one of the most widely used research techniques, mainly due to the highly
structured nature of the data collection process which arises through each participant
being asked the same set of questions (de Vaus, 1995). This structured approach can be
more accurate than conducting interviews with every member of the population of
interest, as by collecting rigorous survey data, the testing of logical explanations is

8. 58 F. Sofo et al.
permitted whilst the implementation of logical understanding is facilitated (Babbie,
1990).
In this study, the purpose of conducting a survey was to analyse the self-report of
students with regard to their development of critical thinking skills over the course of a
week-long intensive university course delivered in Southern Italy by an Australian
academic. To do so, pre-delivery and post-delivery data were collected and reported for
each student in attendance. Justification for the chosen research design is found in the
work of Mumm and Kersting (1997) who used a pre-test and post-test method in their
study that evaluated the development of critical thinking skills in social work students.
Whilst Burbach et al. (2004) used the Watson-Glaser critical thinking appraisal to
conduct a pre- and post-test assessment of critical thinking skills within an introductory
leadership program in an American university, it is generally accepted that there is no
single instrument through which teaching staff can assess critical thinking skills. As a
result, academics are usually left to design their own measures (Wolcott, 2005). Given
the absence of a universally accepted measurement instrument for critical thinking, a CTI
designed by Sofo (2007) and previously administered to Australian public servants to
measure their acquisition of critical thinking skills, was used as a pre-test/post-test
evaluation tool of each student’s perceived effectiveness at critical thinking.
The abridged version of the CTI contained 12 items which were divided into two
sections. The first section is titled ‘Thinking critically’ and measures the respondents’
perceived effectiveness on identifying assumptions, gaining fresh perspectives, being
aware of their own mental processes, creating new possibilities and learning from past
mistakes. The second section of the survey is titled ‘Achieving results through particular
skills’ and measures the respondents’ perceived effectiveness at enjoying different ways
of thinking, questioning, encouraging others, playing devil’s advocate, using language to
communicate, using their imagination and systematically exploring different perspectives
as part of a team.
The CTI was provided to students at the beginning of the week-long intensive
program and again following the completion of the delivery. The participants in this pilot
study were a sample of convenience and the survey was distributed to all attending
students enrolled in the relevant unit at the University of Calabria in Southern Italy. The
postgraduate students were undertaking a Master of Management Engineering degree by
coursework. The specific unit explores the technological, economic and organisational
aspects of knowledge management in both organisations and communities. Specific
methodologies and techniques for developing knowledge management systems, and thus
supporting business decisional processes, are also introduced to students during the unit.
Particular attention is devoted to the students’ emerging ability to use knowledge
modelling as a means of formally representing knowledge through logic in order to
achieve expert systems planning. Graduates of the program analyse, design, manage and
optimise retail, information, production, manufacturing, services, telecommunications
and transport systems. They may also seek employment within business administration,
business process management, areas of technological innovation and/or analysis of
financial systems. A key outcome of the program is the management of engineers’ ability
to work in different contexts: from research to systems design, and from management to
the control of high technologies. The management engineer can work in both
manufacturing firms (such as in purchasing; material management; production systems or
logistic systems) and in service firms and public administration (such as in areas of

9. Along came a swagman 59
business organisation; management control; industrial marketing; investment evaluation
and risk management).
By having the students complete the CTI before and after the delivery of the intensive
course, it was possible to generate comparative data through which the effectiveness of
the intervention in developing the critical thinking skills of Italian university students
could be measured. Fifty eight students completed the pre-delivery survey, however
student absences at the end of the program resulted in only 43 students completing the
post-delivery survey. Due to the uneven sample sizes and the absence of identifying
information enabling the pre- and post- surveys to be matched, it was necessary to
calculate independent sample t-tests to compare the pre-delivery mean score and the
post-delivery mean score on each of the 12 items contained within the critical thinking
survey. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Version 14) was used for all
statistical analyses.
It is acknowledged that prior education, including non-formal and informal learning
environments could play a role in the development of critical thinking skills within the
sample. Despite this, the researchers in this study held the assumption that it was only
through the clear application of in-class activities utilising critical thinking skills that any
shift in the students’ perceptions of their own effectiveness would result. To this end, the
visiting academic actively utilised andragogical techniques that provided opportunities
for the students to question, analyse, probe, explore and challenge both their own
opinions and those of their fellow students. By doing so, students were provided with a
supportive environment through which critical thinking skills could be introduced,
fostered and their application practiced.
A unique feature of this study was therefore the mode in which the material was
delivered. Over the course of one week, students were exposed to daily intensive delivery
including lectures on international HRD, thinking critically and creatively and thinking
styles; readings from books and scholarly journal articles related to the content;
competitive team work including structured experiences, a business simulation, exercises
in dyads and triads, small group work and one-on-one consultations that focused on
advice in relation to the content, learning processes and personal and career development.
The intensive delivery brings with it many challenges, but the short duration should not
detract from what would otherwise be delivered to students enrolled in a semester-long
unit. As noted by Solvang (2004), what is taught during a semester should equip students
so they are able to continue with their own learning and exploration of issues in the
future. So whilst the delivery was tailored to a one-week intensive unit, the content and
rigor remained the same as for the extended semester-long version taught back in
Australia.
The andragogical techniques first, encouraged students to identify goals for the
learning session and second, to volunteer for particular roles and points of focus in the
activities. Students could select to be a leader of a team or one of the participants and to
engage in cooperative discussion to achieve a team outcome that would exceed the
outcomes of other teams. This competitive aspect was introduced into some activities in
order to highlight the learning value and energy application required within the teams. In
some of the structured activities teams were required to make a team decision first and
then to assess its impact on other teams and their competitive position. They were
required to explore options and demonstrate attitudes of trust, disclosure and
confidentiality. At different points of the activities there was opportunity for reflection

10. 60 F. Sofo et al.
with teams and across teams before preparing the next competitive strategy to try and
outwit other teams. The role of the instructor apart from facilitating the structured
experiences was to raise awareness and challenge the team members to apply previous
knowledge as well as to develop achievement acumen through thinking critically. These
learning insights were achieved mainly during the detailed debriefing sessions conducted
by the instructor after each structured experience.
4 Results
Statistically significant differences between the pre-test and post-test means were found
on three of the 12 items tested using the CTI. It was found that statistically significant
increases in the means occurred on the student’s perceived levels of effectiveness at
identifying assumptions (p = 0.037), gaining fresh perspectives (p = 0.002) and the ability
to systematically explore different perspectives as a team (p = 0.011). These statistics are
displayed in Table 1 along with the comparison of pre-test and post-test of means of all
the items used on the CTI. It is interesting to note that the pre-test means in these three
items were amongst the lowest in the study.
Table 1 Comparison of means on the CTI
Item Mean Std. dev Sig. level
Pre-test 4.17 0.920
Post-test
Identifying assumptions
4.60 1.137
0.037*
Pre-test 4.16 1.254
Post-test
Gaining fresh perspectives
4.93 1.121
0.002*
Pre-test 5.26 1.085
Post-test
Being aware of your own mental processes
5.26 1.093
0.990
Pre-test 4.90 1.103
Post-test
Identifying and/or creating new possibilities
4.67 1.267
0.360
Pre-test 5.91 1.064
Post-test
Learning from your mistakes
5.72 1.278
0.411
Pre-test 5.09 1.204
Post-test
Enjoying different ways of thinking
4.98 1.318
0.670
Pre-test 4.40 1.297
Post-test
Questioning
4.63 1.589
0.437
Pre-test 5.16 1.335
Post-test
Encouraging others
5.16 1.413
0.978
Pre-test 4.07 1.653
Post-test
Playing devil’s advocate
4.05 1.786
0.949
Pre-test 4.78 1.475
Post-test
Using language to communicate with impact
4.93 1.370
0.589
Pre-test 5.02 1.357 0.439
Post-test
Using your imagination
5.21 1.125
Pre-test 4.72 1.281 0.011*
Post-test
Systematically exploring different perspectives
as a team 5.37 1.215
Note: * statistically significant at the p = 0.05 level.

11. Along came a swagman 61
Visual inspection of Table 1 indicates that two of the items computed identical means
(5.26), namely being aware of your own mental processes and encouraging others.
Maximum score possible is 7 which indicate a perceived perfect level of effectiveness in
relation to their use of these skills in the workplace. These above average results are
interesting as one is inwardly focused indicating that subjects did not feel they increased
their own awareness of mental processes which were already scored fairly high. The
outwardly focused skill of encouraging others scored a similarly high mean (5.16) in the
pre- and post-tests. In both cases these were the most highly scored means of all the 12
items with the exception of the item on ‘learning from your mistakes’ which had a mean
score of 5.91. This indicates that on average the sample felt they had attained this
particular skill to almost a level of perfection with no change over the course of the
intervention.
5 Discussion
The data reveal significant gains in 25% of the set of skills related to thinking critically.
This result has some meaning in relation to the short-term impact of an intensive and
focused short-period of education.
As noted earlier thinking critically comprises affective, cognitive, intuitive and
imaginative aspects. The 12 individual skills in thinking critically can be divided into five
sets as shown in Table 2. The cognitive skills embrace the core skills, cognitive
awareness and higher order skills while the intuitive skills embrace the practically
focused and affective skills. The felt impact of the short-term education program at a
statistically significant level occurred in two of the categories listed in Table 2, namely
core skills and one of the higher order skills.
Table 2 Taxonomy of thinking critically and examples from the survey
Taxonomy of skills Examples from the survey instrument
Identifying assumptions
A
Core skills in thinking
critically
1
2 Gaining fresh perspectives
B Cognitive awareness 3 Being aware of one’s own mental skills
Questioning
Playing devil’s advocate
Using language to communicate with impact
Using your imagination
C Higher order skills 4
5
6
7
8
Systematically exploring different perspectives as a
team
Identifying and/or creating new possibilities
D Practically focused skills 9
10 Learning from one’s own mistakes
Enjoying different ways of thinking
E Affective skills 11
12 Encouraging others

12. 62 F. Sofo et al.
Many authors define the core of critical thinking as the capacity to identify explicit and
implicit assumptions (Burbach et al., 2004; Ennis, 1991; Sofo, 2004). As an underpinning
competency its application enables students to identify different perspectives hidden
within the same proposition. There is a close link between the capacity to identify
assumptions and realising that each of those assumptions is a potential expression of a
fresh perspective. There is some consistency therefore in students feeling they had made
significant gains in both of these closely related core skills.
A number of activities students were exposed to included practice in working in
teams and critically reflecting in those teams. These types of activities were new to them
within their educational context. Within the university department, class size was
generally large (60 plus) and the traditional teaching methods were typically followed
which consist of lectures and written exercises. It appears that the introduction of a
new interactive approach to teaching impacted significantly on students leading to
feelings of significant advancement in skill level of systematically exploring different
perspectives as a team. Playing devil’s advocate is another higher order skill but
performed where an individual pits ideas against others. This was the lowest scored
competency. Potentially this skill is more difficult to use than the skill of systematically
exploring different perspectives as a team, requires a great deal of confidence in
individuals and needs to be understood as a valuable tool rather than as a technique of
disagreement, cynicism or irony. The skill of systematically exploring different
perspectives as a team may also possibly refer to the improvement and positive reactions
of the students to team work. Although teamwork seems to be a prerequisite for
development of critical thinking the improvement only in this assessment and not in
‘questioning’, ‘playing devil’s advocate’ or ‘enjoying’ different ways of thinking’ may
speak for the team work argument.
This case study has lent some support to Vincenti’s (2001) finding that the
development of thinking critically can be enhanced through intercultural and international
experiences. Italian students’ perceived levels of competencies in applying critical
thinking were statistically and practically different at the end of the course compared to
the beginning. The practical significance is that within the classroom simulations students
were beginning to avoid dualistic thinking, a tendency noted by Solvang (2004) within
university students, and became less emotive and more reflective thus thinking beyond
their own experiences by seriously considering each others’ perspectives. By focusing
instruction on meta-cognitive processes it appears that students were able to think about
their thinking practice and how they might improve their own processes in the practical
classroom exercises they engaged in.
In particular, the active commitment required by students in the simulation learning
exercises confirm the assertion by Cano-Garcia and Hughes (2000) that moving beyond
pedagogical teaching and requiring higher order rehearsal leads to gains in thinking
critically. The use of andragogical learning principles (Knowles, 1990) which included
particular qualities and characteristics within classroom activities contributed to these
significant gains in student levels of thinking. These principles meant that students were
able to use and compare examples (Robertson, 2000) thus develop their capacity to
generalise, practise the newly acquired skills (Anderson et al., 2001) while also
consciously endeavouring to detect and correct errors (Garuti et al., 1999) in a
cooperative fashion in teams (Vincenti, 2001).

13. Along came a swagman 63
It is curious that skills in three of the categories including four of the five higher order
skills were not developed at a level of significance. A future study could focus on
collecting additional data and interviewing students to try and discover other reasons for
the type of impact of the education program as revealed in this study.
The lowest scoring item with a mean of 4.07 indicates an average perceived ability in
being able to play devil’s advocate. This concept and skill did not appear to be popular or
commonly used by students. It is a skill requiring challenge where individuals become
mechanisms to create intellectual movement in the pursuit of new ideas and a deeper
appreciation of concepts. Speculation suggests that a university conservative culture of
compliance with expectations that ideas are learned and reported accurately might act as
a disincentive to students becoming catalysts and comfortably adopting the role of devil’s
advocate.
Given the short space in time between the pre-test and post-test questionnaire, there
are very few factors which could create such a statistically significant effect across one
quarter of the critical thinking competencies. The role of non-formal or informal
learning has already been acknowledged within this paper, though it should be noted that
a limitation of the study is the lack of follow-up with the students. As noted by Rapps et
al. (2001), critical thinking skills, dispositions and cognitive development are formed
during the educational process, but experience refines, strengthens, elevates and
synthesizes these components to produce the true critical thinker (p.611) which
leads to their conclusion that the development of critical thinking requires both time
and experience. It is therefore necessary to undertake further research to test the
longevity and further development of critical thinking skills amongst the sample in this
study.
It would be useful also to extend the study to include an experimental design enabling
a comparative analysis against a control group to be undertaken whereby students are
randomly allocated to either being exposed to the teaching of the visiting academic or to
a class where the instruction is delivered in the usual pedagogical manner by existing
staff of the University of Calabria where the study was conducted.
Different results may also stem from students being exposed to the educational
intervention of a visiting foreign professor for a longer period of time. One might be
tempted to dismiss the modest breadth of impact where there were statistically significant
gains in one quarter of the results, and interpret the outcome as a cause of the Hawthorne
effect. In this case there was no control group or any mention of experimentation to the
students forming the sample and so it would seem implausible that the students would
have a reactive effect to knowing they were participating in research. The students were,
nevertheless, prepared for the visit and instruction by an Australian professor and expert
in the field. The introduction of a foreign expert bringing different perspectives and using
unusual or new methods such as simulations, meditation and a critical thinking activities
focus may have elicited reactive effects sufficiently to raise the self-perception of the
students that they had made significant gains in some key skill areas. The opportunity
also exists to compare the results of the students from the current pilot study to students
from other universities, or indeed other countries, to provide further insight into any
similarities or differences that arise in the development of critical thinking skills amongst
university students.

14. 64 F. Sofo et al.
6 Conclusions
The obvious interdisciplinary nature of a management engineer’s employment upon
graduation makes their exposure to international experiences during their university
studies, as well as a subsequent development of critical thinking skills, essential in order
for them to be effective in their professional lives. An inability to think critically can be
restrictive, as it would reduce the individual’s ability to view information from multiple
perspectives or to analyse the quality of the information. Giroux (1989) correctly assumes
that if students actually understand the benefits and application of higher order or critical
thinking skills, they might then come to expect and indeed demand instruction from their
facilitators that demonstrates these very same skills.
Through teaching in an international context, it is not only possible to develop in
students a specific skill previously undeveloped (in this case, critical thinking), but it is
also possible to increase their understanding of cross-cultural interdependence and expose
them to diversity in interaction through which barriers and assumptions can be reduced or
eliminated. These very issues sit at the heart of interdisciplinary studies, and through
actively mixing seemingly disparate teaching methodologies and disciplines, it is possible
to demonstrate how integration can occur within academia. Through this, it is possible to
foster integration and global cohesion – one student at a time.
Through combining the Australian HRD approach with the subject matter of the
Italian management engineers, it was possible to enhance the relevance and importance
of active critical thinking by providing cross-discipline examples and alternatives ways of
approaching a problem or scenario. This approach therefore combined the factors
highlighted within this paper – international experiences and interdisciplinarity – and
demonstrated how they can significantly increase the perceived effectiveness of
university students’ ability to think critically. The outcomes of this research highlight
how exposing Italian students to an Australian swagman, specific activities designed to
develop their critical thinking skills can result in significant improvements. Given that the
sample generally felt they had already attained high levels of skills in learning from their
mistakes, with little room for improvement, it is interesting to note that they also
indicated that they had improved three of their capacities for thinking critically to a
statistically and practically significant level.
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