Infusing Critical Thinking Into Your Course

“Linda Nilson does the seemingly impossible: unpacks the multifaceted, varied definitions and approaches to critical thinking and then deftly weaves them into a rich set of useful approaches and strategies for instructors to integrate into their own outcomes, assignments and assessments.”

Patty Payette, Executive Director, Ideas to Action; Senior Associate Director, Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning - University of Louisville

“We often say that critical thinking is not only among the key attributes employers seek in college graduates, but also an essential quality for informed citizens in a democracy. Yet there's a marked lack of clear guidance for how educators can teach critical thinking in the classroom. Linda Nilson’s book performs an essential service by showing faculty how they can teach critical thinking while also teaching disciplinary content, thereby helping students gain an essential skill for life after college, in their professional, personal, and public life."

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, CEO, Disaster Avoidance Experts, LLC, and author of The Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Cognitive Bias and Build Better Relationships

"This book should be read and used by every faculty member. Improved critical thinking is an essential outcome for all courses and for research training in any field.  Dr. Nilson has drawn on her long experience as an outstanding faculty developer to make it easier for any of us to foster advanced critical thinking. She clearly explains the underlying rationale and provides powerful ways to engage students. She includes: 1) a quick and accurate review of major alternative frameworks, 2) extensively developed examples of ways to implement each of them with students and 3) multiple approaches to assess students’ thinking while fostering further sophistication. I would have been a much more effective teacher if I had had this foundation to build on."

Craig E. Nelson, Professor Emeritus, Biology - Indiana University

"The ability to think critically is vital to our capacity to 'routinely confront dishonesty' in Linda Nilson's words. In this lively and accessible book, Nilson reviews how students can be helped to investigate claims made across a wide range of disciplines. She provides numerous examples of classroom exercises and assessment formats for college teachers seeking practical guidance on how to infuse critical thinking across the curriculum."

Stephen D. Brookfield - Distinguished Scholar, Antioch University

Preface
Acknowledgments

1) Promoting Critical Thinking to Your Students: Being Nobody’s Fool
2) The Critical Thinking Literature: A Sticky Thicket
3) Ten Reasons Why Teaching Critical Thinking Is So Challenging
4) Formulating Critical Thinking Learning Outcomes
5) Fostering Your Students’ Cognitive Awareness to Teach Critical Thinking
6) Asking Your Students the Right Questions to Teach Critical Thinking
7) Using the Most Effective Methods to Teach Critical Thinking
8) Assessing Your Students’ Critical Thinking with Objective Items
9) Assessing Your Students’ Critical Thinking With Constructed-Response Questions and Tasks
10) Assessing Constructed Responses Using Rubrics
11) Assessing Constructed Responses Using Specifications Grading
12) Critical Thinking and the Promise of Higher Education

Appendix A: Discussion Activities for Various Purposes
References
About the Author
Index

Linda B. Nilson

Linda B. Nilson is founding director emeritus of the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation (OTEI) at Clemson University and author of Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors, now in its fourth edition.