One of the most important tasks we have an instructors is to ensure that our students develop critical thinking skills. Although this is not implicit in the syllabus of every course, it is nonetheless important that we help our students develop such thinking skills by augmenting the material and asking questions within the discussion forums that help pique our students' intellectual curiosity. Critical thinking is not only important in the academic realm, as we all know, it is also crucial for the real-world situations our students will face.

An example of the need for critical thinking happened to yours truly recently. I receive a letter from my bank (that shall remain nameless) indicating I could "Enjoy the End of Summer by Taking a Break from my Car Payments". On the surface, this seemed like a great deal, as I could forego paying my monthly payment, and all I had to do was pay a 50-dollar charge for the privilege. As I investigated this offer more in-depth, it soon became apparent that the deal was in fact, subterfuge. I would have to pay the fee and the offer simply extended my payment period with interest and finance changes included. Although this may not be the best example of needing to use critical thinking in the real-world, it did provide an example of the need to use critical thinking outside of academia. I think anyone who has gone over a mortgage contact, filed an insurance claim, or done many other tasks associated with being a fully functioning adult would agree investigating the situation further often is to our benefit. Hence, we need to teach our students to be apt critical thinkers.

As Choy and Pou San (2012) noted critical thinking can help in many other situations, as well. Critical thinking helps our students to navigate the complexities of a consumer driven economy in which "sale" seem beneficial to the consumer, but often are to the sellers benefit. Critical thinking can help our students discern their needs from their want as well as assist in long-term planning - as opposed to short-term thinking. In addition, given the preponderance of less than accurate information on the internet, critical thinking can help students separate opinion from fact, and assist in the fact checking process.

I am sure many of you have experience a situation in which critical thinking, or lack of, had salient effect on the outcome of said situation. We know that the skill is important, yet it can be difficult to teach within the online milieu. My questions are, how to encourage critical thinking within your classrooms, and how to help student to transfer critical thinking in the academic world toward real-world situations.

Thanks,

Eric Nordin

Reference:

Choy, S., & Pou San, O. (2012). Reflective thinking and teaching practices: A precursor for incorporating critical thinking into the classroom? International Journal of Instruction, 5, 167-182.