LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

critical thinking

Learn more about critical thinking

Critical thinking in science
This unit of inquiry-based lessons teaches eighth-grade students to utilize and develop critical thinking skills. Students will create testable questions; design and perform experiments; collect, organize, and analyze data; and use these results to decide on the next step in the scientific process.
Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)
Arts of persuasion
Strategies for teaching middle school students to think critically, analyze persuasive arguments, and use speaking and writing to persuade others.
Format: series (multiple pages)
Map skills and higher-order thinking
This series of articles looks at map skills as a kind of visual literacy, considering what maps are, how they're made, and the higher-order thinking skills students need to move from simply decoding maps to fully comprehending them.
Format: series (multiple pages)
Problem centered math
Why students must build their own understanding of mathematics if they are to be able to use it in the real world, and how teachers can guide them in doing so.
Format: series (multiple pages)
Why inquiry?
The rationale for using discovery learning methods in teaching science.

Find all 259 resources in our collection.

Complex thinking based on the acquisition and evaluation of new knowledge. The focus of learning is the pursuit of logical conclusions drawn from facts and evidence. The goal is for students to develop skills that help them critically assess information and avoid indoctrination into received wisdom.

Additional information

Critical thinking skills are presented and advocated in contrast to rote memorization of facts and information. Students are active participants in the development of critical thinking skills.