Getting Critical About Critical Thinking

This ARTICLE article primarily caught my eye because the of the reference to "Reality Bites". I love 90's movies! We all know in the world we live in, we are constantly barraged with acronyms and buzz words. 

Critical thinking is one of those, but as this author points out, it's nice to say that's what we're striving for and another thing to be able to define it and apply it in pedagogical practice. The author of the article argues, "Critical thinking is when the brain is active, making connections to the material and applying original thought to the concept. It’s the difference between struggling to remember (“ugh!”) and struggling to solve (“yeah!”).

Here's some strategies she suggests to get started. She provides links to resources for each of these in the article itself:

1. Adopt a PBL philosophy. 
2. Explore the world in a subject-area scavenger hunt. 
3. Utilize habits of mind.
4. Require reflection. 
5. Teach students to question.