Teaching Students to Think Critically

The push is on educators to help students strengthen their critical thinking skills. With the advent of new communication technologies, and the growing awareness of the World Wide Web, students are being exposed more frequently to differing viewpoints and sometimes questionable information. In order to process this information effectively, students are going to have to rely on their critical thinking skills. State governments, such as New Jersey, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania, are stressing the importance of teaching critical thinking skills, even at the elementary and high school education levels.
What is critical thinking? Richard Paul, founder and director of Sonoma State University's Center for Critical Thinking, defines critical thinking as "[T]hinking about your thinking while you're thinking in order to make your thinking better.... To think well is to impose discipline and restraint on our thinking--by means of intellectual standards--in order to raise our thinking to a level of 'perfection' or quality that is not natural or likely in undisciplined, spontaneous thought. " (from an interview for Think magazine, April 1992). The Center for Critical Thinking maintains a Web site at Sonoma State University with instructional guides and lesson plans to help educators implement critical thinking in every aspect of their teaching.
Taking Sides anthologies are an excellent tool for teaching critical thinking in that they expose students to a variety of viewpoints and strongly argued positions related to their field of study.
Critical Thinking Techniques
Another school that has increased their emphasis on critical thinking is Salisbury State University. Their psychology department has developed a list of critical thinking questions for use in an advanced general psychology course that have proven to be of great value to students as they deal with the conflicting claims of experts in the field. These questions are available as a student handout from Questions to Ask When Examining a Position. With these critical thinking questions, which easily translate to any discipline or course, students are better prepared to assess arguments and evidence as they write papers, prepare oral reports, or critically analyze positions taken by their classmates in a debate. Although a brief explanation of each question is given in the handout, you may wish to discuss these questions with your students in class.
Questions to Ask When Examining a Position touches on a number important topics to the teaching of critical thinking, including writer bias, propoganda, and reader bias. In their book Analyzing Controversy: An Introductory Guide (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 1997), Gary K. Clabaugh, La Salle University, and Edward G. Rozycki, Widener University, introduce students to a number of propaganda techniques employed by writers, including generalizations, name calling, appeals to emotion, slogans, and presuppositions. We have taken a variety of these techniques from this book to make a Propaganda Alert student handout.
Students also have to be aware of their own biases when analyzing arguments. One way to reduce a possible "sympathetic effect" when considering an argument is to test students on their opinions of the issues before they are discussed. This is done at the City College of New York and the University of Maryland at College Park, and it may well reduce the effects of unconsciously held preconceptions. An Opinion-Assessment Pretest created by Kurt Finsterbusch, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, is available for each of our 22 Taking Sides® volumes. Giving the test again at the end of the critical thinking process can determine whether or not there has been change and opinion reformation. The results can be used to compare individual movement or change within the class as a whole.
Organized Methods for Evaluating Critical Thinking
Once students have been exposed to the processes of critical thinking, there are several ways in which their understanding of these techniques can be evaluated.
Understanding of these critical thinking methods would most clearly be demonstrated in a formal debate setting in which students apply critical thinking skills in an open and spontaneous setting. Under these conditions, an instructor can quickly and easily identify those students who show a clear grasp of the skills involved and those who do not demonstrate such an understanding.
In classroom situations where preparing formal debate is either impractical or undesirable, there are less formal methods for determining how much students have learned about critical thinking skills. An elaborate questionnaire, reproduced in Taking Sides Analysis Report (Long Form), was created at Diablo Valley Community College for use in a course entitled "Critical Reasoning in History." The questions in the handout demand an understanding of the skills and techniques that are required to analyze an argument. This method has the advantage of requiring the students to go to the library in order to conduct further research. It can be printed and given to students as a quiz or exam, or it can used as a guide to assist students as they read the issues in Taking Sides. Professor Dan Gallagher, Department of Psychology, Salisbury State University, prepared a similar short-form analysis questionnaire reproduced in Taking Sides Analysis Report (Short Form).
When teaching students critical thinking skills, you may find that the first assignment is difficult for students but that it becomes easier both for them to do and for you to grade as more are given. Once these techniques are firmly established and your students are comfortable with them, you can create a unified set of learning objectives. These objectives can be adapted quickly and easily for any issue area. Broad objectives can be derived from the essay questions contained in the instructor's manual that accompanies each volume, or they can be keyed to the development of particular skills or knowledge.
Having taught students analytical skills and distributed content-oriented material, it is possible to engage your students more deeply in the examination of controversy. In the Psychology Department at Purdue University, students have been asked to apply the critical process and to show how decisions are reached by public officials and others who must choose among imperfect alternatives. The mode for this process is a decision matrix.

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Teaching Students to Think Critically
The push is on educators to help students strengthen their critical thinking skills. With the advent of new communication technologies, and the growing awareness of the World Wide Web, students are being exposed more frequently to differing viewpoints and sometimes questionable information. In order to process this information effectively, students are going to have to rely on their critical thinking skills. State governments, such as New Jersey, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania, are stressing the importance of teaching critical thinking skills, even at the elementary and high school education levels. What is critical thinking? Richard Paul, founder and director of Sonoma State University's Center for Critical Thinking, defines critical thinking as "[T]hinking about your thinking while you're thinking in order to make your thinking better.... To think well is to impose discipline and restraint on our thinking--by means of intellectual standards--in order to raise our thinking to a level of 'perfection' or quality that is not natural or likely in undisciplined, spontaneous thought. " (from an interview for Think magazine, April 1992). The Center for Critical Thinking maintains a Web site at Sonoma State University with instructional guides and lesson plans to help educators implement critical thinking in every aspect of their teaching. Taking Sides anthologies are an excellent tool for teaching critical thinking in that they expose students to a variety of viewpoints and strongly argued positions related to their field of study. Critical Thinking Techniques Another school that has increased their emphasis on critical thinking is Salisbury State University. Their psychology department has developed a list of critical thinking questions for use in an advanced general psychology course that have proven to be of great value to students as they deal with the conflicting claims of experts in the field. These questions are available as a student handout from Questions to Ask When Examining a Position. With these critical thinking questions, which easily translate to any discipline or course, students are better prepared to assess arguments and evidence as they write papers, prepare oral reports, or critically analyze positions taken by their classmates in a debate. Although a brief explanation of each question is given in the handout, you may wish to discuss these questions with your students in class. Questions to Ask When Examining a Position touches on a number important topics to the teaching of critical thinking, including writer bias, propoganda, and reader bias. In their book Analyzing Controversy: An Introductory Guide (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 1997), Gary K. Clabaugh, La Salle University, and Edward G. Rozycki, Widener University, introduce students to a number of propaganda techniques employed by writers, including generalizations, name calling, appeals to emotion, slogans, and presuppositions. We have taken a variety of these techniques from this book to make a Propaganda Alert student handout. Students also have to be aware of their own biases when analyzing arguments. One way to reduce a possible "sympathetic effect" when considering an argument is to test students on their opinions of the issues before they are discussed. This is done at the City College of New York and the University of Maryland at College Park, and it may well reduce the effects of unconsciously held preconceptions. An Opinion-Assessment Pretest created by Kurt Finsterbusch, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, is available for each of our 22 Taking Sides® volumes. Giving the test again at the end of the critical thinking process can determine whether or not there has been change and opinion reformation. The results can be used to compare individual movement or change within the class as a whole. Organized Methods for Evaluating Critical Thinking Once students have been exposed to the processes of critical thinking, there are several ways in which their understanding of these techniques can be evaluated. Understanding of these critical thinking methods would most clearly be demonstrated in a formal debate setting in which students apply critical thinking skills in an open and spontaneous setting. Under these conditions, an instructor can quickly and easily identify those students who show a clear grasp of the skills involved and those who do not demonstrate such an understanding. In classroom situations where preparing formal debate is either impractical or undesirable, there are less formal methods for determining how much students have learned about critical thinking skills. An elaborate questionnaire, reproduced in Taking Sides Analysis Report (Long Form), was created at Diablo Valley Community College for use in a course entitled "Critical Reasoning in History." The questions in the handout demand an understanding of the skills and techniques that are required to analyze an argument. This method has the advantage of requiring the students to go to the library in order to conduct further research. It can be printed and given to students as a quiz or exam, or it can used as a guide to assist students as they read the issues in Taking Sides. Professor Dan Gallagher, Department of Psychology, Salisbury State University, prepared a similar short-form analysis questionnaire reproduced in Taking Sides Analysis Report (Short Form). When teaching students critical thinking skills, you may find that the first assignment is difficult for students but that it becomes easier both for them to do and for you to grade as more are given. Once these techniques are firmly established and your students are comfortable with them, you can create a unified set of learning objectives. These objectives can be adapted quickly and easily for any issue area. Broad objectives can be derived from the essay questions contained in the instructor's manual that accompanies each volume, or they can be keyed to the development of particular skills or knowledge. Having taught students analytical skills and distributed content-oriented material, it is possible to engage your students more deeply in the examination of controversy. In the Psychology Department at Purdue University, students have been asked to apply the critical process and to show how decisions are reached by public officials and others who must choose among imperfect alternatives. The mode for this process is a decision matrix.