Introduction to Part I – writing/activities for promoting CT

Jonathan Olsen and Vivienne Born

Chapter 2 in Teaching Critical Thinking in Political Science, 2025, pp 13-15 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter serves as an introduction to the first section of the book on writing or other activities designed to promote critical thinking. It has long been argued that active learning and practicing writing can serve as a crucial tool in the development of critical thinking skills. Our authors here examine how various active learning and/or writing techniques – ranging from “writer's workshops” to individual writing assignments to a combination of structured writing assignments and group work – can foster such skills. Yet, as one of our authors suggests, fostering critical thinking in the classroom is a function not only of specific pedagogies but of our attention to student motivations. Thus, although increasing the reward/payoff for students to complete active learning and/or writing exercises designed to foster critical thinking works well for some students, it is less effective for others. Consequently, instructors need to think carefully about the purpose and design of their assignments in order to see gains in critical thinking skills.

Keywords: Active learning; Writing; Critical thinking; Pedagogy; Group work; Scaffolded exercises (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035327539
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