Critical Thinking Across The Curriculum: A Vision: Topoi DOI 10.1007/s11245-016-9401-4

Topoi
DOI 10.1007/s11245-016-9401-4
Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: A Vision

Robert H. Ennis1
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
Abstract This essay offers a comprehensive vision for a Lecture-discussion teaching (LDT) Transfer Critical
higher education program incorporating critical thinking thinking principles Critical thinking abilities Critical
across the curriculum (CTAC) at hypothetical Alpha Col- thinking dispositions
lege, employing a rigorous detailed conception of critical
thinking called ‘‘The Alpha Conception of Critical Think-
ing’’. The program starts with a 1-year, required, freshman
course, two-thirds of which focuses on a set of general 1 Introduction
critical thinking dispositions and abilities. The final third
uses subject-matter issues to reinforce general critical The current interest in education for critical thinking can be
thinking dispositions and abilities, teach samples of subject traced to Dewey (1933, p 9; first edition 1910), but the
matter, and introduce subject-specific critical thinking. recent explosion of interest in critical thinking in the
Subject-matter departmental and other units will make United States did not really start until the late 1970s,
long-range plans for incorporating critical thinking in expressed by, among many others, the (Rockefeller)
varying amounts in subject-matter courses, culminating in Commission on the Humanities (1980, p 37). Interest has
a written Senior Thesis/Project involving investigating, expanded further since then (Ennis 2011a, pp 4–8). I now
taking, and defending a position, which reinforce critical regularly see mention and endorsements of critical thinking
thinking abilities and dispositions and increase subject- in the newspapers and in college mission statements, and
matter knowledge. Teaching approaches used in the pro- note that presidents from both major political parties in the
gram are involving and based on the principle, ‘‘We learn United States have endorsed critical thinking as a goal of
what we use.’’ Both summative and formative assessment education. In his preface to America 2000 (U. S. Office of
are employed as appropriate. Coordination and support are Education 1991) President George H.W. Bush supported
extensive. Objections and concerns are discussed, and six specific goals for education, one of which calls for more
alternatives, including possible transitions, are considered. students to have an advanced ability to think critically. And
An extended review of research supports moving toward President Barak Obama in his State of the Union Address
CTAC. in 2014 listed critical thinking as one of six basic goals of
education.
Keywords Alpha conception of critical thinking Critical Employers feel that critical thinking is very important
thinking Critical thinking across the curriculum General (Casserly 2012), as do higher education faculty (DeAn-
critical thinking Subject-specific critical thinking gelo et al. 2009; Bok 2006). But recent media reports
Critical thinking glossary Problem-based learning (PBL) have deemed critical thinking development in higher
education to be unsatisfactory (Belkin 2015; De Vise
2012). Arum and Roksa (2011) studied the degree of
& Robert H. Ennis
improvement in critical thinking from freshman to senior
[email protected]
year at 24 higher education institutions, and deemed the
1
University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA results insufficient.
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Assuming that this dissatisfaction is at least partly jus- comprehensive, detailed, and rigorous. I shall call these
tified, I shall in this essay offer a vision of a program in dispositions and abilities (together with their elaborations)
critical thinking across the curriculum (CTAC) that has a ‘‘The Alpha Conception of Critical Thinking’’.
good chance of leading to a significant improvement in the The abilities in Table 1 rely on elaboration by principles
situation. In response to challenges to the vision, I shall and criteria to guide us in their employment. For example,
offer research results further justifying the partial dissat- an elaborating criterion for judging a hypothesis (Ability
isfaction and supporting moving in the direction of this #9b) is that the hypothesis or conclusion explains or helps
vision or something like it. A few possible transitional to explain evidence (a necessary, though not a sufficient,
steps are briefly suggested, but this essay does not provide condition). The employment of this criterion is useful in
a detailed transitional plan. My goal is to provide and judging a hypothesis, which is important in many fields in
defend a vision toward which we might move in various deciding what to believe or do.
ways in the future. An extended elaboration called ‘‘The Nature of Critical
The organizational details are modifiable to fit local Thinking’’ containing considerable augmentation by an
situations in the United States and other countries. How- unexemplified set of principles and criteria to guide
ever, the underlying concerns addressed cannot be employment of the abilities listed in Table 1 is available at
neglected, and in any case, strong faculty, administrative, www.criticalthinking.net under ‘‘What is critical think-
and student support is essential. ing?’’ (Ennis 2015b), and also Ennis (2011b). However, the
abilities, even if augmented with principles and criteria, are
more easily understood and applied if exemplified. This is
2 What Is Critical Thinking? done for a number of principles and criteria in two versions
of the article ‘‘Critical Thinking: A Streamlined Concep-
For over 30 years I have been urging that an accurate tion’’. The first is available at www.criticalthinking.net
definition of the concept of critical thinking that most (Ennis 1991; Ennis 2005 for a Spanish version). The other
people actually use is ‘‘reasonable reflective thinking is Ennis (2015a). The 2015a version is a revised and
focused on deciding what to believe or do’’—even though expanded version of the one published in 1991.
they may not so articulate it. Other well-known definitions, This streamlined-conception article could provide an
including one by Scriven and Paul, ‘‘Critical thinking is the issue-based introduction to a first course in critical think-
intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully ing. It exemplifies the use and non-use of critical thinking
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or by jurors in a murder trial. Thus it exemplifies and dis-
evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, cusses critical thinking and uncritical thinking in a signif-
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or commu- icant real-life issue. It also shows that almost all of these
nication, as a guide to belief and action’’ (1987), as well as dispositions and abilities could easily be needed in one
definitions by Siegel (1988), Facione (1990; Table 1), important event. The problem was, ‘‘Is the defendant guilty
Fisher and Scriven (1997, p 20), and Kuhn (2015, p 47), are or not guilty of murder or voluntary manslaughter?’’ This
not significantly different from mine or from each other. exact issue is not frequently faced by our students, but
Each is a different way of cutting the same conceptual pie, questions about the justification of the jurors’ many deci-
which I hold to be the mainstream concept of critical sions are just the sorts of questions that our students reg-
thinking. The proposition that they are essentially the same ularly face, and most citizens of the United States face
is strongly supported by the fact that Table 1 and the being a member of a jury more than once, requiring
elaborations there of could have been developed on the application of critical thinking abilities and dispositions to
basis of any of them—not just my ‘‘reasonable reflec- this basic civic function.
tive…’’ definition. More complete and varied exemplifications of the basic
Further elaboration is needed for the mainstream con- principles and criteria of this Alpha Conception appear in
cept to be a guide to teaching and assessment. Using the the textbook, Critical Thinking (Ennis 1996), which would
concept-conception distinction (Rawls 1971, p 5; Hart be useful as a text for this program. Other critical thinking
1961, pp 155–159), one can find a number of general textbooks, for example the one by Bailin and Battersby
conceptions (proposals for implementation) of the main- (2010), could also be used for teaching this conception of
stream concept of critical thinking that provide varying critical thinking.
emphases and degrees of specificity. The conception I have An advantage of this fully elaborated conception is that
developed over the years is outlined in Table 1, listing it is not only comprehensive but also more detailed and
dispositions and abilities (earlier versions in Ennis rigorous than most. For example, its approach to assump-
1987a, b, 1991, 2011b, 2015a, b), and as elaborated (most tion ascription (Ennis 1982) distinguishes between ‘‘used’’
recently in 2011b and 2015b), this conception is and ‘‘needed’’ assumptions, or respectively ‘‘assumption of
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Table 1 Brief outlines of general critical thinking dispositions and abilities

Dispositions. Ideal critical thinkers are disposed to:
Seek and offer clear statements of the conclusion or question
Seek and offer clear reasons, and be clear about their relationships with each other and the conclusion
Try to be well-informed
Use credible sources and observations, and usually mention them
Take into account the total situation
Keep in mind the basic concern in the context
Be alert for alternatives
Be open-minded
Seriously consider other points of view
Withhold judgment when the evidence and reasons are insufficient
Take a position and change a position when the evidence and reasons are sufficient
Seek as much precision as the nature of the subject admits
Seek the truth when it makes sense to do so, and more broadly, try to ‘‘get it right’’ to the extent possible or feasible
Employ their critical thinking abilities and dispositions
Abilities. Ideal critical thinkers have the ability to:
(Basic Clarification)
Focus on a question
Analyze arguments
Ask and answer clarification questions
Understand and use elementary graphs and maths
(Bases for a decision)
Judge the credibility of a source
Observe, and judge observation reports
Use existing knowledge
Background knowledge, including (with discrimination) internet material
Their knowledge of the situation
Their previously-established conclusions
(Inference)
Deduce, and judge deductions
Make, and judge inductive inferences and arguments
Enumerative induction
Argument and inference to best explanation
Make, and judge value judgments
(Advanced clarification)
Define terms, and judge definitions
Handle equivocation appropriately
Attribute and judge unstated assumptions
Think suppositionally
Deal with fallacy labels
Be aware of, and check the quality of, their own thinking (‘‘metacognition’’)
Deal with things in an orderly manner
(Non-Constitutive, But Helpful)
Employ rhetorical strategies
the person’’ and ‘‘assumption of the argument’’ (as Hitch- but perhaps unconsciously. This assumption-ascription
cock 1985 describes them). A claim that someone’s used claim gets its support from its satisfaction of the criteria
assumption is X is an empirical hypothesis about what elaborating Ability #9b, ‘‘Argument and inference to best
proposition the person actually used, usually consciously explanation’’, which criteria include ability to explain the
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data, etc. A claim that someone’s needed assumption is Y 3.1.2 Large- and Small-Group Sections
is supported by showing that Y’s addition to an argument is
needed to make the argument as strong as possible, whether An alternative is to have two large-group meetings per week at
or not the assumer ever even thought about Y. Most dis- which time the head critical thinking instructor will, as in the
cussions of assumptions do not deal with these alternatives previous approach, present, provoke, explain, challenge,
in assumption ascription and only ask students what is assign, direct, and interact with students, and arrange for
assumed, without giving them any idea about how to students to interact in student-led small groups, as seems
decide what is assumed, except possibly the incorrect ones appropriate to help a large group of students learn and become
that whatever is needed to make the argument deductively involved with critical thinking. The large group would be
valid, or that whatever does make an argument deductively broken into a number of small groups of 15–20 students to
valid, is an assumption (Ennis 1961, 1982). meet once a week under the leadership of a small-group crit-
Other examples of being thorough and rigorous are devel- ical thinking instructor to complement and expand upon the
oped in Ennis (1964, 1968, 1973, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007). things done in the large-group meetings. The large-group
Having a conception of critical thinking that is comprehensive, instructor would be in charge of coordinating the work of the
thorough, and rigorous is a part of the support for the Alpha small-group instructors. Human interaction and problem-
College CTAC program. based learning would still be emphasized and lecture-discus-
sion teaching would also be employed as appropriate.
3 The First-Year Course 3.2 The First Two-Thirds (20 Weeks):

An Introduction to General Critical Thinking
The first-year required course is a 30-week, 3-h-per-week
course called ‘‘Introduction to Critical Thinking’’. In its Assuming a 30-week course, the first 19 weeks will be
first two-thirds, it will teach the general critical thinking focused on students’ acquiring and enhancing general critical
skills and dispositions in Table 1 and help students learn to thinking dispositions and abilities, which were briefly outlined
apply them to their civic, personal, vocational, and aca- in Table 1 and are elaborated in ‘‘The Nature of Critical
demic lives. The final third introduces students to three Thinking’’ (Ennis 2011b, 2015b). These abilities and dispo-
subject-specific issues (in case studies) calling for critical sitions will be applied to students’ civic, personal, vocational,
thinking in subject-matter areas, and provides reinforce- and academic lives. Because this is a required course, student
ment of the general critical thinking dispositions and involvement (see Sect. 6.2.2 and 6.3) is essential.
abilities as well as a taste of three subjects and their sub- The last week of the first 20 weeks will be devoted to
ject-specific critical thinking (a concept to be explained assessing and reviewing the learning of the first 19 weeks,
shortly). A variety of teaching methods will be used, and and introducing the subject-specific case studies of the next
assessment is employed throughout. 9 weeks.
One other desirable feature of exploring a subject-matter
issue in a case study is that doing it in an interesting and 3.3 The Next 9 Weeks: Case Studies
involving way might attract students to the field.
In nine of the remaining 10 weeks of the course, students
3.1 Organization will consider, discuss, and evaluate features of three case
studies of specific subject-matter issues, devoting 3 weeks
Here are two alternate organization plans for the first-year to each, and taking and briefly defending in writing a
course. I prefer the first but local conditions might require position about each issue. Every student will be engaged in
the second. one 3-week case study of an issue in a subject area in each
of the three broad areas, (1) humanities, (2) sciences, and
3.1.1 Small Sections Three Times Per Week (3) professional fields.
Each 3-week session will incorporate a subject-specific
One alternative is to have small sections (around 15–20 issue, the application of general critical thinking disposi-
students per section) meeting three times per week with a tions and abilities in dealing with the issue, subject matter
critical thinking instructor who would present, provoke, (and acquisition thereof) that is relevant to the issue, and
explain, challenge, assign, direct, and interact with stu- one or a few elementary subject-specific critical thinking
dents. This provides the maximum opportunity for human abilities and/or dispositions relevant to dealing with the
interaction and problem-based learning (PBL, to be issue. The conscious application of general critical thinking
explained later). Lecture-discussion teaching will also be abilities and dispositions to this subject-matter content will
employed. not only reinforce the general abilities and dispositions in
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new situations (i.e., transfer), but also reinforce students’ to be open to and understanding of students’ views that are
willingness and ability to apply them in new contexts in disagreement with the received views in a field – in order
(further transfer). to invite discussion, investigation, and exploration of
alternatives.
3.3.1 Subject-Specific Critical Thinking
3.3.2.1 Anthropology A possible issue for an anthropol-
I introduce a distinction between general and subject- ogy case study is whether the insecurity and inner conflict
specific critical thinking abilities and dispositions. Rather in adolescent girls common in our culture is an inherited
than being a sharp either-or distinction, it represents a characteristic of most adolescents, or is situationally and
rough continuum with clear examples at either end. culturally caused. Reference could be made to Mead’s
General critical thinking abilities and dispositions are Coming of Age in Samoa (1928), and the controversy
outlined in Table 1 and are applicable in all, or almost all, surrounding her and other authors’ evidence. Her advisor
endeavors. Subject-specific critical thinking abilities and for her dissertation was a strong advocate of the environ-
dispositions apply in several areas, possibly only one, but ment side of the environment/heredity dispute, which is
not anywhere near all. An example of a subject-specific also the position she took. So she had a conflict of interest.
ability is the ability to plan, perform, and judge the results It was to her interest to take a position to which her advisor
and relevance of analysis of covariance (used in most social subscribed. But did it influence her? That is another issue
sciences) in order to judge the practical and statistical sig- that is relevant to the first. Case studies will evidence the
nificance of a difference—with an understanding of the fact that real issues are rarely simple.
limitations involved. However, just understanding the con-
cept of statistical significance, including sensitivity to its 3.3.2.2 Literature In a case study dealing with Shake-
major strengths and weakness, is arguably a general ability. speare’s Hamlet, the topic might be how to interpret one or
Another subject-specific ability is planning and per- a few characters. For example, should Polonius be played
forming double-blind experiments in medicine. A more as a silly old fool, which Hamlet claimed he was, or a wise
elementary one is the ability/disposition to take three elder? In Othello, did Emelia suspect throughout the play
readings rather than just one (but perhaps more than three, that her husband Iago was a villain or not? An underlying
depending on the nature of the material) in determining a issue, which could grow into being the primary issue, is
quantity. This ability/disposition was promoted in the lab whether such questions can be answered by appeal to the
for a freshman college physics course I once took. text, or are merely matters of taste, or something else.
The various fields of study typically involve all the
general critical thinking dispositions and abilities in 3.3.2.3 Educational Research In an educational-research
Table 1, and also involve critical thinking abilities and case study, the issue might be whether any legitimate
dispositions more or less specific to each field. Although educational research about the efficacy or consequences of
critical thinking texts and the entire field of critical think- some method of teaching must provide random assignment
ing have tended to be concerned only with general critical to experimental and control groups. Random assignment is
thinking, subject-specific critical thinking must also be a criterion some (but not all) researchers have urged the
considered in a program dedicated to CTAC and is inclu- U.S. Office of Education to use in choosing research pro-
ded in The Alpha Conception of Critical Thinking. It is jects to fund.
reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to
believe or do in one, or several fields, and hence is part of 3.3.2.4 Global Warming One case study could deal with
the critical thinking of those fields. the issue of whether global warming is occurring, and if so,
In disagreement with McPeck (1981, 1990), I have pre- what is its cause? Admittedly in the span of 3 weeks, no
viously (1990, 1989) argued that the general critical thinking one can become an expert on this topic (or the topic of any
abilities and dispositions in Table 1 are not subject-specific. I of the case studies). But a problem we face as citizens who
still hold that position, as do most critical thinking special- have a say in the running of a country is that we are forced
ists, but am here suggesting that there are also subject- to take explicit or implicit positions on issues without
specific critical thinking abilities and dispositions. complete expertise. We can think critically to a degree
about the issue, even if we have not mastered all of the
3.3.2 Examples relevant information.
Here are some examples of possible issues to consider in 3.3.2.5 Natural Science Most of the subject-matter
case studies in the first-year course. It is important for knowledge needed to grasp current issues in the theoretical
subject-matter instructors who are teaching the case studies natural sciences is beyond college freshmen, who do not
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have and will not have the background knowledge to deal another variable constant), and throw a ball into the air to see
with issues about quarks, string theory, and quantum theory, whether it would move further to the back of the car on its up
for example. Some colleagues have raised this as an obstacle and down travel, as would be expected on the basis of the
to teaching general critical thinking in a subject area. But this students’ slowing-down theory of motion. From Newton’s
is not a problem with, among other things, historical case First Law one would predict that the ball would not drift to
studies, such as ‘‘Plants and the Atmosphere’’, and ‘‘The the rear of the car because there would be no force inter-
Early Development of the Concepts of Temperature and fering with the ball’s forward motion.
Heat’’, or any other of the eight case studies in James Con- But some students soon realized that a key variable would
ant’s series, Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Sci- not be adequately controlled. A possible alternative to the
ence (1948–1954). These involve significant elementary Newton’s Law explanation of what might appear to be
science subject matter which students can understand, but confirming data could be that the ball would unknowingly be
with which all prospective specialists in the field must be thrown slightly forward by the experimenter each time.
familiar. So considering them is not a waste of time. These students then produced the idea of releasing the
A key question to address might be whether the early ball inside the car from a designated point just under the
theories were justifiably believed, given the state of roof, and seeing whether it moves toward the back of the
knowledge at the time when these were hot topics. Treating car on the way down to the floor, using as a comparison the
them exhibits the tentative nature of much scientific ball’s action when dropped from the designated point when
knowledge, an understanding that many people do not have. the car is stopped, thus controlling some other variables.
There are also many understandable issues about the These changes were important developments. The stu-
plausibility of some basic science content, such as the issue dents themselves realized a weakness in the original plan
I am about to describe concerning Newton’s First Law of and suggested the change. Their suggestions served to
Motion. eliminate the alternative possible explanation that
appearing to stay in the same place with respect to the
3.3.3 An Extended Example moving auto could be the result of slightly forward
throwing of the ball. Eliminating alternative possible
Some course content that students encounter is at first explanations is a crucial step in appraising a hypothesis, the
unbelievable to them, and can be subject to experimenta- doing of which exemplifies one aspect of critical thinking
tion and discussion calling for learning and reinforc- Ability #9b (‘‘Make and judge arguments and inferences to
ing critical thinking abilities and dispositions. From my best explanation’’). Eliminating alternative possible
high-school science teaching experiences, I shall describe explanations was exemplified in this activity, and I, as
an example of an issue involving this sort of subject matter. teacher, labeled it, made it and its value explicit, and
It is relevant for first year college physics students, as well complimented them, a teaching strategy I encourage for
as other students, whether or not they have taken high CTAC.
school physics, and whether or not they are going on to We agreed that each student able to do so over the
major in physics. Incidentally, the following is an example weekend would try the dropping experiment at least three
of Problem-Based Learning (PBL), to be considered later times (after practicing the technique) in accord with the
in the discussion of teaching methods. It is an effective subject-specific disposition/ability to make at least three
method for teaching subject matter because it gets students measurements of a quantity.
involved. At the beginning of the following week we discussed the
Many students find Newton’s First Law of Motion results, which were that not one of the students who did the
inconsistent with their experience. This law holds roughly experiment found a detectable average difference between
that, unless acted on by an external force, a body in motion the landing place of the ball when the car was moving and
remains in motion in the same direction and speed, and a the landing place when the car was at rest, lending support
body at rest remains at rest. Dissenting students, based on to Newton’s First Law because the law explained the result.
such everyday experiences as delivering newspapers by All of this could have been performed with more precision,
tossing them from a moving bicycle, had adopted Aris- and there were other conceivable explanations, but the
totle’s view that a body in motion naturally slows down result seemed satisfactory for this level of sophistication.
and falls to the ground, which is what newspapers thrown This participation was exciting to them. And I believe
from moving bicycles seem to do. most of them did come to hold Newton’s First Law (at its
We had a heated discussion and jointly produced an appropriate level of sophistication) to be much more
experimental plan. As many of us as could arrange it would plausible than they originally thought, an occurrence that
sit in the back seat of a car moving at constant speed (thus would not have happened if I had just denied their chal-
controlling one variable) with the windows closed (holding lenges and proceeded to his Second Law of Motion.
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We made use of some general critical thinking abilities to new situations, taking and defending a position and
and dispositions that I made explicit, such as, stating your exercising critical thinking while doing so, using outlining
thesis or problem clearly, being alert for alternative practices in organizing a written position paper, practice
hypotheses, observing carefully, asking questions of clari- seeing problems and doing something about them, and
fication, thinking suppositionally, and judging the credi- developing confidence in approaching a writing task. All
bility of sources; and the somewhat subject-specific this is subject to the advice of the writing consultants.
disposition/abilities, making three or more measurements These plans will be developed with the help of critical
of a quantity, and controlling the variables; as well as the thinking instructors, if requested; will respect the talents
disposition to use their critical thinking abilities. and interests of the faculty in the field(s); and will be
Because of their deep involvement in the issue, and flexible enough to enable instructors to take advantage of
participation in the planning and execution, these students opportunities that arise.
retained and understood Newton’s First Law (at their level Since Alpha will include a general higher education
of sophistication), and mentioned it and our experiment to major for students not wanting to specialize in a particular
me later in their school careers. This problem-oriented profession or field, each department’s plan will also include
activity had enhanced their learning of and enthusiasm for one or more offerings that would contribute to the general
science and their critical thinking prowess, which they education major. Each student will have a faculty advisor
were then more ready to transfer elsewhere. to guide him or her in choices leading to concentration(s),
or a general education.
3.4 The Last Week
The last week, the 30th week of the course, will be devoted 5 The Senior Thesis/Project: The Culmination
to review of the two-semesters. Review of the critical of a Student’s Undergraduate Career
thinking dispositions and abilities will generally be orga-
nized as decided by instructors on the basis of what they A Senior Thesis/Project required of each student will focus
have seen in the first 29 weeks, including the students’ on a subject-matter issue in the student’s field(s), or some
work with the case studies and their written reports about issue of interest for general education students, and include
them (which would be ‘‘formative assessment’’). It might a written thesis/report on the issue, making use of subject
well include very brief student reports and debates (also matter and general and subject-specific critical thinking.
formative assessment) in addition to reinforcement. Final The student’s response to the issue will be clearly stated
assessment (called ‘‘summative assessment’’) will occur early in the thesis, followed by a defense that respects
during the college’s exam period. subject matter and general and subject-specific critical
One main reason for this distinction between formative thinking, and includes background, results of the investi-
and summative assessment, which was suggested by the gation (possibly including original research), and appro-
philosopher, Michael Scriven, and has become popular in priate reservations.
the field of assessment, is to make sure that we use An advisor who is a faculty member from the student’s
assessment to guide our responsive planning, not just to field(s), or a general education pool, will supervise and
motivate and give a grade. evaluate the work in regular meetings with the student,
with input from a critical thinking instructor, if requested.
Other faculty members in the field(s) of study, if sought by
4 Subject-Matter Courses the student or the primary faculty member, may also
participate.
Each field and some combinations of fields will develop a Generally six-to-nine credit hours for each of a student’s
plan for courses that includes not only subject matter last two semesters will be devoted to the Thesis/Project,
content, but also both general and subject-specific critical including a 1-h-per-week required discussion meeting each
thinking that will be applied in some or most courses, and of those semesters with a faculty member and other stu-
supervision for students who choose to do their Senior dents in which each student gets a session devoted to his or
Thesis/Project in that field (to be discussed shortly). The her project each semester, receiving feedback from other
plan makers will be urged to include writing tasks that are students and the faculty leader as well. A brief tentative
appropriate for undergraduates in the fields (including plan for the work should be submitted and discussed with
general education), perhaps articles, reports, proposals, an advisor early on, perhaps even before the official start of
letters to an editor or editorials—and to request students to the project. A first draft of the Thesis/Project will be due
exercise their critical thinking in so doing. These writing half to three-quarters of the way through the final semester,
projects will call for practice in applying critical thinking providing time for at least one revision, but early parts of
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the draft, or an earlier draft will be considered sooner. An Both practices exemplify the general teaching guideline,
involving variation on this plan is having a fellow student ‘‘We learn what we use.’’ These two teaching practices are
read and comment on a draft. Perhaps two students might supported by my experience and by considerable research
read and comment on each other’s drafts before they are (Lehman et al. 1988; Nisbett 1992; Kosonen and Winne
seen by a faculty member. The interaction could be moti- 1995).
vating, reinforcing, and helpful for both students.
As an appendix to the Thesis/Project, the student will 6.2 Two Basic Methods: LDT and PBL
include a list of general and subject-specific critical
thinking dispositions and abilities that were employed in Two basic teaching methods, Lecture-Discussion Teaching
this work, providing examples. (LDT) and Problem-Based Learning (PBL), contrast with
My recommending the Senior Thesis/Project was inspired each other. Both LDT and PBL can be helpful, depending
by the experience of having witnessed the operation of a on the situation, the subject, the students, and the teacher.
similar requirement at New College of Florida in Sarasota,
Florida, which is the State of Florida’s premium public 6.2.1 LDT
academic college. The amount of student effort devoted to
this project is generally about one half of a student’s course Lecture-Discussion Teaching is by far the most common
load for the entire senior year, according to Aron Edidin, approach to college teaching. Typically there is a lecture
New College Professor of Philosophy (personal communi- (usually accompanied by some reading in a text book)
cation). My impression from talking to faculty and students presenting one or more aspects of the subject matter, fol-
is that the Senior Thesis/Project is a successful and signifi- lowed by a discussion section, or discussion at the end of
cant culmination of students’ careers at New College. the period in which the lecture was presented.
6.2.2 PBL
6 Teaching Approaches
Problem-Based Learning is not new but has become more
6.1 Two Basic Teaching Practices popular recently, and is promoted by a number of educa-
tional psychologists, among others. It calls for dealing with
Here are two basic, complementary, useful teaching prac- a subject-matter issue, usually requiring investigating,
tices I highly recommend. They both are well suited to developing, testing, and discussing of hypotheses or solu-
incorporation in a CTAC program. tions and possible alternatives. It is probably the appro-
priate approach for the case studies discussions mentioned
6.1.1 Explicit Principles earlier. It was the basic method in my Newton’s First Law
experience and is the basic method for the Senior Thesis/
Make critical thinking principles explicit when they are used Project.
or relevant, at least until they are thoroughly clear to, and Some subject-matter specialists have claimed that criti-
used by, a large majority of students, and even occasionally cal thinking interferes with coverage. Kuhn and her asso-
after that. Usually this should be done at first by the instructor ciates (Capon and Kuhn 2004; Pease and Kuhn 2011;
or the text, but for further reinforcement, more often by the Wirkala and Kuhn 2011) in rigorous studies to be more
students, perhaps in defense of a proposal. fully described later found that PBL groups dealing with
problems calling for critical thinking exhibited more sub-
6.1.2 Transfer ject-matter retention than LDT groups.
But more research using PBL in various circumstances
Teach for transfer, that is, promote transferring the applica- is certainly needed. Because PBL might require more
tion of critical thinking dispositions, abilities, criteria, and instructor skills, training, effort, and preparation time than
principles to a variety of new examples in new contexts, LDT, the relative costs and benefits must also be explored.
providing reinforcement, and thus facilitating their further
transfer to still other contexts. CTAC provides more chances 6.3 Twenty-One Strategies and Tactics for Teaching
for a variety of general critical thinking disposition and Critical Thinking
abilities to be applied to new examples and contexts than
does a stand-alone, single-semester, critical thinking course, Over the years, partly from my experience and partly from
and thus increases the amount and depth of critical thinking that of colleagues, I have gathered a number of both very
likely to be acquired in higher education. Research to be specific as well as general strategies and tactics for teach-
reported presently confirms this expectation. ing critical thinking. They provide ways of involving
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students and helping them organize and keep their focus. administrators, and students. But there are many different
The selection, ‘‘Twenty-one Strategies and Tactics for possibilities for coordination and support. I shall briefly
Teaching Critical Thinking’’ presents these strategies and suggest some main features of a possible coordination and
tactics in Inquiry (Ennis 2011b, pp 14–15) and on the web support structure that fits the rest of this proposal, though
site, www.criticalthinking.net. I recommend them to local circumstances might call for others. Many other
teachers who are trying to promote critical thinking. The organizational details will need to be suggested or sup-
use of various ones of these twenty-one strategies and plied by specialists in educational leadership, who will be
tactics is supported by my experience, testimony from my invited to contribute when the time comes. But the needs
colleagues, and by considerable research, including that by addressed by my suggestions must be handled in some
Lehman et al. (1988), Nisbett (1992), and Kosonen and fashion.
Winne (1995).
8.1 Critical Thinking (CT) Office and Director
7 Assessment
In the Alpha program there will be a central CT Office
responsible for coordination and supervision activities.
Assessment must be addressed early and continuously. It
Depending on the size of the institution, the CT Office
will be needed to help plan for the future by determining
will be run by a Director and an Associate Director, and
such things as students needs, interests, and abilities, etc.
will include the Supervisor of the first-year course, all
(formative assessment), and by helping us learn students’
three of whom will have a critical thinking teaching
accomplishments at the end of a class, week, course pro-
responsibility to keep them in touch with what is hap-
gram, etc. (summative assessment) to help decide how to
pening. There will be an assessment specialist and an
do it better next time.
information-technology specialist, both well versed in
The CTAC program in my vision for Alpha College
critical thinking and familiar with the first-year course
calls for Alpha-wide assessment of critical thinking at the
materials and the total program, as well as their own
beginning (formative) and end of the first year, and at the
fields of psychometrics and information technology. They
end of the final year (summative). Faculty with the help of
will be full time or part time in the CT Office, depending
the critical thinking assessment specialist will arrange for
n the size of the total operation. There will also be sec-
quizzes, mid-terms, and final exams. The critical thinking
retarial help. The CT Office personnel will be under the
assessment specialist will be attached to the CT Office
supervision of an institution-wide Steering Committee
(described later); will well understand the Alpha Concep-
working though the Director.
tion of Critical Thinking and the goals of the program; and
will encourage and give guidance for all.
Critical thinking assessment is discussed by Ennis 8.2 The Faculty Critical Thinking Steering
(1984, 2003, 2008, 2009), who considers various problems Committee
of critical thinking assessment; Ennis and Norris (1990),
who give a general discussion of critical thinking assess- To oversee the total operation, there will be a Faculty
ment, as do Fisher and Scriven (1997), Norris and Ennis Critical Thinking Steering Committee of approximately
(1989), Groarke (2009), Possin (2008, 2013a, b, c, 2014), ten members (representing and chosen by the teaching
who evaluate a number of currently-popular critical departments in the institution). It shall meet monthly,
thinking tests; and Sobocan and Groarke (2009), who chaired by one of its members. The CT Office will pro-
include in their edited book a number of discussions of vide administrative services for the Steering Committee,
different aspects of critical thinking assessment. The and the Steering Committee will be responsible to the
reviews of and my experience with some leading tests give total Alpha College Faculty, to whom it will present an
me pause, so I urge caution. An annotated list of English- annual report, and from whom it will seek feedback. With
language critical thinking tests is available on the internet the help of the Director, the Steering Committee will
at www.criticalthinking.net (Ennis and Chattin 2015). monitor the teaching of the required first-year course and
the critical thinking incorporation plan for each subject-
matter department and group of departments (and imple-
8 Coordination and Support mentation thereof), including the culminating Thesis/
Project. It will be informed about, and take account of,
Considerable coordination among, and support for, the formative and summative assessments and feedback, and
elements of this CTAC program are needed, as are strong will in return provide encouragement, appraisal, sugges-
commitments to critical thinking by faculty, tions, and guidance.
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R. H. Ennis
8.3 Departmental Location of the Field, Critical technology specialists. It will be under the direction of the
Thinking Associate Director, and should be released twice each
semester during the academic year.
Critical thinking as an academic field will be a subdivision
of an academic department, possibly philosophy, or will be 8.5 Unified Glossary
its own department (to be determined on negotiation with
the Steering Committee and other college authorities). If, To avoid confusion on the part of students and faculty, a
as a subdivision of an established department, full support common set of definitions of critical thinking terms must
is not committed and provided for critical thinking, critical be agreed on and made available to all. Such terms as
thinking should be established as its own department, or ‘argumentation’, ‘denotation’, ‘connotation’, ‘logic’, and
move to a different department, all under supervision of the ‘valid’ (all of which most philosophers use in a different
Steering Committee. sense than the one used by specialists in communications
Instructors, including the Supervisor, in the first-year and some other fields), ‘reliable’ (which most people use in
course in critical thinking and instructors in higher-level a sense different from that used by psychometricians), as
courses in critical thinking, as well as the Director and well as ‘hypothesis’, ‘best-explanation inference’, ‘induc-
Associate Director of the CT Office, will have primary tion’, ‘significant’, ‘straw person’, and ‘genus-differentia’
appointments in the critical thinking department or sub- require agreed-upon definitions, or alternative definitions
department as determined above, and possibly joint with stipulated informative labels. If agreement cannot be
appointments in other departments. However, the instruc- reached for a term used in critical thinking, then the
tors for the case studies will have a primary appointment in glossary must be sensitive to the meanings that might be
the department associated with the subject matter of the assumed for the term and clarify any ambiguity by stipu-
case study, and probably a joint appointment in the critical lative labeling (e.g., ‘‘the philosophy sense of
thinking department or sub-department. The specialists in ‘connotation’’’).
critical thinking assessment and information technology There is a glossary in Ennis (1996, pp 394–399).
will also have at least a joint appointment in the department
housing critical thinking and in departments focused on 8.6 Coordination with Writing Specialists
psychometrics and information technology respectively.
The end product of critical thinking often appears in
8.4 Faculty Interaction and Support writing, as in each student’s Thesis/Project, the brief
position papers at the end of each 3-week case-study issue,
All faculty will have full access to the content of the first- other position paper written in students’ experience at
year critical thinking course, so that those not teaching the Alpha, as well as writing done elsewhere and later, such as
first year course will know what to expect of their students letters to the editor, job-related proposals, and academic
and what critical thinking skills will be available for rein- articles. Therefore, coordination with, and help from,
forcement. Each faculty member of the entire college will be writing experts is desirable. One can think critically but
given a complimentary copy of the course materials and the produce unintelligible or weak written support for one’s
textbook, assuming one is used, and will receive newsletters position.
and a glossary (described later). Faculty research in critical If there is a writing-across-the-curriculum program at
thinking and its instruction will be encouraged. Alpha, then cooperation with it is appropriate. If not, then
There will be faculty seminars dealing with critical cooperation with the instructors of whatever writing pro-
thinking and the teaching and assessment of it, so that fac- gram does exist should be implemented.
ulty can help, and receive support from, each other, as well
as individualized consulting and advice from the assess-
ment, information technology, and critical thinking spe- 9 Major Expressed Apprehensions and Responses
cialists. Confidential student feedback will also be provided.
Released time for special projects, extra pay for summer At various presentations of these ideas, and in conversation
work, and various other incentives will be operating, with colleagues who teach subject matter, apprehensions
including treating critical thinking work as a significant have been expressed. I shall discuss some prominent ones.
contribution in the tenure, pay, and promotion system.
In order to keep the entire Alpha community aware of 9.1 Is Critical Thinking Currently Being Taught?
what is going on regarding critical thinking, a newsletter
should be instituted for all members of the community and The apprehension here is that since critical thinking is
include information from the assessment and information allegedly already being taught, we do not need to teach it.
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Before presenting research that is relevant, I shall explain a 9.1.3 A Problem with Pre-Post Statistics
research term, ‘‘Cohen’s d’’, which is heavily used in
reporting results of critical thinking assessment. Most critical-thinking-improvement studies are not control
group studies, but rather are only pretest–posttest studies.
9.1.1 Cohen’s d Campbell and Stanley in their classic work (1963) sneer at
them by calling them ‘‘pre-experimental’’. Cook and
Typically critical thinking research is reported by non- Campbell (1979) in another classic also are severely criti-
statisticians in terms of Cohen’s d (1988, pp 24–27). cal of pre-test/post-test only designs. There are almost
Current statisticians tend to use Cohen’s d with minor always numerous other possible explanations of pre-post
modifications, resulting in what they call ‘‘effect size’’, a improvement in scores. For example, maturation, social
term that has the advantage of describing what the term interaction at college (of all sorts), dropping out by less
‘‘Cohen’s d’’ represents. The terms are often used inter- able students (assuming that less able students are more
changeably though ‘‘effect size’’ as interpreted by statisti- likely to drop out), familiarity with the test or test type
cians is deemed by statisticians to be less biased. I shall acquired from the pre-test, desire to self-improve, etc., are
generally use ‘‘Cohen’s d’’ because it is more familiar to all possible alternatives to the explanation that the differ-
people interested in critical thinking. ence found is an effect of college education.
Basically each is the ratio of a difference in averages to a The drop-out problem is worse for pre-post cross-sec-
measure of variability (the standard deviation). If the dif- tional studies, which are cheaper and easier to do, than pre-
ference in averages is 2 score points and the standard devi- post longitudinal studies. Effect-of-college cross-sectional
ation is 4 score points, then the Cohen’s d is 2 divided by 4, studies test seniors and the freshmen in the same year, and
that is, 1/2, or 0.5. Cohen’s d’s have the advantage over the difference is deemed to show the amount of improve-
simple statistical significance of giving an idea of the mag- ment over students’ college careers, but the pre-test students
nitude of the difference rather than just determining whether are not the same people as the post-test students. Eventual
the difference could have occurred by chance, which is the dropouts contribute to the average scores for the freshmen,
focus of statistical significance. Statistical significance can but in the group of seniors tested, dropouts are not included,
be found for even trivial practical differences if the number so they do not contribute to the average scores for seniors.
of subjects is large. Although both Cohen’s d and effect size This inflates the improvement as measured, assuming that
have problems, for example their dependence on varying dropouts are generally the weaker students. In longitudinal
variabilities among different studies, they are gener- studies the same students are tested when they are freshmen
ally more useful in this context than statistical significance. and again when they are seniors, and the differences are
calculated, so the dropouts do not ever get into the pre-post
9.1.2 One Meaning of the Challenge results. The dropouts’ pre-tests do not have corresponding
post-tests in the senior group, so what would have been their
A possible meaning of the challenge that critical thinking is improvement is ignored. But even with longitudinal studies,
currently being taught is that critical thinking improvement there are other possible explanations of improvement than
already occurs over a 3 or 4-year period in higher education their college courses, or total college experience, such as
institutions, so we do not need to teach it. There have been maturation, familiarity with the test or test type, and non-
a large number of studies showing that pre-test/post-test college experiences.
differences for 4-year college programs (plus whatever else So the Cohen’s d results for improvement while in
students experience during that period) tend to yield a college are likely to be inflated to some extent as a result of
positive Cohen’s d averaging roughly around 0.55 for the inclusion of pre-test/post-test results, especially if they
critical thinking improvement (Pascarella and Terenzini are cross-sectional. The basic question is whether, ignoring
2005). Virtually all studies at the 0.55 level are statistically this inflation, the apparent improvement in critical thinking
significant. The issues are whether they are practically arising from taking a college program is enough.
significant, and whether the improvement is enough. Answering this question requires that we go beyond the
In their widely-known meta-analysis of 24 studies using the statistics, though continuing to use them, and consider our
CLA (Council for Aid to Education, n.d.), Arum and Roksa informed experience. I shall suggest that the Cohen’s d has
(2011) obtained a Cohen’s d of 0.47, a result they deemed some intuitive meaning even if pre-post studies are used
insufficient. Huber and Kuncel (2015) in a meta-analysis of 71 and have somewhat inflated results, but the extent of
studies obtained an effect size of 0.59, which they deemed improvement is much more clear with control group
‘‘substantial’’. Are either of these enough? One must go studies, of which there are many fewer studies. Unfortu-
beyond simple statistics to answer this question. But first let us nately meta-analyses (summaries of studies) usually do not
address a problem with simple pretest–posttest statistics. report the proportions of pre-post testing in their results.
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R. H. Ennis
9.1.4 An Intuitive Approach to the Meaning of Cohen’s d perhaps in the form of a pre-post study, but better, a control
group study. If none exists, then one might invite the
Here is a rough approach suggested by Hatcher (2013) to claimer to do, or share in the doing of, such a study.
the meaning of a Cohen’s d in critical thinking: We look at Citations of a test list and a number of critical thinking
the number of test items the Cohen’s d represents on a test reviews appeared earlier in Sect. 7. These might be
critical thinking test with which we are very familiar. Then useful to someone searching for a critical thinking test to
we decide whether we think that number of items is a use. See also the current Buros’ Mental Measurement
satisfactory result for 4 years in college (or whatever time Yearbook and Buros’ Tests in Print.
period we are investigating). This calls for experience with
people in general, with college students, and with the items 9.2 Is Critical Thinking Teachable?
on the test. Here is an example, using a test with which I
am quite familiar. Taking into account the evidence for the first interpretation
Standard deviations (which are measures of variability) of the previous concern, one might still object, as some do,
on the 52-item Cornell Critical Thinking Test, Level Z that although students do improve in critical thinking while
(Ennis and Millman 2005b), a test that was used in several in college, actual courses intending to improve students’
studies referenced above, averaged about 5 in an exami- general critical thinking do not succeed, i.e., critical
nation of research reports over a 20-year period (Ennis thinking is not teachable.
et al. (2005, p 14). So a Cohen’s d of 0.55 (Pascarella and My basic response to the complaint that critical thinking
Terenzini 2005) would roughly represent a difference of is not teachable is that, although individual critical thinking
about 2.75 (0.55 9 5) average number of items of courses do not teach as much critical thinking as I would
improvement on this test. Using this approach, the average like, most do on average teach some critical thinking, with
number of items of improvement on the Cornell test, the result being more than would come just from being in
making appropriate simplifying assumptions, would have college. I shall elaborate.
been 2.35 (0.47 9 5) for Arum and Roksa’s result and 2.95 Improvement in Cohen’s d’s of 0.5 for one semester are
(0.59 9 5) for the Huber and Kuncel result. Given my considered average (Hatcher 2009, p 237). Hitchcock
familiarity with the Cornell Level Z test, I think that even (2015, p 285) deemed 0.5 to be a ‘‘medium’’ effect size.
the 2.95-item average number of items of improvement on But results do vary widely. Abrami et al. (2008, p 1112)
that test over one’s whole college career, though it is the report a range of -1.0 to ?2.75 in their meta-analysis of
highest of the three, is not enough, given the importance of 117 studies, with an average effect size of 0.34. In a pre-
critical thinking. A gain of 2.95 represents less than one post study of one critical thinking course, Solon (2003)
item per year. This conclusion is consistent with the pop- obtained an effect size of 1.5. In a control group study
ular complaints mentioned at the beginning of this essay. Solon (2001) compared a critical-thinking-in-psychology
Readers might find it useful to perform a similar thought course with a straight humanities course using the Cornell
experiment with a college-level critical thinking test with Level Z and obtained a Cohen’s d of 1.1 favoring the
which they are familiar and of which they approve, using critical-thinking-in-psychology course. Interestingly this
Cohen’s d’s of 0.59 (Huber and Kuncel) and 0.47 (Arum course (in a hint of what is coming) is a CTAC-like course
and Roksa), divide the result by 4 (for 4 years of college) because it combined critical thinking with a subject matter
and judge whether the resulting amount of improvement area (psychology). Its being a control group study, making
would be a satisfactory improvement in average number of it a better quality comparison, is important too.
items on the test for each year in a college student’s car- In a large and recent meta-analysis, Abrami et al. (2015)
eer. But remember that other factors are also involved examined 684 studies and found an average effect size of
(such as maturation and non-classroom experiences). 0.39. So it varies, but averages being what they are, the
variation shows that a large number of courses have results
9.1.5 A Second Meaning well above 0.39; all of this establishes the proposition that
critical thinking can be taught. But, even assuming Hatcher’s
A second interpretation of the challenge that critical estimate of the average (0.5) for a critical thinking course,
thinking is currently being taught is the claim that specific that still is only 2.5 items (5 9 0.5) on the Cornell Level Z.
courses (perhaps including one or more taught by the So there is strong support for an affirmative answer to
challenger) are currently successfully teaching critical the question about whether critical thinking can be taught
thinking, so no change is needed. On this interpretation, the in a critical thinking course, and a negative answer to the
appropriate response, given my experience with people question about whether this is enough. Improving an
who say this, is to ask how the challenger knows that average of only 2.5 items is better than nothing, though I
critical thinking is being taught, and to ask for evidence, think not enough, given the importance of critical thinking
123
and given my familiarity with the test. But as we shall see, general critical thinking instruction is combined with sub-
the average effect size for courses that combine critical ject-matter instruction) produced an average effect size of
thinking with subject matter, one of which (1.1) I have 0.94 for critical thinking improvement. Hitchcock (2015)
noted already [comparing critical thinking instruction in a deemed 0.8 to be a ‘‘large’’ effect size.
psychology course to a straight humanities course (Solon Rowe et al. (2015) compared six straight general educa-
2001)], is considerably higher. tion science course sections at the university level with six
similar courses in which critical thinking was combined
9.3 Concerns with Combining Critical Thinking with the science instruction. They pooled the posttest results
and Subject Matter Instruction for both sets, producing significant (statistical and practical)
results favoring the combined science and critical thinking
Mixing critical thinking and subject-matter instruction and group on the CAT (Center for Assessment & Improvement
infusing critical thinking into subject-matter instruction of Learning, n.d.). More specifically the difference between
(which I shall for convenience group together under the post test means had a p \ 0.001 (probability of no differ-
description, ‘‘combining critical thinking and subject-mat- ence) and a Cohen’s d of 0.89 (p 6 of 17), favoring the
ter instruction’’) make things (including coordination) combined science and critical thinking pooled results.
more complicated than having them totally separated. Do Comparably, using pretest–posttest improvements there
the results warrant the effort? was a p \ 0.001 and a Cohen’s d of 0.76 for the
science/critical thinking combination on the CAT, but there
9.3.1 Impact on Critical Thinking basically was no difference (p = 0.43) between the pre and
posttests on the CAT for the straight science group (p. 6 of
Does combining critical thinking and subject-matter 17).
instruction help us to master critical thinking abilities? In sum, combining critical thinking and subject-matter
Seemingly so, on the face of it, if critical thinking is used in instruction seems to provide increased use of, reinforce-
dealing with subject-matter issues. Being used and useful ment of, and retention of critical thinking. It understand-
in a variety of contexts is reinforcing, and adapting a ably seems to be a more effective way to teach critical
critical thinking ability to a variety of different subject- thinking than a stand-alone critical thinking course.
matter situations helps students to practice and appreciate
the critical thinking. We learn what we use and find useful. 9.3.2 Does Including General Critical Thinking Hurt
Solon’s (2007) subsequent comparison of two psychol- Subject-Matter?
ogy courses, one of which incorporated critical thinking,
favored the psychology course with critical thinking with a This is a serious concern of a number of subject-matter
Cohen’s d of 0.66 for critical thinking improvement, but in teachers. There are two areas to consider here: whether
this case, although the control group was supposedly a general critical thinking is of help (or harm) in dealing with
straight psychology course, it did also provide some critical subject-matter issues, and whether combining critical
thinking instruction because of the sharing of some mate- thinking and subject-matter instruction helps or interferes
rials that involved critical thinking, a fact that might with subject-matter retention.
account for the lower Cohen’s d (lower than the 1.1 One important non-statistical answer to the first part of
obtained in comparing critical thinking in psychology with this challenge is that critical thinking abilities and dispo-
a straight humanities course). Allegretti (2005) did two sitions and their principles and criteria, both general and
control-group studies, each with a large number of students subject- specific, are helpful when dealing with subject-
(321 and 188), on critical thinking incorporation in great matter issues. For example, operating in the field of
books courses using the Cornell Level Z and found that the experimental educational psychology, as I have been doing
experimental groups improved significantly more on criti- in this part of my essay, I have expressed a preference for
cal thinking than the control groups. control group studies over pre-post studies on the ground
Hatcher’s (2009) meta-analysis of 6 1-year courses that that control group studies rule out many more alternative
are combinations of critical thinking and writing calling for possible explanations than pre-post studies. That it is
teaching critical thinking and using critical thinking in desirable to rule out alternative possible explanations is a
taking and defending a position about five specific issues, principle of inference to best explanation, the skilled using
produced an average critical thinking pre-post improve- of which is critical thinking Ability #9b in Table 1. My
ment Cohen’s d of 0.97 for all six combined courses, using using Ability #9b helps me to deal with experimental
the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test (Ennis and issues, e.g., the issue about the desirability of using control
Weir 1985). Comparably, a meta-analysis by Abrami et al. groups versus using pre-post studies about the teaching of
(2008) of 22 ‘‘mixed-course’’ studies (studies in which critical thinking.
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R. H. Ennis
I realize that #9b in Table 1 does not mention ruling out Since the Solon (2007) and Winocur (1981) studies
alternative possible explanations. In order to keep down the found no difference between experimental and control
length of this article, principles and criteria are not men- groups in subject-matter retention, and the Lumken study
tioned in Table 1, but are mentioned in the elaborations of found that the experimental group learned significantly
Table 1 to be found in Ennis (1991, 1996, 2011b, 2015a), more subject matter than the control group, these six
and in www.criticalthinking.net (Ennis 2015b). studies suggest that subject matter will at least not suffer
However, colleagues in subject-matter specialties have when critical thinking is mixed or infused and might well
expressed concern that combining critical thinking and improve (as it did in 4 out of the 6 studies). If research
subject-matter instruction will reduce subject-matter cov- indicates even the possibility that combining critical
erage. But retention is what matters, not coverage. So let us thinking instruction in some manner with subject-matter
focus on retention. instruction improves or maintains subject-matter retention,
There is not much research on this topic, but the that is certainly important. But more research is needed.
research I have found gives results favorable to CTAC. In Although what we have is encouraging for CTAC, there are
Solon’s (2007) control group study of two psychology many unexplored variables.
courses, in one of which critical thinking and subject-
matter instruction were combined (mentioned earlier to 9.4 Further Objections by Subject-Matter
support the claim that critical thinking is teachable in Specialists
subject-matter courses—with a Cohen’s d of 0.66 for
critical thinking improvement) the experimental group 9.4.1 Students Insufficiently Well Informed to Think
also improved slightly more in psychology subject matter Critically
than the straight-psychology control group, but the dif-
ference was not significant. So in this study, including A concern that some colleagues have expressed is that
critical thinking did not interfere with subject-matter beginning students do not know enough advanced subject
retention or significantly improve it more than in the matter to think critically about advanced issues in the field.
control group, though it effectively improved critical I agree. But this difficulty does not hold for elementary
thinking. issues and introductory subject matter as is seen in my
Winocur’s (1981) control group study of 730 remedial experience with Newton’s First Law, in the Kuhn and
reading students in grades 7, 8, and 9 found a statistically- associates PBL research (see above), and by consideration
significant improvement in critical thinking using the of the examples provided earlier for possible case studies.
Cornell Level X (Ennis and Millman 2005a), but no dif- There is absolutely no doubt that background subject-
ference in reading improvement. Again critical thinking matter knowledge in an area calling for critical thinking is
instruction did not interfere with reading improvement. essential for doing high-quality critical thinking in the area.
Lumpken’s (1990) control group study of including But this does not justify not learning to think critically
critical thinking in social studies instruction for 80 5th and about subject-matter issues that use levels of subject matter
6th grade students found that the experimental group that students can understand.
actually improved in social studies content significantly
more than the control group, though critical thinking did 9.4.2 Faculty Unwilling to Change
not improve.
In rigorous control group studies that also involved This objection holds that established subject-matter faculty
random assignment to experimental and control groups members are unwilling to abandon or revise course outli-
(very rare in significant educational research) Kuhn and nes, syllabi, and other notes that they have developed over
associates studied the impact of PBL on subject-matter the years with large time commitments and effort. I rec-
learning, as mentioned earlier. PBL (problem-based ognize the importance of this concern to busy people, but
learning) calls for critical thinking among other things, at urge such objectors to consider some factors that call for
least providing opportunities for reinforcement. Capon and more flexibility:
Kuhn (2004) taught the concept of value to MBA graduate These days higher education academia is being chal-
students; Pease and Kuhn (2011) the concepts of group- lenged by more directly-practical learning (including pro-
think and memory to 6th and 7th grade students; and fessional and vocational) as well as instruction using the
Wirkala and Kuhn (2011) the concepts of electromagnetic internet. Students choosing to pay for a college education
field and gravitational field to students in elementary col- have an expectation that they will graduate prepared for a
lege physics. They all found that students taught using PBL good job, which generally will call for critical thinking. If
retained significantly more subject-matter content than the as a group they do not get good jobs, they will seriously
control group students. consider alternatives. If fear of failure is part of the
123
problem for the unwilling faculty member, faculty training text materials, and would invite discussion in discussion
and support are a significant component of the Alpha groups.
vision. In the first 20 weeks the online presentations would be
Many course organization plans, syllabi, and lecture complemented by a weekly discussion meeting (with a
notes get out of date and need to be revised anyway, which maximum group size of 20 students) led by a critical
would be a good opportunity to incorporate more PBL, as thinking expert (either faculty or a supervised grad student,
feasible, to support the learning of critical thinking and if available) in which discussions and presentations by
subject matter, as research has shown. Helping students students would occur. The discussions for the case studies
acquire and reinforce general critical thinking will help the for the next 9 weeks would be led by a subject-matter
students to be more effective in their own disciplines, specialist selected by the appropriate department in coor-
because general critical thinking is used in working in a dination and/or consultation with the critical thinking dis-
discipline—in writing articles, giving keynote addresses, cussion leaders.
judging research approaches (like Campbell and Stanley’s There would be assessment and feedback to the students
judging pre-post test designs) as well as interpreting what and leaders. Coordination of the timing of online presen-
students and colleagues say in disciplinary contexts. tations, discussion meetings, and assessment will require
Helping students with the Thesis/Project will help them special attention so that they can be spread out over each
acquire the associated subject matter and reinforce both week.
their general and subject-specific critical thinking but lec- This approach might well reduce expenses, given the
ture notes and syllabi are unlikely to be of help here. possibilities for economies of scale, but monitoring must be
Furthermore evidence I mentioned earlier suggests that done to assure that little loss in learning of critical thinking
combining critical thinking and subject-matter instruction or subject matter results. More research is required.
might well result in more subject-matter retention than in
straight subject-matter courses, and clearly results in more 9.5.2 Even Less Expensive
critical thinking learning than separate critical thinking
courses. Hitchcock (2004, 2015) has explored what could develop
Lastly faculty would do well also to consider what into an even less expensive alternative in the first-year
students need in their civic and personal lives. Critical critical thinking course.
thinking is needed everywhere and I believe that graduates In addition to two standard lecture sessions per week,
will highly value the help they get in this area from their he used a text book accompanied by computer-assisted
undergraduate experience. If we do not help at this level, instruction designed to fit the text book instead of the
who will? 20 discussion sections per week (at 20 students per
section for his approximately 400 students) that would
9.5 Expensive and Difficult to Arrange have otherwise been needed. He invited e-mail consul-
tation by two grad assistants and himself, but this con-
9.5.1 A Less Expensive Approach sultation was rarely requested so he did not need a
large staff.
One persistent expressed concern is that it will be too The e-mail consultations required much less time by
expensive to provide expert critical thinking faculty for the human instructors than the weekly 20 member expert-led
entire first-year critical thinking course and subject-matter discussion groups I have envisioned. With a pre-post
faculty for the 9 weeks of case-study sessions, adjusting design (no control group) the Cohen’s d Hitchcock
the curriculum by combining critical thinking with subject obtained for improvement over the period of that one
matter, and supervising the Thesis/Projects. course was 0.49 (Hitchcock 2004, p 187), which he deemed
One possible way to deal with this concern is to develop ‘‘a moderate effect’’ (2004, p 210).
and provide two online faculty presentations per week for If the lectures were online too, as they could have been,
the entire first-year course. These would be made by a then even less human instructor time would have been
charismatic high-quality critical thinking faculty member involved if they were used for many thousands of students,
(21 weeks of course time) and charismatic high-quality making lecture preparation cost per student quite low. Thus
subject-matter faculty members (3 weeks of course time the least expensive alternative I have considered consists of
apiece) who have spent considerable time planning and two widely-used, online, involving, charismatic lectures
preparing these online presentations (which would be per week, coordinated with online text-book-based
available for re-use, and for use and rental by other insti- instruction like that used by Hitchcock.
tutions). These online presentations would employ both But the question must be faced, ‘‘Is 0.49 enough?’’ I think
PBL and LDT as appropriate, would be coordinated with not. Complaints about the critical thinking ability of our
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R. H. Ennis
college graduates combined with the expressed need for land, a vision, and some deeply committed faculty and
critical thinking these days, together with reported signifi- administrators, and soon thereafter some flexible commit-
cantly better results for courses combining critical thinking ted students. Or the benefactor could start with an institu-
and subject matter suggest that CTAC should be explored. tion that is failing and has facilities but little else, or an
(I realize that Hitchcock adjusted his result downward institution that has an administration, faculty, and student
from 0.49 to 0.44 in order to make up for what he estimates body ready for this kind of a new venture.
would have been gained if the course had not been taught.
Accordingly I could ask whether 0.44 is enough. But since 9.6.2 Starting with Only A Small Unit in a Larger
his result will generally be compared to results not so Institution
adjusted, I continue to report 0.49.)
Although online assessment can also be an important As an alternative, a group of approximately 150 committed
benefit of online learning because of the immediacy of the students per year and an appropriate number of committed
feedback, I am uneasy about computer assessment of essay faculty and administrators could be identified as a small
tests and other written responses. But more broadly, it is unit at a larger thriving institution to explore the imple-
with great trepidation that I mention these online-based mentation of the Alpha approach. Perhaps this would
alternatives to the heavily human-interaction based program expand into a larger unit at that institution or become a
I have proposed. I feel much better about human interaction. model for all of this and/or other institutions.
This is an issue that extends beyond the current proposal to
all higher education. It is essential that the computer-based 9.6.3 An Initially-Simplified Program
and human-interaction-based alternatives to CTAC be
compared in control group studies, using Cohen’s d’s for Another alternative consists of a step-by-step sequential
critical thinking improvement on multiple-choice tests as implementation of a simplified program that ultimately
well as essay tests and other open-ended assessments. The develops into the full program. The simplified program
exploration of what the lack of human interaction does to would begin by introducing a required one-semester stand-
students as people needs to be explored as well. alone general critical thinking course without subject-matter
case studies, taken in either the first or second freshman
9.5.3 Faculty Time for the Senior Thesis/Project semester. Both PBL and LDT would be used. Subject-matter
departments’ courses would then become involved, perhaps
The Thesis/Project requirement is an essential part of a developing over a 3-year period, gradually introducing,
CTAC experience (just as a Ph.D thesis is an essential part infusing, and reinforcing general and subject-specific criti-
of Ph.D programs). However, advising and supervising a cal thinking in subject-matter courses where this is deemed
Senior Project can be very time consuming on an indi- feasible and appropriate. The final Thesis/Project, which
vidual basis. Possibilities for group meetings, and for will be as described in the full CTAC proposal, would be
reducing the magnitude of the Project can be explored, but introduced in the fourth year. Assessment, coordination, and
with caution. I see no way to provide computer-based support as described in the full program, would be included.
supervision for the Thesis/Project. To save money by If all this works, the first year course could then transition
eliminating the Thesis/Project would severely limit the into the full-year first-year course, including subject-matter
effectiveness of the program here envisioned. The Thesis/ case studies. Full support by faculty, administrators, and
Project is crucial. students would again be essential.
9.6 Getting Started 9.6.4 A 2-Year-College Adaptation
Some say that this program as described for Alpha College The simplified start could be adapted to a 2-year college,
probably requires too many changes to be adopted outright though, because the program would run only 2 years, it
by an operating institution. I agree. I deliberately described could not develop into the full program. The 2-year pro-
an ideal program to put in our minds a possibility toward gram would consist of three main stages, introduced
which we might move. But there are many possible ways to sequentially: (1) a required one-semester freshman general
start. I shall suggest a few. critical thinking course, (2) plans for, and implementation
of, the combining of critical thinking and some subject-
9.6.1 A Large Benefactor matter courses, and (3) perhaps before the second stage is
complete, beginning a reduced Thesis/Project calling for a
A source of a large amount of funding could provide 3-to-6-h course commitment in the final semester (assum-
support to start with nothing except a large area of unused ing 15 h is a full-time commitment).
123
The 1-h weekly class meetings for presentation and them. But disadvantages are that many students will totally
discussion of each student’s Thesis/Project work would miss the critical thinking instruction, and that faculty of
occur only in the final semester. The written part of the subsequent classes will not know in advance how much
Thesis/Projects should not be over 20–40 pages plus ref- competence in critical thinking they can expect of each
erences. At least one first draft would be considered by a student in a given class. This advantage and disadvantage
student’s faculty advisor before final submission, and stu- situation will be reversed when and if the Clemson pro-
dents’ reading of each other’s drafts before they are seen by gram becomes required.
a faculty member could occur. All other features of the Another advantage that the Clemson program shares
original Thesis/Project would apply. with the Alpha College CTAC program is that, as sug-
All the suggestions for assessment, coordination and gested by the research reported in Sect. 9.3, combining
support made earlier for the full 4-year CTAC would also critical thinking instruction with subject matter instruction,
apply. which tends to use versions of PBL (problem-based
learning), seems to be more effective than stand-alone
9.6.5 Starting with Voluntary Critical Thinking Subject critical thinking courses.
Matter Seminars with the Thought That If They This program and the Alpha proposal illustrate the
Become Sufficiently Popular, A Transition to Being important fact that there are various levels of mainstream
Required will be Easy to Make conceptions and that they can suit various situations. I look
forward to seeing how the Clemson program develops, how
Clemson University (2016a, b) has instituted a promising successful it is at various stages, and what it ultimately
program of voluntary critical thinking sophomore semi- becomes. It might well be that being voluntary is best,
nars, dealing with various issues, including subject-matter either as a transition or as permanent, but it might not be
issues and promoting critical thinking and subject matter in best. The involving-type teaching and approaches of the
dealing with these issues. It uses (Clemson University Alpha program might well make up for its not being
2016b, p 27) the Scriven and Paul (1987) mainstream voluntary.
concept of critical thinking, quoted above in Sect. 2, which If not already part of the Clemson program, the avail-
together with Clemson’s conception of critical thinking ability of a comprehensive rigorous critical thinking text at
(Clemson University 2016b, pp 27–28 and presented in least for reference purposes—and a glossary—would be
Table 2), constitute a viable mainstream concept/concep- helpful. A required or optional Senior Thesis/Project would
tion of critical thinking. also be helpful, though this would require more staff—and
These eight items in Table 2 could be elaborated at a would be a significant requirement.
very high level of general critical thinking sophistication, Perhaps someday Clemson will have a fully imple-
but it is not clear from what we see whether this is so. But mented CTAC program, possibly like the Alpha program,
the Clemson concept/conception when further elaborated possibly not at all like the Alpha program. In any case it
will probably go well beyond the critical thinking skills of will be a model from which we all can learn.
many people we know—with its heavy emphasis on cau-
sation and hypothesis-testing, but also on evaluating and 9.6.6 Other
using information, consistency, recognizing argument
flaws, salience, interpretation, and the evaluation of inter- Many different possibilities will occur to people, but we
pretation. Depending on where students start and the flex- must always remember that critical thinking, both general
ibility of the institution, this Clemson concept/conception and subject-specific, and subject-matter learning are both
might be at just the right level, variety, and comprehen- important and can help each other, and that full support of
siveness for the Clemson situation. faculty, administration, and students is necessary.
One very important advantage possessed by the Clem-
son program is that it is actually being implemented, partly
because it is now voluntary and it does not require large 10 Concluding Remarks
changes in the university structure. The Alpha approach is
a vision of what might be; the Clemson approach is The definition of critical thinking as ‘‘reasonable reflective
available now. Furthermore the Clemson approach is thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do’’ is one
flexible in that a shift to being required depends on how among a number of popular definitions that provide various
things work out. ways of cutting the conceptual pie, which is the main-
Its being voluntary has the further advantage that stu- stream concept of critical thinking. But conceptions of
dents would be involved because they choose to be. Faculty critical thinking are needed to guide teaching, and have
volunteer to offer the courses and students volunteer to take different emphases, depth, and detail. This essay promotes
123
R. H. Ennis
Table 2 Clemson’s conception

Determine the relevance of information for evaluating an argument or conclusion
of critical thinking
Recognize flaws and inconsistencies in an argument
Evaluate competing causal explanations
Evaluate hypotheses for consistency with established facts
Determine whether an artistic interpretation is supported by evidence contained in a work
Recognize the salient features or themes in a work of art
Evaluate the appropriateness of procedures for investigating a question of causation
Evaluate data for consistency with established facts, hypotheses, or methods
the incorporation of a comprehensive, detailed, and rigor- were presented at the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation,
ous conception of critical thinking, The Alpha Conception Windsor, Ontario, Canada, May 24, 2013; in Inquiry (Ennis 2013); at
the conference on Reasoning, Argumentation, and Critical Thinking
of Critical Thinking, in a program that provides critical Instruction, Lund, Sweden, February 26, 2015; and at the II Interna-
thinking across the curriculum (CTAC). tional Seminar on Critical Thinking, University of Tras-os-Montes e
Six primary features of this program are (1) its required Alto Douro, Villa Real, Portugal, May 8, 2015. I have profited from
freshman full-year course, teaching general critical think- the many suggestions and challenges made in response to these pre-
sentations. The comments by Jennie Berg, Frank Fair, Derek Allen,
ing and incorporating it, together with subject matter and Mark Battersby, Don Hatcher, Michael Scriven, Frank Zenker, and
subject-specific critical thinking, in subject-matter-ori- anonymous reviewers were very helpful.
ented/critical thinking case studies; (2) its incorporation
and reinforcement of general and subject-specific critical
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Table 1 Brief outlines of general critical thinking dispositions and abilities

3 The First-Year Course 3.2 The First Two-Thirds (20 Weeks):

9.6 Getting Started 9.6.4 A 2-Year-College Adaptation

Table 2 Clemson’s conception

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