developing critical thinking technologies include

Distance Learning

Using technology to develop students’ critical thinking skills.

by Jessica Mansbach

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is a higher-order cognitive skill that is indispensable to students, readying them to respond to a variety of complex problems that are sure to arise in their personal and professional lives. The cognitive skills at the foundation of critical thinking are analysis, interpretation, evaluation, explanation, inference, and self-regulation.

When students think critically, they actively engage in these processes:

Communication
Problem-solving

To create environments that engage students in these processes, instructors need to ask questions, encourage the expression of diverse opinions, and involve students in a variety of hands-on activities that force them to be involved in their learning.

Types of Critical Thinking Skills

Instructors should select activities based on the level of thinking they want students to do and the learning objectives for the course or assignment. The chart below describes questions to ask in order to show that students can demonstrate different levels of critical thinking.

Level of critical thinking	Skills students demonstrate	Questions to ask
Lower levels
Remembering	recognize, describe, list, identify, retrieve
Understanding	explain, generalize, estimate, predict, describe
Higher levels
Applying	carry out, use, implement, show, solve
Analyzing	compare, organize, deconstruct
Evaluating	check, judge, critique, conclude, explain
Creating	construct, plan, design, produce

*Adapted from Brown University’s Harriet W Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning

Using Online Tools to Teach Critical Thinking Skills

Online instructors can use technology tools to create activities that help students develop both lower-level and higher-level critical thinking skills.

Example: Use Google Doc, a collaboration feature in Canvas, and tell students to keep a journal in which they reflect on what they are learning, describe the progress they are making in the class, and cite course materials that have been most relevant to their progress. Students can share the Google Doc with you, and instructors can comment on their work.
Example: Use the peer review assignment feature in Canvas and manually or automatically form peer review groups. These groups can be anonymous or display students’ names. Tell students to give feedback to two of their peers on the first draft of a research paper. Use the rubric feature in Canvas to create a rubric for students to use. Show students the rubric along with the assignment instructions so that students know what they will be evaluated on and how to evaluate their peers.
Example: Use the discussions feature in Canvas and tell students to have a debate about a video they watched. Pose the debate questions in the discussion forum, and give students instructions to take a side of the debate and cite course readings to support their arguments.
Example: Us e goreact , a tool for creating and commenting on online presentations, and tell students to design a presentation that summarizes and raises questions about a reading. Tell students to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s argument. Students can post the links to their goreact presentations in a discussion forum or an assignment using the insert link feature in Canvas.
Example: Use goreact, a narrated Powerpoint, or a Google Doc and instruct students to tell a story that informs readers and listeners about how the course content they are learning is useful in their professional lives. In the story, tell students to offer specific examples of readings and class activities that they are finding most relevant to their professional work. Links to the goreact presentation and Google doc can be submitted via a discussion forum or an assignment in Canvas. The Powerpoint file can be submitted via a discussion or submitted in an assignment.

Pulling it All Together

Critical thinking is an invaluable skill that students need to be successful in their professional and personal lives. Instructors can be thoughtful and purposeful about creating learning objectives that promote lower and higher-level critical thinking skills, and about using technology to implement activities that support these learning objectives. Below are some additional resources about critical thinking.

Additional Resources

Carmichael, E., & Farrell, H. (2012). Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Online Resources in Developing Student Critical Thinking: Review of Literature and Case Study of a Critical Thinking Online Site. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice , 9 (1), 4.

Lai, E. R. (2011). Critical thinking: A literature review. Pearson’s Research Reports , 6 , 40-41.

Landers, H (n.d.). Using Peer Teaching In The Classroom. Retrieved electronically from https://tilt.colostate.edu/TipsAndGuides/Tip/180

Lynch, C. L., & Wolcott, S. K. (2001). Helping your students develop critical thinking skills (IDEA Paper# 37. In Manhattan, KS: The IDEA Center.

Mandernach, B. J. (2006). Thinking critically about critical thinking: Integrating online tools to Promote Critical Thinking. Insight: A collection of faculty scholarship , 1 , 41-50.

Yang, Y. T. C., & Wu, W. C. I. (2012). Digital storytelling for enhancing student academic achievement, critical thinking, and learning motivation: A year-long experimental study. Computers & Education , 59 (2), 339-352.

Insight Assessment: Measuring Thinking Worldwide

http://www.insightassessment.com/

Michigan State University’s Office of Faculty & Organizational Development, Critical Thinking: http://fod.msu.edu/oir/critical-thinking

The Critical Thinking Community

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766

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9 responses to “ Using Technology To Develop Students’ Critical Thinking Skills ”

This is a great site for my students to learn how to develop critical thinking skills, especially in the STEM fields.

Great tools to help all learners at all levels… not everyone learns at the same rate.

Thanks for sharing the article. Is there any way to find tools which help in developing critical thinking skills to students?

Technology needs to be advance to develop the below factors:

Understand the links between ideas. Determine the importance and relevance of arguments and ideas. Recognize, build and appraise arguments.

Excellent share! Can I know few tools which help in developing critical thinking skills to students? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

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Brilliant post. Will be sharing this on our Twitter (@refthinking). I would love to chat to you about our tool, the Thinking Kit. It has been specifically designed to help students develop critical thinking skills whilst they also learn about the topics they ‘need’ to.

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What Are Critical Thinking Skills and Why Are They Important?

Learn what critical thinking skills are, why they’re important, and how to develop and apply them in your workplace and everyday life.

[Featured Image]: Project Manager, approaching and analyzing the latest project with a team member,

We often use critical thinking skills without even realizing it. When you make a decision, such as which cereal to eat for breakfast, you're using critical thinking to determine the best option for you that day.

Critical thinking is like a muscle that can be exercised and built over time. It is a skill that can help propel your career to new heights. You'll be able to solve workplace issues, use trial and error to troubleshoot ideas, and more.

We'll take you through what it is and some examples so you can begin your journey in mastering this skill.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to interpret, evaluate, and analyze facts and information that are available, to form a judgment or decide if something is right or wrong.

More than just being curious about the world around you, critical thinkers make connections between logical ideas to see the bigger picture. Building your critical thinking skills means being able to advocate your ideas and opinions, present them in a logical fashion, and make decisions for improvement.

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Why is critical thinking important?

Critical thinking is useful in many areas of your life, including your career. It makes you a well-rounded individual, one who has looked at all of their options and possible solutions before making a choice.

According to the University of the People in California, having critical thinking skills is important because they are [ 1 ]:

Crucial for the economy

Essential for improving language and presentation skills

Very helpful in promoting creativity

Important for self-reflection

The basis of science and democracy

Critical thinking skills are used every day in a myriad of ways and can be applied to situations such as a CEO approaching a group project or a nurse deciding in which order to treat their patients.

Examples of common critical thinking skills

Critical thinking skills differ from individual to individual and are utilized in various ways. Examples of common critical thinking skills include:

Identification of biases: Identifying biases means knowing there are certain people or things that may have an unfair prejudice or influence on the situation at hand. Pointing out these biases helps to remove them from contention when it comes to solving the problem and allows you to see things from a different perspective.

Research: Researching details and facts allows you to be prepared when presenting your information to people. You’ll know exactly what you’re talking about due to the time you’ve spent with the subject material, and you’ll be well-spoken and know what questions to ask to gain more knowledge. When researching, always use credible sources and factual information.

Open-mindedness: Being open-minded when having a conversation or participating in a group activity is crucial to success. Dismissing someone else’s ideas before you’ve heard them will inhibit you from progressing to a solution, and will often create animosity. If you truly want to solve a problem, you need to be willing to hear everyone’s opinions and ideas if you want them to hear yours.

Analysis: Analyzing your research will lead to you having a better understanding of the things you’ve heard and read. As a true critical thinker, you’ll want to seek out the truth and get to the source of issues. It’s important to avoid taking things at face value and always dig deeper.

Problem-solving: Problem-solving is perhaps the most important skill that critical thinkers can possess. The ability to solve issues and bounce back from conflict is what helps you succeed, be a leader, and effect change. One way to properly solve problems is to first recognize there’s a problem that needs solving. By determining the issue at hand, you can then analyze it and come up with several potential solutions.

How to develop critical thinking skills

You can develop critical thinking skills every day if you approach problems in a logical manner. Here are a few ways you can start your path to improvement:

1. Ask questions.

Be inquisitive about everything. Maintain a neutral perspective and develop a natural curiosity, so you can ask questions that develop your understanding of the situation or task at hand. The more details, facts, and information you have, the better informed you are to make decisions.

2. Practice active listening.

Utilize active listening techniques, which are founded in empathy, to really listen to what the other person is saying. Critical thinking, in part, is the cognitive process of reading the situation: the words coming out of their mouth, their body language, their reactions to your own words. Then, you might paraphrase to clarify what they're saying, so both of you agree you're on the same page.

3. Develop your logic and reasoning.

This is perhaps a more abstract task that requires practice and long-term development. However, think of a schoolteacher assessing the classroom to determine how to energize the lesson. There's options such as playing a game, watching a video, or challenging the students with a reward system. Using logic, you might decide that the reward system will take up too much time and is not an immediate fix. A video is not exactly relevant at this time. So, the teacher decides to play a simple word association game.

Scenarios like this happen every day, so next time, you can be more aware of what will work and what won't. Over time, developing your logic and reasoning will strengthen your critical thinking skills.

Learn tips and tricks on how to become a better critical thinker and problem solver through online courses from notable educational institutions on Coursera. Start with Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking from Duke University or Mindware: Critical Thinking for the Information Age from the University of Michigan.

Article sources

University of the People, “ Why is Critical Thinking Important?: A Survival Guide , https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/why-is-critical-thinking-important/.” Accessed May 18, 2023.

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Developing Critical Thinking

Posted January 10, 2018
By Iman Rastegari

In a time where deliberately false information is continually introduced into public discourse, and quickly spread through social media shares and likes, it is more important than ever for young people to develop their critical thinking. That skill, says Georgetown professor William T. Gormley, consists of three elements: a capacity to spot weakness in other arguments, a passion for good evidence, and a capacity to reflect on your own views and values with an eye to possibly change them. But are educators making the development of these skills a priority?

"Some teachers embrace critical thinking pedagogy with enthusiasm and they make it a high priority in their classrooms; other teachers do not," says Gormley, author of the recent Harvard Education Press release The Critical Advantage: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in School . "So if you are to assess the extent of critical-thinking instruction in U.S. classrooms, you’d find some very wide variations." Which is unfortunate, he says, since developing critical-thinking skills is vital not only to students' readiness for college and career, but to their civic readiness, as well.

"It's important to recognize that critical thinking is not just something that takes place in the classroom or in the workplace, it's something that takes place — and should take place — in our daily lives," says Gormley.

In this edition of the Harvard EdCast, Gormley looks at the value of teaching critical thinking, and explores how it can be an important solution to some of the problems that we face, including "fake news."

About the Harvard EdCast

The Harvard EdCast is a weekly series of podcasts, available on the Harvard University iT unes U page, that features a 15-20 minute conversation with thought leaders in the field of education from across the country and around the world. Hosted by Matt Weber and co-produced by Jill Anderson, the Harvard EdCast is a space for educational discourse and openness, focusing on the myriad issues and current events related to the field.

An education podcast that keeps the focus simple: what makes a difference for learners, educators, parents, and communities

Helping Children Succeed

Reading and the common core, roots of the school gardening movement.

7 year-old applying critical thinking strategies while dragging his finger across a row of animals in a Sequencing app.

Using Tech to Develop Critical Thinking Skills

It's all about the teaching method simple apps can be used to support critical thinking skills.

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Critical thinking goes beyond memorization, encouraging students to connect the dots between concepts, solve problems, think creatively, and apply knowledge in new ways. ( 7 Ways to Teach Critical Thinking in Elementary Education ) We use critical thinking skills every day, to make good decisions and to solve problems. In 21 st century classrooms, students are given opportunities to build critical thinking skills and educators are using teaching methods to intentionally build students’ critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is vital for success in all subject areas – and everyday life!

Who Should be Introduced to Critical Thinking Skills?

Every student should learn critical thinking skills. Toddlers begin by building foundational critical thinking skills through simple problem-solving; critical thinking is a life-long skill! Students who are visually impaired will need strong problem-solving skills – not just for academic situations, but also how to problem-solve different strategies to complete tasks that might be easily completed with the use of vision.

How can TVIs Support Critical Thinking Skills When Introducing Technology to Young Students?

Provide opportunities to explore and to be curious
Pause and Wait
Do not intervene immediately
Use general directions (not step-by-step directions) after initial introduction to a tech skill or app
Ask open-ended questions
Listen to the student and observe the student’s thinking process
Try a different way

Jeanne has participated in a 12-week Perkins eLearning course, ABC’s of iOS, an introduction to VoiceOver on the iPad for students ages 3 – 8. Throughout the course, Jeanne worked with her 7 year-old student, Ian. Jeanne shares, “We are making huge progress. We have went from a student who wouldn’t touch the iPad or if he had to couldn’t perform any tasks with it at all to a student who actually enjoys some of the activities and is independent in turning VO on and off, reading books, knowing how to pause and start again, continuing to perfect his basic gestures, and can play a few games independently. We continue to make progress on spatial learning, grids, fine-motor manipulation, etc. Even though, we are moving very slowly, the changes have been amazing. I can’t wait to see what happens. . .” Ian is in first grade and has some developmental delays.

Through her weekly videos, it was fascinating to watch how Ian’s tech skills progressed, and how his independence blossomed. Initially he always required step-by-step instruction. The apps used were simple cause-and-effect apps that only required a tap to make something happen. He began listening to the auditory information in simple self-voicing apps and when introduced to VoiceOver, he began to truly listen and began to process the auditory information. As Ian’s listening skills improved, Jeanne was able to back away, providing Ian opportunities to fill in the gaps. With decreased intervention, Ian started to complete tasks with more independence. Ian was given opportunities to try a gesture and to problem-solve when it did not work as anticipated.

Initially, it was challenging for Ian to drag his finger in a straight line – an important tech skill to be able to move across a row of apps on the iPad’s Home screen or across a row of items in an app. Jeanne used tactile graphics to help teach him the concept of a row (and column) and how to drag in a straight line. As Ian’s tech skills advanced, he transitioned to the next level of apps which require the drag and double tap (or split tap) gestures, navigating within the app and thinking in order to select the correct choice. The Math Melodies app, an accessible math app, has several math games appropriate for Ian, which can be used to build critical thinking skills. In the video below, Ian is introduced to the Sequencing game in the Math Melodies app.

In the ABC’s of iOS Course, Ian has already been introduced to the basic gestures, spatial layout of the app and spatial terms (top, middle, bottom, etc.), concept of rows, listening skills, etc. In the video below, he is learning to apply these skills to this game. The video is Ian’s introduction to the Sequencing app. Pay particular attention to how Jeanne set him up for success and Ian’s thinking process as he learns strategies to complete the game.

Video 1 Seven year-old Ian being introduced to Math Melodies’ Sequencing game.

Critical Teaching Strategies (review)

Jeanne’s critical thinking teaching methods.

Jeanne did a great job of balancing between giving Ian time to explore and to problem-solve while teaching a new game.

Had Ian find the two animal choices at the bottom of the page before exploring the sequence.
Used general directions. Example: “Go up and look at your sequencing.” (Did not give specific directions on what gesture to use, etc.)
Gave opportunities for Ian to explore
Waited; did not intervene
Gave praise while correcting. Example: “You went a little high (when dragging). You’ve been doing a really good job of staying straight!”
Listened to student and observed: Ian did not identify the names of the animals or did not know how to sequence?
Tried a different way by saying names of animals aloud while Ian dragged his finger.

In the second video, Ian is given the opportunity to practice what he just learned.

Video 2: Ian practicing and perfecting his critical thinking skills with the Sequence game.

Look at Ian go! He quickly dragged his finger across the row twice and then verbalized what was first and second. Verbalizing what he was thinking is so helpful, as was thinking what was first and second, not what came next in the sequence. He did not need prompts on how to navigate or play the game, only with the strategy of how to come up with the correct answer!

Are you embedding opportunities to build critical thinking skills during your assistive tech lessons?

By Diane Brauner

Keep reading

3 year old boy with 3-fingers touching the top section on an iPad.

Spatial Tech Standards 1: Directional Terms

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Kids Listen Podcast: Practicing Tech Skills

Remote Instruction using Seesaw for Dual Media Learner

The trend of ICT in education for critical thinking skills: A systematic literature review

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Iik Nurhikmayati , Darhim Darhim; The trend of ICT in education for critical thinking skills: A systematic literature review. AIP Conf. Proc. 28 November 2023; 2909 (1): 040002. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0182604

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ICT in education is gaining acceptance as a learning method that helps teachers and students achieve optimal learning objectives. ICT is believed to motivate and facilitate the learning process. Critical thinking skills, as one of the 21st-century skills, are known to be improved through ICT-based education. This article presents a systematic review of the literature published in the last five years and an indexed database of Springer and Eric. The results showed a total of 27 articles that met the criteria. Research findings on ICT trends in education for critical thinking skills are structured under three reports: (1) ICT trends in education include android, VR, AR, and coding; (2) the best strategy with ICT monitoring is distance learning, programming teaching, and STEM; and (3) other skills that are enhanced along with critical thinking skills are cognitive and affective skills, which are problem-solving, creativity and innovation, collaboration skills and communication skills. Based on this evidence, we make recommendations for future research to consider other types of ICT for enhancing critical thinking skills. In addition, using other learning strategies, such as problem-based learning and inquiry, can be considered to improve critical thinking skills.

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Developing Critical Thinking: A Review of Past Efforts as a Framework for a New Approach for Childhood Learning

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Shanshan Ma 4 ,
Kaushal Kumar Bhagat 5 ,
J. Michael Spector 4 ,
Lin Lin 4 ,
Dejian Liu 6 ,
Jing Leng 7 ,
Dawit T. Tiruneh 8 &
Jonah Mancini 9

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The purpose of this paper is to establish a theoretically grounded and research-based framework to support the development of inquiry and critical thinking skills in children. As a first step in developing the framework, a review of the research literature on critical thinking and inquiry learning was conducted. Noteworthy efforts were found primarily in science domains, such as “The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury” and WISE (Web-based Inquiry Science Environment). Earlier attempts to use the Internet to promote inquiry and critical thinking involved such methodologies as webquests and computer-supported intentional learning environments (e.g., CSILE). One approach not involving modern technologies was the effort of Matthew Lipman to teach logic to young children (e.g., Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery ). Given a growing emphasis on twenty-first-century skills (e.g., communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity), and the evidence from prior work that it is possible to support inquiry learning and critical thinking with and without advanced technologies, an effort was made to see how curricula were changing to embrace those skills, especially at a middle school level when abstract reasoning and habits of mind are developing. We found very few examples of systemic or large-scale changes in curricula, although some organizations (e.g., The Critical Thinking Company) offer support materials. Very little empirical research has been done with young children or with the use of interactive technologies across multiple subject areas. Further, we found no efforts to create a sustained developmental path for the relevant skills and subskills, which are clearly emphasized in the literature on twenty-first-century skills, although rarely implemented on a sustained basic across multiple subjects and school years. As a consequence, we decided that it would be worthwhile to consolidate our findings in the form of a theoretically grounded and research-based framework that could be used to guide efforts to support the early development of inquiry and critical thinking skills in young children.

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Smart Learning in Support of Critical Thinking: Lessons Learned and a Theoretically and Research-Based Framework

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Ma, S. et al. (2020). Developing Critical Thinking: A Review of Past Efforts as a Framework for a New Approach for Childhood Learning. In: Spector, M., Lockee, B., Childress, M. (eds) Learning, Design, and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_161-1

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5 Tech Tools to Encourage Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is an important aspect of learning. Understanding something is more than repeating facts, it’s being able to apply what you know in different forms . The practice of getting students to do this requires a shift from learning by receiving information to turning that information into something else , like a diagram or a storybook.

These five simple tools allow you to inspire critical thinking in your students. Encourage them to take the information you’re giving them, and show what they know with mind maps, puzzles and more!

Discovery Education: Puzzlemaker

Students can use Discovery’s Puzzlemaker suite of tools to make customized word searches, letter tile puzzles, hidden message games and more. Use this as a v ocabulary activity station . Students pair up and create a puzzle for their teammate to solve using the words they’re learning that week.

This gives both students a chance to work with vocabulary in a new and fun way that requires extra thinking and problem solving.

MindMeister

Mind mapping is a valuable tool to facilitate critical thinking, and technology has made it easier than ever to bring this into your classroom.

Use MindMeister, a simple and easy to implement mind mapping tool, to encourage students to think about a topic, lesson, problem or subject from every angle . This activity helps them look at the whole picture with a critical eye, rather than just studying the facts that are being taught in the curriculum.

Check out this compilation of inspiring educational mind maps , which cover topics like grammar, geography and reading comprehension.

Whooo’s Reading

Answering open-ended questions is a simple way to facilitate critical thinking with students. However, many reading comprehension tools only allow students to answer multiple-choice questions, rather than requiring them to formulate their own answer.

Whooo’s Reading, an online reading log, not only requires students to answer open-ended questions, but every automatically prompted question is Common Core-aligned, so you can be sure your students are thinking about the text in terms of the various reading and writing anchors.

Learn more about how this tool has helped more than 10,000 teachers improve their students’ reading comprehension at the Learn2Earn teacher blog .

Neo K12: Flow Chart Games

While this tool only has pre-defined flow chart games, in a variety of categories ranging from life sciences to the human body, you can use them to inspire critical thinking where appropriate.

For example, use flow chart games when exploring photosynthesis . Students have to drag and drop the various stages in the right part of the cycle. Require each student to write what each part of the cycle is about for a complete interactive thinking activity. Note that use of this this tool requires a monthly subscription.

This online business tool was not made for the classroom; however, students can use it to map out the visual representation of a process, adding notes, colors and details to show their knowledge of the topic. All diagrams are saved in your “Online Diagram Library” so students can access this content when studying for an exam or to show their parents.

You also have access to a large database of pre-made diagrams . Use these as supplementary materials for a lesson you’ve already written or as examples of what you expect from students with their own diagram.

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Critical thinking and problem-solving, jump to: , what is critical thinking, characteristics of critical thinking, why teach critical thinking.

Teaching Strategies to Help Promote Critical Thinking Skills

References and Resources

When examining the vast literature on critical thinking, various definitions of critical thinking emerge. Here are some samples:

"Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action" (Scriven, 1996).
"Most formal definitions characterize critical thinking as the intentional application of rational, higher order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, problem recognition and problem solving, inference, and evaluation" (Angelo, 1995, p. 6).
"Critical thinking is thinking that assesses itself" (Center for Critical Thinking, 1996b).
"Critical thinking is the ability to think about one's thinking in such a way as 1. To recognize its strengths and weaknesses and, as a result, 2. To recast the thinking in improved form" (Center for Critical Thinking, 1996c).

Perhaps the simplest definition is offered by Beyer (1995) : "Critical thinking... means making reasoned judgments" (p. 8). Basically, Beyer sees critical thinking as using criteria to judge the quality of something, from cooking to a conclusion of a research paper. In essence, critical thinking is a disciplined manner of thought that a person uses to assess the validity of something (statements, news stories, arguments, research, etc.).

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Wade (1995) identifies eight characteristics of critical thinking. Critical thinking involves asking questions, defining a problem, examining evidence, analyzing assumptions and biases, avoiding emotional reasoning, avoiding oversimplification, considering other interpretations, and tolerating ambiguity. Dealing with ambiguity is also seen by Strohm & Baukus (1995) as an essential part of critical thinking, "Ambiguity and doubt serve a critical-thinking function and are a necessary and even a productive part of the process" (p. 56).

Another characteristic of critical thinking identified by many sources is metacognition. Metacognition is thinking about one's own thinking. More specifically, "metacognition is being aware of one's thinking as one performs specific tasks and then using this awareness to control what one is doing" (Jones & Ratcliff, 1993, p. 10 ).

In the book, Critical Thinking, Beyer elaborately explains what he sees as essential aspects of critical thinking. These are:

Dispositions: Critical thinkers are skeptical, open-minded, value fair-mindedness, respect evidence and reasoning, respect clarity and precision, look at different points of view, and will change positions when reason leads them to do so.
Criteria: To think critically, must apply criteria. Need to have conditions that must be met for something to be judged as believable. Although the argument can be made that each subject area has different criteria, some standards apply to all subjects. "... an assertion must... be based on relevant, accurate facts; based on credible sources; precise; unbiased; free from logical fallacies; logically consistent; and strongly reasoned" (p. 12).
Argument: Is a statement or proposition with supporting evidence. Critical thinking involves identifying, evaluating, and constructing arguments.
Reasoning: The ability to infer a conclusion from one or multiple premises. To do so requires examining logical relationships among statements or data.
Point of View: The way one views the world, which shapes one's construction of meaning. In a search for understanding, critical thinkers view phenomena from many different points of view.
Procedures for Applying Criteria: Other types of thinking use a general procedure. Critical thinking makes use of many procedures. These procedures include asking questions, making judgments, and identifying assumptions.

Oliver & Utermohlen (1995) see students as too often being passive receptors of information. Through technology, the amount of information available today is massive. This information explosion is likely to continue in the future. Students need a guide to weed through the information and not just passively accept it. Students need to "develop and effectively apply critical thinking skills to their academic studies, to the complex problems that they will face, and to the critical choices they will be forced to make as a result of the information explosion and other rapid technological changes" (Oliver & Utermohlen, p. 1 ).

As mentioned in the section, Characteristics of Critical Thinking , critical thinking involves questioning. It is important to teach students how to ask good questions, to think critically, in order to continue the advancement of the very fields we are teaching. "Every field stays alive only to the extent that fresh questions are generated and taken seriously" (Center for Critical Thinking, 1996a ).

Beyer sees the teaching of critical thinking as important to the very state of our nation. He argues that to live successfully in a democracy, people must be able to think critically in order to make sound decisions about personal and civic affairs. If students learn to think critically, then they can use good thinking as the guide by which they live their lives.

Teaching Strategies to Help Promote Critical Thinking

The 1995, Volume 22, issue 1, of the journal, Teaching of Psychology , is devoted to the teaching critical thinking. Most of the strategies included in this section come from the various articles that compose this issue.

CATS (Classroom Assessment Techniques): Angelo stresses the use of ongoing classroom assessment as a way to monitor and facilitate students' critical thinking. An example of a CAT is to ask students to write a "Minute Paper" responding to questions such as "What was the most important thing you learned in today's class? What question related to this session remains uppermost in your mind?" The teacher selects some of the papers and prepares responses for the next class meeting.
Cooperative Learning Strategies: Cooper (1995) argues that putting students in group learning situations is the best way to foster critical thinking. "In properly structured cooperative learning environments, students perform more of the active, critical thinking with continuous support and feedback from other students and the teacher" (p. 8).
Case Study /Discussion Method: McDade (1995) describes this method as the teacher presenting a case (or story) to the class without a conclusion. Using prepared questions, the teacher then leads students through a discussion, allowing students to construct a conclusion for the case.
Using Questions: King (1995) identifies ways of using questions in the classroom:
Reciprocal Peer Questioning: Following lecture, the teacher displays a list of question stems (such as, "What are the strengths and weaknesses of...). Students must write questions about the lecture material. In small groups, the students ask each other the questions. Then, the whole class discusses some of the questions from each small group.
Reader's Questions: Require students to write questions on assigned reading and turn them in at the beginning of class. Select a few of the questions as the impetus for class discussion.
Conference Style Learning: The teacher does not "teach" the class in the sense of lecturing. The teacher is a facilitator of a conference. Students must thoroughly read all required material before class. Assigned readings should be in the zone of proximal development. That is, readings should be able to be understood by students, but also challenging. The class consists of the students asking questions of each other and discussing these questions. The teacher does not remain passive, but rather, helps "direct and mold discussions by posing strategic questions and helping students build on each others' ideas" (Underwood & Wald, 1995, p. 18 ).
Use Writing Assignments: Wade sees the use of writing as fundamental to developing critical thinking skills. "With written assignments, an instructor can encourage the development of dialectic reasoning by requiring students to argue both [or more] sides of an issue" (p. 24).
Written dialogues: Give students written dialogues to analyze. In small groups, students must identify the different viewpoints of each participant in the dialogue. Must look for biases, presence or exclusion of important evidence, alternative interpretations, misstatement of facts, and errors in reasoning. Each group must decide which view is the most reasonable. After coming to a conclusion, each group acts out their dialogue and explains their analysis of it.
Spontaneous Group Dialogue: One group of students are assigned roles to play in a discussion (such as leader, information giver, opinion seeker, and disagreer). Four observer groups are formed with the functions of determining what roles are being played by whom, identifying biases and errors in thinking, evaluating reasoning skills, and examining ethical implications of the content.
Ambiguity: Strohm & Baukus advocate producing much ambiguity in the classroom. Don't give students clear cut material. Give them conflicting information that they must think their way through.
Angelo, T. A. (1995). Beginning the dialogue: Thoughts on promoting critical thinking: Classroom assessment for critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22(1), 6-7.
Beyer, B. K. (1995). Critical thinking. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
Center for Critical Thinking (1996a). The role of questions in thinking, teaching, and learning. [On-line]. Available HTTP: http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univlibrary/library.nclk
Center for Critical Thinking (1996b). Structures for student self-assessment. [On-line]. Available HTTP: http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univclass/trc.nclk
Center for Critical Thinking (1996c). Three definitions of critical thinking [On-line]. Available HTTP: http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univlibrary/library.nclk
Cooper, J. L. (1995). Cooperative learning and critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22(1), 7-8.
Jones, E. A. & Ratcliff, G. (1993). Critical thinking skills for college students. National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, University Park, PA. (Eric Document Reproduction Services No. ED 358 772)
King, A. (1995). Designing the instructional process to enhance critical thinking across the curriculum: Inquiring minds really do want to know: Using questioning to teach critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22 (1) , 13-17.
McDade, S. A. (1995). Case study pedagogy to advance critical thinking. Teaching Psychology, 22(1), 9-10.
Oliver, H. & Utermohlen, R. (1995). An innovative teaching strategy: Using critical thinking to give students a guide to the future.(Eric Document Reproduction Services No. 389 702)
Robertson, J. F. & Rane-Szostak, D. (1996). Using dialogues to develop critical thinking skills: A practical approach. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 39(7), 552-556.
Scriven, M. & Paul, R. (1996). Defining critical thinking: A draft statement for the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking. [On-line]. Available HTTP: http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univlibrary/library.nclk
Strohm, S. M., & Baukus, R. A. (1995). Strategies for fostering critical thinking skills. Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 50 (1), 55-62.
Underwood, M. K., & Wald, R. L. (1995). Conference-style learning: A method for fostering critical thinking with heart. Teaching Psychology, 22(1), 17-21.
Wade, C. (1995). Using writing to develop and assess critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22(1), 24-28.

On the Internet

Carr, K. S. (1990). How can we teach critical thinking. Eric Digest. [On-line]. Available HTTP: http://ericps.ed.uiuc.edu/eece/pubs/digests/1990/carr90.html
The Center for Critical Thinking (1996). Home Page. Available HTTP: http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/
Ennis, Bob (No date). Critical thinking. [On-line], April 4, 1997. Available HTTP: http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/teach/for442/ct.htm
Montclair State University (1995). Curriculum resource center. Critical thinking resources: An annotated bibliography. [On-line]. Available HTTP: http://www.montclair.edu/Pages/CRC/Bibliographies/CriticalThinking.html
No author, No date. Critical Thinking is ... [On-line], April 4, 1997. Available HTTP: http://library.usask.ca/ustudy/critical/
Sheridan, Marcia (No date). Internet education topics hotlink page. [On-line], April 4, 1997. Available HTTP: http://sun1.iusb.edu/~msherida/topics/critical.html

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How to develop critical thinking skills

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What are critical thinking skills?

How to develop critical thinking skills: 12 tips, how to practice critical thinking skills at work, become your own best critic.

A client requests a tight deadline on an intense project. Your childcare provider calls in sick on a day full of meetings. Payment from a contract gig is a month behind.

Your day-to-day will always have challenges, big and small. And no matter the size and urgency, they all ask you to use critical thinking to analyze the situation and arrive at the right solution.

Critical thinking includes a wide set of soft skills that encourage continuous learning, resilience , and self-reflection. The more you add to your professional toolbelt, the more equipped you’ll be to tackle whatever challenge presents itself. Here’s how to develop critical thinking, with examples explaining how to use it.

Critical thinking skills are the skills you use to analyze information, imagine scenarios holistically, and create rational solutions. It’s a type of emotional intelligence that stimulates effective problem-solving and decision-making .

When you fine-tune your critical thinking skills, you seek beyond face-value observations and knee-jerk reactions. Instead, you harvest deeper insights and string together ideas and concepts in logical, sometimes out-of-the-box , ways.

Imagine a team working on a marketing strategy for a new set of services. That team might use critical thinking to balance goals and key performance indicators , like new customer acquisition costs, average monthly sales, and net profit margins. They understand the connections between overlapping factors to build a strategy that stays within budget and attracts new sales.

Looking for ways to improve critical thinking skills? Start by brushing up on the following soft skills that fall under this umbrella:

Analytical thinking: Approaching problems with an analytical eye includes breaking down complex issues into small chunks and examining their significance. An example could be organizing customer feedback to identify trends and improve your product offerings.
Open-mindedness: Push past cognitive biases and be receptive to different points of view and constructive feedback . Managers and team members who keep an open mind position themselves to hear new ideas that foster innovation .
Creative thinking: With creative thinking , you can develop several ideas to address a single problem, like brainstorming more efficient workflow best practices to boost productivity and employee morale .
Self-reflection: Self-reflection lets you examine your thinking and assumptions to stimulate healthier collaboration and thought processes. Maybe a bad first impression created a negative anchoring bias with a new coworker. Reflecting on your own behavior stirs up empathy and improves the relationship.
Evaluation: With evaluation skills, you tackle the pros and cons of a situation based on logic rather than emotion. When prioritizing tasks , you might be tempted to do the fun or easy ones first, but evaluating their urgency and importance can help you make better decisions.

There’s no magic method to change your thinking processes. Improvement happens with small, intentional changes to your everyday habits until a more critical approach to thinking is automatic.

Here are 12 tips for building stronger self-awareness and learning how to improve critical thinking:

1. Be cautious

There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of skepticism. One of the core principles of critical thinking is asking questions and dissecting the available information. You might surprise yourself at what you find when you stop to think before taking action.

Before making a decision, use evidence, logic, and deductive reasoning to support your own opinions or challenge ideas. It helps you and your team avoid falling prey to bad information or resistance to change .

2. Ask open-ended questions

“Yes” or “no” questions invite agreement rather than reflection. Instead, ask open-ended questions that force you to engage in analysis and rumination. Digging deeper can help you identify potential biases, uncover assumptions, and arrive at new hypotheses and possible solutions.

3. Do your research

No matter your proficiency, you can always learn more. Turning to different points of view and information is a great way to develop a comprehensive understanding of a topic and make informed decisions. You’ll prioritize reliable information rather than fall into emotional or automatic decision-making.

close-up-of-mans-hands-opening-a-dictionary-with-notebook-on-the-side-how-to-develop-critical-thinking-skills

4. Consider several opinions

You might spend so much time on your work that it’s easy to get stuck in your own perspective, especially if you work independently on a remote team . Make an effort to reach out to colleagues to hear different ideas and thought patterns. Their input might surprise you.

If or when you disagree, remember that you and your team share a common goal. Divergent opinions are constructive, so shift the focus to finding solutions rather than defending disagreements.

5. Learn to be quiet

Active listening is the intentional practice of concentrating on a conversation partner instead of your own thoughts. It’s about paying attention to detail and letting people know you value their opinions, which can open your mind to new perspectives and thought processes.

If you’re brainstorming with your team or having a 1:1 with a coworker , listen, ask clarifying questions, and work to understand other peoples’ viewpoints. Listening to your team will help you find fallacies in arguments to improve possible solutions.

6. Schedule reflection

Whether waking up at 5 am or using a procrastination hack, scheduling time to think puts you in a growth mindset . Your mind has natural cognitive biases to help you simplify decision-making, but squashing them is key to thinking critically and finding new solutions besides the ones you might gravitate toward. Creating time and calm space in your day gives you the chance to step back and visualize the biases that impact your decision-making.

7. Cultivate curiosity

With so many demands and job responsibilities, it’s easy to seek solace in routine. But getting out of your comfort zone helps spark critical thinking and find more solutions than you usually might.

If curiosity doesn’t come naturally to you, cultivate a thirst for knowledge by reskilling and upskilling . Not only will you add a new skill to your resume , but expanding the limits of your professional knowledge might motivate you to ask more questions.

You don’t have to develop critical thinking skills exclusively in the office. Whether on your break or finding a hobby to do after work, playing strategic games or filling out crosswords can prime your brain for problem-solving.

woman-solving-puzzle-at-home-how-to-develop-critical-thinking-skills

9. Write it down

Recording your thoughts with pen and paper can lead to stronger brain activity than typing them out on a keyboard. If you’re stuck and want to think more critically about a problem, writing your ideas can help you process information more deeply.

The act of recording ideas on paper can also improve your memory . Ideas are more likely to linger in the background of your mind, leading to deeper thinking that informs your decision-making process.

10. Speak up

Take opportunities to share your opinion, even if it intimidates you. Whether at a networking event with new people or a meeting with close colleagues, try to engage with people who challenge or help you develop your ideas. Having conversations that force you to support your position encourages you to refine your argument and think critically.

11. Stay humble

Ideas and concepts aren’t the same as real-life actions. There may be such a thing as negative outcomes, but there’s no such thing as a bad idea. At the brainstorming stage , don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

Sometimes the best solutions come from off-the-wall, unorthodox decisions. Sit in your creativity , let ideas flow, and don’t be afraid to share them with your colleagues. Putting yourself in a creative mindset helps you see situations from new perspectives and arrive at innovative conclusions.

12. Embrace discomfort

Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable . It isn’t easy when others challenge your ideas, but sometimes, it’s the only way to see new perspectives and think critically.

By willingly stepping into unfamiliar territory, you foster the resilience and flexibility you need to become a better thinker. You’ll learn how to pick yourself up from failure and approach problems from fresh angles.

man-looking-down-to-something-while-thinking-how-to-develop-critical-thinking-skills

Thinking critically is easier said than done. To help you understand its impact (and how to use it), here are two scenarios that require critical thinking skills and provide teachable moments.

Scenario #1: Unexpected delays and budget

Imagine your team is working on producing an event. Unexpectedly, a vendor explains they’ll be a week behind on delivering materials. Then another vendor sends a quote that’s more than you can afford. Unless you develop a creative solution, the team will have to push back deadlines and go over budget, potentially costing the client’s trust.

Here’s how you could approach the situation with creative thinking:

Analyze the situation holistically: Determine how the delayed materials and over-budget quote will impact the rest of your timeline and financial resources . That way, you can identify whether you need to build an entirely new plan with new vendors, or if it’s worth it to readjust time and resources.
Identify your alternative options: With careful assessment, your team decides that another vendor can’t provide the same materials in a quicker time frame. You’ll need to rearrange assignment schedules to complete everything on time.
Collaborate and adapt: Your team has an emergency meeting to rearrange your project schedule. You write down each deliverable and determine which ones you can and can’t complete by the deadline. To compensate for lost time, you rearrange your task schedule to complete everything that doesn’t need the delayed materials first, then advance as far as you can on the tasks that do.
Check different resources: In the meantime, you scour through your contact sheet to find alternative vendors that fit your budget. Accounting helps by providing old invoices to determine which vendors have quoted less for previous jobs. After pulling all your sources, you find a vendor that fits your budget.
Maintain open communication: You create a special Slack channel to keep everyone up to date on changes, challenges, and additional delays. Keeping an open line encourages transparency on the team’s progress and boosts everyone’s confidence.

coworkers-at-meeting-looking-together-the-screen-how-to-develop-critical-thinking-skills

Scenario #2: Differing opinions

A conflict arises between two team members on the best approach for a new strategy for a gaming app. One believes that small tweaks to the current content are necessary to maintain user engagement and stay within budget. The other believes a bold revamp is needed to encourage new followers and stronger sales revenue.

Here’s how critical thinking could help this conflict:

Listen actively: Give both team members the opportunity to present their ideas free of interruption. Encourage the entire team to ask open-ended questions to more fully understand and develop each argument.
Flex your analytical skills: After learning more about both ideas, everyone should objectively assess the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. Analyze each idea's risk, merits, and feasibility based on available data and the app’s goals and objectives.
Identify common ground: The team discusses similarities between each approach and brainstorms ways to integrate both idea s, like making small but eye-catching modifications to existing content or using the same visual design in new media formats.
Test new strategy: To test out the potential of a bolder strategy, the team decides to A/B test both approaches. You create a set of criteria to evenly distribute users by different demographics to analyze engagement, revenue, and customer turnover.
Monitor and adapt: After implementing the A/B test, the team closely monitors the results of each strategy. You regroup and optimize the changes that provide stronger results after the testing. That way, all team members understand why you’re making the changes you decide to make.

You can’t think your problems away. But you can equip yourself with skills that help you move through your biggest challenges and find innovative solutions. Learning how to develop critical thinking is the start of honing an adaptable growth mindset.

Now that you have resources to increase critical thinking skills in your professional development, you can identify whether you embrace change or routine, are open or resistant to feedback, or turn to research or emotion will build self-awareness. From there, tweak and incorporate techniques to be a critical thinker when life presents you with a problem.

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Foster creativity and continuous learning with guidance from our certified Coaches.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

How divergent thinking can drive your creativity

What’s convergent thinking how to be a better problem-solver, how emotions affect learning: the impact of emotions, 8 creative solutions to your most challenging problems, critical thinking is the one skillset you can't afford not to master, can dreams help you solve problems 6 ways to try, how to improve your creative skills and supercharge your resume, how different learning styles make a difference at work, self directed learning is the key to new skills and knowledge, similar articles, what is lateral thinking 7 techniques to encourage creative ideas, 7 critical teamwork skills and how to develop them, what is creative thinking and how can i improve, discover the 7 essential types of life skills you need, 6 big picture thinking strategies that you'll actually use, what are analytical skills examples and how to level up, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking and Digital Technologies: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications

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Home » Blog » Building Critical Thinking Skills in Students

February 20, 2024
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Building Critical Thinking Skills in Students

Shashank Dubey

Critical thinking is the process of actively and skillfully analyzing , synthesizing, and evaluating information, ideas, or arguments to make reasoned and well-informed decisions. It involves the ability to think logically, consider multiple perspectives, and engage in reflective and independent thinking. Critical thinking goes beyond simply accepting or memorizing information; it requires individuals to question assumptions, assess evidence, and draw thoughtful conclusions. This cognitive skill is essential for effective problem-solving, decision-making, and intellectual growth.

Importance of Critical Thinking Skills in Education

Quick links.

Critical thinking skills are crucial in education for several reasons:

Enhanced Learning: Students who develop critical thinking skills are better equipped to comprehend complex concepts and engage with academic material more deeply.
Problem-Solving: Critical thinking fosters the ability to approach problems systematically, break them down, and develop effective solutions. This skill is valuable in various academic subjects and real-world situations.
Analytical Skills: Critical thinking hones analytical skills, allowing students to evaluate information, identify patterns, and draw meaningful connections between ideas.
Preparation for the Future: In a rapidly changing world, students need to be adaptable and capable of learning new information independently. Critical thinking enables them to navigate unfamiliar situations and acquire new knowledge effectively.
Effective Communication: Critical thinking helps students articulate their thoughts, ideas, and arguments coherently, fostering better communication skills.
Informed Decision-Making: The ability to critically assess information and arguments empowers students to make informed decisions, both academically and in their personal lives.

Purpose of Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Students

The development of critical thinking skills in students serves multiple purposes, including:

Empowering Independent Thinkers: Cultivating critical thinking encourages students to think independently, question assumptions, and develop their own perspectives.

Lifelong Learning: Critical thinking is a foundation for lifelong learning, as it equips individuals with the skills needed to continuously acquire new knowledge and adapt to changing circumstances.

Citizenship and Civic Engagement: Critical thinking fosters informed and responsible citizenship by enabling individuals to critically evaluate information, media, and societal issues. It encourages active participation in democratic processes.

Career Readiness: Employers value critical thinking skills because they are essential for problem-solving, decision-making, and innovation in the workplace. Students with strong critical thinking skills are better prepared for the demands of various careers.

Intellectual and Personal Growth: Developing critical thinking skills contributes to intellectual and personal growth by expanding one’s capacity for analysis, reflection, and intellectual curiosity. It enhances a person’s ability to engage with the world in a meaningful way.

Also Read : Emotional Intelligence in Teaching

Components of Critical Thinking

Analyzing information through these components helps individuals develop a comprehensive understanding of a subject, enabling them to make informed decisions, solve problems, and engage in thoughtful and effective reasoning.

Breaking Down Information

It Involves the ability to break down complex information or problems into simpler parts or elements. Individuals with strong analytical skills can dissect information into its constituent elements to better understand the structure and relationships among different components. For example, Breaking down a scientific experiment into its methods, variables, and outcomes to better comprehend the overall study.

Identifying Key Components

This Entails recognizing the most important and relevant elements within a body of information or a situation. This involves recognizing the central ideas, concepts, or factors that have the most significant impact on the overall understanding or resolution of a problem. For instance, Identifying the main themes in a piece of literature or the key variables in a mathematical equation.

Recognizing Patterns and Relationships

The Recognition of Patterns involves identifying elements, connections, and relationships between different pieces of information. This skill helps individuals see how various elements interact or relate to one another, enabling them to draw meaningful conclusions or predictions. For instance, Recognizing a cause-and-effect relationship in a historical event or identifying trends in data sets through statistical analysis.

Evaluating information through these components is essential for making informed decisions, avoiding misinformation, and developing a well-rounded and evidence-based understanding of complex issues.

Involves the critical examination of the credibility and trustworthiness of information sources.
Individuals assess the validity and accuracy of data, considering factors such as the author’s expertise, the publication’s reputation, and the methods used to gather information.
Entails considering multiple viewpoints or angles on a given issue or topic.
Critical thinkers actively seek out diverse opinions and interpretations, fostering a broader understanding of the subject and promoting open-mindedness.
Involves drawing conclusions or forming opinions after carefully analyzing relevant evidence.
Critical thinkers base their judgments on facts, data, and logical reasoning rather than personal biases or unsupported assumptions.

Inference, as a component of critical thinking, enables individuals to go beyond the explicit information available and draw meaningful conclusions, make informed predictions, and generate innovative ideas.

Drawing Logical Conclusions

Involves deriving reasonable and well-founded outcomes from available information.
Critical thinkers use deductive or inductive reasoning to make logical connections between premises and conclusions.
Entails anticipating future outcomes or events based on existing information and trends.
Critical thinkers use their understanding of patterns and relationships to forecast potential developments or consequences.

Connecting Information to Reach New Insights

Involves synthesizing disparate pieces of information to form novel understandings or perspectives.
Critical thinkers combine existing knowledge in creative ways, leading to the discovery of new insights or solutions to problems.

Problem-solving

Effective problem-solving, a key aspect of critical thinking, requires a combination of analytical skills, creativity, and the ability to evaluate and refine solutions in real-world contexts.

Identifying Problems

Involves recognizing and defining issues or challenges that need resolution.
Critical thinkers are adept at identifying problems, framing them accurately, and understanding their underlying causes.

Developing Effective Solutions

Entails generating viable and well-thought-out strategies to address identified problems.
Critical thinkers employ creativity, analysis, and evaluation to come up with solutions that are practical, feasible, and likely to yield positive outcomes.

Implementing and Evaluating Solutions

Involves putting the chosen solution into action and assessing its effectiveness.
Critical thinkers actively participate in the execution of solutions, monitor progress, and make adjustments as needed to ensure optimal results.

Strategies for Building Critical Thinking Skills

In educational settings, several effective strategies can be employed to cultivate and enhance critical thinking skills among students. One such approach is the implementation of Socratic questioning, a method that encourages thoughtful and reflective inquiry.

By posing open-ended questions, instructors prompt students to delve deeply into a subject, fostering the development of analytical and evaluative thinking. This technique not only stimulates active engagement but also cultivates the ability to question assumptions and consider multiple perspectives.

Another valuable strategy is the incorporation of case studies into the curriculum. By presenting real-world scenarios or complex situations, students are challenged to analyze details, identify key issues, and propose well-reasoned solutions.

This approach not only sharpens analytical and problem-solving skills but also provides a practical application of theoretical knowledge, bridging the gap between academic concepts and real-world challenges.

Additionally, debates and discussions serve as dynamic platforms for honing critical thinking abilities. Engaging in structured debates compels students to articulate and defend their viewpoints, consider opposing arguments, and critically evaluate information. This not only fosters effective communication but also encourages students to approach issues with a comprehensive and discerning mindset.

These classroom activities collectively contribute to the development of critical thinking skills by actively involving students in the learning process. By providing opportunities for independent thinking, analysis, and evaluation, these strategies empower students to navigate complexities, make informed decisions, and approach challenges with a nuanced and thoughtful perspective.

Integration into Curriculum

Efficiently integrating critical thinking into the curriculum involves strategic planning and creative implementation to ensure its seamless incorporation across various subjects. One effective method is through the intentional inclusion of critical thinking elements in lesson plans. Educators can design lessons that explicitly highlight the development of analytical and evaluative skills. This may include structured activities, discussions, or assignments that prompt students to question assumptions, analyze information, and draw reasoned conclusions.

Cross-disciplinary approaches provide another avenue for embedding critical thinking into the curriculum. By emphasizing connections between different subjects, educators can demonstrate the universality of critical thinking skills. For instance, a history lesson might incorporate elements of scientific inquiry, encouraging students to critically evaluate historical evidence.

Real-world applications of concepts further enhance the integration of critical thinking into the curriculum. By presenting students with scenarios that mirror actual challenges in society or professional settings, educators can demonstrate the practical relevance of critical thinking. This approach not only engages students by making learning more meaningful but also prepares them to apply their analytical and problem-solving skills beyond the classroom.

Technology Integration

The incorporation of technology into educational settings offers valuable opportunities to enhance critical thinking skills among students. Here are three effective strategies for integrating technology into the curriculum to foster critical thinking.

Utilizing simulation and interactive learning tools provides students with immersive and engaging experiences that necessitate critical thinking. Virtual simulations allow students to explore complex concepts in a risk-free environment, encouraging them to analyze scenarios, make decisions, and observe the consequences of their choices.

Interactive tools, such as educational games or virtual laboratories, promote active problem-solving and decision-making, fostering the application of critical thinking skills in dynamic and interactive ways.

Integrating collaborative online platforms, such as discussion forums or virtual classrooms, facilitates meaningful interactions among students. These platforms encourage thoughtful discussion, where students can articulate their ideas, respond to diverse perspectives, and collectively explore complex topics.

This collaborative approach not only enhances communication skills but also requires students to think critically about the viewpoints of their peers, fostering a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

Also Read: Healthy Habits for Teachers

Encouraging Divergent Thinking

Divergent thinking involves the generation of a variety of possible solutions or ideas, emphasizing creativity and exploration. Here are three strategies to encourage divergent thinking in educational settings:

Brainstorming Sessions

Creative problem-solving exercises.

Incorporating exercises that require creative problem-solving challenges students to approach issues from various angles. These exercises might involve presenting students with hypothetical scenarios or real-world problems that lack straightforward solutions.

With Engagement in activities that encourage experimentation and exploration, students are prompted to think divergently and consider unconventional approaches to problem-solving.

Open-ended Projects and Assignments

Assigning open-ended projects or tasks allows students the freedom to explore topics in depth and approach them from different perspectives. Instead of providing strict guidelines, educators can encourage students to define their own goals and methods, fostering autonomy and creativity.

Open-ended projects provide the space for students to express original ideas, solutions, or interpretations, cultivating a mindset of divergent thinking.

Assessing Critical Thinking Skills

To effectively evaluate and nurture critical thinking skills, educators often employ formative assessment strategies that provide ongoing feedback and insight into students’ thought processes. Class discussions serve as a dynamic form of assessment, offering opportunities for students to articulate their ideas, engage with diverse perspectives, and think critically in real-time.

These discussions not only gauge students’ comprehension but also assess their ability to analyze, evaluate, and contribute meaningfully to the conversation.

Group activities represent another form of formative assessment, enabling educators to observe how students collaborate, share ideas, and collectively problem-solve. By participating in group tasks, students showcase their ability to think critically within a collaborative setting, demonstrating skills such as communication, teamwork, and the integration of diverse perspectives.

Written reflections provide a reflective avenue for students to articulate their thoughts, analyze their learning experiences, and express their understanding of a subject matter.

This form of formative assessment allows educators to gain insight into students’ individual thought processes, their capacity for self-assessment, and their ability to connect information to form reasoned conclusions.

Incorporating class discussions, group activities, and written reflections into the formative assessment process offers a comprehensive view of students’ critical thinking skills. These strategies not only evaluate cognitive abilities but also contribute to the ongoing development of these skills, fostering a learning environment that prioritizes analytical thinking, effective communication, and collaborative problem-solving.

Common Challenges and Solutions

By acknowledging these challenges and implementing targeted solutions, educators and institutions can work towards creating an environment that fosters the development of critical thinking skills, ultimately preparing students for success in a rapidly changing and complex world. Here are some of the commonly faced issues when it comes to developing critical thinking skills in your students

Resistance to Critical Thinking

One common challenge in promoting critical thinking is the resistance students may exhibit. Some students may be accustomed to rote memorization or may find critical thinking demands unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Additionally, educators may face resistance from traditional teaching methods or institutional expectations that prioritize standardized testing over critical thinking development.

Lack of Resources

Insufficient resources, both in terms of materials and professional development opportunities, can hinder the effective integration of critical thinking into the curriculum. Limited access to updated educational materials, technology, and training for educators may impede efforts to implement innovative and engaging teaching strategies that foster critical thinking skills.

Time Constraints

Time constraints within the academic schedule can pose a significant challenge. Traditional curricula often prioritize content coverage over the development of critical thinking skills. Educators may feel pressure to adhere to tight schedules, leaving little room for the exploration and in-depth analysis required for robust critical thinking activities.

Potential Solutions

Addressing resistance involves creating a positive and supportive learning environment that emphasizes the value and relevance of critical thinking skills. Educators can gradually introduce critical thinking concepts, providing clear explanations and examples. Additionally, incorporating interactive and engaging activities can help make critical thinking more accessible and enjoyable for students.

Overcoming resource limitations requires a multi-faceted approach. Educators and institutions can seek grants or funding opportunities to invest in updated materials and technology. Professional development programs can empower teachers with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively integrate critical thinking into their lessons. Collaborative efforts among educators and institutions can also help share resources and best practices.

Integrating critical thinking into the curriculum may require a reevaluation of priorities. Educators can collaborate to identify key concepts that lend themselves to critical thinking activities and find ways to seamlessly incorporate them into existing lessons. Additionally, schools can explore flexible scheduling options, allowing for dedicated time for critical thinking activities or projects.

Also Read: Flexible Teaching : Adapting Strategies for Well Being

Final Words

In a nutshell critical thinking abilities are vital for students because they go beyond passive recall and promote active interaction with the material, which develops analytical, evaluative, and problem-solving skills. The elements of critical thinking—analysis, assessment, speculation, and problem-solving—advance learning, facilitate clear communication, and help students make well-informed decisions that will prepare them for both current and future challenges.

Teachers can use a variety of techniques, such as Socratic questioning and technological integration, to foster these abilities in the classroom.

Critical thinking exercises and group conversations are two effective ways to assess students’ critical thinking skills. A proactive and cooperative strategy can create an environment that prioritizes the development of critical thinking, ultimately equipping students for success in a world that is changing quickly, even in the face of obstacles like opposition and resource limitations.

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Developing critical thinking in technical and vocational education and training.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. operationalization of definition of critical thinking, 2.2. experimental design, 2.3. creating a methodology for developing critical thinking.

Use of multimedia in class: Allow students to work with different types of discourse, whether text, videos, images, audio, animations, or others. These are tools that help students develop concepts, analytical reasoning, creative thinking, problem solving and critical thinking [ 47 ]. Such resources should be brief and concrete so that the students do not become distracted.
Working with controversial or real-world topics: To boost student interest and engagement, there must be strong social relationships between the teacher and students, as well as suitable rules for interaction and the facilitation of debate [ 48 ]. This relationship can be strengthened in class by addressing topics that are controversial or from real-life situations, as there is evidence suggesting that a real-world connection can be an effective methodology for developing critical thinking [ 26 ]. Controversial topics were proposed because exposing students to opportunities for dialogue is also an effective way of developing critical thinking [ 34 ]. Even though it can polarize students, it is also an opportunity for them to consider alternative perspectives [ 49 ], which may also be directly related to the evaluation sub-skill in or definition of critical thinking.
Introducing peer discussion routines: Peer discussion promotes the development of critical thinking [ 50 ].
Reflective questions and higher-order thinking: There is a need for reflective questions, which go beyond basic recall and instead promote metacognition on current topics [ 51 ].
Using low-cost technology: Simple, open-access technology was used to promote student participation. The class poll system Plickers was used [ 52 ], where students answer using a preprinted QR code that is scanned by the teacher’s cellphone.
Icebreaker or “Do it now!”: A short activity to introduce the main topic of the class in no more than 5 min. Icebreakers are an effective way of boosting student engagement [ 53 ] as they improve enthusiasm and help get the attention of the class [ 54 ].
Sharing the lesson objective: A short activity of no more than 2 min to explain the expected learning outcomes for the lesson.
Presentation of content: In no more than 5 min, the content is presented to the class.
Practice: Practical exercises to consolidate the newly-acquired knowledge and relate it to one of the sub-skills of critical thinking based on different texts, images, or videos, in groups or individually. After each practice, a Plickers activity is performed based on the content and the aforementioned sub-skill.
Focus on grammar: A short section of no longer than 8 min focusing on grammar. The main aim is to measure the sub-skill of evaluation and provide space for teaching grammar, a core element of the course.
Turn and discuss: A section for talking about a controversial point from the class. The students are asked an open-ended question and must then reflect on it both individually and with a peer.
Metacognitive routine: A concluding section in which the students go through a metacognitive routine based on an activity or item of content from the class.

2.4. Instruments for Measuring Critical Thinking and Learning

2.5. teacher surveys, 2.6. data analysis, 2.6.1. quantitative analysis, 2.6.2. qualitative analysis, 3.1. instrument validation, 3.2. differences between pre- and post-tests, 3.3. teacher survey results, 4. discussion, 5. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest, appendix a. comprehensive list of critical thinking assessment instruments.


California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI)	This test contains seven scales of critical thinking: (a) truth-seeking, (b) open-mindedness, (c) analyticity, (d) systematicity, (e) confidence in reasoning, (f) inquisitiveness, and (g) maturity of judgment.	[ ]
California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST)	The CCTST returns scores on the following scales: (a) analysis, (b) evaluation, (c) inference, (d) deduction, (e) induction, and (f) overall reasoning skills [ ]	[ ]
California Measure of Mental Motivation (CM3)	This assessment measures and reports scores on the following areas: (a) learning orientation, (b) creative problem solving, (c) cognitive integrity, (d) scholarly rigor, and (e) technological orientation (Insight Assessment, 2013).	[ ]
Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) Critical Thinking	The CAAP Critical Thinking measures students’ skills in analyzing elements of an argument, evaluating an argument, and extending arguments.	[ ]
Collegiate Learning Assessment+ (CLA+)	The CLA+PTs measure higher order skills including: (a) analysis and problem solving, (b) writing effectiveness, and (c) writing mechanics. The MC items assess (a) scientific and quantitative reasoning, (b) critical reading and evaluation, and (c) critiquing an argument.	[ ]
Ennis–Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test	This assessment measures the following areas of the critical thinking competence: (a) getting the point, (b) seeing reasons and assumptions, (c) stating one’s point, (d) offering good reasons, (e) seeing other possibilities, and (f) responding appropriately to and/or avoiding argument weaknesses.	[ ]
ETS Proficiency Profile (EPP) Critical Thinking	The Critical Thinking sub-skill of this test measures a student’s ability to: (a) distinguish between rhetoric and argumentation in a piece of nonfiction prose, (b) recognize assumptions and the best hypothesis to account for information presented, (c) infer and interpret a relationship between variables, and (d) draw valid conclusions based on information presented (ETS, 2010).	[ ]
Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA)	This test measures five critical thinking subskills: (a) verbal reasoning skills, (b) argument and analysis skills, (c) skills in thinking as hypothesis testing, (d) using likelihood and uncertainty, and (e) decision-making and problem-solving skills.	[ ]
Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal tool (WGCTA) Standard	The WGCTA is composed of five tests: (a) inference, (b) recognition of assumptions, (c) deduction, (d) interpretation, and (e) evaluation of arguments. Each test contains both neutral and controversial reading passages and scenarios encountered at work, in the classroom, and in the media. Although there are five tests, only the total score is reported.	[ ]
WGCTA Short Form and WGCTA II	Measures and provides interpretable subscores for three critical thinking skill domains that are both contemporary and business relevant, including the ability to: (a) recognize assumptions, (b) evaluate arguments, and (c) draw conclusions.	[ ]
Critical thinking test in electricity and magnetism (CTEM)	In the context of Electricity and Magnetism, the student will be able to conduct reasoning, argument analysis, hypothesis testing, likelihood and uncertainty analysis, and decision-making and problem-solving.	[ ]
HEIghtenTM critical thinking assessment (HE)	Two central aspects:	[ ]
Danczak–Overton–Thompson Chemistry Critical Thinking Test (DOT)	The core principles of critical thinking divided into five sections: inference, assumption identification, deduction, interpreting information, and evaluation of arguments (based on Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA).	[ ]
Critical and Creative Thinking Test for Portuguese young adults [Teste do Pensamento Crítico e Criativo (TPCC)]	For critical thinking, a combination of what is proposed in Bloom and Facione’s taxonomies is used. In specific, the questions are constructed from these skills: interpretation, analysis, explanation, evaluation, summarize, and to produce/create.	[ ]
Australian nursing critical thinking tool (ANCTT)	Different real-life scenarios (in a nursing context), where questions are made based on reasoning and analysis. There’s no further information about the critical thinking construct used in this assessment.	[ ]
The Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT)	Four core domains: (a) evaluation of information, (b) evaluation of ideas and other points of view, (c) learning and problem solving, and (d) communication of ideas.	[ ]
Physics Critical Thinking Skill Test (PhysCriTS)	Related to critical thinking, several abilities are mentioned: (1) recognizing the problem; (2) finding ways that can be used to solve problems; (3) collecting and compiling necessary information; (4) understanding and using appropriate language, analyzing data, assessing facts, and evaluating statements; (5) recognizing a logical relationship between problems; (6) drawing the necessary conclusions and similarities; (7) examining the similarities and conclusions.	[ ]
PAL task “Wind Turbine”	Evaluating and using information according to trustworthiness, relevance, and judgmental error or bias proneness of sources. Recognizing, evaluating, integrating, and structuring arguments and their sub-skills (such as claims, support, beliefs, assumptions, or facts) in response. Recognizing and evaluating consequences of decision-making and actions. Taking communicative action appropriate to deliver results in line with the task prompt, i.e., making an evaluative judgment, explaining a decision, recommending a course of action, suggesting a problem solution, etc.	[ ]
Critical thinking instrument of electricity	The test considers six indicators of critical thinking: (1) focus on the question, (2) analyze arguments, (3) consider whether the source is reliable or not, (4) induce and consider the results of induction, (5) identify assumptions, and (6) take action.	[ ]
Statistics Critical Thinking Test (SCTT)	In the context of Basic Statistics, the instrument consists of two subtests consisting of interpretation and evaluation.	[ ]

Appendix B. Detailed Description of the Pre and Post-Test and Their Items Characteristics


Pre-Test	MC04_1	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Automatic Scoring	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Pre-Test	MC04_2	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Pre-Test	MC05	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Pre-Test	MC06	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Pre-Test	MC07	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Automatic Scoring	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Pre-Test	MC08	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Pre-Test	AD09	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Short Constructed Response	Informative Text
Pre-Test	IA10	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Informative Text
Pre-Test	IR11	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Informative Text
Pre-Test	IR12	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Informative Text
Pre-Test	AD13	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Informative Text
Pre-Test	AR14_II	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Multiple Choice	Informative Text
Pre-Test	AR14_III	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Short Essay	Informative Text
Pre-Test	AR14_IV	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Short Essay	Informative Text
Pre-Test	AR14_V	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Short Essay	Informative Text
Pre-Test	IC15	Inference	Multiple Choice	Short Essay	Short Story
Pre-Test	EV16	Evaluation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	IA17	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	IC18	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	AA19	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	AAIC20	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	AA21	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	ECO22	Evaluation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	ECR23	Evaluation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	ECO24	Evaluation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Pre-Test	IT26	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Infographic
Pre-Test	AOIT27	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Infographic
Pre-Test	ECOIT28	Evaluation	Constructed Response	Multiple Choice	Infographic
Pre-Test	ECO29	Evaluation	Multiple Choice	Short Constructed Response	Infographic
Pre-Test	IA30	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Infographic
Pre-Test	EOIA31	Evaluation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Infographic
Post-Test	MC03	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Multiple Choice	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Post-Test	MC04	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Post-Test	MC05_1	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Automatic Scoring	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Post-Test	MC05_2	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Post-Test	MC06	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Post-Test	MC07	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Post-Test	MC08_1	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Automatic Scoring	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Post-Test	MC08_2	Metacognition	Constructed Response	Short Constructed Response	30 s Publicity Advertisement
Post-Test	IR09	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Informative Text
Post-Test	IR10	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Informative Text
Post-Test	IR11	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Informative Text
Post-Test	IT12	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Infographic
Post-Test	IT13	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Infographic
Post-Test	IT14	Interpretation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Infographic
Post-Test	AR15_I	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Short Essay	Informative Text and Infographic
Post-Test	AR15_II	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Short Essay	Informative Text and Infographic
Post-Test	AR15_III	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Short Essay	Informative Text and Infographic
Post-Test	AR15_IV	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Short Essay	Informative Text and Infographic
Post-Test	AR15_V	Argumentation	Constructed Response	Short Essay	Informative Text and Infographic
Post-Test	IC16	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Post-Test	IC17	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Post-Test	IC18	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Post-Test	IC19	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Post-Test	IC20	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Post-Test	IC21	Inference	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Short Story
Post-Test	AD23	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Opinion Column
Post-Test	AD24	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Opinion Column
Post-Test	AD25	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Opinion Column
Post-Test	AD26	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Opinion Column
Post-Test	AD27	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Opinion Column
Post-Test	AD28	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Opinion Column
Post-Test	AD29	Analysis	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Opinion Column
Post-Test	EV30	Evaluation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Grammar
Post-Test	EV31	Evaluation	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Grammar


Pre-Test	MC04_1	0.70	0.40	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	MC04_2	0.62	0.35	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	MC05	0.60	0.36	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	MC06	0.21	0.24	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	MC07_1	0.36	0.23	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	MC07_2	0.55	0.44	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	MC08	0.58	0.36	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AD09	0.80	0.27	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	IA10	0.81	0.25	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	IR11	0.94	0.25	Eliminated for having a difficulty that is not in the 0.1–0.9 range
Pre-Test	IR12	0.92	0.30	Eliminated for having a difficulty that is not in the 0.1–0.9 range
Pre-Test	AD13	0.72	0.26	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AR14_II	0.71	0.33	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AR14_III	0.67	0.41	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AR14_IV	0.38	0.42	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AR14_V	0.24	0.44	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	IC15	0.59	0.27	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	EV16	0.62	0.22	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	IA17	0.81	0.30	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	IC18	0.78	0.21	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AA19	0.88	0.23	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AAIC20	0.45	0.27	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AA21	0.61	0.28	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	ECO22	0.42	0.26	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	ECR23	0.56	0.34	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	ECO24	0.70	0.19	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	IT26	0.85	0.32	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	AOIT27	0.44	0.37	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	ECOIT28	0.22	0.28	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	ECO29	0.64	0.28	Not eliminated
Pre-Test	IA30	0.41	0.09	Eliminated for having discrimination lower than 0.1
Pre-Test	EOIA31	0.42	0.33	Not eliminated
Post-Test	MC04	0.45	0.29	Not eliminated
Post-Test	MC05_1	0.72	0.21	Not eliminated
Post-Test	MC05_2	0.50	0.27	Not eliminated
Post-Test	MC06	0.27	0.25	Not eliminated
Post-Test	MC07	0.50	0.19	Not eliminated
Post-Test	MC08_1	0.71	0.42	Not eliminated
Post-Test	MC08_2	0.08	0.13	Eliminated for having a difficulty that is not in the 0.1–0.9 range
Post-Test	IR09	0.72	0.39	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IR10	0.92	0.31	Eliminated for having a difficulty that is not in the 0.1–0.9 range
Post-Test	IR11	0.67	0.39	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IT12	0.86	0.27	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IT13	0.85	0.47	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IT14	0.87	0.38	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AR15_I	0.71	0.49	Eliminated for being a Heywood case (factor loading greater than 1)
Post-Test	AR15_II	0.61	0.50	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AR15_III	0.54	0.49	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AR15_IV	0.33	0.49	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AR15_V	0.28	0.48	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IC16	0.64	0.28	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IC17	0.67	0.27	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IC18	0.56	0.32	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IC19	0.63	0.48	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IC20	0.89	0.38	Not eliminated
Post-Test	IC21	0.95	0.36	Eliminated for having a difficulty that is not in the 0.1–0.9 range
Post-Test	AD23	0.37	0.14	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AD24	0.66	0.33	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AD25	0.51	0.34	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AD26	0.55	0.26	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AD27	0.86	0.38	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AD28	0.79	0.35	Not eliminated
Post-Test	AD29	0.72	0.32	Not eliminated
Post-Test	EV30	0.94	0.29	Eliminated for having a difficulty that is not in the 0.1–0.9 range
Post-Test	EV31	0.73	0.22	Not eliminated
Post-Test	EV32	0.93	0.37	Eliminated for having a difficulty that is not in the 0.1–0.9 range

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Group	Number of Students
Control	70
Experimental	79

Sub-Skill of Critical Thinking	Expected Learning Outcome
Interpretation	Objectives associated with the extraction of literal information from written and spoken texts.
Analysis	Objectives associated with summarizing ideas and organizing information from written and spoken texts hierarchically.
Inference	Objectives associated with extracting non-literal information from written and spoken discourse.
Evaluation	Objectives associated with grammar (accent marks, punctuation, and connectors, among others) and the structure of a text.
Argumentation	Objectives associated with identifying an author or speaker’s point of view and their reasoning.
Metacognition	Objectives associated with self-regulation and monitoring during the process of speaking, writing, and listening/reading comprehension.

Coefficient	Reference	Description
	Intercept	Attributable to the regression model
	Pre-Test	Decimal number between 0 and 100, representing the student’s score on the pre-test
	Group	Student’s group. 0 for control and 1 for experimental
	Course score	Student’s final grade for the course, expressed as a decimal number between 0 and 100

Instrument	KMO	Barttlet’s Test of Sphericity	Log-Likelihood	M2	p-Value	df	RMSEA 5% *	RMSEA	RMSEA 95% **
Pre-Test	0.65	p < 0.001	−8.507	810	<0.01	348	0.047	0.051	0.056
Post-Test	0.67	p < 0.001	−5.038	888	<0.01	432	0.056	0.062	0.068

Test	Cronbach’s Alpha	Marginal Reliability
Pre-Test	0.67	0.76
Post-Test	0.72	0.87

Group	Type	N	Mean	Std. Dev.	Median	Min	Max	Skew	Kurtosis	Std. Error
Control	Pre-Test	70	60.25	14.55	59	28	93	0.1	−0.57	1.74
	Post-Test	70	55.19	15.43	55	18	88	−0.12	−0.38	1.84
	Course Score	70	71.74	7.71	73	55	88	−0.14	−0.54	0.92
Experimental	Pre-Test	79	55.91	13.23	55	17	90	0.1	0.19	1.49
	Post-Test	79	57.04	14.1	58	27	91	0	−0.29	1.59
	Course Score	79	72.90	7.31	74	55	90	−0.31	−0.06	0.82
Total	Pre-Test	149	57.95	13.99	55	17	93	0.14	−0.16	1.15
	Post-Test	149	56.17	14.72	55	18	91	−0.08	−0.26	1.21
	Course Score	149	72.36	7.49	73	55	90	−0.23	−0.28	0.61

Reference	Mean	Std. Dev.	2.5%	97.5%	p (>0\|Data)
Intercept	−11.12	10.26	−31.17	8.98	0.14
Pre-Test	0.22	0.09	0.05	0.39	0.99
Group	1.97	2.17	−2.30	6.19	0.82
Course score	0.74	0.16	0.42	1.06	1.00

	Control Group		Experimental Group		Total		Welch t-Test	Cohen’s d (Effect Size)
Item	Mean	Std. Dev	Mean	Std. Dev	Mean	Std. Dev	Welch t-Test	d	5% CI	95% CI
1	93.38	6.3	95.55	3.52	94.47	4.94	t(6.27) = −0.67, p = 0.52
2	95.14	4.7	95.55	3.52	95.35	3.92	t(7.41) = −0.15, p = 0.87
3	92.63	5.9	95.59	3.39	94.11	4.79	t(6.38) = −0.97, p = 0.37
4	93.36	6.53	94.88	3.93	94.12	5.14	t(6.56) = −0.45, p = 0.67
5	92.22	6.4	94.51	3.62	93.37	5.05	t(6.32) = −0.7, p = 0.51
6	91.16	6.77	94.88	4.3	93.02	5.7	t(6.78) = −1.04, p = 0.33
7	92.13	7.14	95.62	3.86	93.87	5.72	t(6.16) = −0.96, p = 0.37
8	90.86	7.06	94.88	3.93	92.87	5.79	t(6.26) = −1.11, p = 0.31
9	86.19	6.08	94.86	3.52	90.53	6.55	t(6.41) = −2.76, p = 0.03	2.18	0.19	4.07
10	91.17	5.28	94.92	4.17	93.05	4.9	t(7.6) = −1.26, p = 0.25
11	92.18	5.93	95.62	3.86	93.9	5.05	t(6.88) = −1.09, p = 0.31
12	92.63	5.9	95.59	3.39	94.11	4.79	t(6.38) = −0.98, p = 0.37
13	80.38	20.57	83.22	3.11	81.8	13.95	t(4.18) = −0.31, p = 0.77
14	66.73	17.04	74.96	4.66	70.85	12.55	t(4.59) = −1.04, p = 0.35
15	68.71	18.44	73.99	4.22	71.35	12.92	t(4.42) = −0.62, p = 0.56
16	89.93	4.32	96.25	3.09	93.09	4.86	t(7.25) = −2.66, p = 0.03	1.98	0.17	3.7

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Share and Cite

López, F.; Contreras, M.; Nussbaum, M.; Paredes, R.; Gelerstein, D.; Alvares, D.; Chiuminatto, P. Developing Critical Thinking in Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Educ. Sci. 2023 , 13 , 590. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060590

López F, Contreras M, Nussbaum M, Paredes R, Gelerstein D, Alvares D, Chiuminatto P. Developing Critical Thinking in Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Education Sciences . 2023; 13(6):590. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060590

López, Felipe, Mayra Contreras, Miguel Nussbaum, Ricardo Paredes, Damian Gelerstein, Danilo Alvares, and Pablo Chiuminatto. 2023. "Developing Critical Thinking in Technical and Vocational Education and Training" Education Sciences 13, no. 6: 590. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060590

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PMC10054602

Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration: Assessment, Certification, and Promotion of 21st Century Skills for the Future of Work and Education

Branden thornhill-miller.

1 Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK

2 International Institute for Competency Development, 75001 Paris, France

Anaëlle Camarda

3 LaPEA, Université Paris Cité and Univ Gustave Eiffel, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France

4 Institut Supérieur Maria Montessori, 94130 Nogent-Sur-Marne, France

Maxence Mercier

Jean-marie burkhardt.

5 LaPEA, Univ Gustave Eiffel and Université Paris Cité, CEDEX, 78008 Versailles, France

Tiffany Morisseau

6 Strane Innovation, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Samira Bourgeois-Bougrine

Florent vinchon, stephanie el hayek.

7 AFNOR International, 93210 Saint-Denis, France

Myriam Augereau-Landais

Florence mourey, cyrille feybesse.

8 Centre Hospitalier Guillaume Regnier, Université de Rennes 1, 35200 Rennes, France

Daniel Sundquist

Todd lubart, associated data.

Not Applicable.

This article addresses educational challenges posed by the future of work, examining “21st century skills”, their conception, assessment, and valorization. It focuses in particular on key soft skill competencies known as the “4Cs”: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. In a section on each C, we provide an overview of assessment at the level of individual performance, before focusing on the less common assessment of systemic support for the development of the 4Cs that can be measured at the institutional level (i.e., in schools, universities, professional training programs, etc.). We then present the process of official assessment and certification known as “labelization”, suggesting it as a solution both for establishing a publicly trusted assessment of the 4Cs and for promoting their cultural valorization. Next, two variations of the “International Institute for Competency Development’s 21st Century Skills Framework” are presented. The first of these comprehensive systems allows for the assessment and labelization of the extent to which development of the 4Cs is supported by a formal educational program or institution. The second assesses informal educational or training experiences, such as playing a game. We discuss the overlap between the 4Cs and the challenges of teaching and institutionalizing them, both of which may be assisted by adopting a dynamic interactionist model of the 4Cs—playfully entitled “Crea-Critical-Collab-ication”—for pedagogical and policy-promotion purposes. We conclude by briefly discussing opportunities presented by future research and new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

1. Introduction

There are many ways of describing the massive educational challenges faced in the 21st century. With the appearance of computers and digital technologies, new means of interacting between people, and a growing competitiveness on the international level, organizations are now requiring new skills from their employees, leaving educational systems struggling to provide appropriate ongoing training. Indeed, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2020 “Future of Jobs Report”, studying 15 industries in 26 advanced and emerging countries, up to 50% of employees will need some degree of “reskilling” by 2025 ( World Economic Forum 2020 ). Although many national and international educational efforts and institutions now explicitly put the cultivation of new kinds of skills on their educational agendas, practical means of assessing such skills remains underdeveloped, thus hampering the valorization of these skills and the development of guidance for relevant pedagogy ( Care et al. 2018 ; Vincent-Lancrin et al. 2019 ; for overviews and discussion of higher education in global developmental context, see Blessinger and Anchan 2015 ; Salmi 2017 ).

This article addresses some of these challenges and related issues for the future of education and work, by focusing on so-called “21st Century Skills” and key “soft skills” known as the “4Cs” (creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration), more particularly. It begins with a brief discussion of these skills, outlining their conceptual locations and potential roles in the modern educational context. A section on each “C” then follows, defining the C, summarizing research and methods for its scientific assessment at the individual level, and then outlining some means and avenues at the systemic level for fostering its development (e.g., important aspects of curriculum, institutional structure, or of the general environment, as well as pedagogical methods) that might be leveraged by an institution or program in order to promote the development of that C among its students/trainees. In the next section, the certification-like process of “labelization” is outlined and proposed as one of the best available solutions both for valorizing the 4Cs and moving them towards the center of the modern educational enterprise, as well as for benchmarking and monitoring institutions’ progress in fostering their development. The International Institute for Competency Development’s 4Cs Framework is then outlined as an example of such a comprehensive system for assessing and labelizing the extent to which educational institutions and programs support the development of the 4Cs. We further demonstrate the possibility of labelizing and promoting support for the development of the 4Cs by activities or within less formal educational settings, presenting a second framework for assessment of the 4Cs in games and similar training activities. Our discussion section begins with the challenges to implementing educational change in the direction of 21st century skills, focusing on the complex and overlapping nature of the 4Cs. Here, we propose that promoting a “Dynamic Interactionist Model of the 4Cs” not only justifies grouping them together, but it might also assist more directly with some of the challenges of pedagogy, assessment, policy promotion, and ultimately, institutionalization, faced by the 4Cs and related efforts to modernize education. We conclude by suggesting some important future work for the 4Cs individually and also as an interrelated collective of vital skills for the future of education and work.

“21st Century Skills”, “Soft Skills”, and the “4Cs”

For 40 years, so-called “21st century skills” have been promoted as those necessary for success in a modern work environment that the US Army War College ( Barber 1992 ) has accurately described as increasingly “VUCA”—“volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous”. Various lists of skills and competencies have been formulated on their own or as part of comprehensive overarching educational frameworks. Although a detailed overview of this background material is outside the scope of this article (see Lamri et al. 2022 ; Lucas 2022 for summaries), one of the first prominent examples of this trend was the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), whose comprehensive “Framework for 21st Century Learning” is presented in Figure 1 ( Battelle for Kids 2022 ). This framework for future-oriented education originated the idea of the “4Cs”, placing them at its center and apex as “Learning and Innovation Skills” that are in need of much broader institutional support at the foundational level in the form of new standards and assessments, curriculum and instructional development, ongoing professional development, and appropriately improved learning environments ( Partnership for 21st Century Skills 2008 ). These points are also consistent with the approach and assessment frameworks presented later in this article.

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Other important organizations such as the World Economic Forum ( 2015 ) have produced similar overarching models of “21st century skills’’ with the 4Cs at their center, but the term “21st century skills’’ has been rightly criticized for a several reasons: the skills referred to are not actually all unique to, or uniquely important to, the 21st century, and it is a term that is often used more as an advertising or promotional label for systems that sometimes conflate and confuse different kinds of skills with other concepts that users lump together ( Lucas 2019 ). Indeed, though there is no absolute consensus on the definition of a “skill”, they are often described as being multidimensional and involve the ability to solve problems in context and to perform tasks using appropriate resources at the right time and in the right combination ( Lamri and Lubart 2021 ). At its simplest, a skill is a “learned capacity to do something useful” ( Lucas and Claxton 2009 ), or an ability to perform a given task at a specified performance level, which develops through practice, experience. and training ( Lamri et al. 2022 ).

The idea of what skills “are’’, however, has also evolved to some extent over time in parallel to the nature of the abilities required to make valued contributions to society. The digital and information age, in particular, has seen the replacement by machines of much traditional work sometimes referred to as “hard skills’’—skills such as numerical calculation or driving, budget-formulating, or copyediting abilities, which entail mastery of fixed sets of knowledge and know-how of standard procedures, and which are often learned on the job. Such skills are more routine, machine-related, or technically oriented and not as likely to be centered on human interaction. In contrast, the work that has been increasingly valued in the 21st century involves the more complex, human interactive, and/or non-routine skills that Whitmore ( 1972 ) first referred to as “soft skills”.

Unfortunately, researchers, educators, and consultants have defined, redefined, regrouped, and expanded soft skills—sometimes labeling them “transversal competencies”, “generic competencies”, or even “life skills” in addition to “21st century skills”—in so many different ways within and across different domains of research and education (as well as languages and national educational systems) that much progress towards these goals has literally been “lost in translation” ( Cinque 2016 ).

Indeed, there is also a long-standing ambiguity and confusion between the terms “competency” (also competence) and “skill” due to their use across different domains (e.g., learning research, education, vocational training, personnel selection) as well as different epistemological backgrounds and cultural specificities ( Drisko 2014 ; Winterton et al. 2006 ; van Klink and Boon 2003 ). The term “competency” is, however, often used as a broader concept that encompasses skills, abilities, and attitudes, whereas, in a narrower sense, the term “skill” has been defined as “goal-directed, well-organized behavior that is acquired through practice and performed with economy of effort” ( Proctor and Dutta 1995, p. 18 ). For example, whereas the command of a spoken language or the ability to write are skills (hard skills, to be precise), the ability to communicate effectively is a competence that may draw on an individual’s knowledge of language, writing skills, practical IT skills, and emotional intelligence, as well as attitudes towards those with whom one is communicating ( Rychen and Hersch 2003 ). Providing high-quality customer service is a competency that relies on listening skills, social perception skills, and contextual knowledge of products. Beyond these potential distinctions, the term “competency” is predominant in Europe, whereas “skill” is more commonly used in the US. Yet it also frequently occurs that both are used as rough synonyms. For example, Voogt and Roblin ( 2012, p. 299 ) examine the “21st century competences and the recommended strategies for the implementation of these skills”, and Graesser et al. ( 2022, p. 568 ) state that twenty-first-century skills “include self-regulated learning, collaborative problem solving, communication (…) and other competencies”. In conclusion, the term “competencies” is often used interchangeably with “skills” (and can have a particularly large overlap with “soft skills”), but it is also often considered in a broader sense as a set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes that, together, meet a complex demand ( Ananiadoui and Claro 2009 ). From this perspective, one could argue that the 4Cs, as complex, “higher-order” soft skills, might best be labeled competencies. For ease and convenience, however, in this text, we consider the two terms interchangeable but favor the term “skills”, only using “competency” in some instances to avoid cumbersome repetition.

Even having defined soft skills as a potentially more narrow and manageable focus, we are still aware of no large-scale study that has employed a comprehensive enough range of actual psychometric measures of soft skills in a manner that might help produce a definitive empirical taxonomy. Some more recent taxonomic efforts have, however, attempted to provide additional empirical grounding for the accurate identification of key soft skills (see e.g., Joie-La Marle et al. 2022 ). Further, recent research by JobTeaser (see Lamri et al. 2022 ) surveying a large, diverse sample of young workers about a comprehensive, systematic list of soft skills as actually used in their professional roles represents a good step towards some clarification and mapping of this domain on an empirical basis. Despite the fact that both these studies necessarily involved assumptions and interpretive grouping of variables, the presence and importance of the 4Cs as higher-order skills is evident in both sets of empirical results.

Various comprehensive “21st century skills” systems proposed in the past without much empirical verification also seem to have been found too complex and cumbersome for implementation. The 4Cs, on the other hand, seem to provide a relatively simple, persuasive, targetable core that has been found to constitute a pedagogically and policy-friendly model by major organizations, and that also now seems to be gaining some additional empirical validity. Gathering support from researchers and industry alike, we suggest that the 4Cs can be seen as highest-level transversal skills—or “meta-competencies”—that allow individuals to remain competent and to develop their potential in a rapidly changing professional world. Thus, in the end, they may also be one of the most useful ways of summarizing and addressing the critical challenges faced by the future of work and education ( National Education Association 2011 ).

Taking them as our focus, we note, however, that the teaching and development of the 4Cs will require a complex intervention and mobilization of educational and socio-economic resources—both a major shift in pedagogical techniques and even more fundamental changes in institutional structures ( Ananiadoui and Claro 2009 ). One very important issue for understanding the 4Cs and their educational implementation related to this, which can simultaneously facilitate their teaching but be a challenge for their assessment, is the multidimensionality, interrelatedness, and transdisciplinary relevance of the 4Cs. Thus, we address the relationships between the Cs in the different C sections and later in our Discussion, we present a “Dynamic Interactionist Model of the 4Cs’’ that we hope will assist in their understanding, in the further development of pedagogical processes related to them, and in their public promotion and related policy. Ultimately, it is partly due to their complexity and interrelationships, we argue, that it is important and expedient that the 4Cs are taught, assessed, and promoted together.

2. The 4Cs, Assessment, and Support for Development

2.1. creativity.

In psychology, creativity is usually defined as the capacity to produce novel, original work that fits with task constraints and has value in its context (for a recent overview, see Lubart and Thornhill-Miller 2019 ). This basic definition, though useful for testing and measurement, is largely incomplete, as it does not contain any information about the individual or groups doing the creating or the nature of physical and social contexts ( Glăveanu 2014 ). Moreover, Corazza ( 2016 ) challenged this standard definition of creativity, arguing that as it focuses solely on the existence of an original and effective outcome, it misses the dynamics of the creative process, which is frequently associated with periods of creative inconclusiveness and limited occasions of creative achievements. To move away from the limitations of the standard definition of creativity, we can consider Bruner’s description of creativity as “figuring out how to use what you already know in order to go beyond what you currently think” (p. 183 in Weick 1993 ). This description echoes the notion of potential, which refers to a latent state that may be put to use if a person has the opportunity.

Creativity is a multifaceted phenomenon that can be approached from many different angles. There are three main frameworks for creativity studies: the 4Ps ( Rhodes 1961 ), the 5As ( Glăveanu 2013 ), and the 7Cs model ( Lubart 2017 ). These frameworks share at least four fundamental and measurable dimensions: the act of creating (process), the outcome of the creative process (product), the characteristics of creative actor(s) enacting the process (person), and the social and physical environment that enable or hinder the creative process (press). Contrary to many traditional beliefs, however, creativity can be trained and taught in a variety of different ways, both through direct, active teaching of creativity concepts and techniques and through more passive and indirect means such as the development of creativity-supporting contexts ( Chiu 2015 ; Thornhill-Miller and Dupont 2016 ). Alongside intelligence, with which it shares some common mechanisms, creativity is now recognized as an indispensable element for the flexibility and adaptation of individuals in challenging situations ( Sternberg 1986 ).

2.1.1. Individual Assessment of Creativity

Drawing upon previous efforts to structure creativity research, Batey ( 2012 ) proposed a taxonomic framework for creativity measurement that takes the form of a three-dimensional matrix: (a) the level at which creativity may be measured (the individual, the team, the organization, and the culture), (b) the facets of creativity that may be assessed (person/trait, process, press, and product), and (c) the measurement approach (objective, self-rating, other ratings). It is beyond the scope of this article to offer a literature review of all these dimensions, but for the purposes of this paper, we address some important aspects of individual-level and institutional-level assessment here.

Assessing creativity at an individual level encompasses two major approaches: (1) creative accomplishment based on production and (2) creative potential. Regarding the first approach focusing on creative accomplishment , there are at least four main assessment techniques (or tools representing variations of assessment techniques): (a) the historiometric approach, which applies quantitative analysis to historically available data (such as the number of prizes won or times cited) in an effort to understand eminent, field-changing creativity ( Simonton 1999 ); (b) the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) ( Amabile 1982 ), which offers a method for combining and validating judges’ subjective evaluations of a set of (potentially) creative productions or ideas; (c) the Creative Achievement Questionnaire ( Carson et al. 2005 ), which asks individuals to supply a self-reported assessment of their publicly recognizable achievement in ten different creative domains; and (d) the Inventory of Creative Activities and Achievements (ICAA) ( Jauk et al. 2014 ; Diedrich et al. 2018 ), which includes self-report scales assessing the frequency of engagement in creative activity and also levels of achievement in eight different domains.

The second major approach to individual assessment is based on creative potential, which measures the cognitive abilities and/or personality traits that are important for creative work. The two most popular assessments of creative potential are the Remote Associations Test (RAT) and the Alternative Uses Task (AUT). The RAT, which involves identifying the fourth word that is somehow associated with each of three given words, underscores the role that the ability to convergently associate disparate ideas plays as a key capacity for creativity. In contrast, the AUT, which requires individuals to generate a maximum number of ideas based on a prompt (e.g., different uses for a paperclip), is used to assess divergent thinking capacity. According to multivariate models of creative potential ( Lubart et al. 2013 ), there are cognitive factors (e.g., divergent thinking, mental flexibility, convergent thinking, associative thinking, selective combination), conative factors (openness, tolerance of ambiguity, intuitive thinking, risk taking, motivation to create), and environmental factors that all support creativity. Higher creative potential is predicted by having more of the ingredients for creativity. However, multiple different profiles among a similar set of these important ingredients exist, and their weighting for optimal creative potential varies according to the profession, the domain, and the task under consideration. For example, Lubart and Thornhill-Miller ( 2021 ) and Lubin et al. ( forthcoming ) have taken this creativity profiling approach, exploring the identification and training of the components of creative potential among lawyers and clinical psychologists, respectively. For a current example of this sort of comprehensive, differentiated measurement of creative potential in adults in different domains and professions, see CreativityProfiling.org. For a recent battery of tests that are relevant for children, including domain-relevant divergent-exploratory and convergent-integrative tasks, see Lubart et al. ( 2019 ). Underscoring the growing recognition of the importance of creativity assessment, measures of creative potential for students were introduced internationally for the first time in the PISA 2022 assessment ( OECD 2019a ).

2.1.2. Institutional and Environmental Support for Development of Creativity

The structural support that institutions and programs can provide to promote the development of creativity can be described as coming through three main paths: (1) through design of the physical environment in a manner that supports creativity, (2) through teaching about creativity, the creative process, and creativity techniques, and (3) through training opportunities to help students/employees develop personal habits, characteristics, and other ingredients associated with creative achievement and potential.

Given the multi-dimensionality of the notion of creativity, the environment can positively influence and help develop creative capacities. Studies have shown that the physical environment in which individuals work can enhance their positive emotions and mood and thus their creativity. For example, stimulating working environments might have unusual furniture and spaces that have natural light, windows open to nature, plants and flowers, a relaxing atmosphere and colors in the room (e.g., green and blue), or positive sounds (e.g., calm music or silence), as well as inspiring and energizing colors (e.g., yellow, pink, orange). Furthermore, the arrangement of physical space to promote interpersonal exchange rather than isolation, as well as the presence of tools, such as whiteboards, that support and show the value of exchange, are also important (for reviews, see Dul and Ceylan 2011 ; Samani et al. 2014 ).

Although it has been claimed that “creativity is intelligence having fun” ( Scialabba 1984 ; Reiman 1992 ), for most people, opportunities for fun and creativity, especially in their work environment, appear rather limited. In fact, the social and physical environment often hinders creativity. Corazza et al. ( 2021 )’s theoretical framework concerning the “Space-Time Continuum”, related to support for creativity, suggests that traditional education systems are an example of an environment that is “tight” both in the conceptual “space” it affords for creativity and in the available time allowed for creativity to happen—essentially leaving little room for original ideas to emerge. Indeed, though world-wide data suggest that neither money nor mere time spent in class correlate well with educational outcomes, both policies and pedagogy that direct the ways in which time is spent make a significant difference ( Schleicher 2022 ). Research and common sense suggest that teachers, students, and employees need more space and time to invest energy in the creative process and the development of creative potential.

Underscoring the importance of teaching the creative process and creativity techniques is the demonstration, in a number of contexts, that groups of individuals who generate ideas without a specific method are often negatively influenced by their social environment. For example, unless guarded against, the presence of others tends to reduce the number of ideas generated and to induce a fixation on a limited number of ideas conforming to those produced by others ( Camarda et al. 2021 ; Goldenberg and Wiley 2011 ; Kohn and Smith 2011 ; Paulus and Dzindolet 1993 ; Putman and Paulus 2009 ; Rietzschel et al. 2006 ). To overcome these cognitive and social biases, different variants of brainstorming techniques have shown positive effects (for reviews of methods, see Al-Samarraie and Hurmuzan 2018 ; Paulus and Brown 2007 ). These include: using ( Osborn 1953 ) initial brainstorming rules (which aim to reduce spontaneous self-judgment of ideas and fear of this judgment by others); drawing attention to ideas generated by others by writing them down independently (e.g., the technique known as “brainwriting”); and requiring incubation periods between work sessions by forcing members of a problem-solving group to take breaks ( Paulus and Yang 2000 ; Paulus and Kenworthy 2019 ).

It is also possible to use design methods that are structured to guide the creative process and the exploration of ideas, as well as to avoid settling on uncreative solution paths ( Chulvi et al. 2012 ; Edelman et al. 2022 ; Kowaltowski et al. 2010 ; see Cotter et al. 2022 for a valuable survey of best practices for avoiding the suppression of creativity and fostering creative interaction and metacognition in the classroom). Indeed, many helpful design thinking-related programs now exist around the world and have been shown to have a substantial impact on creative outcomes ( Bourgeois-Bougrine 2022 ).

Research and experts suggest the utility of many additional creativity enhancement techniques (see, e.g., Thornhill-Miller and Dupont 2016 ), and the largest and most rapid effects are often attributed to these more method- or technique-oriented approaches ( Scott et al. 2004 ). More long-term institutional and environmental support for the development of creativity, however, should also include targeted training and understanding of personality and emotional traits associated with the “creative person” (e.g., empathy and exploratory habits that can expand knowledge, as well as increase tolerance of ambiguity, openness, and mental flexibility; see Lubart and Thornhill-Miller 2021 ). Complementing these approaches and focusing on a more systemic level, recent work conducted by the OECD exemplifies efforts aimed to foster creativity (and critical thinking) by focusing simultaneously on curriculum, educational activities, and teacher support and development at the primary, secondary, and higher education levels (see Vincent-Lancrin et al. 2019 ; Saroyan 2022 ).

2.2. Critical Thinking

Researchers, teachers, employers, and public policymakers around the world have long ranked the development of critical thinking (CT) abilities as one of the highest educational priorities and public needs in modern democratic societies ( Ahern et al. 2019 ; Dumitru et al. 2018 ; Pasquinelli et al. 2021 ). CT is central to better outcomes in daily life and general problem solving ( Hitchcock 2020 ), to intelligence and adaptability ( Halpern and Dunn 2021 ), and to academic achievement ( Ren et al. 2020 ). One needs to be aware of distorted or erroneous information in the media, of the difference between personal opinions and proven facts, and how to handle increasingly large bodies of information required to understand and evaluate information in the modern age.

Although much research has addressed both potentially related constructs, such as intelligence and wisdom, and lists of potential component aspects of human thought, such as inductive or deductive reasoning (for reviews of all of these, see Sternberg and Funke 2019 ), reaching a consensus on a definition has been difficult, because CT relies on the coordination of many different skills ( Bellaera et al. 2021 ; Dumitru et al. 2018 ) and is involved in, and sometimes described from the perspective of, many different domains ( Lewis and Smith 1993 ). Furthermore, as a transversal competency, having the skills to perform aspects of critical thinking in a given domain does not necessarily entail also having the metacognitive ability to know when to engage in which of its aspects, or having the disposition, attitude, or “mindset” that motivates one to actually engage in them—all of which are actually required to be a good critical thinker ( Facione 2011 ).

As pointed out by the American Philosophical Association’s consensus definition, the ideal “critical thinker” is someone who is inquisitive, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded, and keeps well-informed, thus understanding different points of view and perspectives ( Facione 1990b ). These characteristics, one might note, are also characteristic of the “creative individual” ( Facione 1990b ; Lai 2011 ), as is the ability to imagine alternatives, which is often cited as a component of critical thinking ability ( Facione 1990b ; Halpern 1998 ). Conversely, creative production in any domain needs to be balanced by critical appraisal and thought at each step of the creative process ( Bailin 1988 ). Indeed, it can be argued that creativity and critical thinking are inextricably linked and are often two sides of the same coin. Representing different aspects of “good thought” that are linked and develop in parallel, it seems reasonable that they should, in practice, be taught and considered together in teaching and learning ( Paul and Elder 2006 ).

Given its complexity, many definitions of critical thinking have been offered. However, some more recent work has helpfully defined critical thinking as “the capacity of assessing the epistemic quality of available information and—as a consequence of this assessment—of calibrating one’s confidence in order to act upon such information” ( Pasquinelli et al. 2021 ). This definition, unlike others proposed in the field (for a review, see: Bellaera et al. 2021 ; Liu et al. 2014 ), is specific (i.e., it limits the use of poorly defined concepts), as well as consensual and operational (i.e., it has clear and direct implications for the education and assessment of critical thinking skills; Pasquinelli et al. 2021 ; Pasquinelli and Bronner 2021 ). Thus, this approach assumes that individuals possess better or worse cognitive processes and strategies that make it possible to judge the reliability of the information received, by determining, for example, what the arguments provided actually are. Are the arguments convincing? Is the source of information identifiable and reliable? Does the information conflict with other information held by the individual?

It should also be noted that being able to apply critical thinking is necessary to detect and overcome the cognitive biases that can constrain one’s reasoning. Indeed, when solving a problem, it is widely recognized that people tend to automate the application of strategies that are usually relevant in similar and analogous situations that have already been encountered. However, these heuristics (i.e., automatisms) can be a source of errors, in particular, in tricky reasoning situations, as demonstrated in the field of reasoning, arithmetic problems ( Kahneman 2003 ) or even divergent thinking tasks ( Cassotti et al. 2016 ; for a review of biases, see Friedman 2017 ). Though some cognitive biases can even be seen as normal ways of thinking and feeling, sometimes shaping human beliefs and ideologies in ways that make it completely normal—and even definitely human— not to be objective (see Thornhill-Miller and Millican 2015 ), the mobilization of cognitive resources such as those involved in critical reasoning on logical bases usually makes it possible to overcome cognitive biases and adjust one’s reasoning ( West et al. 2008 ).

According to Pasquinelli et al. ( 2021 ), young children already possess cognitive functions underlying critical thinking, such as the ability to determine that information is false. However, until late adolescence, studies have demonstrated an underdevelopment of executive functions involved in resistance to biased reasoning ( Casey et al. 2008 ) as well as some other higher-order skills that underlie the overall critical thinking process ( Bloom 1956 ). According to Facione and the landmark American Philosophical Association’s task force on critical thinking ( Facione 1990b ; Facione 2011 ), these components of critical thinking can be organized into six measurable skills: the ability to (1) interpret information (i.e., meaning and context); (2) analyze information (i.e., make sense of why this information has been provided, identify pro and con arguments, and decide whether we can accept the conclusion of the information); (3) make inferences (i.e., determine the implications of the evidence, its reliability, the undesirable consequences); (4) evaluate the strength of the information (i.e., its credibility, determine the trust in the person who provides it); (5) provide explanations (i.e., summarize the findings, determine how the information can be interpreted, and offer verification of the reasoning); (6) self-regulate (i.e., evaluate the strength of the methods applied, determine the conflict between different conclusions, clarify the conclusions, and verify missing elements).

2.2.1. Individual Assessment of Critical Thinking

The individual assessment of critical thinking skills presents a number of challenges, because it is a multi-task ability and involves specific knowledge in the different areas in which it is applied ( Liu et al. 2014 ; Willingham 2008 ). However, the literature provides several tools with which to measure different facets of cognitive functions and skills involved in the overarching critical thinking process ( Lai 2011 ; Liu et al. 2014 ). Most assessments involve multiple-choice questions requiring reasoning within a particular situation based upon a constrained set of information provided. For example, in one of the most widely used tests, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test ( Facione 1990a ), participants are provided with everyday scenarios and have to answer multiple questions targeting the six higher-order skills described previously. Similarly, the Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal ( Watson 1980 ; Watson and Glaser 2010 ) presents test takers with passages and scenarios measuring their competencies at recognizing assumptions, evaluating arguments, and drawing conclusions. Although the Watson–Glaser is one of the oldest and most frequently used assessments internationally for hiring and promotion in professional contexts, its construct validity, like many other measures of this challenging topic, has some limitations ( Possin 2014 ).

Less frequently, case study or experiential methods of assessment are also used. This approach may involve asking participants to reflect on past experiences, analyze the situations they faced and the way they behaved or made judgments and decisions and then took action ( Bandyopadhyay and Szostek 2019 ; Brookfield 1997 ). These methods, often employed by teachers or employers on students and employees, usually involve the analysis of qualitative data that can cast doubt on the reliability of the results. Consequently, various researchers have suggested ways to improve analytic methods, and they emphasize the need to create more advanced evaluation methods ( Brookfield 1997 ; Liu et al. 2014 ).

For example, Liu et al. ( 2014 ) reviewed current assessment methods and suggest that future work improves the operational definition of critical thinking, aiming to assess it both in different specific contexts and in different formats. Specifically, assessments could be contextualized within the major areas addressed by education programs (e.g., social sciences, humanities, and/or natural sciences), and the tasks themselves should be as practically connected to the “real world” as possible (e.g., categorizing a set of features, opinions, or facts based on whether or not they support an initial statement). Moreover, as Brookfield ( 1997 ) argues, because critical thinking is a social process that takes place in specific contexts of knowledge and culture, it should be assessed as a social process, therefore, involving a multiplicity of experiences, perceptions, and contributions. Thus, Brookfield makes three recommendations for improving the assessment of critical thinking that are still relevant today: (1) to assess critical thinking in specific situations, so one can study the process and the discourse related to it; (2) to involve students/peers in the evaluation of critical thinking abilities, so that the evaluation is not provided only by the instructor; and (3) to allow learners or participants in an experiment to document, demonstrate, and justify their engagement in critical thinking, because this learning perspective can provide insight into basic dimensions of the critical thinking process.

Finally, another more recent and less widely used form of assessment targets the specific executive functions that underlie logical reasoning and resistance to cognitive biases, as well as the ability of individuals to resist these biases. This form of assessment is usually done through specific experimental laboratory tasks that vary depending on the particular executive function and according to the domain of interest ( Houdé and Borst 2014 ; Kahneman 2011 ; West et al. 2008 ).

2.2.2. Institutional and Environmental Support for Development of Critical Thinking Skills

The executive functions underlying general critical thinking, the ability to overcome bias ( Houdé 2000 ; Houdé and Borst 2014 ), and meta-cognitive processes (i.e., meta information about our cognitive strategies) can all be trained and enhanced by educational programs ( Abrami et al. 2015 ; Ahern et al. 2019 ; Alsaleh 2020 ; Bellaera et al. 2021 ; Uribe-Enciso et al. 2017 ; Popil 2011 ; Pasquinelli and Bronner 2021 ; Yue et al. 2017 ).

Educational programs and institutions can support the development of critical thinking in several different ways. The process of developing critical thinking focuses on the interaction between personal dispositions (attitudes and habits), skills (evaluation, reasoning, self-regulation), and finally, knowledge (general and specific knowledge, as well as experience) ( Thomas and Lok 2015 ). It is specifically in regard to skills and knowledge that institutions are well suited to develop critical thinking through pedagogical elements such as rhetoric training, relevance of information evaluation (e.g., media literacy, where and how to check information on the internet, dealing with “fake news”, etc.), deductive thinking skills, and inductive reasoning ( Moore and Parker 2016 ). A few tools, such as case studies or concept mapping, can also be used in conjunction with a problem-based learning method, both in individual and team contexts and in person or online ( Abrami et al. 2015 ; Carmichael and Farrell 2012 ; Popil 2011 ; Thorndahl and Stentoft 2020 ). According to Marin and Halpern ( 2011 ), training critical thinking should include explicit instruction involving at least the four following components and objectives: (1) working on attitudes and encouraging individuals to think; (2) teaching and practicing critical thinking skills; (3) training for transfer between contexts, identifying concrete situations in which to adopt the strategies learned; and (4) suggesting metacognition through reflection on one’s thought processes. Supporting these propositions, Pasquinelli and Bronner ( 2021 ), in a French national educational report, proposed practical advice for creating workshops to stimulate critical thinking in school classrooms, which appear relevant even in non-school intervention situations. For example, the authors suggest combining concrete examples and exercises with general and abstract explanations, rules and strategies, which can be transferred to other areas beyond the one studied. They also suggest inviting learners to create examples of situations (e.g., case studies) in order to increase the opportunities to practice and for the learner to actively participate. Finally, they suggest making the process of reflection explicit by asking the learner to pay attention to the strategies adopted by others in order to stimulate the development of metacognition.

2.3. Communication

In its most basic definition, communication consists of exchanging information to change the epistemic context of others. In cooperative contexts, it aims at the smooth and efficient exchange of information contributing to the achievement of a desired outcome or goal ( Schultz 2010 ). But human communication involves multiple dimensions. Both verbal and non-verbal communication can involve large quantities of information that have to be both formulated and deciphered with a range of purposes and intentions in mind ( Jones and LeBaron 2002 ). These dimensions of communication have as much to do with the ability to express oneself, both orally and in writing and the mastering of a language (linguistic competences), as with the ability to use this communication system appropriately (pragmatic skills; see Grassmann 2014 ; Matthews 2014 ), and with social skills, based on the knowledge of how to behave in society and on the ability to connect with others, to understand the intentions and perspectives of others ( Tomasello 2005 ).

Like the other 4Cs, according to most authorities, communication skills are ranked by both students and teachers as skills of the highest priority for acquisition in order to be ready for the workforce in 2030 ( OECD 2019b ; Hanover Research 2012 ). Teaching students how to communicate efficiently and effectively in all the new modalities of information exchange is an important challenge faced by all pedagogical organizations today ( Morreale et al. 2017 ). All dimensions of communication (linguistic, pragmatic, and social) are part of what is taught in school curricula at different levels. But pragmatic and social competencies are rarely explicitly taught as such. Work on social/emotional intelligence (and on its role in students’ personal and professional success) shows that these skills are both disparate and difficult to assess ( Humphrey et al. 2007 ). Research on this issue is, however, becoming increasingly rigorous, with the potential to provide usable data for the development of science-based practice ( Keefer et al. 2018 ). Teachers and pedagogical teams also have an important, changing role to play: they also need to master new information and communication technologies and the transmission of information through them ( Zlatić et al. 2014 ).

Communication has an obvious link with the three other Cs. Starting with critical thinking, sound communication implies fostering the conditions for a communicative exchange directed towards a common goal, which is, at least in educational and professional contexts, based on a fair evaluation of reality ( Pornpitakpan 2004 ). Collaboration too has a strong link with communication, because successful collaboration is highly dependent on the quality of knowledge sharing and trust that emerges between group members. Finally, creativity involves the communication of an idea to an audience and can involve high-quality communication when creative work occurs in a team context.

2.3.1. Individual Assessment of Communication

Given the vast field of communication, an exhaustive list of its evaluation methods is difficult to establish. A number of methods have been reported in the literature to assess an individual’s ability to communicate non-verbally and verbally. But although these two aspects are intrinsically linked, they are rarely measured together with a single tool. Moreover, as Spitzberg ( 2003 ) pointed out, communication skills are supported by different abilities, classically conceptualized as motivational functions (e.g., confidence and goal-orientation), knowledge (e.g., content and procedural knowledge), or cognitive and socio-cognitive functions (e.g., theory of mind, verbal cognition, emotional intelligence, and empathy; McDonald et al. 2014 ; Rothermich 2020 ), implying different specific types of evaluations. Finally, producing vs. receiving communication involve different skills and abilities, which can also vary according to the context ( Landa 2005 ).

To overcome these challenges, Spitzberg ( 2003 ) recommends the use of different assessment criteria. These criteria include the clarity of interaction, the understanding of what was involved in the interaction, the satisfaction of having interacted (expected to be higher when communication is effective), the efficiency of the interaction (the more competent someone is, the less effort, complexity, and resources will be needed to achieve their goal), its effectiveness or appropriateness (i.e., its relevance according to the context), as well as criteria relative to the quality of the dialogue (which involves coordination, cooperation, coherence, reciprocity, and mutuality in the exchange with others). Different forms of evaluation are also called for, such as self-reported questionnaires, hetero-reported questionnaires filled out by parents, teachers, or other observers, and tasks involving exposure to role-playing games, scenarios or videos (for a review of these assessment tools, see Cömert et al. 2016 ; Landa 2005 ; Sigafoos et al. 2008 ; Spitzberg 2003 ; van der Vleuten et al. 2019 ). Results from these tools must then be associated with others assessing underlying abilities, such as theory of mind and metacognition.

2.3.2. Institutional and Environmental Support for Development of Communication Skills

Although communication appears to be a key employability skill, the proficiency acquired during studies rarely meets the expectations of employers ( Jackson 2014 ). Communication must therefore become a priority in the training of students, beyond the sectors in which it is already known as essential (e.g., in medicine, nursing, engineering, etc.; Bourke et al. 2021 ; D’Alimonte et al. 2019 ; Peddle et al. 2018 ; Riemer 2007 ), and also through professional development ( Jackson 2014 ). Training programs involving, for example, communication theory classes ( Kruijver et al. 2000 ) and self-assessment tools that can be used in specific situations ( Curtis et al. 2013 ; Rider and Keefer 2006 ) have had convincingly positive results. The literature suggests that interactive approaches in small groups, in which competencies are practiced explicitly in an open and feedback-safe environment, are more effective ( Bourke et al. 2021 ; D’Alimonte et al. 2019 ; AbuSeileek 2012 ; Fryer-Edwards et al. 2006 ). These can take different forms: project-based work, video reviews, simulation or role-play games (see Hathaway et al. 2022 for a review; Schlegel et al. 2012 ). Finally, computer-assisted learning methods can be relevant for establishing a secure framework (especially, for example, when learning another language): anonymity indeed helps to overcome anxiety or social blockages linked to fear of public speaking or showing one’s difficulties ( AbuSeileek 2012 ). Each of these methods tackles one or more dimensions of communication that must then be assessed as such, by means of tools specifically developed and adapted to the contexts in which these skills are expressed (e.g., see the two 4Cs evaluation grids for institutions and for games outlined in Section 4 and Section 5 , below).

2.4. Collaboration

Collaborative problem solving—and more generally, collaboration—has gained increasing attention in national and international assessments (e.g., PISA) as an educational priority encompassing social, emotional, and cognitive skills critical to efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation in the modern global economy ( Graesser et al. 2018 ; OECD 2017 ). Understanding what makes effective collaboration is of crucial importance for professional practice and training ( Détienne et al. 2012 ; Graesser et al. 2018 ), as evidenced by the long line of research on group or team collaboration over the past 40 years (for a review, see e.g., Salas et al. 2004 ; Mathieu et al. 2017 ). Although there is no consensus on a definition of collaboration, scholars often see it as mutual engagement in a coordinated effort to achieve a common goal that involves the sharing of goals, resources, and representations relating to the joint activity of participants; and other important aspects relate to mutual respect, trust, responsibilities, and accountability within situational rules and norms ( Détienne et al. 2012 ).

In the teamwork research literature, skills are commonly described across three classes most often labeled Knowledge, Behavior, and Attitudes (e.g., Cannon-Bowers et al. 1995 ). Knowledge competencies refer to the skills related to elaborating the knowledge content required for the group to process and successfully achieve the task/goal to which they are assigned. Behavior includes skills related to the actualization of actions, coordination, communication, and interactions within the group as well as with any other relevant interlocutors for the task at hand. Note here that effective collaboration involves skills that have also been identified elsewhere as essential competencies, including communication, creativity, and critical thinking. Finally, several attitudes have been evidenced or hypothesized as desirable competencies in the team context, for example, attitude towards teamwork, collective orientation, cohesion/team morale, etc. Another common distinction lies between teamwork and taskwork. Teamwork refers to the collaborative, communicative, or social skills required to coordinate the work within the participants in order to achieve the task, whereas taskwork refers to specific aspects related to solving the task such as using the tools and knowing the procedure, policies, and any other task-related activities ( Salas et al. 2015 ; Graesser et al. 2018 ). Furthermore, collaborative competences can have specific (to a group of people or to a task) and general dimensions (i.e., easily transferable to any group or team situation and to other tasks). For example, skills related to communication, information exchange, conflict management, maintaining attention and motivation, leadership, etc. are present and transferable to a large number of group work situations and tasks (team-generic and task-contingent skills). Other skills can, on the other hand, be more specific to a team or group, such as internal organization, motivation, knowledge of the skills distributed in the team, etc.

2.4.1. Individual Assessment of Collaboration

Assessing collaboration requires capturing the dynamic and multi-level nature of the collaboration process, which is not as easily quantifiable as group/team inputs and outputs (task performance, satisfaction, and changes at group/team and individual level). There are indeed multiple interactions between the context, the collaboration processes, the task processes, and their (various) outcomes ( Détienne et al. 2012 ). The integrative concept of “quality of collaboration” ( Burkhardt et al. 2009 ) encapsulates much of what is currently known about collaborative processes and what constitutes effective collaboration. According to this approach, collaborative processes can be grouped along several dimensions concerning communication processes such as grounding, task-related processes (e.g., exchanges of knowledge relevant for the task at hand), and organization/coordination processes ( Burkhardt et al. 2009 ). Communication processes are most important for ensuring the construction of a common referential within a group of collaborators. Task-related processes relate to how the group resolves the task at hand by sharing and co-elaborating knowledge, by confronting their various perspectives, and by converging toward negotiated solutions. Collaboration also involves group management activities such as: (a) common goal management and coordination activities, e.g., allocation and planning of tasks; (b) meeting/interaction management activities, e.g., ordering and postponing of topics in the meeting. Finally, the ability to pursue reflexive activity, in the sense of reflecting not only on the content of a problem or solution but on one’s collaboration and problem-solving strategies, is critical for the development of the team and supports them in changing and improving their practices. Graesser et al. ( 2018 ) identify collaborative skills based on the combination of these dimensions with a step in the problem-solving process.

A large body of methodology developed to assess collaboration processes and collaborative tools has been focused on quantifying a restricted subset of fine-grained interactions (e.g., number of speakers’ turns; number of words spoken; number of interruptions; amount of grounding questions). This approach has at least two limitations. First, because these categories of analysis are often ad hoc with respect to the considered situation, they are difficult to apply in all situations and make it difficult to compare between studies. Second, quantitative variations of most of these indicators are non-univocal: any increase or decrease of them could signify either an interactive–intensive collaboration or else evidence of major difficulties in establishing and/or maintaining the collaboration ( Détienne et al. 2012 ). Alternatively, qualitative approaches based on multidimensional views of collaboration provide a more elaborated or nuanced view of collaboration and are useful for identifying potential relationships between distinctive dimensions of collaboration and aspects of team performance, in order to identify processes that could be improved. Based on the method of Spada et al. ( 2005 ) in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) research, Burkhardt et al. ( 2009 ) have proposed a multi-dimensional rating scheme for evaluating the quality of collaboration (QC) in technology-mediated design. QC distinguishes seven dimensions, grouped along five aspects, identified as central for collaboration in a problem-solving task such as design: communication (1, 2), task-oriented processes (3, 4), group-oriented processes (5), symmetry in interaction—an orthogonal dimension—(6), and individual task orientation (7). This method has recently been adapted for use in the context of assessing games as a support to collaborative skills learning.

2.4.2. Institutional and Environmental Support for Development of Collaboration and Collaborative Skills

Support for individuals’ development of collaborative skills provided by institutions and programs can take a variety of forms: (a) through the social impact of the physical structure of the organization, (b) the nature of the work required within the curriculum, (c) content within the curriculum focusing on collaboration and collaborative skills, and (d) the existence and promotion of extracurricular and inter-institutional opportunities for collaboration.

For instance, institutional support for collaboration has taken a variety of forms in various fields such as healthcare, engineering, public participation, and education. Training and education programs such as Interprofessional Education or Team Sciences in the health domain ( World Health Organization 2010 ; Hager et al. 2016 ; O’Carroll et al. 2021 ), Peer-Led Team Learning in chemistry and engineering domains ( Wilson and Varma-Nelson 2016 ), or Collaborative Problem Solving in education ( Peña-López 2017 ; Taddei 2009 ) are notable examples.

Contextual support recently arose from the deployment of online digital media and new mixed realities in the workplace, in the learning environments and in society at large—obviously stimulated and accentuated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led many organizations to invest in proposing support for synchronous and asynchronous collaboration (notably remote, between employees, between students and educators or within group members, etc.) in various ways, including the provision of communication hardware and software, computer-supported cooperative work and computer-supported collaborative learning platforms, training and practical guides, etc. Users can collaborate through heterogeneous hybrid collaborative interaction spaces that can be accessed through virtual or augmented reality, but also simple video conferencing or even a voice-only or text-only interface. These new spaces for collaboration are, however, often difficult to use and less satisfactory than face-to-face interactions, suggesting the need for more research on collaborative activities and on how to support them ( Faidley 2018 ; Karl et al. 2022 ; Kemp and Grieve 2014 ; Singh et al. 2022 ; Waizenegger et al. 2020 ).

A substantive body of literature on teams, collaborative learning, and computer-supported technologies provides evidence related to individual, contextual, and technological factors impacting the collaboration quality and efficiency. For example, teacher-based skills that are critical for enhancing collaboration are, among others, the abilities to plan, monitor, support, consolidate, and reflect upon student interaction in group work ( Kaendler et al. 2016 ). Research focuses also on investigating the most relevant tasks and evaluating the possibilities offered by technology to support, to assess (e.g., Nouri et al. 2017 ; Graesser et al. 2018 ), and/or to learn the skills involved in pursuing effective and satisfying collaboration (see e.g., Schneider et al. 2018 ; Doyle 2021 ; Ainsworth and Chounta 2021 ).

3. Labelization: Valorization of the 4Cs and Assessing Support for Their Development

Moving from the nature of the 4Cs and their individual assessment and towards the ways in which institutions can support their development in individuals, we can now address the fundamentally important question of how best to support and promote this 21st century educational mission within and among institutions themselves. This also raises the question of the systemic recognition of educational settings that are conducive to the development of the 4Cs. In response to these questions, the nature and value of labelization is now presented.

A label is “a special mark created by a trusted third party and displayed on a product intended for sale, to certify its origin, to guarantee its quality and to ensure its conformity with the standards of practices in force” ( Renard 2005 ). A label is therefore a way of informing the public about the objective properties and qualities of a product, service, or system. The label is usually easily identifiable and can be seen as a proof that a product or service, a company, or an organization complies with defined criteria. Its effectiveness is therefore closely linked to the choice of requirements set out in its specifications, as well as to the independence and rigor of the body that verifies compliance with the criteria.

3.1. Labeling as a Means of Trust and Differentiation

As a sign of recognition established by a third party, the label or certification can constitute a proof of trust aiming to reassure the final consumer. According to Sutter ( 2005 ), there are different means of signaling trust. First, the brand name of a product or service and its reputation can, in itself, constitute a label when this brand name is recognized on the market. Second, various forms of self-declaration, such as internal company charters, though not statements assessed by a third party, show an internal commitment that can provide reassurance. Finally, there is certification or labeling, which is awarded by an external body and requires a third-party assessment by a qualified expert, according to criteria set out in a specific reference framework. It is this external body, a trusted third party, which guarantees the reliability of the label and constitutes a guarantee of credibility. Its objectivity and impartiality are meant to guarantee that the company, organization, product, or service meets defined quality or reliability criteria ( Jahn et al. 2005 ).

Research on populations around the world (e.g., Amron 2018 ; Sasmita and Suki 2015 ) show that the buying decisions of consumers are heavily influenced by the trust they have in a brand. More specifically, third-party assurances and labelization have been shown to strongly influence customer buying intentions and purchasing behavior (e.g., Kimery and McCord 2002 ; Lee et al. 2004 ). Taking France as an example, research shows that quality certification is seen as “important” or “significant” by 76% of companies ( Chameroy and Veran 2014 ), and decision makers feel more confident and are more willing to invest with the support of third-party approval than if their decision is merely based on the brand’s reputation or its demonstrated level of social responsibility ( Etilé and Teyssier 2016 ). Indeed, French companies with corporate social responsibility labels have been shown to have higher than average growth rates, and the adoption of quality standards is linked with a 7% increase in the share of export turnover ( Restout 2020 ).

3.2. Influence on Choice and Adoption of Goods and Services

Studies diverge in this area, but based on the seminal work of Parkinson ( 1975 ); Chameroy and Veran ( 2014 ), in their research on the effect of labels on willingness to pay, found that in 75% of cases, products with labels are chosen and preferred to those without labels, demonstrating the impact of the label on customer confidence—provided that it is issued by a recognized third party. Thus, brands that have good reputations tend to be preferred over cheaper new brands, because they are more accepted and valued by the individual social network ( Zielke and Dobbelstein 2007 ).

3.3. Process of Labelizing Products and Services

The creation of a label may be the result of a customer or market need, a request from a private sector of activity or from the government. Creating a label involves setting up a working group including stakeholders who are experts in the field, product managers, and a certification body in order to elaborate a reference framework. This is then reviewed by a specialized committee and validated by the stakeholders. The standard includes evaluation criteria that must be clearly defined ( Mourad 2017 ). An audit system is set up by a trusted third party. It must include the drafting of an audit report, a system for making decisions on labeling, and a system for identifying qualified assessors. The validity of the assessment process is reinforced by this double evaluation: a first level of audit carried out by a team of experts according to a clearly defined set of criteria and a second level of decision making assuring that the methodology and the result of the audit are in conformity with the defined reference framework.

3.4. Labelization of 21st Century Skills

The world of education is particularly concerned by the need to develop and assess 21st century skills, because it represents the first link in the chain of skills acquisition, preparing the human resources of tomorrow. One important means of simultaneously offering a reliable, independent assessment of 21st century skills and valorizing them by making them a core target within an educational system (schools, universities, and teaching and training programs of all kinds) is labelization. Two examples of labelization processes related to 21st century skills were recently developed by the International Institute for Competency Development ( 2021 ; see iicd.net; accessed on 20 November 2022) working with international experts, teachers, and researchers from the University of Paris Cité (formerly Université Sorbonne Paris Cité), Oxford University, and AFNOR UK (an accredited certification body and part of AFNOR International, a subsidiary of the AFNOR group, the only standards body in France).

The last two or three decades has seen the simultaneous rise of international ranking systems and an interest in quality assurance and assessment in an increasingly competitive educational market ( Sursock 2021 ). The aim of these labelization frameworks is to assist in the development of “quality culture” in education by offering individual programs, institutions, and systems additional independent, reliable means of benchmarking, charting progress, and distinguishing themselves based on their capacity to support and promote the development of crucial skills. Importantly, the external perspectives provided by such assessment system should be capable of being individually adapted and applied in a manner that can resist becoming rigidly imposed external standards ( Sursock and Vettori 2017 ). Similarly, as we have seen in the literature review, the best approach to understanding and assessing a particular C is from a combination of different levels and perspectives in context. For example, important approaches to critical thinking have been made from educationally, philosophically, and psychologically focused vantage points ( Lai 2011 ). We can also argue that understandings of creativity are also results of different approaches: the major models in the literature (e.g., the “4Ps” and “7Cs” models; see Lubart and Thornhill-Miller 2019 ) explicitly result from and include the objectives of different education-focused, process-focused, and “ingredient” or component-focused approaches.

The two assessment frameworks outlined in the sections that follow were formulated with these different perspectives and objective needs in mind. Given the complexity and very different natures of their respective targets (i.e., one assessing entire formal educational contexts such as institutions or programs, whereas the other targets the less multi-dimensional, informal educational activities represented by games), the assessment of the individual Cs also represents what experts consider a target-appropriate balance of education- and curriculum-focused, process-focused, and component-focused criteria for assessing each different C.

4. The International Institute for Competency Development’s 21st Century Competencies 4Cs Assessment Framework for Institutions and Programs

One comprehensive attempt to operationalize programmatic-level and institutional-level support for the development of the 4Cs is the International Institute for Competency Development’s 4Cs Assessment Framework ( International Institute for Competency Development 2021 ). Based upon expert opinion and a review of the available literature, this evaluation grid is a practical tool that divides each of the 4Cs into three “user-friendly” but topic-covering components (see Table 1 and definitions and further discussion in the sections that follow). Each of these components is then assessed across seven dimensions (see Table 2 , below), designed to cover concisely the pedagogical process and the educational context. Examples for each point level are provided within the evaluation grid in order to offer additional clarity for educational stakeholders and expert assessors.

Three different components of each C in IICD’s 21st Century Skills 4Cs Assessment Framework.

Creative Process	Creative Environment	Creative Product
Critical thinking about the world	Critical thinking about oneself	Critical action and decision making
Engagement and participation	Perspective taking and openness	Social regulation
Message formulation	Message delivery	Message and communication feedback

Seven dimensions evaluated for the 3 different components of each C.

	Aspects of the overall educational program teaching, emphasizing, and promoting the 4Cs
	Availability and access to different means, materials, space, and expertise, digital technologies, mnemonic and heuristic methods, etc. to assist in the proper use and exercise of the 4Cs
	Actual student and program use of available resources promoting the 4Cs
	Critical reflection and metacognition on the process being engaged in around the 4Cs
	The formal and informal training, skills, and abilities of teachers/trainers and staff and their program of development as promoters of the 4Cs
	Use and integration of the full range of resources external to the institution available to enhance the 4Cs
	Availability of resources for students to create and actualize products, programs, events, etc. that require the exercise, promotion, or manifestation of the 4Cs

* Educational-level dependent and potentially less available for younger students or in some contexts.

The grid itself can be used in several important and different ways by different educational stakeholders: (1) by the institution itself in its self-evaluation and possible preparation for a certification or labelization process, (2) as an explicit list of criteria for external evaluation of the institution and its 4Cs-related programs, and (3) as a potential long-term development targeting tool for the institution or the institution in dialogue with the labelization process.

4.1. Evaluation Grid for Creativity

Dropping the component of “creative person” that is not relevant at the institutional level, this evaluation grid is based on Rhodes’ ( 1961 ) classic “4P” model of creativity, which remains the most concise model today ( Lubart and Thornhill-Miller 2019 ). The three “P” components retained are: creative process , creative environment , and creative product . Creative process refers to the acquisition of a set of tools and techniques that students can use to enhance the creativity of their thinking and work. Creative environment (also called “Press” in earlier literature) is about how the physical and social surroundings of students can help them be more creative. Finally, creative product refers to the evaluation of actual “productions” (e.g., a piece of art, text, speech, etc.) generated through the creative process.

4.2. Evaluation Grid for Critical Thinking

Our evaluation grid divides critical thinking into three main components: critical thinking about the world , critical thinking about oneself (self-reflection), as well as critical action and decision making . The first component refers to having an evidence-based view of the exterior world, notably by identifying and evaluating sources of information and using them to question current understandings and solve problems. Self-reflection refers to thinking critically about one’s own life situation, values, and actions; it presupposes the autonomy of thought and a certain distance as well as the most objective observation possible with regard to one’s own knowledge (“meta-cognition”). The third and final component, critical action and decision making, is about using critical thinking skills more practically in order to make appropriate life decisions as well as to be open to different points of view. This component also addresses soft skills and attitudes such as trusting information.

Our evaluation framework for critical thinking was in part inspired by Barnett’s “curriculum for critical being” (2015), whose model distinguishes two axes: one defined by the qualitative differences in the level of criticality attained and the second comprised of three different domains of application: formal knowledge, the self, and the world. The first two components of our framework (and the seven dimensions on which they are rated) reflect and encompass these three domains. Similar to Barrett’s proposal, our third rubric moves beyond the “skills-plus-dispositions” model of competency implicit in much theorizing about critical thinking and adds the importance of “action”—not just the ability to think critically and the disposition to do so, but the central importance of training and practicing “critical doing” ( Barnett 2015 ). Critical thinking should also be exercised collectively by involving students in collective thinking, facilitating the exchange of ideas and civic engagement ( Huber and Kuncel 2016 ).

4.3. Evaluation Grid for Collaboration

The first component of collaboration skills in the IICD grid is engagement and participation , referring to the active engagement in group work. Perspective taking and openness concerns the flexibility to work with and accommodate other group members and their points of view. The final dimension— social regulation —is about being able to reach for a common goal, notably through compromise and negotiation, as well as being aware of the different types of roles that group members can hold ( Hesse et al. 2015 ; Rusdin and Ali 2019 ; Care et al. 2016 ). (These last two components include elements of leadership, character, and emotional intelligence as sometimes described in other soft-skill and competency-related systems.) Participation, social regulation, and perspective taking have been identified as central social skills in collaborative problem solving ( Hesse et al. 2015 ). Regarding social regulation in this context, recognizing and profiting from group diversity is key ( Graesser et al. 2018 ). When describing an assessment in an educational setting of collaborative problem solving (with a task in which two or more students have to collaborate in order to solve it, each using a different set of resources), two main underpinning skills were described for the assessment: the social skill of audience awareness (“how to adapt one’s own behavior to suit the needs of the task and the partner’s requirements”, Care et al. 2016, p. 258 ) and the cognitive skill of planning and executing (developing a plan to reach for a goal) ( Care et al. 2016 ). The former is included in the perspective taking and openness rubric and the latter in the social regulation component in the IICD grid. Evans ( 2020 ) identified four main collaboration skills consistently mentioned in the scientific literature that are assessed in the IICD grid: the ability to plan and make group decisions (example item from the IICD grid: teachers provide assistance to students to overcome differences and reach a common goal during group work); the ability to communicate about thinking with the group (assessed notably in the meta-reflection strand of the IICD grid); the ability to contribute resources, ideas, and efforts and support group members (included notably in the engagement and participation as well as the social regulation components); and finally, the ability to monitor, reflect, and adapt individual and group processes to benefit the group (example item from the IICD grid: students use perspective-taking tools and techniques in group activities).

4.4. Evaluation Grid for Communication

The evaluation grid for communication is also composed of three dimensions: message formulation, message delivery, and message and communication feedback . Message formulation refers to the ability to design and structure a message to be sent, such as outlining the content of an argument. Message delivery is about effectively transmitting verbal and non-verbal aspects of a message. Finally, message and communication feedback refers to the ability of students and teachers to understand their audience, analyze their social surroundings, and interpret information in context. Other components of communication skills such as theory of mind, empathy, or emotional intelligence are also relevant and included in the process of applying the grid. Thompson ( 2020 ) proposes a four-component operationalized definition of communication for its assessment in students. First, they describe a comprehension strand covering the understanding and selection of adequate information from a range of sources. Message formulation in the IICD grid captures this dimension through its focus on content analysis and generation. Second, the presentation of information and ideas is mentioned in several different modes, adjusted to the intended audience, verbally as well as non-verbally. The message delivery component of the IICD grid focuses on these points. Third, the authors note the importance of communication technology and its advanced use. The IICD grid also covers the importance of technology use in its tools and techniques category, with, for example, an item that reads: students learn to effectively use a variety of formats of communication (social media, make a video, e-mail, letter writing, creating a document). Finally, Thompson ( 2020 ) describes the recognition of cultural and other differences as an important aspect of communication. The IICD grid aims at incorporating these aspects, notably in the meta-reflection category under each of the three dimensions.

5. Assessing the 4Cs in Informal Educational Contexts: The Example of Games

5.1. the 4cs in informal educational contexts.

So far, the focus has been on rather formal ways of nurturing the 4Cs. Although institutions and training programs are perhaps the most significant and necessary avenues of education, they are not the sole context in which 4Cs’ learning and improvement can manifest. One other important potential learning context is game play. Games are activities that are present and participated in throughout human society—by those of all ages, genders, and socio-economic statuses ( Bateson and Martin 2013 ; Huizinga 1949 ; Malaby 2007 ). This informal setting can also provide favorable conditions to help improve the 4Cs ( van Rosmalen et al. 2014 ) and should not be under-appreciated. Games provide a unique environment for learning, as they can foster a space to freely explore possibilities and one’s own potential ( de Freitas 2006 ). We argue that games are a significant potential pathway for the improvement of the 4Cs, and as such, they merit the same attention as more formal ways of learning and developing competencies.

5.2. 4Cs Evaluation Framework for Games

Compared to schools and educational institutions, the focus of IICD’s evaluation framework for games (see International Institute for Competency Development 2021 ) is more narrow. Thus, it is fundamentally different from the institutional grid: games, complex and deep as they can sometimes be, cannot directly be compared to the complexity of a school curriculum and all the programs it contains. The evaluation of a game’s effectiveness for training/improving a given C rests on the following principle: if a game presents affordances conducive to exercising a given skill, engaged playing of that game should help improve that skill.

The game’s evaluation grid is scored based on two criteria. For example, as a part of a game’s rating as a tool for the development of creativity, we determine the game must first meet two conditions. First, whether or not the game allows the opportunity for creativity to manifest itself: if creativity cannot occur in the game, it is obviously not eligible to receive ratings for that C. Second, whether or not creativity is needed in order to perform well in the game: if the players can win or achieve success in the game without needing creativity, this also means it cannot receive a rating for that C. If both conditions are met, however, the game will be considered potentially effective to improve creativity through the practice of certain components of creative behavior. This basic principle applies for all four of the Cs.

As outlined in Table 3 , below, the evaluation grid for each of the four Cs is composed of five components relevant to games that are different for each of the Cs. The grid works as follows: for each of the five components of each C, we evaluate the game on a list of sub-components using two yes/no scales: one for whether it is “possible” for that subcomponent to manifest and one for whether that sub-component is “required for success” in the game. This evaluation is done for all sub-components. After this, each general component is rated on the same two indicators. If 60% (i.e., three out of five) or more sub-components are positively rated as required, the general component is considered required. Then, the game is evaluated on its effectiveness for training and improving each of the 4Cs. If 60% or more components are positively rated as required, the game will be labelized as having the potential to be effective for training and improving the corresponding C.

Five different components evaluated for each C by the 4Cs assessment framework for games.

Originality	Divergent Thinking	Convergent Thinking	Mental Flexibility	Creative Dispositions
Goal-adequate judgment/ discernment	Objective thinking	Metacognition	Elaborate eeasoning	Uncertainty management
Collaboration fluency	Well-argued deliberation and consensus-based decision	Balance of contribution	Organization and coordination	Cognitive syncing, input, and support
Social Interactions	Social cognition	Mastery of written and spoken language	Verbal communication	Non-verbal communication

The evaluation grid for creativity is based on the multivariate model of creative potential (see Section 2.1.1 and Lubart et al. 2013 for more information) and is composed of four cognitive factors and one conative factor: originality , divergent thinking , convergent thinking , mental flexibility , and creative dispositions . Originality refers to the generation of ideas that are novel or unexpected, depending on the context. Divergent thinking corresponds to the generation of multiple ideas or solutions. Convergent thinking refers to the combination of multiple ideas and the selection of the most creative idea. Mental flexibility entails changing perspectives on a given problem and breaking away from initial ideas. Finally, creative dispositions concerns multiple personality-related factors conducive to creativity, such as openness to experience or risk taking.

The evaluation grid for critical thinking echoes Halpern’s ( 1998 ) as well as Marin and Halpern’s ( 2011 ) considerations for teaching this skill, that is, taking into consideration thinking skills, metacognition, and dispositions. The five components of the critical thinking grid are: goal-adequate discernment, objective thinking, metacognition, elaborate reasoning, and uncertainty management. Goal-adequate discernment entails the formulation of inferences and the discernment of contradictions when faced with a problem. Objective thinking corresponds to the suspension of one’s own judgment and the analysis of affirmations and sources in the most objective manner possible. Metacognition, here, is about questioning and reassessing information, as well as the awareness of one’s own cognitive biases. Elaborate reasoning entails reasoning in a way that is cautious, thorough, and serious. Finally, uncertainty management refers to the dispositional propensity to tolerate ambiguity and accept doubt.

The evaluation grid for collaboration is based on the quality of collaboration (QC) method ( Burkhardt et al. 2009 ; see Section 2.4.2 for more details) and is composed of the following five components: collaboration fluidity, well-argued deliberation and consensus-based decision, balance of contribution, organization and coordination, and cognitive syncing, input, and support. Collaboration fluidity entails the absence of speech overlap and the presence of a good flow in terms of turns to speak. Well-argued deliberation and consensus-based decision is about contributing to the discussion and task at hand, as well as participating in discussions and arguments, in order to obtain a consensus. Balance of contribution refers to having equal or equivalent contributions to organization, coordination, and decision making. Organization and coordination refers to effective management of roles, time, and “deadlines”, as well as the attribution of roles depending on participants’ skills. Finally, cognitive syncing, input, and support is about bringing ideas and resources to the group, as well as supporting and reinforcing other members of the group.

The five components used to evaluate communication in games include both linguistic, pragmatic, and social aspects. Linguistic skills per se are captured by the mastery of written and spoken language component. This component assesses language comprehension and the appropriate use of vocabulary. Pragmatic skills are captured by the verbal and non-verbal communication components and refer to the efficient use of verbal and body signals in the context of the game to achieve one’s communicative goals ( Grassmann 2014 ; Matthews 2014 ). Finally, the grid also evaluates social skills with its two last components, social interactions and social cognition, which, respectively, refer to the ability to interact with others appropriately—including by complying with the rules of the game—and to the understanding of other people’ mental states ( Tomasello 2005 ).

6. Discussion and Conclusions

Each of the 4Cs is a broad, multi-faceted concept that is the subject of a tremendous amount of research and discussion by a wide range of stakeholders in different disciplines, professions, and parts of the educational establishment. The development of evaluation frameworks to allow support for the 4Cs to be assessed and publicly recognized, using a label, is an important step for promoting and fostering these skills in educational contexts. As illustrated by IICD’s 4Cs Framework for educational institutions and programs, as well as its games/activities evaluation grid, the specific criteria to detect support for each C can vary depending upon the educational context (e.g., formal and institutional level or informal and at the activity level). Yet considering the 4Cs together highlights some additional observations, current challenges, and opportunities for the future that are worthy of discussion.

6.1. Interrelationships between the 4Cs and a New Model for Use in Pedagogy and Policy Promotion

One very important issue for understanding the 4Cs and their educational implementation that can be simultaneously a help and a hindrance for teaching them—and also a challenge when assessing them—is their multidimensionality and interrelatedness. In other words, the 4Cs are not entirely separate entities but instead, as Figure 2 shows, should be seen as four interlinked basic “elements” for future-oriented education that can help individuals in their learning process and, together, synergistically “bootstrap” the development of their cognitive potentials. Lamri and Lubart ( 2021 ), for example, found a certain base level of creativity was a necessary but not sufficient condition for success in managerial tasks, but that high-level performance required a combination of all four Cs. Some thinkers have argued that one cannot be creative without critical thinking, which also requires creativity, for example, to come up with alternative arguments (see Paul and Elder 2006 ). Similarly, among many other interrelationships, there is no collaboration without communication—and even ostensibly individual creativity is a “collaboration” of sorts with the general culture and precursors in a given field. As a result, it ranges from impossible to suboptimal to teach (or teach towards) one of the 4Cs without involving one or more of the others, and this commingling also underscores the genuine need and appropriateness of assessing them together.

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“‘Crea-Critical-Collab-ication’: a Dynamic Interactionist Model of the 4Cs”. (Illustration of the interplay and interpenetration of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication shown in dimensional space according to their differing cognitive/individual vs. social/interpersonal emphases; (© 2023, Branden Thornhill-Miller. All Rights Reserved. thornhill-miller.com; accessed on 20 January 2023)).

From this perspective, Thornhill-Miller ( 2021 ) proposed a “dynamic interactionist model of the 4Cs” and their interrelated contributions to the future of education and work. Presented in Figure 2 , this model is meant to serve as a visual and conceptual aid for understanding the 4Cs and their interrelationships, thereby also promoting better use and understanding of them in pedagogical and policy settings. In addition to suggesting the portmanteau of “crea-critical thinking” as a new term to describe the overlap of much of the creative and critical thinking processes, the title of this model, “Crea-Critical-Collab-ication”, is a verbal representation of the fluid four-way interrelationship between the 4Cs visually represented in Figure 2 (a title meant to playfully repackage the 4Cs for important pedagogical and policy uses). This model goes further to suggest some dimensional differences in emphases that, roughly speaking, also often exist among the 4Cs: that is to say, the frequently greater emphasis on cognitive or individual elements at play in creativity and critical thinking in comparison to the social and interpersonal aspects more central to communication and collaboration ( Thornhill-Miller 2021 ).

Similarly focused on the need to promote a phase change towards future-oriented education, Lucas ( 2019 ) and colleagues have suggested conflating creative thinking and critical thinking in order to propose “3Cs” (creative thinking, communication, and collaboration) as new “foundational literacies” to symmetrically add to the 3Rs (Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic) of previous educational eras. Although we applaud these efforts, from our applied research perspective, we believe that the individual importance of, and distinct differences between, creative thinking and critical thinking support preserving them both as separate constructs in order to encourage the greatest development of each of them. Moreover, if only three categories were somehow required or preferable, one could argue that uniting communication and collaboration (as “collab-ication” suggests) might be preferable—particularly also given the fact that substantial aspects of communication are already covered within the 3Rs. In any case, we look forward to more such innovations and collaborations in this vibrant and important area of work at the crossroads between research, pedagogy, and policy development.

6.2. Limitations and Future Work

The rich literature in each of the 4Cs domains shows the positive effects of integrating these dimensions into educational and professional curricula. At the same time, the complexity of their definitions makes them difficult to assess, both in terms of reliability (assessment must not vary from one measurement to another) and of validity (tests must measure that which they are intended to measure). However, applied research in this area is becoming increasingly rigorous, with a growing capacity to provide the necessary tools for evidence-based practice. The development of these practices should involve interdisciplinary teams of teachers and other educational practitioners who are equipped and trained accordingly. Similarly, on the research side, further exploration and clarification of subcomponents of the 4Cs and other related skills will be important. Recent efforts to clarify the conceptual overlap and hierarchical relations of soft skills for the future of education and work, for example, have been helpful and promising (e.g., Joie-La Marle et al. 2022 ; Lamri et al. 2022 ). But the most definitive sort of taxonomy and measurement model that we are currently lacking might only be established based on the large-scale administration of a comprehensive battery of skill-measuring psychometric tests on appropriate cross sections of society.

The rapid development and integration of new technologies will also aid and change the contexts, resources, and implementation of the 4Cs. For example, the recent developments make it clear that the 4Cs will be enhanced and changed by interaction with artificially intelligence, even as 4Cs-related skills will probably, for the same reason, increasingly constitute the core of available human work in the future (see, e.g., Ross 2018 ). Similarly, research on virtual reality and creativity suggest that VR environments assist and expand individual and collaborative creativity ( Bourgeois-Bougrine et al. 2022 ). Because VR technologies offer the possibility of enhanced and materially enriched communication, collaboration, and information availability, they not only allow for the enhancement of creativity techniques but also for similar expansions and improvements on almost all forms of human activity (see Thornhill-Miller and Dupont 2016 )—including the other three Cs.

6.3. Conclusion: Labelization of the 4Cs and the Future of Education and Work

Traditional educational approaches cannot meet the educational needs of our emergent societies if they do not teach, promote, and assess in line with the new learner characteristics and contexts of the 21st century ( Sahin 2009 ). The sort of future-oriented change and development required by this shift in institutional practices, programming, and structure will likely meet with significant resistance from comfortably entrenched (and often outdated) segments of traditional educational and training establishments. Additional external evaluation and monitoring is rarely welcome by workers in any context. We believe, however, that top-down processes from the innovative and competition-conscious administrative levels will be met by bottom-up demands from students and education consumers to support these institutional changes. And we contend that efforts such as labelizing 4C processes will serve to push educators and institutions towards more relevant offerings, oriented towards the future of work and helping build a more successful future for all.

In the end, the 4Cs framework seems to be a manageable, focused model for modernizing education, and one worthy of its growing prevalence in the educational and research marketplace for a number of reasons. These reasons include the complexity and cumbersome nature of larger alternative systems and the 4Cs’ persuasive presence at the core of a number of early and industry-driven frameworks. In addition, the 4Cs have benefitted from their subsequent promotion by organizations such as the OECD and the World Economic Forum, as well as some more direct support from recent empirical research. The promotion, teaching, and assessment of the 4Cs will require a complex social intervention and mobilization of educational resources—a major shift in pedagogy and institutional structures. Yet the same evolving digital technologies that have largely caused the need for these massive, rapid changes can also assist in the implementation of solutions ( van Laar et al. 2017 ). To the extent that future research also converges on such a model (that has already been found pedagogically useful and policy-friendly by so many individuals and organizations), the 4Cs framework has the potential to become a manageable core for 21st century skills and the future of education and work—one that stakeholders with various agendas can already begin building on for a better educational and economic future together.

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, B.T.-M. and T.L.; writing—original draft preparation, B.T.-M., A.C., M.M., J.-M.B., T.M., S.B.-B., S.E.H., F.V., M.A.-L., C.F., D.S., F.M.; writing—review and editing, B.T.-M., A.C., T.L., J.-M.B., C.F.; visualization, B.T.-M.; supervision, B.T.-M., T.L.; project administration, B.T.-M., T.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

B.T.-M. and T.L. are unpaid academic co-founder and project collaborator for the International Institute for Competency Development, whose labelization frameworks (developed in cooperation with Afnor International and the LaPEA lab of Université Paris Cité and Université Gustave Eiffel) are used as examples in this review. S.E.H. and M.A.-L. are employees of AFNOR International. No funding was received to support this research or article, which reflects the views of the scientists and researchers and not their organizations or companies.

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Critical Thinking & Why It’s So Important

Critical thinking is a cognitive skill with the power to unlock the full potential of your mind. In today’s rapidly evolving society, where information is abundant but discerning its validity is becoming increasingly challenging, the art of critical thinking has never been more crucial.

At Nichols College, we believe that cultivating strong critical thinking abilities is not just a pursuit for the academically inclined, but a fundamental necessity for individuals across all walks of life. Join us as we explore the significance of critical thinking and the remarkable impact it can have on your decision-making, problem-solving, and overall cognitive prowess.

Discover why our Graduate Certificate program in Advanced Critical Thinking and Decision Making is your gateway to becoming a perceptive and adept thinker, ready to tackle the complex challenges of today’s world with confidence and ingenuity.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is a fundamental skill that allows individuals to analyze, evaluate, and interpret information objectively and rationally. It goes beyond merely accepting information at face value; instead, critical thinkers are equipped to delve deeper, question assumptions, and explore various perspectives before arriving at well-informed conclusions. This ability to think critically is highly valued across various domains, including education, business, and everyday life.

Benefits of using critical thinking

The countless advantages of critical thinking extend far beyond the realms of academia. For starters, critical thinking fosters superior decision-making by equipping individuals with the tools to weigh options, assess consequences, and arrive at better choices. Critical thinkers also benefit from heightened self-reflection, gaining a profound understanding of their own biases and areas for improvement.

Critical thinkers become well-informed individuals who can navigate the sea of information with discernment, adeptly identifying misinformation and unreliable sources. Furthermore, this invaluable skill enables creative problem-solving, allowing thinkers to craft innovative solutions to intricate challenges. Some of the most important benefits of using critical thinking include:

Better decision making

Critical thinkers excel at weighing pros and cons, considering alternatives, and anticipating potential consequences. This leads to more informed and effective decision-making processes, both in personal and professional realms.

Better self-reflection

By fostering a habit of introspection, critical thinkers become more self-aware, recognizing their own biases and limitations. This heightened self-awareness allows them to continually improve and adapt their thinking patterns.

Being well-informed

Critical thinkers actively seek out diverse sources of information, ensuring they have a comprehensive understanding of complex issues. This empowers them to engage in meaningful discussions and contribute constructively to their communities.

The ability to identify misinformation

In a world filled with misinformation, critical thinkers possess the skills to discern fact from fiction. They scrutinize sources, verify information, and avoid being misled by deceptive content.

Building creative problem solving skills

Critical thinking encourages innovative and outside-the-box problem-solving approaches. By considering multiple angles and challenging conventional ideas, critical thinkers arrive at inventive solutions to complex challenges.

What skills do critical thinkers have?

Critical thinkers possess a remarkable set of skills that elevate their cognitive abilities and enable them to approach complex issues with acuity. Embracing these skills empowers them to tackle challenges, unravel complexities, and make meaningful insights and well-informed decisions. Some of the most valuable skills critical thinkers have include:

Critical thinkers have a natural inclination to ask questions and explore topics in-depth. Their thirst for knowledge drives them to seek out answers and continually expand their understanding.

Proficient in conducting thorough research, critical thinkers gather information from reliable sources and assess its validity. They are skilled at distinguishing credible data from biased or unsubstantiated claims.

Pattern recognition

Critical thinkers recognize recurring patterns and connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of information. This allows them to draw meaningful insights and make well-founded predictions.

Bias identification

Having honed the ability to identify biases, critical thinkers remain open-minded and impartial in their assessments. They acknowledge their own biases and strive to approach each situation objectively.

How to use critical thinking skills in the workplace

In any work environment, critical thinking is a valuable asset that can enhance productivity and foster a more innovative and collaborative workplace. Employees with strong critical thinking skills contribute to problem-solving sessions, provide constructive feedback, and make informed decisions based on thorough analysis. By promoting critical thinking, organizations encourage employees to challenge assumptions, seek out novel solutions, and contribute to the overall growth and success of the company.

Examples of good critical thinking in action

The real-world application of critical thinking can be awe-inspiring, as it empowers individuals to approach various scenarios with astute judgment and creativity. In the business realm and with regard to project management, critical thinkers demonstrate their prowess by:

Analyzing Market Trends : A marketing professional employs critical thinking skills to assess market trends, consumer behavior, and competitor strategies before devising a successful marketing campaign that aligns with the target audience’s needs.
Problem-Solving in Project Management : A project manager utilizes critical thinking to identify potential roadblocks, consider alternative approaches, and ensure projects are executed efficiently and within budget.

Furthermore, critical thinkers shine in scientific research, meticulously evaluating data, and drawing evidence-based conclusions that contribute to groundbreaking discoveries. In everyday life, they navigate the digital landscape with discernment, identifying misinformation and making informed decisions about their health, finances, and general well-being. These examples illustrate the power of critical thinking to transform not only individual lives but also entire industries, making it an indispensable skill in the pursuit of success and progress.

Get a critical thinking graduate certificate from Nichols College

If you are eager to enhance your problem-solving abilities, decision-making processes, and overall cognitive skills, the Nichols College graduate certificate in critical thinking may be right for you. Designed to equip individuals with the necessary tools to excel in today’s complex world, this program will empower you to think critically, analyze data effectively, and approach challenges with creativity and confidence. Elevate your potential and join Nichols College in cultivating a new generation of sharp-minded leaders, ready to make a positive impact on the world. Enroll in the Advanced Critical Thinking and Decision Making certificate program today and unlock a brighter future for yourself and your community.

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The Hidden Secret to Developing Critical Thinking

COMMENTS

Using Technology To Develop Students' Critical Thinking Skills
Critical thinking is a higher-order cognitive skill that is indispensable to students, readying them to respond to a variety of complex problems that are sure to arise in their personal and professional lives. The cognitive skills at the foundation of critical thinking are analysis, interpretation, evaluation, explanation, inference, and self ...
What Are Critical Thinking Skills and Why Are They Important?
It makes you a well-rounded individual, one who has looked at all of their options and possible solutions before making a choice. According to the University of the People in California, having critical thinking skills is important because they are [ 1 ]: Universal. Crucial for the economy. Essential for improving language and presentation skills.
Developing Critical Thinking
In a time where deliberately false information is continually introduced into public discourse, and quickly spread through social media shares and likes, it is more important than ever for young people to develop their critical thinking. That skill, says Georgetown professor William T. Gormley, consists of three elements: a capacity to spot ...
Leveraging Technology to Develop Students' Critical Thinking Skills
This article describes the nexus of the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, principles of the Backward Curriculum Design process, and the Education 1.0, 2.0, & 3.0 communication flows working together to help TK-12 educators leverage technology tools to support the development of students' critical thinking skills.
Using Tech to Develop Critical Thinking Skills
The Math Melodies app, an accessible math app, has several math games appropriate for Ian, which can be used to build critical thinking skills. In the video below, Ian is introduced to the Sequencing game in the Math Melodies app. In the ABC's of iOS Course, Ian has already been introduced to the basic gestures, spatial layout of the app and ...
The trend of ICT in education for critical thinking skills: A
Research findings on ICT trends in education for critical thinking skills are structured under three reports: (1) ICT trends in education include android, VR, AR, and coding; (2) the best strategy with ICT monitoring is distance learning, programming teaching, and STEM; and (3) other skills that are enhanced along with critical thinking skills ...
Smart Learning in Support of Critical Thinking: Lessons ...
Given the current state of critical thinking development and the gap between the innovative technology application in practice and the ideal expectations for smart learning, we argue for a smarter method that integrates and also goes beyond all the advantages of previous approaches that enable critical thinking into habits of mind (Elder & Paul ...
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the discipline of rigorously and skillfully using information, experience, observation, and reasoning to guide your decisions, actions, and beliefs. You'll need to actively question every step of your thinking process to do it well. Collecting, analyzing and evaluating information is an important skill in life, and a highly ...
Leveraging Technology to Develop Students' Critical Thinking Skills
teach students how to use technology as they practice the critical thinking skills selected for the lesson/unit. Now questions 1 - 4 have been answered, we turn to the Ed 1.0 - 3.0 communication
Use of Technology in Developing Problem Solving/Critical Thinking Skills
The integration of technology into standard curricula is expanding with availability of educational software and teacher recognition of the role of technology in improvement of students' problem-solving/critical thinking skills. The basic components in problem solving are a good problem statement, a research and development component, a testing of solutions component, and an evaluation component.
Developing Critical Thinking: A Review of Past Efforts as a Framework
The technologies used for critical thinking promotion include simple or easy-to-use technologies and advanced technologies. Examples of simple or easy-to-use technologies are flow charts, diagrams, sketch notes, social media, online group discussions and assessments, and advanced technologies like concept maps, digital games, virtual realities ...
5 Tech Tools to Encourage Critical Thinking
MindMeister. Mind mapping is a valuable tool to facilitate critical thinking, and technology has made it easier than ever to bring this into your classroom. Use MindMeister, a simple and easy to implement mind mapping tool, to encourage students to think about a topic, lesson, problem or subject from every angle.
Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving
Critical thinking makes use of many procedures. These procedures include asking questions, making judgments, and identifying assumptions. ... (1995) see students as too often being passive receptors of information. Through technology, the amount of information available today is massive. ... J. M. & Safrit, R. D. (1994). Developing critical ...
How to develop critical thinking skills
Here are 12 tips for building stronger self-awareness and learning how to improve critical thinking: 1. Be cautious. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of skepticism. One of the core principles of critical thinking is asking questions and dissecting the available information.
Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis
January 27, 2009. As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles. Learners have changed ...
PDF Using Critical Thinking Teaching Methods to Increase Student Success
surprisingly, little knowledge on how to develop critical thinking skills in students. The Paul, Elder, and Bartell study found that while 89% of the sampled instructors identified critical thinking as a primary objective, only 9% included tasks in class that were clearly designed to promote critical thinking on a typical day in class. More
Developing Students' Critical Thinking Skills and Argumentation
With rapidly developing technology, ... Critical thinking skills that include the ability to evaluate arguments and counterarguments in a variety of contexts are very important, ... The development of critical thinking skills was given separately for the trend drastically changed on the day when the first skills were used by the students. All ...
(PDF) Critical Thinking and Digital Technologies: Concepts
The ﬁrst part consists of the. conceptual framewor k about, technology use in education, critical thinking, the eﬀect of technology on. critical thinking and new technologies used to develop ...
6 Chapter 4 Supporting Students' Critical Thinking
For more information on teaching critical thinking and how technology might help, see Schwartz (2016) and the TedEd talk "Rethinking Thinking" by Trevor Maber on ed.ted.com. One recent trend in critical thinking is the development of school- and classroom-based makerspaces.
Cultivating Critical Thinking Skills in Students
Critical thinking is the process of actively and skillfully analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information, ideas, or arguments to make reasoned and well-informed decisions. It involves the ability to think logically, consider multiple perspectives, and engage in reflective and independent thinking. Critical thinking goes beyond simply ...
Education Sciences
Critical thinking has been difficult to develop in technical and vocational education and training, where acquiring practical skills is often the priority. This study looks at whether tried-and-tested methods for developing critical thinking in higher education are also effective in this educational context. To test this, an intervention was carried out as part of a compulsory, semester-long ...
Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration
The process of developing critical thinking focuses on the interaction between personal dispositions (attitudes and habits), ... , training critical thinking should include explicit instruction involving at least the four following components and ... Because VR technologies offer the possibility of enhanced and materially enriched ...
Critical Thinking & Why It's So Important
Some of the most important benefits of using critical thinking include: Better decision making. Critical thinkers excel at weighing pros and cons, considering alternatives, and anticipating potential consequences. This leads to more informed and effective decision-making processes, both in personal and professional realms. Better self-reflection
The Development of an Assessment Scale for Computational Thinking
Understanding barriers to school-wide computational thinking integration at the elementary grades: Lessons from three schools. In Ottenbreit-Leftwich A., Yadav A. (Eds.), Computational Thinking in PreK-5: Empirical Evidence for Integration and Future Directions (pp. 64-71). ACM and the Robin Hood Learning + Technology Fund.

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What Are Critical Thinking Skills and Why Are They Important?

What is critical thinking?

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Why is critical thinking important?

Examples of common critical thinking skills

How to develop critical thinking skills

1. Ask questions.

2. Practice active listening.

3. Develop your logic and reasoning.

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Developing Critical Thinking

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Developing Critical Thinking: A Review of Past Efforts as a Framework for a New Approach for Childhood Learning

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5 Tech Tools to Encourage Critical Thinking

Discovery Education: Puzzlemaker

MindMeister

Whooo’s Reading

Neo K12: Flow Chart Games

UTC RAVE Alert

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Teaching Strategies to Help Promote Critical Thinking

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Walker Center for Teaching and Learning

How to develop critical thinking skills

What are critical thinking skills?

1. Be cautious

2. Ask open-ended questions

3. Do your research

4. Consider several opinions

5. Learn to be quiet

6. Schedule reflection

7. Cultivate curiosity

9. Write it down

10. Speak up

11. Stay humble

12. Embrace discomfort

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Scenario #2: Differing opinions

Cultivate your creativity

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

How divergent thinking can drive your creativity

Critical Thinking and Digital Technologies: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications

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