Infusing Critical Thinking Into Your Course

Criticalthinking-every scholar in the literature has defined it, but there is noclearly agreed upon definition. Nowonder polls and surveys reveal that few college-level faculty can definecritical thinking or know how to teach it. Still, critical thinking keepsappearing in accreditation standards and surveys of the skills employers seekin college graduates. Thegood news is that we do know that critical thinking can be taught. But the concept cries out for the simplification,translation into discipline-relevant course outcomes, tangible teachingstrategies, and concrete assessment techniques that this book will provide.Likea course or a workshop, this book proposes learning outcomes for thereader-promises of what the reader will be able to do after reading it. Theseinclude: explain what critical thinking is insimple terms; convincingly explain to students why itis important for them to learn critical thinking, and, if they tune out, whatthey stand to lose; overcome the challenges that teachingcritical thinking presents; identify the type of course content towhich critical thinking can be applied and, therefore, that readers can use toteach critical thinking; integrate critical thinking into thedesign of a new or existing course in any discipline; write assessable critical thinkinglearning outcomes that are compatible with and make sense in any discipline; select and adapt activities and assignmentsthat will give students no- or low-stakes practice with feedback in criticalthinking using a variety of questions, tasks, and teaching methods.