Developing Critical-thinking Skills in a Landscape Horticulture Class

I redesigned a landscape horticulture class to provide students more exercises to develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills so students would be better prepared to make science-based decisions. These changes were implemented while limiting the reduction in exposure to technical skills that students value. Pruning, planting, and soil testing lab exercises were redesigned to expose students to proper experimental design. More research tables were presented and discussed in class for interpretation and development of recommendations so students could better understand the origin of science-based decisions. Each student wrote a research paper on a horticultural issue and chose a pertinent research table to present in class to stimulate class discussion and class formulation of a recommendation.   Surveys conducted in 2012 and 2014 indicate that the course was effective in increasing the student’s knowledge of the scientific process and technical expertise.