I compiled this outline of CT-related skills, strategies, and concepts on the basis of two years of work with students in CT classes, and two years' worth of meetings and discussions with other CT teachers. It is not meant to be exhaustive, but it does represent a range of concerns that have arisen in actual classroom practice.

Formal note: The words in italics are thematic phrasings that I often find myself sharing with and repeating to my students. The phrases which are underlined are writing tasks given to the students, often in the form of directed assignments, which allow me to assess their progress as critical thinkers. These are listed twice: individually in the instructional areas in which they arise, and collectively in the assessment section at the end.

- Bruce Schauble

Goals of Critical Thinking

To know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it that way
To know what to do when I’m stuck
To be able to articulate how I am thinking about something

Tools for Teaching Critical Thinking

Socratic Questioning

Elicit responses that lead the students to find their own answers
Push student to the point of clarity
Model thoughtful questioning for the students
Class discussion is a rehearsal for writing

The Wheel

Guides the questioning process
Provides a common vocabulary
Can be used as a checkpoint for testing the quality of one’s thinking

The Standards

Provide students with a way of testing the quality of their thinking
Serve to generate further questions and deepen thinking

The Reflection Paper

Making thinking visible
Writing as a mode of thinking

Inferences

Making Observations
Drawing Inferences; Examining Implications
Distinguishing between observations and inferences
Evaluating inferences (high- and low-probability)
Developing a line of thought containing inferences based on observable data.

Questioning

Framing a good question puts you more than halfway to finding an answer.

Clarifying Questions
Exploratory Questions
Interpretive Questions
Essential Questions
Developing line of thought based on a key question (State question, examine hypothetical answers, evaluate answers.)

Point of View

All thinking is embedded in a point of view.
Flexible thinkers know how to shift their point of view.
Two principles: 1. There’s always a way. 2. There’s always another way

Making the sideways move:
        “Another way of looking at this is....”
        “If... then...” x2 or x3
Identifying assumptions
        Others’
        Your own
Developing a line of thought based by challenging assumptions.
Developing a line of thought by considering various points of view.

The Structures of Thinking

What is the logic of _____________?
What are the parts of ___________? How are they related?
Developing a line of thought based on an analysis of structure.

Paradigms (Thinking Processes)

State, Elaborate, Exemplify, Illustrate
Pose a question and pursue multiple answers
Compare and Contrast
Make the sideways move
Developing a line of thought based on an analysis of process

Thinking Standards

Clarity
Specificity
Precision
Accuracy
Logic
Relevance
Significance
Plausibility
Breadth
Depth

Assessment Tools

Reflection Papers
Task-specific exercises

Developing a line of thought containing inferences based on observable data.
Developing line of thought based on a key question.
Developing a line of thought based by challenging assumptions.
Developing a line of thought by considering various points of view.
Developing a line of thought based on an analysis of structure.
Developing a line of thought based on an analysis of process

Summary projects/exams
DBQs (Data-based questions)
Logs/Journals