More than just a college degree

In the book Academically Adrift, authors Richard Arum and Josipa Roska produce evidence that the average college student in America develops their critical thinking and communication skills little - if at all - while in college. Meanwhile, the development of critical thinking and communication skills is touted as one of the primary objectives of a college education by institutions of higher education. At the same time, many career development specialists point to the increasing importance of critical thinking and communication skills required to land a job in today's competitive workplace.

For example, in the article "Preparation for Work,"Barbara Hofer writes, "In a knowledge economy where professional roles change rapidly and many college students are preparing for positions that may not even exist yet, the skill set needed is one that prepares them for change and continued learning. Learning to express ideas well in both writing and speech, knowing how to find information and synthesize ideas, knowing how to do research and interpret data — these are all solid background skills for a wide variety of roles."

Which brings us back to the rather troublesome conclusion of Academically Adrift: the average college student in America develops their critical thinking and communication skills little - if at all - while in college.

Now, that is not to say that students do not, cannot and should not develop these skills in college. Quite the opposite. However, it is to say that a student can probably earn a college degree without developing lasting learning, critical thinking, and communication skills (unfortunately) . And in today's competitive economy, you will need not just the degree, but also these crucial skills to land a good job.

So, what can you do to build your learning, critical thinking, and communication skills while in college? Many things, but here are a few suggestions:

- seek out (rather than avoid) liberal arts courses that require extensive reading, writing and research
- seek out (rather than avoid) challenging courses and instructors outside of your major
- seek out (rather than avoid) science and technical courses that require hands-on experiments and problem solving
- develop study strategies focused on understanding, not memorizing (for example, peer teaching, concept diagrams, examples and questions that you create, interdisciplinary associations, annotating notes, debates and discussions, interdisciplinary essays, et cetera)
- always question assumptions, review evidence, look from multiple perspectives, challenge your own confirmation bias (confirmation bias is the tendency to only see the evidence that supports what we want to believe while disregarding anything to the contrary)
- always ask, "What is missing? What else do I need to know? What does this mean?"
- seek extracurricular opportunities that allow you to solve problems, create plans, communicate with stakeholders, develop programs (leadership roles in student clubs, for example)

See your professors or academic advisors for further guidance on developing learning, critical thinking and communication skills.