How to Improve Critical Thinking in the Classroom

How to Improve Critical Thinking: A Guide for Teachers

What if your students could analyze information like a scientist, debate like a lawyer, and solve a problem like an engineer?

Teaching students how to improve critical thinking isn’t just a nice fringe benefit of education; it’s a necessity. With overflowing information, conflicting opinions, and fake news, strong critical thinking skills help students sift through the noise of our info-saturated world. As students strengthen their reasoning skills, they will be able to spot logical fallacies as well as make smart and informed choices. These skills aren’t just about getting A’s—they’re about living a better life. 

Whether through an online source or an age-old textbook, when students can comprehend information and reflect on their own thinking effectively, they will become critical thinkers equipped to take on the world.

In this guide, we’ll talk you through some of our best tips to help students develop critical thinking skills, sharpen their problem-solving skills, and grow into thoughtful, independent learners. 

Foundational Critical Thinking Skills to Help Students Develop

Before teaching students how to improve critical thinking, there are a few core skills we need to understand that drive it. Every decision, debate, and discovery is backed by the following:

• Analytical Skills: Students must know how to break big ideas down into smaller pieces. When they analyze text, read a chart, break down an argument, or comprehend a map, they’re building a foundation for critical thinking.

• Problem-Solving Skills: Although sometimes students may want to push problems aside, they need to learn to face challenges head-on. Teach students how to identify a problem, brainstorm solutions, and collaborate together. These problem-solving abilities are key in academics and even more so in everyday life.

• Reasoning Skills: Through reason, students can evaluate an argument, develop conclusions, and explain their thinking. With strong reasoning skills, skills learn how to separate opinion from evidence

• Active Listening: The best thinkers, leaders, and speakers are often the best listeners. Active listening leads to empathy, deeper understanding, and sharpens a student’s ability to challenge their own assumptions without going on the defensive. 

• Critical Thinking Abilities: At the heart of everything is the student’s ability to think independently, question information, and make sense of the world. Developing critical thinking abilities helps students avoid cognitive biases and be more thoughtful with their choices. 

[Pro-tip: To bring these skills into your classroom, check out our Missions to give your students a chance to work together, reason solutions out, and solve problems.]

Effective Critical Thinking Strategies

Now that we know the foundation of critical thinking skills, how can you bring it into your classroom on a daily basis? Start with these ideas: 

Practice Active Listening

Model and practice active listening to encourage students to truly hear and understand each other before jumping to conclusions.

Challenge Their Own Assumptions

Help students grow an awareness of how their own assumptions can cloud their judgment. Try exercises that can help them shift their point of view by having them argue against their initial stance or study an unfamiliar opinion. 

Avoid Cognitive Biases

Share with your students common cognitive biases (such as confirmation bias or the bandwagon effect; read more about different types of cognitive biases here) and explain how these sometimes sneak into our own thinking. Use real-world examples and challenge students to spot flawed reasoning in action. 

Seek Out Multiple Perspectives

True critical thinking stems from open-mindedness. Encourage your students to explore diverse viewpoints and question information from different perspectives.

Evaluate Evidence

Don’t just take things at face value. Help your students practice fact-checking, determining credibility, and assessing relevance. Strong critical thinking skills are built on strong evidence. 

Why Teaching Critical Thinking Matters

Whether students are solving an issue in a group project or navigating  a misunderstanding with a friend, problem-solving is part of everyday life. When students can practice strong critical thinking skills, they will also have stronger reading comprehension, better writing abilities, and higher-level math skills. Beyond memorizing the facts, these critical thinkers will also ask, “Why does this matter?” or “What can I do with this information?”

The more they practice it in school, the more confident and capable they will be in the real world.

10 Classroom Strategies to Improve Critical Thinking Skills

1. Ask Open-Ended Questions

Push students to ask questions beyond yes/no questions. Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to build question prompts. 

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a framework for understanding levels of cognitive learning, ranging from basic knowledge and understanding to higher-order tasks like creation and evaluation. It provides a structured way to assess the cognitive skills students are expected to develop, with a focus on aligning assignments to the desired learning outcomes.

Some sample prompts include:

”What would happen if…”

”Why do you think that?”

”How can you apply this idea in a new situation?”

[Pro-tip: Also consider using Webb’s Depth of Knowledge to structure questions. Learn more about the Depth of Knowledge here.]

2. Use Think-Pair-Share

Think-Pair-Share is perfect for helping students reflect and collaborate. Ask a question, give students time to think, and then pair them up to discuss before discussing as a class. 

For example: “What’s the strongest argument for each side of this issue?”

3. Teach Students to Evaluate Sources

In our technology-dependent world, digital literacy is non-negotiable. Read some of our thoughts on digital literacy in the classroom here. 

Have students compare articles on the same topic, identify a bias, and evaluate its credibility. These activities will develop research-savvy critical thinkers. 

4. Incorporate Socratic Seminars

In grade school, I really dreaded Socratic Seminar days, and maybe you did too. However, looking back, I recognize the value and the skills I started to develop because of it: explaining my logic, listening to the viewpoints of others, and respectfully disagreeing, all of which have aided me in my higher education and my professional life. 

Socratic Seminars are a great opportunity to guide respectful, evidence-centered discussions. Prepare open-ended questions and encourage your students to do the same. Start with a text, then provide students time to record their insights and prepare discussion questions. 

5. Encourage Reflective Journaling

Reflection is a key to solidifying learning. Try out some journaling time at the end of each week or each unit with prompts such as:

”What did you change your mind about this week, and why?”

“What did you learn this week that surprised you?”

Journaling can help students explore their own thinking and develop thoughtful insights. 

6. Use Real-World Scenarios and Case Studies

Real-life problems create real-life skills. Help students explore different issues in your school and community and practice creating a plan with them. For example, students can create a sustainability plan for the school or discuss a solution to water conservation for your city. These tasks will require them to put into practice both their reasoning skills and their problem-solving skills. 

7. Incorporate Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered approach where students work in groups to solve open-ended problems, which drives their motivation and learning. It helps develop a variety of skills, including teamwork, critical thinking, communication, and self-directed learning, while applying course content to real-world issues. PBL projects help students investigate complex issues and work collaboratively toward solutions.

For example: “How can we reduce plastic waste in our cafeteria?”

8. Teach Debate and Argumentation Skills

Debates give students a chance to craft an effective argument, actively listen, and respectfully disagree. Find age-appropriate topics, ranging from social media to climate change.

9. Model Critical Thinking as a Teacher

When solving problems, share your thinking out loud with your students. Talk them through how you analyze a text or plan a solution. Show students how you weigh evidence, question ideas, and avoid cognitive biases. Modeling your own thinking can help students feel more confident to share their own. 

10. Use Visual Thinking Tools

The National Library of Medicine explains that visual tools are especially helpful for learners because they allow them to engage with complex concepts in ways that words alone cannot. By creating visual explanations, learners are able to directly show the parts and processes of a system, helping them build more complete and coherent mental models. This approach not only boosts understanding, particularly for students with lower spatial ability, but also encourages deeper processing of information by visualizing the structure and function of concepts. Overall, visual explanations provide a platform for learners to check their understanding and make inferences, ultimately improving learning outcomes.

Mind maps, flowcharts, and Venn diagrams help students organize their ideas, form connections, and compare class concepts.  

Classroom Activities to Boost Critical Thinking

Add a twist to your lessons with these engaging activities:

• Escape Rooms and Logic Puzzles: Promote collaboration and problem-solving through fun, challenging tasks. A teacher can set up a classroom escape room by creating a fun and engaging story tied to the lesson, designing puzzles that lead to answers, and using locks or other challenges to unlock clues. Students work collaboratively to solve tasks, building excitement while reinforcing the material being taught. Check out We Are Teachers for great guidance and resources to successfully implement an escape room. 

• Ethical Dilemmas: Use scenarios that require students to balance competing values and defend their reasoning. 

• Reverse Inquiry (What’s the Question Game): Give students the answer first, then challenge them to come up with the questions.

• Role-playing: Help students take on different viewpoints and practice empathy. 

How to Assess Critical Thinking Skills

Assessments shouldn’t only be about students getting the right answer. Rather, it should also reflect the thinking process. Clear rubrics can help students analyze, argue, and support their ideas. Additionally, include opportunities for peer collaboration and self-assessment. This is a great chance for students to reflect on their own thinking and learn from the thinking of others. 

Lastly, help students focus on the process. Observe how they develop their arguments, weigh evidence, and respond to new information. Don’t be afraid to push their thinking either! Ask them to explain their thoughts or help them look at problems in a new way. 

Final Thoughts: Building a Culture of Thoughtful Inquiry

Improving critical thinking skills doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a mindset developed through a classroom culture built through consistent questions, reflection, and collaboration.

Don’t feel like you have to have it all down overnight, either. Start small. Try a new strategy, question, or activity each week or day. Start there and find what works best for your students.

As students develop their critical thinking skills, they won’t just be better learners, but they’ll become better thinkers.