Teaching Critical Thinking

Critical thinking (CT) is a metacognitive process (i.e., thinking about thinking) that refers to purposeful, self-regulatory, and reflective judgement consisting of a subset of skills (i.e., analysis, evaluation, and inference) and dispositions (e.g., open-mindedness, perseverance and organisation) that, when used appropriately, enhance the likelihood of drawing a reasonable conclusion or solving a problem.

In this definition, it is important to note the specific meanings of the following terms:

Metacognition—knowledge and awareness of one’s own cognitive processes, as well as the application of these processes for purposes of learning or devising solutions to problems.

Reflective judgement—one’s understanding of the nature, limits and certainty of knowing, and how this can affect how they defend their judgements and reasoning in context; the opposite of intuitive judgement.

Analysis—a CT skill referring to the ...