WESTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY

SIAY-EXTERNAL STUDIES UNIT

Teaching Strategies to Promote Critical Thinking

Critical thinking has been an important issue in education, and has become quite the
buzzword around schools. The Common Core State Standards specifically emphasize
a thinking curriculum and thereby requires teachers to elevate their students’ mental
workflow beyond just memorization—which is a really good step forward. Critical
thinking is a skill that young minds will undeniably need and exercise well beyond their
school years. Experts agree that in keeping up with the ever-changing technological
advances, students will need to obtain, understand, and analyze information on a much
more efficient scale. It is our job as educators to equip our students with the strategies
and skills they need to think critically in order to cope with these tech problems and
obstacles they face elsewhere.

Fortunately, teachers can use a number of techniques that can help students learn
critical thinking, even for children enrolled in kindergarten. Here are some teaching
strategies that may prove immediately effective:

Teaching Strategies to Encourage Creativity

Traditionally, elementary teachers prepare templates for art projects before they give it
to their students. By doing so, it levels the creative playing field and can, in some ways,
help the classroom run more smoothly if every child’s snowflake looks the same.

I know it may be a bit unnerving to relinquish a bit of control, but rest assured
that not having everything prepped in advance is a good thing. Instead, give students all
of the supplies needed to create a snowflake, and let them do it on their own. This will
allow students to become critical thinkers because they will have to use their prior
knowledge to consider what a snowflake looks like, how big it is, what color it is, etc.

Do Not Always Jump in to Help

It’s too easy to always find a solution for a student who needs your help.
Kindergarteners especially will get very upset when they can’t find their crayons or
scissors. The easy way for a teacher to answer is “It’s OK, you can borrow a pair of
scissors from me.” Instead of always readily finding a solution for your students, try
responding with “Let’s think about how we can find them.” Then, you can assist the
student in figuring out the best possible solution for finding their lost item.

Brainstorm Before Everything You Do

One of the easiest and most effective ways to get young children to think critically is to
brainstorm. Regardless of subject, have students think about what they’ll be doing,
learning, or reading— before actually starting each activity.  Ask a lot questions, like
“What do you think this book will be about?” Or “Tell me three things you think you will
be learning in this lesson about space?” Give students every opportunity you can to be
critical thinkers.

Classify and Categorize

Classification plays an important role in critical thinking because it requires students to

understand and apply a set of rules. Give students a variety of objects and ask them to
identify each object, then sort it into a category. This is a great activity to help students
think and self-question what object should go where, and why.

Compare and Contrast

Much like classifying, students will need to look closely at each topic or object they are
comparing and really think about the significance of each one. You can have students
compare and contrast just about anything—try this out with the book your class is
reading now. Compare and contrast the weather forecast for today and yesterday.
Compare the shape and color of a pumpkin to another vegetable. Compare and
contrast today’s math lesson with last week’s—the ideas are endless.

Make Connections

Encouraging students to make connections to a real-life situation and identify patterns is

a great way to practice their critical thinking skills. Ask students to always be on the look
for these connections, and when they find one to make sure they tell you.

Provide Group Opportunities

Group settings are the perfect way to get your kids thinking. When children are around
their classmates working together, they get exposed to the thought processes of their
peers. They learn how to understand how other people think and that their way is not
the only route to explore.

When this valuable skill is introduced to students early on in the education process,
students will be capable of having complex thoughts and become better problem
solvers when presented with difficulty. It’s important for students to possess a variety of
skills, but it’s just as important for them to understand the skills and how, and when to
use them.

A teaching strategy is the method used to deliver information in the classroom, online,
or in some other medium. There is no one best strategy; we can select from several
instructional strategies for just about any subject.
Learning Style
Learning style is an individual's natural or habitual pattern of acquiring and processing
information in learning situations. A core concept is that individuals differ in how they
learn. The idea of individualized learning styles originated in the 1970s, and has greatly
influenced education. Proponents of the use of learning styles in education recommend
that teachers assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their teaching
strategies to best fit their students' learning styles.
One conceptualization of different styles of learning identifies three main modalities:
visual learning, auditory learning, and kinesthetic learning.
Visual Learning
Visual learning is a learning style in which ideas, concepts, data and other information
are associated with images and techniques.
Recommended Techniques
Graphic organizers are visual representations of knowledge, concepts, thoughts, or
ideas. To show the relationships between the parts, the symbols are linked with each
other; words can be used to further clarify meaning. By representing information
spatially and with images, students are able to focus on meaning, reorganize and group
similar ideas easily, make better use of their visual memory.
Auditory Learning
Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. An
auditory learner depends on hearing and speaking as a main way of learning. Auditory
learners must be able to hear what is being said in order to understand and may have
difficulty with instructions that are written. They also use their listening and repeating
skills to sort through the information that is sent to them.
Recommended Techniques
Teachers might use these techniques to instruct auditory learners: verbal direction,
group discussions, verbal reinforcement, group activities, reading aloud, and putting
information into a rhythmic pattern such as a rap, poem, or song.
Kinesthetic Learning
Kinesthetic learning (also known as tactile learning) is a learning style in which learning
takes place by the student carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a
lecture or watching a demonstration. Tactile-kinesthetic learners make up about five
percent of the population.
Recommended Techniques
When learning, it helps for these students to move around; this increases the students'
understanding, with learners generally getting better marks in exams when they can do
so. Kinesthetic learners usually succeed in activities such as chemistry experiments,
sporting activities, art and acting; they also may listen to music while learning or
studying. It is common for kinesthetic learners to focus on two different things at the
same time, remembering things in relation to what they were doing. They possess good
eye-hand coordination. In kinesthetic learning, learning occurs by the learner using their
body to express a thought, an idea or a concept (in any field).
Effective Teaching Strategies
A teaching strategy comprises the principles and methods used for instruction. The
choice of teaching strategy or strategies to be used depends largely on the information
or skill that is being taught, and it may also be influenced by the learning style, aptitude,
skills, and enthusiasm of the students.
Lecture
Lecture is the process of teaching by giving spoken explanations of the subject that is to
be learned. Lecturing is often accompanied by visual aids to help students visualize an
object or problem.
Demonstration
Demonstrating is the process of teaching through examples or experiments. For
example, a science teacher may teach an idea by performing an experiment for
students. A demonstration may be used to prove a fact through a combination of visual
evidence and associated reasoning.
Demonstrations are similar to written storytelling and examples in that they allow
students to personally relate to the presented information. Memorization of a list of facts
is a detached and impersonal experience, whereas the same information, conveyed
through demonstration, becomes personally relatable. Demonstrations help to raise
student interest and reinforce memory retention because they provide connections
between facts and real-world applications of those facts. Lectures, on the other hand,
are often geared more towards factual presentation than connective learning.
Collaboration
Collaboration allows students to actively participate in the learning process by talking
with each other and listening to other points of view. Collaboration establishes a
personal connection between students and the topic of study and it helps students think
in a less personally biased way. Group projects and discussions are examples of this
teaching method. Teachers may employ collaboration to assess student's abilities to
work as a team, leadership skills, or presentation abilities.
Collaborative discussions can take a variety of forms, such as fishbowl discussions or
group projects. After some preparation and with clearly defined roles, a discussion may
constitute most of a lesson, with the teacher only giving short feedback at the end or in
the following lesson.
Learning by Teaching
In this teaching strategy, students assume the role of teacher and teach their peers.
Students who teach others as a group or as individuals must study and understand a
topic well enough to teach it to their peers. By having students participate in the
teaching process, they gain self-confidence and strengthen their speaking and
communication skills.
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience, i.e.,
"learning from experience. " Experiential learning focuses on the learning process for
the individual. An example of experiential learning is going to the zoo and learning
through observation and interaction with the zoo environment, as opposed to reading
about animals from a book. Thus, one makes discoveries and experiments with
knowledge firsthand, instead of hearing or reading about others' experiences.

Fostering Critical Thinking 

Four main approaches have made the biggest impact on our children's critical thinking:
Inquiry
"One way we try to foster critical thinking skills in our classroom is by allowing our students to
be creative and to inquire about topics that are of interest to them." Katie Hart, Professional
Educator

We incorporate cross-curricular inquiry to foster deep learning. The students work

through the phases of immersion, investigation, coalescence and demonstration of
learning. Throughout these phases the students are able to wonder, build background
knowledge, develop questions, search for new information, synthesize information,
demonstrate an understanding and share their new learning with others. Throughout
inquiry, the students tie everything together through an essential question which helps
them probe for deeper meaning. These questions are open-ended, encourage
collaboration and foster the development of critical thinking skills.

Questioning
"We push students to dig deeper in their learning by asking guiding questions and providing a
variety of resources for students to independently find answers. Throughout their learning, we
encourage students to ask and answer their own questions through small group discussions,
conferring, working on their Personalized Learning Plans and using graphic organizers."
Elizabeth Hatab and Sarah Suesskind, Professional Educators

Questioning plays a critical role in cultivating critical thinking skills and deep learning.
Questioning models for students how they should think. Our professional educators use
open-ended questions to encourage discussion and active learning. We also incorporate
questioning into our everyday discussions with students.

Problem Solving
"In the 4K/5K classrooms, we don't just give students answers to issues or problems they are
having. Instead, we turn the problem onto them and ask how could they solve this problem.
This allows the child opportunities to solve their problems independently." Teresa Lutzen,
Professional Educator

Problem solving extends our inquiry work. It is important that our students think for
themselves. In problem solving they apply the critical thinking strategies they have
learned.

Collaboration
"Integrating meaningful learning experiences that promote critical thinking skills is
essential in cultivating a classroom of 21st Century learners. One way we do this is by
actively involving the students in their learning through collaborative work. This helps
the students take ownership of the learning and think critically about issues." Patti
Kaisler and Rebecca O-Grosky, Professional Educators.

Our student-centered learning environments are varied and flexible to accommodate the
needs of learners and provide ongoing opportunities to build a collaborative community
of students and staff. Our environments promote collaborative, individual, small and
large group learning.
Students learn in collaborative flexible groups based on need. When students
collaborate together they learn how to communicate with others effectively, work as a
team, practice self-discipline, and improve social and interpersonal skills. Through
collaboration, students are able to have a better understanding of what they are learning
and improve critical thinking skills.

And Beyond
There are many other ways that we foster critical thinking among our learners, but these
are the four that have made the biggest impact for us. Critical thinking is a key skill that
our students need to have in order to become life-long learners and self-advocates for
themselves.

Perceptions
The Association of American Colleges and Universities, Standards for Accreditation of
Medical Education Program, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Standards and
Guidelines for the Professional Program in Pharmacy, American Dental Education
Association, and many more organizations list critical thinking as a major intellectual
and practical skill, particularly in the area of health science education (Rowles, Morgan,
Burns, & Merchant, 2013).
This major intellectual and practical skill seems to be a skill that the majority of students
coming into higher education and the workforce are not only lacking in function, but also
in understanding what the concept is (Rowles et al., 2013; Choy & Cheah, 2009;
Henderson Hurley & Hurley, 2013).
Oftentimes, critical thinking is something that has been overlooked at the elementary,
middle, and high school levels where students are taught how to learn, as well as how
to analyze information.
When these students make it to the level of higher education or the workforce, the
educators and trainers are forced to begin by teaching critical thinking skills as opposed
to beginning with the information that needs to be conveyed.  Halx and Reybold (2005)
determined, after much review and research, that learning requires effort, but critical
thinking requires maximum exertion of intellectual capability and that students and
teachers alike find critical thinking discomforting because it requires personal reflection. 
For this reason and the lack of time available to K-12 educators, much critical thinking
has been left for higher education to teach and utilize.
Utilization of Techniques and Pedagogy to Enhance Critical Thinking in K-12
Research suggests that a more in-depth focus on enhancing critical thinking skills in K-
12 can add academic rigor and increase the scores on the standardized assessments
(VanTassel-Baska, Bracken, Feng, & Brown, 2009; McCollister & Sayler, 2010;
Snodgrass, 2011; Tsai, Chen, Chang, & Chang, 2013).  By utilizing activities to enhance
critical thinking, students are better able to understand why something has occurred as
opposed to just understanding what has occurred.  This deeper understanding allows
the students to better analyze the circumstances surrounding the occurrence and
differing viewpoints about the occurrence (Tsai et al., 2013).
“In order to engage students in critical thinking, the educator needs to act as a facilitator
to allow for discussion and encourage a freer thought process … “
Critical thinking can be infused in lessons throughout all disciplines by utilizing in depth
questioning and evaluation of both data and sources (McCollister & Sayler, 2010). 
Having students track patterns in information forces them to look at the information as a
process instead of simply information to be memorized and helps them develop skills of
recognition and prediction.  Evaluation of information and sources helps students to
learn appropriate procedures for finding and utilizing credible information, as well as
helping students learn acceptable and appropriate ways to use discretion (McCollister &
Sayler, 2010).  These are skills that will help with reading comprehension and problem-
solving skills, both of which play an important role in standardized assessments
(VanTassel-Baska, Bracken, Feng, & Brown, 2009; McCollister & Sayler, 2010; Tsai et
al., 2013).
These types of activities could be worked into the normal instructional time, with little
additional time needed, simply by utilizing things such as online discussion boards, in-
class discussions, or alternative modes of assessment in classroom settings
(Snodgrass, 2011).  It is also important that any changes to the curriculum be met with
training about the new activities and how to utilize them to their full effect.  The
establishment of professional learning communities allows educators to think critically
about the methods they are using to teach, and is a good starting point for ideas about
inclusion of critical thinking skills in the classroom (Smith & Szymanski, 2013).
The Educator’s Role in Developing Critical Thinking Skills
It is important for educators to understand that the role they play in developing critical
thinking is different than the role they are typically playing.  In order to engage students
in critical thinking, the educator needs to act as a facilitator to allow for discussion and
encourage a freer thought process, as well as to encourage understanding that thinking
critically does not always end with a right answer, but instead sometimes ends in more
questions or differing evaluations of the topic (Halx & Reybold, 2005; Arend, 2009).  The
educator’s role as facilitator also encourages a peer review process, even in the
youngest of children, and helps students to learn appropriate responses to conflicting
evaluations and opinions (Henderson-Hurley & Hurley, 2013; Tsai et al., 2013).
Activities such as writing essays and utilizing questions that adhere to Bloom’s
Taxonomy higher order thinking are examples of ways to engage students in critical
thinking in the classroom(Smith & Szymanski, 2013).  Another option for an activity that
helps to enhance critical thinking is the use of wikis in education.  This activity can be
utilized by having students create a wiki about the subject content they are studying or
by having them analyze the information currently available in existing wikis (Snodgrass,
2011).
This utilization of wikis, a web 2.0 application, also appeals to education in that it
enhances the student’s skills in technology, another vital skill for both higher education
and the workplace.
It is suggested that this endeavor for more critical thinking is a holistic endeavor, which
would require cooperation among different departments, divisions, and classes
(Henderson-Hurley & Hurley 2013).  The development of critical thinking skills is not
only applicable to core subjects such as reading, math, language arts, science, and
social studies.  Kokkidou (2013) sets forth ways that critical thinking can be developed
in music education by examining musical environment, comparing and contrasting
different eras or pieces of music, and self-evaluation of performance.
Results of Increased Critical Thinking
Working to increase critical thinking by students has shown some promising results for
both students and educators.  Kokkidou (2013) documented increases in creativity,
performance, and literacy within the confines of music, as well as an increased
awareness of the musical environment in which students and educators live.  Her
findings were that by challenging students to think critically, educators were finding
themselves thinking more critically about their subject of expertise.  Arend’s (2009)
findings were very supportive of the use of online discussion boards to develop and
enhance critical thinking, as well as to enable students to have a better understanding
of the initial information and content presented to them in class.
Having students track patterns in information forces them to look at the information as a
process instead of simply information to be memorized and helps them develop skills of
recognition and prediction.
Tsai, Chen, Chang, & Chang (2013) found that enhancing the critical thinking among
students in science classes helped the students better understand the scientific process
as well as encouraging students to become more experimental and questioning of the
different aspects of the sciences.  VanTassel-Baska, Bracken, Feng, & Brown (2009)
reported findings of an increase in reading comprehension and reading assessment
scores that bodes well for the use of the program in Title I Schools.  Choy and Cheah
(2009) and Rowles, Morgan, Burns, and Merchant (2013) all found that while educators
feel they are teaching critical thinking skills, their teaching can be enhanced by having a
more standard definition of what critical thinking entails.  This definition would allow
educators at all grade levels to enhance their current curriculum with activities and
lessons that help to develop critical thinking among students and educators. 
Henderson-Hurley & Hurley (2013) found that developing critical thinking among
authoritarian students in an institution perceived to be very traditional faced challenges
that were unseen in other institutions, but critical thinking could still be accomplished.
Research Questions
There has been quite a bit of research done on critical thinking skills and their
importance in education.  When looking at the research using critical thinking skills, the
importance of critical thinking skills has been established, but there are still questions
that need to be researched further. These questions include:
 What practices would enhance the ability of students to think critically about subject
material?

 In what ways can critical thinking be developed across curriculum barriers?

METHODS TO PROMOTE CRITICAL THOUGHT

Educators can use various instructional methods to promote CT and problem solving. Although
educators value a student who thinks critically about concepts, the spirit or disposition to think
critically is, unfortunately, not always present in all students. Many college faculty expect their
students to think critically.14 Some nursing-specific common assumptions made by university
nursing teaching faculty are provided15 (Table (Table3)3) because no similar research exists in
athletic training. Espeland and Shanta16 argued that faculty who select lecture formats as a large
part of their teaching strategy may be enabling students. When lecturing, the instructor organizes
and presents essential information without student input. This practice eliminates the opportunity
for students to decide for themselves what information is important to know. For example,
instead of telling our students via lecture what medications could be given to athletes with an
upper respiratory infection, they could be assigned to investigate medications and decide which
one is appropriate.

Students need to be exposed to diverse teaching methods that promote CT in order to nurture the
CT process.14,17–19 As pointed out by Kloss,20 sometimes students are stuck and unable to
understand that various answers exist for one problem. Each ATC has a different method of
taping a sprained ankle, performing special tests, and obtaining medical information.
Kloss20 stated that students must be exposed to ambiguity and multiple interpretations and
perspectives of a situation or problem in order to stimulate growth. As students move through
their clinical experiences, they witness the various methods for taping ankles, performing special
tests, and obtaining a thorough history from an injured athlete. Paul and Elder21 stated that many
professors may try to encourage students to learn a body of knowledge by stating that body of
knowledge in a sequence of lectures and then asking students to internalize knowledge outside of
class on their own time. Not all students possess the thinking skills to analyze and synthesize
information without practice. The following 3 sections present information and examples of
different teaching techniques to promote CT.

Questioning
An assortment of questioning tactics exists to promote CT. Depending on how a question is
asked, the student may use various CT skills such as interpretation, analysis, and recognition of
assumptions to form a conclusion. Mills22 suggested that the thoughtful use of questions may be
the quintessential activity of an effective teacher. Questions are only as good as the thought put
into them and should go beyond knowledge-level recall.22 Researchers23,24 have found that often
clinical teachers asked significantly more lower-level cognitive questions than higher-level
questions. Questions should be designed to promote evaluation and synthesis of facts and
concepts. Asking a student to evaluate when proprioception exercises should be included in a
rehabilitation program is more challenging than asking a student to define proprioception.
Higher-level thinking questions should start or end with words or phrases such as, “explain,”
“compare,” “why,” “which is a solution to the problem,” “what is the best and why,” and “do
you agree or disagree with this statement?” For example, a student could be asked to compare
the use of parachlorophenylalanine versus serotonin for control of posttreatment soreness.
Examples of words that can be used to begin questions to challenge at the different levels of the
Bloom Taxonomy25 are given in Table Table4.4. The Bloom Taxonomy25 is a hierarchy of
thinking skills that ranges from simple skills, such as knowledge, to complex thinking, such as
evaluation. Depending on the initial words used in the question, students can be challenged at
different levels of cognition.

Classroom Discussion and Debates

Classroom discussion and debates can promote critical thinking. Various techniques are
available. Bernstein28 developed a negotiation model in which students were confronted with
credible but antagonistic arguments. Students were challenged to deal with the tension between
the two arguments. This tension is believed to be one component driving critical thought.
Controversial issues in psychology, such as animal rights and pornography, were presented and
discussed. Students responded favorably and, as the class progressed over time, they reported
being more comfortable arguing both sides of an issue. In athletic training education, a
negotiation model could be employed to discuss certain topics, such as the use of heat versus ice
or the use of ultrasound versus electric stimulation in the treatment of an injury. Students could
be assigned to defend the use of a certain treatment. Another strategy to promote students to seek
both sides of an issue is pro and con grids.29 Students create grids with the pros and cons or
advantages or disadvantages of an issue or treatment. Debate was used to promote CT in second-
year medical students.30 After debating, students reported improvements in literature searching,
weighing risks and benefits of treatments, and making evidence-based decisions. Regardless of
the teaching methods used, students should be exposed to analyzing the costs and benefits of
issues, problems, and treatments to help prepare them for real-life decision making.
Observing the reasoning skills of another person was used by Galotti31 to promote CT. Students
were paired, and 4 reasoning tasks were administered. As the tasks were administered, students
were told to talk aloud through the reasoning process of their decisions. Students who were
observing were to write down key phrases and statements. This same process can be used in an
injury-evaluation class. One student performs an evaluation while the others in the class observe.
Classroom discussion can then follow. Another alternative is to divide students into pairs. One
student performs an evaluation while the other observes. After the evaluation is completed, the
students discuss with each other the evaluation (Table (Table55 presents examples). Another
option is to have athletic training students observe a student peer or ATC during a field
evaluation of an athlete. While observing, the student can write down any questions or topics to
discuss after the evaluation, providing the student an opportunity to ask why certain evaluation
methods were and were not used.