Both critical thinking (CT) and knowledge management (KM) skills are necessary elements for a university student's success. Therefore, this study developed a co-creation blended KM model to cultivate university students' CT skills and to explore the underlying mechanisms for achieving success. Thirty-one university students participated in this study. Findings from the 17-week training program suggest that scaffolding university students through knowledge sharing, internalization, and co-creation processes in a blended KM environment can effectively enhance their CT skills. Moreover, the attribute-treatment interaction (ATI) analysis suggests that judicial thinking style which relates to a deep learning approach may facilitate KM and help improve CT skills. Notably, the complex underlying mechanisms and paths of influence found in this study attest to the highly dynamic nature of the proposed KM processes. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)