Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking has become a sort of god-term at colleges and universities: we all
ask our students to be "critical thinkers" but we often fail to outline for
our students what exactly that means and how they might go about demonstrating such
thinking. The links below offer suggestions for activities, but more important, we've
also included the rubric that Washington State uses for faculty and students to help
them both understand what is involved in critical thinking and, of course, how students'
work will be assessed.
What Is Critical Thinking?
- Argument Mapping (Austhink)
- A brief tutorial on how the linguistic and visual come together in a cognitive
mapping system; excellent for students to look at as examples.
- Argument
Maps Improve Critical Thinking (Charles Twardy, Monash U)
- Critical Thinking Handbook (Michael
O'Rourke, Idaho)
- Easy to navigate, this online handbook offers background information on critical
thinking, for each chapter, it offers separate links to the "theory" that
informs the chapter and various "applications" of the theory.
- Critical Thinking Rubric (Washington
State)
- Presents seven key elements in assessing whether student work represents "critical
thinking" and offers examples of "scant" v. "substantially developed" student
work.
Critical Thinking Projects
- Critical
Thinking Across the Curriculum (Longview CC)
- Critical Thinking Community
- Critical Thinking Consortium
- Critical Thinking Project (Washington
State)
Other Resources
- Coaching Winners:
How to Teach Critical Thinking (B. Dult)
- Journals on Critical
Thinking/Argument (CTOTW)
- On Critical Thinking (H.
Brightman, Georgia State)
