Article: Fostering Students’ Critical Thinking in Your Class

by Jihong Tang, Instructional Designer II, Learning and Educational Center

With the emergence of AI, concerns are arising regarding the potential replacement of jobs by AI in the future. Nevertheless, it is essential to recognize that AI lacks the capacity for critical thinking skills. Consequently, it becomes important to teach students critical thinking skills, which not only impacts their academic success but also their chosen careers.  

Prior to artificial intelligence becoming a hot topic, the World Economic Forum released a report in 2016 titled ”The Future of Jobs” which shows that critical thinking and complex problem-solving are top skills valued by employers (Holland, 2018). More recently, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Educating for the Future Index argued that future educational systems must assist students in “mastering a suite of adaptable interpersonal, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills” (Walton, 2017, p. 4).  

There are many different definitions of critical thinking and its elements and associated activities that have filled educational literature in the past decades. At the 8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, scholars Michael Scriven and Richard Paul (1987) defined critical thinking as the “intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.”  

 Teaching critical thinking is essential for the following key reasons: 

  • Informed Decision-Making: Critical thinking equips students with the ability to assess information, weigh evidence, and make well-informed decisions in various aspects of their lives.  
  • Analytical Skills: Critical Thinking fosters analytical skills, allowing students to scrutinize and evaluate ideas, arguments, and data, which is invaluable in a data-driven world.  
  • Complex Problem-Solving: Critical thinking enables students to approach complex problems methodically, breaking them down into manageable parts to devise effective solutions. 
  • Creativities and Innovation: Critical thinking promotes creativity and encourages innovative thinking, which is an essential skill in evaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones, and modifying them if necessary.  

Critical thinking skills are important components of learning in nearly every discipline. To effectively teach critical thinking, instructors must first identify the discipline-specific content that is appropriate, develop assessable learning objectives for the course, and purposefully create activities and assignments that will help students develop their critical thinking abilities. 

A research study conducted by a Spanish university indicated that, based on students’ points of view, six methodologies mainly contributed to developing critical thinking: debates, project-based learning, practices in real contexts, doing research, cooperative learning, and case studies (Campo et al., 2023). Cooperative learning can be carried out through class discussions, peer review, simulation, role-playing, debriefing of complex cases, debates, structured controversy, targeting journals, reflection journals, and inquiry-guided labs. All these learning experiences can arouse students’ curiosity, prompt them to ask questions, and encourage them to provide evidence for their arguments (Nelson, 2018). NSU provides several tools for instructors to facilitate cooperative learning experiences. In Canvas, instructors can establish discussion forums and incorporate peer reviews in the assignment. For role-playing activities, video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams can be utilized. Cooperative learning activities find a suitable environment in Google Workspace for Education (utilizing Google Docs and Slides) and Microsoft 365 (working with Word and PowerPoint documents). The LEC team is available to support instructors in developing simulations using the Storyline authoring tool.  

Critical thinking involves cognitive operations that can often be difficult. It takes students time and significant effort to develop critical thinking skills. Students learn critical thinking by answering challenging, open-ended questions that require genuine inquiry, analysis, or assessment (Nilson, 2014). The process of learning critical thinking can be encouraged by having students do two things after arriving at an answer: in order to cultivate a metacognitive awareness of their reasoning, and 2) receive feedback on their responses from the instructor or their peers to make any necessary corrections or refinements to their thinking (Nilson, 2018).

In today’s fast-paced world, the ability to think critically is more important than ever and necessary for students. As instructors, you hold the key to empowering students with the capacity to analyze, question, and think critically. The journey to nurture critical thinking is ongoing, but its impact extends far beyond the classroom. Fostering critical thinking prepares students to meet the challenges of the future. 

 

References 

  1. Campo L, Galindo-Domínguez H, Bezanilla M-J, Fernández-Nogueira D, Poblete M. Methodologies for Fostering Critical Thinking Skills from University Students’ Points of View. Education Sciences. 2023; 13(2):132. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020132
  2. Holland, B. (2018, June 11). Critically Thinking About Critical Thinking. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-critically-thinking-about-critical-thinking/2018/06#:~:text=At%20the%208th%20Annual%20International  
  3. Linda B. Nilson. (2014, December 1). Unlocking the Mystery of Critical Thinking. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/course-design-ideas/unlocking-mystery-critical-thinking
  4. Linda B. Nilson. (2018, October 4). Teaching Critical Thinking: Some Practical Points. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/teaching-critical-thinking-practical-points/
  5. The Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2019). Defining critical thinking. Criticalthinking.org; Foundation for Critical Thinking. https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766
  6. Walton, N. (2017). Worldwide educating for the future index. (M. Gold, Ed.) Retrieved from The Economist Intelligence Unit: http://dkf1ato8y5dsg.cloudfront.net/uploads/5/80/eiu-yidan-prize-educating-for-the-future-wp-final.pdf