Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum, 4th edition

For Freshman Orientation or Critical Thinking courses as well as a supplementary text for use in any subject-matter at any educational level.

This concise, effective guide is designed to help students learn to think critically in any subject-matter.
A combination of instruction and exercises shows them how to use critical thinking to become active learners rather than passive recipients of information, to more fully appreciate the power of the discipline they are studying, to see its connections to other fields and to their day-to-day lives, and to maintain an overview of the field so they can see the parts in terms of the whole. The model of critical thinking (used throughout the book) is in terms of the elements of reasoning, standards, and critical thinking processes. This model is well-suited to thinking through any problem or question. The 4th Edition reflects streamlined writing, with changes and substantial edits on virtually every page.

Designed to fit with any level of teacher involvement–Works for instructors who want to focus directly on critical thinking in the way they teach their discipline, as well as those who want to allow their students to work through critical thinking questions on their own, while class time is spent on subject matter instruction. (Throughout.)

• Allows students to self-study, freeing up valuable class time.

Based on Richard Paul's articulation of critical thinking–Used by hundreds of teachers with great success in all disciplines taught at the college level; the major theme of the annual International Conference on Critical Thinking, held each summer by the Foundation for Critical Thinking; and the model in workshops on critical thinking presented by the Foundation for Critical Thinking. (Throughout.)

• Provides instructors with the first short published presentation of the model designed specifically for use in courses across the curriculum. Provides students with a flexible and generalizable model for thinking critically, one that is accepted widely, using a common and non-technical critical-thinking vocabulary.

A focus on high intellectual standards. (Throughout, but the intellectual standards are the focus of Chapter 4.)

• Teaches students 1) to be clear in their writing, reading, speaking, understanding; in the problems they identify, reformulate, address, and find solutions for; 2) to be accurate in their reading and in their rendition of other points of view; 3) to focus on what is relevant and important to the question at hand, rather than dwelling on minor side issues; 4) to go deep enough to address the complexities and the underlying factors of an issue; 5) to be precise, sufficient in their reasoning, and as comprehensive as the topic requires.

A strong emphasis on critical writing, including a  section on writing a critical-thinking paper of any length, as well as inset boxes, exercises, samples, and short sections on key aspects of critical writing in a discipline. (In every chapter, with the section on Writing a Paper at the end of Chapter 5.)

• Guides students through a structured process of critical writing, based on an analysis of a topic, and gives students practice at and instruction in their writing.

SEE-I: A process of clarifying by stating, elaborating on, exemplifying, and illustrating. (Introduced in Chapter 1, it is then used in exercises and explanations throughout the book .)

• SEE-I can be used as an assignment-tool and an assessment-tool on any important ideas in the course.  It gives students a way to prepare for exams, both in this course and in others. It enables them to be actively thinking their way through the ideas in any course.

"Outcomes" sections. (At the end of each chapter.)

• Helps students assess their progress in learning to think critically within and about the discipline.

NEW - Ideas for Writing. In keeping with a greater emphasis on critical writing, there is a new section at the end of each chapter on Ideas for Writing. This section suggests topics or questions from the chapter or the book as a whole for students to write about in a short assignment, a longer essay, or in their journal. It also prompts students to come up with similar ideas for writing on their own. (End of every chapter.)

• Helps students see the value of writing as a way to develop their critical thinking in the discipline, and appreciate the wealth of topics and ideas that they themselves can generate using critical thinking concepts and discipline-based concepts.

NEW - Tell Your Story. A section at the end of each chapter asks students to reflect on and write about their own personal history, their own story, with respect both to critical-thinking concepts and to concepts in the discipline. (End of every chapter.)

• Invites students to engage in reflection on their lives in a way that lays a foundation for further critical reflection, after they have learned to think in terms of the elements, standards, and the discipline itself.

NEW - This edition is more streamlined in its writing, including changes and substantial edits on virtually every page. (Throughout.)

• The shorter length and tightened materials make it more usable for students who may have other materials in a course and make it more likely that they will read the book near the beginning of the semester and that it will be immediately applicable.

NEW - The section on Thinking in Systems has been revamped, and the concept of "thinking in the discipline" has been incorporated directly into "The Core Process of Critical Thinking". This helps remove some of the perceived separation between critical thinking and critical thinking in a discipline. (Chapter 5.)

• Aids students in working through the idea that, in any question where the disciplines are relevant (and that in the end includes most questions), we need to incorporate concepts from the discipline into our thinking.

NEW - The critical-thinking character traits are now introduced in a single focused sub-section, instead of being mentioned piecemeal, one or two at the end of each chapter. Logically, it is now part of the section "How Do You Fit into the Picture? Becoming a Critical Thinker." (Chapter 5.)

• Helps students understand that critical thinking in a discipline is not just about what you do–it also influences who you are. They will more easily conceptualize the critical-thinking character traits as an interlocking whole, a major part of what it is to be a critical thinker.

NEW - Over 70% of the discipline-based textbooks used in examples and exercises have been updated, eliminated, or changed to texts published after 2006. (Throughout.)

• Up-to-date notes and bibliography are an important feature of student research in many fields.