Libraries: Critical Thinking Skills: Core Objective Resources

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We often hear the value of higher education explained as "get a job" but I consider its value (related to employment) is to make the student "employable" - this is has a different meaning than simply earning a credential that can provide access to a job interview. Being employable means the ability to think critically, in all professions.

--Corey Ackelmire

You will be more successful in life if you are able to look at life situations with a critical eye.

--Leslie Comfort

Faculty Testimonials

It is important to build a well-balanced individual and people who can weigh many sides of an argument before coming to a conclusion. To help students engage in logical thinking.

--Shireen Hyrapiet

In a real life situation are rarely questions from textbook. I think of these critical thinking assignments as opportunity for my students to apply what they have learned, not just from that chapter, or from my class, but put it all they know and address the problem in hand.

--Madhavi Nayar

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Critical Thinking – Videos

Critical thinking @ Leeds University
The Thinking Teacher's Guide to Critical Thinking
Critical thinking: University of Sussex
This student-focused resource produced by the University of Sussex contains student-oriented videos, examples, and practice for critical thinking skills.

Word Cloud – based on Student Input

Teaching Critical Thinking - Articles

Do Active-Learning Strategies Improve Students’ Critical Thinking? Improving students’ ability to recognize work-related problems and apply effective strategies and solutions to fundamental challenges in the field is at the crux of a good college preparation. This paper attempts to investigate if active-learning strategies improve students’ critical thinking ability in this regard. Participants were pre-service teachers in physical education and athletic training education taking a teaching methods service-learning course. Findings showed significant improvement with critical thinking measures across both quasi experimental conditions. As a result, gains were largely attributed to the service-learning field component common to both conditions. Furthermore, academic tracking showed students pursuing a B.A. in physical education benefitted significantly more from the active-learning assessment than students pursuing a B.S. in athletic training. The paper also discusses how the active-learning sequence was a preferred method of instruction and how these strategies were purposeful with problematizing teaching situations and engaging students with course content. This paper may draw interest from educators who are research-minded and eager to apply critical thinking approaches in a learning environment.
Effects of Inquiry-based Learning on Students’ Science Literacy Skills and Confidence Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher- to student-centered course design, and included developments such as peer-teaching, problem and inquiry-based learning. In the sciences, inquiry-based learning has been widely promoted to increase literacy and skill development, but there has been little comparison to more traditional curricula. In this study, we demonstrated greater improvements in students’ science literacy and research skills using inquiry lab instruction. We also found that inquiry students gained self-confidence in scientific abilities, but traditional students’ gain was greater –likely indicating that the traditional curriculum promoted over-confidence. Inquiry lab students valued more authentic science exposure but acknowledged that experiencing the complexity and frustrations faced by practicing scientists was challenging, and may explain the widespread reported student resistance to inquiry curricula.
Examining the effect of inquiry-based learning versus traditional lecture-based learning on students’ achievement in college algebra The focus of this study was to examine the effect of teaching based on inquiry-based learning versus traditional learning on mathematics achievement scores of undergraduate students enrolled in a college algebra class in a university classified as a Predominantly Black Institution. A college algebra course was chosen in this study due to the critical role it plays as a gateway for college completion and due to the generally high failure rate in college algebra. This study used a quasi-experimental design, with pre- and post-test to determine the effect of the instructional pedagogy on mathematics academic achievement of students. Analysis of covariance results from 41 students revealed, when controlling for college algebra readiness pre-test scores, students in the inquiry-based learning section showed significantly higher mathematics achievement post-test scores than in the traditional lecture section.
Redefining Critical Thinking: Teaching Students to Think like Scientists From primary to post-secondary school, critical thinking (CT) is an oft cited focus or key competency (e.g., DeAngelo et al., 2009; California Department of Education, 2014; Alberta Education, 2015; Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, n.d.). Unfortunately, the definition of CT has become so broad that it can encompass nearly anything and everything (e.g., Hatcher, 2000; Johnson and Hamby, 2015). From discussion of Foucault, critique and the self (Foucault, 1984) to Lawson's (1999) definition of CT as the ability to evaluate claims using psychological science, the term critical thinking has come to refer to an ever-widening range of skills and abilities. We propose that educators need to clearly define CT, and that in addition to teaching CT, a strong focus should be placed on teaching students how to think like scientists. Scientific thinking is the ability to generate, test, and evaluate claims, data, and theories (e.g., Bullock et al., 2009; Koerber et al., 2015). Simply stated, the basic tenets of scientific thinking provide students with the tools to distinguish good information from bad. Students have access to nearly limitless information, and the skills to understand what is misinformation or a questionable scientific claim is crucially important (Smith, 2011), and these skills may not necessarily be included in the general teaching of critical thinking (Wright, 2001).
The Role of Critical Thinking in Predicting and Improving Academic Performance Today’s world demands new ways of dealing with problems and different ways of preparing for them. Some studies argue that these new demands also require new skills. Critical thinking (CT) involves a set of skills that are entirely relevant to today’s adaptive needs. In this study, we explore the extent to which CT serves to both account for and improve academic performance. To do this, we measured the CT skills of a number of undergraduate students, along with their university admission grades and average course grades. We successfully established the structural validity of the general construct of CT, along with a strong relationship between CT measurements at two different timepoints (at the beginning and end of studying a critical thinking subject area) and the admission grade and average grade variables. These data lead us to reflect on using CT level as a suitable assessment of academic performance. We also consider the limits of our findings and their implications.
Teacher Perceptions of Critical Thinking among Students and Its Influence on Higher Education The concept of critical thinking was featured in taxonomies a few decades ago. Critical thinking is a complex process that requires higher levels of cognitive skills in the processing of information. The teachers' perceptions of critical thinking among students influence their behaviors in the classroom. It has been found that teachers perceive they are teaching critical thinking to their students and believe that critical thinking will provide the intellectual stimuli that will facilitate critical thinking. The evidence of critical thinking among students was perceived to be their ability to explain to ideas and concepts in their own words. However, the ability to think logically and solve problems using new approaches paraphrase is not an indication of the students' higher-level cognitive skills but the process the student undertakes to gain understanding of the material presented. Teachers did not seem to understand the requirements needed to cultivate critical thinking among students. Although teachers perceive that they are encouraging critical thinking in the classroom, they are merely focusing on the comprehension of the subject matter. (Contains 1 table.)
Teaching Critical Thinking Skills: Literature Review Critical Thinking (CT) has been recognized as one of the most important thinking skills and one of the most important indicators of student learning quality. In order to develop successful critical thinkers, CT must be incorporated into the curriculum content and teaching approaches and sequenced at all grade levels. This research provides a systematic review of the extant literature on teaching CT skills. The comprehensive review led to the building of a conceptual framework that discusses the four main debates among the researchers engaged in the field of teaching CT. One of these debates; can technology promote students CT skills? Overall, the study of actual practices indicates that teaching approaches tend to focus on subject content rather than CT development. The results indicate a gap in teaching CT skills in terms of innovative methods and particularly in the use of new technologies. They also highlight the need for further research that investigates new approaches for teaching CT skills.
Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking As a philosophy professor, one of my central goals is to teach students to think critically. However, one difficulty with determining whether critical thinking can be taught, or even measured, is that there is widespread disagreement over what critical thinking actually is. Here, I reflect on several conceptions of critical thinking, subjecting them to critical scrutiny. I also distinguish critical thinking from other forms of mental processes with which it is often conflated. Next, I present my own conception of critical thinking, wherein it fundamentally consists in acquiring, developing, and exercising the ability to grasp inferential connections holding between statements. Finally, given this account of critical thinking, and given recent studies in cognitive science, I suggest the most effective means for teaching students to think critically.

Presentation Slides & Resources from Other Colleges

Developing Students as Critical Thinkers
Password: critical

Enhancing Student Learning by Improving Students’ Ability to Think Critically St. Petersburg College (SPC) identified key initiatives faculty believed would have a favorable effect on students’ critical thinking. These initiatives covered three overarching goals: Student Success, Professional Development, and Critical Thinking Resources.

Using Argument Mapping to Teach Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum Slides from a presentation about Argument Mapping at the HLC Convention in 2017

Critical Thinking Skills: Core Objective Resources

Core Objective Definition

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Faculty Testimonials

Faculty Testimonials

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Critical Thinking – Videos

Word Cloud – based on Student Input

Teaching Critical Thinking - Articles

Presentation Slides & Resources from Other Colleges

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