Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Theory, Development, Instruction, and Assessment

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills states that critical thinking encompasses skills that students and professionals will need to succeed in their careers, school, and life. The demand for critical thinkers will increase in the future to meet the demands of world-wide problems. Educators need to show students how to eliminate errors, such as biases in their reasoning, and to be effective decision makers. To do this, teachers and leaders in schools and businesses need to provide an atmosphere conducive to developing critical thinking skills and dispositions.

Meeting this challenge is the goal of the chapters collected in Critical Thinking and Reasoning. This book begins with experts laying out their best current understanding of the skills and attitudes critical thinking requires. Next, the relationship between critical thinking and the psychology of development and learning is explored to understand better how to develop critical thinkers from childhood to adulthood.

But how can we best teach for critical thinking? How can we incorporate into the classroom the challenges presented in the workplace? This book provides several extensive examples of current practices from the elementary level through the secondary level to the university level of how to stimulate critical thinking skills and dispositions.

Daniel Fasko, Jr., Ph.D. (1983), is Professor Emeritus of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Policy at Bowling Green State University. He teaches courses in Educational Psychology, and Life-Span Development, and has published articles, chapters, and books in critical thinking and creativity.
Frank Fair, Ph. D. (1971), is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Sam Houston State University. He started one of the first Critical Thinking courses, and he, with several co-authors, has written books on improving thinking in business and educational contexts.