ABSTRACT
Critical thinking is an almost universally valued outcome in American higher education (Halpern, 2002). Even a cursory online search of college and university Web sites reveals that the majority of colleges and universities list critical thinking as one of the skills they want students to acquire. Unfortunately, the popularity of critical thinking is not matched by its semantic clarity. Although it is often mentioned, it is almost never defined. This situation can produce frustration in introductory psychology when instructors are required to teach their students how to think critically and determine whether or not their students have accomplished this task. It can also leave introductory psychology students puzzled when they are required to think critically. The challenge of this situation is compounded by the fact that introductory psychology classes are often taken to satisfy general education requirements and are therefore filled with students whose majors span the full gamut of academic disciplines. This chapter describes a strategy that can enable introductory psychology faculty to define critical thinking in a clear and practical manner for all their students, use that definition to teach their students what critical thinking is, and assess their students’ ability to think critically.
