In the last four columns the authors introduced the concept of critical thinking competency standards and elaborated a number of such standards, targeting the analysis of thought, the assessment of thought, and the cultivation of intellectual virtues. In this column they focus on three subject-specific critical thinking competency standards. It is…

In the last three columns the authors introduced the concept and provided several examples of critical thinking competency standards that target the cultivation of intellectual traits. In this column the authors continue the discussion of these competency standards that are essential to teaching and learning because they go beyond the development…

In the last two columns the authors introduced the idea of ethical reasoning and discussed its importance to education. They dealt with the problem of egocentric thinking as a barrier to ethical reasoning. And they focused on the importance of distinguishing ethics from other modes of thought with which it is often confused, namely social…

In the last three columns, the authors introduced the idea of ethical reasoning, discussed its importance to education, and briefly dealt with a number of understandings essential to skilled ethical reasoning. In this column, the authors continue this discussion. They distinguish between simple and complex ethical questions and reason through an…

Much lip service is given to the notion that students are learning to think critically. Studies consistently show that though faculty say that critical thinking is important to their instruction, they have difficulty articulating a clear conception of it and demonstrating how they foster it. In order for students to learn critical thinking,…

In the last two columns we emphasized the importance of teaching so that students learn to think within and take command of content. We discussed the need to design instructional strategies for fostering deep learning, offering seven strategies as examples. In this column, we provide five additional strategies. As we maintain in all of our…

In the last column we introduced the idea of ethical reasoning (see Paul & Elder, 2006) and discussed its importance to education, assuming the intention is to cultivate fairminded critical thinking. We also discussed the problem of intrinsic egocentric thinking as a fundamental barrier to ethical reasoning. In this column we focus on conceptual…

The development of ethical reasoning abilities is vitally important--both for living an ethical life and creating an ethical world. In this article, the authors set out some of the foundations of ethical reasoning. Their aim is to introduce some important intellectual tools and understandings for insightfully reasoning through ethical issues and…

In the last column we focused (as a primary goal of instruction) on the importance of teaching so that students learn to think their way into and through content. We stressed the need for well-designed daily structures and tactics for fostering deep learning, offering three strategies as examples. In this column, we provide four additional…

In the last two articles, the authors introduced the concept of Socratic questioning and its relationship to critical thinking. They illuminated how understanding the concepts embedded in critical thinking naturally generates questions. For example, a thinker who understands the elements of thought asks questions which probe the parts of thinking.…

The "Critical Thinking and the Art of Close Reading" series (which includes this column and three others) focuses on some of the most basic understandings necessary for close reading (Paul & Elder, 2003). To read well, in addition to having these understandings, students must be able to identify the big picture within a text, to determine the key…

The typical college student is unable to deeply comprehend what he or she reads. Most students have few, if any, intellectual tools that would enable them to read deeply, and then apply what they have read. The "Critical Thinking and the Art of Close Reading" series (which includes this column and the past three columns) focuses on some of the…

This column discusses the art of engaging text while reading. To read closely, students must get beyond impressionist reading. They must come to see that simply deciphering words on a page and getting some vague sense of what is there does not translate into substantive learning. Instead, they must learn that to read well is to engage in a…

Third in a series of columns focusing on teaching students to think critically, this column provides three templates useful in helping students practice analyzing and assessing the logic of a text. Discusses how to analyze an article, essay, or chapter; comprehend the logic of a textbook; and evaluate an author's reasoning. (NB)

Explores ways to help students take learning seriously and ask critical questions about their studies. Describes strategies for students to raise important questions, to distinguish between one-system and competing-systems disciplines, and how to ask questions about a field of study and textbooks. (MZ)