Inculcating Critical Thinking among Engineering Graduates through Public Speaking Course

Abstract

The present paper focuses on how a course on Public Speaking may help teachers foster among the students of varied disciplines the development of fair-mindedness, intellectual humility, intellectual perseverance, intellectual courage, intellectual autonomy, intellectual integrity, and confidence in reasoning which are required both in social and professional life. Public speaking course surely helps in containing as well as transcending the disciplinary decadence by using the constructive ways of involving critical thinking throughout the course structure. In order to see public speaking as a way to transform, the present study throws light on various assignments such as forum discussions, Just-a-minute presentation, Prop presentation and, case study discussions and group discussions etc. that are done in the course to scaffold critical thinking. The paper also highlights the key factors such as peer review, retrospection that contribute to the increase in critical thinking skills.