how can inquiry questions be used to improve critical thinking

The Art of Questioning: Techniques to Promote Critical Thinking and Inquiry

We can all agree that critical thinking is an essential skill for students to develop.

This article will provide educators with a comprehensive guide on the art of questioning - powerful techniques to promote critical thinking, inquiry, and deep learning in the classroom.

You'll discover the core principles of effective questioning, actionable strategies to engage different types of learners, as well as sample activities and assessments to put these methods into practice. Equipped with these practical tools, you can transform class discussions that foster students' natural curiosity and grow their capacity for critical thought.

Embracing the Importance of Art of Questioning

The art of questioning is a critical skill for educators to develop. Questioning techniques that promote critical thinking and inquiry-based learning lead to increased student engagement and deeper understanding. By mastering various strategic questioning approaches, teachers can stimulate complex thinking in their students.

Defining the Art of Questioning

The art of questioning refers to the teacher's ability to craft and ask meaningful questions that push students to think more critically. It goes beyond surface-level, fact-based questioning and instead focuses on stimulating analysis, evaluation, creation, connection-making, and reflection. Well-designed questions require students to tap into higher-order cognitive skills and prior knowledge to construct responses. This process mirrors real-world critical thinking and problem-solving.

Benefits of Mastering Questioning Techniques

Teachers skilled in questioning techniques reap many rewards, including:

• Increased student participation and engagement during lessons
• Development of students' critical thinking capacities
• Ability to check students' understanding and identify knowledge gaps
• Scaffolding learning to meet students at their zone of proximal development
• Encouragement of inquiry, sparking student curiosity and motivation to learn

By honing their questioning approach, teachers gain an invaluable tool for promoting deep learning.

The Role of Questioning in Early Childhood Education

Questioning plays a pivotal role in early childhood education by fostering mental activity and communities of practice. Crafting developmentally-appropriate questions allows teachers to gauge children's baseline understanding and then scaffold new concepts. This questioning facilitates theory of mind growth, as children learn to articulate their thought processes. An inquiry-based classroom also encourages participation, inclusive learning, and problem-solving. Ultimately, strategic questioning lays the foundation for critical thinking that will benefit students throughout their education.

What is the art of questioning critical thinking?

The art of questioning refers to the skill of asking thoughtful, open-ended questions that promote critical thinking , inquiry, and deeper learning. As an educator, mastering this art is key to creating an engaging classroom environment where students actively participate.

Here are some best practices around the art of questioning:

Use Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions allow students to explain their thought process and help teachers identify gaps in understanding. For example, asking "Why do you think the character made that decision?" lets students share their unique perspectives. Closed-ended questions that just require yes/no answers should be used sparingly.

Ask Follow-Up Questions

Asking follow-up questions based on students' responses shows you are listening and encourages them to expand upon their ideas. Phrases like "Tell me more about..." or "What makes you think that?" stimulate further discussion.

Pause After Posing Questions

Providing wait time of 3-5 seconds after asking a question gives students time to reflect and articulate a thoughtful response, rather than feeling put on the spot.

Scaffold Complex Questions

Break down multi-layered questions into smaller parts to make them more manageable. You can also give students a framework to help organize their thoughts before answering.

Encourage Multiple Perspectives

Prompt students to consider other vantage points by asking, "How might this look from X's perspective?" This builds empathy, critical analysis skills, and more inclusive thinking.

Mastering the art questioning leads to richer class discussions and unlocks students' intellectual curiosity. With practice, you'll be able to stimulate vibrant student-centered dialogue.

What questioning techniques promote critical thinking?

Asking effective questions is a skill that takes practice to develop. Here are some techniques to promote critical thinking through questioning:

Ask questions that require more than a one-word response. This encourages students to explain their reasoning and make connections. For example:

• Why do you think that?
• What evidence supports your conclusion?
• How does this relate to what we learned before?

Dig deeper into student responses by asking them to expand upon their ideas. This helps clarify understanding and uncover misconceptions. Some follow up questions include:

• Can you explain what you mean by that?
• What makes you think that?
• How does that apply to this situation?

Pause After Questions

Provide wait time of 3-5 seconds after posing a question. This gives students time to think and construct an answer, promoting deeper reflection. Resist the urge to rephrase the question or provide the answer yourself.

Scaffold Questions

Break down complex questions into smaller parts to guide student thinking while still encouraging them to do the intellectual work.

Asking thoughtful, open-ended questions takes practice but is essential for developing critical thinking skills . Start by planning 2-3 higher-order questions for each lesson and focus on truly listening to student responses. Over time, a questioning approach focused on explanation, evidence, and exploration will become second nature.

What is the art of questioning method?

The art of questioning is a teaching technique that focuses on asking strategic questions to promote critical thinking, inquiry, and meaningful learning experiences for students. It is an essential skill for educators to master in order to elicit student understanding and uncover gaps in knowledge.

Some key things to know about the art of questioning:

It checks for understanding and gets insight into students' thought processes. By asking probing questions, teachers can determine if students have truly grasped key concepts.

It activates higher-order thinking skills. Well-designed questions require students to analyze, evaluate, and create, moving beyond basic recall.

It sparks student curiosity and engagement. Thought-provoking questions pique interest in lesson topics.

It facilitates rich class discussions. Using quality questioning techniques lays the foundation for impactful dialogue.

It informs teaching strategies and adaptations. Based on student responses, teachers can clarify misconceptions or adjust the pace/complexity of lessons.

Mastering the art of questioning takes practice but is worth the effort. It transforms passive learning into an active, student-centered experience that sticks. Equipped with this vital skill, teachers can maximize critical thinking and inquiry-based learning in their classrooms.

What are the 4 main questioning techniques?

Teachers can utilize four key questioning techniques to promote critical thinking and inquiry in the classroom:

Closed Questions

Closed questions typically require short or one-word answers. They are useful for:

• Checking for understanding
• Getting students to state facts
• Reviewing material

For example, "What year did World War 2 begin?"

Open Questions

Open questions require more elaborate responses. They are effective for:

• Encouraging discussion
• Extracting deeper thinking
• Allowing students to explain concepts

For instance, "How did the Great Depression impact American society?"

Funnel Questions

Funnel questions start broad and become increasingly specific. This technique:

• Prompts recall of contextual details
• Guides students step-by-step
• Focuses thinking

An example is, "What do you know about World War 2? What were the key events leading up to it? What specific decisions by world leaders contributed to its outbreak?"

Probing Questions

Probing questions request clarification or more information. They help to:

• Draw out additional details
• Test the strength of an argument
• Determine accuracy and depth of understanding

For example, "You mentioned the Great Depression caused widespread poverty. Can you expand on the ways it impacted day-to-day life?"

Using a mix of these four questioning techniques can elicit thoughtful participation and allow teachers to effectively gauge comprehension.

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Exploring types of art of questioning.

Art of questioning refers to the teacher's ability to ask thoughtful, open-ended questions that promote critical thinking, inquiry, and engagement among students. Here we explore some key categories of questions that go beyond basic fact recall to stimulate deeper learning.

Open-Ended Questions to Foster Inquiry

Open-ended questions have no single right answer, allowing students to respond creatively within their current knowledge and experiences. Some examples:

• What do you think would happen if...?
• How might we go about solving this problem?
• What are some possible explanations for...?

Guidelines for open-ended questions:

• Ask about hypothetical situations or predictions
• Inquire about students' thought processes or reasoning
• Seek multiple diverse responses to broad issues

Probing Questions to Assess Prior Knowledge

Probing questions aim to uncover and expand upon students' existing knowledge. For instance:

• What do you already know about this topic?
• Can you explain your solution further?

Tips for probing questions:

• Ask students to elaborate or clarify their responses
• Dig deeper into the reasons behind their ideas
• Gauge their current level of understanding on a topic

Hypothetical & Speculative Questions for Mental Activity

Hypothetical and speculative questions require students to mentally engage with imaginative or puzzling scenarios. Examples:

• What do you imagine this character is thinking/feeling?
• If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
• What might the world look like 100 years from now?

Strategies using speculative questions:

• Present imaginary situations
• Ask about unlikely or fantastical events
• Inquire about hopes, wonders, or puzzles

Synthesis & Evaluation Questions to Enhance Critical Thinking

Higher-order questions push students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information. For example:

• How would you compare and contrast these two stories?
• What evidence supports or contradicts this conclusion?
• What changes would you suggest to improve this process?

Techniques for using synthesis questions:

• Ask students to make connections between ideas
• Require them to assess credibility and logical consistency
• Prompt them to create novel solutions based on analysis

Thoughtful questioning is invaluable for engaging students, inspiring deeper thinking, assessing understanding, and taking learning to the next level. Match question types to desired educational outcomes.

Effective Timing and Application of Questioning Techniques

Utilizing zones of proximal development at the beginning of lesson.

At the start of a lesson, it's important to assess students' prior knowledge and understanding within their zones of proximal development. Open-ended questions that require some thought and analysis work well here, such as "What do you already know about this topic?" or "How might this connect to what we learned previously?". Allowing some think time and using gentle probing follow-ups can uncover gaps and misconceptions to address.

During Instruction: Encouraging Active Participation

While teaching new material, questions should regularly check comprehension and spur examination of ideas. "Why" and "how" questions prompt students to articulate concepts in their own words, while think-pair-share structures promote participation. Allow just enough wait time for students to gather thoughts before cold-calling. Ask students to summarize key points or apply them in novel contexts. Maintain an encouraging tone and affirm effort.

End-of-Lesson Evaluations and Inquiry

Conclude by synthesizing main points and addressing lingering questions. Open-ended questions like "What are you still wondering about?" give quieter students a chance to share. Exit tickets, short reflective writing assignments, also stimulate additional inquiry. Follow-up questions based on student responses facilitate rich discussion. Affirm participation and remind students that lingering questions present opportunities for future investigation.

Art of Questioning Activities and Games

Think-pair-share and other participatory activities.

The think-pair-share approach provides an excellent framework for questioning techniques. Students are first asked to independently think about a question or problem. They then discuss their ideas in pairs, encouraging participation from every student before ideas are shared with the whole class. Variations like think-write-pair-share add a writing component for reflection. These participatory structures promote critical thinking and inquiry through peer discussion.

Question Cycles for Continuous Learning Experience

Using a series of interrelated questions on a topic creates continuity in the learning experience. Starting with simpler questions then building up to more complex, higher-order questions logically develops student understanding. Question cycles enable connecting new information to prior knowledge, unpacking ideas, applying concepts, making evaluations, and synthesizing learning. This technique ensures questioning sequentially builds up rather than occurring in isolation.

Socratic Questioning to Challenge Theory of Mind

The Socratic method uses questioning to draw out ideas and uncover assumptions. Teachers can play "devil's advocate" to challenge students' thought processes. This develops theory of mind as students learn to see other perspectives. Socratic questioning teaches the value of intellectual humility and deep thinking. Example questions include "What do you mean when you say...?", "What evidence supports that?", "How does this tie into our earlier discussion?"

Interactive Questioning Games to Engage Students

Games put questioning techniques into action while engaging students. Examples include Quiz-Quiz-Trade with student-created questions, Question Rally with teams answering on whiteboards, Question Cards with written responses, and Question Dice promoting discussion. These games leverage friendly competition and peer involvement to motivate learning through questioning. The interactive format promotes enjoyment, attention, and participation.

Assessing the Objectives and Impact of Questioning Techniques

Developing questioning rubrics aligned with objectives.

Rubrics can be a useful tool for assessing questioning techniques and alignment with learning objectives. When developing a rubric, key aspects to consider include:

• Types of questions asked - Factual, convergent, divergent, evaluative, etc.
• Cognitive level of questions - Remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create
• Scaffolding and sequencing of questions
• Linkage to lesson objectives and goals
• Student engagement and participation

The rubric can include rating scales or descriptors across these dimensions to evaluate the art of questioning. Teachers can use the rubric for self-assessment or be observed and evaluated by others.

Gathering Insights Through Student Feedback Surveys

Conducting periodic student surveys can provide valuable perceptions into questioning approaches. Useful survey questions may cover:

• Comfort and willingness to respond to questions
• Perceived relevance of questions to learning goals
• Role of questions in promoting thinking and understanding
• Suggestions for improvement

Analyzing survey results over time can indicate whether shifts in questioning techniques have positively influenced the learning experience.

Measuring Growth in Critical Thinking with Assessments

Assessments focused on critical thinking skills can gauge the impact of improved questioning. These may include:

• Essay prompts and open-ended questions
• Scenarios to analyze that require evaluation, synthesis and creative solutions
• Individual or group projects necessitating inquiry and investigation
• Presentations demonstrating deep understanding

Comparing baseline to post-intervention assessments can quantify if questioning strategies have successfully developed critical thinking capacities.

Participatory Action Research for Professional Development

Teachers can engage in participatory action research by:

• Recording lessons and categorizing types/cognitive levels of questions asked
• Soliciting peer or mentor feedback on questioning approaches
• Setting goals for improvement and tracking progress
• Iteratively refining techniques based on evidence and collaboration

This process facilitates continuous growth and allows networking with a community of practice.

Building a Community of Practice Through Questioning

Fostering collaborative environments where educators can share best practices in questioning techniques is key to building a strong community of practice focused on the art of questioning. By creating opportunities for continuous learning and adaptation, educators can work together to advance their skills.

Fostering Collaborative Environments

• Establish routines for educators to observe each other's classrooms and provide feedback on questioning strategies
• Organize professional learning groups for educators to collaborate on developing effective questions
• Create shared online spaces for educators to exchange ideas on the art of questioning
• Promote a growth mindset culture that values inquiry and critical feedback

Sharing Best Practices in Questioning

• Host workshops for educators to demonstrate questioning techniques and activities
• Publish videos/documents highlighting examples of impactful questioning strategies in action
• Maintain forums for educators to post questions and get input from colleagues
• Enable educators to share lesson plans centered around critical thinking questions
• Encourage educators to exchange ideas on adapting questioning for different subjects

Continuous Learning and Adaptation

• Survey educators regularly on evolving needs related to questioning techniques
• Provide ongoing professional development on emerging best practices in questioning
• Establish mentoring programs for new educators to get support in questioning skills
• Promote reflection techniques for educators to assess their questioning methods
• Foster a culture of critical inquiry where questioning practices continuously improve

By taking a collaborative, growth-focused approach to the art of questioning, educators can work together in communities of practice to advance their skills and create vibrant cultures of learning in their classrooms.

Conclusion: Synthesizing the Art of Questioning for Educational Excellence

The art of questioning is a critical skill that all educators should develop. By mastering various techniques that promote critical thinking and inquiry, teachers can stimulate rich discussion, facilitate deeper learning, and empower students to analyze information.

Here are some key takeaways:

Asking open-ended questions is key to sparking curiosity and prompting students to think more critically. Closed-ended questions that have yes/no answers should be used sparingly.

Mix lower and higher-order questions. Lower-order questions assess basic understanding while higher-order questions require evaluation, synthesis and analysis.

Allow adequate wait time between questions. Give students sufficient time to process the question and develop thoughtful responses.

Scaffold complex questions by building on students' prior knowledge. Connect new ideas to concepts already familiar to them.

Encourage participation from all students with inclusive questioning strategies. Consider think-pair-share methods.

Use prompting and probing techniques to extend dialogue. Ask follow-up questions to clarify, provide evidence or expand on initial responses.

By honing expertise in thoughtful inquiry-based questioning, educators can unlock their students' potential for critical thought while creating engaging, student-centered learning environments. Continual development through communities of practice, action research and other forms of professional development can help perfect this invaluable teaching skill.

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Critical Thinking Is About Asking Better Questions

• John Coleman

Six practices to sharpen your inquiry.

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze and effectively break down an issue in order to make a decision or find a solution. At the heart of critical thinking is the ability to formulate deep, different, and effective questions. For effective questioning, start by holding your hypotheses loosely. Be willing to fundamentally reconsider your initial conclusions — and do so without defensiveness. Second, listen more than you talk through active listening. Third, leave your queries open-ended, and avoid yes-or-no questions. Fourth, consider the counterintuitive to avoid falling into groupthink. Fifth, take the time to stew in a problem, rather than making decisions unnecessarily quickly. Last, ask thoughtful, even difficult, follow-ups.

Are you tackling a new and difficult problem at work? Recently promoted and trying to both understand your new role and bring a fresh perspective? Or are you new to the workforce and seeking ways to meaningfully contribute alongside your more experienced colleagues? If so, critical thinking — the ability to analyze and effectively break down an issue in order to make a decision or find a solution — will be core to your success. And at the heart of critical thinking is the ability to formulate deep, different, and effective questions.

• JC John Coleman is the author of the HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose . Subscribe to his free newsletter, On Purpose , follow him on Twitter @johnwcoleman, or contact him at johnwilliamcoleman.com.

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• Open access
• Published: 11 September 2019

Inquiry and critical thinking skills for the next generation: from artificial intelligence back to human intelligence

• Jonathan Michael Spector   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6270-3073 1 &
• Shanshan Ma 1  

Smart Learning Environments volume  6 , Article number:  8 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

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Along with the increasing attention to artificial intelligence (AI), renewed emphasis or reflection on human intelligence (HI) is appearing in many places and at multiple levels. One of the foci is critical thinking. Critical thinking is one of four key 21st century skills – communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. Though most people are aware of the value of critical thinking, it lacks emphasis in curricula. In this paper, we present a comprehensive definition of critical thinking that ranges from observation and inquiry to argumentation and reflection. Given a broad conception of critical thinking, a developmental approach beginning with children is suggested as a way to help develop critical thinking habits of mind. The conclusion of this analysis is that more emphasis should be placed on developing human intelligence, especially in young children and with the support of artificial intelligence. While much funding and support goes to the development of artificial intelligence, this should not happen at the expense of human intelligence. Overall, the purpose of this paper is to argue for more attention to the development of human intelligence with an emphasis on critical thinking.

Introduction

In recent decades, advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have developed at an incredible rate. AI has penetrated into people’s daily life on a variety of levels such as smart homes, personalized healthcare, security systems, self-service stores, and online shopping. One notable AI achievement was when AlphaGo, a computer program, defeated the World Go Champion Mr. Lee Sedol in 2016. In the previous year, AlphaGo won in a competition against a professional Go player (Silver et al. 2016 ). As Go is one of the most challenging games, the wins of AI indicated a breakthrough. Public attention has been further drawn to AI since then, and AlphaGo continues to improve. In 2017, a new version of AlphaGo beat Ke Jie, the current world No.1 ranking Go player. Clearly AI can manage high levels of complexity.

Given many changes and multiple lines of development and implement, it is somewhat difficult to define AI to include all of the changes since the 1980s (Luckin et al. 2016 ). Many definitions incorporate two dimensions as a starting point: (a) human-like thinking, and (b) rational action (Russell and Norvig 2009 ). Basically, AI is a term used to label machines (computers) that imitate human cognitive functions such as learning and problem solving, or that manage to deal with complexity as well as human experts.

AlphaGo’s wins against human players were seen as a comparison between artificial and human intelligence. One concern is that AI has already surpassed HI; other concerns are that AI will replace humans in some settings or that AI will become uncontrollable (Epstein 2016 ; Fang et al. 2018 ). Scholars worry that AI technology in the future might trigger the singularity (Good 1966 ), a hypothesized future that the development of technology becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unfathomable changes to human civilization (Vinge 1993 ).

The famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking warned that AI might end mankind, yet the technology he used to communicate involved a basic form of AI (Cellan-Jones 2014 ). This example highlights one of the basic dilemmas of AI – namely, what are the overall benefits of AI versus its potential drawbacks, and how to move forward given its rapid development? Obviously, basic or controllable AI technologies are not what people are afraid of. Spector et al. 1993 distinguished strong AI and weak AI. Strong AI involves an application that is intended to replace an activity performed previously by a competent human, while weak AI involves an application that aims to enable a less experienced human to perform at a much higher level. Other researchers categorize AI into three levels: (a) artificial narrow intelligence (Narrow AI), (b) artificial general intelligence (General AI), and (c) artificial super intelligence (Super AI) (Siau and Yang 2017 ; Zhang and Xie 2018 ). Narrow AI, sometimes called weak AI, refers to a computer that focus on a narrow task such as AlphaZero or a self-driving car. General AI, sometimes referred to as strong AI, is the simulation of human-level intelligence, which can perform more cognitive tasks as well as most humans do. Super AI is defined by Bostrom ( 1998 ) as “an intellect that is much smarter than the best human brains in practically every field, including scientific creativity, general wisdom and social skills” (p.1).

Although the consequence of singularity and its potential benefits or harm to the human race have been intensely debated, an undeniable fact is that AI is capable of undertaking recursive self-improvement. With the increasing improvement of this capability, more intelligent generations of AI will appear rapidly. On the other hand, HI has its own limits and its development requires continuous efforts and investment from generation to generation. Education is the main approach humans use to develop and improve HI. Given the extraordinary growth gap between AI and HI, eventually AI can surpass HI. However, that is no reason to neglect the development and improvement of HI. In addition, in contrast to the slow development rate of HI, the growth of funding support to AI has been rapidly increasing according to the following comparison of support for artificial and human intelligence.

The funding support for artificial and human intelligence

There are challenges in comparing artificial and human intelligence by identifying funding for both. Both terms are somewhat vague and can include a variety of aspects. Some analyses will include big data and data analytics within the sphere of artificial intelligence and others will treat them separately. Some will include early childhood developmental research within the sphere of support for HI and others treat them separately. Education is a major way of human beings to develop and improve HI. The investments in education reflect the efforts put on the development of HI, and they pale in comparison with investments in AI.

Sources also vary from governmental funding of research and development to business and industry investments in related research and development. Nonetheless, there are strong indications of increased funding support for AI in North America, Europe and Asia, especially in China. The growth in funding for AI around the world is explosive. According to ZDNet, AI funding more than doubled from 2016 to 2017 and more than tripled from 2016 to 2018. The growth in funding for AI in the last 10 years has been exponential. According to Venture Scanner, there are approximately 2500 companies that have raised $60 billion in funding from 3400 investors in 72 different countries (see https://www.slideshare.net/venturescanner/artificial-intelligence-q1-2019-report-highlights ). Areas included in the Venture Scanner analysis included virtual assistants, recommendation engines, video recognition, context-aware computing, speech recognition, natural language processing, machine learning, and more.

The above data on AI funding focuses primarily on companies making products. There is no direct counterpart in the area of HI where the emphasis is on learning and education. What can be seen, however, are trends within each area. The above data suggest exponential growth in support for AI. In contrast, according to the Urban Institute, per-student funding in the USA has been relatively flat for nearly two decades, with a few states showing modest increases and others showing none (see http://apps.urban.org/features/education-funding-trends/ ). Funding for education is complicated due to the various sources. In the USA, there are local, state and federal sources to consider. While that mixture of funding sources is complex, it is clear that federal and state spending for education in the USA experienced an increase after World War II. However, since the 1980s, federal spending for education has steadily declined, and state spending on education in most states has declined since 2010 according to a government report (see https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/education_spending ). This decline in funding reflects the decreasing emphasis on the development of HI, which is a dangerous signal.

Decreased support for education funding in the USA is not typical of what is happening in other countries, according to The Hechinger Report (see https://hechingerreport.org/rest-world-invests-education-u-s-spends-less/ ). For example, in the period of 2010 to 2014, American spending on elementary and high school education declined 3%, whereas in the same period, education spending in the 35 countries in the OECD rose by 5% with some countries experiencing very significant increases (e.g., 76% in Turkey).

Such data can be questioned in terms of how effectively funds are being spent or how poorly a country was doing prior to experiencing a significant increase. However, given the performance of American students on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the relative lack of funding support in the USA is roughly related with the mediocre performance on PISA tests (see https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/pisa2015/index.asp ). Research by Darling-Hammond ( 2014 ) indicated that in order to improve learning and reduce the achievement gap, systematic government investments in high-need schools would be more effective if the focus was on capacity building, improving the knowledge and skills of educators and the quality of curriculum opportunities.

Though HI could not be simply defined by the performance on PISA test, improving HI requires systematic efforts and funding support in high-need areas as well. So, in the following section, we present a reflection on HI.

Reflection on human intelligence

Though there is a variety of definitions of HI, from the perspective of psychology, according to Sternberg ( 1999 ), intelligence is a form of developing expertise, from a novice or less experienced person to an expert or more experienced person, a student must be through multiple learning (implicit and explicit) and thinking (critical and creative) processes. In this paper, we adopted such a view and reflected on HI in the following section by discussing learning and critical thinking.

What is learning?

We begin with Gagné’s ( 1985 ) definition of learning as characterized by stable and persistent changes in what a person knows or can do. How do humans learn? Do you recall how to prove that the square root of 2 is not a rational number, something you might have learned years ago? The method is intriguing and is called an indirect proof or a reduction to absurdity – assume that the square root of 2 is a rational number and then apply truth preserving rules to arrive at a contradiction to show that the square root of 2 cannot be a rational number. We recommend this as an exercise for those readers who have never encountered that method of learning and proof. (see https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/Proof_by_contradiction ). Yet another interesting method of learning is called the process of elimination, sometimes accredited to Arthur Conan Doyle’s ( 1926 ) in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier – Sherlock Holmes says to Dr. Watson that the process of elimination “starts upon the supposition that when you have eliminated all which is impossible, that whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth ” (see https://www.dfw-sherlock.org/uploads/3/7/3/8/37380505/1926_november_the_adventure_of_the_blanched_soldier.pdf ).

The reason to mention Sherlock Holmes early in this paper is to emphasize the role that observation plays in learning. The character Sherlock Holmes was famous for his observation skills that led to his so-called method of deductive reasoning (a process of elimination), which is what logicians would classify as inductive reasoning as the conclusions of that reasoning process are primarily probabilistic rather than certain, unlike the proof of the irrationality of the square root of 2 mentioned previously.

In dealing with uncertainty, it seems necessary to make observations and gather evidence that can lead one to a likely conclusion. Is that not what reasonable people and accomplished detectives do? It is certainly what card counters do at gambling houses; they observe high and low value cards that have already been played in order to estimate the likelihood of the next card being a high or low value card. Observation is a critical process in dealing with uncertainty.

Moreover, humans typically encounter many uncertain situations in the course of life. Few people encounter situations which require resolution using a mathematical proof such as the one with which this article began. Jonassen ( 2000 , 2011 ) argued that problem solving is one of the most important and frequent activities in which people engage. Moreover, many of the more challenging problems are ill-structured in the sense that (a) there is incomplete information pertaining to the situation, or (b) the ideal resolution of the problem is unknown, or (c) how to transform a problematic situation into an acceptable situation is unclear. In short, people are confronted with uncertainty nearly every day and in many different ways. The so called key 21st century skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity (the 4 Cs; see http://www.battelleforkids.org/networks/p21 ) are important because uncertainty is a natural and inescapable aspect of the human condition. The 4 Cs are interrelated and have been presented by Spector ( 2018 ) as interrelated capabilities involving logic and epistemology in the form of the new 3Rs – namely, re-examining, reasoning, and reflecting. Re-examining is directly linked to observation as a beginning point for inquiry. The method of elimination is one form of reasoning in which a person engages to solve challenging problems. Reflecting on how well one is doing in the life-long enterprise of solving challenging problems is a higher kind of meta-cognitive activity in which accomplished problem-solvers engage (Ericsson et al. 1993 ; Flavell 1979 ).

Based on these initial comments, a comprehensive definition of critical thinking is presented next in the form of a framework.

A framework of critical thinking

Though there is variety of definitions of critical thinking, a concise definition of critical thinking remains elusive. For delivering a direct understanding of critical thinking to readers such as parents and school teachers, in this paper, we present a comprehensive definition of critical thinking through a framework that includes many of the definitions offered by others. Critical thinking, as treated broadly herein, is a multi-dimensioned and multifaceted human capability. Critical thinking has been interpreted from three perspectives: education, psychology, and epistemology, all of which are represented in the framework that follows.

In a developmental approach to critical thinking, Spector ( 2019 ) argues that critical thinking involves a series of cumulative and related abilities, dispositions and other variables (e.g., motivation, criteria, context, knowledge). This approach proceeds from experience (e.g., observing something unusual) and then to various forms of inquiry, investigation, examination of evidence, exploration of alternatives, argumentation, testing conclusions, rethinking assumptions, and reflecting on the entire process.

Experience and engagement are ongoing throughout the process which proceeds from relatively simple experiences (e.g., direct and immediate observation) to more complex interactions (e.g., manipulation of an actual or virtual artifact and observing effects).

The developmental approach involves a variety of mental processes and non-cognitive states, which help a person’s decision making to become purposeful and goal directed. The associated critical thinking skills enable individuals to be likely to achieve a desired outcome in a challenging situation.

In the process of critical thinking, apart from experience, there are two additional cognitive capabilities essential to critical thinking – namely, metacognition and self-regulation . Many researchers (e.g., Schraw et al. 2006 ) believe that metacognition has two components: (a) awareness and understanding of one’s own thoughts, and (b) the ability to regulate one’s own cognitive processes. Some other researchers put more emphasis on the latter component. For example, Davies ( 2015 ) described metacognition as the capacity to monitor the quality of one’s thinking process, and then to make appropriate changes. However, the American Psychology Association (APA) defines metacognition as an awareness and understanding of one’s own thought with the ability to control related cognitive processes (see https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-15725-005 ).

Although the definition and elaboration of these two concepts deserve further exploration, they are often used interchangeably (Hofer and Sinatra 2010 ; Schunk 2008 ). Many psychologists see the two related capabilities of metacognition and self-regulation as being closely related - two sides on one coin, so to speak. Metacognition involves or emphasizes awareness, whereas self-regulation involves and emphasizes appropriate control. These two concepts taken together enable a person to create a self-regulatory mechanism, which monitors and regulates the corresponding skills (e.g., observation, inquiry, interpretation, explanation, reasoning, analysis, evaluation, synthesis, reflection, and judgement).

As to the critical thinking skills, it should be noted that there is much discussion about the generalizability and domain specificity of them, just as there is about problem-solving skills in general (Chi et al. 1982 ; Chiesi et al. 1979 ; Ennis 1989 ; Fischer 1980 ). The research supports the notion that to achieve high levels of expertise and performance, one must develop high levels of domain knowledge. As a consequence, becoming a highly effective critical thinker in a particular domain of inquiry requires significant domain knowledge. One may achieve such levels in a domain in which one has significant domain knowledge and experience but not in a different domain in which one has little domain knowledge and experience. The processes involved in developing high levels of critical thinking are somewhat generic. Therefore, it is possible to develop critical thinking in nearly any domain when the two additional capabilities of metacognition and self-regulation are coupled with motivation and engagement and supportive emotional states (Ericsson et al. 1993 ).

Consequently, the framework presented here (see Fig. 1 ) is built around three main perspectives about critical thinking (i.e., educational, psychological and epistemological) and relevant learning theories. This framework provides a visual presentation of critical thinking with four dimensions: abilities (educational perspective), dispositions (psychological perspective), levels (epistemological perspective) and time. Time is added to emphasize the dynamic nature of critical thinking in terms of a specific context and a developmental approach.

Critical thinking often begins with simple experiences such as observing a difference, encountering a puzzling question or problem, questioning someone’s statement, and then leads, in some instances to an inquiry, and then to more complex experiences such as interactions and application of higher order thinking skills (e.g., logical reasoning, questioning assumptions, considering and evaluating alternative explanations).

If the individual is not interested in what was observed, an inquiry typically does not begin. Inquiry and critical thinking require motivation along with an inquisitive disposition. The process of critical thinking requires the support of corresponding internal indispositions such as open-mindedness and truth-seeking. Consequently, a disposition to initiate an inquiry (e.g., curiosity) along with an internal inquisitive disposition (e.g., that links a mental habit to something motivating to the individual) are both required (Hitchcock 2018 ). Initiating dispositions are those that contribute to the start of inquiry and critical thinking. Internal dispositions are those that initiate and support corresponding critical thinking skills during the process. Therefore, critical thinking dispositions consist of initiating dispositions and internal dispositions. Besides these factors, critical thinking also involves motivation. Motivation and dispositions are not mutually exclusive, for example, curiosity is a disposition and also a motivation.

Critical thinking abilities and dispositions are two main components of critical thinking, which involve such interrelated cognitive constructs as interpretation, explanation, reasoning, evaluation, synthesis, reflection, judgement, metacognition and self-regulation (Dwyer et al. 2014 ; Davies 2015 ; Ennis 2018 ; Facione 1990 ; Hitchcock 2018 ; Paul and Elder 2006 ). There are also some other abilities such as communication, collaboration and creativity, which are now essential in current society (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_century_skills ). Those abilities along with critical thinking are called the 4Cs; they are individually monitored and regulated through metacognitive and self-regulation processes.

The abilities involved in critical thinking are categorized in Bloom’s taxonomy into higher order skills (e.g., analyzing and synthesizing) and lower level skills (e.g., remembering and applying) (Anderson and Krathwohl 2001 ; Bloom et al. 1956 ).

The thinking process can be depicted as a spiral through both lower and higher order thinking skills. It encompasses several reasoning loops. Some of them might be iterative until a desired outcome is achieved. Each loop might be a mix of higher order thinking skills and lower level thinking skills. Each loop is subject to the self-regulatory mechanism of metacognition and self-regulation.

But, due to the complexity of human thinking, a specific spiral with reasoning loops is difficult to represent. Therefore, instead of a visualized spiral with an indefinite number of reasoning loops, the developmental stages of critical thinking are presented in the diagram (Fig. 1 ).

Besides, most of the definitions of critical thinking are based on the imagination about ideal critical thinkers such as the consensus generated from the Delphi report (Facione 1990 ). However, according to Dreyfus and Dreyfus ( 1980 ), in the course of developing an expertise, students would pass through five stages. Those five stages are “absolute beginner”, “advanced beginner”, “competent performer”, “proficient performer,” and “intuitive expert performer”. Dreyfus and Dreyfus ( 1980 ) described the five stages the result of the successive transformations of four mental functions: recollection, recognition, decision making, and awareness.

In the course of developing critical thinking and expertise, individuals will pass through similar stages which are accompanied with the increasing practices and accumulation of experience. Through the intervention and experience of developing critical thinking, as a novice, tasks are decomposed into context-free features which could be recognized by students without the experience of particular situations. For further improving, students need to be able to monitor their awareness, and with a considerable experience. They can note recurrent meaningful component patterns in some contexts. Gradually, increased practices expose students to a variety of whole situations which enable the students to recognize tasks in a more holistic manner as a professional. On the other hand, with the increasing accumulation of experience, individuals are less likely to depend simply on abstract principles. The decision will turn to something intuitive and highly situational as well as analytical. Students might unconsciously apply rules, principles or abilities. A high level of awareness is absorbed. At this stage, critical thinking is turned into habits of mind and in some cases expertise. The description above presents a process of critical thinking development evolving from a novice to an expert, eventually developing critical thinking into habits of mind.

We mention the five-stage model proposed by Dreyfus and Dreyfus ( 1980 ) to categorize levels of critical thinking and emphasize the developmental nature involved in becoming a critical thinker. Correspondingly, critical thinking is categorized into 5 levels: absolute beginner (novice), advanced beginner (beginner), competent performer (competent), proficient performer (proficient), and intuitive expert (expert).

Ability level and critical thinker (critical thinking) level together represent one of the four dimensions represented in Fig. 1 .

In addition, it is noteworthy that the other two elements of critical thinking are the context and knowledge in which the inquiry is based. Contextual and domain knowledge must be taken into account with regard to critical thinking, as previously argued. Besides, as Hitchcock ( 2018 ) argued, effective critical thinking requires knowledge about and experience applying critical thinking concepts and principles as well.

Critical thinking is considered valuable across disciplines. But except few courses such as philosophy, critical thinking is reported lacking in most school education. Most of researchers and educators thus proclaim that integrating critical thinking across the curriculum (Hatcher 2013 ). For example, Ennis ( 2018 ) provided a vision about incorporating critical thinking across the curriculum in higher education. Though people are aware of the value of critical thinking, few of them practice it. Between 2012 and 2015, in Australia, the demand of critical thinking as one of the enterprise skills for early-career job increased 125% (Statista Research Department, 2016). According to a survey across 1000 adults by The Reboot Foundation 2018 , more than 80% of respondents believed that critical thinking skills are lacking in today’s youth. Respondents were deeply concerned that schools do not teach critical thinking. Besides, the investigation also found that respondents were split over when and how to teach critical thinking, clearly.

In the previous analysis of critical thinking, we presented the mechanism of critical thinking instead of a concise definition. This is because, given the various perspectives of interpreting critical thinking, it is not easy to come out with an unitary definition, but it is essential for the public to understand how critical thinking works, the elements it involves and the relationships between them, so they can achieve an explicit understanding.

In the framework, critical thinking starts from simple experience such as observing a difference, then entering the stage of inquiry, inquiry does not necessarily turn the thinking process into critical thinking unless the student enters a higher level of thinking process or reasoning loops such as re-examining, reasoning, reflection (3Rs). Being an ideal critical thinker (or an expert) requires efforts and time.

According to the framework, simple abilities such as observational skills and inquiry are indispensable to lead to critical thinking, which suggests that paying attention to those simple skills at an early stage of children can be an entry point to critical thinking. Considering the child development theory by Piaget ( 1964 ), a developmental approach spanning multiple years can be employed to help children develop critical thinking at each corresponding development stage until critical thinking becomes habits of mind.

Although we emphasized critical thinking in this paper, for the improvement of intelligence, creative thinking and critical thinking are separable, they are both essential abilities that develop expertise, eventually drive the improvement of HI at human race level.

As previously argued, there is a similar pattern among students who think critically in different domains, but students from different domains might perform differently in creativity because of different thinking styles (Haller and Courvoisier 2010 ). Plus, students have different learning styles and preferences. Personalized learning has been the most appropriate approach to address those differences. Though the way of realizing personalized learning varies along with the development of technologies. Generally, personalized learning aims at customizing learning to accommodate diverse students based on their strengths, needs, interests, preferences, and abilities.

Meanwhile, the advancement of technology including AI is revolutionizing education; students’ learning environments are shifting from technology-enhanced learning environments to smart learning environments. Although lots of potentials are unrealized yet (Spector 2016 ), the so-called smart learning environments rely more on the support of AI technology such as neural networks, learning analytics and natural language processing. Personalized learning is better supported and realized in a smart learning environment. In short, in the current era, personalized learning is to use AI to help learners perform at a higher level making adjustments based on differences of learners. This is the notion with which we conclude – the future lies in using AI to improve HI and accommodating individual differences.

The application of AI in education has been a subject for decades. There are efforts heading to such a direction though personalized learning is not technically involved in them. For example, using AI technology to stimulate critical thinking (Zhu 2015 ), applying a virtual environment for building and assessing higher order inquiry skills (Ketelhut et al. 2010 ). Developing computational thinking through robotics (Angeli and Valanides 2019 ) is another such promising application of AI to support the development of HI.

However, almost all of those efforts are limited to laboratory experiments. For accelerating the development rate of HI, we argue that more emphasis should be given to the development of HI at scale with the support of AI, especially in young children focusing on critical and creative thinking.

In this paper, we argue that more emphasis should be given to HI development. Rather than decreasing the funding of AI, the analysis of progress in artificial and human intelligence indicates that it would be reasonable to see increased emphasis placed on using various AI techniques and technologies to improve HI on a large and sustainable scale. Well, most researchers might agree that AI techniques or the situation might be not mature enough to support such a large-scale development. But it would be dangerous if HI development is overlooked. Based on research and theory drawn from psychology as well as from epistemology, the framework is intended to provide a practical guide to the progressive development of inquiry and critical thinking skills in young children as children represent the future of our fragile planet. And we suggested a sustainable development approach for developing inquiry and critical thinking (See, Spector 2019 ). Such an approach could be realized through AI and infused into HI development. Besides, a project is underway in collaboration with NetDragon to develop gamified applications to develop the relevant skills and habits of mind. A game-based assessment methodology is being developed and tested at East China Normal University that is appropriate for middle school children. The intention of the effort is to refocus some of the attention on the development of HI in young children.

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Abbreviations

Artificial Intelligence

Human Intelligence

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the generous support of NetDragon and the Digital Research Centre at the University of North Texas.

Initial work is being funded through the NetDragon Digital Research Centre at the University of North Texas with Author as the Principal Investigator.

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Spector, J.M., Ma, S. Inquiry and critical thinking skills for the next generation: from artificial intelligence back to human intelligence. Smart Learn. Environ. 6 , 8 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-019-0088-z

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• Artificial intelligence
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• Inquiry learning

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You will be using throughout CRIT 602 to explore the larger context for your field of study and its associated professions will be critical inquiry:

  “ Critical inquiry is the process of gathering and evaluating information , ideas, and assumptions from multiple perspectives to produce well-reasoned analysis and understanding , and leading to new ideas, applications and questions ” (“Critical Inquiry,” n.d.).

A high stakes example of critical inquiry is clinical diagnosis and treatment of physical or mental illness, which involves the doctor asking an entire matrix of complex questions at every stage of the process and knowledge of a body of research that is continually changing, as well as the ability to determine how each set of questions intersects with the body of research.

In a work setting, critical inquiry might be used to solve an organizational problem, such as poor morale among support staff. A director must ask: how can we identify the cause of the decline in morale that we’re experiencing now?  When did it start? What factors could have led to it? Have there been changes in management? Have there been changes in our business practices? Could any external factors have caused or contributed to the decline in morale among these staff? Are organizations similar to ours experiencing a similar problem locally? Regionally? Nationally? Has research been done that we could use to find solutions to the problem? What’s been written in the professional literature for our industry that might help us solve our morale problem? Should we bring in a consultant?

In daily life, you might use critical inquiry to buy a car. What kind of vehicle will best meet my needs and the needs of my family? Truck, car, SUV? What about reliability history for the make and model I’m considering? What price range can I afford? How can I find out what is a fair price for the make and model I’m considering? Should I go with dealer financing or get the loan directly through my own bank or credit union? Why is this guy trying to sell me an extended warranty when I’ve already been here for three hours, and I want to go home?

The Role of Reflection in Critical Inquiry

Reflective learning is included in one of the three primary skills goals for CRIT 602: Reflect on learning to guide professional practice. The Center for Simplified Strategic Planning (CSSP) identifies reflection as a critical skill for strategic thinkers:

“Critical Skill #6: [Strategic thinkers] are committed lifelong learners and learn from each of their experiences. They use their experiences to enable them to think better on strategic issues” (“Strategic Thinking,” n.d.) .

We learn from experience by reflecting on it: Simply put, reflection is thinking about new experiences, connecting them to prior experiences, and learning something useful for the future.

In “Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective Thinking,” Carol R. Rodgers (2002) defines reflection in a way that aligns particularly well with the critical inquiry you will be conducting into the larger context for your field of study and its associated professions:

1. Reflection is a meaning-making process that moves a learner from one experience into the next with deeper understanding of its relationships with and connections to other experiences and ideas. It is the thread that makes continuity of learning possible, and ensures the progress of the individual and, ultimately, society. It is a means to essentially moral ends.

[Analytical Thinking Goal: You break concepts or evidence into parts and explain how the parts are related to each other.]

2. Reflection is a systematic, rigorous, disciplined way of thinking, with its roots in scientific inquiry.

[Analytical Thinking Goal: Your conclusion is logically tied to information. You have identified consequences and implications clearly.]

3. Reflection needs to happen in community, in interaction with others.

[ CCSP “Critical Skill #8: [Strategic thinkers] are committed to and seek advice from others. They may use a coach, a mentor, a peer advisory group or some other group that they can confide in and offer up ideas for feedback.”] (“Strategic Thinking,” n.d.)

4. Reflection requires attitudes that value the personal and intellectual growth of oneself and others.

[Developing a Community of Practice]

Critical Inquiry (AFCI 101). (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2022, from University of South Carolina Aiken website: https://www.usca.edu/academic-affairs/general-education/critical-inquiry.dot

Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining Reflection Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective Thinking. Teachers College Record, 104(4), 842-866.(1).pdf

Strategic thinking: 11 critical thinking skills. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2018, from Center for Simplified Strategic Planning website: https://www.cssp.com/CD0808b/ CriticalStrategicThinkingSkills/

Feel free to check out the full article if you’re interested! (John Dewey was a top influencer in the field of public education.)

• Defining Reflection: Ano ther Look at John Dewey and Reflective Thinking

CRIT 602 Readings and Resources Copyright © 2019 by Granite State College (USNH) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The Art of Asking Questions to Facilitate Inquiry Learning

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Inquiry learning, or inquiry-based learning, is about triggering a student’s curiosity. With this model, classrooms tend to be more student-driven than teacher-focused. With inquiry learning, a student’s own curiosity propels her to investigate a concept and deepen her knowledge with little teacher intervention.

This all sounds well and good, but how do we intrigue our students to such a degree that they are eager to investigate the topic on their own? Well, it all comes down to the types of questions we ask students- and how we ask these questions. Rather than a science, asking great inquiry questions is more of an art form. Here, we will provide some helpful tips for you to facilitate inquiry learning in your classroom by asking great questions and asking them well.

Why go to all this trouble?

A teacher-centered classroom is certainly easier to facilitate than a student-driven, inquiry-based learning classroom. So why go to all this trouble of changing the way we do things?

As it turns out, inquiry learning enhances the learning experience , leading to a greater level of engagement by the students and thus less classroom management problems on a day to day basis.

In addition, inquiry learning allows students to build critical problem-solving skills, fosters a zeal and passion for learning among students that they will carry with them forever, and allows students to take control of their own learning.

So, how can we ask questions that facilitate this type of engaged learning environment?

How to ask questions that facilitate inquiry learning

All effective inquiry-based questioning techniques have five things in common:

•         The entire class is included in the questioning.
•         Students are given time to think.
•         The teacher plans out the questions ahead of time to make sure they encourage critical thinking and reasoning.
•         The teacher avoids judging student responses or deliberately correcting them.
•         The teacher responds to these student responses in ways that encourage deeper thinking, often by posing additional questions.

For example, if you teach an art class, you can ask students to think of the words that come to mind when they view a particular piece of art. Then, deepen their analysis further by asking why those words came to mind when viewing the art. Ask the students to be specific and provide visual evidence in their answers. Make sure you allow students time to view the art and contemplate it before asking your inquiry questions.

The don’ts of asking inquiry-based questions

When asking inquiry-based questions, you should avoid doing the following things:

•         Answering the question yourself
•         Simplifying the question after a student doesn’t immediately respond
•         Asking trivial or irrelevant questions
•         Asking several questions at once
•         Asking questions to only the “brightest” students
•         Asking closed questions with only one right or wrong answer
•         Saying things such as “well done” that encourage students to stop inquiring
•         Ignoring incorrect answers

Doing the above things can turn your student-driven lesson into a teacher-centered lecture. It can take time to perfect the art of asking inquiry questions, but practice makes perfect! Use these techniques in your classroom every day to promote the kind of engaged and passionate learning environment you have always envisioned for your students.

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Promoting and Assessing Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a high priority outcome of higher education – critical thinking skills are crucial for independent thinking and problem solving in both our students’ professional and personal lives. But, what does it mean to be a critical thinker and how do we promote and assess it in our students? Critical thinking can be defined as being able to examine an issue by breaking it down, and evaluating it in a conscious manner, while providing arguments/evidence to support the evaluation. Below are some suggestions for promoting and assessing critical thinking in our students.

Thinking through inquiry

Asking questions and using the answers to understand the world around us is what drives critical thinking. In inquiry-based instruction, the teacher asks students leading questions to draw from them information, inferences, and predictions about a topic. Below are some example generic question stems that can serve as prompts to aid in generating critical thinking questions. Consider providing prompts such as these to students to facilitate their ability to also ask these questions of themselves and others. If we want students to generate good questions on their own, we need to teach them how to do so by providing them with the structure and guidance of example questions, whether in written form, or by our use of questions in the classroom.

Generic question stems

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of …?
• What is the difference between … and …?
• Explain why/how …?
• What would happen if …?
• What is the nature of …?
• Why is … happening?
• What is a new example of …?
• How could … be used to …?
• What are the implications of …?
• What is … analogous to?
• What do we already know about …?
• How does … affect …?
• How does … tie in with what we have learned before?
• What does … mean?
• Why is … important?
• How are … and … similar/different?
• How does … apply to everyday life?
• What is a counterarguement for …?
• What is the best …and why?
• What is a solution to the problem of …?
• Compare … and … with regard to …?
• What do you think causes …? Why?
• Do you agree or disagree with this statement? What evidence is there to support your answer?
• What is another way to look at …?

Critical thinking through writing

Another essential ingredient in critical thinking instruction is the use of writing. Writing converts students from passive to active learners and requires them to identify issues and formulate hypotheses and arguments. The act of writing requires students to focus and clarify their thoughts before putting them down on paper, hence taking them through the critical thinking process. Writing requires that students make important critical choices and ask themselves (Gocsik, 2002):

• What information is most important?
• What might be left out?
• What is it that I think about this subject?
• How did I arrive at what I think?
• What are my assumptions? Are they valid?
• How can I work with facts, observations, and so on, in order to convince others of what I think?
• What do I not yet understand?

Consider providing the above questions to students so that they can evaluate their own writing as well. Some suggestions for critical thinking writing activities include:

• Give students raw data and ask them to write an argument or analysis based on the data.
• Have students explore and write about unfamiliar points of view or “what if” situations.
• Think of a controversy in your field, and have the students write a dialogue between characters with different points of view.
• Select important articles in your field and ask the students to write summaries or abstracts of them. Alternately, you could ask students to write an abstract of your lecture.
• Develop a scenario that place students in realistic situations relevant to your discipline, where they must reach a decision to resolve a conflict.

See the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) teaching tip “ Low-Stakes Writing Assignments ” for critical thinking writing assignments.

Critical thinking through group collaboration

Opportunities for group collaboration could include discussions, case studies, task-related group work, peer review, or debates. Group collaboration is effective for promoting critical thought because:

• An effective team has the potential to produce better results than any individual,
• Students are exposed to different perspectives while clarifying their own ideas,
• Collaborating on a project or studying with a group for an exam generally stimulates interest and increases the understanding and knowledge of the topic.

See the CTE teaching tip “ Group Work in the Classroom: Types of Small Groups ” for suggestions for forming small groups in your classroom.

Assessing critical thinking skills

You can also use the students’ responses from the activities that promote critical thinking to assess whether they are, indeed, reaching your critical thinking goals. It is important to establish clear criteria for evaluating critical thinking. Even though many of us may be able to identify critical thinking when we see it, explicitly stated criteria help both students and teachers know the goal toward which they are working. An effective criterion measures which skills are present, to what extent, and which skills require further development. The following are characteristics of work that may demonstrate effective critical thinking:

• Accurately and thoroughly interprets evidence, statements, graphics, questions, literary elements, etc.
• Asks relevant questions.
• Analyses and evaluates key information, and alternative points of view clearly and precisely.
• Fair-mindedly examines beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weighs them against facts.
• Draws insightful, reasonable conclusions.
• Justifies inferences and opinions.
• Thoughtfully addresses and evaluates major alternative points of view.
• Thoroughly explains assumptions and reasons.

It is also important to note that assessment is a tool that can be used throughout a course, not just at the end. It is more useful to assess students throughout a course, so you can see if criteria require further clarification and students can test out their understanding of your criteria and receive feedback. Also consider distributing your criteria with your assignments so that students receive guidance about your expectations. This will help them to reflect on their own work and improve the quality of their thinking and writing.

See the CTE teaching tip sheets “ Rubrics ” and “ Responding to Writing Assignments: Managing the Paper Load ” for more information on rubrics.

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help.  View the  CTE Support  page to find the most relevant staff member to contact. 

• Gocsik, K. (2002). Teaching Critical Thinking Skills. UTS Newsletter, 11(2):1-4
• Facione, P.A. and Facione, N.C. (1994). Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric. Millbrae, CA: California Academic Press. www.calpress.com/rubric.html (retrieved September 2003)
• King, A. (1995). Inquiring minds really do want to know: using questioning to teach critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22(1): 13-17
• Wade, C. and Tavris, C. (1987). Psychology (1st ed.) New York: Harper. IN: Wade, C. (1995). Using Writing to Develop and Assess Critical Thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22(1): 24-28.

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Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

Eight Instructional Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking

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(This is the first post in a three-part series.)

The new question-of-the-week is:

What is critical thinking and how can we integrate it into the classroom?

This three-part series will explore what critical thinking is, if it can be specifically taught and, if so, how can teachers do so in their classrooms.

Today’s guests are Dara Laws Savage, Patrick Brown, Meg Riordan, Ph.D., and Dr. PJ Caposey. Dara, Patrick, and Meg were also guests on my 10-minute BAM! Radio Show . You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

You might also be interested in The Best Resources On Teaching & Learning Critical Thinking In The Classroom .

Current Events

Dara Laws Savage is an English teacher at the Early College High School at Delaware State University, where she serves as a teacher and instructional coach and lead mentor. Dara has been teaching for 25 years (career preparation, English, photography, yearbook, newspaper, and graphic design) and has presented nationally on project-based learning and technology integration:

There is so much going on right now and there is an overload of information for us to process. Did you ever stop to think how our students are processing current events? They see news feeds, hear news reports, and scan photos and posts, but are they truly thinking about what they are hearing and seeing?

I tell my students that my job is not to give them answers but to teach them how to think about what they read and hear. So what is critical thinking and how can we integrate it into the classroom? There are just as many definitions of critical thinking as there are people trying to define it. However, the Critical Think Consortium focuses on the tools to create a thinking-based classroom rather than a definition: “Shape the climate to support thinking, create opportunities for thinking, build capacity to think, provide guidance to inform thinking.” Using these four criteria and pairing them with current events, teachers easily create learning spaces that thrive on thinking and keep students engaged.

One successful technique I use is the FIRE Write. Students are given a quote, a paragraph, an excerpt, or a photo from the headlines. Students are asked to F ocus and respond to the selection for three minutes. Next, students are asked to I dentify a phrase or section of the photo and write for two minutes. Third, students are asked to R eframe their response around a specific word, phrase, or section within their previous selection. Finally, students E xchange their thoughts with a classmate. Within the exchange, students also talk about how the selection connects to what we are covering in class.

There was a controversial Pepsi ad in 2017 involving Kylie Jenner and a protest with a police presence. The imagery in the photo was strikingly similar to a photo that went viral with a young lady standing opposite a police line. Using that image from a current event engaged my students and gave them the opportunity to critically think about events of the time.

Here are the two photos and a student response:

F - Focus on both photos and respond for three minutes

In the first picture, you see a strong and courageous black female, bravely standing in front of two officers in protest. She is risking her life to do so. Iesha Evans is simply proving to the world she does NOT mean less because she is black … and yet officers are there to stop her. She did not step down. In the picture below, you see Kendall Jenner handing a police officer a Pepsi. Maybe this wouldn’t be a big deal, except this was Pepsi’s weak, pathetic, and outrageous excuse of a commercial that belittles the whole movement of people fighting for their lives.

I - Identify a word or phrase, underline it, then write about it for two minutes

A white, privileged female in place of a fighting black woman was asking for trouble. A struggle we are continuously fighting every day, and they make a mockery of it. “I know what will work! Here Mr. Police Officer! Drink some Pepsi!” As if. Pepsi made a fool of themselves, and now their already dwindling fan base continues to ever shrink smaller.

R - Reframe your thoughts by choosing a different word, then write about that for one minute

You don’t know privilege until it’s gone. You don’t know privilege while it’s there—but you can and will be made accountable and aware. Don’t use it for evil. You are not stupid. Use it to do something. Kendall could’ve NOT done the commercial. Kendall could’ve released another commercial standing behind a black woman. Anything!

Exchange - Remember to discuss how this connects to our school song project and our previous discussions?

This connects two ways - 1) We want to convey a strong message. Be powerful. Show who we are. And Pepsi definitely tried. … Which leads to the second connection. 2) Not mess up and offend anyone, as had the one alma mater had been linked to black minstrels. We want to be amazing, but we have to be smart and careful and make sure we include everyone who goes to our school and everyone who may go to our school.

As a final step, students read and annotate the full article and compare it to their initial response.

Using current events and critical-thinking strategies like FIRE writing helps create a learning space where thinking is the goal rather than a score on a multiple-choice assessment. Critical-thinking skills can cross over to any of students’ other courses and into life outside the classroom. After all, we as teachers want to help the whole student be successful, and critical thinking is an important part of navigating life after they leave our classrooms.

‘Before-Explore-Explain’

Patrick Brown is the executive director of STEM and CTE for the Fort Zumwalt school district in Missouri and an experienced educator and author :

Planning for critical thinking focuses on teaching the most crucial science concepts, practices, and logical-thinking skills as well as the best use of instructional time. One way to ensure that lessons maintain a focus on critical thinking is to focus on the instructional sequence used to teach.

Explore-before-explain teaching is all about promoting critical thinking for learners to better prepare students for the reality of their world. What having an explore-before-explain mindset means is that in our planning, we prioritize giving students firsthand experiences with data, allow students to construct evidence-based claims that focus on conceptual understanding, and challenge students to discuss and think about the why behind phenomena.

Just think of the critical thinking that has to occur for students to construct a scientific claim. 1) They need the opportunity to collect data, analyze it, and determine how to make sense of what the data may mean. 2) With data in hand, students can begin thinking about the validity and reliability of their experience and information collected. 3) They can consider what differences, if any, they might have if they completed the investigation again. 4) They can scrutinize outlying data points for they may be an artifact of a true difference that merits further exploration of a misstep in the procedure, measuring device, or measurement. All of these intellectual activities help them form more robust understanding and are evidence of their critical thinking.

In explore-before-explain teaching, all of these hard critical-thinking tasks come before teacher explanations of content. Whether we use discovery experiences, problem-based learning, and or inquiry-based activities, strategies that are geared toward helping students construct understanding promote critical thinking because students learn content by doing the practices valued in the field to generate knowledge.

An Issue of Equity

Meg Riordan, Ph.D., is the chief learning officer at The Possible Project, an out-of-school program that collaborates with youth to build entrepreneurial skills and mindsets and provides pathways to careers and long-term economic prosperity. She has been in the field of education for over 25 years as a middle and high school teacher, school coach, college professor, regional director of N.Y.C. Outward Bound Schools, and director of external research with EL Education:

Although critical thinking often defies straightforward definition, most in the education field agree it consists of several components: reasoning, problem-solving, and decisionmaking, plus analysis and evaluation of information, such that multiple sides of an issue can be explored. It also includes dispositions and “the willingness to apply critical-thinking principles, rather than fall back on existing unexamined beliefs, or simply believe what you’re told by authority figures.”

Despite variation in definitions, critical thinking is nonetheless promoted as an essential outcome of students’ learning—we want to see students and adults demonstrate it across all fields, professions, and in their personal lives. Yet there is simultaneously a rationing of opportunities in schools for students of color, students from under-resourced communities, and other historically marginalized groups to deeply learn and practice critical thinking.

For example, many of our most underserved students often spend class time filling out worksheets, promoting high compliance but low engagement, inquiry, critical thinking, or creation of new ideas. At a time in our world when college and careers are critical for participation in society and the global, knowledge-based economy, far too many students struggle within classrooms and schools that reinforce low-expectations and inequity.

If educators aim to prepare all students for an ever-evolving marketplace and develop skills that will be valued no matter what tomorrow’s jobs are, then we must move critical thinking to the forefront of classroom experiences. And educators must design learning to cultivate it.

So, what does that really look like?

Unpack and define critical thinking

To understand critical thinking, educators need to first unpack and define its components. What exactly are we looking for when we speak about reasoning or exploring multiple perspectives on an issue? How does problem-solving show up in English, math, science, art, or other disciplines—and how is it assessed? At Two Rivers, an EL Education school, the faculty identified five constructs of critical thinking, defined each, and created rubrics to generate a shared picture of quality for teachers and students. The rubrics were then adapted across grade levels to indicate students’ learning progressions.

At Avenues World School, critical thinking is one of the Avenues World Elements and is an enduring outcome embedded in students’ early experiences through 12th grade. For instance, a kindergarten student may be expected to “identify cause and effect in familiar contexts,” while an 8th grader should demonstrate the ability to “seek out sufficient evidence before accepting a claim as true,” “identify bias in claims and evidence,” and “reconsider strongly held points of view in light of new evidence.”

When faculty and students embrace a common vision of what critical thinking looks and sounds like and how it is assessed, educators can then explicitly design learning experiences that call for students to employ critical-thinking skills. This kind of work must occur across all schools and programs, especially those serving large numbers of students of color. As Linda Darling-Hammond asserts , “Schools that serve large numbers of students of color are least likely to offer the kind of curriculum needed to ... help students attain the [critical-thinking] skills needed in a knowledge work economy. ”

So, what can it look like to create those kinds of learning experiences?

Designing experiences for critical thinking

After defining a shared understanding of “what” critical thinking is and “how” it shows up across multiple disciplines and grade levels, it is essential to create learning experiences that impel students to cultivate, practice, and apply these skills. There are several levers that offer pathways for teachers to promote critical thinking in lessons:

1.Choose Compelling Topics: Keep it relevant

A key Common Core State Standard asks for students to “write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.” That might not sound exciting or culturally relevant. But a learning experience designed for a 12th grade humanities class engaged learners in a compelling topic— policing in America —to analyze and evaluate multiple texts (including primary sources) and share the reasoning for their perspectives through discussion and writing. Students grappled with ideas and their beliefs and employed deep critical-thinking skills to develop arguments for their claims. Embedding critical-thinking skills in curriculum that students care about and connect with can ignite powerful learning experiences.

2. Make Local Connections: Keep it real

At The Possible Project , an out-of-school-time program designed to promote entrepreneurial skills and mindsets, students in a recent summer online program (modified from in-person due to COVID-19) explored the impact of COVID-19 on their communities and local BIPOC-owned businesses. They learned interviewing skills through a partnership with Everyday Boston , conducted virtual interviews with entrepreneurs, evaluated information from their interviews and local data, and examined their previously held beliefs. They created blog posts and videos to reflect on their learning and consider how their mindsets had changed as a result of the experience. In this way, we can design powerful community-based learning and invite students into productive struggle with multiple perspectives.

3. Create Authentic Projects: Keep it rigorous

At Big Picture Learning schools, students engage in internship-based learning experiences as a central part of their schooling. Their school-based adviser and internship-based mentor support them in developing real-world projects that promote deeper learning and critical-thinking skills. Such authentic experiences teach “young people to be thinkers, to be curious, to get from curiosity to creation … and it helps students design a learning experience that answers their questions, [providing an] opportunity to communicate it to a larger audience—a major indicator of postsecondary success.” Even in a remote environment, we can design projects that ask more of students than rote memorization and that spark critical thinking.

Our call to action is this: As educators, we need to make opportunities for critical thinking available not only to the affluent or those fortunate enough to be placed in advanced courses. The tools are available, let’s use them. Let’s interrogate our current curriculum and design learning experiences that engage all students in real, relevant, and rigorous experiences that require critical thinking and prepare them for promising postsecondary pathways.

Critical Thinking & Student Engagement

Dr. PJ Caposey is an award-winning educator, keynote speaker, consultant, and author of seven books who currently serves as the superintendent of schools for the award-winning Meridian CUSD 223 in northwest Illinois. You can find PJ on most social-media platforms as MCUSDSupe:

When I start my keynote on student engagement, I invite two people up on stage and give them each five paper balls to shoot at a garbage can also conveniently placed on stage. Contestant One shoots their shot, and the audience gives approval. Four out of 5 is a heckuva score. Then just before Contestant Two shoots, I blindfold them and start moving the garbage can back and forth. I usually try to ensure that they can at least make one of their shots. Nobody is successful in this unfair environment.

I thank them and send them back to their seats and then explain that this little activity was akin to student engagement. While we all know we want student engagement, we are shooting at different targets. More importantly, for teachers, it is near impossible for them to hit a target that is moving and that they cannot see.

Within the world of education and particularly as educational leaders, we have failed to simplify what student engagement looks like, and it is impossible to define or articulate what student engagement looks like if we cannot clearly articulate what critical thinking is and looks like in a classroom. Because, simply, without critical thought, there is no engagement.

The good news here is that critical thought has been defined and placed into taxonomies for decades already. This is not something new and not something that needs to be redefined. I am a Bloom’s person, but there is nothing wrong with DOK or some of the other taxonomies, either. To be precise, I am a huge fan of Daggett’s Rigor and Relevance Framework. I have used that as a core element of my practice for years, and it has shaped who I am as an instructional leader.

So, in order to explain critical thought, a teacher or a leader must familiarize themselves with these tried and true taxonomies. Easy, right? Yes, sort of. The issue is not understanding what critical thought is; it is the ability to integrate it into the classrooms. In order to do so, there are a four key steps every educator must take.

• Integrating critical thought/rigor into a lesson does not happen by chance, it happens by design. Planning for critical thought and engagement is much different from planning for a traditional lesson. In order to plan for kids to think critically, you have to provide a base of knowledge and excellent prompts to allow them to explore their own thinking in order to analyze, evaluate, or synthesize information.
• SIDE NOTE – Bloom’s verbs are a great way to start when writing objectives, but true planning will take you deeper than this.

QUESTIONING

• If the questions and prompts given in a classroom have correct answers or if the teacher ends up answering their own questions, the lesson will lack critical thought and rigor.
• Script five questions forcing higher-order thought prior to every lesson. Experienced teachers may not feel they need this, but it helps to create an effective habit.
• If lessons are rigorous and assessments are not, students will do well on their assessments, and that may not be an accurate representation of the knowledge and skills they have mastered. If lessons are easy and assessments are rigorous, the exact opposite will happen. When deciding to increase critical thought, it must happen in all three phases of the game: planning, instruction, and assessment.

TALK TIME / CONTROL

• To increase rigor, the teacher must DO LESS. This feels counterintuitive but is accurate. Rigorous lessons involving tons of critical thought must allow for students to work on their own, collaborate with peers, and connect their ideas. This cannot happen in a silent room except for the teacher talking. In order to increase rigor, decrease talk time and become comfortable with less control. Asking questions and giving prompts that lead to no true correct answer also means less control. This is a tough ask for some teachers. Explained differently, if you assign one assignment and get 30 very similar products, you have most likely assigned a low-rigor recipe. If you assign one assignment and get multiple varied products, then the students have had a chance to think deeply, and you have successfully integrated critical thought into your classroom.

Thanks to Dara, Patrick, Meg, and PJ for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

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Inquiry-Based Learning: The Power of Asking the Right Questions

An inquiry-based curriculum requires both planning and flexibility, as well as a teacher knowing the students well enough to anticipate their interests and limits.

As a fourth-grade teacher at an inquiry-based learning school, I've come to understand the importance of planning. Planning is critical and also best practice. I still plan at the beginning of each week and each day. A teacher without a plan has no purpose or learning objectives for her students.

With student-directed learning, there's a major difference between planning and flexibility. I plan according to what my students need and how I'm going to assess their skills or knowledge, just like every other teacher. The difference lies in the delivery of instruction. A teacher must always be flexible and adaptable.

The Power of the Right Questions

You might wonder how lesson planning works if you're always reconstructing on the fly. I've found that if the students take the lesson in a different direction than what I've planned for, it's my job to light their way to where my intention and their intention meet. Most often, if their curiosity takes us in a completely different direction, I let them run with it. However, I also let them find the connection between what I need them to learn and what they want to learn.

Everything connects. Having students discover that takes ownership to a new level. For example, I taught a money unit with the purpose of teaching responsible financial management. My students were more interested in what makes a billionaire a billionaire. I didn't want to stop their excitement and curiosity, so we ran with that. We ended up focusing on billionaires with the agreement that the students would let two questions guide them throughout the unit:

• What qualities/character traits do billionaires possess that make them so successful?
• What evidence proves that billionaires possess responsible financial management?

But kids are kids, so there's always someone who diverges from what I want to teach them. There was one student who kept focusing on what kind of cool cars a particular billionaire had. During class discussions, he brought up the fact that his billionaire had all of these cars, boats, and planes, which really had nothing to do with the financial aspect of the unit. In this moment, I had to refocus the lesson by asking the right questions. For instance:

• What financial decisions enabled that billionaire to purchase such luxuries?
• Why do billionaires have so many of these luxuries?

This returned my students to thinking about budgeting, spending and saving wisely, and the decisions or traits of proven financial managers. So the right questions foster powerful learning.

Connecting Ideas and Seizing Opportunities

Ultimately, a teacher's job is to light the way for her students, to guide them to their own path of discovery. In this day and age, if students want to know something, they can and will look it up. The true art of teaching is to ask the right questions, become a thought partner (interaction during instruction), and then assist in students' discoveries. The idea behind true inquiry-based learning is to ignite your students' curiosity, the spark that motivates them and makes them want to learn more. If I can bring out my students' curiosity and love of learning, then I've covered what I needed to cover. Google can do the rest!

Good teachers are masters of connecting ideas and finding creative ways to squeeze in the necessary content. I hardly wait to see what my students respond to because I know them and can sometimes predict what will grab their interest. For example, last year I took the opportunity of connecting a grammar lesson to something the students wanted to learn about -- the latest celebrity news. I printed out several celebrity Twitter feeds, gave them to my students, and told them to find all of the celebrities' grammatical errors. My students had fun and learned more about grammar than I could have taught them.

When to Stop and When to Go On

Our units consist of three lines of inquiry that we explore simultaneously. We spend about five weeks doing this, which breaks down to about a week and a half per line. If students are really excited about one line of inquiry, we'll spend two weeks on that one and less on the others.

As a teacher you can always get a feel for when it's time to stop doing something. Once the kids have already inquired about the topic, explored it, researched it, and produced something to demonstrate that they understand it, you can read that they're done. I believe in student voice and choice and giving them time to produce something that demonstrates acquisition of knowledge and understanding. I have them choose how they're going to prove to me that they learned something. When they've done that, we move on.

When students hit roadblocks and want to "ditch" that line of inquiry, I encourage them to take a different approach instead of giving up. All they need is a one-on-one meeting with me for feedback and planning their next steps. They almost always feel refreshed after that and finish what they've started.

First Steps Toward Student-Led Inquiry

If I were a teacher unfamiliar with student-led inquiry, I'd start with inquiry-based activities to get the students used to that kind of learning. That's actually how I start the inquiry process with my new batch of students in the fall. They seem confused at first, so I always ease them in with inquiry-based activities, such as:

• Having the students ask questions about primary resources
• An activity called "What I See, What I Think, What I Wonder"
• Finding time during the day for students to share or record their wondering and questions about any topic

A teacher should also start teaching how to ask questions, because good questions lead the inquiry. Students in inquiry mode can start developing their own questions about the unit being taught.

At the beginning of each unit, my students always brainstorm a list of questions about the unit's title. They do this by recording them in their Inquiry Journals, or by creating mind maps online. After my students create their inquiries, we have conferences to discuss which inquiry path they'll investigate. When that is chosen (based on the question), the students plan how they'll investigate, design, and create a product or project to then share with an audience.

We have an Inquiry Fair at the end of each unit, open to parents, other students, and teachers, because my students really take ownership of their learning and invest so much time in their projects that they want to share them with the world!

Each student should be experiencing the unit in a different way because, as individuals, we are all unique. Inquiry-based learning helps them personalize the content in ways that make it truly meaningful to them.

Wildwood IB World Magnet School

Per pupil expenditures, free / reduced lunch, demographics:.

This blog post is part of our Schools That Work series, which features key practices from Wildwood IB World Magnet School .

48 Critical Thinking Questions For Any Content Area

Critical thinking questions include, ‘Why is this important? What are the causes and effects of this? How do we know if this is true?”

What Are Critical Thinking Questions For Any Content Area?

by TeachThought Staff

Critical thinking is the heart and soul of learning, and–in our estimation anyway–ultimately more important than any one specific content area or subject matter.

It’s also an over-used and rather nebulous phrase — how do you teach someone to think? Of course, that’s the purpose of education, but how do you effectively optimize that concept into lasting knowledge and the ability to apply it broadly?

Looking for more resources to teach critical thinking? Check out our critical thinking curricula resources on TpT.

What Is Critical Thinking?

This question is what inspires the creation of seemingly endless learning taxonomies and teaching methods: our desire to pin down a clear definition of what it means to think critically and how to introduce that skill in the classroom.

This makes critical thinking questions–well, critical.  As Terry Heick explains in What Does Critical Thinking Mean?:

“To think critically about something is to claim to first circle its meaning entirely—to walk all the way around it so that you understand it in a way that’s uniquely you. The thinker works with their own thinking tools–schema. Background knowledge. Sense of identity. Meaning Making is a process as unique to that thinker as their own thumbprint. There is no template.

After circling the meaning of whatever you’re thinking critically about—navigation necessarily done with bravado and purpose—the thinker can then analyze the thing. In thinking critically, the thinker has to see its parts, its form, its function, and its context.

After this kind of survey and analysis you can come to evaluate it–bring to bear your own distinctive cognition on the thing so that you can point out flaws, underscore bias, emphasize merit—to get inside the mind of the author, designer, creator, or clockmaker and critique his work.”

A Cheat Sheet For Critical Thinking

In short, critical thinking is more than understanding something — it involves evaluation, critiquing, and a depth of knowledge that surpasses the subject itself and expands outward. It requires problem-solving, creativity, rationalization, and a refusal to accept things at face value.

It’s a willingness and ability to question everything.

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Digital Thinking by Global Digital Citizen Foundation is an excellent starting point for the ‘how’ behind teaching critical thinking by outlining which questions to ask.

It offers 48 critical thinking questions useful for any content area or even grade level with a little re-working/re-wording. Enjoy the list!

48 Critical Thinking Questions For Any Content Area

See Also:  28 Critical Thinking Question Stems & Response Cards

TeachThought is an organization dedicated to innovation in education through the growth of outstanding teachers.

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Understanding Socratic Questioning: A Comprehensive Guide

Ariane Resnick, CNC is a mental health writer, certified nutritionist, and wellness author who advocates for accessibility and inclusivity.

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What Is Socratic Questioning?

• Socratic Questioning in History
• The 4 Stages
• The 6 Types

Examples of Socratic Questions

• Practical Guidelines

Some people leave a very long mark on the world, and Socrates is definitely one of those people. He was a Greek philosopher from the 5th century BC, but still today, we use some of his teachings.

Socratic questioning is one example of how Socrates lives on. What exactly is it, and why is it still so widely used in our world?

At a Glance

You may remember Socratic questioning from past or current school days—and not fondly. It's the method of communication by which someone intentionally challenges others—such as their students—through open-ended questioning.

Often, there is no clear answer to the line of questioning, and no clear answer is intended. Frustrating, right? But the goal is ultimately to stimulate deep thoughts and to explore what we know—and don't know—about ourselves or about a given subject of study. It may be used by teachers, therapists, or even by us in the course of our daily lives.

Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Leslie Dobson tells us that Socratic questioning is a communication style that allows a person to stimulate another person's thinking through open-ended questions.

The questions are meant to push someone "slightly outside of their comfort level, so that they have to think about their thoughts, behaviors and feelings, building their awareness, and in turn allow them to feel more in control." By asking thought provoking questions, we can have deeper interactions. This is helpful in settings both clinical and casual.

The History and Philosophy Behind Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning is a part of the Socratic method, the broader style of teaching and communication that Socrates introduced. There is debate over whether we have continued to use the teachings of Socrates nonstop since his time, or if they left and were reintroduced in more recent years. One thing we can be certain of, though, is that Socrates' work has played a role in modern communication.

The philosophy behind Socratic questioning is both to help us understand others better and to help people understand themselves better. Says Dobson, "Once we are able to name what is going on in us (i.e., emotions, thoughts, behaviors), we have the ability to take the reins and lead our lives." A deeper style of questioning that opens up our minds more than casual conversation could benefit everyone, including the asker.

What Are the 4 Stages of Socratic Questioning?

The four stages of Socratic questioning are also known as "guided discovery." As you may expect, this practice has four stages.

• Asking questions centered around receiving information
• Attentively listening and reflecting back what you've heard
• Providing a summary of the information you've heard
• Asking more questions, specifically with the intent of applying the answers you heard to the person's original thoughts

What Are the Six Types of Socratic Questioning?

In order to probe further into a subject, there are different question styles used. These get people thinking in bigger ways than other questions might.

• Clarification : You may ask why a person gave the response they did, or how it relates to the topic at hand.
• Challenge assumptions : Someone may be asked how what they've said proves their initial assumptions to be true, or disproves them.
• Look for evidence : You'll ask questions that help prove a point, such as requesting examples or looking for causes.
• Perspective : These questions make someone step back and see a situation from a differing point of view.
• Discover consequences : Asking how something ties into a different topic, or what the ramifications of what's been asserted are, help someone think more deeply about an issue.
• Question the question: Further attempting to add depth, you may ask what the other person thinks the point of your questions are, or what the situation at large really means.

It may seem like an abstract concept, but in reality we use Socratic questions in many different areas of day to day life. Here are some examples.

Socratic questioning is a valuable psychotherapeutic tool. "Socratic questioning is very helpful when a client is new and closed off, when a client is stuck in their thought process or memory, and also when a client is stuck in an emotion ," explains Dobson. She uses Socratic questioning right at the start of a new client relationship, employing the questions to discern why someone is seeking therapy and what the purpose of it will be for them.

This questioning style can be used throughout therapy, and offers a way to facilitate communication and forward progression. "When a client is stuck in their thought process or memory, Socratic questioning is very helpful to help them think about other aspects of their memory," says Dobson. "For example, when somebody is having recurring visual flashbacks of a trauma and severe emotional reactions, Socratic questioning is very helpful to start grounding the reality of the memory by exploring our thoughts around it and the emotions that come up."

Socratic questioning is particularly useful in therapy when other methods have stalled and a client is having trouble moving through an issue. "Socratic questioning allows us to explore assumptions around how we think we should feel and the evidence that lends to how we determine it's okay to feel this way and to stay this way," says Dobson.

News Interviews

We tune into the news to not just hear about what's going on in the world, but also to gain an understanding of it. Dobson explains, "the reporter will ask an open ended question to an individual, "How did you feel when that happened?" and then follow up with questions that clarify the answer, probe for more details, explore the areas of the person's reaction, push alternative viewpoints or perspectives (commonly seen in high profile interview guests), and then take a moment to reflect on the conversation and offer closure." This is the entirety of the Socratic questioning method, step by step.

The legal system is an arena that's full of Socratic questioning. "A great example is when a lawyer asked me, "So Dr. Dobson, can you explain to the jury how trauma forms? Can you provide an example? How do you know this is true? Do you have data? If this is true, what does it mean for a person who also has anxiety? If it is not trauma, what else could it be? Why does talking about trauma matter in this case?" recalls Dobson.

Benefits of Applying Socratic Questioning

As you can see, Socratic questioning has a variety of uses. It also has numerous benefits in the world. In therapy, it helps people move through challenging issues. In media , it is used to give us deeper understanding of important events and the mindsets of the people involved in them.

Additionally, it allows everyone to better understand their own thoughts and feelings. By asking probing questions that force us to think more thoroughly through why we feel and behave the ways we do, we're able to gain more understanding of ourselves and others.

Potential Challenges with Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning isn't perfect, and it can't necessarily solve all problems or help everyone through every challenge. The biggest problem with it is that it relies on a person being able to clearly articulate their thoughts and feelings, and some people have a hard time with that.

It could also lead a person to feel attacked, if the questions are too probing. And sometimes, people aren't ready to think of a situation from someone else's perspective, or able yet to gain understanding of what the implications or consequences are of an event. Socratic questioning needs to be used at the right time, and in appropriate situations, for it to be useful.

Practical Guidelines for Using Socratic Questioning

If you find yourself interested in this method of communication, you can begin employing it at any time. Here are some guidelines for adding Socratic questioning into your day to day life.

• Listen and reflect : Pay attention to what others tell you, and validate their voice by reflecting their words back to them.
• Ask better questions : Rather than just asking someone what happened in a situation, delve deeper by asking for their feelings about it and motivations .
• Get outside your own mind : Think of situations from others' perspectives, and encourage those you know to do the same.
• Look for evidence: Challenge your assumptions and those of others by seeking evidence for why someone holds the perspective they do.

Therapy Tip

Dobson reminds us that when using Socratic questioning in therapy, "it is important to check in with your client verbally and also pay attention to their behavioral cues." That's because "you may be coming off as too assertive , or the client may not have the cognitive capacity to grasp your questions." She reminds us that Socratic questioning is a communication style, not a therapeutic modality, and should be used accordingly.

Schneider J. Remembrance of things past: a history of the socratic method in the united states.   Curriculum Inquiry . 2013;43(5):613-640.

Guided_Therapy.

By Ariane Resnick, CNC Ariane Resnick, CNC is a mental health writer, certified nutritionist, and wellness author who advocates for accessibility and inclusivity.

Importance of Questioning: Unlocking Critical Thinking Skills

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on April 7, 2023

Categories Self Improvement

Questioning is one of the most powerful tools in our repertoire. Whether we’re engaged in thoughtful conversations with someone else, actively exploring a problem to find a solution, or simply looking to understand ourselves better and the world around us – questioning plays a vital role! Asking the right questions can spark insightful dialogue, uncover new perspectives, stimulate creativity, and inspire meaningful growth. In today’s society, it can be easy to accept ideas without pause; however, just a moment to interrogate our thoughts can open up countless possibilities. We invite you to join us on this journey as we explore why questioning should be at the heart of all learning experiences!

The Importance of Questioning in Enhancing Critical Thinking and Learning

Questioning plays a crucial role in the development of critical thinking and learning.

Students, for example, engage in deeper analysis and evaluate the information presented by asking questions. This process helps them not only to retain new knowledge but also to comprehend complex ideas and make meaningful connections between different concepts.

The act of questioning promotes curiosity and enhances thinking, ultimately improving the overall learning experience.

Intentional questioning can significantly influence the quality of teaching and learning. Teachers who ask thought-provoking questions encourage students to think critically and exercise their problem-solving skills.

Moreover, better questions stimulate students’ curiosity and motivate them to participate actively in learning.

The practice of questioning not only improves critical thinking but also enhances communication skills. Students who engage in questioning-based learning are more likely to articulate their thoughts and ideas effectively. This fosters a culture of independent thinking and enriches the learning environment.

Furthermore, implementing questioning techniques within classrooms helps students develop vital skills for the future.

In a rapidly changing world, asking better questions and analyzing problems thoroughly are essential for success. Using questions as a foundation for learning, students can acquire the mental agility to navigate the complexities of the 21st century.

Roles of Questioning

Critical thinking.

Questioning plays a crucial role in developing critical thinking skills. By asking questions, we are encouraged to think deeply and analyze the information before reaching a conclusion. This approach helps us develop the ability to evaluate and synthesize data, improving our decision-making and problem-solving skills.

Furthermore, questioning helps us understand different perspectives by challenging assumptions.

Active Learning

Employing questioning techniques supports active learning.

When we actively ask and answer questions, we are more likely to retain information and gain a deeper understanding of the material. We can use various questions, such as open-ended, closed, leading, or probing, to engage in topics and create an interactive learning environment.

When encouraged to participate in questioning, we become more invested in learning and more likely to acquire new knowledge and skills.

Building Engagement

Questioning fosters engagement and curiosity. We can stimulate and maintain our interest in subjects by asking thought-provoking and relevant questions. Engaging our minds through questioning increases participation, enhancing learning outcomes.

Effective questioning techniques can establish a positive climate where we feel comfortable expressing our ideas and opinions.

This environment promotes collaboration and peer learning together to explore and analyze ideas.

Types of Questions

Questioning promotes learning, fosters critical thinking, and facilitates communication. This section introduces different types of questions that can be used to elicit various responses and stimulate meaningful conversations. It is important to be aware of these distinctions when constructing questions, whether in an educational, professional, or personal context.

Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions encourage a comprehensive, thoughtful response and foster an open conversation. These questions typically begin with words such as “what,” “how,” “why,” or “describe.” Some examples of open-ended questions:

• What did you learn from that experience?
• How would you approach this problem?
• Why do you think this is the best course of action?

Open-ended questions can be used to probe further into a topic, foster creative thinking, or gather opinions or insights about a specific issue. They allow respondents to express their thoughts and opinions more freely and deeply than closed-ended questions.

When making documentary films, I found open-ended questions essential in garnering worthy testimonies from interviewees on camera.

Closed-Ended Questions

Closed-ended questions typically have a limited set of possible answers, such as “yes” or “no,” “true” or “false,” or a choice between multiple options. These questions help obtain specific information or gauge someone’s knowledge. Examples of closed-ended questions:

• Did you complete the project on time?
• Is that statement true or false?
• Which option do you prefer: A, B, or C?

While closed-ended questions can limit the depth of responses, they can provide focused answers and streamline decision-making in certain situations. Additionally, closed-ended questions are effective for surveys or assessments requiring quantitative data analysis.

Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning refers to a disciplined and thoughtful style of questioning that encourages critical thinking and deep reflection. Socratic questioning can include clarifying, analyzing, probing assumptions, questioning viewpoints, and exploring implications. Examples of Socratic questions:

• What evidence supports your claim?
• What might be the consequences of that decision?
• Can you explain the reasoning behind your opinion?

Socratic questioning can enrich discussions, stimulate critical thinking, and challenge assumptions or biases. This approach helps develop a deeper understanding of a topic and fosters an environment of inquiry and intellectual curiosity.

Benefits of Questioning

Questioning serves a crucial role in personal and professional growth. This section discusses the various benefits of questioning, focusing on three key sub-sections: Improved Decision Making, Enhanced Problem Solving, and Increased Creativity.

Improved Decision Making

Asking the right questions helps individuals gather vital information to make informed decisions. It allows them to explore different perspectives and weigh the pros and cons of each option.

Furthermore, questioning promotes critical thinking, enabling individuals to evaluate the credibility of sources and the accuracy of information. In the long run, a proper questioning practice builds a foundation for sound decision-making skills and helps individuals achieve better outcomes.

Enhanced Problem Solving

Questioning is a powerful tool for identifying the root causes of problems and developing efficient solutions. By asking relevant questions, individuals can isolate the critical aspects of a challenge and connect the dots between different pieces of information. This process fosters clarity and understanding, which are essential for effective problem-solving.

The habit of questioning also helps individuals develop the skills of pattern recognition, analysis, and synthesis, contributing to their overall problem-solving abilities.

Increased Creativity

One of the main drivers of creativity and innovation is the ability to ask open-ended, thought-provoking questions. Effective questioning encourages individuals to think outside the box, foster curiosity, and cultivate a sense of wonder.

When people engage in questioning, they form new patterns and connections in the brain, resulting in increased mental flexibility and adaptability. This enhanced mental agility enables individuals to consider alternative viewpoints and generate unique ideas, ultimately leading to heightened creativity.

Questioning in Education

The role of questioning in promoting a deeper understanding of subject matter.

Questioning is crucial in promoting a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Educators can stimulate discussion, foster creative and critical thinking, and identify student misconceptions by engaging students with thought-provoking questions.

This process helps students review, restate, and emphasize essential concepts, making them more likely to retain and apply their knowledge meaningfully.

Different Types of Questions and Their Impact on Student Learning

In the classroom, various types of questions can impact student learning differently. Some examples include:

• Lower-order questions: These questions typically focus on recalling information and basic comprehension. While they help build a foundation, they may not push students to develop higher-order thinking skills.
• Higher-order questions require students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information, promoting deeper learning and critical thinking.
• Inquiry-based questions are open-ended and designed to inspire curiosity, empowering students to participate in their learning journey actively.

Supporting Inquiry-Based Learning

Educators can support inquiry-based learning by fostering an environment in which questions are encouraged and valued. This approach prioritizes student curiosity, allowing them to explore the subject matter through their questions and ideas rather than relying solely on teacher-led instruction.

Inquiry-based learning helps students develop essential skills such as independent thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication.

Developing Essential Skills

Effective questioning techniques can help students develop essential skills beyond the classroom. By engaging with meaningful questions, students learn to think critically, communicate complex ideas, and collaborate with peers to solve problems. These abilities are vital for academic success and personal and professional growth.

Overcoming Barriers to Effective Questioning

Effective questioning is essential in promoting learning and critical thinking. However, specific barriers may hinder the questioning process.

Dealing with Fear

Fear is one of the main barriers to effective questioning, as it may discourage us from asking questions or expressing our thoughts. To address this issue:

• We should foster an open, non-judgmental atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable asking questions.
• Encourage people to practice asking questions in a non-threatening setting, such as small groups or pair works.
• Offer positive reinforcement for questioning, emphasizing the value of curiosity and learning from mistakes.
• In an educational context, teach students how to ask clear, concise questions by providing examples and guidance.

Cultivating a Positive Environment

A positive environment is also crucial in facilitating effective questioning. We can cultivate a conducive learning atmosphere by:

• Modeling open-mindedness and demonstrating respect for diverse opinions.
• Creating opportunities for collaborative learning that encourage inquiry and problem-solving.
• Recognizing and addressing any biases, stereotypes, or misconceptions that may hinder questioning.
• Building trust by consistently assigning equal value to their contributions and promoting a sense of camaraderie.

Encouraging Peer Support

Peer support plays a vital role in overcoming the barriers to effective questioning. To nurture peer support with students, for example:

• Implement collaborative learning activities, such as group discussions, debates, or projects, where students work together towards a common goal.
• Teach students the importance and value of supporting their peers in the quest for knowledge, highlighting the collective benefits of a knowledge-sharing culture.
• Encourage students to offer positive feedback and constructive criticism.
• Provide opportunities for students to teach and learn from each other, illustrating the power of a knowledge-sharing network.

By implementing these strategies for Dealing with Fear, Cultivating a Positive Environment, and Encouraging Peer Support, teachers can effectively overcome the barriers to questioning in the learning environment.

Professional Development for Effective Questioning

Effective questioning is crucial for educators, team leaders, and professionals in various fields. As such, seeking professional development opportunities to hone this skill is essential. Focusing on different questioning techniques can lead to better communication, enhanced problem-solving, and improved group dynamics.

One way to develop questioning skills is by attending workshops, seminars, or communication and questioning techniques courses. Examples include the Chicago Center for Teaching and the Center for Teaching Innovation programs. These offerings provide information on asking open-ended questions, encouraging higher-order thinking, and stimulating group discussion.

Another approach is self-reflective practice, which involves reviewing and evaluating one’s questioning habits. This can be done by:

• Auditing the types of questions you ask in various contexts
• Analyzing the impact of your questions on group dynamics
• Identifying areas for improvement and setting specific goals

Online resources, like articles on questioning techniques and professional advice, can also help supplement professional development efforts. These sources offer tips and examples of effective probing, leading, and open questions that can be adapted to various settings.

Finally, engaging with peers and mentors is essential to professional development. Participating in professional learning communities, seeking feedback from colleagues, and observing skilled questioners in action can provide valuable insights on improving one’s questioning techniques.

The Impact of Effective Questioning on Comprehension and Idea Generation

Effective questioning is crucial in fostering deep comprehension and promoting idea generation. Using thought-provoking questions, we can actively engage with the content and think critically about the subject matter.

This approach reinforces learning and encourages us to develop our perspectives and ideas.

Utilizing various questioning techniques allows us to address different learning styles and preferences, catering to our diverse needs.

15 Questions that Teachers and Parents Can Ask Kids to Encourage Critical Thinking

By Maureen Leming

Each student walks across the graduation stage, diploma in one hand and a proverbial toolbox in the other. Inside the box is every skill and piece of knowledge they've learned throughout their childhood. The contents of this toolbox will be their building blocks to success beyond high school.

In addition to impressive classroom discoveries — like producing electricity from potatoes or building their own paper mache volcano — there's a vital skill every student should possess: critical thinking. They'll use this skill to assess, critique, and create, propelling them to thrive in the real world as they participate in engaging conversations and offer constructive solutions to real-world issues.

Fortunately, this valuable skill can be developed both inside and out of the classroom. Teachers and parents can encourage kids to think deeply and critically about the world by asking good questions. We'll explore why, as parents and teachers, the questions we ask our kids matter — and what we can be asking to help them excel.

How Questions Guide Young Students’ Critical Thinking 

Critical thinking is about so much more than simply knowing the facts. Thinking critically involves applying reason and logic to assess arguments and come to your own conclusions. Instead of reciting facts or giving a textbook answer, critical thinking skills encourage students to move beyond knowing information and get to the heart of what they really think and believe. 

15 Questions to Encourage Critical Thinking

What is one of the best ways to encourage critical thinking? By asking excellent questions! 

We have compiled a list of 15 questions that you, as a teacher or parent, can ask to encourage kids to think outside the box. Let's dive in.

1. How Do You Know This? 

Whether it was by word of mouth, classroom knowledge, or a news report, this question prompts students to consider whether their source of information is reputable.

2. How Would Your Perspective Be Different If You Were on the Opposing Side?

This question encourages kids to role-play from an opposing person’s viewpoint and discover a perspective outside their own so that they can better understand the broader situation. Extracurriculars like debate class — mandatory for all Hun middle school students — is a powerful way to accomplish this goal, as students must thoughtfully anticipate their opposition's arguments in order to counter them.

3. How Would You Solve This Problem?

Finding creative solutions to common problems is a valuable life skill. This question is the perfect opportunity to encourage young minds to wander!

4. Do You Agree or Disagree — and Why?

Choosing a side in any debate challenges students to consider both perspectives, weigh the arguments, and make an informed choice. 

5. Why? Why? Why?

Just like when you were a young kid, ask why repeatedly to push students beyond a simple first, second, or even third answer, to get to the real depth. Be careful, though, not to ask them to the point of frustration — you want learning and exploring to be a positive experience.

6. How Could We Avoid This Problem in the Future?

Ask students to apply critical thinking by analyzing how they could prevent a certain issue from reoccurring.

7. Why Does It Matter?

Whether they're learning about a historical event or a mathematical concept, it's important to understand why the topic is relevant today.

8. What's Another Way to Look at This Issue?

It can be easy to learn one worldview and automatically believe it is the only, or the best, way. Challenging kids to think of a creative alternate perspective encourages them to think more broadly.

9. Can You Give Me an Example?

Inventing an example, or pulling from experience to share a real one, is an excellent way to apply critical thinking skills.

10. How Could It Have Ended Differently?

It takes some innovation and careful analysis to storyboard a different ending, considering "what could have been" rather than "what is." 

11. When Will We Be Able to Tell If It Worked?

Kids will be pushed to consider what constitutes success and how it can be measured in scenarios where the results aren't set in stone.

12. Why did you ask that question?

Instead of answering a question at face value, this question encourages kids to think about what the merits of the question may be.

13. Who Would Be Affected by This?

Students as the next generation of leaders and game-changers. When making any decision, it's important to consider who will be impacted and how.

14. What Can This Story Teach Us About Our Own Lives?

From literature to social studies, students interact with all kinds of different stories. Help them take these narratives one step further by examining how it relates to their lives.

15. Why Is This a Problem?

Analyzing why something is a problem — rather than just accepting that it is — will help students develop strong problem-solving skills of their own.

The Hun School of Princeton Teaches Critical Thinking

At the Hun School of Princeton, our teachers ask these questions, and more, in combination with our student-centered learning approach that helps kids of all ages think critically about what they’re learning. 

As a premier private school in Princeton, NJ , we aim to help students think deeply and develop well-rounded skill sets through immersive, problem-based learning . 

Schedule a tour today to see our program in action!

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85 Critical Thinking Questions to Carefully Examine Any Information

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The ability to think critically will often determine your success in life.

Let’s face it. Every day, we are bombarded by news, social media updates, and an avalanche of information. If you take all of this at face value, it’s easy to be deceived, misled or ripped off.

That’s why it’s important to  develop a mindset that focuses on critical thinking . This is a skill that needs to be developed in the classroom. But it’s also a valuable life skill.

With that in mind, the following post will share 85 critical thinking questions you can use to increase your awareness about different problems by carefully examining available information. 

Let’s get started…

Table of Contents

What Are Critical Thinking Questions?

Critical thinking questions are inquiries that help you think rationally and clearly by understanding the link between different facts or ideas. These questions create a seemingly endless learning process that lets you critique, evaluate, and develop a depth of knowledge about a given subject. Moreover, you get to reinforce your viewpoints or see things in a new way.

We make decisions every day, whether at work or home. Adopting logical, rational, and practical approaches in addressing various issues requiring critical thinking is essential in decision-making. Therefore, before arriving at a decision, always ask yourself relevant questions and carefully analyze the matter’s pros and cons.

Critical Thinking Questions When in an Argument

When you make an argument using a critical thinking approach, you focus on justified claims that are valid and based on evidence. It helps one establish a strong argument.

• Do I disagree with the other person? Might the person I'm arguing with be misinformed on what they are saying?
• Would I be comfortable saying what I am telling him/her if I was in front of a group of people? 
• What would happen if I lose this argument? Is engaging in this argument worth my time and energy? How will I feel if I lose?
• Is there room for ambiguity or misinterpretation? Are we arguing because I didn't make my point explicit? Should I take my time to understand his school of thought?
• Do I need some rest before saying something? Am I arguing because of other reasons other than the issues at hand? Do I need to take some time and cool down?

• Is it more important that I’m right? Am I trying to ask to prove an unnecessary point?
• Is this argument inductive, deductive, or abductive? Is it a weak or strong argument that I need to engage in? Is it compelling or sound? 
• Is my opponent sincere? Given that they are wrong, are they willing to admit that they are wrong? Can they depend on available evidence, wherever it leads?
• Are my opponents only trying to shift their burden to me? What is the best way to prove them wrong without making them feel bad?
• Are the people I'm arguing with only interested in winning, or are they trying to pass some information across and help me discover the truth?

Critical Thinking Questions When Reading a Book 

When you read a book, you probably ask yourself many “why” questions. Why is this a problem? Why did the character say that? Why is this important? The most challenging part of reading a book is assessing the information you are reading. These questions can help.

• If I learn only two things from this book, what will they be? How will they help me? How will I apply them in my daily life?
• What message are the authors trying to pass across? Are they making suggestions or providing evidence for their arguments?
• Given that almost every book is about solving problems, what is the most prevalent issue that the author is trying to solve?
• What is the author’s writing style? What strategy or master plan does the author employ to convey his/her main ideas throughout the book?
• Do I have background information about the book’s topic? If so, how is what the author is saying different from what I already know?
• What didn’t I understand from the book? Should I re-read the book to understand everything the writer is trying to convey?
• Which sections of the book do I love the most, and why? Generally, do I like this book? Should I look for more books that are written by the same author?
• If I had a chance to meet this book’s author, what questions would I ask him/her? What would I tell the writer about the book? Is it a great book worth recommending to your friends and family members?
• Who are the main characters of the book? If there is only one main character, what overarching goal does the character accomplish?
• In what ways did the protagonist change from the start of the book to the end? What caused the changes? Was the protagonist reckless in some ways? Which ways?

Critical Thinking Questions to Spot a Scam

Asking questions when you feel that a fraud or a scam is being presented to you is a good way to stretch your critical thinking muscles. Are you being emailed or messaged by a stranger? Or maybe there are other red flags you are unsure about. If so, ask these questions.

• Does it seem to be too good to be true? Is this stranger pushy or trying to lure me into making a poor decision?
• When trying out online dating: Is my new “friend” professing strong feelings towards me although we’ve only interacted for a few hours?
• Why is a stranger calling me to ask about my Social Security Number (SSN), personal contact information, or bank details while claiming they are from the bank or a phone company? 
• When buying products online, why does the seller ask me to pay for goods using an insecure payment option like Bitcoin or money order?
• Does the email I have received have any spelling or grammatical errors? Is the language used overly formal or informal?
• If I do a quick search about the exact words of the email I received, does Google indicate it's a fraud or scam?
• Why should a stranger manipulate me using obvious questions like “Would you want to be rich or poor?” While they already know the answer?
• Is the email asking me to download an attachment? Or click a link to some insecure website? 
• Is the person trying to make me feel selfish or guilty for not sending them money, whether for a donation or buying a product? 
• Is the stranger portraying a sense of urgency and using pressure tactics? Are they telling me that their family member needs urgent medical attention?

Critical Thinking Questions About Your Life

It can also help to ask yourself a few critical thinking questions about your life. This way, you can gather basic information and uncover solutions to problems you might not have otherwise thought of.

• Where do I wish to be in a few years, probably two, three, or five years? What short-term and long-term goals should I set?
• What have I achieved so far from the time I set my previous goals? What should I be grateful for?
• Do I have any values that guide me in life? If so, what are these values? Am I always true to these values?
• Am I always worried about what people around me think? Can I act independently without the need to meet social expectations?
• What should people say about me at my funeral? Would they talk about how good I made them feel or how rich and flashy I was?
• If I wasn't afraid of anyone or anything, what would I have done? What if I didn't have any fear in me?
• If today was my last day, what extraordinary thing would I do? Can I do it right now?
• What should I do with the things that matter the most to me? 
• What things will make the greatest difference in my future life if I take action now?
• How should I react when I feel unwanted by the people I love the most? Should I tell them?

Critical Thinking Questions for a Debate or Discussion

When you are in the middle of a debate or discussion, you need to know that what you are saying is fact, have evidence to support your claim, and position yourself as an expert in what you are saying. Here are some critical thinking questions to ask when you are in a debate or discussion.

• Is there fairness in this discussion? Is the moderator supporting one side? Do they want to make one side look stupid or wrong? 
• What is the aim of this discussion? Is there a major problem that needs to be solved? If so, how can I help solve it?
• Who are the people affected by this discussion? If they were here, what would they say?
• Do my views on this discussion matter? If I raise my point, will I be redundant?
• What am I supposed to learn from this debate, and how can I use what I have learned in my daily life?
• Does the audience seem to be biased towards one side? Are they booing one side? What can I do even if it's our opponents being booed?
• Who are the discussion panel members? What views have they held about this kind of discussion or any other related discussions in the past?
• How can I make my point without being ambiguous? Before I speak, should I take down some notes to avoid any confusion during my speech?
• Am I ready to apologize if I make a mistake during the discussion? If so, what are the limits?
• What information does my team, or I need before this discussion? 

Critical Thinking Questions About Lying

Admitting when you are wrong, choosing not to cheat, and sharing constructive feedback are all ways to show your honesty. Here are some critical thinking skills to ask regarding lying.

• Will the lie hurt those I am telling, or will it help them? What if being honest might cause my friend unnecessary pain?
• Should I be the one telling this person a lie, or I let someone else do it? 
• Will I be the one hurt if I tell this lie? Will my friend feel I am a betrayer? Will it affect our friendship?
• Do they answer my questions in detail, or are they always trying to ignore and dodge the main problem?
• What if I ask these people the same question using different terms and wording? Will they give me the same response?
• Did the tone of my friend suddenly change after I asked him/her this question? Do they sound louder, faster, or slower compared to how they usually speak?
• Does this person have something to gain by lying to me? What is their motive?
• Does this person take a sudden pause or hesitate more than usual when responding to my question?
• When I look at these people's faces, do their facial expressions match what they say?
• Should I believe this person or not? What are my intuitions? Does it look like they are telling the truth?
• Do they blink like other days when I ask them questions? Are they always trying to avoid direct eye contact?
• Why do they seem uncomfortable when it’s just a normal conversation?  

Critical Thinking Questions When Presented With a Claim

Critical thinking is much more than just evaluating whether a claim is true or not. It also means a critical thinker reflects on what follows from true claims.

• What does this claim mean, and what are its implications? What if it's a false claim?
• Which of my morals, values, or beliefs do I have to give up to accept this claim?
• Do professionals in this field agree or disagree with the claim that has been made?
• Do they have evidence to back their claim? Which is the most robust evidence to support the claim?
• What argument can I come up with to refute this claim? Or what is the best view that can support this claim?
• Who is the primary source of the claim being made? Is the basis of the claim reliable?
• Is it a claim, or it's just an opinion?
• Is the claim likely to be 100% false, true, or partially true?
• Am I allowed to refute the claim and table my evidence, or is it one-sided?

Critical Thinking Interview Questions

Critical thinking skills are valuable in any industry or field and for almost all roles. During a job interview, you will be asked questions so the potential employer can assess your skills and see how you use logic. Your critical thinking ability is just one vital part that can play into your professional development.

• Is there a time you had to convince someone to use an alternate approach to solve a problem?
• Have you ever had to make a difficult decision quickly?
• How would you handle a situation where your supervisor handled something wrong or made a mistake?
• What is one of the most difficult decisions you have ever had to make at work?
• How would you solve a disagreement between coworkers when approaching a project?
• Can you describe a time when you anticipated a problem ahead of time and took the appropriate steps to stop the problem from becoming an issue?
• If you discover a cheaper way to do something or a better solution to a problem and try to explain it to your supervisor, but they don’t understand, what do you do?

Critical Thinking Questions for Kids

We can’t leave the kids out either. Critical thinking questions for kids get them thinking and talking. It also allows a parent to get to know their child better.

• How many grains of sand do you think are on the beach?
• What would happen if it stopped raining?
• Do you think there is life on other planets?
• Should children be able to set their own bedtimes?
• How would you describe what a tree looks like without saying green or leaves?
• Can you name five different emotions?
• Can you talk for five minutes without uttering “um?”

What Are the Basic Principles of Critical Thinking?

Your critical thinking skills involve gathering complete information, understanding and defining terms, questioning the methods by which we get facts, questioning the conclusions, and looking for hidden assumptions and biases.

Additionally, we can’t expect to find all of the answers, and we need to take the time to examine the big picture of it all.

Here are the basic principles:

• Disposition: Someone with critical thinking skills is often skeptical, open-minded, and practices fair-mindedness. They can look at different viewpoints and change positions if the evidence and reason lead them to do so.
• Criteria: In order to think critically, one must also apply criteria. Certain conditions must be met before someone believes in something. The information needs to be from credible sources.
• Argument: An argument is simply a statement or proposition that is shown with supporting evidence. When you use your critical thinking skills, you identify, evaluate, and construct your argument.
• Reasoning: With critical thinking comes reasoning. You must examine logical relationships among the statements being made.
• Point of View: Critical thinkers can see things from different perspectives and different points of view.

What Are Good Analysis Questions?

Analysis is a part of critical thinking that allows you to examine something carefully. Someone with analytical skills can examine the information presented, understand what that information means, and then properly explain that information to others. Analysis in critical thinking provides more clarity on the information you process.

When analyzing, you may ask yourself, “how do I know this,” how would I solve this problem,” and “why does it matter?”

Why Is Critical Thinking an Important Skill?

Critical thinking skills allow you to express thoughts, ideas, and beliefs in a better way. It also leads to improved communication while allowing others to understand you better. Critical thinking fosters creativity and encourages out-of-the-box thinking. This is a skill that can be applied to many different areas of your life.

For example, knowing the answers to critical thinking questions for a job interview will better prepare you for the interview. Many employers, during questioning, are likely to ask you critical thinking questions to assess if you have the ability to evaluate information effectively so you can make more informed decisions.

Final Thoughts on Critical Thinking Questions

Although it's common to get torn between making two or more choices, nobody wants to make the wrong decision. The only thing you can do to avoid this is use critical thinking questions to examine your situation. The answers to these questions will help you make informed decisions and help you comprehend crucial matters in your life. 

Want to learn more about critical thinking and decision-making using a real-life example? Here is  how Jeff Bezos uses critical thinking  to make some of the most challenging life decisions.

Finally, if you want to ask better questions, then watch this short, 20-minute course to learn how to have a great conversation with virtually anyone .

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Effectiveness of guided inquiry learning model to improve students' critical thinking skills at senior high school

E K Nisa 1 , T Koestiari 2 , M Habibbulloh 3 and Budi Jatmiko 4

Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd Journal of Physics: Conference Series , Volume 997 , Seminar Nasional Fisika (SNF) 2017 25 November 2017, Surabaya, Indonesia Citation E K Nisa et al 2018 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 997 012049 DOI 10.1088/1742-6596/997/1/012049

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1 Physics Teacher of Public Senior High School-1 Tarik, Sidoarjo, Indonesia

2 Department of Chemistry, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia

3 Physics Teacher of Vocational High School IKIP Surabaya, Indonesia

4 Department of Physics, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia

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This research aimed to describe the effectiveness of guided inquiry learning model to improve students' critical thinking skills. Subjects in the research were 90 students at three groups of senior high school grade X on Tarik (Indonesia), which follows a physics lesson on static fluid material in academic year 2016/2017. The research was used one group pre-test and post-test design. Before and after being given physics learning with guided discovery learning model, students in the three groups were given the same test (pre-test and post-test). The results of this research showed: 1) there is an increased score of students' critical thinking skills in each group on α = 5%; 2) average N-gain of students' critical thinking skills of each group is a high category; and 3) average N-gain of the three groups did not differ. The conclusion of this research is that learning model of guided inquiry effective to improve students' critical thinking skills.

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Encourage Curiosity, Spark Inquiry: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions

Written by Maureen McGail , AP-TIP Science Content Director, University of Notre Dame; Melissa Burger , AP-TIP Science Support Specialist AP Environmental Science, Greenwood Community High School; Jacob Bowman , AP-TIP Science Support Specialist AP Physics, Norwell High School; Kevin Morse , AP-TIP Science Support Specialist AP Chemistry, Westfield High School; and Kristi Phillippe , AP-TIP Science Support Specialist AP Biology, Marion High School

“There’s no such thing as a bad question.”

We hear this over and over during our lives, and we repeat it in hopes of sparking engagement and curiosity. It’s true that there are no bad questions, but there are better questions for the situation or for what you’re trying to find out. 

How can we foster inquiry and teach our students to ask better questions and also seek the best answers? The Question Formulation Technique (QFT), a research-based instructional strategy developed by the Right Question Institute, does just that. It focuses on improving one’s ability to articulate thoughts, ask the best question and seek out the right answers.

One thing that sets the QFT apart from other instructional strategies is its simplicity. QFT empowers students to generate questions based on a teacher-designed Question Focus (QFocus) using just four straightforward rules: 

• Ask as many questions as you can
• Do not stop to answer, judge or discuss
• Write down every question exactly as stated
• Change any statements into questions

This accessible format grants all students the confidence to actively participate and have their voices heard. This strategy is approachable for new and experienced teachers. 

A critical attribute of using QFT in different ways is developing a QFocus , which will lead students to ask questions that will guide the learning or application of content. Using a basic template , educators can quickly create lessons to encourage students to formulate questions about content in their curricula. Teachers can also easily gauge interest by reviewing questions at the beginning of a unit to tailor lesson plans to suit the needs and curiosities of their students. 

This approach is not exclusively about asking questions. It’s about cultivating a mindset of inquiry and ownership of learning. 

The QFT helps students move away from passively receiving information to actively engaging to develop the critical thinking skills they need. This process allows for students to engage in metacognition and reflect on the importance of asking good questions. The skills developed using the QFT are invaluable as students grow into lifelong learners.

The QFT strategy can be used in multiple ways to improve student engagement and understanding. It can be used to introduce a new concept, review a unit, develop a question to investigate or focus thinking to allow students to dig deeper into an application of an idea.

Using QFT to introduce a concept builds framework, activates prior knowledge, increases student investment and involves all students. QFT allows for organic student-led investigations by having the students develop questions centered around a phenomenon, which can lead to further discovery through experimentation. When examining data, QFT has students look deeply at the numbers and graphs to ask questions before drawing conclusions or making explanations.

In our experience, all students struggle to create their own questions due to a lack of practice. This highlights the importance of the technique. Writing good questions is challenging, but students improve each time they try. 

We have learned that the QFT is a critical strategy because it involves all students each doing their own thinking and generating their own questions. 

While success with the QFT takes time and practice, the process only needs to be taught once for it to become natural for students. The QFT process engages students and makes them more connected to learning, allowing for more student-led classroom experiences. This process teaches students to ask their own questions, even outside your classroom and the formal QFT process.

We are confident that you and your students will see the value of QFT. Challenge yourself to try QFT in any subject! 

If you are looking for more QFT information, watch the AP-TIP QFT Video Series , read the RQI article , check out RQI resources or maybe lead a QFT book study . You’ll find that QFT is a deceptively simple yet important practice that will encourage curiosity, spark inquiry and result in students taking ownership for their learning.