Investigating learning gains of critical thinking and communication skills among Finnish and American higher education students

Purpose The study focuses on the differences in learning gains of higher-order skills such as critical thinking and communication of entering and exiting higher education students in Finland and the US, whether there are background variables that explain the possible difference in these skills between these two countries, and implication for transition from higher education into the workforce. Design/methodology/approach The data used in this study consist of 29,187 entering and 22,109 exiting American students, and 1,524 entering and 860 exiting Finnish students. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and two-level regression models. Findings The results show that exiting students significantly outperformed entering students, but the overall learning gains were greater for the American students. Entering Finnish students, however, had a higher average score than their American counterparts. Background variables do not explain the observed differences. Research limitations/implications One of the limitations of this study is that the model for assessing student learning gains at almost all participating higher education institutions (HEIs) is to compare entering and exiting students. Our data set do not contain any third-year students in the US as it does in Finland. Practical implications The result of this study can help HEIs implement curricular support or resources to improve with students' critical thinking and communication skills, both of which have been shown to be predictive of academic, post-graduation and workplace success. Originality/value The value of these findings is that they support and can be used to highlight the importance of critical thinking and communication skills for both academic and workplace success.