Stam, HenderikusLewis, Bradley2017-09-202017-09-2020172017http://hdl.handle.net/11023/4112As espoused by most institutions of post-secondary education, critical thinking is considered one of the most important outcomes of that education. Despite this, the literature does not provide a coherent or concise meaning for this term. In previous research, examining students’ understandings and discursive uses of critical thinking, empathy was occasionally implicated in a relationship with critical thinking. This research project attempted to further examine students’ understandings of critical thinking and its implicated relationship with empathy through focus groups of graduate students and students pursuing a professional degree in a subset of the helping professions. Using a form of discursive psychology for analysis, three major findings were presented. First, students’ discussions produced a wide array of meanings for critical thinking, but an interpretative repertoire for critical thinking was not made evident. Secondly, students’ talk also demonstrated the rhetorical use of critical thinking to account for what should be occurring in practices of students’ profession or academic disciplines. Finally, students’ discussion of empathy did not evidence an interpretative repertoire for a relationship between critical thinking and empathy. Rather students’ accounts demonstrated considerable discursive flexibility in their talk of critical thinking, which appeared to account for the relationship between critical thinking and empathy found in previous research.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Psychology--SocialCritical ThinkingEmpathyHelping ProfessionsPostsecondary EducationDiscourse Analysismaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/25490