Critical thinking skills are sought after in the workforce and are often included in course, departmental, and programmatic learning objectives. However, in the curriculum of many courses we tend to focus on content rather than on fostering the growth of the cognitive skills needed to improve critical thinking ability. Further, skills are difficult to teach simply by modeling and lecturing, limiting our ability to teach skills in larger courses. This study examines a large-lecture course that included skill-focused content-related practice and collected data on outcomes through exam performance. The data indicate that scaffolded in-class practice make a significant difference on student exam performance on questions involving data analysis and application. The skills of applying knowledge in a new situation and analysis of graphs and data are key components of the critical thinking skills that employers value and our students need for success.