T-Birds, winter quarter enrollment has begun. View enrollment dates and class schedule.

Critical Thinking

HomeTeaching ExcellenceAssessing our Teaching

Critical Thinking Robert Scribner 2024-09-30T08:46:54+00:00

Critical Thinking

Highline assessment of critical thinking

Critical thinking is one of the six Highline core competencies, which, upon successfully completing their courses of study, students will demonstrate:

“Demonstrate the ability to analyze and summarize complex information, create an argument that acknowledges multiple perspectives, and use reasoning and evidence to draw conclusions.”

This core competency is evaluated using the AAC&U critical thinking VALUE rubric.

Encouraging students to think effectively is an element of effective teaching, as qualified by Highline’s college-wide tenure criteria. Section 1, Faculty Effectiveness, states that effective faculty challenge learners intellectually. This includes encouraging students to ask questions, confront limits, recognize complexities, think critically, and challenge assumptions.

Related books in the LTC collection:

Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas : The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. 2nd edition., Jossey-Bass, 2011.

Elder, Linda, and Richard Paul. A Miniature Guide for Students and Faculty to the Foundations of Analytic Thinking : How to Take Thinking Apart and What to Look for When You Do ; the Elements of Thinking and the Standards They Must Meet. Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2003.

Paul, Richard, and Linda Elder. Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking : Concepts & Tools. Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2001.

Fairminded Fran., and Linda Elder. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking for Children : (To Help You Think Better). Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2001.

Elder, Linda, and Richard Paul. The Miniature Guide to Taking Charge of the Human Mind. Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2002.

Paul, Richard, and Linda Elder. Miniature Guide to Understanding the Foundations of Ethical Reasoning. Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2003.

Additional resources and scholarship

Critical Thinking Skills (Faculty Focus)
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving(Univ. of Tennessee-Chattanooga)
Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts (Insight Assessment)
Critical Thinking and Other Higher-Order Thinking Skills (Univ. of Connecticut)