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Critical Thinking in Critical Courses
showcase critical thinking abilities first acquired and later fine-tuned in lessons from
prior classes. The instructor, critically informed about critical thinking, scaffolds the
entire project, but then stands back to await (and hopefully applaud) the final products
of everyone’s hard work.
Conclusions
We presented a framework for how critical thinking can be taught across the psychology
curriculum. We have argued, perhaps implicitly, that teachers of critical thinking must
first be taught to be critical thinkers themselves. Furthermore, they should be taught how
to teach the subject. To assist in this latter endeavor, we have provided the Critical Thinking
Pedagogical Framework as a potential guide for structuring instruction in critical think-
ing. Finally, we illustrated how critical thinking instruction might progress from lower
level to higher-level critical core courses across the psychology curriculum. We argue that
critical thinking is an essential mediator between what teachers do in the classroom and
true academic achievement on the part of students. Thus seeing the connection between
instructional methodologies and critical thinking competencies should be of paramount
importance for teachers.
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