Critical thinking is listed as a desired skill or preferred outcome within many higher education courses. It is something that students are expected to demonstrate through their participation in class and learning activities. It may appear in a rubric and / or be indicated in the course syllabus, depending on the requirements of the program or the school itself. There can be varying degrees of how it is demonstrated and then evaluated, ranging from occasionally to always within a rubric description. It is common practice to provide students with course rubrics at the beginning of class; However, the question is: do students know what critical thinking means? Do teachers or schools provide a standard definition?

Additional questions that arise include: Do the instructors understand the meaning of critical thinking and does the school provide an explanation? These are questions that I sought to answer and spent over two years talking to instructors and students about this topic. Information is available, such as websites dedicated to critical thinking and some books on the subject, and there are classes that spend a whole term examining it; However, what does the average student and instructor know about this topic? How is it used in classes if it is indicated in a rubric? What I wanted to know is whether or not critical thinking is overrated (meaning it is not actively used in classes and is just a catchphrase) or underused (meaning it has greater potential than is now recognized) in higher education classes.

Instructor perspective

My perspective is primarily based on my work in the distance learning field as an online educator and teacher development specialist, which has included the role of an online teacher peer reviewer. I reviewed hundreds of online classes and discussed critical thinking with hundreds of online teachers. What I have learned is that the average instructor can have a general understanding of critical thinking and what it means; however, teachers generally do not provide an explanation for students beyond what is indicated in the course rubric. I did not observe it as an active discussion or explained through additional instructional posts or supplementary information, and I also did not observe detailed notes on it within the comments provided.

What do instructors generally know about critical thinking? Those who have done some research will find definitions related to logic and reasoning. However, the usual definition or explanation is Bloom’s taxonomy and this provides levels of cognition that can help instructors recognize when a critical thinking state has been reached. What is unclear is whether a single occurrence indicates that students know how to use the skill on a regular basis. What do instructors teach in schools? Usually some schools tell them to use questioning techniques and specifically Socratic questions. What I have observed is that even when questions are used, that does not necessarily mean that a follow-up response from the students demonstrates the use of this skill.

Student perspective

When students were asked to define what critical thinking means, the following is a list of the most common responses:

• Thinking outside the box

• Thinking more about the subject

• Problem resolution

• The ability to think independently.

• Weighing options, pros and cons

• Be rational and avoid emotions.

• Make decisions, like going to the grocery store and deciding on food options.

• Become curious, creative, and open-minded

• Learning through trial and error

• Know what to do in life-threatening situations

• Making smart decisions

• Collaborate with others to reach consensus

This is only a partial list of student responses, and these were undergraduate and graduate students. After reviewing this list, it becomes clear that without a standard definition of critical thinking, students may not fully understand what is expected when they see it in a course rubric. You can also explain why it is difficult to assess this as a skill for an instructor and why students may fall short on their assessment. What I found is that students rarely did their own research on this topic, and if they did, they were still not sure whether their definition matched their instructor’s definition, how it applies to their class and learning activities, or how to fulfill the requirement that appears in the rubric.

Logical perspective

I have reviewed many of the online resources available to determine what teachers and students can read about critical thinking and it was often related to the use of logic and reasoning. The same is true for an online class I taught that lasted six weeks and combined critical thinking with creative thinking. The logical perspective explained in the course materials involved seeking facts rather than opinions, evaluating arguments, examining premises, developing a logical or rational conclusion, and learning about possible fallacies. What this did was take a topic that the students were no longer clear on and make it even more complex and challenging to apply directly to their class work. In general, students struggled throughout the course, and when it was over, there was little improvement in their ability to demonstrate the use of this skill.

Cognitive perspective

Teachers frequently refer to Bloom’s taxonomy, and this taxonomy provides a range of cognitive or mental functions that begin with lower-order thinking and progress to higher-order thinking. At the low end is the ability to recall information, which is usually stored in short-term memory and quickly discarded. As higher cognitive functions are involved, a student can apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. There are action verbs that are generally associated with each level and this is helpful in developing course objectives. The challenge for instructors is determining how to explain cognitive functions to students so that they understand what it means to demonstrate critical thinking. For example, how does a student know when to analyze or synthesize information in a discussion post or written assignment? Do you know when they have achieved the development of this skill? Does answering an instructor’s question ensure that they have reached a higher cognitive state? How many times do you need to demonstrate the use of this skill to believe that you have mastered its use? This is the challenge for educators; the uncertainty of using this skill and how to assess it accurately.

A new perspective

What I propose is the use of a simpler model that explains how the mind works or operates, which can provide a uniform description for instructors and students. As a starting point, the mind is always active and thinking is a natural process. A useful way to understand how the mind works is to separate thinking into three specific types, which will explain why critical thinking requires practice to learn before it can be actively used as a skill. The most basic type is simply called automatic thinking or thought processes. This occurs naturally and includes thoughts about the current environment, along with thoughts that are based on physical needs, emotions, or external stimuli. It also consists of self-talk, self-talk, surface thoughts, established thought patterns, thought habits, and existing mental structures. Automatic thinking also occurs when data is acquired through the five senses, when the mind relies on perceptual filters to interpret the information received.

The next type is active thinking and this occurs when a person becomes aware of their thought processes or while the mind is intentionally processing information. As an example, consider advertising messages. If an advertisement is noticed, the mind will shift from automatic thinking to active or conscious thinking and awareness. Active thinking also includes reading, writing, speaking, expressing opinions, and problem solving using informal logic. For example, if a financial analysis is needed, it would be necessary to take numbers and put them in a format or equation to be calculated, categorized, manipulated, or any other form of calculation. Active thinking is often what students think of critical thinking as when they state that it involves “thinking hard” about a topic or subject. They are aware of the subject and remember the knowledge they currently have about it.

The third type of thinking is critical thinking, which is not automatic and must be activated. It can be activated for a specific purpose and learned to be used as a skill. Students can activate it when they need to work with more than just their existing knowledge, beliefs, and opinions. It can also be triggered through something unexpected, unknown, or unique. More importantly, critical thinking is done with a purpose. For example, when a student needs to research a topic and the topic is currently unknown to him. Instead of filling their work with direct quotes, they may question the information received in an attempt to find answers. It can also improve problem solving when a student needs an answer that he cannot come up with on his own. When students write articles, they can provide more of their analysis and less of their sources because they have examined the evidence and reexamined their beliefs or assumptions.

Transformative perspective

Critical thinking has the potential to transform all aspects of a student’s performance, from responses to discussion questions to written assignments. Students first learn to work with their accumulated knowledge, beliefs, and opinions. This is how they develop an initial response, and for many students that also becomes their final response. But educators want students to go beyond this active way of thinking and show that learning has happened. It’s easy to ask students to demonstrate critical thinking, but it’s even more challenging to develop a mental model for them to follow and that means it needs to be propelled so that students see it in action and then can emulate the process. Thinking becomes critical when students provide more than a cursory or superficial response, and instead of opinions develop well-documented and well-researched position statements and analyzes.

Critical thinking is not a natural process, although there are times when adults may have a period of reflection when driven by unplanned or unexpected changes. Thinking also becomes critical when students no longer rely on perceptual filters to determine what is accepted as true and correct, willing to evaluate beliefs and change when they find compelling evidence. Critical thinking can be taught more effectively through the use of detailed explanation, time to practice what is being learned, and the direct application of the skill to problems and problems, which means that each time this skill is listed As a requirement for a course, students need a standard definition and the opportunity to practice it. I don’t think critical thinking is overrated as it is transformative in nature; However, what I have observed in the field of distance learning is that it is underused due to the lack of a uniform method to explain it and this results in a missed opportunity to learn in higher education classes.