Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology: A Handbook of Best Practices

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Bryan K. Saville et al.


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of the present chapter is to discuss ways that statistics and research methods instructors


can teach their students to think critically. First, however, we briefly discuss what critical


thinking entails along with barriers that statistics and research methods instructors may


encounter on their way to reaching this important goal.


What is “Critical Thinking”?

Although instructors often speak freely of “critical thinking,” this concept is not easy to


define. Halonen (1995), for example, defined critical thinking as “the propensity and


skills to engage in activity with reflective skepticism focused on deciding what to believe


or do” (p. 76), but she also stated: “Ask 12 psychology faculty members to define the term


critical thinking, and you may receive 12 overlapping but distinct definitions” (p. 75).


Nonetheless, psychologists have made progress in identifying certain behaviors that are


indicative of critical thinking. In their report on learning outcomes and goals for


undergraduate psychology education, APA’s Task Force on Psychology Major Compe-


tencies (2007) listed the following, among others, as characteristics of critical thinking:


(a) examining the quality of information (e.g., making a distinction between empirical


evidence and speculation); (b) analyzing media reports of psychological research;


(c) tolerating ambiguity; (d) recognizing poorly defined and well-defined problems; and


(e) evaluating the quality of a particular solution and revising it if needed.


Despite disagreements about the definition of critical thinking, there is relative consen-


sus among educators that critical thinking is an essential skill that students should acquire


(e.g., Appleby, 2005). Furthermore, given that much of the material in statistics and


research methods courses lends itself nicely to critical thinking—one characteristic of


which is using a scientific approach when problem solving (APA, 2007)—these courses


provide a prime context in which to teach this important skill. In fact, to teach statistics


and research methods without a focus on critical thinking would, in our opinion, be a


mistake. Before statistics and research methods instructors dive headfirst into this task,


however, they should be aware of barriers that may stand in the way of their ability to


teach their students to think critically about the material they encounter.


Barriers to Addressing Critical Thinking

By most accounts, teaching students to think critically is an important goal that many


statistics and research methods instructors attempt to accomplish during their courses.


Furthermore, because critical thinking is often a skill that takes time for students to learn,


many statistics and research methods instructors tackle the issue right off the bat, address-


ing these skills in one form or another from the first day of class onward. However, just as


teaching other topics in psychology often requires instructors first to consider barriers that


may impede students’ ability to grasp certain concepts—for example, the notion that


humans only use 10% of their brains (see Chew, 2005)—so too must statistics and research

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